Things have been busy for SFI this summer and fall.

After surviving 'Hell Week' with Jimmy Wofford in August, we returned home to three hurricanes in September. Luckily the farm was spared from heavy damage but lots of debris and broken fences are still being fixed and we lost some huge Live Oaks around the farm. Needless to say it will be a while before the flooding subsides and the place gets back to normal.

The horses have been doing very well:

• Kiwi Groove is back in action and had a very successful fall season at Preliminary before heading to the Midsouth CCI* in Oct. Unfortunately, a bruised foot continued to cause us problems into the event and he was unable to run cross-country after a very good dressage test had him in the ribbons.
• Tinkatoo, our new stallion, has finally arrived and exceeded our expectations. He placed 3rd at his first outing in the US (only lost first place due to rider error in the dressage test!) and won the dressage at Mid South before we decided to head home due to the deteriorating footing. He is our dream horse and I am looking forward to finishing out the season with him at Preliminary before heading to a CCI** in the spring.
• Our greenie, Dutch Twist (aka Oliver), had a great start to his competition career winning classes at his first horse show and jumping easily double clear at his first event. We have very high hopes for this guy that we broke and started ourselves and is the son of a dressage horse that Andrew competed and loved.

We have been trying to keep track of the horses sold. Once again this season some of our imports have continued to dominate the eventing scene:

• Eliot III and Robin placed 3rd at Advanced at Poplar before going on to complete Fair Hill CCI*** without any shoes left after the cross-country. He was one of the few to showjump double clear and Robin was rightly thrilled with her pony!
• Nicole Shinton was the top placed Canadian at Radnor on The Grey Pony and she is planning on heading to a CCI*** now in the spring with him as well as Oakengrove Pamela.
• Midnight Masquerade has won several Preliminarys now with young rider Leah Kramkowski.
• Instant Appeal successfully moved up to Intermediate with Mary Beth Hudson and has been in the ribbons all fall.
• Russian was a Gold medalist at NAYRC with Loreen Kay after top placings at Intermediate all season.
• Ringwood O'Dea won his last training outing with Donna and is headed off to his first Preliminary start - not too bad for a horse that had never seen a cross-country jump when he was imported less than a year ago!
• Ted White proved that it has not taken him long to get a rapport with Carolina Knockout, winning the training at Poplar by 7 points from start to finish!
• Also, Sally Cousins once again had very successful seasons this fall at Intermediate and Advanced with both Kintyre and The Mistress II.

It is great to see people who appreciate their horses so much!

The sale barn is once again full with some new great horses:

• The super flashy Sportsfield Teddy just won a Novice on a 29 and will be heading to training level.
• Another brilliant youngster, First Avenue, is ready to win at Training Level now.
• Clayton has been in the ribbons at every event he was entered in this fall and is one of the best cross-country horses I have ever ridden.
• Gifted Simplicity is still looking for the right rider who wants a fancy, scopey eventer at a great price.
• A new Preliminary packer has arrived in Nick of Time, one of the most genuine and kind horses we have had.
• We also have a new Irish guy, Fernhill Diamond, whose barn name Houdini appropriately fits him! He is one of the most honest, uncomplicated and experienced young horses I have ever seen, which is why I imported him!
• The Countryman still placed in every event entered and is just as fancy and sound as ever.
• Our two sale green horses, Cup O Joe and Too Many Mikes, continue to be fun and easy horses to train with more talent than I had ever expected when we started with them.

It is great luck that we have such an awesome group of sale horses to ride and train every day!

I regret that I did not keep up with placings this year with so many earning top ribbons at so many shows but will promise to keep up with it again in 2005. We have a couple more shows left in 2004 and then will be gearing up for the winter season in 2005.

Everyone is welcome to come over and see our new stallion Tinkatoo at any time, whether at shows or here at the farm. He is a personable horse that loves attention and we are very proud of him.

Keep an eye out for a picture gallery of our horses sold out competing this year. I plan on posting one here in the next few weeks. If you bought a horse from us and would like to send one in - please email one to me. We would love to see it!