FAVORITE LINKS
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Codi's all grown up and is running her own lesson, sales and boarding barn in Lynchburg, VA. They have regular shows and clinics and camps. A beautiful place that I had the pleasure of visiting last year.
This is my friend Dani's site. Dani and I actually met on the online bulletin board hosted by The Chronicle of the Horse. We were both headed to a George Morris teaching clinic in Chicago and met in person there. Since then, we've become great friends and correspond regularly via email and phone. Dani's well-designed website reflects her well-run business. She's an excellent trainer of both horse and rider and is growing her business more every day. She makes regular trips around Virginia and the country to sharpen her skills and keeps informed of all of the latest trends in the industry. Like me, Dani is a true Morrissian (George Morris follower) and teaches the old fashioned way -- the right way. She pays regular visits to former students now in college who continue to seek her knowledge and assistance. Dani and company will continue to do great things in the horse world.
Lingueo.com
I gotta give my boy Arnaud a plug here. Met him through my girlfriend, Mylene, while I was visiting in Paris (ahhh...Paris!). This is just the coolest site if you want to learn a new language. It is available 24/7. You'll need a webcam, microphone and speakers for your computer and you can be fluent in just about any language in no time. And CHEAP! Pay by the hour and by PayPal. As soon as I can work this into my routine, I'm going to do it.
This is my friend, Terri's website. She owned my old horse, Buster at one point and competed with him in the jumpers. Terri owns and runs a wonderful facility in Leesburg, VA. As far as public boarding facilities, I would rate hers the best. She is an accomplished horsewoman who trained with the best in the Northeast and has also spent time training in Europe. She offers excellent care at an immaculate facility and has a wealth of knowledge to lend in her training. Her facility is located conveniently off of Route 7, not far down the Dulles Greenway.
Virginia Horse Shows Association
This has to be the number one site I visit when the show season is in full swing. I have the Calendar pages and the Points pages bookmarked.
Still the number one source for information in the industry. You can get the full magazine online now. You can't beat the Classifieds or Results Tracker.
This can range anywhere from being a wonderful resource to an example of how a bunch of women can turn into a gaggle of old hens or nasty hyenas. Enter at your own risk.
By now, you can tell, I like pictures. I love to take them myself and I love to buy works from other photographers. One of my favorite photographers is Peggy Smith who is local to us here in Northern Virginia. I can remember her just getting started in the business and I have some of her earliest photos that she took in the area. Now, she's a photographer that is on the tip of a lot of riders' tongues when they discuss good 'shooters' and she is still the nice, professional, personable Peggy we all remember from 'back when'. She is probably the quickest at getting proofs and prints back to clients -- something we all appreciate.
You can get the best coverage of the Big Indoors from this site on VHS or DVD. Also, you can get Equitation Call Back tapes and a favorite of mine, "A Day at the National Medal Finals". Not one Anyplace Farm girl has escaped viewing these tapes multiple times.
Boy have these guys gotten my money through the years! They have stitched the Anyplace Farm logo on hats, sweatshirts, jackets, baby pads, dog coats, trunk covers, Irish knits, dress sheets, you name it. They are the folks we go to every year at Upperville or PG for chokers, belts, dog collars, etc.. They do a great job and Carrie, one of the owners, does her best to turn products around as quickly as possible.
Probably one of the best and most trusted sources for used saddles around. They'll ship saddles to you on trial for a three day period. They have a great reputation.
Those of us in Northern Virginia are so blessed to have this great shop in our backyards. Probably the best around at what they do -- selling used tack and clothing for the rider. Not all merchandise is used, though. They often buy directly from tack shops that want to move last season's shirts or overstock items. The list of things I and my friends and students have purchased at this shop is endless. They have a huge selection of children's clothing, especially tiny, hard to find sizes that last year's leadliner grew out of.
Given how little non-horse people know about our sport, I think it probably surprises eBay to see Equestrian merchandise as the third highest selling merchandise on their site. Golf is first and Hunting (as in bang-bang, not tally-ho) is second. To date, I think it is the one non-horsey business that actually classifies horseback riding as a sport.
Equestrian merchandise has remained third for some months now because I checked ages ago and it held the same ranking back then. I'd be curious to know which, out of those three sports, actually hauls in the most cash for eBay. Seeing as we're so fickle, I'd almost bet we run a close second to Golf. If anyone finds out, email me.
Horse people love their goodies and eBay is the perfect answer to moving those Tailored Sportsmans that no longer fit your derriere. Codi's mom, Liz is a pro at finding Grand Prix jackets, GPAs, saddles, you name it. Liz is our official eBay hunter and just about all of the Anyplace Farm girls have benefited from one of her 'finds'. Oh, and lest we forget, I sold my 1969 Trubilt 5-horse van (The Big Green Beast) on the site for $1000. It was the first item I ever sold there and it went to a man in Texas, of all places.
This is a great site -- one of those I wish I'd thought of doing! I had a page on my old website called A View From the Farm and I had articles written by horse show moms but this is a great site. She has advice on raising the teen, particularly that one that rides and she has a page loaded with handy checklists. On the page for Articles, she has links for 'Definitions' and 'How to get through a slump'. I'll definitely be directing a few of my new show moms to this site.
