My favorite place is Misty Brae Farm. It is my favorite place because it is filled with my favorite animal, horses! I go there every Thursday for lessons. There are not usually a lot of people because it is not a public barn. My favorite thing to do there is ride. Although I don’t have my own horse, I still think of the horse I ride as my horse for the hour I am there. I have been riding for two years and all of them have been spent at Misty Brae Farm. I know a lot of the people there. I even have two friends that I take lessons with. In our lessons we walk, trot, canter, and jump. The fences we jump are not high, only about 1 and ½ feet. It is actually pretty easy if you are experienced. My favorite thing to do there is canter. Some people find it scary to be on a horse that is running at high speed, but to me it’s really fun. I always say hi to the horses in the field before I leave because they are really cute when they say hello back. I also like to go on trail rides through the woods. My favorite place is the best place in the world. It is Misty Brae Farm.
Flying Away
Written by Morgan Streeter
Flying over the ground,
Comforted by the sound,
Of hoof beats,
As hoof meets,
The soft earth,
Tearing up the turf,
The wind whips at my face,
As I stare at the base,
Of the first jump of the course,
Between the ears of my horse,
While getting ready to jump,
In my throat forms a lump,
Then there is a slight pause,
But not without cause,
For suddenly we’re in the air,
Flying without a care,
Right then nothing stands in our way,
of flying away,
That moment I am free,
And nothing can stop me,
But then we land,
Deep into the sand,
Heading for the next jump,
That’s made of a tree stump,
Once again we fly away,
I’m where I want to stay,
But we keep on going,
The wind keeps on blowing,
Until we stop,
And our score is at the top,
Yet I can’t wait to fly away,
Again another day.
The Country
Written By Morgan Streeter
I hear the wind shuffling through the trees.
Crickets and frogs chirp merrily by the creek and water rushes over the shinning silver rocks.
There are frogs jumping with a splash into the blue water.
A horse neighs happily from some where in its field,
And the clinking of tack as its being put on tickles my ears.
The hoof beats of a happy horse trotting pound out a sturdy beat.
Some where the radio plays quietly.
And at last I hear the birds sweet chirping.
HOOVES, HORSESHOES, AND WINGS
By Kristi Bowers (8th Grade)
“Nice and easy girl, nice and easy.” Summer was in full swing and the air was thick with dust. Misty Brae Farm was as beautiful as ever and the stables were shrouded in ivy. To complete the picture, three grand, tall oak trees stood around the farm to give shade to everyone. It was Wednesday, horseback riding day. My pony was ready and waiting at the gate for my cheery voice and handful of oats.
Now then, I must pause in my tale to tell a small bit about my young pony. Her name is Magic and she is named for the magical ride any person gets while upon her back. She’s a beautiful dark bay pony and about twelve to thirteen hands high. But it is her personality that makes a person either like her or dislike her. Young and energetic, she’ll race away with anyone on her back, but if you frighten Magic by flapping the reins or tightening up, she’ll bump you, toss you, and run away with you. I was one of those people, scared but stubborn and she was one of those ponies, nervous but free. Not many people can ride her, and come to think of it, I am one of the only ones doing so now. If you are calm, though, you will have the ride of your life.
I had thought while mounting Magic that today was going to be a normal day. Boy! Was I wrong. Magic was calm and we cantered together in perfect harmony for a while. My teacher knew I was scared of jumps, so she started me out on the easiest gate first. Magic leapt it with apparent ease. Soon enough, we were doing courses and such. Then, the request came.
“Okay Kristi, listen up,” called my instructor, Tori. “I want you to jump the pink one now.”
“The pink what?” I couldn’t find anything pink in the ring.
“The pink striped jump of course! Get going,” she said, and there it was, right in the middle of the jumper ring. If a horse was approaching it, they would first jump over an elevated pole, then leap the two and a half foot jump, and finally hop over the second elevated pole that comes right after it. To Tori, it was a hop, skip, and a jump, but to me it was hop, crash, and a spill. I am sad to say this now, but I did not trust my horse. How in the world would Magic get over that thing?
So there I went, my face as pale as if I was trotting to my grave. In my head I found myself waiting for something to screw up. Oh my goodness, look at that thing. Who would jump something like that? Wait Magic, wait. I’ve got to be calm, but how can I be with that thing up there? Oh great! Here it is. Brace yourself. One second passed and it was over.
“Now was that hard?” Tori asked.
“No,” I said truthfully. “Scary, though.”
“Let’s go again, but this time, when you get to that jump, stand up and be as loose as possible. Let her do the work,” she instructed. Now that I had confronted my fear, I was as calm as a cucumber.
“Off to work we go, right Magic?” I said in a singsong voice. As we sailed over the jump, my thoughts were a little bit different. Gosh, this is fun. It feels like a rodeo, and I’m on a bouncing bronco. So this is what it’s like to fly. Never again would I let my fears take over.
Nowadays, I go to horse shows to compete and am progressing on to variations of three foot to three and a half foot jumps. Still nervous and stubborn, Magic and I fly together. It’s as if wings propel us over the pole instead of her. I’d never have gotten there, though, without my pony, my wings, and my wits on that hot summer day. I’d never forget to fly.
A Day at the Horse Show
By Jessica Tracy
A story about Misty BraeFarm
Wow what a day I had planned! My mom had just signed me up to ride in a horse show. I was going to be riding Daisy, the horse that I ride in lessons. Today’s horse show was going to be broken into two divisions, Pleasure Pony and Short Stirrup.
Pleasure Pony was fun and I performed well, but Short Stirrup is where it really got exciting. In front of me there was a dangerous, three foot wall jump. There was a deadly, intimidating silence all around me. I could smell a pile of horse manure under the jump. The horse manure smelled worse than rotten eggs. I was beginning to tense up. My horse could feel it and was beginning to spook. I just had to relax!
I knew that behind me there was the jump that I had cleared before, along with the fragrant smell of the flowers that were under the jump. That jump was much smaller than the one I had ahead of me. It was at least twenty three inches tall and we cleared that jump without any effort at all!
To the right of me my instructor was guiding me to the jump. She had a huge, white grin on her face and I could easily tell that she was proud of me. Armed with that knowledge, I charged on.
In both of my hands I could feel my sweaty reins. It was very hot out there. There was a large crowd on my left, standing with their eyes wide open. They each had a frightened look on their faces. My mom and Dad were also in the crowd. My mom looked like she was going to run into the ring at any moment and try to stop me, but she didn’t.
I was quickly approaching the jump, and was now only three steps away. I suddenly felt confident as I counted my horse’s rhythm. "One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, jump!" Before I knew what was happening we were soaring through the air and landing on the other side. My horse and I slowed to a walk and left the ring.
All the other riders and I lined up in the center waiting for the judge to announce the winner. Then the judge said “in fifth place is…” Just then a horrible thought occurred in my mind. What if I didn’t place at all? She finally got to first place. It felt like she had been talking for hours. The judge said in a proud voice “in first place is Jessica Tracy riding Daisy!” Everyone started clapping wildly! I was so excited! How did I come in first place? This has been the best day of my life!