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Let the Show Season Begin!

Honey Tree Stable had a very successful weekend competing at David Beisel's this weekend. Four horses and riders competed and brought back plenty of ribbons. A special contragulations is extended too Katie Kurtz and Lexi Sigesmund who were Reserve Champion and Champion in the JR/AO division. In addition, Lexi and Valmont competed in Farmvet's $1000 Hunter Classic and finished in fourth place.




We did not let Saturday's storm thwart us from success and our chance to show off in the ring. We are very anxious for more shows this season and look forward to nice weather and great competition. Our horses and riders love what they do and it shows in the ring.



As summer approaches, HTS is getting closer to their first summer derby series, the weekend of June 3-5. The show this weekend allowed us to recieve some great feedback from local riders and competitiors on what they hope to see at our show, as well as a chance to promote our amazing field. As of this week we are requesting both KHJA and OHJA approval. When we recieve approval we hope to recieve huge support from our Ohio and Kentucky Hunter/Jumper riders.



Honey Tree wishes all horse and riders goodluck this year as the show season begins! See you in the ring!

When judging a hunter style class in a field derby which do u prefer: Sloppy braids v. no braids?

Braiding for huntseat riding is an age old tradition that dates back to early Fox Hunting when riders were in need of a solution to keeping their horses' mane from catching on trees and brush. Braids kept the mane nice and tidy from bramble while on the hunt and even helped to signal other hunt riders if a horse kicked or not depending on what side the braids laid on the neck.




While braiding has become a necessity for success in many hunter show rings today, some local shows do not require braids in order to place. When showing locally and at "B" rated shows which do you think judges prefer: sloppy braids or no braids and a pulled mane? We vote for a neatly pulled, appropriate length, mane. By "rocking" a nice pulled mane you can still show off your horse's crest without any distracting loose braids or annoying string.



However, it is still important to remember when braiding is essential. At local and lower rated horse shows if you compete in a prize or special class, such as any of our Hunter Derbies, neat and tight braiding woul be considered essential in order to compete. In our prize classes our judges will be judging not only on horse and rider performance but also efforts of embracing the traditional roots of hunting, including formal attire, appropriate tack, and neat braiding.

Upcoming 2011 Show Season

Hello all horse lovers,

As most of you probably know, we are entering into our second year of hosting Honey Tree Stable's own summer show series. Last year we had a very successful show turnout and had a lot of fun hosting and competing in our Hunter Derby shows. We want to get your guys feedback on what you look forward to this year's competition and what would you like to see at this year's series.

We are currently in process of requesting the OHJA rating and will hopefully have it apart of the OHJA schedule this Spring. In addition, we are constantly thinking and strategizing new ways to improve and make our field course more challenging. Last year, we included a ring of fire made out of hay bails and wagon wheels. Our course is very versatile and easily changeable, therefore we would love to hear from you guys any new jump ideas. Perhaps you were inspired by the most recent World Equestrian Games, we want to hear about it.

As the snow begins to melt away, and the grass becomes green we will upload new pictures of our field course. We will also be offering schooling in the Spring for $45/per horse and rider. Our first show dates are June 3-5 and June 24-26, so schedule your schooling day in plenty of time. We look forward to another successful show season! 

Katie Kurtz Goes to LA with CWD!

Honey Tree Stables has had the opportunity to learn and experience the great saddles of CWD, the French Brand, through our own HTS member, Katie Kurtz, one of the Midwest’s newest sales rep for CWD. Just last week Katie was invited by CWD to participate in the demo of their new, up and coming 2G saddle. The demo took place at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, CA with members of the CWD team.




The 2G saddle will be coming out in February and is currently the #1 saddle in the world. The saddle features a new tree design, using materials of carbon fiber and Kevlar, which allow the tree to adapt to the individual horse. The 2G still includes CWD’s classic close contact design with a paneling system. To see in further detail the technology of the 2G , please check out the following link: http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=QzEL3OaPV5c&feature=related



HTS plans to host with Katie and her CWD entourage for a saddle fitting night at HTS with food and drinks, in the Winter of 2011. We will make sure to announce this future date on Facebook, Twitter, and our blogs. If you have any additional questions about the CWD 2G saddle or any of CWD saddles, Katie Kurtz would be more than welcome to answer any questions or comments.

Miami University Students and Almuni Equitation Classic

Honey Tree Stables would like to welcome you to join us in our inaugural Miami Equitation Classic! it will be held Sunday August 29th during our summer horse show run August 28-29th at Honey Tree Stables in Oxford, OH. This class is open to all current Miami students and Miami Alumni! It will be run as an Equitation classic at 2'6 - 3'. Students are welcome to bring their own horse for the class or can lease a horse from Honey Tree. The class will be in the big field ring over natural obstacles, incorporating a first round equitation course and a test of the top 6 riders!

We would like some feedback on the class and if anyone is interested in participating this August! If you are interested in joining us, please contact Sarah Oelerich at 513-505-1721 ASAP! We would like to make this class an enjoyable and a great time to be with old and new friends and teammates!

Also, Saturday, August 28th is Honey Tree's annual Open House and Welcome Back party! Please mark this on your calendar! We would love to see you there!

Announcing Honey Tree Stables' 1st Field Hunter Derby July 17th & 18th 2010

We're going to have a small horse show here at Honey Tree Stables in July and we're hoping you will join us! We're building natural jumps in an amazing field of ours and we'll be running shows as well as having it open for schooling on non-show days. But mainly I want to have some schooling Fun Field Hunter Derbies! :)

Our first show is set for July 18, 2010. On July 17th, there will be an Eventing Derby and the Field Hunter Show will be on Sunday. It's geared toward more of the Hunter Derby-type classes.

In the Field Hunter Show, we'll have two rings going at the same time - the field and my outdoor ring. The field will have classes starting at 2'6 and going up to 3'9. The jumps will be a mix of natural permanent fences and Show Hunter fences from my indoor arena. I wanted to be able to change the courses for each show (not during the show) so we won't get tired of the course in the future.

We'll have two divisions per fence height. One Green Field Hunter division (open to pros) and one Child/Adult Field Hunter division, with each division having four trips in the ring. One trip will be judged as a Hunter round, a Handy round, an Equitation round, and an Under Saddle, reaching a Championship. After all divisions are completed in the Field, I hope to run a Fun Derby class and/or a Pairs class, with the Pairs running in the same format as the other divisions. One of my goals is to have worthwhile prizes throughout all of the divisions so it's worth the time to come out and we'd love to have some money classes too, but I'm still working on the details.

In addition to classes in our new Field, the outdoor ring will have ground poles on up to 2' classes running in the same format as the big Field - four classes per division and combined Child/Adult. We won't have OHJA points for this show, but we'll be working on this for the future.

There will be stalls available if needed – overnight or day of the show.

The biggest goal for me is to put on an affordable show, keeping in mind our Hunter roots and traditions - never forgetting the horse and rider partnership it takes to complete the tasks we ask from our horses.

If you have a moment to chat I would love to talk with you personally about our upcoming shows in more detail.

Sarah Oelerich

P.S – I'd love to start a mailing list via email and snail mail, so if you would like to be included, just send me your contact information along with others whom you feel might be interested!


Pictures of the new Hunt Field fences under construction... Once the hay is cut, we're ready to go!