JULY / AUGUST 2020 | Page 43

PG.41 ARTICLE BY: BARBARA SCHLEPPI BARBARA SCHLEPPI • Membership: #470361 I did my 25 hrs mainly trail riding on my property. I mostly used POCO BLUE FLAME (Buffy) A2-2151 to get her back into shape after having a foal. Although all the horses tag along trail riding, so LETHAL WIZARD Q-50261 was always involved as well; as were POCO BLUE FLAME’S foal, ONE HAYSI MOON, and the pregnant broodmare, PIALLA STARDUST RETURN Q-47259. We always trail ride with full entourage, no matter which horse is the ridden one. LOL. LETHAL WIZARD helped moving our neighbour’s cattle and I also did some natural trail obstacle training with POCO BLUE FLAME, side-passing over logs, jogging over raised logs, jumping the odd fallen tree, circling around small boulders, backing in between and around two trees etc. Once the restrictions are lifted, I am hoping to be able to go back showing with both horses, LETHAL WIZARD in team penning and arena sorting and POCO BLUE FLAME in ranch events. The smashed leg is still giving me grief, but I am thrilled that I am able to ride again. Thank you for the wonderful cap and being able to be part of this lovely program. BARBARA SCHLEPPI #470361 ARTICLE BY: KATIA SONSINI V PHOTOS BY: KEN ANDERSON EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY KATIA SONSINI • Memebership: #482072 Hi, my name is Katia Sonsini, I am 13 years old and my horse Gay Bar War Hero Q-51446 and I thought we should try find the positives in going into lockdown. This is a brief story on how I achieved my log sheet on 25+ hours, to Beat the Covid Blues. We decided to work really hard on our fitness and skills during isolation, so that when shows do resume we can do very well. Mum mentioned the ‘Beat the Covid Blues’ program where we could record our riding hours. That was just the drive we needed to work even harder. Every day after distance learning I made sure that we had the time to ride and it sure paid off when we finally reached our goal of 25 hours. We have both improved in so many ways and cannot wait to start showing again. Katia Sonsini - Photo by: Ken Anderson Equine Photography Thankyou AQHA for offering such a great program during these hard times. I really enjoyed the extra time spent with my horse and I’m sure he liked the extra attention too! KATIA SONSINI #482072 AQHA ~ JULY/AUGUST ISSUE 2020