Lellie Ward’s Paradise Farm is a popular training and competition site in Aiken, S.C., and home to a number of benchmark horse trials throughout the year. This year, the farm gained an unlikely mascot in the form of a precious, pink-nosed ball of fuzz that has quickly collected a fan club both in the Aiken community and on Facebook.
From Lellie:
“On February 8 of this year, I gave a demonstration for the South Carolina Horseman's Council. After my demonstration, I went to walk around the shops and exhibits and came across Old McCaskill’s Farm.
There were many small children holding this adorable little lamb with a red jacket. He was as good as gold, being passed around from child to child. Of course I had to have a go, but then I could not give him back. I bought him with a credit card, without any experience having sheep before.
This magnificent ball of fluff became Cloudy. He was three weeks old, the only surviving twin and his mother had no milk for him. He was a bottle baby, an inconvenience for the farm and was to be put down.
Cloudy rode home wrapped in a blanket in the front seat of my truck with a stuffed black bull named Handsome. That night, he slept in my arms in the bed. Neither of us moved an inch.
Cloudy has grown up with three dogs: a giant basset named Woody, a Shepherd cross named Ladybug, and a wild Australian Shepherd called Brumby. He grazes freely among fifteen show horses, and they have accepted Cloudy without a problem. Cloudy thinks he is a dog. We call him a sheepdog.
He comes and goes as he pleases, and everyone loves him. He is very friendly and comes when I call him. He will sit in my lap and will lay down quietly on large dog beds around the farm. He rides the golf cart, ATV, and has ridden on the tractor.
At five months, Cloudy, a Dorset sheep, has grown to almost 100 pounds. He is bigger than the dogs and almost as fast, and will have beautiful rolled horns when fully matured. He is magnificent in my eyes and a wonderful friend.
He is a sweet animal and a wonderful mascot to Paradise Farm.”
The countdown to the 2024 United States Eventing Association (USEA) American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is getting shorter and the tentative schedule is officially set! For the second year in a row, the AEC returns to the iconic Kentucky Horse Park from August 27 through September 1 and will offer 26 divisions, including brand new Starter divisions and all levels of recognized evening up through the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final.
What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.
Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.
As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.