NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE
October 2012 The first of Krister's three-part series is now available for the Kindle.

WITH DISTINCTION
July 2011 We are happy to report that Krister passed his USDF "L" Program final with distinction. It is a great program; every dressage rider should at least audit the first three workshops. You may find that you learn more from that than from any number of lessons.

ARTHUR IS BACK
September 2010 After a year with his owner in New York, Arthur is back to continue his career. In his first time out at a two-day recognized show, he won all his classes with respectable scores; since he was the only intro level competitor, we cared more about his gentlemanly behavior, especially in the grand stand arena. His second outing was to the IDHSNA annual show at Lexington, where he won his first class against much more experienced competition, and this in the coliseum! He was clearly intimidated and came in on a 5 (square halt but head in the clouds), but got better and better, almost all 7s toward the end of his test and an 8 for his slinky free walk, 65.5% overall.

BEN GOES WEST
September 2010 Congratulations to Kim in Texas, who has just bought the wonderful Ben. Kim clinics with Debbie Bowman and is a trainer herself, so we're confident Ben is in good hands.

WINTER IS SOLD
August 2010 Congratulations to Sophie and her trainer Rose Watt, of Pennsylvania. Sophie is a Pony Clubber and a lovely soft young rider, exactly right for Winter. Rose also fell for Magnus while visiting us, and he'll be going along with Winter as well.

BEN WINS BIG
September 2010 Krister had a great time taking his student's horse, Ben, to Lexington. Ben qualified for the BLMs and was high score for first level with a 66.315% at first four, his debut first level class.

WINTER'S FIRST SHOW
June 2010 We didn't get pictures of Winter getting his second-place ribbon with 63%, so here's one of him at home playing in the tall grass.

STACY AND BEN
March 2010 Stacy and her handsome Percheron/TB Ben are the stars of the first entry on our new Training Snapshots page, on which we hope to offer glimpses into the progressive training of both horse and rider.

...AND KRISTER AND BEN
April 2010 Ben was a superstar at his first outing with Krister, at Chestnut Oak in Doswell, winning both his classes–Training 1 with 69.565%, and Training 2 with 72.15%–the highest score and second highest score of the show!

SHAMELESS BRAGGING
January 2010 Finally all of the 09 year-end results are in, so we thought we'd cheer up this rain-sodden January with some shiny ribbons. Sol and Krister were first-level year-end champions for both VADACH (recognized) and VADAF (senior), and reserve VADA champion for the state. As well as qualifying for the Region 1 open first-level championships (one of only five horses in the state to do so), Absalom was also 5th in the nation for All-Breeds, and received a bronze medal as the third-highest-scoring American Warmblood at the championships at any level. Sol has been spending the winter firming up his basics; he's also been growing his hair out and working on his Zoolander face.

KASHMIR'S NEW CAREER
December 2009 We recently heard from Christine Anderson-Singleton, who bought Kashmir from us, about their new entrance into the Jumper world. Christy writes,"Kash is doing so well with it!!! A little spooky with the buzzers and crazy jumps (you would die to see her trot when she enters the ring-she really floats, but out of fear). She finally settles down, and she has done so well. I have attached some pictures for you guys. I hope you will be proud of her as much as I am. About a month ago, before all of this terrible weather we jumped a 4' vertical." Way to go Christy and Kash!

MINI CLINIC WITH DEBBIE BOWMAN
November 2009 Now that Sol and Krister have had some time off after the show season, it is time to get back into the swing of things, getting the blood flowing and joints warmed up before the coming winter chill. They hope to be back in form by December 13th, when Debbie Bowman will be at Manor Minor for a mini clinic. We hope this will be the first in an ongoing series. Call 434.591.0886 or email us if you are interested in participating.

SOL GOES TO THE REGIONALS
October 2009 Absalom had a great season in 2009, and we were thrilled that he qualified for the open First Level GAIG championships, one of only five horses in Virginia to do so. Unluckily, Sol picked the week before the championships to go through his first training crisis, becoming uncharacteristically fussy and resistant. Adolescent rebellion, a minor soreness that we couldn't pin down, or just end-of-the-season burnout in an unseasoned competitor? His championship test was clean and obedient, if a bit flat. Given the circumstances, we're happy enough. A few weeks of rest and relaxed trail riding have given us back the old Sol, and we're looking forward to second level in the spring.

MANOR MINOR STUDENTS GO TO STATES
September 2009 Congratulations to both Laura Roszelle and Lauren Sutton for finishing up their last year in 4H at the State Championships in Lexington. Though both took home ribbons, we are especially proud of Laura who has brought her very green Appaloosa mare all the way up to first level. Here they are at their final salute.

ABRAXAS, A GREAT TEACHER
July 2009 Thinking a lot these days about Sol's big brother Abraxas, a great horse and teacher, who is now one of the equine faculty at Averett University.

WELCOME WINTER!
June 2009 When Miranda heard from our Indiana friend Connie that she knew of a coming three-year-old half brother to our wonderful Fumar (see Past Sales page), we were intrigued. After Connie went to see him and sent us several videos, including a clip of him pulling a buggy along a busy road in the snow, paying no attention to passing traffic, it was a foregone conclusion he'd be ours. He's settled in well and is an extremely quick study, though, having learned a different style, he was convinced at first that it was his responsibility to correct all of Krister's misconceptions about the proper way to lunge and lead a horse.

SOL ACHIEVES WORLD PEACE!
April 2009 All right, well, not quite (though he would if he could), but lest we fret that Sol's overall high score award his first time out at training level was a fluke, in his first attempt at first level Sol began by winning his first class at the SVDA Spring Fling on April 26, with 69.14% in First 3. Not bad for a horse only started under saddle in late April of last year! With the temperature at an unseasonable 95 degrees, he was a bit tired and flat for First 2, but still earned 66.67% and another blue ribbon. Of course he was a perfect gentleman, as we've come to expect.

GOOD-BYE ARTHUR, TILL WE MEET AGAIN
April 2009 The departure of our home-bred Irish lad Arthur McBride was especially emotional for us; we sold him to our good friend Bob when he was still at his dam's side, so we always knew he'd be going up to New York once he'd grown and had his basic training. Miranda had a special soft spot for Arthur; elastic, forward, and almost too supple, he was an exhilarating challenge at first despite his friendly, mellow temperament. We'll be going up to visit Arthur and Bob in May—and Arthur might very well be coming back to Manor Minor for further training and an introduction to competition once he's had a chance to mature a bit more, and Bob has had a chance to get to know him.

KELLY AND ARABELLA
AT THEIR FIRST SHOW
April 2009 Don't they look elegant? Arabella was in season and a bit tense in her debut at training level, but with Kelly's tactful riding, they scored 63% the first time out, despite a few high jinks from Arabella in the canter. We look forward to hearing about their next outing soon!

CONGRATULATIONS
CYNTHIA AND ABSINTHE!
March 2009 Like her older brother Crooner, Absinthe was sold to the first person to look at her, although nobody could accuse Cynthia of a hasty decision—she came to see her girl over and over again before making up her mind (the best way, in our opinion). Absinthe will be going up to New Hampshire, to train with Grand Prix rider and sought-after clinician Pam Goodrich.

ARENA GARDEN AWASH IN COLOR
February 2009 The dead midwinter is a time to remember the glory of the garden in warmer days, and dream of improvements in the coming spring. Here's the arena bank garden in full flamboyance in mid-May, when it made it a lot easier to keep our eyes up heading down the centerline. We planted many more bulbs (allium, lily, and tulips) here in fall of 2008, so we're hoping 2009 will be a banner year.

ARABELLA FINDS NEW HOME
CONGRATULATIONS, KELLY
January 2009 This is the second horse we've sold for VADACH member Malora Carpenter (see Lorelei, below), and it looks like just as good a match. Miranda had become quite fond of this very elegant mare (who we also started as a four-year-old several years ago) and was anxious to find someone who would appreciate her kindness and sensitivity. It seemed like love at first sight for Kelly Rose, who has the tact to bring out the best in Arabella.

GREAT JOB HEATHER AND LORELEI
November 2008 Heather was riding at intro level when she began training with Krister. But in little over a year, she had not only garnered a number of firsts in training level, but went on to win several blues at first level as well, with a first level high score at the VADACC recognized show to boot. In fact, she won a blue at every show she went to. 2008, however, saw many changes in Heather's life that made it necessary to stop riding. Here's hoping we will see her in the saddle again this year, riding her wonderful mare Lorelei.

CROONER AND LIZ ERWIN EARN 83.5% IN FIRST-LEVEL PAS DE DEUX
November 2008 We were thrilled to have Absalom's high-score achievement one-upped by his older brother! We had plenty of good news about our sold horses in 2008, but this achievement takes the cake. Read about it on Crooner's page.

SOL EARNS OVERALL HIGH SCORE AT HIS FIRST RECOGNIZED SHOW
September 2008 Our home-bred Trakehner cross Absalom (Krister riding) amazed us by taking home the overall high score award at the combined VADACH/VADAF Twin Shows in September–quite a feat for a young horse who had only been started under saddle in April, and had traveled off the farm only once before! Sol was also a perfect gentleman all weekend–our confirmation that quiet, consistent training can be as effective as frequent exposure in producing a horse that handles new situations well.