Winter 2012 has thus far blessed us with seasonably warm, sunny weather!  We are still enjoying the outdoor sand arena, and are not yet permanently winter bound in the indoor ring.  The flowers are blooming, and the heated water buckets are underutilized. Thank you mother nature!

Welcome to All of Our New Students!
We are very happy to welcome new students to WNEC and to help you pursue your riding goals. This newsletter is published monthly to keep both new and established students and friends of WNEC informed about happenings around the farm with events and opportunities to expand their riding beyond the weekly lesson.

WNEC on Facebook
Become a fan, talk to us and give us feedback, post pictures and discussions. To sign up, go to  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Martinsburg-WV/Whitings-Neck-Equestrian-Center/275355938659?ref=ts   If you do not have a facebook page, just bookmark the link and check in with us for updates and new WNEC photos and videos.  You can see all interactions on the site without signing up. 

Upcoming Events.

Winter Ride and Cheese, Sunday, February 19th, 3:30-5:30p.m. 
Come stay warm with us by riding your favorite horse, eating, and socializing at our adult ride and cheese potluck dinner/ride.  Starting at 3:30 on Sunday, we will ride together, chat, enjoy our horses, and have fun!!  Please bring a potluck dish to share.  Cost: $25 for a school horse; $15 on your own horse.

President’s Day Lessons  Because school is out, call us to schedule lessons or makeup lessons for Monday, February 20^th.  We can add extra lessons for the day and will be open until 5pm.

Daylight Savings Pee Wee Ride, Friday, March 16th, 5-7:30 pm
Our pee wee rides are fun, lightly structured riding parties that include music, socializing, and dinner.  Open to ages 7 and up . Cost $40. Sign up sheet is on the activities board in the lounge.

Dressage Schooling Show and Musical Freestyle, Sunday, April 22
Start planning your musical dressage test soon!  Show off your horse’s rhythm, relaxation, and suppleness in a standard test or via your test of choice to music.  10:00 am start time.  Class 1 Intro Test A, Class 2 Intro Test B, Class 3 Intro Test C (canter), Class 4 Training Level test of choice.  Class 5, Musical Freestyle test of choice at Training level or up, Class Six: First or Second Level Test of Choice. Sign up sheet is in the lounge.

Horsemanship Summer Camp   Camp at WNEC is a fun, active, and healthy place for children ages 8 to 16 to learn about and love horses.  The first day of each session our campers are evaluated in their riding skills and placed into appropriate riding groups.  Many of our campers are first time riders; others have been involved with our lesson program already and are taking their equestrian education a step further. All campers will have two horseback riding lessons per day, plus hands-on workshops. Cost: $325 for one week.  Discounts are available for multiple weeks.

Dates:  Camp runs in one-week sessions, and campers may sign up for more than one week.  The camp runs Monday-Friday on the following weeks.

Session 1:  June 11-15

Session 2:  June 25-29

Session 3:  July 9-13

Session 4: July 23-27

Session 5: August 6-10

Session 6:  August 13-17

WNEC Equestrian Studies Class:  Shepherd University
WNEC is teaching a weekly equestrian studies class for students of Shepherd University.  This semester’s course will be Hunt Seat Equitation (class syllabus is posted on our website). Please tell your Shepherd Student friends that we will also be offering it again in the Fall! For more information, call Jess or Alyson at 304-274-1210

Student-Get-Student Promotion   WNECs student body is growing! The highest compliment you can give us is to refer your friends to WNEC.  Tell them we offer a free introductory lesson.  When you refer a new student, and that student commits to ride with us (signs on for a month of lessons), we’ll give you a free lesson as a thank you.

New Boarders   Welcome to our new boarders this month.  We still have stalls available for new boarders.  Refer your friends who own horses to board with us, and receive 2 free lessons.  Have your friends check our web site:http://www.whitingsneckfarm.com/

Student News:   
In addition to intermediate and advanced lessons, we are holding children’s group lessons after school every day at 4pm and/or 5pm, 4pm and 5:30 on Tuesdays, as well as noon and 1pm on Saturdays, and 12 noon on Sundays.  Pony partners class (Parents leading our youngest riders) takes place Sundays at 1pm.  We will be adding a Saturday pony partners class at 2pm soon!  If you will be away or unable to attend your regularly scheduled lesson, please feel free to schedule a make up lesson. February has 5 Wednesdays, so group lessons for students who ride on those days will be $185.50; all others will be $148.40. 

Become a working student!  The Working Student Program at WNEC is available to regular lesson students ages 12 and older.  The program is designed for students interested in learning and understanding horses and horsemanship in a more involved way.  Working students help with a variety of activities at the farm in exchange for an extra lesson each week.  There are also lectures and extra-curricular activities scheduled throughout the year for WNEC working students.

Current working students are: Zoe Rickrode, Alexa Crider, Virag Martin, Elizabeth Buscher, Amber Rockwell, Courtney Might, Courtney Postma, Jehri Lisky, Caroline Fischel, and Lilly Sutton.  If you need assistance, please feel free to ask them if you cannot locate staff or if staff are otherwise engaged…thanks!:) 

Boarder News   February is not a worming month. Please include $15 for worming to your March board check if WNEC worms for you.

The farrier list for the month is as follows:
Feb 8: Velvet, Lou, Tank
Feb. 15: Grace, Sophie
Feb 22:  Dennis
Feb 29 : Paris, Lincoln

Please have your checks in the office before Nathan’s Wednesday visit.  Farrier prices are $120 for 4 shoes, $80 for 2 shoes; trims are $35.

Winter is here!  Please provide WNEC with a heated bucket for your horse, a waterproof turnout rain sheet, and a medium weight turnout blanket.  Label them with your horse’s name.  WNEC blankets for free if you allow staff to determine blanketing needs daily or have minimum, simple instructions.  There is a charge of $25 per month to blanket according to specific instructions.

Half Lease Opportunity
Rupert---a trained dressage school master and retired upper level eventer. He is a 21 yo Grey TB. His owner lives in DC. He needs a loving WNEC rider who will dote on him and ride dressage, trails, and small jumps.

Horses and Ponies for Sale  Part of the business of the farm is training and selling horses and ponies.  We have a number of ours listed for sale on our website.  Check out their listings at:  http://www.whitingsneckfarm.com/id23.html

Birthday Parties!  Have your child’s birthday party at WNEC.  Use our lobby for your party, and give party goer’s a pony ride.  We do parties on Saturday or Sunday afternoons and need at 3-4 weeks advanced notice.  More information can be found here:http://www.whitingsneckfarm.com/id25.html

On Line Consignment Store·         If you have tack you would like to list on our newsletter consignment store, please send the details to whitingsneckfarm@earthlink.net  

WNEC Farm Rules for the Comfort and Safety of Our Riders and Horses

• ALWAYS loudly call out “DOOR!” when you pass any of the doors leading to our indoor arena. This includes not only the entry door from barns 1 & 2, but also when passing from the barn through the walkway to the outdoor arena, anytime you need to pass the doorway at the far end of the arena (the “A” gate), and if you walk along the fence line of the outdoor arena by the window to the indoor arena (the “B” window).  It may seem silly, but horses are often spooked by sudden movement (running first is how their ancestors lived to breed). We need all riders, parents, and your visitors to observe this rule. It may feel embarrassing to call out, but it would be far more embarrassing to cause a rider to fall by spooking the horse he/she is riding.

• Groom all horses fully, removing all mud, and pay special attention to the girth areas of all school horses.  The dirtier you get, the cleaner your horse or pony gets!J Don’t forget to groom manes and faces also.

• Pay attention to cool down time.  Walk all horses for 10 minutes after the lessons and make sure they are properly cooled out.  You can also hand graze them in the front field and yard while they cool down and groom them at the same time.

• Warm up all horses properly: minimum ten minutes walking and stretching, ten minutes of trotting, before jumping or cantering.

• Put away your saddle, saddle pad, bridle, and grooming bucket after your lesson. Please rinse the bit before hanging on the rack in the tack room.

• If the horse you are riding poops in the cross ties, please clean it up right away.  If you wait until after your lesson, someone else will probably have needed to use the cross ties and will have to clean up after you. This is doubly important in the wash stall.

• After your lesson, please groom your horse and redress your horse with a blanket or sheet if they are wearing one.  Don’t forget to cross the hind leg straps on all blankets.  Ask staff or working students if you need assistance in learning how to blanket the horses.

• Dogs must be leashed on the farm property.  Please clean up after your dog.

• Smoking is ONLY permitted on the front porch of the lobby.

• The Wash stall is only to be used for bathing and hosing horses.  Please DO NOT use it as a set of cross-ties to groom or tack up your horse.