Saddle Up! But First You Need the Right Pad

The witty, no-pun-intended-title really says it all. Molly is sponsored by a company that makes saddle pads.

But this isn't just any company, it's EcoGold!

From the horse's mouth: "By using the latest developments in textile technology and smart design, we are able to make the most advanced products to give horses a competitive edge." - EcoGold

But what does this mean? There's always the latest and greatest thing with horses, and well of course Apple as well.

EcoGold's difference comes from the teams expansive career, over 40 years, in developing and creating high performance fabrics.



They also have various lines for a horse and rider's various needs because let's face it. We humans come in all shapes and sizes but horses are sometimes twice as hard to fit! Here's their range:

- the Frictionless™ line to prevent friction
-the Stabilizer™ line to keep the saddle stable
-the WitherCare™ line for high-withered horses and solve saddle-fitting issues
-the Secure™ line to make eventing safer
And Protective Horse Boots provide superior impact protection without compromising on breathability, flexibility or comfort.

Molly's Favorite line???? "ALL OF THEM! I've used each pad, in different instances. However, I say that no barn should be without the front and rear risers- these are definitely a necessity at one time or another!"

All of EcoGold's products are 100 percent breathable, hypoallergenic, quickly evaporate moisture and do not compress or slip reducing the effect of friction and hair loss.

Molly has been riding in EcoGold since 2008. There are many instances that these pads are not only nice to use but necessary. Havarah's Charly had some of the most sensitive skin around and when using the eco gold pads he never ever got a rub. This says A LOT!

In addition, when conducting saddle fittings, or to figure out how her students and their horses are most comfortable, Molly will play with the EcoGold pads and inserts to figure out the pair's needs.

We all love how light-weight the pads are and how quickly they air out. At competitions we are flying through and re-using saddle pads. There's nothing I hate more than putting a heavy, wet pad back on a horse, so it's nice to take a pad off, let it air and then re-use it in a short amount of time without so much guilt.

Thanks EcoGold for your sponsorship of Molly and we at Havarah are happy to use your products!

A big weekend at Plantation CIC

IF you weren't at the Plantation Field CIC International and HT you missed quite the weekend. The community really seems to have gathered together to provide an amazing event from a riders perspective and a spectators point of view. Although I was in the HT so I didnt get to enjoy it, the CIC riders had an amazing new arena to enjoy dressage and Show jumping on... thank you Iron Spring Farm for that very generous donation!

I competed the wonder mares, Sprite and Sabrina. Neither one received the gold but in my heart they are getting closer and closer to medals. Sabrina gave me a great dressage test, getting a 29.5 in her second Intermediate start! She is just getting better and better. The show jumping is her toughest phase and we rode on the grass hill, not suited to helping us! We had rails down, but I still feel her jumping style is so much improved, one day soon, clean rounds will be normal for her. Cross country day at Plantation was hair raising to say the least. For whatever reason, a coffin complex, that has been there forever, caused a lot of grief. Luckily everyone that fell ended up ok. I was one of the falls on Wonder Pony, Sprite. This was mentally tough for me to get past when I rode Sabrina and although she was being foot perfect everywhere, my mind got the best of me and I pulled her to a stop at the in of the coffin. After re-grouping mentally I gave it a second shot and she was so honest and wonderful. I cant fault this mare across the country.

Sprite was a bit more excited this event for dressage than our last time out, but she managed a pretty nice show jumping round on a course that was causing plenty of difficulty. Cross country day she was ready to go- for the first part of the course she had some great fences- until the coffin. Before the coffin was a big hedge in the woods, Sprite jumped this so nicely, then as we came out of the woods towards the coffin I thought we had a great line and set up - but in hindsight I think that she didnt see that there was things behind this vertical tall log (ditch, etc). As she jumed the log, she mustve seen the ditch and the front legs just didnt get up high enough. Luckily for my great air vest as I landed back first on the side of the ditch, I was safe. These vests are truely a must have. It's Monday as I'm writing this, two days after the fall and although a massage sounds great- I'm really ok. Its amazing.

Luckily Sprite is ok as well, she seems mostly dissapointed that she didnt get to finish her round, she LOVES to jump. I told her there's another xc run for her soon, but first we have some practicing to do!

Please enjoy these cool pictures taken courtesy of Steve Berkowitz.

Mmm.... Mmmm.... Good Eating!

Here's a thank you to one of Molly's most important sponsors: McCauley's Equine Formulas: because let's face it... we have some hungry horses and they are always whinnying when they are hungry!

Molly has been used McCauley's for two years now and originally was impressed by the interaction she had with their nutritionists and has always been super pleased with their availability for different needs and all of top quality.

"The horses's body conditions speak for the feed. Every horse that has started in bad shape completely turned around using their feed," Molly said.

Here's a little bit about the MC:

"Established in 1938, McCauley Bros., Inc. is headquartered in the heart of Kentucky Bluegrass country, home and nursery to the world's finest horses. Devoted to the care of these special animals, McCauley's is engaged in the manufacture of premium quality feeds and nutritional supplements exclusively for the horse. In addition to maintaining the high quality of our products, sound and timely information is an integral part of technical service offered by McCauley's. A team of equine nutritionists is on staff to provide technical assistance and nutritional consultation to our clients. Armed with the latest reliable information and years of practical experience in the field, our technical team can provide a level of problem solving unmatched in the feed industry."

McCauley Bro's have recently built a state-of the-art facility in Chambersburg, PA so they can readily serve not only those in the blue-grass state, but also the horse lovers of the Mid-Atlantic region. Plus, these guys are ALWAYS researching, collaborating with universities, nutritionists, and more to make sure the horses that munch on their feed are receiving the best nutrition. I mean, could you ask for more?

I mean... I can't say it any better my self so here is another straight quote from the source: "From affordable maintenance products to the best of the best, our family of brands covers a wide range of needs with the same strict commitment to quality control and risk management. Every McCauley's facility is ISO, HAACP and FCI certified – a distinction unmatched by any other equine company in the United States."

So basically... our horses eat REALLY well and are happy creatures. You know what they says: Happy horse - happy owner. Plus, Molly gets to be sponsored by another company she believe in. Win, win!

Our feeds of choice here at Havarah? WB100™:an Oat-based pellet for maximum efficiency with the highest quality ingredient standards in the industry and nutrient sources proven to promote normal gut function. Top Breeder™: High levels of vegetable oil and beet pulp with the highest quality ingredients in the industry for high levels of usable energy and nutrient sources proven best for improvement of hair coat and body condition (this is FACT! My horse has the worst coat and she now glistens...). Top Ten™: High levels of vegetable oil and beet pulp and nutrient sources proven best for rapid improvement in body condition.

In addition, we feed McCauley's supplements including their Hydrolyte®, and McCauley's® BIOTIME®.

As always, Molly is super meticulous when it comes to horse care, so we at Havarah only feed the best: the best being McCauley Bro's Feed.

For more information please visit McCauley's Website.

Thank You CWD Sellier

It's time to take a break from talking about how fantastic Havarah Equestrian is and delve into why Molly Rosin and her business are able to be so awesome: her wonderful, generous sponsors.

Today I'd like to share some information about Molly's saddle sponsor: CWD Sellier.

A couple years ago Molly was teaching a clinic in California when she climbed atop one of her clients horses, experiencing the soft, supple leather and incredible balance that makes up a CWD saddle for the first time - she was hooked and didn't want to sit in anything else.

Shortly after Molly was able to gain a sponsorship with CWD and she has been nothing but satisfied. More than being satisfied, since Molly believes in the product so much our barn has started to become a sea of red saddle covers.

Here's a little info to help you all get better acquainted with these amazing saddles:
"CWD is where tradition and innovation meet. The art of fine craftsmanship…" The CWD range includes traditional jump saddles, mono-flap jump saddles, and dressage saddles. Recently the company came out with its newest saddle called the 2G, the first sports saddle to be made of a composite material. The 2G offers a dynamic carbon tree to allow greater flexibility of the saddle during training. It actually moves with the horse over a jump! CWD also makes bridles, boots, girths, breastplates and more! For more information visit the CWD Website.



Molly rides in a all-calf leather jump saddle and dressage saddle. Being someone who rides multiple horses of all shapes and sizes she has a standard tree and narrow tree in both types of saddle. These saddles see a lot of time atop many horses and they have weathered the hard work beautifully.

In addition, it is incredible how quickly and easily these saddles mold to you as a rider and you don't have to bare months of that uncomfortable brand-new-leather-feel.

Earlier this year our CWD rep was looking for a facility to train out of, luckily he chose us! We are so grateful to have Andrew Goodwin around for those saddle fitting emergencies and it only allows us to be that much closer to our sponsor!

CWD is somewhat of a younger company in the US, but their experience in Europe along with their dedication to quality and innovation allows them to soar above other companies in their field and Molly is so proud and honored to be a part of this company's journey.




~Written by Molly Gasiewicz

A trainers delight....

Im back... again!

In my last post I forgot to mention one of the most rewarding parts of my week at the AEC's. Last year I sent a student to the AEC's, I was not able to attend but my student was golden with or without me. Last year Marissa Hughes won the Junior Training aboard her mighty horse Odie. This year Havarah was proud to be connected to another winner. Collin Reynolds and her wonderful horse MIDAS won the Junior Preliminary Championships. Collin is a dear friend of mine at this point because she has moved on to go off to college, I call her a friend and no longer "student". I hope to have her back in the barn by summer time (maybe even winter breaks!!) but for now she is a "student" at SMU in Texas. Collin has grown into a wonderful woman and has so many years of hard work behind her she earned every prize she won this last weekend. (I think there were a LOT of prizes!!)

Best of luck to Collin in Texas and all of us here at Havarah will keep the light on for ya!

Thoughts and reflections on the AEC's

Greetings everyone! I am home from a fabulous week. That sentance really sums up our experience but since you weren't there I'll try my best to expand on how and why things were so great.

First of all, as an eventer, I lead a busy life. This means that sometimes to get all the horses worked and prepared for their events some things get sacrificed. I felt like I got to spend some quality time with my great clients, LONG LOST friends and fantastic sponsors. We had a good time, not too crazy, but just a lot of laughs and shared moments.

Secondly, as an eventer we work hard, and it's so wonderful when all this work gets recognized. I've been teaching John Nunn and his wonderful mount Smilelikeyoumeanit for a few years now. John is probably the busiest person I know, but this year he has really buckled down with his riding. This all came to fruition for him as he was recognized for his outstanding cross country riding from Charles Owens. WAY TO GO JOHN!!
Speaking of working hard, Miss Maddie has been with me since Aiken this winter and comes to the barn nearly 6 days a week, rides a lot and is all about learning about the whole process. This girl makes me so proud. I love when a youth has a determination about something and gets it done. She above and beyond achieved her goal of going training level in 2011 and qualifying for the AEC's. At 13 years old, she was amazing to watch.

Thirdly, I have some amazing horses for the future. I brought along Puttin on the Ritz and Rivan for a grand experience. Tents, flags, MUSIC, loudspeaker, CROWDS, etc etc. They got all of it and I feel like they will be so much better off now when they go to their first FEI competition. Benny is a jumping machine, dressage is coming along, but for 6 years old, I am so pleased. Rivan, if you've seen him you know that words cant express his desire to please or clear everything. This guy came to us as a second career and he is really taken to eventing.

Last but not least Hannah Metz and Kynymonts Indelibly Irish were the stars of the show. Indy is such a special horse, one of the horses we have for sale. He put in a class act performance in all three phases finishing behind the leader by .5 faults. Indy has only been competing for less than a year and Hannah helped this guy get used to the atmosphere with lots of love. This girl has a thing with horses, if they need a "helper" she is always there, they love her. Especially Indie... however, when he sells I'm not letting her go with him!

Thank you to Kim and Steve for all the help this last week, and thank you to Kara and Robyn for keeping all the horses at home in top notch shape.

On to a big weekend at Plantation Field... come and watch the Wonder Woman and Wonder Pony in the Intermediate and Preliminary divisions.

~Molly Rosin

Home!

Molly and Clyde stopped by to visit the Omega Alpha booth

I have said it a few times and I will say it again: The AEC was a blast! Thank you to all of those who made this event happen: The USEA, Nutrena, Bit of Britain, Chattahoochee Hills and all of the volunteers... thank you!

Molly rode a double clear stadium round on Indie yesterday moving her into fourth place in the Novice Horse division. She was all smiles as she lined up for the awards ceremony. And who was there to present her the award and shake her hand? Why Mr. John Nunn of course!

Congratulations Pam Liddell for owning such a wonderful horse and many thanks for letting Molly compete him. Many onlookers commented on how nice of a horse he is and it just gave us that much more Havarah pride!

However, after Molly took her lap in the victory gallop it was back to business: pack, load the horses, and hit the road! The crew said goodbye to Chattahoochee HIlls at around 11:30 a.m. yesterday and arrived home to a fog-covered landscape at around 2:45 this morning.

Though tired, and somewhat delirious, Molly was happy to walk in her house and find some homemade brownies from next door neighbor Dr. Steve Berkowitz. We are so fortunate to have such lovely neighbors and friends!

I was personally hoping Molly would take the day to relax... maybe veg a little... but hardworking as she is she was back to work and riding as she has horses entered in the Plantation International Horse Trials this weekend.

A life in horses never ends... but that's why we love it!

Yes, I know, another quick post... but I wanted to update you all on how the fabulous Indie did. See you this weekend at Plantation!

AEC Update

I can't believe it. There is only one day left of the Nutrena/USEA American Eventing Championships Presented by Bit of Britain.

It seems like the time has flown, and we can't believe a week has gone by so fast! The venue is absolutely beautiful and we at Havarah are overwhelmed with the maintenance and hospitality of the Chattahoochee Hills Eventing Facility.

Thank you to the USEA for holding the eighth annual AEC. Obviously, we all love the sport of Eventing and this championship gives everyone, upper to lower levels, a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Most importantly, the Havarah crew has had a BLAST here! This was a great learning experience for both prelim horses. Benny put in a fantastic stadium round for Molly today making her one of the few double clear rounds in her division. Rivan learned a lot from this event and we believe he will only continue to grow from this experience.

Maddie put in her usual class-act performance atop Carson, and although she wasn't boosted into the ribbons she finished on a fabulous ride and completed her first AEC! I would say she has reached all of the goals she has set for herself this year.

John Nunn really let his hair down this week. Seeing as he had both of his Bit of Britain areas covered, he was able to compete, for the first time, in the AEC. He put in a solid dressage test, improving a lot from the beginning of the season.

His cross country round was phenomenal. He road like a professional and ended up receiving the Technical Merit Award from Charles Owen meaning judges believed his ride was the best out of his training division. Today's stadium allowed him to finish on his dressage score and put the cherry on top of a glorious weekend for John and Smilelikeyoumeanit.

Hannah has yet again proved she has some major skills as a groom (no shock there :) ) and thanks to Steve and Kim Parisan who served as Hannah's helpers all weekend.

Molly will ride Indie tomorrow, who currently sits in 6th after cross country. According to Molly and Hannah Indie's cross country round made the course look like a walk in the park.

After her ride the crew will then pack everything and everyone into the truck and trailer and head back on their 14 hour trip back to PA.

What an amazing trip. For those of you back home stay tuned for the many pictures which will be sure to come!

At the AEC!

Well the good news is I have internet... the bad news is it's crazy busy here so I apologize for delayed blogging!

Yes, the Havarah Team all made it safe and sound!

Everyone arrived at the beautiful Chattahoochee Hills Eventing Center on Tuesday and we must say: the facility is impressive.

The crew got the horses all settled in and hand-walked, with John Nunn leading Smiley behind a golf cart... this was either laziness or brilliance as I told him... and so not P.C.

But anyways... everyone wore a smile Tuesday because A) the long trip was over and B) we get to be at the AEC!

Dressage went underway today and tomorrow is the best part: Cross Country! With Molly competing Indie at Novice she will have two cross-country rides and one dressage ride tomorrow.

John had a great test today and is overwhelmed and excited to be competing at a tremendous event which he's backed since its inception.

Well, that's all for now... sorry for the short post but I figured you all were worried about us and wanted to know we made it down here safely! :).

I will do my best to keep you in the know for the rest of the weekend!

Hope all those at home are staying dry....

Seneca Recap Round Two

It was a busy day for the Havarah crew yesterday at Seneca with eight horses. But it was a good one.

Molly claimed first place on Kynymont Sterling O'Grady and in the same division she took fourth on Delaware Love Doctor which is awesome considering this was his first event!

Her other two rides on Kynymont Cody and Alpine were good as well, just a couple of green moments with both horses but they will only continue to get better!

Bryce and Hannah were pretty proud of their rides at their first recognized event with their mounts. Both came in seventh and had great rides.

Miss Maddie gave Zia an incredible first show and they finished up double clean cross country and show jumping!

Lastly, Robin was a rock star for her first time grooming at a show. With Hannah riding, it was up to her to make those horses sparkle and she did a great job!

The crew was running around like energizer bunnies today furiously packing for the American Eventing Championships. Halters were fuzzified so no one gets nasty rubs on the 14 hour ride to GA, Molly's entire tack room (well pretty much) was loaded into the trailer and all four horses were getting prepped for travel.

Now it's time for the crew to hit the road tonight and drive straight through the long hours. The crew will arrive at Chattahoochee Hills tomorrow and then it will be a crazy buzz to get all the horses settled in and the tack room set up.

Again, if you're going to be down south for the AEC make sure to say hi! Otherwise stay tuned because I'm sure it's going to be a crazy good time with lots to talk about!

AECs or Bust!

On Tuesday five horses from the Havarah crew will leave PA and head for Fairburn, GA for the eighth annual Nutrena/USEA American Eventing Championships Presented by Bit of Britain.

The little rock star, Miss Maddie, has been talking AEC since we met her back in December. Like she was bound and determined to make it to training level (which she did) she had a goal set on qualifying for the AEC (which she did... again).

Molly originally was just going to fly down and train Maddie but instead decided that since she had three horses qualified, what the heck! It's great exposure for all three horses and it will be a great experience for them.

Benny and Rivan will fight for number one in the preliminary divisions while Indie will be easily galloping around the novice course.

John Nunn also decided that since he had his handy PR girl there to man the BOB Publicity tent (Moi) that he would actually use his qualification and ride for the training gold.

It's a long haul (14 hrs) but us California transplants view these shows as a vacation. It reminds us of the good old days when all the shows were three days, thus constant long weekends including dinners with your barn family.

Plus, none of us have been to Chattahoochee Hills and since we've been hearing all the great reviews we thought we'd go check it out for ourselves :).

But even before Tuesday, the crew is heading to Seneca tomorrow (I don't know how they do it... just thinking about all the showing makes me feel tired... they must actually be REALLY tired!).

Molly will be riding some new-eventers: Delaware Love Doctor "Doc", Kynymont Cody "Cody", Kynymont Sterling O'Grady "Grady", and Alpine "Piny", These baby eventers will be testing the waters beginner novice, all four show great promise in this line of work.

Maddie will also be taking Zia Zabbata "Zia" to her first event and Quinn Anderson will be riding her pony Google. John Nunn is taking his new ex-racehorse "Red Horse Harry" to his first recognized event and John's daughter, Jennifer, will be riding her appaloosa mare Made to Show "Maiden".

Last but not least, Hannah is doing her first recognized event on her young mare, Anna's Band "Anna".

So tomorrow should be a nice, fun show for everyone and then pack up and head to Georgia!

If you're going to be down south for the AEC make sure to look for us and come hang out!

To check out Molly's ride times at the AEC go to The Chattahoochee Hills Website.

I'll try and keep you all up to date when we are down there, however no promises... I'm not sure how the internet situation will be... if not I'm sure there will be a live scoring that you can stalk us all with :).

That's all for now! Can you believe it is already September?