UPDATES
The year 2005-2006 has been a busy year for us at Hooves, we have made some new found both four and two legged friends and  said a fond farewell to goodbye to some of our old friends!

 To date the Tropical weather seems to have held up and although there have been a couple of near misses in the last year, we have not seen the likes of anything like Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

 We are now also listed as the number 2 Jamaica attraction on TripAdvisor.com, something that we are very proud of as we are considerably smaller than other similar attractions in the area, number one attraction is of course Dunns River Falls.  We would like to thank all of our guests that have reviewed us on this site.

 In November 2005, we  were asked to help the owners, on a consultancy basis,  with a Trail riding attraction on the South Coast of Jamaica.  We have spent many hours training their staff and getting the horses in a suitable condition for the job in hand, in addition to redefining their product.  If you are going to the South Coast of Jamaica, do please stop in at Font Hill attractions and enjoy their beach ride!

 We would like to thank all of our supporters and guests who have ridden with us this year. If you haven’t already done so, we look forward to seeing you at Hooves and sharing our product with you!!

Tina and Hero at the
World Dressage Challenge 2006

January 2006 saw the arrival of a young lady from England, who was on her gap year whilst taking a degree in Equine Science.  Lucy spent six months with us, schooling some of our horses and generally helping us out with the trail riding, she was a great help and we miss her!  She had some stories to take back to England with her, including the operation on a horse, to remove a piece of broken nasal bone, in the confines of our sand arena! Now back and studying hard, Lucy is hoping to get on her University’s riding team, and feels that her experience riding all the different horses at Hooves will stand her in good stead for the trials!

Stina from Sweden came to us, on a Swedish Government scholarship for four months. During this time she learnt about the uses of horses in the tourism industry and saw the practical implications of horses in therapy.  During this time she also worked with rehabilitating a new horse that we got from the track, Fiasco.  Stina returned to Sweden in August with some new found knowledge, and is hoping to get a placement at a stables in England.

  
        Carmen showing off                                Carmen and Stevie
             her riding style

Stina shows off her ribbons

Lucy hanging out with Palloma

RICK ALBERTSON RETURNS
Rick Albertson came over for clinics in both January and March, and once again his clinics helped with the continued schooling of Heart of a Hero, who stepped up a test this year to the FEI Advanced level, the only one entrant in this class he gave a creditable test and both FEI judges were amazed at how far the horse had come.

Tina went to visit Rick in Upsate New York with daughter Kiara, she had a fabulous time watching Rick giving clinics to a whole gamut of riders and horses, it just goes to show how versatile he is!!!  Tina even managed to get a catch ride on one of his students horses, and had a clinic herself.  Rick is working on his beautiful Hannoverian gelding  “Murray” and hopes to bring him out at Prix St Georges next year, that will mean that visits to Jamaica for clinics will be somewhat curtailed. He has however, rustled up a group of eight of his lady students who will coming out to Jamaica in January 2007 for a weeks worth of riding on our Riding Vacation package, should be fun!!!.

Tina's lesson with
Rick in New York

 FOND FAREWELL TO OUR TRAINER
Instructor Suzy Sheppard  left us in October 2005 to go freelance in Equine massage and the breaking and schooling of horses. She still visits us at weekends and teaches Tina and Kiara, and is now employed full time with Orange Valley estates who breed Thorougbred racehorses.  We wish her all the best and know that she will bring a wealth of knowledge into her new position.

HOOVES SAYS GOODBYE TO SOME OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND WELCOMES A FEW BACK!
in August 2005, we sadly lost our horse Apollo to colic.  Apollo was initially bought for the trail riding, and this unconventional looking horse, soon proved that  “handsome is as handsome does”, and this little gelding could jump.  (See his pictures on the riding lessons page) he soon became Kiaras jumping horse, and sadly passed away the day after he won the coveted “Comet Trophy” at the Hi-Pro sponsored show. We miss him terribly and he was always hold a special place in our heart.

 Pony jumper, Valiant, had to be put down in June, after a freak accident in the field which left him with a broken cannon bone.  Another very talented pony, this came as a shock to us, and we still do not know how it happened.  He was the favourite of many with his quirky little ways and heaps of personality.  May he rest in peace in the big pasture in the sky!

On a brighter note Rocket and Monday who had been with us on loan, at the Mountain location,  for over a year and were returned to their owner in the summer of 2005, are now back with us.  These two horses are the son and daughter of Monday Morning, our only dun, at the beach location.  They are now down with their mother at Seville learning how to become seahorses!!

We miss you Apollo!

Our jumping pony - Valiant