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All about a horse

Quiet Victory Farm: Small Farm, Big Impact

February 21, 2019 by Mary1991 4 Comments

Vicki Peters, Owner/Trainer/Manager

Quiet Victory Farm is one of the best-kept secrets in Hopewell Valley! Though you can catch a glimpse of the farm from the main road, the entrance is tucked inside a bucolic neighborhood. For many years, I drove past not realizing what a hidden gem it was for the serious equestrian. When I was looking for a new barn a couple of years ago, it was then I decided to see what Quiet Victory had to offer.

My first impression of QVF was that there was a strong sense of order. Blankets were folded on the doors, halters were hung in a precise way and the horses were all in show condition. I was pleased to see my lesson was an older Dutch Warmblood named Captain. He was exactly the type of horse I was looking for. One who had been there and done that. Though Captain had been unsuccessful as a Grand Prix jumper, he did carry his rider well in the Big Eq.division. Captain went through a few more owners before Vicki acquired him and he needed a lot of TLC. Vicki, brought him back and he showed successfully locally before being retired from the show ring. Captain still works regularly because he is happiest when he has a job. Besides, just because your older doesn’t mean you have to let yourself go!

These last two seasons at QVF, I’ve witnessed what Vicki does best– matchmaking riders to horses and then prepping them for the show ring. It’s remarkable how she can take a handful of students to A-shows and consistently place well. It’s a tradition for the ribbons to be hung on the stall doors (so the horses can brag when no one is in earshot) and they make for a colorful Monday morning.

Vicki and a few of her students schooling at Saugerties
One last photo was taken before leaving HITS Saugerties. It was a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whenever I meet someone who is good at what they do, I’m always curious to learn how they got their start and it was interesting to hear Vicki’s story. She began by saying Thom Hardy was a big mentor during her early years, however, she always had the dream to become a jockey.

At the track, you begin as a groom before you are allowed to ride, and this is exactly what Vicki did. Here she learned how to supple and finesse a horse the correct way to establish fitness and muscle. She also gained valuable experience working with young horses, wrapping legs and everything else that goes on in the backstretch before earning her jockey’s license. 

After meeting her need for speed, she left racehorses to manage a barn in New Hope. When the opportunity came to work for Kevin Babington, Vicki jumped at the chance. While he was in Florida on the Sunshine Circuit, she stayed behind and taught the students who stayed home. It was then that she realized how much she enjoyed teaching. After being with Kevin, she managed a few more barns. During this time, she developed her own training program. She left management so she could cultivate her own teaching style. The next barn she was to manage was her own, Quiet Victory Farm.

In thirty years, Vicki has worked with hundreds of riders, from leadline to Intercollegiate. A few of her riders have gone pro, and one is a top Grand Prix rider. Two have won the Cacchione Cup (the highest level of Intercollegiate) and now are trainers at big barns. And of course, she works with a few die-hard older riders who want to continue at the highest level their bodies will allow. Of course, I’m not going to mention names!

The last question I asked Vicki was how did she come up with the name for the farm? My first guess was it was the name of a racehorse but I was wrong. The name came about when Vicki went out on her own. She had a student, who although was well connected socially in her current barn, suffered from major confidence issues under saddle. She came to Vicki for secret lessons throughout that show season and made huge improvements,  leading to a championship in the adult hunters at WEF (Winter Equestrian Festival) and everyone at her barn was shocked. The woman then said, ”this only happened because of you Vicki, but has to be our Quiet Victory”, making Vicki promise to not tell anyone.

As sad as this secret was to keep, it should be no secret that Quiet Victory Farm is an ideal barn for the serious rider. If you are looking for a barn where your horse will be given the utmost care and you want to ride at your highest level, don’t hesitate to check out QVF.

Me and Captain

Filed Under: All about a horse

Have dog, will travel

July 30, 2015 by Mary1991 1 Comment

Trapper puppy
Trapper puppy

When I was 20, I was fortunate to spend six-months as a working student with an Olympic dressage rider. Because I had only ridden hunters and came with no previous dressage experience, I really wasn’t an ideal candidate, however, I’m pretty sure she was swayed by her other working student who said I was the only one that could carry two full water buckets, so I got the job. Unfortunately, I never really hit it off with my boss. After a long brutal Boston winter, I knew the exact moment when she decided to let me go. While I was repairing, or should I say patching, a fence again, she rode up to me on a horse, put her hand on her hip and watched me struggle. This lasted for several minutes. Finally, I said “do you want to tell me how you would like this fence fixed, or do you want to tell me after I am done?”.  As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew I was doomed. This was so disrespectful!  I was young, but there is no excuse. Even though she let me go, I do have the utmost respect for her. She was a single mom working in a tough business. At this time, the big money was with the hunters and jumpers than in the dressage discipline. With that said, any good hunter rider worth their salt has a dressage foundation. (After I had left, I learned that she had hired her German trainer’s young daughter. Word was, she didn’t work at all).  It was during the winter at this farm, when I adopted my first dog, Trapper. [Read more…] about Have dog, will travel

Filed Under: All about a horse, Back story

Is the Devon Horse Show being dismantled?

June 7, 2015 by Mary1991 Leave a Comment

IMG_1859Enjoy Devon while it lasts…

The Devon Horse show is the oldest and largest show in the country. It’s an 11-day event which begins the last Thursday of May. The first DHS was held in 1896, but it wasn’t until 1919 that the County Fair was added. Together they have donated over $47 million to the Bryn Mawr Hospital.  Every spring, over 100,000 people attend the show and 2,000 people volunteer to work. Unfortunately, there is a plan underway that will effect the show grounds by developing an adjoining parcel of land.  How ironic that by building a town center they will be losing the identity of the community.

meeting Rodney, 1977
meeting Rodney, 1977

The first time I went to Devon was in the early 1970’s. It was the one day a year my Mom let me play hooky while we enjoyed a mother/daughter day. George Morris, Rodney Jenkins, Bernie Traurig, Conrad Holmfeld, Katie Monahan, Norman Della Joio, Michael Matz. Joe Fargis and Buddy Brown (a personal favorite), were the people to study*.  Mom wasn’t a rider, but she had a good eye. The years she spent watching my lessons must have paid off because she could pick the top three horses out of a large class.  We enjoyed the in-hand classes, shaky tails (slang for 3 and 5 gaited horses. No disrespect intended), ladies side saddle and whatever was scheduled on our day.  Where Mom enjoyed watching the four in-hand carriage horses, I loved the hunters.  We both, however, looked forward to the Grand Prix jumpers.  Back in the day, it was Rodney Jenkins and Idle Dice that captivated the crowds. [Read more…] about Is the Devon Horse Show being dismantled?

Filed Under: All about a horse Tagged With: All about a horse

Tallyho!

April 17, 2015 by Mary1991 Leave a Comment

Cheers, the bar where everyone knows your name. That is how I feel when I go to the barn in the morning. The horses nicker in anticipation for their morning feed. When you have to explain this to the young barn help, then you know you are old. It seems incredulous that someone wouldn’t know that reference?

IMG_2947 IMG_0424 IMG_8878George’s owner wants to take him to a Hunter Pace in a couple of weeks. A hunter pace is a competition that mimics a Foxhunt. The organizers of the event determine the winning time by having an experienced fox hunter ride the course to determine what the ideal pace/time would be.  Last year, George went too fast by 10 minutes. They must have been hauling!

We’ve not worked very hard this winter. Today I started to leg him up, get him fit. We didn’t ride longer, just moved with purpose. George and I had a good work-out and we both ended up huffing and puffing.

So happy that winter is behind us. When the temps dipped below 20,  I deemed it too cold to ride. Just not pleasant even with an indoor ring. The horses don’t mind the cold as much as the rider. When wearing gloves and I can’t feel my hands, it’s too cold for me.

I hope I’m not jinxing by saying this, so far we have had a balmy spring. The next warm day, will give George a bath and pull his mane.  He must look his best when he goes to the show.

Tally ho!

Filed Under: All about a horse Tagged With: All about a horse

Inspiring rider and her faithful dog

September 17, 2014 by Mary1991 Leave a Comment

The Chronicle of the Horse featured this rider and their service dog Journey

“There have been a lot of bumps along the road, but I’ve done my best to roll with them and keep on track.  I’ve always seen it as no matter what happens to me physically, as long as I can share the bond that I have with horses.”

 

 

Filed Under: All about a horse Tagged With: All about a horse

Mind your Poodles

August 8, 2014 by Mary1991 Leave a Comment

This is exactly how one has to persevere when they have a learning disability! You may not see the results now, you may have to wait years  to see how it all comes together.

  • “I propose a new word, one that means an obstacle to be overcome eventually, through consistent and diligent application of aids that, while they will absolutely not, under any circumstances, achieve the desired result today, will eventually work, and the rider just needs to have faith and get a grip and keep plugging away at it and, when she’s seriously considering quitting and taking up alpaca farming instead, she should remember that the real solution is five-or-so years of this and that there’s nothing she can really do to expedite the process anyway.”

By blogger Lauren Sprieser

Love this blogger…must follow!

http://www.laurensprieser.com/

Filed Under: All about a horse Tagged With: All about a horse

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