2002: What Dreams May Come

Where do I begin? This year was one of the most rewarding of my life with these horses. We made so many new and fantastic friends, achieved goals we never dreamed of reaching, brought new lives into this world, and had one HECK of a lot of FUN!!!

This page and the stories on the attached pages will evolve over the next few weeks. Keep checking back as I will be adding to it each time I sit down for a few moments.

All of our successes this year cannot be attributed to any one person. We were truly a team, and proved that teamwork RULES! Thanks go out from Cassie and I to each and every member of "Team Starstruck." I can't wait to see what you guys accomplish in 2003!

Below is a list of the highlights. Click on the links to see photos from each occasion.

The season began with almost everyone having a debut at the BRAHA Spring Show. What a great place to dust off the cobwebs or give the novices their first horse show experience. Nina and Lucy did great in the jumping classes, we had new costumes to show off in Native Costume, and our horses dominated the hack classes in the afternoon! The Bhadurihaucks got a quick lesson in what horse shows are all about, and were old hands by the second and third shows.

Next came the HHSA Opening Show. Surprise, Toni and Lauren were the only ones to show, but all did VERY well!

The Mason-Dixon Classic was the end of April, and we took both PX and Sohn. Torrential rains had turned the rings into a lake, which made Sohn keep swapping leads behind through puddles. His courses were, for the most part, below average. PX on the other hand, was Champion! Debbi and the boys came with us to watch and were a great help.

The first of the EAAHSC Shows, a weekend combining NE Md and SC PA regions was next and goodness did we have a great weekend!

Next, Cassie and I decided to drive to NJ with PX for the NJHAHA Class A show. We arrived while it was still dark out, napped a while, then woke up just in time to finish braiding and warm up. PX did fairly well against some tough competition, ending up Reserve Champion.

We all went to the Easy Rider's 4-H Club show in June, and again we had a terrific time. Alot of "firsts" and alot of learning and fun.

The EAAHSC Show at Fair Hill was next, gorgeous weather this year, and everyone did well. Sohn pulled a muscle in his butt on Saturday and had to be scratched, but was well enough the next day to compete and win Reserve Champion! The kids had really gotten their acts together and were super also! Cassie showed off her new costume, and did well!

That very weekend, the unthinkable happened. Binty, Sohn's mom, dropped a colt foal by PX, a complete and utter surprise to all of us. (The vet had declared in August that she was empty, so I sold her to someone as a babysitter.) She was in Delaware at the time, and we would spend a few months in emotional turmoil wondering if we would ever see him, let alone have him be ours. After all we had been through to get him here, it was heartwrenching to not know!

The end of June brought our FAVORITE Pa. Jr/Amateur Games Class A show. We took Par, PX and Sohn and camped out in our trailer for the weekend. They had added a second show on Sunday, the PAHA Sporthorse Show, which we also entered with our working hunters. Sohn was not 100% yet, but PX and Par were SUPERSTARS!!

Right after that came our big trip to Lexington, VA and the Region 15 Championships. We got a hotel room for 2 nights, as the weather was horribly hot. The judging was a little funky, but PX again was Champion in the Open and Reserve in the JTR, and Sohn (feeling AWESOME) was Reserve Champion in the ATR. (He loves that rubber footing!)

The Central Md. EAAHSC Show in Dillsburg was next, and we hauled up to that both days also. Only Toni, Lauren, Cassie and I went, as some folks were away on vacation. Cassie and I were first and second in the Hack both days, and Par and Mirage were stars!

The Harford 4-H Farm Fair was our next show, with Senior day first. Conformation with Lucy and Rain went very well, as both won their classes. Lucy went great over fences for the most part, but had a few moments here and there that were silly. All in all, Cassie was happy with everyone! The Junior day got rained out after Showmanship, and postponed until August.

East Coast was next, and we took only Par and PX this year. Again, it was ungodly hot! Par was awesome, although the judging was funny, and PX was Champion in Open and Reserve in ATR. Par did win a huge Hunter Pleasure JTR Championship Class, meriting a trip to the "spit box" for drug testing. Kim came with us the whole weekend and was a great help.

Whew....next was Howard County Fair. Arabian day was blast! There were open classes too, so we took EVERYONE. What a great show! And the party afterwards was made more memorable by Scott's performance at the car wash.

Howard County Fair's Hunter Breeder show was that same week and we took Rain and Chance with Jet there. Our guys did GREAT against some really stiff competition!

In the middle of all this, Snickers came into heat and we bred her to the full brother of the dog we bred her to in January. Pups would be due in October!

The make up day for the Farm Fair dawned clear and hot, but everyone was ready. Surprise wound up Reserve Grand Champion in Conformation to everyone's delight! Anjuli worked hard on Ginger, although the pony wasn't the most cooperative thing. Erika and PA had a FAST course in the Pleasure, but had improved a good deal over the summer!

Our very favorite EAAHSC show was next, HARRINGTON (aka Margaritaville). What a party that was! What a great show also! Surprise won a Handy Hunter class to everyone's delight!

Around this time, we sent in our entries for U.S. Nationals, after I was really on the fence about whether or not to go this year...glad I did!

Kim started her search for her next horse, PA Solidor, about this time...read about that here! After returning from that trip, I found out that we would indeed become the proud owners of Binty's foal...we were ecstatic!

The Maryland Futurity was next, with Rain showing beautifully and placing very well! We also hit a local schooling show, just for fun and mileage, but the day was loooong and dragged out, and we didn't get to do all we had hoped. Surprise won a jumping class out of 30 entries though! Cassie even showed Par over fences successfully for the first time!

The last of the EAAHSC shows, Southern Maryland, was next, with us driving down both days, and absolutely kicking butt the whole weekend! Great food again, great photos, great ending to the season!

The Final HHSA show followed, witih the kids doing really well, and me showing PX and Sohn, just as a tune up for Nationals.

Suddenly, it was time to head off to Louisville. What an awesome experience it was....read our story here. Who would have guessed we would be CHAMPION!?!?!?! And Sohn getting Top Ten, and Cass getting Top Ten too!

In the midst of all that, Snickers had her six puppies at my mom's house! And on the day we showed in Kentucky!

Here are a few of our year end awards banquet photos. I promise to get them more organized as time allows.

BRAHA Awards

(l to r) Lauren and Toni Over, Peggy, Kim Ruppert, Cassie and Anjuli Bhadurihauck.

EAAHSC Awards Banquet

Peggy, Kim Ruppert, Lauren & Toni Over, Anjuli Bhadurihauck, Kayla Yi, Billy Chapman, and Cassie.

SSF Girls:Leena Bhadurihauck, Kim Ruppert, Toni Over, Peggy, Cassie and Debbi Chapman.

The KIDS! Alex Bhadurihauck, Lauren Over, Peggy, Anjuli Bhadurihauck, Cassie, Curtis and Billy Chapman.