Me & Covey in Autumn of '97

Cover Girl

~Cov-Cov, Clover Girl, Covey Darling, Cova-Gurl, Clover, Pony Butt, Girlie Girl~

1982, 16h.h., Bay, Throughbred Mare, with a blaze and a front left sock.
The Wonderful Covey!

Cover Girl, who's barn name is Covey, is registered in the Canadian Sport Horse Association under the name Annandale.

I was lucky enough to buy Covey on September 27, 1997 and I've had her ever since! She was born on April 27, 1982, at Murecroft Farms in Duntroon, Ontario, Canada and her breeder's name is Patsy Eastmuir. While she was with Ms. Eastmuir, she was bred to a Hannoverian stud, Lorbas, and had a foal on May 22, 1986! Her foal's name is Lovat, and I have yet to find any further information on him.

Covey is a *wonderful* horse. She has a very cuddly personality, and she is great with little kids. Cov's also very smart and doesn't let silly things phase her. This does sometimes present a problem, however, when I leave my Dad alone with her...haha, one day, he went over to her see her while I was riding Honey in a lesson and he left her stall door open a bit while he went to do something. Well, the next thing he saw was her butt disappearing out the barn door :) Instead of running, she walked only fast enough so that he couldn't catch her and then she "turned herself out" in the paddock behind her barn. It was pretty cute!

Us showing at Win-A-Gin in May of '98.

Right now, Madam Cover Girl hehe, lives at Crescent Ridge Farm in Metamora, Michigan, along with my other horse, Honey. She's enjoying being turned out about 8 hours a day (lately it's been a lot more) with her best buddy Breeze. It's just the two of them in their turnout group now, but since she's been at Crescent Ridge, she has been turned out with Breeze, Snerra, Demi, Willow, and Celeste...but not all at the same time!

Not only is MY BABY Covey one of the sweetest mares you will ever find, she is also one of the prettiest. :) ok ok, so my opinion may be a little biast, but she really does have nice conformation, and she's so cute...I find myself wanting to take pictures of her all the time! Heck, she has to be good since she was approved by the Canadian Sport Horse Registry.

"Legend has it" hehe, not really legend, but I *heard* that when she was younger and lived in Metamora near where she is now, she could clear 3'6" and up jumps with ease but was quite the handful. Apparently she jumped one of the well known local trainers right out of the tack! (that means she jumped so big that the trainer just fell off..hehe)

Covey with Lovat and Caitlin Rollins in Ontario in 1986

Anyway, Covey is and was my first horse. It was such a gigantic thrill for me to finally have my very own horse...and I guess that's part of the reason I'm so attached to her, but then again, I think she could melt anyone's heart! When I bought her, my trainers planned for me to show her on the Michigan Hunter/Jumper Association's (MHJA) "C" circuit in the Primary and Intermediate Junior divisions. I had a magnificent first few months with her, it seemed like we would be an unstoppable (no pun intended, for those of you who know our story) pair once we knew each other better. Turns out though..that she had a lot worse arthritis than the trainers let on. We had her vetted out, but I don't think they specifically took x-rays, the vet just looked at her ones from the previous year. Anyway, we kind of had an up and down show season BUT when Covey was feelin' good we did very well.:) She helped me to earn a 3rd Place in both Intermediate and Primary Junior Equitation on the flat at the 1998 MHJA Banquet!

This picture was taken in November of 1998 at the MHJA Banquet! I'm proudly disaplying the two year end awards I got.

Look at that, she even put up with me when I had to wear a brace and could barely get myself around when I came out to the barn to see my ponies.

At the North Adams show, Covey got 2nd in her first Special Hunter O/F and 1st in her second Special Hunter O/F, earning her Special Hunter Champion for the weekend, despite having to come out of our first flat class on Sunday because she was lame :( I told my trainers all weekend that she didn't look quite right, and they didn't believe me I guess...they were very controlling. Poor girl. It was after this show that she never came back quite all the way. We took her to the September show at Four Winds for just flat classes and she was excellent on schooling day, but she ended up being off for the show :(

Some special things about Covey are the white/gold spot of fur about the size of an egg on the underside of her belly. It's really cute :) She also has an indentation on the right side of her side. When we had Yvonne Wolfe, a woman who gives equine massages, come out to do Covey, she said she thought she must have gotten kicked as a foal. Poor little girl! Covey's *ears* are quite large. She wouldn't be the same without them and I love 'em, but I must admit they almost look like mule ears! I used to get ragged on all the time by Angela for how big her chestnuts - a growth just on the inside of their knees - were, but it wasn't my fault. They were already quite long when I got her, and she hates when I try to pick them. Her leg twitches if I even touch her there, and when I try to pick a piece off she stomps. I eventually did get them off though, thanks goodness, they were starting to weigh her down :) Now I try to get them taken care of as quickly as possible so they never get really long and I've gotten better at avoiding Covey's stomps, hehe.