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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Blue Canyon Ceramics Co.

7/2/2019

 
There is nothing I like better than to brag on the cool things people are doing, especially if it is someone I know. Yeah, it's cool to share about my own great scores and ribbons, but it is so much more inspiring for ME when I get to see people I actually know being super successful.  
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A Blue Canyon Ceramics Co. original.
To illustrate my point, do you all know about Lehua Custer? She was recently awarded the 2019 Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize in the amount of $25,000. While we're not "friends," I do see her at shows and have chatted with her on a number of occasions. She's incredibly nice and deserves all of the success she's experiencing. Meeting people who are outstanding at what they do always inspires me to reach for more than what I think I can do.
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Lehua Custer and F. J. Ramzes - Photo from Lehua's FaceBook page
Enter my friend Amy of Blue Canyon Ceramics Co. Amy is a geologist by trade, a mom by day, a barn owner by choice, and a horse girl bitten by the same bug that got all the rest of us. In addition to the ice business she and her significant other own and manage, Amy has also launched a new Etsy store, hopefully to be followed soon by a brick and mortar ceramics center.

I chose the word "center" because Amy eventually hopes to run a bit of a working school/supply store/pottery for sale shop here in Bakersfield. I have no doubt that it will be a great success.
Picture
Amy at her wheel "throwing a pot."
Right now, Amy is working out of a small studio she had built just steps from her barn. She has a pottery wheel of course, as well as her own kiln. Her studio is filled with clays of different varieties, glazes, and products in all stages of completion.
Picture
A few of the bowls Amy made while I was riding.
Amy is currently experimenting with a variety of clay types - I love the speckled clay she's currently using, as well as with mixing her own glazes for truly custom pieces. Even her "cast-offs," the pieces she feels aren't nice enough to sell, were beautifully rendered and glazed.
Picture
Two of the pieces I brought home made from the speckled clay.
Amy's Etsy store, Blue Canyon Ceramics Co, was just launched this year, but she's building her inventory daily. While she has items ready-made, her favorite pieces to do are custom orders. All she needs to create a beautiful piece is a "Can you make me a ... ?" Done!
Picture
A custom order in progress.
Surprisingly, prices for her creations, custom or ready-made, run from as low as $20 to $40 for more detailed projects. Her pieces are dishwasher, microwave, and oven-safe. The serving pieces I brought home are too beautiful to put in the dishwasher though. In fact, I left them out on my counter top for several days just so that I could look at them and smile.
While we were talking, I asked Amy for some photos of her working at her wheel. When I realized she was going to actually make something, I quickly switched to video and watched as she created a lovely bowl large enough for pasta or salad or just something to catch your keys and make you smile. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's fired and glazed. I have dibs on that one, Amy!
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If you'd like to see more of Amy's work, you can visit her Etsy store, Blue Canyon Ceramics Co. Or, if you'd like something custom made for yourself or as a gift, simply give her call at 661-433-4472.

​I am loving that horseshoe motif ...
Cait link
7/2/2019 09:11:23 am

Her stuff is really lovely! Do you know if she's got an email address? I'd love to order something (my mom would ADORE that speckled clay!) but I'd rather order direct than support Etsy.

Bakersfield Dressage link
7/2/2019 10:50:49 am

But of course! I am actually having lunch with her today, so I’ll be sure to share your comment with her. :0)
bluecanyonceramics.com

Bakersfield Dressage
7/2/2019 10:52:34 am

Oops! Trying this again!!! bluecanyonceramics@gmail.com

Cait link
7/2/2019 07:28:32 pm

Thank you! :D My mother is SUPER HARD to shop for so when I see something that speaks to me for her, I tend to jump on it!

Robert Carbone
10/12/2019 03:05:56 pm

I would like to sign up

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/23/2019 07:30:58 am

She's now running regular classes. Give her a call. :0)


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
    ​Welcome to my dressage journey.
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    Photo by Lori Ovanessian

    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
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    July 2020 (PC AJSK Photography)

    About Izzy

    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
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    March 2021 (PC Tess Michelle Photography)

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    FOR THE SMALLER EQUINE ATHLETE
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Site Designed and Managed by: Karen Sweaney

Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
    • Shopping List
  • Home