Kids working for their success

An invitation to a party and a fundraiser -- how great it is to see two 15 year old kids taking the initiative, going into town and getting donations for their silent auction, and planning the day of fun and fundraising. Do come join us on Sunday with Tina Konyot, Courtney King and  Young Rider Reserve National Champion Meagan Davis riding her freestyle.

On Sunday, July 12 at Sunnyfield Farm in Bedford (825 S. Bedford Rd, 10506) renowned international Dressage trainer Tina Konyot will be teaching a clinic all morning.

Starting at 12:30 there will be a luncheon (with a suggested donation) and participants may eat while watching the horses. There will be a performance by Tina on her Grand Prix horse. Olympian and two time world cup competitor Courtney King Dye will address the audience at about 1:30. Two young riders who are trying to raise funds so they may compete in the Youth Dressage Festival as well as their regional championships will ride with commentary by Lendon Gray, two time Olympic rider and trainer.

For the luncheon please RSVP to Heather Ward at heatherton2000@yahoo.com or call 914 234-6302.

In the afternoon during and after the performances there will be a silent auction to raise funds for Megan Heeder and Rachel Chowanec’s journey to equestrian success. These two girls are willing to work hard washing cars, baby sitting, trunk cleaning, whatever they can do to finance their dream this year.

There will be refreshments available all afternoon as well as face painting and other activities for kids.

The program and activities should be fun for all from the grandparents to the kids; for Dressage experts to those who simply love to watch horses. Come and bring the family and your neighbors.

Below is part of the list of auction items. Contact Lendon if you would like to place a bid before the auction
a private tour of the MET permanent collection for 4, followed by lunch in the Trustees' dining room overlooking Central Park - donated by Francine Walker
Custom Hand-Painted Portrait of your animal by Jeanne Pacchiana
2 Consulting Sessions with Tammy Vankrevlen. See website for more information: http://intuitiveadvancements.com
Afternoon of sailing lessons down the Hudson River for up to 6 people donated by the Jennings family
Fancy Belt and $250 Gift Card to L’Armoire, New Canaan
Cooking Class for 6 with Jackie Hijkoop
Chef for Dinner Party by Jackie Hijkoop
Colored Pencil Sketch done by Laura Satterfield; with horse and owner or from photo
Various styles of custom-made jewelry donated by Ingrid Taff
Activate Your Horse’s Core autographed by author, Hilary Clayton
Michigan State University Children’s Choir CD (featuring Megan)
Handheld CD Player donated by CVS
Night of Babysitting (M & R)
Thinline Saddle Pad donated by Thinline
2 Lessons on Rendezvous 3, Francine Walker’s Grand Prix mare, with Courtney King-Dye
Photography Session by Jayne
Lesson on Simba
Lesson on Mouse
Lesson on Sunny
Lesson on Loui
Lesson on Danny
Lesson on Ivan taught by owner Laura Satterfield
1 Free Clipping by Edgar
Copies of Lessons with Lendon
Copies of Mikhail the Dressage Mouse
Joules Jacket, light blue (Size Large) donated by The Horse Connection
2 Movie Tickets to Bedford Playhouse
MOSS Tack Soap
2 Lessons with Lendon Gray at HW Dressage to new students on their own horses
$25 Gift Certificate to Bedford Hardware
Trailer Cleaning (M & R)
Boot Polishing (M & R)
Tack Trunk Cleaning (M & R)
Tack Cleaning (M & R)
Car Washing (M & R)
2 US PRE polo shirts donated by Hampton Green Farm
Hat with Hampton Green Farm logo
Tote with Hampton Green Farm logo
Handmade Fleece Blanket- purple and black check with horse heads donated by Mrs. Heeder
Gift Certificate from Burts Ives Tackshop in Columbia, CT
Saddle Fitting (Done by Katie Gussenhofen of County Saddlery)
Stabling at CDI at Saugerties, normally $175 for the weekend
1 Week of Camp at Newberry Farm in Columbia, CT, age 2 – 16 donated by Chandra Chowanec
An extra day for your favorite HW Dressage groom (M & R)

I had to share with you all what I did this past weekend. I spent the last three days in Bozeman, Montana teaching a clinic. After doing clinics for the last forty years all over the world I am pretty sure that this is the best one I have ever done.

No, it wasn't because I stayed in a beautiful home where I ate lobster, steak, and shrimp; where I lay in bed at night and woke up in the morning looking out over the most glorious view of the mountains, the trout jumping in the pond, the hordes of pheasant families, the magpies, the hawks, the deer grazing, the groundhogs, and even a badger, and the impressive cloud formations. Well, OK, that may have kept me in a good state of mind.

I worked with 7 riders on 9 horses -- thoroughbreds, warmbloods, an Andalusian, a percheron cross, Morgan -- 4 years old to Grand Prix schoolmaster. That isn't unusual. What was unusual was that there wasn't one horse/rider combination that I had to go back and fix things with. In every case I said, "you can do more -- challenge yourself and your horse more!." They had lovely positions (yeah, there was a tweak needed here and there). What a pleasure to work with horses and riders with really sound basics who haven't pushed and shoved their horses, jammed then together, tried to do things before they were ready. Perhaps it's because there is very little competition available so they are truly riding for the love of it. 

The horses were really so well schooled, so comfortable in their work, and so ready for a challenge. What a pleasure. I can't wait to go back in October.

The other thing I loved was that the riders I had worked with 6 months ago were able to tell me what I had worked on with them then and what was working or not quite working now from the previous lessons. My favorite kinds of students.

I have to say that one of my pet peeves is that people cannot tighten their girths or shorten their stirrups safely and quickly while mounted. I think that most people do not tighten (or at least check) their girths after riding around for a bit. I was always aware if my girth was a bit loose because I could feel the saddle bouncing a bit on the horses back. Tighten the girth and it was easier to sit the trot. 

A rider must be able to quickly adjust the stirrups without taking the foot out and while keeping one hand on the reins and it should take a few seconds only. Sure you'll have to practice to be able to do this. I used to adjust my stirrups while trotting or cantering. :-)

Anyone who feels that this might be too difficult, check out this video: http://www.barnmice.com/video/metropolitan-mounted-police

Make sure you get to the end. What wonderfully trained horses! And riders with independent seats and hands. WOW!

riding to music clinic

Just a quick note to tell you about a clinic we just had with Mike Matson on riding to music -- not developing freestyles specifically, but just have fun, suitable music to listen to when working your horse. The participating riders included one who has trained the most wonderful Grand Prix horse -- a top horse who doesn't go to shows -- to a rider who hadn't cantered around the indoor arena all winter due to fear -- and with the music around and around she went -- to one highly competitive professional with a fourth level horse. Without exception everyone thoroughly enjoyed Mike, his music selection, and his ability to broaden their enjoyment level when they ride. It truly is amazing how the right music can help the rider to relax, to focus, to be aware of the horse's rhythm and tempo, to be distracted from the problems that so often get in the way. I have never had a clinic where riders of every level, professional to very amateur were so pleased with their rides. Each rider now has her own DVD with her own music on it.

He has already been invited back for another clinic on May 3. Mike has a website with lots of music for anyone to try --  www.equimusic.com. The site also gives some help on how to create competition freestyles. 

To Barbados for the USEF and FEI

Here I am flying back from my quick trip to Barbados. The FEI with help from the USET has started a program assisting developing countries in Dressage in hopes that they will be able to create teams for the Pan Am Games. I was asked at the last minute to go to Barbados to observe their riders at the FEI Dressage Challenge.  Two international judges, one from Finland and one from Columbia, have been on the road for about a month, judging shows in Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, Antigua, Bermuda. At each show there are FEI classes for Children, Preliminary. Medium (about 2nd level), Advanced (about 4th Level) and PSG. Each country names 4 riders to be their team before the show starts and then the country with the highest score is the Group winner.

I arrived in the early afternoon and went directly to the jog. They were holding the jog at two venues where almost all of the horses are boarded. We waited in the hot sun for almost an hour because the vet was dealing with an emergency somewhere. The horses went from average paints and appy’s to Swedish warmbloods crossed with their local TB race horses, to imported schoolmasters.  The horses looked well but by our standards were a bit thin (translate into, were not overweight). One rider was bemoaning the difficulties of getting her horse shod properly because there was a week or two where there wasn’t a shoeing nail to be found on the entire island. Not to mention that the farriers don’t have much education in farriery. The jog was fine, a couple were held for the next day. Then the judges went off to the other end of the island for the next part of the jog and I went home with my hosts, Alison and James Elliott. He is the president of the National Federation.  They had a nice home on the top of a hill where the breezes were delightful. Windows are open all the time. They had two little sparrow/finch type birds who fly into and out of the kitchen all the time. Apparently a few years ago they had two pair — one pair came in the windows on one side and the other pair came in from the other side and if they ever met, all hell let loose.

Off to a press conference at the incredibly elegant hotel on the beach where the judges stayed (donated by the Hotel). To no one’s surprise the press was an hour late, but our time was used up when a call came from the chief judge that he did not feel the footing at the second stable which is where the competition was to be held was sufficient and could not be used. So anyone who has ever had anything to do with organizing can now imagine the consternation. But in about an hour’s time the owners of the other stable agreed to hold it, tents, chairs, port-a-potties were organized, competitors were informed and transportation was arranged. There is some rivalry between the two stables as can be imagined, but that was also dealt with. Oops, forgot to tell you about the jog at that stable. A stallion got away from his rider and left......was found 2 hours later, after he had found a girlfriend mare. Someone received a free breeding! Trailering can be a bit of an ordeal since they move their horses very seldom. The trailers and the vehicles pulling them made me a bit nervous now that I am used to our elegant solid trailers and trucks. Since the horses are trailered in, just for the day it can be tough because some horses get pretty up tight trailering and I can certainly understand after driving on the roads. They are barely wide enough for two vehicles, with absolutely no shoulder and the traffic is a bit.... Well let’s just say I as glad I wasn’t driving. They don’t have many lights, but lots of confusing roundabouts.

So we had a wonderful dinner finally, to bed, and on to the show which went well. Most of the riders had nice horses, some could be very competitive with the riders getting a little more help. And Barbados ended up winning their group challenge. I spent Sunday AM writing up my reports for the FEI, the USEF, and the riders.

A bit of Barbados trivia for those who don’t know much about it. It is the easternmost island in the Caribbean, 166 square miles,  was fairly safe while the European countries were fighting over the islands because while it is easy to sail from England to Barbados it is extremely difficult to sail from the other islands there. The island has mongooses, only one type of snake, a harmless garden snake that is pretty rare. The pelicans have become pretty rare because of loss of habitat and appear to be adapting to eating freshwater fish. There is one oil well. Horse racing and polo is very active. Lots of sugar cane fields. The gorgeous coastline beaches with fabulous homes and hotels. Thee interior is pretty unimpressive. Lots of tiny brightly painted homes jammed together with tiny very clean yards, but you weren’t aware of terrible poverty.

It's the end of 2008

Hi all! It's been a long time and the year is almost over. Just before Christmas I started following daily a story about two horses abandoned in the mountains of Alberta above the tree line in 6+ feet of snow and the efforts of rescuers to safe them I wanted to share the storyhttp://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2008/12/29/7871216-sun.html. Some people are just so incredibly wonderful.

I hope that everyone is coming to the Weekend Educational Program that Dressage4kids puts on. We have a truly amazing program this year. A full day just for kids competing at the FEI level or getting ready to. This should be required of all riders planning to try out for NAJYRC (which is being moved to KY, lots closer than CO!) Also a full day on How to Teach -- this is a unique program for all instructors and also should be a requirement.  There is a three sessions series for Supporting (not smothering) your competitor for parents and instructors. We are also honored to have two wonderful vets -- Brendan Furlong will speak about Keeping the Dressage Horse Sound -- he has been the team vet at numerous Olympics, World Games, etc. and Michael Stewart will talk about the new treatments for laminitis as well as the mental and physical aproach to preventing burnout in the horse. There will be special programs for pony clubbers and special sessions for little kids. There are also sessions just for parents. And general talks cover stable management, riding theory, judging, and going to the Olympics as a Groom. All the info will be on the dressage4kids website shortly. And best of all thanks to very generous sponsorship the fees are very low.

I want to thank all the amazing people who have been part of my life in 2008. None of the things for which I get credit would happen without the efforts of many people behind the scenes. Those who have written me lovely notes, Thank You. Those of you who have challenged me, I thank you. Those of you who have shared your love of horses, and learning with me -- how lucky we are.

I want to wish everyone a wonderful 2009 -- it's going to be a challenging year, but we are up to it, I know we are.

Are our instructors and trainers continuing their education?

I just returned from a clinic/symposium with Michael Klimke that was excellent. There were about 100 auditors. As I have noticed while auditing many clinics and symposia, there were very, very few professionals there. It concerns me that many teachers and trainers are not getting good ongoing education. Riding lessons are wonderful, but the only way to develop a good eye and a broad spectrum of useful exercises is watching others teach and train.

Often when I ask professionals why they are not attending educational activities they tell me they cannot afford to lose a day of lesson income. That is a legitimate reason. So here is my idea. Those of you who are being taught, why don't you get together with other students of your instructor and go to an educational program as a group -- even split the cost of taking your instructor. It will be to your advantage in the long run.

With this is mind I want to recommend two programs coming up: the Eckart Meyners Seat Symposium August 2/3 http://www.equestrianeducation.org/calendar_events.html
and the Symposium with Klaus Balkenhol, Col. Christian Carde, and Gerd Heuschmann on October 18/19 http://www.maplewoodwarmbloods.com/mw_news.html.

Both of these should be superb programs and somewhat unique. Wouldn't it be fun for a trainer to go with students so they could all discuss what they are seeing and hearing with each other?