Bilingual or Bust

It has been a while since my last post and I can say I have been keeping busy with exciting ventures, new horses, and a lot of hard work. Today I want to bring you an update, talk about a breed I am passionate about, and talk about the learning curve I am beginning to understand in training the off the track Standardbred.

I have had the exciting opportunity to partner with New Vocations and retrain two Standardbreds that are looking for a new careers and new homes. My cute bay projects arrived the early part of October and I have enjoyed every second of working with them both. Brewski is a 6 year old mare and raced as a pacer. Baby Boy Grin is a 10 year old gelding that raced as a trotter. If you have followed my blog for any period of time you know, I have worked with Standardbreds in the past, but these two posed a new challenge I was excited to tackle. Although I have worked with many different breeds and horses off of the track, Brewski and Baby were my first off the track Standardbreds. Typical to the Standardbred mentality, Brewski and Baby took everything I asked in stride. Baby's work ethic was incredible to me, due to his work mentality he made nearly half a million dollars as a race horse! His lengthy track record has him so well broke to driving it was interesting to watch him question what I was asking of him as he transitioned undersaddle. He desired to please me but truly believed what I was asking was wrong! Sitting on his back and wrapping my long legs around him was like speaking Japanese to a English speaking American. I am thankful Baby picked up working undersaddle much faster than it would take me to learn Japanese! Once Baby and Brewski settled into a less rigorous schedule than they were used to at the track they both started to blossom. Brewski loved walking out on the trails and Baby even learned to herd some chickens!

Brewski and Baby were posted on the New Vocations website availible for adoption on Thursday. Brewski was quickly adopted and went to her new home Saturday! Baby is still available for adoption and would make a great horse for someone looking to pleasure ride at home, on the trails, or even compete in pleasure classes!   For more information and videos on Baby follow the link below.

http://www.horseadoption.com/horseprofiles/baby-boy-grin/

In other news, we welcomed a new member to the family this weekend. Roo is a 7 year old Sweetish Warmblood that will become my new jumper! I am very excited for his future and cannot wait to see where the two of us end up!

I wish you all a very happy and restful Thanksgiving!


 

Lend a Helping Hand

It has been a month since I said "I do" to my husband. I have been overwhelmed with excitement and joy! Since our big day, I have taken a small step back from the horse world to enjoy our wedding, honeymoon and all the changes that have catapulted me into "adulting". I am just starting to get back into the swing of things and have had a lot of time to reflect on the future and  on the grounds in which I have built my business. With that being said here are a few thoughts that have been bouncing around in my always busy mind. 

I recently had the opportunity to ride under Carol Kozlowski's watchful eye for 4 days straight. Not only were my horses tired but after a few weeks of wedding cake and vacation, I wanted a nap just as bad as they did. I was grateful for the standard that she pushed each of my rides to. We can all easily fall into a self-made grading system that cheap's us out on furthering our education. I am thankful that the next step in my riding and the next step for my horses was presented, practiced, and repeated until I could hold myself to that standard on my own. Coming home was the biggest test of boot camp. Success came to me in a form of sore muscles and tired horses, just as much as being in Carols barn the week before. I feel like the tools have been programed in me to hold myself to a new standard. To me, lending a helping hand came in the form of instruction of the next step in my training. 

Although being under Carol's eye was exactly the boost of motivation I needed I have seen some other trainer rider combinations lately that haven't been as encouraging. Its frustrating to watch in our sport, young and amateur riders being overlooked by professionals. I see professionals who think that the walk trot canter lesson they need to teach is so below them that texting through the riders lesson is acceptable. I have also seen the opposite, a professional pushing a student far beyond their capabilities to not ruin their own reputation.... after all riding walk trot isn't going to get you and your trainer to the medal finals next month. I encourage trainers, myself included, that we are not above the walk trot canter lesson we are teaching. Just like them we are all learning. The good news is...... you will never stop learning in this sport. 

Next time your out to the barn, think. Where you can lend a helping hand to someone else in this sport? Ask yourself where you can be helped and how you can help those around you!

"Success is the sum of small efforts day-in and day-out" ~Robert Collier

Equine Affair 2017

Do you ever feel like your body is attached to a squirrel? Jumping from one thing to the next to the next to the next? In our family the quote from Doug in the movie UP is a common theme..... "SQUIRREL". Lately that has been my life! I am about 2 months out from my wedding and that has created another full time job on top of my already full time job! Today I have managed to quite my squirrel mind and bring you all a much needed update.

The first weekend in April I had the chance to travel down to the Equine Affair in Columbus Ohio. If your not sure what Equine Affair is, Its basically a large convention all things horse related. There is endless shopping from every vendor you can imagine. From feed to tack to horse shampoo, you name it, its probably there! Aside from all of the shopping you can attend as many clinics as your brain can handle. This year they brought in some great clinicians like Guy Mclean, Dan James, Brandi Lyons and many others. You can bring your horses to ride in some of these clinics or you can take a  note pad and audit! Their are also open forums where you can listen to talks on horse management, mane pulling, vet care and many other topics. 

Guy Mclean breaking a Fresian Mare in 4 days.

What drew me to Equine Affair itself was not only the event itself but the organization that invited me to help along side of them at Equine Affair. I was approached by New Vocations and asked if I could come down and help ride some of their Standardbred's in the Standardbred demonstrations that took place during the event! I was very excited by the opportunity and packed my bags for Ohio!

New Vocations is an organization that takes in off the track Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds and finds them new homes.  Unlike some rescue groups they only take in horses directly off the track or horses that have been on the track with in the past year. This gives trainers and owners who have race horses the opportunity to do the right thing with their horses after they have finished their racing career. We know many horses end up in auctions with unknown fate's and this is one excellent option to send your horse to a program that will find them a great home as well as follow them for a few years in their new career. 

While in Ohio I was given Thoropedia to ride. This bay gelding with a sweet heart was a pleasure to ride! His personality was so laid back and just what we needed to navigate crowds of people and other horses.  

 We also had a petting stall for visitors to get up close with the horses. New Vocations brought with them 4 horses from the program available for adoption. We rotated each horse into the petting stall. This is Haste taking some selfies with me.

Each evening at Equine Affair their is an evening show which they call the Fantasia. They put on an amazing show, showcasing some of the animals and trainers at the event. I saw Dan James, beautiful reining horse, Guy Mclean and his liberty team of horses as well as other amazing animals show off their talents. 

Dan James

Guy Mclean

Overall Equine Affair was an amazing experience. I loved being able to partner with New Vocations and support the work they do. I hope to be able to help them again in the future! 

For more information about how you can adopt a horse through New Vocations or to learn more about the organization.: http://www.horseadoption.com/

Believe it or not Thoropedia is STILL available for adoption! He is such a lovely guy I wish I could scoop him up for myself! If you are looking for a horse check him out!

 http://www.horseadoption.com/horseprofiles/thorpedia/

Sit Still Look Pretty

Hello all!

I have recently been reflecting on my past riding experiences, how I ended up here, and where I see myself in the future. As I was finishing up a ride today I began thinking about all of the seemingly easy tasks I completed in my ride and how those same tasks used to be daunting to me! For example, riding a short course used to completely wipe me out. staying on was my goal for the course let alone balancing my horse through a turn. As my thoughts turned from how I used to ride to where I am today, I came across some truth's that I hope you find encouraging for your riding and your future in this sport.

1.Your equitation: "put your heels down, and thumbs on top"........"put your thumbs on top and put your heels down...... we have all been there or heard coaches say these a thousand times. It took me a long time to realize that I was so bent on my making equitation looking right (and consistently knew it was wrong) that I had lost touch of the reason why we put our heels down and thumbs up! Once I began focusing on the reasons like keeping my balance, and feeling a straight line from my hand to the horses mouth I realized.... Huh! my thumbs were on top and my heels down!

2.Your horses "head carriage": I had a fantastic teacher who taught me head carriage was an art and a formula that is ever changing. That instructor was a young chestnut thoroughbred by the name of Simon! When I got Simon off the track I practically purchased a giraffe. I began going down the list of fixes my inexperienced self knew.  Draw reins, standing martingale, running martingale, side reins, any gadget out there you name it, I tried it. Defying most odds, nothing brought his head to an "ideal head carriage".... or even close. I took me years of experimentation and some wise dressage coaches along the way to come to the realization.... my horses head and neck were not the problem! Shocker! after forgetting about his head and learning to ride him straight.... not just from point a to point b, straight between both legs and both reins, my giraffe turned into a horse, and a nice moving one at that!

3.Finding your distance: This is something I think a lot of riders struggle with, myself included! I spent years and years obsessing over finding the "perfect distance" to every jump. I thought every time I cantered into a jump I had to find it, surely it was there.... as we chipped in for the 50'th time.... I beat myself up, yet again because apparently I was too dumb to find that distance. When I attended the Candice King clinic this past fall, I over heard an on looker after a session talking with Candice about how amazing it was that once she got her students to ride their horses straight as well as keeping power through the turn the distance to the fence came up every time. Candice replied "I can't stand when I hear coaches at the ring tell their students.... find a better distance than last time... that's like trying to read Chinese to me!" Those were music to my ears.... you mean finding a distance isn't about... finding a distance? No! This is a truth I am still learning, experimenting and understanding but I had became so distance obsessed I forgot to ride my horse. I forgot about my canter, my turn, my horses adjust-ability and beat myself up every time I did it wrong.

The more I learn and attempt to understand this sport the more I realize I have yet to learn. This sport is a never ending learning process and I find that fascinating. I hope this post only encourages you in your riding that you will have an ah ha moment and it will all make sense! Continue pressing on and trying your hardest and some day you will look like all your doing is, sitting still and looking pretty!

* I will also note that I believe all the gadgets I listed above do have a time and a purpose. I understand they can be useful tools in the right hands but often they are used to speed along a process that takes time and patience!

Looking Ahead

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and........ welcome spring? If you live in upstate New York you understand that predictable weather is NOT expected and the best plan of attack should be... 'expect the unexpected'. We were able to enjoy an almost white Christmas and currently have been experiencing much warmer temps than normal! For us horse loving addicts, who spend all day in the barn, it has come as a welcoming relief.


It has been awhile since my last post and I can say their are so many things on the horizon for 2017 that I am beyond excited about! First off  I have continued my work at Lollypop Farm. The new indoor has been a huge asset to the farm and the horses have started a working program that has transformed them tremendously already! Lollypop welcomed a new Equine Manager in November that I have had the opportunity to work closely with. Lauren is bringing great ideas and changes to the Equine program at Lollypop that will benefit the future of these horses. To find out more about  Lauren and the use of the new indoor arena check out this video.

https://youtu.be/reiOoA_SyvM





I am looking ahead to a few special events this year that I can't announce just yet but you may see a familiar face out and about in the near future.

I had the opportunity to write up a short post for ROC The Standardbred's website! I was able to relive Little Louie's early days and how much I now appreciate Standardbreds and their train ability!
https://www.rocthestandardbred.org/standardbred-testimonials









Although my blog has been 100% dedicated to the horses I work with I should announce that I will be getting married this July! It will be a crazy and exciting year but I am looking forward to every moment!

  As I 'Look Ahead' to 2017 I am beyond blessed by the opportunities I have and the people around me that support me in my endeavors. I can not wait to see what 2017 brings. I look forward to all of the people I will meet and horses I will ride! Here's to 2017 and a blessed New year!