Catalina

Today Catalina showed some real signs of maturity.
She will be 5 in July of next year and when i rode her today she was very focused.
I had not ridden her in a week due to personal things and so by all accounts she should have been very fresh.
There was a horse in the ring lunging and he gave out several big bucks while I was riding Catalina.
She never for a moment took her focus off me and stayed very relaxed throughout the whole thing.

Considering she was a very nervous horse at the start and quite "hot"
a year ago something like that would have set her off and made her quite tense.

Today a bomb could have gone off and she was my horse from start to finish.
She still sneezes when she gets nervous and this is a normal healthy reaction to nerves, however she still needs to learn when she does sneeze not to try and pull the reins out of my hands.

Today was a good day; I also began some work in hand as her piaffe steps will start next year.

young horse thoughts

I read an article recently that stated by the author young horses in America are not as "strong and fit" as the young horses in Europe.
It got me really thinking......
Yes, to have a top young horse that is keeping up with the current standards of being able to do the PSG test by age 7, the horse must be strong enough to handle that test and it's collection and length of time.
However in an effort to keep the lessons age appropriate and not "overdue or over tax" the horse  how as trainers do we achieve this?

In Europe and top barns in the US other fitness tools are used to help with fitness.
Some are hot walkers, tread mills, and water tanks which are useful tools that can be used to strengthen muscles with out making the horse sour or sore from the rider doing too much.

Also some people use hormones to muscle up the young horse and we see this many times with auction horses. I do not recommend that any horse age 7 and under have any growth hormones or steroids.
 However, I have  no problem with mares starting on a hormone to regulate their cycles at any onset of marish behavior.

I would also say that riding a young horse 2 times a day is a wonderful way to  get them very strong and trained quicker as well.
My Dad use to say "you can take a horse out many times a day for short periods and they will learn faster" but you can't do it all at one time.
 Many short periods do get the horse strong and smart! Always remember proper form is vital to the horse developing the proper muscles and a good fitting bridle and saddle.

Stay tuned for more young horse thoughts

Catalina

Hello Readers

Catalina my  4  year old is back to work.
She has been really good and after 2 months off to heal her injury she didn't   forget a thing.
the most wonderful thing is she loves to go to the ring and is so willing and eager to work.
This make me really happy.
She needs to build a lot of muscle and strength this winter and that is my goal, however keep in mind with these young horses the most important thing is that they learn to be aware of their body and learn to be obedient and learn in their mind what is happening .
Strength is huge but knowledge for the young horse is also very important.
when training your young horse remember length and repetition is never as important as correct form. It's important that they mentally understand what is happening and one must always keep the boundaries of manners at the forefront.

Key to remember. the "school master" and Grand Prix Horse that is competitive always have something in common. They know the "rules" and willingly except them.  In the end you want  your horse to fully understand their "job" and really like their job. this is what makes a great competition horse as well as a great school master.

Please feel free to challenge me with your questions and interests in what you want to learn.

Tonya

2012 Spring Routine

I'm already beginning to think about what rider I will use next year for breaking the three year olds in the spring.
I really put a lot of thought into who rides the young ones. They are all different and need the "right rider" I manage all the ground work and stay on the ground throughout each ride, but i have someone younger and braver actually sit in the saddle.
It's imperative that the first rider be very  confident in their ability to ride forward and with giving hands
It is not necessary at all for a 3 year old to have an advanced rider or one with a large show career, however the first rider must have great balance, giving hands, ability to ride forward and not complicate things when the babies are trotting and cantering.
I also like a rider who can help me with the lunging . I train all the three year olds to lunge with a second person helping me.
Unless you have a round pen teaching a horse to lunge alone can often create bad habits such as the horse staying on to small a circle.
My 2 year olds have already had the saddle and bridle on and became familiar with free jumping. They will complete their training at the end of October and then have November-March completely off in the field.
As 3 year olds they will re-enter the main barn for work about 4 days a week and refresh their skills on ground work and begin learning to lunge. Depending on the horse we'll be on their back by May 1st. some go faster some go slower but they need to be very well mannered and secure before we mount them and very good on the lunge line.
This does not take more than 30 days if you have 2 people working with them at the same time.
The most important thing to remember is that horses are creatures of  habit and learn the good with the bad, so we try and make sure every experience is a positive one and a good one.
By the end of their 3 year old year they should really enjoy going to the ring and be very bonded with people. The 3  year old should learn to look for his or  her handler and rider for instruction and confidence.
I keep the 3 year olds in the indoor where i can use the walls and keep the environment safe and quiet until we they know how to go forward and stop. The 3 year olds are rarely in the ring more than 30 minutes which is about how long they are able to focus. Keep it short and keep it fun.

Yealing by Kevekko

When we school the yearlings and 2 year olds we loose lunge them in the indoor. What that means is that we command them to walk trot or canter and dictate which way they go, but we allow them the full use of the arena. they are not restricted by a lunge line. I don't like to lunge them until they are 3 years old as the circle can be hard on their legs and I can teach them a lot with out the lunge line.

We have become a bit relaxed about shutting all the doors since our kick board doors are 5' high and no one has ever tried to jump out.
Well on Saturday our yearling Francesca decided to jump out of the arena. She just leaped around the turn as if she was circling half the arena and made the most beautiful jump out. She was just cantering, not galloping so it really surprised me.
She was very calm and easy to catch. She just walked back into the barn.
we then shut all the doors and allowed her to go around again to make sure she was really confident and she was fine.

needless to say we'll be shutting the doors every time from now on. I haven't had a horse like that in a long time but if they know they can jump they don't think anything of jumping out of a ring or paddock.
I think she is quite athletic. 

Babies

We will be working babies tomorrow, free jumping the two year olds and taking photos and video.
Hopefully will have some new coverage of these horses ready for viewing next week.
Also we'll add some conformation photos to web site.

Equistride International Dressage Retreat

                                        Hello Readers!

We just wrapped up our 3^rd. annual Dressage Retreat at Equistride international

I still feel it’s a work in progress and we are learning each year how to make it the best experience we can for our riders and auditors.

I’m looking forward to hearing back from our participants and learning how they feel it went.

As for the trainers Mette Rosencrantz and Susan Harris they did a great job again.

We will be deciding on our trainers in the next few months for next year.   I would very much like to have Susan and Mette back next year, but we’ll confirm later if they will do the retreat again or a single clinic here at Equistride International.

This year we had 9 riders which made a full day and Susan Harris did her painted horse demo with Ann Stahl riding through some movements.

All the riders and horses improved throughout the weekend and the emphasis was on position of the riders and the riders taking more responsibility to ride and train their horses properly.

My in hand work was fun as usual. It’s something I have a lot of experience at and really enjoy.   I think when people see the in hand work they have a bigger appreciation for how hard the piaffe is as it takes many pieces of a puzzle for the horse to put together and execute passage and piaffe.

Thank you so much to our helpers Karen Bartholomew, Marie Joppich, Jamie Kruithoff, Eduardo Martinez and Haley Prout.

I could not have done it without you!  Also thank you to Carole Grant; owner of Equistride for allowing our trainers to stay in her house and allowing us to use the facility for this event.

Please continue to spread the word about our retreat as we would really like our auditor participation to increase each year as much as possible.