STANDARDBREDSCANCANTER

I have been missing in action

2010-05-13T23:36:00.003-04:00

I do apologize for not adding anything to my blog for sooooo long. I will be updating and adding Ms. Lat's 2009 Year End Awards. (the big girl is really awesome) Hope to blog with you soon.

Showing season is coming to an end!

2009-09-24T23:30:00.003-04:00

Ms. Lat and I have had a wonderful show season. She has continued to improve and I am still trying to keep up with her. Ms. Lat and I did qualify for the Championship show this year BUT unfortunately we will not be attending because of family obligations. Oh well better luck next year. 2009 has been an extremely difficult year and I am so pleased that "My Girl" has been one of my few pleasures. If it was not for her I think I would have lost my marbles. Thank goodness for GREAT Ponies.

We had a great time at the Standardbred Nationals and we did well considering the classes were large. We are working hard on our canter and improving and doing many, many transitions.

We will be doing some paces and a few more dressage shows before we finish for the year. I suppose it is time to wrap up this miserable year and start looking to the future. 2010 is just around the corner, time for me to think about our new goal.

What about those people that don't move up?

2009-08-02T21:58:00.002-04:00

Well I guess I should not have asked that question because when I showed on Saturday, the comment at the bottom of the test was you should move up to Training. My problem however is we do not have a right lead yet, but we are working on it.

I was really proud of my girl this past week, on Tuesday she got a 2ND, 2-3Rd's and a 4Th. On Saturday she had 2 63.5 in intro A & B and won both classes and on Sunday we came home with two 2Nd's and a 5Th. Fortunately we have the next two weekends off and will be doing some lessons and practicing our canter.

In the last month my girl started to jump and is doing well but I think we will back off of that for a while until be get the canter. The right lead is coming but it may take us a few trys, we will get it. Wish us luck.

Ms. Lat is a "Beauty Queen", what a GOOD Girl!

2009-07-29T20:28:00.003-04:00

Tuesday night Ms. Lat and I went to the little schooling show not far from our farm. Monday night I was on the farm all by myself and I decided that if I was showing Tuesday night perhaps I should have "My girl" go over some rails and perhaps a cross rail or two. I placed all of the rails (5) that I have on the back of the pickup and some small barrels to use as standards, and setup the rails and cross rail. I then went to tack up Ms. Lat, after some warm up around the track with some leg yields, serpentine and transitions, we then went to the ring.

We approached the 3 rails set as a cavaletti and in "Lat's" mind I was asking her to step into a big hole but I have found that if we do not want to go over the rails we can walk in between them. That did the trick and the "Big Girl" then walk right over and we approached the cross rails but she decided that those rails were far to scary and she was not getting within 4 feet. Knowing that turning away was not an option I decided that I would get off and we would go over the rails with mom leading her. Hurray for Lat, it worked.

Tuesday night, we headed off to the show. I decided to show in three classes, a walk/trot, cross rails, and a walk/trot and canter individually. My girl was a sweetheart, right over the cross rails and just a very good canter. We ended up doing another class, a hunter hack and "The Big Girl" came through again.

We pinned in each class, 2ND, 2-3Rd's and a 4Th out of about 8-12 in each class. I am just beside myself with her willingness to try and to do so well, she is just the best mare.

We are off to do dressage this weekend. I hope we are as lucky. Everyone should have a Standardbred! A wonderfully versatile breed!

Our Canter is coming!

2009-07-25T22:22:00.004-04:00

Lat and I have been working hard on our right lead going to the left. The beauty queen is doing quite well, she is actually starting to understand what I am asking. Going the other direction we are just working on slowing down and collecting but to the left we are working hard on picking up that lead.

Tomorrow's plan is to Pop over a few cross rails and to concentrate on all of our dressage stuff such as rounding, transitions, etc. Tuesday we will be going to a small schooling show again and I think I will take her over fences. She seems to enjoy it and it is just plain FUN.

After tuesday it is time to concentrate on our dressage test because we will have two shows this weekend. During my down time I am going to take the advice of the Confessions of a Struggling Dressage Rider and do some of the excercises she suggested on the Ball.

If you are in New Jersey please come the the Horse Park of NJ the weekend of August 29 & 30. The 29th is the ReRun, Inc.'s Eighth Annual Charity Horse Show (which is an open show and there is dressage also) and the 30th will be the Standardbred National Show. The afternoon of the 29th will be the Battle of the Breeds, which will be Standardbreds against Throughbred, this will be lots of fun, please come and join us.

What do you think of Riders that refuse to move up?

2009-07-19T23:25:00.003-04:00

I was at a little schooling show the other day for a Throughbred charity. There were classes for beginner riders as well as beginner horses. One of the classes that was offered was a W/T/C class but you only had to canter in the lead of your choice individually. I clearly saw the class as a class for horses that were just beginning to canter, however not everyone saw it the way I did.

The horses that pinned 1st, 2nd, and 3rd where clearly accomplished in their ability to canter. When the class was warming up those three horses were cantering in both direction and jumping over fences.

I also was at a dressage show not so long ago and the top horse recieved an 85% in Intro and the horse that came in 2nd has been doing endurance for the last 4 years and can obviously do higher level test.

Why do people choose to stay in a divison or class when they are clearly over qualified. Perhaps it is just me and I am missing something. I always feel that showing is a place where you have the ability to compete against others so that you can see where you should concentrate and improve.

Please let me know what you think!

What do you think?

2009-07-19T23:24:00.000-04:00

Freedom Fest Fair

2009-07-15T01:13:00.003-04:00

The Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of New Jersey did a wonderful demonstration Sunday at The Freedom Fest Fair, even if I must say so myself. Several of the members showed up Saturday night to set up our stalls and everything else. Then on Sunday morning the horses started getting there at 9:00. Ms. Lat and I arrived about 10:30 and the stalls were all setup including bedding, it was such a pleasure to just walk your horse into a stall and only have to put up your water bucket and hay net. R did a great job and had the bedding and hay donated to the club.

We had our announcer(which was my Husband)setup with his pa system and lots of scripts plus he put together music which turned out great. Our first Parade of Versatility started around 1:00 and we had a good crowd.

The parade started with a driver with race silks on in a jog cart followed by members demonstrating Hunt seat, pleasure driving, western pleasure, dressage, eventing and model. After the parade we had a meet and greet by the stalls and the horses were surrounded by people and kids. The Demo then continued throughout the afternoon with more meet and greets in between.

Overall, I feel for the first demo of this size we have done it all came off really well. I did video the whole thing and will put it up on my blog after it is edited and you and tell me what you think.

Thanks again to all that worked so hard.

Saturday the Dressage show!

2009-07-09T17:19:00.006-04:00

After friday's lesson there was alot of work to do, Ms. Lat had to have her mane braided and she had to be washed. When we returned to the farm I got started and finished about 6:00 but "The Big Girl" looked good, tomorrow morning time to go to the dressage show. (I am very lucky she does not rub out her braids.)

We arrived at the show about an hour before my first ride. We warmed up and waited for the class. The test went Ok but because of the lesson the day before we had a very difficult time trotting our 20 meter circle, Ms. Lat wanted to canter. Each time I would ask her to pick up the pace we would transition into the canter. After finishing our last 20 meter circle, Ms. Lat's mother lost her mind, she looked at K and thought around past A and change rein at F, DUH, what was I thinking. I heard the whisle, off course, so we circled again and came up the center line and saluted. Even with her mother's mental blip we still came in 3rd out of 5, I was shocked.

Determined to do better in B we worked some more on 20 meter circles and bending and transitions and moving forward. When we entered the ring for Intro B all went well except it was difficult moving her forward without her transitioning into a canter but we finished the test with out having another mind blip.

I approached the judge to get her comments and she asked me what breed Ms. Lat was and I proudly answered "She is a STANDARDBRED." The judge then said "Really, who would have thought." The judge then went on to explain to me that she can generally knows which horses are standardbreds because "They have a glich in their trot", that was a first for me, I had never heard that before, apparently my horse is "GLICH" free because she did not know her breed. In this class we also came in third but first and second received unbelievable scores, 1st score was 74% and 2nd was 67%. Ms. Lat and her challenged mother received a 61%.

Over all I was pleased with our performance. This Sunday, July 12, 2009 the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of New Jersey is doing a long demo at the Horse Park of New Jersey on the versatility of the Standardbreds. We will be starting at 12:30 with a Parade of Versatility and then individual demonstrations in Driving, Hunt Seat, In-Hand, Western Pleasure, Eventing and Dressage. We will also host 2 or 3 meet and greet, where the public can come to our stalls and talk with us about the horses. If you are free please come by, we will be in the indoor arena. Hope to see you there.

The Lesson of all Lessons!

2009-07-09T16:56:00.003-04:00

Oh wow I was so happy that I was taking a lesson last friday, but little did I know how much I would have to work. Ms. J who is my coach decided that she wanted to see Ms. Lat's canter, so I said "No problem going to the right-the left transition is great however the right lead going to the left is a problem." (Why did I say that?)

Our lesson focused around the right lead. No matter what, we are going to get Ms. Lat into the right lead. I thought that I was going to die, Ms. Lat was a nice crazy and several bucks, but I did stay on and we did accomplish our goal. We will continue working at this but J feels that Ms. Lat is confused and does not quite understand how to move in the right lead. I have not tried any cantering this week yet but we will, maybe tonight.

I find that it is easier if I have another set of eyes so that when we are correct I can concentrate on going and not worrying about the correct or incorrect lead. I am sure that we will solve this lead thing soon.

The schooling show that I went to earlier this past week had a W/T/C class. This class was setup for horses that are just beginning to canter because you are able to canter, one horse at a time on the rail, so I decided why not. When our turn came around Ms. Lat transitioned into the canter perfectly but (I suppose it is weakness) about half way through we had to buck and then a break but we just started again and cantered around the indoor one whole lap. We did get a 5th out of 6th but that is great for her first time. After all schooling shows are for schooling not for the ribbons.

I must be crazy . . . .

2009-07-08T22:58:00.003-04:00

Well a week ago Tuesday I decided that I would take my Big Girl to a locate schooling show. We have not shown in about 3 weeks due to social commitments, so we were long overdue. Shortly after leaving the farm, the sky began to look threatening to the west. The weather all day long had been beautiful about 2 miles from our destination the rain began but it was just rain not a downpour, thank goodness. We left "Lat" on the trailer and went to get our number and by that time the rain ended. As I started to warm up in the big ring with all of the fences I kept having conflicts, two people were jumping different fences, another person was cantering, and someone else was lunging. I decided that I could not get anything accomplished with so much confusion so I found myself a small dressage ring with a cavaletti and some cones set up. All was quiet in this ring. I was a little nervous because I was riding my hunt seat saddle and bridle and had not ridden this equipment in about 9 months.

Ms. Lat warmed up very nicely and I was then comfortable enough to just walk around. My friend H was there and 3 other standardbreds , H being as nice as she is was helping the others warm up. When I decided to go back to my quiet spot, H had taken the rails and made a little cross rail fence, she suggested that I jump it but I told her I had never jumped Lat and had not jumped myself in several years.

Well with a little encouragement, over my big girl went, without a bobble, she is so great. The next thing I know I am entered into Beginners over cross rail class in the indoor. What a trooper my big girl is, we went into the ring and schooled over 3 fences had no problems except that her mother's timing was a little rusty. When the class was called no one wanted to go first so Ms. Lat and I entered the ring and completed all four fences with only knocking down one rail on the first fence but I was very pleased with our team work. Ms Lat trusted me to guide her but because I have not jumped in years it was a little scary.

I know that we will be jumping some more fences because it is soooooooooo much fun. Thanks H for the encouragement.

A little lost without any shows......

2009-06-24T11:42:00.003-04:00

I'm feeling a little lost without showing of late, between the rain it has been hard concentrating on all of the items that Ms. Lat and myself have to work on improving. My new goal is making a schedule to accomplish one issue at a time and continue to improve the big girl. When we have a chance to ride I have been feeling that we need to just do a really good warm up and some lateral work. Due to the rain the rides have been infrequent so I feel Lat is doing well but we are not moving ahead. Hopefully I can get my head on straight and get to productive work.

Here is a list of the items I want to accomplish:

1. Looseness-working with Lat to get relaxed and into frame more quickly.
2. Bending- lots of walk-trot transitions and some counter bending
3. Working on our canter
4. Working on me, improving my position, balance and core.
5. Patience to accomplish all of the above.

Last year I had a schedule for five days, two of which I could introduce new items and the other two for reinforcing what we learned and at least one to hack around the farm. It seemed to work well but I need to adjust that somewhat and take a lesson once a week or so. I find that I get lost without anyone on the ground watching so I am never sure if I am accomplishing what I am aiming to accomplish.

Well if anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears. Please feel free to comment.

Rain Rain Go Away - Come again some other day!

2009-06-18T22:59:00.003-04:00

Ms. Lat finally was ridden this week. I only rode last week on Wednesday then the rain came back. This week I had two opportunities to ride but my friend's mother died and I had to spend time with her. Hopefully I will be able to ride tomorrow.

This past tuesday when I did ride, Ms. Lat was wonderful especially after not being ridden for a week. We did leg yields and lots of transitions and she was just great. I did not show last weekend and I am not showing this weekend, so that gives us some time to try new things. We will practice cantering and maybe we will try jumping. I have not jumped a horse in 30 years it should be interesting. Anyone that has some advice on how to start her over fences would be appreciated.

Another Dressage Show

2009-05-17T20:23:00.002-04:00

I am so happy, "Ms. Lat" was wonderful this weekend. We received 64% on both tests and ended up with 2 seconds. We need to work on our ride up the center line and a more active free walk but she was terrific. It was so hot and humid, both of us were very hot, but she was a trooper. The footing in this arena is deep in some places and shallow in others so it is difficult to be consistent. I have only shown there once before and it did not seem to be as noticeable last time as it was this time. The people there are very nice and accommodating.

I don't have any shows for a while so we will be working on out canter this week. The other goal will be thinking about how I can relax more so that Ms. Lat will relax with me. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

The Best Mother's Day

2009-05-11T20:12:00.005-04:00

A week before Mother's Day I received a call from my oldest daughter R, asking what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, my answer was "I'm showing Sunday morning". To be quite honest I did not expect either one of the girls to show up at the dressage show, after all it was early for either one to show up.

I had a great lesson on Friday with J. Ms. Lat was so rounded and in frame, however apparently she forgot how to do that on Sunday. Due to social obligations on Saturday I did not get to work her, so Sunday morning before we headed out I lunged her just to take the edge off. We found the show grounds and unload Ms. Lat, tacked her up and decided to start warming up. She was more excited than normal but I felt with a little work we could work through our excitement. The warm up ring was an indoor and the show arena was outside. The weather was beautiful but it was very windy. I felt that the wind might be adding to Ms. Lat's excitement. We worked and worked doing transitions and a number of other things trying to calm her, but it was not working. Before I knew it I was being told that I was up next, so into the arena we trotted. Guess who came with us, no one other than Mr. EXCITEMENT! Other than her decision not to bend during the test we did alright. We even got an 8 or two, I was very surprised that we received a 67.5% on the test, WOW was I surprised!

Second test was not far behind and I felt that she was more relaxed and rounded, I could not believe how well we scored. Several eights and sevens we received 68% on the test. I was so proud of Ms. Lat, she works so hard to please and succeeds. After reflecting back on the day I believe that it is me that makes her nervous, she definitely feels the tension exzuding from me.
My poor "Beauty Queen" was much more rounded and in frame this time around, she is working so hard and is improving so much. Well hopefully next weekend we will do better but we did get a 2nd, 1st and the reserve championship. That's my girl.!

I trotted up the center line, halted and saluted, to my surprise I recieved an 8. We then continued with Intro A, but we were not relaxed, this was not a good test. The biggest surprise was when I recieved my test back and had recieved a 68.5% (2nd). I could not believe it, I was absolutely shocked. Fortunately, Ms. Lat decided to take the day off from the Air Quality Control Agency and did keep her tongue in her mouth.

I had another half hour before the Intro B so we just went for a lovely walk and tryed to relax. When I went back to the warm up ring I really believed we were on the right track. Our 2nd test would be much better, after all in the warm up ring we were bending nicely and very rounded.

Entering the arena, down the centerline, halt, proceeded forward at a working trot rising , tracked left; very nicely done Ms. Lat. We had some blips during the test but overall we did ok.

Now it is time to untack and pack up for home, to my surprise C and the baby showed up, it was so nice to see them, the baby is so cute and C is a wonderful mom.

When we decided to start home, F was nice enough to go retrieve my Intro B scores. F came back to the trailer carrying a BLUE ribbon and a Reserve Championship, I was so pleased, I guess we had a better ride than I thought. I recieved a 68% on B, which was great.

C and the baby followed us back to the farm and R arrived at the farm shortly there after, we emptied the trailer put Ms. Lat away and then went to get ready to bunch. What a wonderful day.

Dressage ...1st show of the year

2009-05-04T13:28:00.004-04:00

Oh Saturday started as a very dreary day, overcast and drizzling. Ms. Lat and I are off to our 1st Dressage Show in 2009.

Well due to unforseen circumstances we got a late start which then makes my time to warm her up at the show grounds shorter. We pulled in about 20 minutes before I was to be in the ring for Intro A. After tacking her up we warmed up as best we could and into the ring we went. Well we were not as rounded as I would have liked but she still did very well, except for her tongue. It seems that Ms. Lat has taken a position with the Air Quailty Control Agency and hangs her tongue out the right side of her mouth in order to test the quality of the air. Unfortunately, in dressage you loose points for that so at the medium walk where I would have recieved a 7, I recieved comments like obedient transition, "SOME TONGUE ISSUES". Twenty meter circle, "Fairly round, "SOME TONGUE ISSUES", however Ms. Lat did end it with a 63.5% and we tied for 2nd but we were pushed to third because of "TONGUE ISSUES".

We had more time to work before Intro B. When we entered the arena Ms. Lat was nicely rounded and bending very nicely. We need to work on our straightness, our halts on entering, and of course "her tongue". The judge's comment on the 2nd test was "Fluid, attractive pair; shows good basics - WATCH TONGUE, but we did get 68% and won the class.

The problem with her tongue is not one that I have been unaware of but the tongue would only come out when she was totally relaxed not in the dressage arena when she is working. Any suggestions of how to solve this issue will be greatly appreciated.

Sunday, I decided not to show at a local hunter show with a Standardbred Division. It rained worst on Sunday than on Saturday but I did go to help groom for some of the members of the SPHO-NJ. My friend had her horse there that is related to Lat and has very minor tongue issues but she had purchased a new bit from Mikmar Eggbutt Ergom Lozenges Snaffle. Her horse's mouth was frothing, which is good and there was no problem with his tongue. Perhaps this is the answer. I may have to breakdown and buy one.

Sunday's Hunter Show

2009-04-29T09:15:00.007-04:00

I can't complain, Ms. Lat was great for the first show of the year.

She got a 2nd, 6th, and a 3rd. We showed in 4 classes but we did not get anything in the first class. Considering that this was the first show of the season and she has not been anywhere since November of last year I was very pleased with her performance.

I do not like to show at this show because the ring is very small and I ride a very big horse (17.2). In addition to the ring being small there were 10 horses in all four classes. Four of the horses were Standardbreds and three of the four pinned in most of the classes.

Yea, Lat did stay in frame as you can see. I am very proud of my girl, I just love her to death.

I am extremely proud of how the Standardbred's excelled at the show. They were turned out beautifully and did exceptionally well. There is life after racing.

Oh...A real dressage horse!

2009-04-29T09:03:00.001-04:00

My girl and I had a lesson saturday with my coach. Let me tell you my girl was fantastic. My coach said to me "You have her really rounded now, that opens a whole new world of what we need to accomplish."

We worked alot on transistions, bending, and a little on the canter. I was very pleased but disappointed that I did not have my video camera. I find it difficult to remember all the things I am told during an hour lesson. I feel if I video tape the lesson I can go back and review and see what she is doing and what my coach told me to correct.

On a whole I am sooooo happy with my girl, she is coming along very, very well :) My sister was up from Florida and watched the lesson and was amazed at how Lat looked. She did say that "She looks like a real dressage horse." Sunday we will show at a hunter show, let's see if I can keep her in frame.

Canter....What is that?

2009-04-22T23:13:00.002-04:00

My sister is up from Florida with my mom and we are having the best time. Great rides through the nursery and great advice from someone I trust. She is sooooooo very helpful. Yesterday we rode over to a friend's farm that has an indoor. My sister's suggestions helped again. After over a year of riding "Lat" it suddenly dawned on me that even when we are riding around the farm I should keep her in frame. Duh!

Today's ride was in the ring late in the day because it was raining again. I always start with a warm up of walking around the farm and doing leg yields in the aisles in between the paddocks, trotting, transitions, etc. etc. Today I made sure that she was also in frame even at a walk. When I finally hit the gate of the ring we are relaxed, supple and ready to work. Ms. Lat's trot was great, she was nice and supple and bending in frame. Our goal today was to work on cantering. The left lead is great (although not collected yet) but the right lead is a battle. I am open to suggestion.

My sister and I were thinking that maybe longeing may be the answer. It will give my mare more confidence and force her to canter in the right lead. We will see. Feel free to make comments or suggestions, I appreciate the input. I will let you know how it works out. The weather tomorrow is suppose to be great and we will give it a shot. :)

RAIN . . . . . . . . . . NO MORE

2009-04-15T21:18:00.002-04:00

I have not ridden since Friday. It has been raining and raining. I hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

I thought about showing on Saturday and Sunday but at this point we will see. Tomorrow I get to go see my Easter Bunny granddaughter. I cant wait.

Is anyone else having the same problem?

2008 Awards onward to 2009

2009-04-11T19:19:00.002-04:00

Well it was so miserable today that I thought it was time to pack away the 2008 ribbons and trophies. Ms. "Lat" was nice and clean because I planned on going to a schooling show today but because of the rain we cancelled.

Down to be barn I go with all of the 2008 awards to set up our photo shoot. "Lat" was very cooperative and did not even attempt to eat the ribbons. I took some shots and now the ribbons can go away.

Hopefully 2009 will be a good year also.

Great Riding Weekend

2009-04-05T22:13:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a horrible day but I did have a lesson at 8:30 in the morning. I was pleased with my girl we worked very hard and we are now bending better to the right. Thank goodness I didn't have to ride outside; that wind was brutal.

Sunday was just a great day. I rode "Tobe" in the morning and we worked on steering and halts, he did well considering he has not been worked in a while. Later after going to the Horse Park to see the carraige driving stuff I came back and saddled up "Lat" and K saddled up "Villa" and we went to the nurseries for about an Hour and a half. We trotted hills and many more areas, they both did very well. It seems that "Lat" just loves going out across country. She actually JUMPED a tiny stream with me, that was a first.

I hope that next weekend we will show at Handy Acres and the 11th at The Meadows for the dressage show. The rest of this week we will practice, practice, practice.

To Ride at Last!

2009-03-29T08:29:00.000-04:00

Well this last week has been busy helping to take care of my daughter, her husband and the new baby. This 7lbs 9 oz. wonder was born Friday, 3.20.09 @ 11:08 p.m. I really have enjoyed spending time with the family but I have not been able to ride. I have been given this weekend off and was lucky enough to be able to ride "Lat" on Sat.

I just love my girl (Lat), she was so good for not having been ridden for a week. We really only had time for a warm up, but it was really great to be on her back :) We did do a little cantering and she is definitely improving, at least in the left lead.

Today before I go back to baby duty, Lat and I will have some time together. We will do a nice long warm up, walk trot transitions, and some cantering. I will be back Wednesday and as long as the weather holds out we can really start working then.

My coach will be back from Florida soon and hopefully I can set something up with J. She is always so helpful. When I ride under her guidance, I am continually surprised at what Lat and I do. In just minutes J helps me to get Lat to do things I have not even thought about. My short coming is trying to remember how I accomplished the movement and taking the time to practice what I have learned.

If the rain hold out today I will be able to have a great ride and maybe we can take a nice hack around the neighborhood after we practice.

Spring is Here!

2009-03-19T22:33:00.000-04:00

We may get a few more cold days but spring is definitely here. For the last week and a half Lat and I have been working hard. It was raining today so I could not ride. I hope to ride tomorrow but I am on baby watch. My youngest daughter is having her 1st baby and this baby is going to be big. Sooooo. . . tomorrow I may be a grandmother, Oh yea!

Lat and I have been doing walk to trot and trot to halt transitions. We have been working on our canter and I believe making progress. It seems to take a while to retrain her mind that it is ok to canter and she does not have to come back to a trot. Her speed is fine but her balance is still to be established, we will get there.

We are going to be doing some work with the cavaletti and hope to be ready to show on March 29th. I may miss riding her all next week because I will be with my daughter and she lives about an hour plus away so there is no way that I can ride. Oh well! More about training Lat later. I can't wait for the baby.

Chiropractors-Do you believe?

2009-03-04T15:13:00.000-05:00

Just the other day an owner of 2 of the horses I currently have staying with me pulled in to say Hello to his mares and along with him was his Chiropractor. Horse number one is pulled from the stall and the Doctor started to work. I watch in total curiousity because I had never seen this before.

He worked on her back, legs and head. I was amazed I watched the mare cringe and then totally relax. It was really special being able to watch. He then pulled the other horse from her stall and went over her. When both mares were put into their stalls they were very relaxed.

Well after watching I couldn't resist, I said "Do you have time to do just one more?" "Yes" Scott the Chiropractor says. I rush into Miss Lat's stall and quickly pull her into the shed row to have her first session with the doctor.

The first thing that surprised him was her size. While working on the other mares the Doctor would stand on a bag of shavings in order to get over the spinal column and pelvis and to be able to make the necessary adjustment. Well, we had to find a taller stool to stand on to adjust "Lats"spine. He made the appropriate adjustments, I actually felt her spinal column move into place. The best part of the whole session was what I learned about stretching her out each day and keeping her more limber.

I did take her for a ride later that afternoon and I must admit she was more relaxed and really stepping under herself, it was much easier to warm up and get her rounded.

I guess seeing is believing!

Snow, Snow go away

2009-03-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

I knew that winter was not ready to end. We were very fortunate that we did have a great February break. The last two weeks we have had some great days. I did have some time to take advantage of the spring like days. Lat and I did get some work done but it is difficult now to work with any consistency. Oh well, the next thing you know I will be complaining about the mud, then the heat of summer.

We are still working on everything; rounding, cantering, backing and of course lateral work. The weather people are forcasting that we will begin to warm up over the weekend. I suppose it is time for me to complete my plan so that we may pursue our goals. We will be going back to basics as we always do, and doing some lungeing.

Spring will be here soon!

Why a Standardbred?

2009-01-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

Two years ago I decided that I needed a new project horse. The two horses that I had were getting old. I was working with Standardbreds at a turnout farm (A vacation spot for pacers and trotter that race.). I had grown up with horses but had never worked with Standardbreds. I was very much impressed by their disposition, they are pleasant to work with and calm.

Some horses never make it to racing and some are retired at a relatively young age but I wasn't crazy about adopting a Standardbred, after all could they canter, or just trot or pace really fast.

One day off a trailer came 2 mares that we were keeping for the Adopt-a-Horse.org.(Standardbred Retirement Foundation) The 1st mare, Gina-a pacer, stood about 16 hands and the 2nd mare, LatherRinseRepeat-a trotter was about 17 hands. I was impressed with both of them but could still not convince myself that I wanted a Standardbred. After all I wanted to do dressage and jump, was a Standardbred capable of these disciplines?

I watched the two mares in the field for about two months then I decided that I would play a little with LatherRinseRepeat. She was a big mare and looked like the perfect working hunter to me.

We started with lungeing and she did great. Lat was a pleaser and worked very hard to understand what I wanted her to do. I then decided to lay across her but remember she is 17.2, I had to use a ladder to get on her. She stood there quietly and was cool as a cucumber. Step two-we will put a saddle on her, again nice and quiet.

In June of 2007 I decided that I wanted to show Lat at the Standardbred National Horse Show in New Jersey, that was in September. Lat and I worked very hard and we did Intro A and B at the show. We scored 57.50% on A and 55% on B. I was tickled pink, after all I had not shown in over 30 years and I never showed in dressage. Lat was a 6 year old and had been raced as a two year old and three year old, so she was excited but very good at the National Show.

I do not have an indoor arena, so in the winter it is difficult to do any training. Spring of 2008 Lat and I started training again however as I said I have never shown dressage so I needed to find a coach. I did find one but our sessions together were erratic at best however each session Lat and I learned and improved. By June 2008 we were ready for our 1st dressage schooling show.

Enough of Lat's story I'll tell you more later.