It was a few weekends ago when the Middleburg/ Orange County Pony Club “BLEW” into Morven Park to try their hand at the dressage rally! Despite GALE FORCE winds, falling over dressage letters, and long hours we all had endless fun! We had two teams, each team consisted of four people. With parents not being allowed to talk to the kids at the rally, the kids were forced to help each other and pull together. Both of my teams pulled together so well!! On Sat. each person rode two dressage tests, as a coach it was intense with warming each kid up for two tests, 16 warm ups in the wind! The coaches are not allowed to stand in the warm up arenas so each of us coaches took a corner of the arena and yelled so our riders could hear us! Everything was going great until one of my riders entered the ring and the wind picked up even more and three dressage letters blew over during her ride and spooked her horse. The great news is that she stayed on as the horse bolted from the flying letters, the bad news was that she did not get a re-ride due to the rules . I tried to convince the TD, but she told me that if lightning had struck during her test… too bad… I was a bit surprised due to the fact that when I used to coach intercollegiate we would give people re-rides for lesser things. I guess as a coach I just needed to be glad that lightning didn’t strike my rider!
As a coach results are important, and both teams brought high scores and great ribbons! Sunday’s freestyle class was a spectator favorite and our teams had an individual win and third place!
For me on a personal note the best part of the weekend was seeing kids pull together to help each other! The parents help run the rally, and it is so awesome to see the great parents of this club running the show! Whenever horses are involved kids learn great lessons. The friendships and bonding with their family and horses are what they will remember long after the scores have been posted. I am glad to be a part of this great pony club! Great job!!

With cold weather still in the air here in Virginia giving your horse a bath is not really a safe option. How then do you make your horse presentable and clean? I have recently found a way, so I figured that I would share it with those of you who are stuck in the cold weather along with me and my horses
The company Shapley’s has this amazing product called EASY-OUT, it is a no rinse shampoo that gets out the dirt and then makes your horse shine! When I was getting ready to take my horse to the Bent Jensen clinic I knew that my horse had to look his best. It was too cold for a bath, so I tried this product and it was amazing! I also put some MAGIC SHEEN hair polish in his tail to get out tangles and make it so that I could comb his tail without pulling a bunch of hair out! I have also been spraying the MAGIC SHEEN in all of my horses tails to keep the mud out. If you are living where the rain has been crazy and the mud will not stop, this product will keep the mud clumps out of your horses tails!
These products worked so well that I wanted to share them with you, check out Shapley’s web site for all of the great grooming products that they offer.
www.shapleys.com

A great way to stay motivated and focused on your riding goals, especially during the winter months, is to pick a clinician that is coming to your area and sign up! I decided to do just that and had a great time with Bent Jensen at Jeannette Bair’s gorgeous farm in Maryland! I used to work for Bent many years ago, and so it was so much fun to ride with him and get some great pointers to work on! He always has great exercises to help you to get the most out of the horse you are riding.
Another great thing about most clinics is that you are allowed to watch other riders thru auditing. Watching others ride and the exercises and tips that you pick up can be invaluable tools to add to your “tool chest” of knowledge.
Who are your favorite clinicians? What have your experiences been?

So, when you are super busy and trying to do over 100 things at once and someone shows up at your barn trying to sell you something…. Most of the time we just politely say thank you, but I am busy, please come back another time. Well, I was lucky enough that when I said to please come back another time Ann Higgens from H.C. Summers Feed and Supply, in Jefferson, MD did just that!
When I took a minute to stop and listen I found that Ann was trying to help my horses and me, not just sell horse feed. I was fortunate enough that Dr. Daniel Burke, Ph.D was coming to town and would be able to come to my barn as a courtesy to look at each horse and come up with an individual nutrition program for them.
Dr. Burke knows that dressage horses require athletic ability, proper conditioning, focus and endurance. Nutrition is the key to us getting the most out of each of our horses.
I went with the Tribute grain that is called “Calm and Easy”. The reason that I chose this grain is that research has shown that sugar and starch levels are what cause hyperactivity in horses due to insulin responses in the brain, not protein levels. What this means for horses is that you can feed a higher protein, less sugar and starch feed which increases the horses focus and improves endurance. They also put in the proper amino acid levels, so that you can feed less grain, which is better for the horses and any barn’s budget. Check out Tributes web site to find out more, I am so happy with how my horses look and the weight that they are maintaining on this feed, that I just had to share it with you! The horse in the photo was a little under weight when I bought him and now he looks amazing thanks to this feed!

tributeequinenutrition.com

I also hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays and is getting shopping done!! I am heading over to H.C Summers Open House December 15th. They are having Santa pet photos and lots of savings from 9-1. It is a great place to buy feed, with amazing customer service.
Come on over to the store!
4002 Jefferson Pike
Jefferson, MD 21755

Check them out at:

www.hcsummers.com

This past weekend I had a great time at Blue Chip Riding Club in Patterson, NY. The trainers at Blue Chip understand the importance of good flat work and dressage for their horses.
The students were all well turned out and riding appropriate horses and ponies. We worked on straightness, bending and transitions all weekend. If hunters ever thought that dressage was for wimps, they have a new view now! Faces turned red, jackets had to come off, dressage work had them working up a sweat!
The riders all listened and were able to execute what I had them working on, and I was impressed with the positions that they demonstrated. The head trainer at Blue Chip, Sissy Scarpelli is a graduate of the equestrian studies program at Wilson College. Her emphasis on teaching the importance of having a proper position and balance is evident in her riders.
What an enjoyable group to work with, I look forward to my next clinic!