Can't bribe the door on the way to the sky

After several long, exhausting weeks of showing, horse-related events and clinics, we've hit a minor week-long lull in the calendar that's allowed me to kinda catch up here. This odd hungover space where we can loosen up a little bit and get an idea but not relax so much that everything goes to hell.

While we kicked off our season early at Paul Fraiser CT, my first love, the Spy Coast Young Horse qualifier, officially opened spring for us.

We were set to bring out a record four horses for the team, but as fate would have it, one scuffed himself up, one went home and the others went through Frankenstein-worthy growth spurts that made us shelve whatever plans until their bodies caught up with whatever they were doing.

So it was just Alberich.

Show-cation with one horse and visitation with several other friends.

As of today, Al has been off property now about four or five times. Each time is a little different, and

each time gets a little better. He's a horse that takes a bit to adjust to a new place and people. He worries about traveling, so the more he does things, the better.

This time around, I popped on and took him for a spin. Even though I wasn't registered as the rider, it was something I was looking forward to for a long time. He was a good boy, and went on to do three classes the next day.

His materiale scores were flat, simply because we had over estimated the time (and the panel ran late) and honestly speaking, he's not a materiale horse or an obvious young horse candidate.

Like with a lot of the Olympic Ferro and Rubenstien offspring, it takes time to develop the gaits. It doesn't change my opinion of him, I still think he's going to be something for the upper levels, but it also means that until he has a change, and some pi/pa/pir work, he's going to be a little bit meh in motion at the start of his career in comparison to something more modern.

But we also took him through the jump chute not expecting much and came out on the other end realizing that he does have a fair bit of style over fences. Which bodes really well for what the primary aim is- licensing. We were encouraged to enter him last minute in the chute, but declined. Three classes, the cold, and lack of sleep was finally catching up to us all.

The week was quickly followed up by Rolex. I didn't attend this year. It just felt flat and I felt anti-social with everything going on. I also didn't want the temptation to shop.

Rolex ended, and then William Fox-Pitt's clinic began. I ridiculously decided to work with William.

I've worked with WFP as an organizer for about three years now; I like his style and approach to training, but I'm a dressage rider, and usually there is a bit of a difference with the quality.

With a normal eventing clinic, I just go crawl off into a corner on dressage day with the excuse of paperwork, William is someone who I think can span both disciplines successfully, and I have nothing but utter respect for that won't over face a young horse.

I figured it was a soft way of getting Al into a few lessons without a huge audience and little pressure for being five and not doing the FEI five year olds.

Well, I was only half right.

William took us through our paces in a group lesson. It was nothing new; just good basics and things that we were working on as a pair already. Where I was more gun-ho about working some items we've been schooling on (walk-canter-walk), he brought it back to the details.

It was refreshing to get some tips about how to ride a short thick neck out and also to hear about getting relaxation in a charged environment.

William was legitimately curious about him, what he's produced (two crops, good improvement), what he's been doing and where he's been going.

What I didn't expect was the 50 or so people to show up to watch Al go. But then again I'm not used to what Al is- black and a stallion.

It's fairly curious to show up on a pure dressage horse in an eventing clinic, especially one that doesn't even remotely fit in gender (not a gelding), type (short-coupled, thickly built) or in stereotyped behavior (not trying to cover everything that moves) for a clinic like this. We also went in with the express knowledge and statement that our end goal isn't eventing, but the licensing this year.

But it did give me some allusions of grandeur by trying to qualify for AEC's at BN.

At the end we got on with it, and had a good couple of rides. We had our first public outing as a pair together, got some help and enjoyed things along the way. Nothing Earth shattering, just good basics, but it gave me a good idea of how the rest of the year should go.

Then he was promptly followed out of the hall by a few people asking questions. The entourage was friendly, if not curious and supportive.

We rerouted Al from KDA's annual to take a more serious approach to the year end goals of getting through approvals and substituted Sine Metu instead. Another showcation with another singular horse.

I'm happy I did this; the KDA show was overall very low scoring and there were a few other things

that raised a bunch of concerns. We went out not sure what to expect and got away better than most, placing over mature horses that have twice as much time under saddle but still not quite happy with the scores.

My biggest concern was the bone of contention with the management when he was put in to a class with five-year-olds and four-year-olds.

It's not illegal to combine the age classes, but it's fairly unethical, if anything unfair. Especially given that the show prize list billed it as a separate class and three year olds have more of a propensity to be silly versus a maturer horse. Then there's the issue of comparing very different stages of development in a singular arena.

We're not afraid of not pinning but at the same time, we want fair scores that potentially eliminates comparative bias; and comparing a three year old to a four year old and a group of five year olds is irksome.

We ended up with a solid score (the lowest in the group was in the 60's, unusual for materiale) and topping out the five year olds in the group. The next day we won with improvement and took Sine Metu home to prep out for the next two weeks for Majestic Farm.

Majestic is usually at the top of June, and it's sometimes a hit or miss show on the calendar. We tend to aim for Tryon, but with no one big horse in the barn with no major young horse championships on the calendar- really, it's a wasted trip. We routed out to Ohio, and brought Sine Metu and Jolie Etolie (Emici/Rose Noir 2), a client's horse, out for materiale again.

It was a very productive show for both horses. Sine Metu, who's now an old hand at showing- went out and just clocked around his classes without a care.

More impressively was Jolie Etolie that we started back in May. She absolutely owned the place, turning in solid performances and showing three very good gaits for all of 13 rides under saddle.

It was her first time off property and really allowed her to grow up. She blew both Michael and I away with her rideability and her elastic gaits. She handles pressure enormously well. Can't wait to show her again in July.

In the meantime there are several wonderful things on the horizon that will keep us busy well after Fall and possibly into  Winter.

But for now, the top of the season is here, with a clinic this weekend with Oded Shimoni, a show two weeks later our calendar is booked. I'm looking forward to the slower pace from mid-July to August where we can breathe a bit and focus on the details of keuring, inspections, licensing and year end championships.

Running down to the riptide

The past few weeks have been incredibly active, with horses going all over the place, shows, the start of keuring season, training, teaching, travel and work in general.

Danzador has been on a relatively easy schedule, focusing on going forward and doing lateral work. My initial plan was to do MSEDA, but the USPS mail ate my entry... again. I love the MSEDA show, not for the open part, but for National Dressage Pony Cup. Jenny Carol has done a stellar job over the years putting on this show, and now expanding it to all sorts of regions as partner shows.

It's not the first time that documents have wandered. It ate several important documents to Europe and Canada, plus a number of entries over the past year. So we're re-routed to October. Not ideal, but it'll do.

Sinari is due for her 60 day re-check sometime this week or the next, which means we'll know how to proceed from there. She's fat, very fat, dapply, and happy. It's already been decided that she'll step down from the regular FEI levels and be a horse for one of my juniors who wants to start in equitation and then break into the pony division.

If you personally asked me how it felt, I would say it sucks. Loosing a good horse is never fun. We've had a decade of training together. I'm more intimate with Sinari than any other horse in the barn, and for the last decade plus we've been each others partner in the arena. Which makes the break a little harder. But, it's not personal, it's about what's fair and best for her. It would be selfish otherwise to not put my girl first.

As much as I want to continue on in that route to Grand Prix with her, how I want her to finish her career is out on top in a fair way. Being an FEI horse is tough. You have to have a sound mind and a sound body that can handle the training and conditioning almost daily.

Coming back from injury as a 15 year old is tough enough. I also know how lucky I am it wasn't something career ending or worse, life ending. But building back into the FEI is even harder, with a greater chance of career ending injury of just doing it. I couldn't live with myself if I repeated the past.  So, it's just time.

My students still continue to improve, I'm thoroughly tickled with this year's results already- the eventing group is scoring into the 30's, my regular dressage students are scoring upper 60's consistently.

Many of the eventing group have already expressed their want to do pure dressage and pursue their USDF medals alongside aiming for AEC's in it's final year in Texas. Which really makes me happy at the idea of helping people medal themselves.

This weekend is more coaching at shows, also getting to watch other people go is equally as fun.

Horse shopping has also been a never ending chore. My European trip got pushed back a few weeks, so it leaves me with some idle time to go look more locally. I'm went up to Ohio to look at some KWPN's and will possibly go down to the Carolina's to look at a few Hanovarians. I don't expect much but at the same time, I would enjoy supporting American breeders who are making an effort to bring the best lines home.

Only know you love her when you let her go

Photo: Alexa Snowden

Winter has been dealt a death blow around here with the temps rocking in to the 60's.

My productivity has finally shifted away from my desk to the barn. It was about time, I was running out of paperwork and at home projects. The horses are in regular work again, the schedule is going forward, the season with the entire team is preparing to get underway. I can't believe it's almost March.

My guys are gearing in for an active season. Asanto HPF, Denia HPF, Danzador MSM, Flair, Sinari and a few others in the wings are kicking into active training with shows, clinics and events on the near horizon.

Except for one.

My time with Reba has come to an unexpected close.

Reba is fine, physically doing great, and after a clinic looks like she's ready to come back into form. However, a situation occurred where, through social media, I found out some things that I wasn't aware of or included on. It changed the nature of my relationship with the team and opened up a conversation that was due. Through a lot of discussion and thought process, the lease has been handed over in it's entirety to Anna Kate and her mother.

It seems only fair for the little mare who has found her place not in 20x60 meter box but running meters per minute to have a rider that is just as enthusiastic and good with her. Going from pasture puff to fit to winning in about two years was an endeavor, one that I was apart of and was exciting to watch.

I think in another time and place she would have made a really good dressage horse, but her calling is jumping and with limited time and with the end result of creating a broodmare, you pick and choose your battles.

For the most part, I'm actually pleased at the way things have turned out. Were they perfect on my end? No. But that's the risk you take when you take on an unknown. In this case, it gave another rider a chance and Reba a career path, and I'm all for that.  I'm happy to see her onto her next phase and with a decent team.

Good luck to both of them and go Team Fancy Pants.

We like to party

I did a two for one day at USEA and USDF's conventions.

I made the trek up to Ohio to at least attempt to attend Area 8 awards (missed it due to an overrun meeting) for Reba and Anna, and then jetted back down Lexington to accept my Silver in person.

It's not my first convention I went to, but it was the first time I've accepted an award on the national scene. Reba was also one of the first horses I've had to go out and just dominate, and also the first horse I haven't piloted to those ribbons, but "owned". It was a good way to end a year I'd rather forget.

Despite arriving late, I was lucky that I had friends there to hold a seat and a plate of food. My table had collectively some of the best, most revered classical trainers seated (Charles DeKnuffy, JJ Tate and Mrs. O'Connor) at it. Many of which I met for the first time, and for once in my wee existence felt really awestruck at the living history eating cake and having coffee.

I didn't expect to like many of them, many trainers on the hard-core classical path tend to be eccentric at best. But if you ever have the chance to meet Charles, he's incredibly wonderful to listen to and get to know and Mrs. O' Connor is spot on with much of her commentary.

If the night had a theme, it was education.

It is something that I feel very near and dear to as I regularly host and work alongside people who's greater motivation is to improve riding and it's understanding. To see these people, who have dedicated their lives to furthering the next generation, and being recognized for it, is cool.

It's hard to believe that 40 years ago (I've been a member about a quarter of that time) we were still competing on grass with chain arenas and education and the programs, like the L, the All Breeds, Regionals, Instructor Certification, that in were started when I was 15 or 16 years old. We  have made progress.

It was fantastic to see and hear the stories being exchanged. It was good to see old friends, and touch base with those who I do business with. Plus it just started to stoke the competitive fires for 2014.

What will become of us

Winter has become equally as busy despite the adamant refusal to move everyone south (I will regret

this later) for the winter season. It's snowed on and off again for two days, leaving my woods covered in unfashionable post Labor Day White.

Starting in December with a double convention days (USDF/USEA Area 8), each week is booked out with something to do, whether it be clinic, show, symposium, meetings, hosting and travel.

Before I even start making rounds I still have the horses.

Danzador, even through some awkward stages, is getting the knack of things. As a four year old, he offers a lot of glimpses into a really bright future. He just gets the lateral movements and has a really lovely balance point. More importantly, he never stops trying. The adjustability is being developed, which I think will come when he figures out more collected work. He's not going to be FEI five and six year old material but will be a good candidate for the Developing Horse or the straight FEI tests. He still has a lot of maturing he needs to do over winter and with some changes in the program he'll be just fine.

Sinari is still going on, she's come back into work and is regaining a lot of the fitness she lost. The little mare is pretty much getting the idea of the zig zags, and reeled off three's today without really thinking. The main goal is to push for the I1 next year and be schooling all of the Grand Prix work. She's working solidly every day, I just wish the footing would cooperate so we can get out of the arena more often, hacking up and down the driveway isn't what I call fun.

Reba's first year and a half with my team and her rider has come to an end, and I couldn't be more proud of what they've done in less than a half a season of eventing and showing. With Anna Kate in less than 10 overall events, she finished with minimal penalties and usually on sub 30 dressage scores. She won Beginner Novice at American Eventing Championships, was Reserve Champion on the Area 8 Leaderboard and started showing Novice at the end of the season. On a horse that has had barely a season of jumping and has only really returned to work last August this is very quick progress.

I honestly can't wait to see what next year, the second/third year of this project holds for everyone, in the meantime we're celebrating with some holiday downtime. The horses were chiro-ed on Tuesday and have had yesterday and today off. We'll return on Friday with some light work to finish out the week. Plus there's a few changes coming up that I'll announce when they're confirmed.

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

I'm heading down a busy week of travel and riding.

First on the menu is the final prep for William Fox-Pitt's clinic, I'm pushing just over 200 people (riders, sponsors, auditors) for two days- during the week. It's by far and away the largest weekday clinic (if not clinic, Edward Gal was large, but not like this). This means packing the car, coordinating, doing laundry and having barn coverage.

Also during my trip out East I get to meet up with some old hunt friends that I met at Breyerfest in 2012. These guys are awesome and I haven't seen them in two years. So, I'm using this as an excuse to ditch the dressage gear and go have end of the season fun. I have a feeling that I'll be wrangled in to something that goes across country. I also get to see an old high school riding buddy and another few good friends. Either way, I'll be fine, hopefully alive after all of it.

It's also the week I generally start planning travel and shows.

On the docket for 2014 is air tickets to Europe for February to Holland for the KWPN stallion show and also co-oping it into a few other things. I would like to graduate with my L, and campaign the youngsters a little on the East. I will most likely make an stop in Canada at some point as well.

This week is also a heavy week for vet work.

While Danzador is clipped for the next few months, Sinari still needs to be clipped. Normally I'd have this done same day as the others but the one foible about Sinari is that she's petrified of clippers. No amount of coaxing, convincing will ever convince her otherwise. So drugs are necessary. Which means calling the vet out. 

We're going for a two for one special.

After a recent chiro session, we found that Sinari was also hyper sensitive on her hock and hock points.  This is a horse that's in six days a week of work, upper level work and has had joint support throughout her career (a daily oral, and a bi-monthly Adequan until Adequan decided to do some interior decoration of their plant then over to Legend) plus regular body work and has a good farrier. She goes on good footing, has properly fitting tack and everything has been done within reason.

But at 14 the work is hard, and has come time to inject the hocks.

I loathe injecting for the sake of injecting. I've been in barns and situations where the first answer is the needle and not really sourcing the issue (ill fitting tack, questionable footing, lack of development, no support, ect). My vets know this as well, as does the majority of my team that I'd rather avoid doing the unnecessary until options are exhausted and the horse dictates.  

Right now, she's dictating. She's still a little uncomfortable in the work, her normal good changes are sticky, the departs are a little rough going and she's not as fluid over the back. Then after her chiro work, she started telling us directly where it hurt. To make her comfortable for the next few years of competing/training, this is necessary.


After a decade of work, it's time. I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten away with it for so long and to have an honest horse to tell me when it's time. The injections went undramatically.

Danzador is doing exceptionally well, he's maturing into a fabulous young horse and gaining topline and fitness. He's so easy to ride, and as he's expanding his horizons, he continues to really try to figure things out. The other day he started doing changes, while they're green and all over the place he's getting the idea. He also started playing with baby half passes and park a bus in them pirouettes. While I still feel Sinari is smart, this guy is a brainiac sponge.He's just that quick to pick up on things and go for it. It's interesting, and very surreal when you have a horse that at four, can pick up on your mistakes quickly.

These bruises make for better conversation

I could complain about the month. It would probably make me feel better, but wouldn't be productive.

I'm not at Devon.

I'm at home. With an Eeyore-grey cloud looming around and a hairy bra from doing the fall clipping, a pile of laundry, puttering around, attempting to find shows to bring the babies out to while consuming my favorite pieces of chocolate updating the auditor/rider lists for Debbie McDonald and William Fox-Pitt.

I'm at home with my horses, one with a splint (he's getting better, back to work!), the other having back issues from a bad heat cycle that should hopefully resolve itself out within the next few days. Being grounded, temporarily, is the pits. The hairy bra takes the cake. But it gives a lot of time to regroup, refocus and live vicariously through others.

If there's one highlight in the bunch, it's Reba.

Reba was down in Texas for the AEC's. So without a competition on the horizon, I got to live vicariously through her and her rider the week for their final show of the season.

I was really excited for both of them to top out their year together at the championships, the two have gelled wonderfully.


It's been over a year since she's arrived, and despite an inauspicious start, I think she's finally found her footing, her rider and a career. I'm just happy to be apart of her journey and be able to help give back to the sport through helping someone help themselves.

In the meantime Reba's progressed from an out of shape pasture puff to a solid competitor to now winning the AEC's at the BN level. I'm tickled and it's a positive spot in a dour month. There are some ideas evolving for next season but nothing firm yet.

My other two are chilling for the moment, Danzador has returned to light work with me cold hosing/packing/booting up his legs every ride. Sinari is going through stretch days in a snaffle, I think she's enjoying working on this (seriously the pony can stretch for a 9) instead of grunting around the arena working on half steps.

Otherwise, uneventful if not somewhat productive. 

Beat this summer

With the rain we've had, I feel the switch from hay to rice is in order.

Despite rain, horse show season is still going strong up here.

I'm currently sitting out with Sinari while we develop, the focus is really Fall and Florida for her, which makes me excited. Lately we've been returning to full collection (pir's and piaffe/passage work), while we clean up our act. The low-pressure year has really done well. I'm happy, she's happy, my gas bill for the truck is reasonable.

I'm really looking forward to taking her to a three-day clinic with a piaffe/passage specialist. It's been my one of my main weaknesses that I don't have a good feel for. I've ridden a lot of pi/pa, but never had to really put a full 12-15 steps on a horse before. The two's are cooking right along and the one's I don't know about yet, we have three. Which I suppose is better than one. 

Reba made her eventing start last weekend, scoring a respectable 36 and change in dressage (ending up first on the leaderboard), a double clear in stadium (no brainer), but cross country there was a bit of a disconnect and hang up and an untimely departure between horse and rider. More than a few people had hangups and issues on that maxed out course, including a few friends who were schooling training height and had uncharacteristic time penalties and a tree fall in the middle of their stadium round.

It happens, but this is why we have schooling shows. Otherwise, very happy with her and the progress she's made in a year. Her new rider is enjoying her very much.

Sincere's owner also keeps sending in updates. From the photos, he's matured incredibly well, developing more bone and a tad bit more height. His owner is incredibly happy with him (despite young horse shenanigans), and I couldn't be more pleased about the match. I think he'll go out to show in the fall too.


Fritz has put on massive amounts of topline and has been working his tail off with me, his owner and one of the other girls who is brave enough to hack him on hills (as a rule I don't do baby's first outings). His main problem is, as with all driving breeds gone to the sport, endurance. He gets the connection, holds it for about 20 meters and drops it. Takes about 20 meters to get it back. With the hotter weather, he can only really last for thirty minutes. So it's more and more emphasis on conditioning.

Finally there's another new face in crowd, Danzador MSM kinda rounds out the "hair

crowd". He's a co-owned project that I'm actually kinda excited about. He's another 2009 baby, bay, leggy, tall and a PRE. When I saw his tape he didn't wasn't a-typical PRE that I saw in Texas (short with legs tending going everywhere), but naturally uphill and this freaky for the breed front end. He passed vet and is somewhere in the US currently heading to Kentucky. 

Get Lucky

Since Reba made the switch to jumping, things have been progressing rapidly. She's gone from a fairly cranky dressage horse to a very bold, outgoing individual. She really enjoys her job and I'm happy to let her go and do it.

The mare has gone from simple questions to more complex and bold combinations. I've recently paired her with an ambitious local young rider who's good horse is out of commission from pasture accident and needed a leg up on quality.  People have been asking whether or not Reba was for sale or lease for a little while now (I typically sell my jumpers, keep the dressage horses) and until recently the answer was no, she was not for sale, but if the right rider came along, I would consider placing her with that person to keep her progressing and to give her owner a better candidate for when she breeds her.


From the tryout, it was pretty much a match made after the first ride. The kid has tact and good hands. Plus velcro for a position. The combination have really gained traction in the training and competition schedule. Reba is to be entered in a mini trial this upcoming Sunday at Spring Run and from there proceed to qualify for American Eventing Championships for BN or N.

Her barn (family owned/operated) is a departure from a one-person training operation as a training horse in a field. From what I've come to understand she's one on one with her girls and is getting worked everyday in some capacity.  In the end I think this is another progression Reba's career.

It seriously wouldn't surprise me if she ended up top ten at AEC this year in Texas.

It also kinda makes me wish I still evented in some capacity, but I'm still a bit of a weenie DQ these days to work anything bigger than a ground pole and do gallop sets. So vicariously living for the discipline is what I do best.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle (yeah)

We've now been in FL for about a week. It's been one giant good thing after another so far, and while I thought I would have time to write extensively, I've had people make better use of my time here.
While the ponies arrived ahead of me (Wednesday) and I left not soon after that at 4am to trek south.
The drive isn't bad and I made good time, but when I hit Georgia at 8:30am and the landscape flattened like a pancake, the drive just stretched out longer, and longer and longer. Boredom and the radio got the best of me.

Truth is, it's an easy 13 hours. Especially when you have a radio, a cell phone and some things to do along the way.

My first stop was at Peter and Amy Atkins' to go set up the ponies at their place. The ponies arrived in better condition than I did. By the time I set up it was 830 and I still had to find my way to where I was staying.

With minimal lost-ness, I got there and collapse into the single most comfortable bed.

Friday I popped on all three for an easy day. Everyone felt fine. Saturday and Sunday was much of the same, minus the first solo trek to Wellington.

I went down to Wellington as a volunteer to be a scribe at the USEF High Performance Clinic with Steffen Peters and Anne Gribbons. There was indeed a lot of star power there, but in addition to that, it was a sheer joy to watch and sit at the table listening and learning for the day. I saw so many lovely combinations both from the A list and B list, and excused myself a little early to go home and try some things out on the horses.

Sunday I give a light day for all three (chiro'ed) and begin packing for the trek to Wellington again. I'm not looking forward to packing up my horses... again. But this is well worth it, we're going to go train with Koford.

Fast forward to now... it's almost Thursday, and we hit the ground running here. Sinari is doing extensive work in the collected canter (pir, changes, half pass), Merlot is working on up hill balance and lateral work and prepping out for his big Welly-world show, and Wylie is busy turning heads while coming back into fitness.

As for myself, it's physically hard. I have sores on the back of my legs and around my ankles from my boots. I wake up stiff. I'm drinking water like it's going out of fashion, and popping Advil too.

But, in all honesty, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

And the small shall inherit the earth

I make no bones that I'm in dressage ponies, it's obviously the subject of this blog and what I heavily promote.

So when USEF announced its pilot Youth Pony Program headed by grand pony-queen, Lendon Gray,  I couldn't be more estatic and a tad envious as well.

If you haven't been on the scene in the last ten years, there is a definite cry for competitive pony schoolmasters for youth to learn effectively and safely on. Concurrently running on the heels of USEF's announcement the most recent issue of Dressage Today (November 09), there is an extensive blurb on how we need these mounts.

Venues such as Dressage at Devon, and upcoming ones like the National Dressage Pony Cup, have started taking up the cause. Even the CDIs and GMOs are starting to award high points for the 148cm and under variety.

Yes, we need venues, and competitive mounts. We need riders, trainers who are willing, financiers who are wanting and organizations to track bloodlines, results and reward those who have participated (my vote goes toward a Pony of the Year award with USDF). It's a huge, Atlas-like undertaking.

But there are a few problems.

First, comparatively, it's not financially lucrative to breed and raise dressage ponies versus the hunter variety. The  pony who can crack it's back over fences on the AA while packing the wee child around and the pony who can do tempi changes, piaffe and still pack the wee child around will command about 30k less than it's hunter counterpart. If it's an eventing pony, well... good luck.  If you think I'm not serious even in this economy, go look.
 
Adding to the conundrum, the same pony will most likely not be bought by parents for a child, but rather, by an Adult Amateur who is downsizing, wants manageable, has zero international ambition (because FEI rules state they cannot compete in open CDI classes) and has the cash to pay for the pony too.

So stating the obvious, hunters have perfectly created and dominated the pony market. It's made pony ownership not only attractive through specific kid-pony classes, but incredibly lucrative. It's allowed efficent, euro-styled development of a variety of pony jockeys, auction places and bloodline tracking. The sheer scope and industry impact is amazing. 


Also another thought is the venue aspect, every year there is the Pony Finals in Kentucky. This USEF-backed and directly hosted event annually happens with great amounts of patronage and time spent by all getting to it.

Even as a dressage person, I love this event. Aside from getting stuff that actually fits and is well made for the pony, it's well run and executed. It attracts the numbers year after year too. There are some top notch ponies and pony jocks. Dressage ponies don't have a governing body backed event, at least to the scope of Pony Finals, those that are in existence are privately funded and sponsored.

Secondly, by the time a person has invested not only the cash, but the time creating an FEI-capable pony, usually wants to keep it for herself. This is even after the pony has been on the market for months at a time.

Personally, I know this, not because Sinari is for sale, but because I'm going in to that situation.

Have I been made offers on Sinari? Yep. By a variety of people.

Have I considered them? Yep, I'd be very ignorant not to. But in the end, this is my pony, and of all the horses I've ridden so far, she's the one I look forward to everyday. There's not really ever going to be a price on her. Plus we're only now getting to the fun stuff.

So to say the very least, I want this program to succeed. Future plan-wise, it would mean a ton more support and business for those out there who deal in this kind of market. It would develop the dressage bloodline so it's comparative to the hunter world. It could create the venues, the riders, allow patronage and develop the community far beyond what any individual can do by themselves.

However, this is a step in the right direction and I applaud it. But, there needs to be some fundemental changes in addition to hosting clinics.

Personally, I would like to see a development of pony-only awards, young pony venues (BuCha would be awesome), development and support of pony-only riders and jocks (not just the youth variety).  I would also like to see a cross-cooperation of breeds. All too often, I see the natterings and politics working against the overall goal so that one book can one-up the other or self-stabotage itself. If these can be fudementally met and supported beyond the initial honeymoon stage, then we, as a nation, will be all that much more compeitive in the long run.

Ain't misbehavin'

A long time ago, I was a fearless teen. There really wasn't a horse I couldn't ride, gallop out or bounce off of. I loved and lived to event at one point and usually the more bolder, hotter ponies were much better than the ones who were shy and reserved.

When I started dressage, I was the same way, I liked a hotter horse. Porches as my then-coach would describe them. Thankfully the schoolmaster taught me not to nag with the aids otherwise I would still be in the stratosphere.

With the training from impetuous teen to semi-educated rider, I really began to develop tastes for particular habits and over the years I've developed pet peeves with people and their horses that could be perfectly controllable aspects attributed to training.

These are just a few:

• I hate horses that can't lead by my shoulder that lag, lean or drag behind.
• I don't like unforward/cold/lazy horses.
• Horses that don't know how to stand and wait at the block.
• Pushy horses.

So when one of these really rear their heads, I try my darnedest to get past it, and unfortunately it's often swift, somewhat methodical and sometimes lacks the southern version of tact.

Forwardness is my biggest pet peeve of all. I want the horse to be forward, without question, all the time. Irregardless of under saddle or on the ground. Its such a basic fundamental principle of dressage, but at the same time it's just as ignored as straightness.

Part of forwardness is fitness. Eighty percent of horses out there aren't really fit enough to go beyond the level they're being asked of. The other twenty percent are just not off the aids, not sharp enough.

I think other half of the problem is three fold. First part is that most riders are really afraid of asking for super forward, carrying gaits, also that horses never really learned to be forward from the get-go on the ground and I think the other half has to deal with the corrective measure, which sometimes can't be pretty from an outsider's standpoint.

When my horses aren't forward, I immediately correct them and send them on. Being in front of my leg is not a question. It has to happen, all. the. time. The general thought to corrective action in some fields (notoriously natural horsemanship) runs a long the lines of abuse.

Clear direction and correction isn't abuse. Nagging however, is.

And this is what bothers me when I sit on other horses, is while I try to remain tactful and un-nagging as possible. But its the perception of being overtly rough that bothers me.