Dressage at Devon 2010, Sling’s Trip to the BIG TIME

Dressage at Devon is a magical show each year.  Take the largest DSH breed show in the country, complete with tons of cute, nervous babies, add a prestigious CDI with the fire-breathing FEI horses, then top it off with a kick-butt trade fair, and you have a A LOT going on.  Then cram the whole thing on a show grounds the size of a city block.  Yes, this is a recipe for craziness, and yes, it is an intense show, but somehow it works.

This year, Slingshot, Wendy Adam’s super-star 4-year-old was my ride.  Sling, more than any other horse I ride, has a fan club.  Wendy owns Glory Springs Farm, a big, active boarding barn in Wernersville, where I teach a couple times a month. We joking call it SFD West. Wendy bought Sling in utero from Marilyn Cormier, another student, and he grew up at Glory Springs, so all of the boarders know him.  He’s been with me at Red Bridge since January, and his fun personality combined with his loud snore (this boy can saw some logs) as endeared him to the home SFD crowd.  So when we show, everyone comes out to cheer him on. 

This was Sling's "staff" on Tuesday - he had a whole new crew on Wednesday! 

I love this young horse too.  He’s goofy, personable, honest, gives 110% every ride, and has an AMAZING hind leg.  True to his bloodlines, he is a slow-maturing horse, so Wendy and I decided to wait until he was fully 3 ½ before we started his formal education.  He’s been under saddle since mid-February, and rewarded our patience by being mentally ready to start his show ring education by July. I specify mentally, because every time I enter him in a show, he hits another growth spurt, tipping his balance hither-and-yon, resulting in some interesting dressage tests.  That is the reality of showing young horses. 

I love the young horses.  Helping these young horses learn confidence and trust is really exciting to me.  To build confidence, I have to take the youngsters to the edge of their comfort zone, then bring them back to more comfortable, over and over again.  To build trust, I have to clearly create boundaries for when they are nervous, but I can’t add pressure when they are at that edge.  I have to sense when they are on the edge of overload, and take them to where they feel safe.  I have to be completely ok with any embarrassing shenanigans that may happen.  Often, to help, I enlist an equine babysitter—a seasoned, nothing-bothers-me, no-nonsense horse to help. 

In July, the NJ Horse Park show was perfect for Sling’s first outing.  Secret was going too, so she could play babysitter.  The show was 3 days long, so he could be there long enough to work through the worry, then get over it.  We requested the back side of barn C so he could have a quiet place to get away from the show ring commotion. 

As expected, Sling was OVERWHELMED.  On Friday, when he was completely beside himself, we didn’t canter on the left lead at all.  His safe spot was anywhere that Secret, his babysitter, was.  We spent a lot of time walking and lunging, and had to keep our mounted work in the quiet, tucked-away-out-back warm up.  Secret came ringside with him and watched his tests.  By day 3 he was much more confident, both leads had arrived, and we could watch the big boys in the crazy warm-up, but joining them in the sandbox, well, not yet.  He showed in the 4-year-old test, and earned respectable scores.  Wendy and I were very pleased.

Since July he has had 3 other day trips, twice with a baby sitter and once flying solo, but all at quiet venues, and he has become more and more confident with each outing.  But Devon is anything but quiet. 

We arrived on Monday afternoon, and a stroke of luck had us stabled with Ursula Ferrier, who owns Scimitar, Sling’s dad.  Ursula is not only a great horseman, she is a fun person to hang out with, which kept the atmosphere calm and relaxed, which is exactly what Sling needed.

On Monday, when I schooled Sling, he seemed cool as a cucumber coming out of the barn, so I mounted and rode to warm-up.  Our timing was unfortunate—everyone seemed to leave right as we arrived.  His confidence left with the other horses, so I got off and went back for lunging equipment.  A few minutes on the lunge, and it seemed a light bulb went off in his head.  It was like he said, “Oh, yea, I know how to do this,” and my good boy returned. 

Warm up on Tuesday

Tuesday Sling’s entourage showed up to watch him go in Suitability to be a Dressage Horse.  Sling was a perfect gentleman about having so many humans fuss over him.  He warmed up great, and once in the ring, he noted that I was making suggestions from the saddle, but was a bit too overwhelmed to truly respond to them.   I played my supportive rider role (“no, Sling, the judges stand won’t bite,”  “Good boy Sling for going around the flowers instead of jumping them,” etc.) and tried to keep him away from crowd.  We did ok staying clear, that is, until they called for the right lead canter.  Right then I was looking for my way clear, but was behind two horses and with one on my right.  They all started cantering.  My vote was for us to make a circle, and depart on that circle, but herd instinct pulled Sling into the canter – which would have been ok, if it had been the correct lead.

I brought him back to trot, and actually cued the canter, but by then he was upset, so he took the incorrect lead again.  By try 3 we got the lead, but Mr. Try-too-Hard was flustered.  The rest of the class was nervous rushing.  His mind didn’t even settle in the line up–he stood there fussing with his bit, which is new for him.
 

Wednesday our Materialle class was later in the day, and Wendy and I alternated walking him around most of the day.  But it really didn’t matter, by the time I got on he was wound up.  I spent warm up asking for his attention, and about the time I was concerned I wouldn’t get it, he settled in to my aids.  Then I started to get ambitious.  I know Wendy wasn’t concerned about the placing, but I like to give owners ribbons when they let me compete their horses. 

So we went in, and frankly, I over-rode the trot work. As a result, I got his neck a little short, and he got fussy in the contact and inconsistent in the tempo.  After the first trot, the judge had us walk for what seemed like forever, which gave Sling time to settle into the arena and me time to mentally whip myself into shape.   I allowed his neck longer for the canter work, which allowed his incredible hind legs to do their thing, earning him a 7.6 for his canter.  He earned a 7.6 for general impression, and a 6.7 for walk. Not surprising, his trot was his lowest score, at 6.5, for an overall of 71%, ranking him 7th overall. 

But the best part for me was after the class, when this huge, goofy warmblood, in the craziest show in the area, is such a good boy that Paige, Wendy’s 10-year-old daughter, can lead him around in all that commotion.  This is a super horse on so many levels. 

Thanks Wendy, for the opportunity to show such a fun horse.

A Barn STILL in Limbo

For some reason, writing a horse blog has an inherent pressure to focus on the sunshine-and-butterflies.   Most of the time I can easily comply, but sometimes it is really hard. 

Like lately.  Mixed between the super training progress and great fun at shows is one overriding pressure – I still haven’t found a barn.   

Don’t worry, I’m not going to pull a “poor-Ange” on you, I do very much love what I do.  But lately, this whole barn-relocation has tainted the fun.  I hate that the time and effort to build Straight Forward Dressage into a positive, supportive horse community could be shattered if I can’t find a suitable facility. Plus I’d have to go find a “real job.”  So I’m being hit on both the practical and idealistic levels. (ok, so maybe this is a little “poor-Ange,” but I think I may be entitled to just a little)

Stress? What stress??

Half of Red Bridge’s property closed September 15^th, and I am happy for Renee.  A few horses have left, and the remainders are in training with either Cara or I, so I am much happier about that. When I let the business expand to include boarders, I felt I was getting stretched too thin, and not giving the care I like to give.  We have consolidated down to the main barn and the little white hunter barn, which makes chores much easier.  My only real complaint is the loss of the washing machine. As I type, I am at a laundry mat washing saddle pads.

As of today, I have three options, and whichever one I choose will change the direction of SFD.  Late last week I thought I had this all sorted out, but the contract negotiations are getting dicey, so I don’t think it’s going to work out.  Being so close to “out of limbo,” then being back in limbo, well, it makes it that much more unsettling.  

My horse-pro friends have been super-supportive in all of this. Several have offered me stalls, and so I won’t be stuck stabling horses in my tiny back yard (yes, I have had that nightmare more than once lately…). 

I guess this is the price to pay for having so much fun most of the time. 

Ok, I’ll get off the pity-pot now. 

It’s Devon week, and Slingshot is handing it all like the super-star he is becoming. Cara and Ockie are competing the PGS and I-1 on Friday and Saturday, then three weeks later we head to BLMS.   More on that later--in a more positive light, I promise!

Pics from Region 8

I promised photos - here are a few.

Chilly weather on Thurs, we just HAD to have jackets.

This show was nuts, lots of stuff going on.  The hunters were competing in their Marshall-Sterling finals, the jumpers were doing their thing, Tues -Thurs had a DSH show, and we had 6 dressage arenas cranking, one under CDI rules. This makes for a really fun show, with tons to watch, and, of course, brings out the vendors.

This little dude was a pony jumper, didn't catch his name, but seriously, the jumps are as high as his withers.  Impressive!

Shows are a combination of relaxed sitting around, then hurry-up-and-stress. 

Cara and Linda's pre-class ritual.

Ockie likes her hay where she can see everything.

I drug them off the show grounds one day to see Saugerties' famous lighthouse. It may be the shortest lighthouse I've ever seen.

See, tiny lighthouse. Only3 stories high.

I got artsy with my new camera :-).

Oh, yea, competition shots!

And, of course, a special thanks to our coach.

The Tack Room Makeover

Anyone who works with me knows I get snippy when I can’t find things.  At a show, when we are out of our routines and stressed, order is hard to find.  Luckily, Cara feels the same way, so usually our tack room is a picture of anal organization. But not last weekend.

Part of the problem is my new trailer. In my old trailer, I kept some show stuff tucked under my shelves, just for horse shows. My new trailer has these awesome airflow windows, so I’ve been sorting out what can go where, what lives in the trailer all the time, what comes just for shows, and keeping it all below the windows.  As a result, I forgot my cheapie-tired-looking-do-we-really-need-these plastic shelving and carpet.  Well, we needed them.   Without the carpet to define our tack room into zones, and our shelves to get stuff up off the floor, we were primed for disorder.  Then add unpredictable upstate NY fall weather, which feeds the over-packing instinct, and we had, by far, our messiest tack room ever.

BLMs are 4 1/2 weeks away, so I’m trolling web sites and e-bay for solutions.  Furniture for a tack room is a challenge.   Every show stabling is different.  Saugerties, this weekend, had nice, tall stall walls, so even if we had hanging shelving, they wouldn’t hang low enough to reach.  The walls were also pretty thick, so the hanger-part had to be able to fit over the wall – a problem for our bridle racks.    But the floors were pretty flat, a rarity in show stabbing, so free-standing items (like my forgotten selves) would work well.  At NJ Horse Park, on the other hand, the stall walls are wood half-way up, then chain link at the top, giving us lots of places to hang stuff, but making the tack stall an easy victim of rain or a runaway hose. 

In an ideal world, the tack stall furniture would be stuff that we can pack in, then ship in, so there’s no packing for show-unpacking into tack stall-repacking to go home- unpacking back at home.  Add our durability requirements, and I end up shopping for my tack stall at home improvement stores. Max, our favorite addition this season, is a fabulously portable tool box by Stanley. Max’s best feature is that it is built on a dolly, so it’s easy to roll it to the trailer at the end of a long weekend.

As I’m searching for shelving options, I come across the idea of “clamshell cabinets”—essentially two shelving units hinged together. I think this is a great idea, but I think I may need to try my creative hand at this.  There are two problems with this design–first, the shelves are right across from each other, so when the cabinet is closed, things can move from one shelf to another, and fall all over upon opening.  A lip at the end of each shelf and staggering the shelves will fix that.  Second problem – the $1400 price tag.  Plus, if I made it, I can use a pin-in-the-hole connection system (like on horse trailer butt bars), meaning I can totally separate the shelves if the tack room set-up would warrant it.  Plus I like power tools, and have a quiet week coming up, so I’m primed for the project.

I suspect I’m going to give Doug heart-failure with this idea ….

Despite the messy tack room, the show went really well.  We live and compete in Region 1, but as our championships are in November in down in NC, we decided to crash Region 8’s championship this year.   This isn’t our home region, so we had no idea how we would stack up against the competition. 

We did just fine.  Secret, who is an amazingly consistent 66-67% girl, landed us 3^rd in her two open first level classes, and 1^st in 2^nd 3 open.  Cara and Ockie had a truly beautiful ride in the open I-1 class on Saturday to earn a 64.xxx and a red ribbon.  Figi, Trevelyan Farm’s super-star pony, grew up a lot at this show (she’s only about a year under saddle) and was in the 60’s and either in the ribbons, or just out of them, every class.  Plus we squeezed in lessons with Scott with each horse, which had a surprisingly refreshing effect on me.  The little shot of training-focus instead of show-results-focus really kept my mind fresh. 

Pics will come in the next blog, I promise. I’m waiting for Linda and Catharine’s photos. I’ll consolidate them and post soon.

The Kindness of Strangers, and a Long Ride Home

 It takes a team to create a great show season, and sometimes, it takes a team to just get home from a show.  Coming home from Dressage in the Park July 19, the brake petal went to the floor, and I pulled off the road and started calling for help.  Here is Linda Butz's recounting of that afternoon.  The EMT not only brought us food, she restored my humor, which was no mean feat that day!!!

The Kindness of Strangers

 by Linda Butz

Most of you who follow SFD on FB probably know that Ange had truck issues when we left NJ Horse Park last Sunday. We lost the brakes on the truck but Ange managed to safely roll off the road to a flat grassy shoulder that even had some shade. We opened up the trailer-thank goodness the wonderful, new trailer has individual fans-pulled out our chairs and sat down to wait.

We were overwhelmed and tremendously grateful for all the folks who stopped to see if we and the horses were OK. One woman who stopped was a vet and she took a peek at the horses and declared them to be fine-yeah, we knew that, but it was nice of her to care. Another woman who works at the Horse Park took me back to get water for the horses.

The EMT from the show on Sunday stopped to check on us. We assured her we were fine and Ange joked that if we had pizza and beer we’d be set. About 30 minutes later she returned with pizza and soda-refused our money-and said she’d been at the show all day and imagined that we were exhausted and still had a long night ahead.

One woman came by who said she had a farm down the road with horses and that if we needed to, she’d send her husband up with their truck to hitch to the trailer and we could stable the horses overnight with her. People driving everything from motorcycles, convertibles, and trucks stopped constantly to be certain everything was OK.

Our true hero was Cara who after having competed early in the day, taken her horse home, and fed dinner to all the horses at home, drove all the way back in her truck to take us home. At that point we had to unload the horses, who both (including the 4-yr-old) handled the whole thing like the champions they are (to us, at least).


It was a nerve-wracking experience, but it could have been much worse-we weren’t on the Turnpike!  It also reaffirms my belief that the vast majority of people in this world, especially horse people, are good, kind, caring, and will go out of their way to help other horsepeople in need.


Thank you all!

July and August Show Results

Results from most of the Recent Shows

 

For all of you who are "Fans of SFD" through our Facebook page, you know we've been our usual crazy-busy at the shows.  Not fan? Try this link.

 

To summarize our recent flurry of shows (and to sorta justify why I didn't get a newsletter out last month...) . I know I'm missing a couple, but these are the ones I had easily-accessible results.  To compile this list, I plagiarized, edited and elaborated on everyone's Facebook posts -

 

Aug 15 Fider Run

Cara/Ockie, Ange/Sling

 

Straight Forward Dressage Ockie won I-1 with a 62.632. She has become dang consistent at a show, both out of a stall and out of trailer.

 

Sling is growing up - won the 4-year-old test, and brought home red with a 62.8 in training level. Handled it all like a pro.

 

 

Aug 11 Recognized Show at Blue Goose

Cara/Ockie, Cara/Figi, Carol/Merrick, Ange/Secret, Ange/Sling

 

 

From  Cara - Had a great day today at Blue Goose. Figi was such a star! In her first ever first level class she was high score of first level with a 76%! Training 4 she had some mistakes and got a 68.8%. She gets better by the day. Ockie wasn't her best, but got a 61.3% at PSG which is respectable.

 

From Carol  - Merrick won Training 1 at Blue Goose's USDF with a blistering 65.2 Best score he's earned in a long time. He faded after that but one good class is terrific.

 

From Ange  - Secret earned a 63.095 at 2nd 4 and a 68.140 at 2nd 3. She really felt like a 2nd level horse yesterday, I'm really proud of her.

Sling acted like a very mature grown up, earning a 64.4 in the 4-year-old test and a 64.8 at training 3.

 

From Linda - AND Sling held it together when a horse spooked in warm-up and dumped his riding, bumping Sling in the process. What a good baby! Sun-burned shoulders aside, it was a great day! Bet the horses slept well last night.

 

July 18-19 show at NJ Horse Park:

Cara/Ockie, Carol/J'y suis, Ange/Secret, Ange/Sling 

 

From Carol - J'y suis won First 3, qualifying for BLMs

 

From Linda Secret put in a solid show with 3 reds and 1 blue (at Second 4). Ange finally convinced her that the R lead canter single loop in First 4 does not require a flying change and on Sunday she pulled her second qualifying score of 66.316 for regionals!

 

From Cara - Ockie got a 60.2% in both of her I-1 classes, only her second show at the level.

 

From Ange - Victoria and Pene started well, then Pene fell in love with Sling, and threw her under the bus. He spent the rest of his show ring time calling to his lover-boy. 

 

From Ange - This was Sling's first outing, and he brought home two blues from the 4-year-old tests. By the end of the weekend, could even handle the big-boy warm up with something that resembled steering :-).

 

July 7 Recognized show at Blue Goose

Cara/Ockie, Carol/Merrick, Cara/Figi, Ange/Eclipse and Victoria/Pene

 

Congrats to Cara/Figi, Victoria/Pene, and Carol/Merrick for outriding their teacher at Blue Goose on Wed! You guys make me proud.

 

Ockie's first time at I-1 for a 63.421 - yes, Cara, you've turned her into a show horse!

 

Victoria proves that warm-up is overrated by cutting herself too close on time for my comfort, but not for Pene's - 65.667 in First 1 for red, and 66.944 in First 2 for blue.

 

June 19-20 Crazy weekend

 

Heavenly Waters - Cara/Ockie, Anita/Dream and Ange/Secret  Practical Dressage and Eventing - Carol/Merrick

Recognized Arab show in NJ - Victoria/Pene

 

 

From Ange - Everyone brought home a blue!! How cool is that?

From Carol  -  Pene/Victoria also brought home a Blue. They blistered the competition at an Arab show in NJ.

 

From Linda - WOW! 5 horses competing and 5 blues. Go SFD!

 

More from Linda - Secret was her good girl--I love to pampered--self. She blew me away by winning in her first outing at Second level. Now if USDF would only rewrite First-4 to include a flying change we'd be golden. She still had two 67's in that test even with the error. Good luck fixing that one, Ange!

 

From Ange - O-bird has become such a solid citizen at shows, Cara had to jazz her up before her tests! But it worked, Ockie likes blue :-).

 

Also from Ange - I'm proud of Carol and Merrick, she has developed Mr. Spook at Shadows into a brave CT horse, she didn't even need a coach this weekend!

Moving news

For all of you who are "Fans of SFD" through our facebook page, you know we've been our usual crazy-busy at the shows.  Not fan? Try this link.

 

As the gossip chain has correctly reported, yes, Straight Forward Dressage is leaving Red Bridge Farm.  Renee Gorman, Ted's widow, has decided to sell, and I can't say as I blame her -- it's a lot of property to manage, and a huge house for just one person. We are currently looking at several facilities.  I have large, elaborate pro-con lists for each place, and will be making a decision about which facility shortly.  I'll make sure everyone knows as soon as I sign a contract.

 

Now, to answer a few of the questions floating around.

 

No, we are not relocating out of state. 

 

No, we haven't been "kicked out," the Gormans and I have been on good terms for our whole stay at Red Bridge, and the parting will be sad. We have known of this for a while, and have been actively looking for a suitable property. 

 

No, I am not interested in staying on at Red Bridge under the new owners--the property is actually two real estate lots, and one of the lots will be developed, and the remaining parcel is a bit too light on turnout for our needs. 

 

Yes, this is lot of stress, but it's the flip side of being a renter.  As a renter, last winter when we had 70+ inches of snow, Red Bridge folks made sure the farm was accessible.  When the driveway needed repairs from all of the melt, Red Bridge folks had to track down a contractor and get it fixed. My responsibilities have stayed with running my business, not worrying about the property, which has been great. Those are the benefits of renting a facility.

 

The negative is I have to relocate from time to time.  Each relocation has resulted in better facilities and growth for SFD. I'm optimistic about our next home.