Remembering Why We Do This

Red Bridge Farm, SFD’s home, is surrounded by homes. Forty years ago, Ted Gorman, our landlord, bought a 400-acre dairy farm, converted the main barns for horses, and sold off house-sized parcels. He sold to some really nice folks. This Saturday, we invited them over. We introduced our neighbors to a few of our horses, showed them a little dressage, fed them cake and punch, and gave the kids (and some of the adults) pony rides.

This all started as a good public relations idea, you know, giving back to the community. But by 5:00 Saturday, I was beginning to wonder if maybe we got as much out of the experience as the neighbors did.

Training for dressage competition is pick-on-yourself-every-day kind of work. Even when it all flows and you win the day, there are still things that could be just-a-little-bit better. Training for the elusive “10” keeps us so detail-focused that sometimes we forget the point.

What is the point anyway? Simply put, riding horses is fun. Tweaking the horse-human communication until our aids are virtually invisible, while channeling all that power, is the most amazing rush. That is why we do dressage, not for the $2 piece of satin.

Championship season tends to steal the fun.

But seeing the kid’s huge grin during the pony rides—that was fun. Watching the wonder on our neighbors faces as they learned to safely give a horse a treat—that was fun.

The demo horses caught the mood. Clyde and Victoria, Laura and Oberon, and Cara and Ockie demonstrated first level, third level and PGS for our neighbors. I’ve seen these three combinations compete all season, performing for perfection-minded judges. This audience was different. These folks were here to enjoy the beauty of the horse’s movement. This was going to be a different kind of performance.

Boy did those horses perform. I haven’t seen that much bounce out of Clyde, suppleness out of Oberon, or pure joy out Ockie in any of their performances this season. Our audience, all non-horse people, commented about how much fun the horses were having.

Afterwards, as we all decompressed in the barn, the riders basked in the pure fun of their rides, without worrying about the scores.

What a great way to end the season.

Well, almost end, the Big Fall Show is next week. More about that next time.

Show Season from the Owner's Perspective

Secret, the super little mare that has been cleaning up all year, belongs to Linda Butz. Linda is a first-time horse owner, and Secret a barely-handled 5-year-old in December of 2007, when Linda bought her. Watching their bond grow has been something right out of a made-for-tv Hallmark special. Here is her take on the show season. Riding a horse like Secret is a privelege, and having an owner like Linda is just icing on the cake.

2009 Show Lessons from a Dressage Novice

By Linda Butz

I came into my first dressage show season completely uninformed. I had only owned Secret for a year and I had no idea that she decided she wanted to be a dressage horse! Other than seeing the freestyle at Dressage at Devon once, a local schooling show (where Secret was a disaster, but at least she got on and off the trailer), and the Big Fall Show as a spectator, I had no experience with showing. I had a lot to learn!

Ange and Laura had the show season planning meeting in January for everyone at Red Bridge and I remember being amazed by Victoria F’s show folder. Of course, I promptly put one together and it was a life-saver during the year. Otherwise, I’d have forms and test booklets everywhere. I remember everyone talking about schooling shows, rated shows and the “holy” BLMs. I didn’t have a clue what a BLM was! Then there was the Morgan circuit, Arab circuit, etc. I read Ange’s show booklet until it fell apart.

In March, Ange and I had a discussion as to whether I was more interested in ribbons or scores. My answer was, “ribbons, of course!” I was determined that Secret wasn’t getting a snazzy brow band until she won a blue. Of course, she accomplished that the week before we were to leave for Mason Dixon and one of my friends hastily produced a green jeweled brow band made by one of the kids she knew. It was gorgeous but took some hot gluing during the show to hold it together. After Secret took the training level championship, the “real” snazzy brow band had to be green, which it is. It also matches Ange’s eye shadow, but that’s another story.

As the season went on and I learned more about our warmblood competition, I realized that scores are more important than ribbons. I learned that placing behind the warmbloods wasn’t a bad thing and sometimes we sneaked in front of them or at least gave them a scare. I learned to keep spreadsheets listing venues, scores, and judges, file forms with the two breed associations (it’s lovely to have a dual registered horse), write checks(!), chat up the show secretaries, volunteer whenever possible and always thank those who were volunteering at any show.

I got to experience the wild Arabian circuit. There’s always something to watch from horses pulling carts to the western disciplines to saddleseat to native costume. Catherine and I are pining for a native costume for Secret although it might take us all winter to get it on her since she’s afraid of her fleece-covered halter. Catherine will also have to ride her because in native costume classes one enters the ring at the canter. Arab shows have barn parties, crazy outfits (not that boring dressage black and white) and lots of bling. Dressage is shunted off to a side ring—the main ring has all the crazy classes that I can’t begin to understand.

After dragging myself home from a couple of shows I learned the importance of food. We can never have too much water as it’s easy to get dehydrated. Cold cuts for sandwich fixing works out well as the food at the show grounds is never spectacular, if it exists at all, and we’re always grabbing something between classes. We wouldn’t get through without popcorn, M&Ms, and trail mix. I’ve learned to take a bucket back to the hotel to raid the ice machine in the morning and to leave the cooler at the showgrounds. I still come home exhausted and hungry, but happy I got to spend multiple days with my horse and my horse friends.

At first it seemed that one-day shows were much easier. For a multiple day show, there’s the packing (grain and hay are heavy), unpacking, setting up stalls, feeding, picking stalls, filling water buckets, walking the horses, bed check, and then getting up and doing it all over again. However, after a few one day shows, I learned that having a horse that doesn’t like to stand on the trailer by herself means that I cover miles of ground while she grazes so forget eating, bathroom breaks, or anything like that! Now I’ve come to love a show where she has a stall in which to relax and a chair on which I can sit! One day or multi-day, I love having that intense time with my horse and I think she enjoys it as well. It almost makes walking into the barn at 5:30 a.m. when it’s 40 degrees and we got lost trying to find a Dunkin’ Donuts open at that time so we could at least get coffee worthwhile. I always am greeted with nickering. Of course, it usually means, “I’m out of hay and I want my breakfast and some fresh water while you’re at it,” but it warms my heart nonetheless.

It’s been an interesting season. We did a ton of shows to get Secret the experience she needed and she responded beyond our wildest dreams. I’ve become expert at tack cleaning, horse bathing, staying out of Ange’s way on show day, and holding the show coat and test book. I learned how supportive everyone is at Red Bridge. The fun comes in cheering each other on through good days and bad. Showing has given me the opportunity to get to know everyone at the barn. We’ve rejoiced in wins, commiserated when it didn’t go well, and mourned when one of the horses gets hurt or goes lame and needs to stay home (after the entry fees are paid, of course). It’s been a wild ride. Only the Big Fall Show remains. I can’t wait for the break but I know I’ll be excited to see the 2010 season begin.

Do we have a date for the 2010 show season planning meeting???

BLM Results

The BLMs is always a big deal. Lots of horses, lots of tension, plus it's the first show with cool nights, which usually brings out the frisky in the ponies. Boy, did it come out.

But first the good stuff. Secret, Dream, Ockie, Flika (for the most part), were all the good girls we expected them to be. They and their human counter-parts turned in solid rides, letting the judges see their training.

Ockie and Cara stood 6th in the PGS championship class. Flicka and Laura were 5th and Secret and I were 8th in the training level championship class. Dream and Anita had two solid championship rides that put them just out of the ribbons both times. Secret ribboned in each of her training level rides, incuding a blue for training 2 on Friday with a 70 and change. We are waiting to hear if she was high-scoring Arab for the show. Oberon ribboned in all of his third level rides, and allwed Laura to actually RIDE, and not just steer and hope. He wins most improved, as we expected him to be overwhelmed, but even with all the pressure, he stayed obedient for the most part, a nice show of maturity on his part.

Silly and Merrick, the ones we were concerned would have trouble with the high-excitement of this show, did. Merrick, in usual Merrick atheltic form, got himself so excited he ended up with a sore back. Carol has impressive sticking power, I must say. Silly was also pretty excited, but her tension comes out as running with an occasional spin, giving us a really fast championship ride on Friday. Don't want to tie up that ring any longer than necessary. . .

Then there's the stage-fright boys. Eclipse, the perfect boy, managed a stone bruise last weekend, and had to stay home. Dosysky, Anita's GP horse, had a minor colic on Monday and began treatment for ulcers, so she decided to keep him home also.

That's the facts folks. Stories to come later, once I get the laundry under control.

Four Training Days Left....

This is it, down to the wire. BLMs are next weekend, and we have four training days left. That's it. A whole year's plotting and planning, and it is almost over.

The good news is two of the four are ready. Secret has been schooling like her usual, perfect, try-my-heart-out-every-stride self. Eclipse is the rock-solid good-boy he always is. They will show the judge what they can do, and then it's all up to the judge's opinion.

Then there's Silly and Merrick. Silly is my horse, which means when it comes to showing, she usually gets the short end of the stick. At home I know what I'm getting, but she just does not have the road miles of the other two. So her inexperience will come out either as additional gaits or tension. We'll find out on Friday.

Merrick has been working better and better every day, and lately it has carried over to the show ring. Then yesterday his dramatic nature overcame, and he limped just a little (What do you mean you are off??? My sanity needs those FOUR TRAINING RIDES!!! ). He has a suspicious crusty spot at his right hind coronet band, and when I touched it, he fired a warning shot at my knee. Hopefully it is an abscess, and will burst completely and go back to work in time.

In the mean time, I'm forcing myself to give the horses this Sunday off. I'm keeping busy looking for my desktop. I hastily buried it when I compressed everything into two four-day work weeks. Then used my stolen time to run home to my high-school reunion (Has it really been 20 years???? No way. All these people have kids and grown-up jobs. I couldn't have gone to high school with them...). I'm sure my desk is under here somewhere. It is brown, I think.

Crazy mind

Most of the time, my mind goes bzz-bzz-bzz, like an ant on caffeine. Running a horse business encourages this – there’s the horse care, the training, the medicals, the clients, the lessons, the schedule, the event planning, the insurance, the budget, the promoting, the staff relations, the list goes on and on. Often I feel like I have 6 pots boiling on a 4-burner stove.

The schedule has been quite busy the last couple of months, which feeds my manic tendencies. Thanks to the help of Cheryle, Laura, Carol, Cara, Doug, Shirley and Adolpho, most of the time I can keep all of the balls in the air. But then there are times when it all begins to unravel.

Like recently. A small series of blond moments tells me I’m stretching a bit too thin.

Yesterday, I mixed up when Laura was going back to school, and rode her training horses for her. Oops.

Sunday, I came to the barn in sandals (normal for this time of year), but without socks. Socks are kind of essential with tall boots.

I re-arranged my entire Tuesday to make it to the chiropractor, for an appointment that was scheduled for Monday.

Friday remembered half-way to the barn that we were doing promo photographs, and wearing my striped breeches on a really wide horse will probably accentuate my chair-seated tendency. Yea, let’s go publicize those photos all over the internet. Maybe it’ll make the horses look better, that they can be pretty in spite of my leg position???

Sunday I managed to get the laundry folded and in a basket, and put it down in the living room to do something else, then did something else, then something else. Doug graciously rescued the laundry from becoming a cat bed.

Ironically, even with this completely disorganized mind of mine, when I get on a horse to train, the noise goes away, and my mind settles. Training is the only time my mind calms. In August, shows have slowed a bit, so mounted work has focused on training instead of show prep. Which is probably why the unravels have been comical instead of frustrating.

After this weekend the schedule settles down a bit, and hopefully so will my crazy mind.

From Laura

Laura Juniewicz, SFD's glamorous assistant, said she had a submission for our newsletter. She was pretty secretive about what she wanted to write about, but I trust her, so I said 'sure, I'll run whatever you write.' I really didn't know it was going to be this flattering, but thanks Laura!!! Hiring you was one of the best business decisions I've made.

My Pilgrimage to SFD...One Year Later

By Laura Juniewicz

So there I was a radiology student, in school full time and insanely in the middle of doing her L judge program through the USDF when I got a phone call from a fellow candidate that I had gotten really friendly with at the L activities and at the DVCTA Adult Team Show. Ange asked if I would be interested in coming to her barn to teach part time as her business was growing and she needed some help. I was firstly flattered and thought it would be a good match because in discussions Ange and I had we agreed on a lot of theory and saw things in a similar light. So I went to SFD and rode Sam and Clyde who were lots of fun and well trained. After being there a couple weeks, and after talking it over with mom I asked Ange if I could move my horses to SFD and so my journey began.

I had offered to do feedings and in discussing things with Ange I could see she was as meticulous as I was about my pony’s care. So what did I do? I promptly left my ponies in her hands and went to work my week at Dressage at Devon as the trophy and awards coordinator. But I needn’t have worried as my ponies were fine and survived the week.

So my first few months at SFD were interesting for me and I learned a lot about myself and about others. One of the first things I noticed about SFD was how tight knit the group was and how supportive they were. But it took time for people to learn to trust me as an instructor and as a trainer. And I could hardly blame them. After all, ninety percent of the time I try to audit someone before I take a lesson and sometimes it’s a gamble. But the time it has taken has been well worth it because I have gotten to see the progress in the group at SFD and they’ve gotten to see me and how I work and function. Training and teaching is not just about the process or the learning, it is also about trust and about building lasting relationships. After all, not only is one placing themselves but the welfare of their horse in my hands when I teach or train them and their horses.

The support of the group at SFD is unlike anywhere I’ve seen with such a mixture of levels of different riders. Everyone supports one another and I think it’s great! When we go to shows, it’s all about the team. There is such group support and you can feel your group of cheerleaders rallying behind you. Plus we bring great food or know the best places to stop for more food!

I really felt that support (as well as did my mother) when we had to make the heart wrenching decision to put Solitaire down this year. Everyone at SFD was so supportive, kind and caring. It made something horrific slightly easier to know that you all were there for us.

It is so nice having the support of Ange for me professionally. We joke competitively with one another, but it is so nice to have regular, knowledgeable eyes on the ground. We both are similar but also bring different things to the table. Between her and everyone else at SFD whom I get to teach or ride with on their pony, it makes me so grateful that I cannot even place it into words. But I know I look forward to going to the barn each morning! J

Looking back over the year, it was a great year! I passed my x-ray boards and became an R.T.! Ange and I passed the L program. Additionally, I have so many memories associated with SFD that make me smile. Taking my mom’s new horse to her first show, Merrick splashing himself in the face at Fiddler in the huge lake from the horrible rain, and Anita and Dream qualifying for BLM’s. Victoria Franzen and I driving to see Rocky, Pene, Secret and E show at Quentin. Going to get ice cream after Blue Goose shows. It’s all the little things and the great horse moments that make me smile and happy that Straight Forward Dressage is my home.

Show food

I love pre-show anticipation, not just about the ribbons. Of course, I want to do well and bring home lots of high scores, but the way I see it, 50% is preparation and 50% is luck at the moment (I have had many quite colorful examples of bad luck, but that’s for another blog…). By this point in show season, either I know my mounts are prepared or I’ve canned the show season to stay home and train. So for me, show anticipation takes on another angle–the food.

Showing as a kid, if you told me a show grounds, I could tell you the nearest fast-food restaurants. Maturity, and a husband who can REALLY cook, has improved my culinary tastes. Add Linda, Secret’s owner, who believes both commiserating and celebrating require linen napkins, and pre-show anticipation becomes very sweet.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First we have to pack to proper road-trip-stall-side munchies. We just cannot show without SmartFood White Cheddar popcorn. Animal crackers and trail mix are also essentials. Add some granola bars, apples, carrots and grapes, then wash it down with Smartwater for Ange and Coke for Linda, and we are set. Usually there’s a small bag of M&M’s somewhere, but white breeches require me to limit my quantities.

Of course we have to pack something for lunch, and my preference is good-old fashioned peanut butter and jelly. PB&J represents one-handed comfort food at its best. Today’s PB&J is a bit more grown-up than years past, though. To start, Doug bakes excellent bread. Last weekend, for fun, he took my leftover fruit and mixed it with honey and sugar, making an amazing jelly, so last weekend’s PB&J were especially tasty. Linda, not to be outdone, brought some chicken club salad from the farmer’s market.

Then there’s dinner, and of course I have my favorites. NJ has the most incredible Italian restaurant, Villa Barone's, and I’m sure the food tasted better coming from a very yummy waiter. In July, Linda and I split an appetizer, dinner, desert, and a bottle of my favorite wine. NJ also spawns an awesome ice cream parlor, Swal’s Ice Cream, on Main St in Allentown.

Lexington, VA’s long haul is softened by Southern Inn, which is hands-down my favorite restaurant ever. It’s so good, last weekend we went there twice. The appetizers show the chef’s amazing talent with cheese. The Cornbread-Stuffed Roasted Chicken Breast was incredible, and the Blueberry Napoleon was so good I actually used my fingers to get the last of the sauce (in public even). To top it off, they stock one of my favorite beers, Delirium Tremens. Does it get much better than that?

The schooling shows aren’t exempt either. We can’t haul to Blue Goose without the trailer drifting into Bruster’s Ice Cream on the way home. We are all card-carrying Sweet Rewards members. There’s a perfect trailer parking spot behind the shop.

At this rate, all that weight I carefully lost this spring will be back plus some. Good thing show season slows down in August, or I’ll never get back into my show clothes.