Archive for the "dressage" Category
Belladora at Dressage at Devon
I had the pleasure to show Belladora at Dressage at Devon where she earned 71.5% in Three Year Old Filly Materiale Class. Bella is an outstanding young horse for sale, owned by Diana Murphy. Contact Windrock Farm to schedule an appointment to try her.
Congratulations to Belladora, Blue Ribbon Winner at NEDA Fall Festival
bella, a three year old Dutch/Oldenburg mare, won her first dressage class with a score of 68%. She was tense and not quite her elastic self in the electric atmosphere of the NEDA Fall Festival of Dressage at Saugerties. Bella also watched the top jumpers compete in a nearby arena. After hanging out around the arenas she began to relax a bit and enjoyed the festivities. Bella was started by Rex Peterson and Cari Swanson 3 months ago and has progressed remarkably fast in her education. Bella is an outstanding young horse capable of excelling in dressage, eventing or jumping. Contact Cari to come try Bella at Windrock Farm.
Elegant Athlete
17 hand gelding, very elegant, easy to ride, this horse is a very special guy. If you are looking for an Equitation horse, jumper, dressage or event horse, he is talented, a bold jumper, light to the aids and a true gentleman on the ground. At 6 years old, he shows tremendous promise to excel in any job. contact Cari to schedule an appointment to try this exceptional athlete.
Patience and Persistence
This photo demonstrates hours of training. Justin is one of the most successful movie horses, starring in Black Beauty among many other films. Now in his mid twenties, he is enjoying retirement, however, his ears still prick up for his trainer Rex when he comes out to feed him each day. You must always remember to be patient and take one step at a time when training your horse. Remember to be very clear about what you are asking and reward your horse when he gives it to you. After working your horse every day consistently you will see a remarkable change and improvement. Generally horses have a good work ethic, enjoying their daily routine. Spring is finally here and it is time to get back into your training routine.
Conditioning Your Horse
As Spring approaches, the show season is just around the corner. Now is the time to consider a program to bring your horse to optimum condition considering your discipline of dressage, jumping or eventing. It is critical to consider the age and amount of activity your horse has had in order to create an effective plan of conditioning. Horses who are turned out need a shorter warm up than those standing in their stall or small paddock. A progressive warm up allows time for the muscles to reach their optimal working temperature (during warm up the muscles rise by about 1 degree C) before increasing the excercise intensity.
After a warm up phase, move into the workout which pushes to horse just beyond his ability to build muscles and stamina. It is important to work the trot and canter in an active rhythm, thus working the skeletal muscles hard enough to stimulate an increase in blood circulation. The main objective is to achieve relaxation in all gaits. Next should come the suppling excercises of lateral and bending movements. Remember wet saddle blankets make good horses.
Finally, an important element of your conditioning is the warm down period. This is a time to allow the horse to recover from the workout and helps him release muscular tension and possible soreness. A walk on the long rein is a great finish to this workout. Slowly build your horse back up to his optimal fitness, allowing several weeks to reach your goal. Careful systematic training will help build solid muscles and a happy fit horse.