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Comment by Jan Jollymour on February 17, 2010 at 4:29pm

Hi, everyone:

I'm hoping that you are all enjoying the early onset of spring (athough some of us in the southern hemisphere might be looking forward to the early onset of fall). It's up to +8 outside right now, and I'm taking a quick break between working my mare and cleaning stalls. It was warm enough to wash V's tail after her work today, and we had a super duty grooming session as well, so she's feeling wonderful and I've eaten more than my daily complement of hair!

I sort of work full time. I'm a coach and trainer, with horses of my own in training and competition as well, and I have a 17 year old daughter finishing high school this year. While I don't have to "work" every day, there are days when I "work" 18 hours per day, so I think it all evens out in the end! At international competitions my days often start at 4:30 a.m. and don't finish until midnight, and when I'm away teaching clinics (at least every second weekend, 3 - 4 days at a time) I'm teaching all day and on deck the rest of the time. Competitions are really hard, as I'm coaching and riding, so it sometimes feels like the days never end.

However, I feel INCREDIBLY fortunate to be in position to make my living doing what I love most. My clients are almost all enjoyable, challenging, and fun, and it's a delight to watch them grow and learn. I send lots of the information off this site to clients on a regular basis - it's great for starting discussions, or promoting a different or expanded train of thought. In spite of my best efforts, it seems I've got myself into two judging assignments this year, but those should be fun and make me think a little outside the coaching box, which will be good for me to do again. The assignment at Thunderbird in March should be particularly interesting, as it's test riding/scoring with a chance to coach the riders a little between tests/days. As the reason I dtiched judging was that I felt frustrated by being allowed only to comment on what happened, rather than to try to change what happens, this should be (hopefully) happy marriage of the two components.

What are your plans for the spring and summer? They'll be on us before we know it...!

Comment by vickie lawson on February 14, 2010 at 2:59am

hi cathy: im originally from ontario but now love in new zealand. i have 2 homebred nz hanoverian. one just turned 4, delphi, in the photo, and her brother, comet who is 2. delphi and i hack on the beach, in the forest and do dressage. comet goes to in hand shows a couple of times a season to keep his hoof in, and we;ll back him later this year. i too work full time and have 3 older kids. cheers vickie

Comment by Sit_the_Trot on January 29, 2010 at 5:44pm

Please see my online article: "The Weight & Seat Aids, Your Kinesthetic Sense And Horse Performance: part 1" It has some great tips to help you get in tune with your own balance and with your horse's response. Check it out at: http://www.ridemagazine.com/horse/article/weight-seat-aids-your-kin....
Enjoy!
Michele

Comment by Roberta Edstrom on January 29, 2010 at 9:00am

Inspirational horse blog gets syndicated and goes national. way too cool http://dailyoats.wordpress.com/

See for yourself how wonderful this site is and be totally inspired by the love of your horse. Great horse stories and life lessons. See you there.

Comment by Karen Bockus on January 28, 2010 at 6:57pm

It great to hear that people are starting to discover this wonderful breed as a riding horse. I know the people who have one of the best standardbred racing stables in Canada and these horses are amazing. They have great dispositions and are tough as all get out!!! If I needed a new horse I would certainly look at this breed. Did you know that these horses are used in the states as police mounts!! Richmond PD is all standardbreds.

Comment by Sue Loyst on January 28, 2010 at 12:36pm

It is amazing how calm they are. Jasper is only 4 and people are always surprised when they find out his age. We are just starting to work him under saddle and I am sure that we will be using trotting poles a lot for balance.
Jasper comes from the Ont. Stadardbred Adoption Society and I would encourage anyone to have a look at their horses. They are very careful about finding good homes for the horses.

Comment by April Keays on January 28, 2010 at 12:30pm

Sue;

I agree! Monty is so willing to learn new things and I trust him on the roads far more than I ever did my 17 year old Appy.
I was quite fortunate when I adopted Monty last year from Greener Pastures as I knew what type of horse I was looking for so all I had to do was keep in touch on their web site and whenever a horse showed up there that seemed to fit my requirments I just went to the farm and tried him out. I also discussed what I wanted with the people who run the organization so that they could also introduce me to ones that they felt would suit me.
When I first went to see Monty there was an instant connection and the manager there also felt that he was a good choice for me and so it began. I don't know about your Standie, but Monty exhibited all the gaits when loose in the pasture so I already knew that he was comfortable with the trot and canter before I adopted him. What he needed to learn was that it was alright to use them under saddle, and it really didn't take long for him to become comfortable with the trot. We used trotting poles to some degree and are using them again now to get his back legs under him to assist in the transistion to canter. Also, when he did pace I emphasized my posting to incourage him to switch to the trot and this worked quite well.
Again, I don't know where you are with your Standardbred, perhaps you are already through this stage, but keep in touch, maybe we can give each other tips!

Comment by Linda White on January 27, 2010 at 9:10pm

Great to see more people discovering the SB as a riding horse. I think they are often overlooked when people consider breeds, and yet they are pretty sensible, come in all shapes, sizes, and colours, and often you don't have to sell your first born to buy one. I'm a big fan of the Standardbred.

Comment by Sue Loyst on January 27, 2010 at 5:23pm

Hi April, I too have a four year old Standardbred that we are working with. He's a very quick learner and quite calm. I appreciate any tips!

Comment by April Keays on January 27, 2010 at 11:50am

Hello Cathy, and welcome. I have a 4 year old Standardbred whom I am in the process of re-training to be a riding horse. He's coming along very well too. I've been riding all my life and dispite aches and pains I intend to keep on riding in the years to come. We're all pretty tough birds here!

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