Xenophon wrote: "A horse is a thing of beauty ... none will tire of looking at him as long as he displays himself in his splendor."
Xenophon's life spanned from 430 - 354 BC. It's amazing to think about life over 2,000 years ago when Xenophon a soldier, muse and historian in what is now Greece. Even then, horses were admired for their beauty.
It seems that though the external conveniences and complications of life have…
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Added by Karen Brenner on May 14, 2009 at 8:31am —
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This is a very nice report from the Purina Animal Hall of Fame Awards.
National Post article May 13, 2009
How three dogs and a 21-pound cat saved their owners’ lives
Last week, Jarod worked his tush on the red carpet. Down he strutted, hairier than Joaquin Phoenix. His tongue, as purple as an eggplant, suggested he’d been hitting the red wine all afternoon.
If this were a Hollywood shindig, that might have been the case, but Jarod is a chow…
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Added by Susan on May 13, 2009 at 10:00am —
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Hi, Welcome back to the rider fitness blog. We had a great question from a reader last week about tight hips, and tight inner thighs. The fact is, riding causes tightness in the hips and thighs which has to be undone to ride better. As is the case with many sports such as hockey, golf, soccer and the list goes on, practicing your sport uses your muscles within a particular range of motion, in repetition. Failure to bring the muscle out of that range results in a shortening of the muscle,…
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Added by Heather Sansom at Equifitt.com on May 12, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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All horses have a dark side, my horses' dark side is just more visible
I Just Love My Horse
Added by Hannah on May 12, 2009 at 6:06pm —
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... I tried to share with non-horsey people the elation and overwhelming sense of "being" I felt after an "Aha!" moment with my horse.
Picture this ... it's my once-a-quarter dressage lesson with Canadian Olympian Belinda Trussell at her beautiful Oakcrest Farms. The second of a long series of thunderstorms looms on the horizon as I enter the magnificent arena to start warming up for our 45-minute lesson. As the lesson begins, a rumble of thunder introduces the stormy symphony…
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Added by Dorothy McDonall on May 11, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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For the last two years I have been experimenting with various bridles, both bitted and bitless on five different horses. Although I tend to be picky about the fit of my tack, and read and follow directions well I have noticed various degrees of resistance to rein contact with each different piece of gear. Lately I have been riding two mares (Arab and Arab-Welsh), trying out various bitted and bitless systems. I find that mares often express their displeasure a bit more emphatically than…
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Added by Jackie Cochran on May 11, 2009 at 4:30pm —
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Hurrah, hurrah. The nightmare that was the 2009 London Marathon is over. I survived – but only just. In fact the reason it’s taken a few days to write this, is that I’m only just now walking again without sticks.
Blisters. I’m now an expert on blisters – my poor feet – I had blisters on the blisters. But since, if you remember, the whole point of the exercise was to get a worn-out, broken-down old geezer (me) to…
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Added by SPANA on May 11, 2009 at 8:00am —
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Well a couple of weekends later than normal the 2009 competition season is starting to gear up. Tomorrow mother and Loosi head to the Queen's Bush Training Ride where Loosi is used as a demonstration horse for the vetting etc. My dad acts as timer and my mom is planning on riding all 3 loops 15-18 miles as drag rider. My mom will get the last few miles needed to achieve her next mileage milestone with OCTRA - 1500 miles.
I get to stay at the farm on mare stare!!! Spring is due…
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Added by Diana on May 9, 2009 at 11:00am —
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I usually like to write up my blog on the day of my lesson, but I was so tired and in an awful lot of pain that day so I had to go to bed when I got home and rest up. I took a strong painkiller with my afternoon tablets and that knocked me out for a few hours. When I woke up I was still in a lot of pain and I was concerned that the FM would flare up and cause me grief. The last thing I want is a major flare up that would knock me out of the competition on 21st May. You are probably think,…
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Added by Cat on May 8, 2009 at 12:00pm —
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"On the back of a horse you will find Paradise."
~ Stella A. Walker
Added by Suzanne on May 8, 2009 at 10:54am —
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Hello friends and greetings from England. After a very rewarding week of work in Ireland last week I now find myself in England enjoying a clinic with the Brit’s and taking time to shoot some new video footage for Riding the Wave 2.
Yesterday I was invited by Roger and Joanna Day to be their guest at the Badminton Horse Trials during the first day, the
dressage test, before I drive north…
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Added by Chris Irwin on May 8, 2009 at 10:30am —
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I’ve always believed that rosettes are won at home. You just collect them in the ring. With that in mind, here are five of my top tips to help you put all your schooling to good effect:
1.
Be clear in what you ask your horse. You walked the course and your horse didn't, so you need to make it clear to him which fence he has to jump. As you enter the ring, the first jump your horse sees may not be the first on the course and he may get drawn to the wrong fence. This is one of…
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Added by Tim Stockdale on May 8, 2009 at 9:00am —
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The following blog was inspired by a rider who told me, "I have a wonderful, talented thoroughbred. We can do Second and Third level work at home, yet when we compete, we can barely get through a First Level test. The missing link seems to be relaxation. My horse is off the track, and we seem to feed off each other's tension. How does a normally tense person learn to relax?"
This rider is right in thinking that relaxation is her priority. When you're tense, your work can't…
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Added by Jane Savoie on May 8, 2009 at 9:00am —
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Hey Everyone,
China and i had a school at Geoff's (April) and it was HEAPS if fun.I was with Amber, Alyssa, Andrea and Laura. We did show jumping and lots of XC(Cross Country). In
Show jumping we jumped, easy stuff like cross rails and straight bars, But then we got to the slightly harder jumps. Like a water box. I think that what it's called. It's like a wooden…
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Added by Timika F on May 8, 2009 at 8:00am —
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Sorry about my lack of blogging lately, but I have been very busy with all kinds of stuff.
I've been feeling very bad since I haven't got all the time for her as I wanted, but I don't think she mind. She's started to stay out all night as well now, so she's just happily grazing with her four other horse friends. Not concerning about if I come or not.
Well, I've felt bad about her for some days now, so I finally kicked my behind into gear and went to the stable (or meadow, as…
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Added by Kine R on May 7, 2009 at 4:30pm —
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The horse in this painting was patiently waiting to be lead to the show ring at the Fiesta Midwest Andalusian show. As her decorative bridle rosette ribbons twirled in the breeze, I had to wonder what was swirling through her mind.
Anyone who owns horses knows they are great thinkers. It seems mine are usually thinking, 'What's for supper" or something food related. But Sorpresa has proven to be a deep thinker and planner. Usually after…
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Added by Karen Brenner on May 7, 2009 at 8:00am —
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I would just like to thank the Ottawa Area Dressage Group for the opportunity to ride in the clinic with Steffen. It was a well organized event and I appreciated all his help and input with Discansano. Steffen is a great clinician and would enjoy working with him again in the future.
I would also like to thank ECOGOLD for sponsoring the event and the donation of the saddle pads.
Thanks again to everyone involved that made this such a great event.
Andrea…
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Added by Andrea & Duane Bresee on May 6, 2009 at 2:30pm —
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I've been using some of the ideas that I see in you blog and have to report that I am starting to see a difference.
Yesterday, I worked on opening up the hip flexors for about 45 minutes (a variety of exercises) and then rode. It was unquestionably the most supple ride that I have had recently.
This is especially critical for me as I am now riding a new young stallion (age 3) who has a lot of movement and lots of push from behind. My biggest problem is being able to keep…
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Added by Carol on May 6, 2009 at 11:27am —
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So today I mostly worked on my freestyle. We have a Dressage show this weekend at Beban Park and we are doing training lv tests 2 and 4 open, and a training level freestyle. I am very excited about the freestyle, but it has been hard to make it up without any software. I've been watching video of my horse and I and figuring out how long it takes her for each movement (ex. exactly 18 sec per trot circle -- she is super consistant) and then matching music. I'm doing a mix of a bunch of Ray…
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Added by Kelly Berthelot on May 6, 2009 at 12:00am —
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Hi,
Last week there was a great comment posted to the Ride Better blog, with some really good photos and questions about tight hips and hamstrings.
The Rider
Sarah's clinic submission is in the comment section of the Week 9 clinic if you are interested in reading it in her own words. In summary, she is a 21 year old rider who has just picked up riding again after a break. She would like to do Eventing, but she is working on the flat with her coach to establish a…
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Added by Heather Sansom at Equifitt.com on May 5, 2009 at 10:29am —
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