Cadence Stables

We had some Christmas fun again this year. Love these kids, they show up and work hard for me even when I have crazy ideas like "Let's do a Christmas quadrille and enter it into an online show" 😁.

When I stopped micro managing I found partnership and a much much easier way of riding. Always always strive for better hands.

Micromanaging the head position of a horse is probably the most common riding mistake there is.

A horse is able to exist its entire life unridden, and it will do just fine putting its head wherever it wants to.

But now some rider climbs aboard with some agenda, and has hands holding reins which are attached to a bit which is in the horse’s mouth, and the rider is often possessed of an overwhelming urge to use those hands to “shape” the horse into some desired configuration.

The jaw of the horse is a hinge joint, and the poll of the horse is attached to the vertebrae of the neck, and either or both can be forced or manipulated into a position that matches what the rider wants, whether or not, usually not, that would be where the horse would carry its head if left alone.

This doesn’t mean that all horses should be ridden all the time on a loose rein with no contact, because the unridden horse is not the same as one being steered by a rider, but the training challenge has to do with HOW the rider creates a degree of control.

Gentle, feeling hands and arms or rough demanding hands and arms? Or, even worse, a reliance on sharper bits or leverage devices like draw reins?

The good trainers can, over time, create an “accepting” connection between hands and the general posture of the ridden horse, but it is both a slower and more meticulous process than most of us are educated enough to know how to do well.

That’s too hard a fact for many riders to accept. Hard hands, hard fact.

(photo---Klaus Balkenhol, knows the how.)

Meet Dave. When breeding to my dream Arabian stallion fell through I made this spur of the moment decision to breed to my neighbours young half German riding pony c**t. I knew it was going to be a decent competition prospect as Franklyn's older half brother Al Capony has been doing extremely well in the jumpers and has been a pleasure to work with. I did not expect THIS nice of a baby. Probably the best baby I have ever bred. Going to have a few more happy accidents with Franklyn. Will have to get photos of him soon as he is currently being started under saddle.

I feel like I am re-inventing the wheel on this, but we have long ago lost sight of shows that build the confidence of our young riders and young horse, and that are AFFORDABLE.

So looking for ideas/partners to help with this and potentially even create a new circuit. I am not looking for "in barn" shows where the local coach is the judge. Just too much bias so I am looking for "normal" judging if it fits within my other criteria.

Criteria:
1) non AEF or EC. I am not interested in supporting AEF, and they add far too much cost.

2) affordable is a must. I am thinking Maximum $20 per dressage class, $15 per jumper, and $10 per flat class.

3) open to a variety of ideas on classes. Dressage has been my passion, and the jumping is usually a hit, but also rail classes. Thinking hunter pleasure, equitation, dressage suitability, maybe hack classes like show hack or hunter hack. Possibly western if there is interest.

4) 1 or 2 day shows or at least a design where people can show 1 or both days.

5) minimal or no administration fees

6) minimal or no haul in fees.

7) would like to add fun classes. Gymkhana or egg and spoon, ba****ck, team of 3 hunters, delsy derby etc etc... lots of room here for ideas.

8) Target group are beginner riders, kids, young horses anyone who wants to have fun and is on a budget.

Venues have to be affordable, so local barns, maybe places like the millarville racetrack or the polo club. Anywhere we have safe footing a warm-up area and a show area. I know some of us are restricted by the MD of foothills, so this may require thinking outside the box.

I have an insurance company to talk to if we get this up and running. They are interested in more equine business and the person heading the department is extremely knowledgeable and will take care of us. I don't have cost right now, but it is in the cards if we get this running.

Anyway, this is my base set of ideas... Looking to expand and work on getting this going for next summer. Contact me if you are interested in joining.

Kelly

https://www.routledge.com/Long-and-Low-A-Revolution-in-Modern-Dressage/Belasik/p/book/9781041042587?fbclid=IwY2xjawLl7z1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFURktsdTdkcDlDRjBUbWRBAR6_XpDNNU9nddYY_iVZ13LKDPThyqfGfGv2foHuwzAqEEBiXl96O9_350Wp6A_aem_6tgXaamgtHdXiO8NqPw2jQ

Looks like a good book.

Long and Low: A Revolution in Modern Dressage This short book examines the history, origins, and unintended consequences of the commonly used and widely accepted practice of

https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2024/09/bert-rutten-beautiful-riding-is-simple/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0-8LCfprrVBisX9mwvEymfa1TkThjdF_GYZkB5Bic5AJWSnbHlWFY8gEI_aem_pSj-KujlQ4-uQ7ViUJ3M4g

Bert Rutten – Beautiful riding is simple… – The Horse Magazine Bert Rutten – Beautiful riding is simple… Posted on September 2, 2024September 11, 2024 by horsemagazine Christopher Hector sits in on a training session with Bert Rutten (Photos – Sanne Wiering) I first became aware of Bert when he chaired the Press Conference for the dressage horses at the K...

The quality of the show jumping canter will rise or fall on whether impulsion overwhelms balance, balance snuffs out impulsion, or the two are rather perfectly meshed by the feel from the rider.

That was one of Jack LeGoff’s many mini-lectures and I will try to amplify what it means---

Impulsion is basically forward energy. To get a horse to move forward with drive and activity, you need impulsion in the canter. Balance is the feeling that the horse is up and light, not plunging onto its forehand.

Jack used to say that in order to go up to a distance you needed impulsion, but in order to shorten to a distance, you needed balance, so if you didn’t have those two sort of contradictory qualities kept in harmony, you were not riding the ideal canter.

And, sure, this is a fairly “sophisticated” concept that greener riders may not yet grasp, but being able to constantly create a better canter throughout a show jumping round can be the difference between clear and rails on the ground. After EVERY fence the better riders will instantly feel whether the canter needs more zing, more balance, or is just right to go with toward the next fence.

If you struggle with this, get good eyes on the ground to help you learn it.