All posts by Associate Editor

Motivation from Moshi 73, by Jane Savoie

Black and white. Yes and no. Up and down. Sickness and health. Positive and negative….

We live in a world of contrast. It’s the duality of Nature that makes up our physical world. Without that contrast, we wouldn’t be able to perceive. It’s in knowing dark that we can recognize light. It’s in being able to experience silence that we can hear noise. The comparisons go on and on.

As infants, people are trained to show a preference for one thing over another. Most well-adjusted (note that you have to be “adjusted”) children develop a preference for positive feedback over negative. For “yes” over “no”. For health over sickness. For “happy” over “sad.” Humans are trained from birth to compare and prefer.

What if nothing you experienced was actually “wrong” or “right,” but just an experience? How different would your world be if you didn’t judge what happened in your life, but, rather, just observed your physical and emotional perceptions of whatever showed up?

In many Spiritual philosophies, it’s the pain from living with the judgement of what occurs that is recognized as the most difficult part of being human. Release that judgement, and enlightenment is possible.

Continue reading Motivation from Moshi 73, by Jane Savoie

Make a Purchase, Help Sponsor a Rider!

Team Catalyst, Shelly Temple, Fran Doto and ‘Cooper’, are very proud to once again be poised to represent our country at the World Pony Driving Championships to be held in September, 2011 in Lipica, Slovenia.  You may know that Team Catalyst had this honor in 2007 when the championships were held in Denmark, finishing with a silver individual medal in dressage and an overall team bronze. We were very proud to have played a part in such a strong US showing!

Team Catalyst has had continued success at major combined driving events in 2010 and 2011, most recently the Live Oak International Combined Driving Event, where we won the 2011 USEF National Championship in a very competitive class, our second National Championship in a row and third total. At Live Oak, Cooper won the coveted ‘Hanzi Award’, given to the best horse in the competition in the opinion of the judges, just as he had in 2010.

In 2007 the cost of transporting pony, people, and equipment to Europe as well as training and competition costs totaled nearly $35,000. Costs have only risen since then. With driving being a small group when compared to other international equestrian sports, our National Federation only covers a small portion of our expenses.  Our ability to attend and compete at this year’s event will depend on our ability to raise the funds to do so; the bulk of which will come from private donations.

Team Catalyst is asking for your support.

Continue reading Make a Purchase, Help Sponsor a Rider!

Kentucky Summer Horse Show Wrap-Up: July 27-31, 2011

Lexington, KY – August 2, 2011 – Sunny skies and warm temperatures returned to the Kentucky Horse Park for Sunday evening’s $40,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix, sponsored by Audi of Lexington. The nation’s top horse and rider combinations gathered at the Rolex Stadium during the Kentucky Summer Horse Show to compete for the winning title. At the end of the night, it was Germany’s Christian Heineking and River of Dreams who led the victory gallop after an excellent double clear effort. Karen Cudmore and Southern Pride followed with the second place honors, while Rebecca Conway and Twister took home the third place award with the only other two fault-free jump-off rounds.

Karen Cudmore was the first to attempt Wednesday’s short course aboard Southern Pride, owned by Blair Cudmore of Omaha, NE, and they set the bar high. The duo clocked in at 40.203 seconds with all the rails in place, which would eventually earn the second place award.

Lauren Tisbo and Coco135, owned by Tequestrian Farms of Wellington, FL, raced to catch Cudmore’s time, and they were able to do so, but their speed proved costly when they lowered the height of the last vertical. Their four-fault effort in a time of 40.109 seconds would be good enough for the fourth place honors. Rebecca Conway was next in the ring and she claimed the third place award aboard Twister, owned by Blue Hill Farm of Salt Lake City, UT. The duo chose to keep a conservative pace and leave all the fences intact, breaking the beam at 47.733 seconds.

The final rider on course proved to be the best of day. Christian Heineking knew that he would have to be fast and accurate with River of Dreams, owned by Kai Handt of Wylie, TX, and the talented gelding executed the plan beautifully. They kept a fast gallop to every obstacle without even the slightest of rubs. The pair dashed through the timers in 39.530 seconds to jump to the top of the leaderboard and lead the evening’s victory gallop.

Continue reading Kentucky Summer Horse Show Wrap-Up: July 27-31, 2011

The Results Are In for Round 3 of America’s Favorite Equestrian!

WESTPORT, CT – August 2, 2011 – The results of Round 3 of America’s Favorite Equestrian are in. Four equestrians in each of the eight disciplines that participated in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games have moved onto Round 4.

Who’s In the Lead?
Dressage: Debbie McDonald followed by Steffen Peters, Guenter Seidel and Courtney King-Dye.
Driving: Chester Weber followed by Tucker Johnson, Rochelle Temple and Suzy Stafford.
Endurance: Becky Hart followed by Dave Rabe, Julie Suhr and Bill Wilson.
Eventing: Tiana Coudray followed by Boyd Martin, Kimberly Severson and Phillip Dutton.
Jumping: Anne Kursinski followed by Beezie Madden, Margie Engle and McLain Ward.
Para-Dressage: Jennifer Baker followed by Mary Jordan, Jonathan Wentz and Robin Brueckmann.
Reining: Andrea Fappani followed by Tom McCutcheon, Shawn Flarida and Tim McQuay.
Vaulting: Megan Benjamin followed by Katherine Wick, Devon Maitozo and Ali Divita.

Keep Voting! One more equestrian with the lowest number of votes in each discipline will drop off the list at the end of Round 4 on September 30, 2011. Don’t let it be your favorite! All it takes is a $5 gift to The EQUUS Foundation to keep your favorite in the running for America’s Favorite Equestrian.

How to Vote:
Visit the link at http://www.equusfoundation.org/vote.

For a $5 contribution, you can select your favorite equestrian (listed by discipline) and follow the instructions provided to use mobile texting to vote. After texting your vote, you must reply YES to confirm your vote and $5 donation.

Continue reading The Results Are In for Round 3 of America’s Favorite Equestrian!

NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #30, by Claire Dorotik

NO SECRET SO CLOSE is the story of a the most unthinkable betrayal humanly possible — at only 24 years old, Claire Dorotik’s father has been murdered, her mother arrested, and now, in a sinister twist of fate, Claire’s mother points the finger at Claire, accusing her of killing her own father. Battling the feelings of loss, abandonment, terror, and dissociation, and also learning about them, Claire struggles to stay in her master’s program for psychotherapy. However, when Claire’s brothers also betray her and side with her mother, Claire is left all alone to care for the 18 horses she and her mother owned. As the story unfolds, what is revealed is the horses’ amazing capacity for empathy in the face of human trauma, and the almost psychic ability to provide the author with what had been taken from her. Arising from these horrifying circumstances, the most unthinkable heroes — the horses — show Claire that life is still worth living.

Excerpt #30 from NO SECRET SO CLOSE:

“No offer refused” was what I had scribbled on a piece of cardboard with a permanent marker. We had eleven horses at the time and could only take five. That meant three trips in a two-horse trailer from Tucson, Arizona to Morgan Hill, California. My mom, my friend Kim, and I made at least twenty signs and posted them on any street sign we could find all over the east side of Tucson, Arizona. Kim wrote the “fire sale” signs, I wrote the “no offer refused” signs, and my mom wrote the “fine horseflesh” signs. I thought horseflesh sounded weird, but she insisted that people equated it to quality horses.

It was the no offer refused part that caught the attention of the middle aged Hispanic man who came and bought three of the horses. We had made a package deal. They were all nice horses, but it was the young stallion that he really wanted. Hispanic men seem to be attracted to stallions. They dress them up with fancy saddles and bridles garnished with silver, teach them to do tricks, and use them in parades. They call them charro horses. But they are not known for being nice to them, and he didn’t even want to ride any of the horses first. I knew that would be my last goodbye. And my gut told me their lives would not be easy. I made Kim promise to tell me if she ever saw them again.

Continue reading NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #30, by Claire Dorotik

FEI Reining Committee Agrees New Rules Structure

Lausanne (SUI), 2 August 2011 – The FEI Reining Committee has now completed its work on a total revision of the Rules structure for the discipline. The proposed amendments will be sent to National Federations for full consultation before they are voted on at the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) in November prior to implementation on 1 January 2012.

The FEI set up three working groups in January of this year to conduct a full review of the discipline, addressing all aspects of the sport, including rules and veterinary issues.

The proposed new Rules include a ruling that prevents any organisation that does not fully comply with FEI Rules and Regulations from running competitions in conjunction with FEI Reining Events.

The new Rules will cover training and warm-up methods used at FEI Events for sliding stops, spins and backing. Also included in the revisions are new Rules covering:

•    Types of bits allowed
•    Types of spurs allowed
•    Education of Officials
•    Minimum number of Stewards required at Events

Continue reading FEI Reining Committee Agrees New Rules Structure

Famous Australian Trainer/Performer at Kentucky Horse Park This Week

LEXINGTON, KY (August 1, 2011) – The Kentucky Horse Park is honored to welcome Guy McLean, an accomplished, self-taught, thinking horseman, who will be appearing this week at the park.

Through a complete love of horses and a burning desire to find better ways of building relationships with horses, not having to use force, instead, asking them to do the job as a partner, Guy has developed his own training methods, trying something new every day as a new personality poses new problems to work through.

Master Horseman Guy McLean provides a true Australian experience. His performances include 1 to 4 horses, young horse starting, bush poetry and whip cracking. Guy has performed across Australia over the past 10 years and at Equitana Asia Pacific, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, corporate events and numerous agricultural shows.

In 2005, Guy won the Australian Horsemanship Challenge, in which he had 2 hours to start a young horse and perform a set routine. He is also a 2-time Australian Bush Poetry Champion and 2002 and 2006 Ambassador of the Outback.

Guy is performing this week, through Saturday, August 6, twice a day in the Parade of Breeds at the Kentucky Horse Park.  Included with park admission.

Continue reading Famous Australian Trainer/Performer at Kentucky Horse Park This Week

FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships 2011

NEXT GENERATION RISE TO THE CHALLENGE AT TOUGH KENTUCKY CHAMPIONSHIPS by Louise Parkes

Avery Klunick, Alyssa Phillips, Alexa Ehlers and Victoria New, USA Area 5's Gold Medal Junior Eventing Team Champions. Photo: FEI/Anthony Trollope.

Lausanne (SUI), 1 August 2011 – A heat-wave and thunderstorms failed to throw the next talented generation off their stride at the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championship which came to a thrilling conclusion at the Horse Park In Kentucky, USA yesterday.  Open to riders from the USA, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands, the five-day action-packed fixture attracted 250 entries, all hoping to make their mark in the five disciplines of Dressage, Endurance, Reining, Jumping and Eventing.

DRESSAGE
US Region 5 captured Young Rider Dressage Team gold.  Aylin Corapcioglu (Ruhmann), Madeleine Birch (Uceri), Catherine Chamberline (Verdicci) and Brandi Roenick (Pretty Lady) completed with a combined score of 198.104, but only pipped Canada BC/QC – Emily Fownes (Frapuccino), Mathilde Tetrault (Michelango), Anna Mylai Messier (Marzipan) and Esmee Ingham (Norseman) – by just over one point, while USA Region 8 were less than another point further adrift in bronze.

Roenick produced the highest score of the competition, 69.289, and the 16 year old from Arizona complimented her team-mates: “It’s an awesome opportunity to ride with these girls and really get to know them,” she said.  Canada’s Esmee Ingham put the Canadian silver medal in context.  “Since British Columbia is on the West Coast and Quebec City is so far east, for us to come together as a team having never met, and to take a medal is really incredible!” she pointed out.

Roenick had to settle for silver in the Individual Championship however when Isabelle Leibler (Watson) took gold and fellow-American Chase Hickok (Palermo) claimed the bronze.  And it was Hickok who moved into silver medal position in the Freestyle in which Leibler’s flawless performance with her 14 year old Westphalian gelding earned a winning score of 74.00. “He just felt like he was right there for me… it was the most amazing feeling,” Leibler said.  Mackinzie Pooley claimed the bronze with her last ride in international competition with the 20 year old Oldenburg Jonkara.

Continue reading FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships 2011

Atlanta Summerfest and Aiken Fall Festival Offer a Variety of Opportunities for Competitors

August, 1st 2011 – It is hard to believe but summer is already coming to a close and fall is just around the corner.  Show manager J. P. Godard’s Equus Events is gearing up to unveil its inaugural Atlanta Summerfest at Bouckaert Farms in Fairburn, GA.  These new shows taking place August 18th-21st and 25th-28th will be one of the most popular tickets in town as stalls and camper spots are limited at the renowned Bouckaert Farms home of the 2011 USAE American Eventing Championships.  Well known in the eventing world, Godard is excited to introduce Bouckaert Farms to the hunter/jumper contingent.  “We are really looking forward to getting this show series off the ground,” Godard said with a smile.  “It took a little bit of time to get everything together, but now we are just looking forward to a great first year and hope everyone has a fantastic time.”

The facility itself has no lack of bragging rights boasting an over 8000 acre equestrian paradise filled with established pastures, lakes, and woodlands situated on the Chattahoochee River.  Stabling is all permanent and every stall features rubber mats.  The Atlanta Summerfest will offer something for everyone including walk/trot classes all the way up to the Open Jumpers.  Exhibitors and spectators can also look forward to Equus Events daily hospitality and weekly parties and events.  Some of the feature classes include:

-$5,000 Open Jumper Classic each week
-$2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby (wk1)
-$1,500 Jr/AO Jumper Classic each week
-$2,500 NAL/WIHS Ch/Ad Jumper Classic each week
-$500 Pony Classic
-$500 NAL/WIHS Children’s Hunter Classic
-$500 NAL/WIHS Adult Hunter Classic

Continue reading Atlanta Summerfest and Aiken Fall Festival Offer a Variety of Opportunities for Competitors

Sue Hehl Dominates Adult Amateur Hunters on Last Day of Horse Shows by the Bay

Sue Hehl and Something's Cookin'. Photo Credit: Katie Anich/PMG

Traverse City, MI – July 31, 2011 – It was yet another gorgeous, sunny day for the final day of hunter competition at Horse Shows by the Bay. Over the past four weeks of the show series, scenic Traverse City has offered exhibitors almost nothing but quintessential summer days. The R. L. Polk Main Hunter Ring was no different today with the Amateur-Owner Hunter and Adult Amateur Hunter divisions wrapping up their competitions. Weatherly Stroh and Sigfried, owned by Susanne Stroh, continued their winning streak, as did Lindsay Lyden and Copperfield, owned by Fox Meadow Farms. The Hunter Classics in both divisions were the day’s highlights, offering spectators one final chance to appreciate the elegance and style that the hunters have put on display throughout the series.

The Amateur-Owner Hunters got their morning off to a jump start. Kelsey Wickham and Wait and See Farms’ Just Because earned the blue ribbon in both the hunter and the handy rounds today. Moira Corcoran and her Pacifico took home second in the hunter round, just ahead of Jovanna Haddad and Veron in third place. This duo won both over fences classes yesterday. Following Wickham in the handy class was Sara Gentry aboard Olivaire with second place. Shawna Yeihey and her Benchmark took home the yellow ribbon in the handy course. After all the points were tallied for the two days of competition, Just Because and Kelsey Wickham earned the champion honors with 34 points. Reserve champion went to Jovanna Haddad and Veron with 27 points on the board.

Sigfried and Weatherly Stroh earned the top call in both the handy and the hunter rounds today in the Amateur-Owner Hunter 3’3″, which meant that she won all but one of the over fences classes. Abigail Wijek was on top of her game once again today with Magic Man and took home second place in both classes. In the hunter round, Sherri Werner and Unlimited earned third place, while Amy Stanley and her Saneffo Z received third place in the handy round. It was a close call for the champion title, a matter of just 6 points. Stroh and Sigfried earned the prestigious honors with an impressive 38 points, just ahead of Abigail Wujek and Magic Man with their 32 points. That was the third time champion honors have been granted to Sigried and Stroh in this division at Horse Shows by the Bay. The pair also took home the prize during Series I and III. The duo was also honored with the Grand Amateur-Owner Hunter Champion title, and Stroh earned the OVATION Leading Amateur Owner Hunter Rider Award for accumulating the most points throughout all of the Horse Shows by the Bay series.

Continue reading Sue Hehl Dominates Adult Amateur Hunters on Last Day of Horse Shows by the Bay