Category Archives: Contributors/Press

Blog writers, press releases and contributors

Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, USEF

Kentucky Horse Council Works to Demystify Green Horse Farming

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January 05 2010 – If spreading manure and draining waste water onto plants is your idea of going green you may be in for a big surprise. As large scale agriculture production facilities alter their management strategies to become more environmentally conscientious the spotlight transitions to the small farmer.

In an effort to provide up-to-date information on green equine initiatives, the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) recently added a Going Green page to the Farm & Business segment of their website. The page includes links to information and articles featuring green horse farming techniques and tactics.

“Generations of horsemen having employed an array of land and stable management practices may find themselves struggling with how best to identify and utilize greener strategies. Through the Kentucky Horse Council website, those individuals can network to learn about green horse farming in the Commonwealth and around the world,” observed KHC Board President Madelyn Millard. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9670

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Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, USDF

Ravel Named Adequan/USDF Grand Prix Horse of the Year

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Lexington, KY (December 21, 2009) – The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) would like to congratulate the eleven-year-old, 16.3 hand, Dutch Warmblood gelding, Ravel, owned by Akiko Yamazaki of Woodside, California, and ridden by Steffen Peters of San Diego, California, for being named 2009 Adequan/USDF Grand Prix Horse of the Year.  Ravel’s median score of 75.574 percent made him the top horse in the United States competing at this level and the recipient of USDF’s highest honor.

Ravel was recognized at the 2009 Adequan/USDF Salute Gala and Annual Awards Banquet with a certificate, a commemorative personalized plaque, an embroidered cooler and $400 gift certificate provided by Dressage Extensions, and a gift certificate for Adequan joint therapy.  Also, Ravel is the recipient of the Colonel Thackeray Award and will have his name engraved on a silver trophy to be on permanent display in the Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame housed at the USDF National Education Center, located at the Kentucky Horse Park.

“We are thrilled to be able to recognize this extraordinary horse for his many accomplishments this competition season, and look forward to his future successes,” stated USDF Executive Director Stephan Hienzsch.

For more information about the Adequan/USDF Horse of the Year awards or to access a list of past and current recipients, visit the USDF Web site at www.usdf.org, or contact the USDF office at usdressage@usdf.org.

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Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, JRPR, Products/Services, Publications/Media, Training/Clinics

Program Your Position – A Review by Johnny Robb

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ProgramYourPositionMy New Years resolution is to improve my riding.  If you share a similar goal or resolution, I can recommend an incredible tool that I have been using, Program Your Position.  This is an amazingly effective “program”, and I can honestly say it has helped my position immensely.

The program, developed by Ruth Hogan-Poulsen and Jane Savoie, has three components. These include 5 DVDs, 3 audio CDs and an illustrated pocket guide.

No matter how you absorb information most effectively, Program Your Position has you covered. Personally, I like all the audios and illustrated pocket guide the best. But I must add that the DVD segments are like attending a clinic.

For me, Program Your Position is better than a clinic because the series teaches you to use a simple set of buzz words to “program” your position corrections.  I ride around saying the buzzwords and correct my riding position almost effortlessly. The buzzwords are easy to remember and effective and the program also encourages you to add your personal buzzwords too. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9632

Breeds, Contributors/Press, Events

That Was Then… This Is Now: Palomino Horses in the Tournament of Roses Parade

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Long Beach Mounted Police all-Palomino troup, Tournament of Roses Parade, 2009
Long Beach Mounted Police all-Palomino troup, Tournament of Roses Parade, 2009. Photo: "Courtesy of the Tournament of Roses Archives".

What horse lover hasn’t marveled over the all-Palomino horse troupe in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade? Prancing golden horses in shining silver-encrusted saddles, their riders bedecked in colorful costumes and waving red, white, and blue American flags; it’s a sight to stir anyone’s patriotic sentiments. Me, I just drooled over the horses, trying to decide which would be the fanciest mount for my own dream parade.

The stuff of horsey dreams for decades, the Long Beach Mounted Police’s (LBMP) all-Palomino troupe rode in their first Tournament of Roses (ToR) Parade in 1948; they’re still going strong in their 62nd year of parading,

Their first year, 1948. Photo: "Courtesy of the Tournament of Roses Archives"
Their first year, 1948. Photo: "Courtesy of the Tournament of Roses Archives"

 with the LBMP celebrating their 75th anniversary in 2010.

Carla Routt, granddaughter of troupe co-founder Jack Turner and the first female member and female president

of the LBMP, says the all-volunteer riders are really ambassadors for the LBMP and the city of Long Beach.

“We often travel to different events, presenting gifts from the Long Beach Police to various governments. We’ve been in the Eisenhower and Nixon Inaugural Parades, and have traveled extensively throughout North and South America,” she says. The troupe also provides an average of 8,000 hours of annual service at charitable events and functions, and has a scholarship program for deserving young equine-science candidates. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9600

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Competitions, Contributors/Press, Events, Racing

Cheltenham Open Meeting, England

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PB140056H16th November, 2009 – Fierce winds and testing going challenged entries at Cheltenham’s Open meeting, reputedly the most important venue in the first half the National Hunt season in England. Each of the 3 days presented a feature race, the highlight being the highly competitive ‘Paddy Power Gold Cup’ which has been a high point in the racing calendar since 1960.

SURPRISINGLY, the Irish, with their impressive winning record at the Cheltenham Festival in March, had not won the Paddy Power Gold Cup or its equivalent for almost three decades but this year the Edward O’Grady trained ‘Tranquil Sea’ cast adrift his 15 rivals before the home straight to the sheer delight of the crowd. Jubilant jockey Andrew McNamara couldn’t hide his joy when the well backed 11-2 favourite came home four and a half lengths in front of ‘Poquelin’, with ‘Hold Em’ third and ‘Ballyfitz’ fourth. The seven year old bay travelled comfortably throughout the two and a half mile race to scoop the lion’s share of the £150,000 prize fund. More reasons to celebrate followed when two hundred people in the Club Enclosure took advantage of a full £30 ticket refund, promised to them if the Irish won the big race.

Friday’s hugely popular Countryside Raceday with its traditional country fair atmosphere featured the unique Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase – a course combining hedges, banks and timber rails over a distance just short of four miles. Irish horses have dominated this race in recent times, this running being no exception. Favourite ‘Garde Champetre’ powered home to an outstanding success when given a confident ride by jockey Nina Carberry, beating stablemate ‘Headsontheground’. Sporting the well known green and gold colours of legendary gambler JP McManus and trained by Enda Bolger, ‘Garde Champetre’ follows in the footsteps of four times winner (2004 – 07) ‘Spotthedifference’, owned and trained by the same duo. Although ‘Garde Champetre’ may now return to Cheltenham for the cross-country race next month, he is not expected to run in the Grand National in April. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8878

Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Driving, JRPR, USEF

Jamaica, Chester Weber’s Horse of the Year, Wraps Up Amazing Year as USEF Ambassador

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Jamaica, the 2008 USEF Farnam Platform Horse of the Year, spent his year as an ambassador for the United States Equestrian Federation.
Jamaica, the 2008 USEF Farnam Platform Horse of the Year, spent his year as an ambassador for the United States Equestrian Federation.

Ocala, FL (November 16, 2009) – Jamaica, Chester Weber’s combined driving horse, captured the nation’s attention last year when he won the most prestigious horse title in the country and became the 2008 USEF Farnam Platform Horse of the Year. As the Horse of the Year, Jamaica served as an ambassador for the USEF, making public appearances, promoting rescue organizations and horse adoption and taking part in a variety of charities.

Jamaica’s rags to riches story began in Belgium when he was rescued from a slaughterhouse. He then famously became part of Weber’s record-breaking international Four-In-Hand Combined Driving team. Now 18 years old, Jamaica has been a member of all seven of Weber’s National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving National Championship teams.

While Jamaica’s story captivated the nation, his role as USEF ambassador also earned him a fan following. “Jamaica’s story really meant a lot to a lot of people, and whether we were at shows or at home, fans would bring him presents and carrots and place them in front of his stall and ask to pose for photos with him,” Weber said. “His journey has been pretty unbelievable and I am certainly glad to have been part of it.” Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8874

Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Training/Clinics

How to Memorize a Dressage Test, by Ruth Hogan-Poulsen

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Hi everyone. A lot of you have been asking me about how I begin to diagram a pattern or how I start to memorize a test.

I start with these blank arena diagrams. I find them useful for a number of things.
1. Memorizing regulation tests.
2. Learning the exact geometry of the arena.
3. Learning my exact tangent points for movements such as circles and serpentines.
4. Drawing my tests from beginning to end.
5. Drawing each movement according to where the judges are judging (this way I know when the judge begins judging a new movement).
6. Showing a student where a movement begins and ends exactly.
7. Mapping out individual movements when I start to create choreography for a freestyle.
8. Looking at the pattern from beginning to end of a new freestyle, to see if I have used the arena wisely.
9. Checking to see if I have included all required movements for a competitive freestyle.
10. Mapping out each movement of a new freestyle so my clients and students have something to study that is very visual.
11. Checking to see if I have been inventive with the pattern.
12. Checking to see if my movements are equally used from the left and the right.

…and many more!

So I though I would give these diagrams to you guys for your use. Feel free to print them off and use them any time you want, and while you are on my site, sign up for the newsletter if you have not already! You will automatically get the link for the diagrams in the welcome letter of my newsletter, so you don’t have to go looking for it!
Ruth

Link to FREE DRESSAGE ARENA DIAGRAMS:

http://www.ruthhoganpoulsen.com/downloads.html

www.ruthhoganpoulsen.com
www.mobilehorsemonitor.com
www.dressagefreestyles.com

Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Jane Savoie, Training/Clinics

Counter-Flexing in Canter, by Jane Savoie

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Several of you have asked me if there’s any value in counter-flexing your horse while in true canter so I’d like to discuss that here.

1. Generally, you want to flex your horse in the direction of the canter lead he’s on. That goes for true canter as well as counter canter. So if you’re cantering on left lead, position his head so you just barely see his left eye and/or nostril.

2. I do often ask students to counter-flex their horses while cantering. For example, they’d just barely see the right eye or nostril when they’re in left canter. I do this to help riders feel if their horses are straight. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8812

Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Driving, JRPR

Chester Weber’s Famous Equines Raise Money for Charity by Painting “Moneighs”

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Mary Simons of ReRun Thoroughbred charity asked Jamaica and his teammate Rolex to help raise money for charity by painting masterpieces known as “Moneighs.” (Photo courtesy of ReRun, Inc)
Mary Simons of ReRun Thoroughbred charity asked Jamaica and his teammate Rolex to help raise money for charity by painting masterpieces known as “Moneighs.” (Photo courtesy of ReRun, Inc)

Ocala, FL (October 26, 2009) – Jamaica, the 2008 USEF Horse of the Year and member of Chester Weber’s seven-time National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving team, has taken his role as an equine ambassador seriously throughout the past year. Jamaica recently received his most colorful request ever, when the ReRun Thoroughbred charity asked Jamaica and his teammate Rolex to help raise money for charity by painting masterpieces known as “Moneighs.”

Never ones to say neigh, Jamaica and Rolex painted their works of art for ReRun’s Moneigh collection, which will be auctioned off on eBay to raise money for ReRun. The name Moneigh is derived from the name of the famous artist and the sound a horse makes.

ReRun’s Mary Simons visited Live Oak Stud in Ocala to assist Jamaica and Rolex with their paintings and was thrilled with the beautiful bay Dutch Warmbloods. “They were stunning animals and my favorites so far,” Simons said. “I had heard that sometimes Jamaica wasn’t so friendly, but he was very warm, kind and professional. He and Rolex both did their paintings with red and white paint and signed them with a black hoof print.” Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8642