D&Z Equestrian - Central Wisconsin

10/14/2024

Such a fun weekend!
We did the Iron Oak Endurance Ride at Ukarydee and put in some great miles!

I decided to bring my new mare Khaleesi and we ended up getting third out of 15 in the 12.5 mile! It was judged not only on completing the miles in a optimum time, but heavily judges on body condition and attitude of the horse. It’s amazing to see how much this mare has blossomed.

Rebecca took Zoltan and tied for 6th with Ada and her mare Kadessa (Ada’s first time!)
And Bailey was just a tiny bit behind those two!

All the horses were so well behaved. We had such a fun and beautiful ride!

On Sunday, Rebecca and I signed up for the 25 LD which is only judged on your finishing time and pulse down time. The first 13 miles were awesome but at the middle vet check we noticed Zodiac’s hind right thigh seemed to be getting stiff so we sadly didn’t continue. But Rebecca and Zephyr kept going and finished 4th! So awesome. My Z boys did their best. 🥰
Everybody again was so well behaved. Just unfortunate for Zodiac but he will be okay and that’s all that matters.
Very thankful for amazing vets at this event!

Great job everyone 😊

10/09/2024

Love my dragon 🐉
His first solo camping trip without his buddies and he was a perfect boy 🥰

10/04/2024

Zephyr doing what he loves 🥰

09/30/2024

I’ve been trying to give this guy an honorary Z name and decided on Zander after Alexander the Great - it was said that Alexander’s horse was an Akhal-Teke. The name also means “defender of man”

He had his beauty shots today 🥰

09/25/2024

Zeph loves doing his trick 🥰

09/25/2024

Some fun with Zephyr 🥰

Check out Danielle🐴’s video.

09/16/2024

Just a few clips and photos of the wonderful times this horse gave so many kids and adults 💜

09/11/2024

Today was a big day for Big Z!
He’s now 3 years old and time to start his riding career! This was his first time with a person on him and he handled it perfectly. Actually he seemed bored. 😂
So excited to really start riding him. He’s going to be such a good boy.

07/30/2024

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day’s riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor’s highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself “what can this horse teach me today?” All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it’s more likely that you don’t ride the horse as well as you think! It’s not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that “it’s not my kind of horse” is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it’s only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it’s back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our horses, ponies and riders 🐎❤🐎

07/21/2024

Thank you to Nancy Maloney and IronWorks Training for another fun show!
It was a first experience for all three riders AND horses!
(From left to right)
Paige and Journey
Ada and Jazz
Myah and Ace
And myself and Zorro

Great job girls! You all rode strong and gave your horses a great first experience!

And Old Zorro was feeling himself as always and had a great time blasting around for fun, even managed to take home Champion!
❤️

07/12/2024

Thank you Journeys in Time Photography for snapping some awesome pics! ❤️

07/06/2024

Go Journey and Paige!! ❤️
Looking so good. I’ve never seen this horse so excited to work and move so wonderfully as well! He wanted to attack the jumps today!

06/26/2024

Zodiac my drama llama has always been a priss about water and puddles. I’ve been waiting for weather/schedule to finally get him through his extra-ness. 😂 he did very well and progressed very quickly from “no thanks” to “this isn’t so bad” and finally “ohhh I actually enjoy this!” 🥰

06/15/2024

Had such a fun time at TriCity Riding Club gymkhana!
It was Luna’s first time riding by herself at a show and she and Saint Sampson did awesome! Came home with a third in barrels and fourth in plug in the Tiny Tot division and even won some money! She was super excited over that.
It was also Willow’s first time being in a show setting with her new owner Bailey and they both did fantastic! Great attitude and didn’t bat an eyelash at anything. They even came home with a 3rd in the flag race!
Myself and my old boy Zorro decided to join the fun and managed to get 4th in Open Barrels, 2nd in flag, and 4th in Plug!
Hoping to get some pics, but two other students Myah and Ada also rode their horses and got some great placings as well! Myah beat us all in the flag race with her boy, and Ada got 4th!

Everyone got to go home with some $ 😁

Also photo credits to Paige Doede with Journeys in Time Photography ❤️(and overly edited by me 😂)

We are excited to go again in a few weeks!
Thank you Tri - City for putting on such a fun show!

06/09/2024

So proud of both my Teke boys and Rebecca Hazlett! We did the 12 mile Novice division rides on Saturday and Sunday at the Underdown Recreational Area. Total of about 25 miles done this weekend! Zoltan and Rebecca got 1st and 2nd and won Novice High Point! And Zodiac and I got two 4ths 🥰 it was Rebecca’s first time and Zodiac’s as well. Everyone was perfectly well behaved and thoroughly enjoyed the rides!

A little quick explanation: The novice division is ranked based on keeping your ride completion within a set time, your horse’s metabolics/body condition/attitude/recovery etc, (all performed and graded by multiple vets). Vet check at the beginning before tacking up, then we had two and a half hours to complete 12.4 miles and not allowed to come in more than five minutes early or more than five minutes late. We then get a ten minute wait time and immediately see the vet for final check.

The trails were absolutely gorgeous and we rode on our own and with some other awesome people!

We are so excited to do the 25 mile limited distance ride at our next comp! That will be judged solely on your time and how fast your horse pulses down to resting rate and passing the final exam, so will be another new experience and double the distance. 😁
I love the quote for endurance riding: to finish it to win!
Really enjoying getting more into this fun form of competition riding!

05/31/2024

Congrats to Danielle on her purchase of Luna! It will be fun to see updates as she grows and starts her riding career 🥰 Julia and I are so happy she’s gone to a loving forever home. ❤️