Dressage training with USDF Silver and Bronze Medalist Torie Bonsack in Northwest Indiana
New Image Dressage now has on-site training spots available, beginning in September! Located in South Elkhart County, the facility is the perfect place to send your horse for sales prep training, dressage career starting, winter maintenance training, and more!
Contact Torie at:
260-570-9033
[email protected]
www.newimagedressage.com
Just had two wonderful days with the amazing team from Firelight Arabians- great to be back again and see so much progress! This is an amazing group of dedicated and talented riders! Good luck to all at Medallion / Region13 and Youth Nationals!
Great job Jennifer Henderson Jones and Coop! (One of her other horses) First show out earning scores up to 70%, including a 68% for Coop’s first 1st level show! Jenn’s been working hard with Coop all winter!
Baby Dev getting stronger
It was a great 2023 season full of “firsts!”
Ann Cox and Marcel trained all summer in dressage and did their first USDF show, earning up to 69% at Intro/Training Level🎉 Marcel will soon head to Aiken for his eventing season!
Jennifer Henderson Jones and Rebbel Yell trained and showed at Second Level for the first time and scored consistently mid to upper 60’s at Second Level, including a Reserve Champion at Region 14 Championships, a Champion at Region 13 Championships, and a 4th at Mid-Summer Nationals! -all Second Level! First year!!! They also took a First Level Champion at Mid-Summer Nationals! And First Level Champion at Region 13 Championships! 🎊 They will train away this winter for 2024!
Yaz did her first USDF show, which was only her second outing! She learned the ropes and gained confidence for her second USDF, where she scored mid to upper 60’s at Training/First Level!🤩 She is now ready for 2-1 and will be ready for 2-3 for 2024!
It’s been a great first year in Indiana helping these horses/riders and I look forward to helping many more riders to achieve their goals💕
A few pics of Baby Girl, owned by Katie Sinclair! I swear these are all different pics. She just literally looks the same stride to stride!
Congratulations to Jennifer Henderson Jones and Rebbel Yell ++++// at Region 14 Championships! Dressage 2nd level - Reserve Champion! First year at 2nd level and totally rocking it! And Top 5 in First level! 🎊
I had a WONDERFUL couple of days teaching the students at Firelight Arabians- New!!! Such a talented group of dedicated and passionate equestrians riding Intro to 2nd Level! Only got a few pics, but everyone was amazing and showed true talent! Lorie Henderson has done an amazing job with these equestrians! And thank you Lorie for inviting me to your beautiful farm! So much success is in store for this group!!!
FAST and QUICK does not equal POWER!
The Refined Rider - Dressage Learn why a fast, rushing horse is considered a 'lazy' horse. Learn how to get your horse to move more efficiently.
https://mailchi.mp/d7f8c207368b/free-braiding-tutorial
Learn how to make remarkably BEAUTIFUL braids!
The patience/trust bridge
Top Tip Tuesday! 2 cool reasons to give your horse a pat on the neck mid-stride, with your inside rein:
When your horse does something well, you want to let them know within 3 seconds or else the horse won't relate the praise to the behavior. So DONT come to a walk to pat them on the neck. Do it in the moment. AND do it with your inside hand only!
Why?
#1.) So you can maintain your connection to the outside aids and you can pat your horse without everything falling apart. If you drop your outside rein to pat your horse, you'll lose the connection, the frame, the rhythm, and balance. But the inside rein can "take breaks." You shouldn't be hanging on it anyways, and when you let go of it, or rather push your arm/hand forward, it's a good test to see whether or not your horse was actually in the outside rein to begin with. When a horse is working properly in the outside rein, you should be able to drop the inside rein and nothing changes.
#2.) You've probably been hanging on that inside rein way too much and you need to let it go! And when you do, you'll notice that your horse just might take some of the best steps ever! So keep the rein in your hand, but reach forward with your inside arm/hand and give your horse a pat on the neck. When you give that inside rein a break, the horse is freed up and can reach farther with the inside hind leg, and your strides will become more "through." (The energy from the hind leg is free to travel all the way up over the back and to the bit. But hanging on the inside rein blocks that energy.
So.....take the opportunity to give your horse a pat on the neck, on the inside, mid-stride. You'll get to give your horse praise and still keep your frame (or realize you weren't in a frame to begin with), you'll free up your horse from blockages, and you just might get some of the best strides you've ever gotten!
“…🎶…You know it’s all a’bout the BEND, ‘bout da BEND, ‘bout da BEND…🎵…”
The Refined Rider -
TOP TIP TUESDAY!
Do you ever feel like your horse is getting suctioned into the corner? Like every time you go through a corner, there’s a vacuum sucking you in? This is a common thing and happens when the horse isn’t straight. The horse is putting all its weight on the outside shoulder and letting the haunches swing in, avoiding having to step in and under with the inside hind.
The fix? RENVER
To put it simply, Renver is basically “haunches out.” You’ll ride the front end of the horse on the inside track and the haunches on the rail. Outside leg is at the girth, flexion to the outside, inside leg is back, holding the haunches on the rail. The horse is bending around your outside leg.
This will stand the horses shoulders up and make him straight so you won’t get sucked into the wall or corner. And this also gets the inside hind stepping where it should be stepping, under the body.
Try it on the straight away to learn it, then start doing it in the corners to keep your horse straight and flowing. And get this: if you do this correctly, when you come out of the corner the horse will be more engaged and more uphill! It’s a win-win! (Photo for attn)
Here’s the Princess, doing her thang…”Yaz” owned by Katie Sinclair
Tuesday Tip:
Don’t leave your horse guessing…just like in the herd, horses strive to know where they stand. So when you are working with your horse, when they give you an answer, let them know if they got it right! However big, or however small, reward the effort, make a big fuss!
Most horses will take pride in knowing that they’ve correctly done what their leader has asked of them. And they are more likely to repeat the correct action, and even continue to do it better, and even offer it up on a silver platter, if they have been praised for that correct action.
So if your horse is working hard to make the right choices, but has no clue whether or not they are in fact making the right choices, then they are left guessing and may not give you the answer you are looking for next time you ask. Not because they are being ‘bad,’ they just have to guess at what the correct answer is.
So make it 100% crystal clear. Next time your horse moves off your leg better than ever before, or does a killer transition, shout it from the roof tops! “”GOOOOOOOD BOY!!!!!!!!”
A little too windy today…so it was a glam day💕
Here we go! Steel Grey! Who wore it best?🤩
Super pumped after auditing an awesome clinic this weekend 👊🏻
A few Dev still shots
Time for some Princess pics! (Aka “Yaz”- “Spyfall”)
So pretty in steel blue❤️
USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist Torie Bonsack of New Image Dressage is now available for training and lessons in the Fort Wayne area! Haul-in with Torie at SugarShack Homestead in LaOtto, or Torie can travel to your barn or boarding facility! Board with full time training also available at SugarShack Homestead when a spot becomes available. *Currently full with waiting list so Torie is willing to travel
-Torie can build a dressage foundation in your horse, of any discipline, making them a happy, willing partner.
-Torie can help you and your horse climb the levels of dressage, for fun or for competition.
-specializing in young horses, problem horses, sale horses, need-of-a-tune-up horses, and older horses switching careers…
-Western dressage
-Freestyle design
-Relationship building through groundwork
Send a message or Learn more about Torie at www.newimagedressage.com
Here’s the thing….you have to let go and have fun….yes, showing makes us all nervous at times, but you gotta let go of the “what-ifs” in your mind. Substitute the “what-ifs” with “so what?” SO WHAT if my hair falls out in my Regional Championship ride? SO WHAT if I forget my test and get a whistle! SO WHAT if I get bucked off in my test and land face first in the sand! SO WHAT if my horse’s bonnet falls off and I catch it in my hand, finishing the test one-reined! SO WHAT if I need to scratch cause my horse isn’t right! SO WHAT if I get a 52% because the judge thinks my horse is lame! SO WHAT if my horse thinks 3-tempis is really a line of a freestyle tempi medley with broncs? …all of these things happened to me, and more….but you know what? I had so much fun through it all. It’s all part of the journey, and it’s why I keep doing it again and again…it’s fun…..for me, showing is fun….so let go of your “what-ifs” and it’ll be fun for you too.
Fort Wayne, IN
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Happy first day in turn out!
