Redemption Dressage & Equestrian Center

04/15/2024

I just realized that tomorrow is my horse Guy's birthday. He turns 28 years young. I have owned his chestnut, quirky self since he was 4 years old with only 30 days of professional training on him.

03/15/2024

Both my wife and I have been on a bit of a mind/body/spirit Journey for quite a while, and are also on that with our horses.

Late last year we discovered Crypto Aero - More Than Feed Wild Forage.It's designed to be fed with forage and hay products.

What we love about it is free of soy, corn, wheat, molasses, artificial flavors, preservatives, as well as synthetic vitamins, minerals, and iron fortification. All ingredients are grown from Non-GMO seeds and they include Alfalfa Hay Pellets, Timothy Hay Pellets, Chopped Mixed Hay, Rice Bran Oil, Shelled Sunflower Seeds, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Milled Flax Seed, Green Peas, Yellow Peas, Papaya, Rose Hips, Green Cabbage, Spirulina, Brewer’s Dried Yeast, Anise, Fenugreek.

What the horses love about it is it tastes great!

The founder named the company after a horse she adopted in 2013 named Crypto Aero. Anna Frensemeyer adopted Aero in 2013. He was in pretty bad shape, suffered from both hind and foregut ulcers, colicked frequently, was severely underweight and not thriving.

Anna relied on her knowledge as a molecular and cell biologist as well as registered nurse to find a way to better feed her horse. Removing GMOs, wheat, soy, molasses and both synthetic vitamins and flavors, she replaced them with whole foods that would provide nutrition naturally.

If you'd like more information you can check them out at
https://cryptoaero.com/

Here's Bodhi enjoying his daily meal of Crypto Aero, and you can see Rey, Bundy and Sherlock enjoying theirs in the background.

01/27/2024

For equestrians, sometimes we need to remember that horses are not like most cats: they don't roll out of the shavings to try to mess up our day, by acting a jerk. If a horse's personality is not the same between the walk and the trot; or if they act stand-offish when putting a halter on (and they normally are keen to go); or if they don't want to pick up a hoof (I've heard: she's always been difficult - she's a mare, after all)......No, no, no.

That horse is uncomfortable somewhere. Yesterday, a friend called me to ask about her mare has started yanking the reins down at a canter. But I know for a fact she does not do that at the walk or trot. "She's sore at the wither, shoulders and under the saddle." Sure enough, she checked and yep!

A gelding in my barn wouldn't pick up his back left, without kicking out. Checked his left hip and he was cringy. 30 seconds of massage and he picked it up with no issues.

My OTTB was acting weird and head-shy. I put my hand gently on his poll and he pulled back and threw his head up. Ok, let's work on the atlas, poll, jaws. 15 minutes later, he was licking, chewing and dropped his head down below his withers of his own accord.

If a horse is chomping alot at the bit, and they didn't do that before, does the saddle fit correctly? Even if it did last month, check it out. Maybe their hyoid is out and it needs to be massaged.

Behavior can usually be attributed to current pain, chronic pain that has been overlooked, or....the horse not being listened to by something that bothers them. If they don't like being approached straight at the face, but will quietly put their head down for the halter/bridle when approached from the side, then why not accommodate them? They don't like being sprayed in the face with water? Then use a sponge. Sometimes, we have too much ego (I say this from personal experience) and it doesn't serve anyone better.

12/30/2023

Today was such a momentous day!

I've been on a journey with a client's horse, that I am honored to be a part of. This lovely gelding is almost 5 and he was started well, but due to a saddle fitting problem, his behavior started to devolve. Mind you, the owner took extreme care to get a "qualified" saddle fitter, but as it tunred out months later, the saddle was over an inch too wide for him. For non-horse people, that would make the saddle fit horribly, tilt forward at the trot transition and smash down on what we call the wither - that point where neck meets back. Very painful for him. Add to that he had riders who rode with very tight girths (not me, as anyone who knows me, can attest to) and it compounded the problem to where he was bucking.

I was brought in to solve the behavior problems of his growing anxiety and we were making good progress, but still not really seeing success in geting him back to work under saddle, without it being dangerous.

Ultrasounds were done and the vet said he is perfectly fine physically, but prescribed Zoloft for his anxiety. The owner was all in and while I have never worked with a horse with that much stress, I was hoping this would help.

In one week's time of his being on the correct dosage (4 rides), I was able to successfully mount him, put my right foot in the stirrup, check the girth, and ask for a walk. All with him being calm 15 minutes in to the walk, I even got a snort breath (a sign of relaxation). The owner thought that she would have to hold him and lead him for weeks with me on his back. We did that last Friday and this Tuesday. Wednesday she was 20 feet away then walked over to be his crutch, in the event he bolted or bucked.

Today, even though he had no turn out the night before because of the rain and it was a breezy 60 degrees this morning, we walked up to the mounting block, I waited until his head went down - which took less than a minute - and I gently swung my leg over and sat. He didn't lift his head, get wide-eyed or tense up. Totally opposite of the many times we had practiced this before. Then we did very basic dressage of circles, serpentines and halt/walk.

The medication he is on is just enough to take the edge off, but not enough to hide anything that causes him anxiety. So my touching his flank was a tense moment for him, until I just held lightly, then he turned his head to me and tried to graze. We would prefer to still see what we need to work on, so that when his Rx runs out, we are done using it as a tool and he goes into work relaxed and happy. We always quit on a good note, even if it means a 20 minute work out or 45. There is no agenda or time frame and I really appreciate the owner being all in with that. Did we give each other a hug? Yes we did!

The chiro is coming this weekend and I think that that will be the finishing touch to getting over this training hump. We want a safe horse, who enjoyes being ridden, whether that is hacking out on the trail or in the arena.

12/12/2023

https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/training/6-seat-fixing-exercises/?fbclid=IwAR3Tg3n-gULsR11c9Cv6HgOVjXK7KL_A7ADUJ3FjXd9DMfczRvJxdt29Neo

Improve your position, balance and control in the saddle.

10/31/2023

HOW TO GET THE JUDGE ON YOUR SIDE!

People often wonder what they can do to improve their scores, and get the judges to look for reasons to give points, and not hand them reasons to take points away, as they strive to show their equine partners.

Here are a few.

Show your horse at a level that you and your horse are proficient.

It does not matter if it is a new show season. If you have not done the work to prepare for a higher level, do not enter classes above where your horse can do all of the requirements somewhat comfortably.

Prepare.

Grooming training and preparing take months of practice and the judge knows what a well turned out and prepared horse and rider look like. That means every thing. Groomed to perfection, tack clean and conditioned, clothing clean and appropriate.
You and your horse should be fit enough for the warm up and the class plus 10-15 extra minutes. Meaning you or your horse should not be “so tired” that you use the walk portion of the test to catch your breath. The whole test needs to be ridden to the best of your collective abilities.

Smile and have empathy.

For your horse, the judge and the other competitors. Be a good sport. Don’t hog the warmup. I was at regionals in a crowded warmup recently with a young horse and I was on the rail and a rider came straight towards me not leaving enough room as she flew towards us and passed left to left in a medium canter. But her whip hit my horse in the face causing him to jump out of the ring and then be apprehensive about oncoming traffic. Leave room and keep an eye for green horses or riders when at the show.

A smile and a composed face do a lot to let the judge know that you are there to present your horse. You are there as his friend and leader first and a competitor second. Judges appreciate riders who know how much they can ask of their horse in the ring.

Ride accurately

If you do not ride the test precisely the judge has to believe that either you cannot steer through a correct pattern or your horse does not steer correctly. Don’t lose those points. Perfect practice makes perfect. Video yourself as often as you can find a way to do so and fix the big, then small problems until they disappear. An accurate test with a well turned out horse and rider who has a good attitude and empathy for the horse will get noticed and rewarded.

Watch and learn.

When you have a chance, watch tests of those better than you or classes you hope to prepare for. Watch the warm up, the ride, and then go check out the score and see if it matches your thoughts. Train your eye so you are not surprised by your scores.

Be courteous

To everyone. Show management, other competitors, well just everyone. Congratulate folks that do well, and mean it.
Everyone is on their own journey even those in your class. You may not know what it took for someone to even get to show so…. Be courteous.

Have fun.

Make up your mind ahead of time to have fun showing. Become part of a group at the show so you have a team to cheer you on and help if needed. Ask a trainer you know if you can stable with them if no one from your barn is going. Make friends have fun!

In the long run it is all about you and your horse. You want him on your side, ready to work for you and feeling good about his job. When that happens you have already won.
Happy Centerlines!

07/31/2023

06/11/2023

05/10/2023

This is a good read and very informative about why some riders have such a challenge overcoming trauma.

In this excerpt from his book Neuroathletics for Riders, Olympic coach Marc Nölke explains the common causes of the brain’s failure to produce the output (performance) we want in the saddle. Survival The brain’s most

04/26/2023

Et si on faisait le point sur les éléments essentiels ?! Comment s’assurer que la têtière / le frontal de votre cheval est à la bonne taille et adapté à sa morphologie ? C’est ce que je vous propose de passer en r***e dans cet article !