Twin Oaks Farm

12/17/2024

Dispelling the myth of ‘the perfect position,’ by NF+ instructor and Olympic medalist Karl Cook and originally posted on our blog in 2022...

"In the United States, we have a very strong emphasis on rider position. There’s an entire discipline dedicated to it, in fact. That’s great, in theory, but the problem arises when function becomes secondary to the way it looks. Function doesn’t follow form; form follows function. That means that the way a rider looks in the saddle or in a snapshot from a round is secondary to the effectiveness and balance of that rider in the saddle.

There’s no one position. If you’re a rider who finds that you’re far more effective in a different position than you’re currently riding in, then change it! Position is dynamic; it’s not a snapshot. The only requirement of position is this: does it allow you to be the most accurate, effective, and balanced rider that you can be? If so, that’s your position.

I remember as a junior coming out of the ring following a round that I felt went poorly, and I was told, ‘You didn’t push your heels down far enough.’ So, as a young rider, that makes you think, ‘Maybe I had that stop or that rail or that poor distance because my heels were in the wrong place.’ Looking back, I think that’s a laughable comment. Now, it may have been because my leg wasn’t effective, but my round was certainly not poor because of the fact that my heels didn’t look a certain way or reach a certain angle of depth.

Your neutral position shouldn’t take a great amount of energy or fighting to maintain. It should feel like a relaxed, somewhat resting position. I see so many stiff riders who are clamping themselves into a position, and their horses have a hard time moving fluidly. A good position is one that moves fluidly with your horse, and we shouldn’t be afraid of movement when finding our position. When you watch riders like Marcus Ehning or Eric Navet ride, they look stable and secure in the saddle because they’re moving a great deal with their horses, not because they’re clamping down and bracing. Movement brings stillness in the saddle when you’re truly moving with your horse."

12/13/2024

We are hoping to go to both derby days and war horse!

FEATHER CREEK SHOW SCHEDULE FOR 2025!!

I thought I’d show everyone what we’ve been doing with our lovely weather in the last month!! We’ve organized all the xc and stadium decorations and now we’re ready for the new season!!!

Here for the Show Schedule for Feather Creek in 2025!! Good Luck to everyone next year!

February 28 & March 1st Mary D’Arcy Clinic

March 15th Schooling for Feather Creek Derby Day
March 16th Feather Creek Derby Schooling Show

April 5th Schooling for War Horse at Feather Creek
April 6th War Horse Horse Trials at Feather Creek

July 19th & 20th OR July 26th & 27th Mary D’Arcy Clinic

August 30th Schooling for Feather Creek Derby Day
August 31st Feather Creek Derby Schooling Show

October 4th Schooling for War Horse at Feather Creek
October 5th War Horse Horse Trials at Feather Creek

December 6th & 7th Mary D’Arcy Clinic

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!

Stay warm and safe!

Keep Kicking,

Dynah and the Feather Creek gang!!

12/12/2024

Those who ride on Saturday, here are the spots I have open:
Available- 8:00am-semi-private or private
Available- 9:00am-private
Full- 9:45am-private

These are ride at times. Time will end when the next lesson starts. Warm-up will need to be done before the scheduled time.

Please text me and let me know when you would like to be scheduled.

Thank you!
Olivia

12/08/2024

12/06/2024

11/15/2024

Looking to go audit this clinic.

Register today! Boyd Martin Eventing Clinic, here at Texas Rose Horse Park - January 3-4, 2025

Registration - https://www.striderpro.com/a/5tIdfZHDNESvWGKJW7XIVw

11/08/2024

To develop the horse symmetrically in body and limbs you can use gymnastic exercises.

*** CORNERSTONES ***

The core of the gymnastic exercises consists of the circle, shoulder-in and haunches-in. All the other exercises are derived from these cornerstones.

🐴 The circle is used to develop the Lateral bending of the body and spine, the Forward down tendency of the head and neck and the Stepping under the center of mass of the inside hind leg (LFS).

🐴 Once the inside hind leg can step under, this hind leg can also start to take weight. To do so we use the shoulder-in and counter-shoulder-in. These exercises are designed to school the hind leg in function of the inside hind leg. As a result of taking the weight, the horse will bend the inside hind leg more and free the outside shoulder.

🐴 Once the horse can bend the hind leg as an inside hind leg, we can also start to school the hind leg as an outside hind leg. To do so we use first the haunches-in (travers) and later on the renvers. In the renvers the horse can lean less against the wall/fence with his shoulder, so it's a bit more difficult than the travers, but as a result he really supports himself with his hind legs.

*** ALL EXERCISES ARE RELATED ***

All exercises relate to one another and differ slightly:

🐎 The only difference between shoulder-in and counter-shoulder in is the position of the fence/wall. The same applies to the haunches-in (travers) and the renvers, also there the only difference is the position of the wall.

🐎 The difference between shoulder-in and renvers is the bending in the spine, which is the opposite. In these exercises the same hind leg has the opposite function ('inside' in shoulder-in, 'outside' in renvers). The same applies to counter shoulder-in and the haunches in.

🐎 The half pass is 'just' a haunches-in over the diagonal, and the pirouette is 'just' a haunches-in on a small circle. Both half-pass and pirouette require support of both the inside as the outside hind leg. Therefore in both exercises the shoulders must lead to be able to keep the center of mass in front of the direction of the hind legs, only then both hind legs can support the weight. So both the half pass and pirouette also relate to the shoulder-in.

*** NUMBER OF TRACKS AND DEGREE OF BENDING ***

Now all exercises can be done on 3 or 4 tracks, or 2,5 tracks or 3,75 or 3,99 ;) and your horse can have more or less bend in his spine. Now there is no 'perfect' number and the exact degree doesn't matter. What matters in ST is that you choose the number of tracks and degree of bending where your horse can support his body and center of mass best with both hind legs. And that depends on the conformation of your horse: if he has a long back or a shorter one, if he has long legs, or shorter ones, if he has a long neck or a short one. So choose the degree of bending and number of tracks where your horse can move in optimal balance and with most quality.

*** HOW TO DEVELOP THESE EXERCISES? ***

First start the circle, then after a few training sessions add the shoulder-in, and the moment the the horse can do this exercise for 66,6% of quality, add the haunches-in. From there you can start practising the variations.

**** HOW TO DEVELOP THE HORSE EQUALLY? ***

To develop a horse equally in body and limbs all exercises need to be done to the right and to the left (or as they say in English: on the right rein and on the left rein).

When doing these exercises there will always be an 'easy' side and a difficult side. To develop the horse equally, do the 'difficult' side a bit more often and it's also an idea to start with the 'difficult' side and to end with the 'difficult side'.

The moment the horse starts to feel more equal, switch to train the exercises 50-50.

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Click here for more information:

Circle:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/circle

Shoulder-in:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/shoulder-in

Haunches-in:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/haunches-in

Renvers:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/renvers

Half pass:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/half-pass

Pirouette:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/pirouette

Lateral movements:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/lateral-movements

Ladder of exercises:
www.straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/a-logical-system-of-ever-increasing-exercises

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11/07/2024

This past weekend we went to our first recognized Horse Trials at Texas Rose horse Park.

We learned a lot of new things!

Things didn’t quite go how we wanted but we know what we need to work on. The girls did have some of the best show jumping rounds to date!

Here is a video of Mia & Prince’s wonderful SJ round.

11/03/2024

The horse world, because it can deal with the equine equivalent of Faberge Eggs, horses more precious than diamonds, and all the glitz and glamor that can accompany that, can seem overwhelming to the huge majority of riders who can’t deal in that league.

But there is another reality at play.

The rubber doesn’t meet the road by having the fanciest barn, the most expensive horse. What counts is what happens when the rider swings a leg over that saddle, sits down, and picks up the reins.

Does THIS rider have the skills, the kind attitude, the knowledge, the courage, the feel, the finesse the agility, the strength, the commitment to make THIS horse better or worse?

Because no amount of glitz can totally mask the reality that no amount of peripheral “stuff” can turn a so so rider into a brilliant rider. Want to be a real deal? Go ride better.

10/30/2024

We went Hidden Lake Farm for their Halloween show.
Mia won a 2nd, 3rd, & 4th in Puddle jumpers.
Nora & Whiskey had good rounds. They had some stout competition with 24 entries. Both girls have homework that is getting better. If we could just get Whiskey to at least like the left lead!
The girls looked great in the costume contest.

10/29/2024

10/24/2024

Happening soon. 👀