Storyteller Dressage

11/08/2024

This is started by a 501c3. A couple of these haulers are personal friends who lost their rigs when they caught on fire. I’ve been doing this 25 yrs and luckily I’ve never had my rig catch on fire. But I’ve had damage from horses kicking, dividers bent, windows broken, fuel cost, and that’s not including driving through smoke so think you can’t see 10 ft in front of you. It certainly hasn’t deterred me from going in to pull horses out of fire areas. But it would be great help. So if you can contribute, do it. This rescue will distribute funds to haulers and at the very least it might disperse some costs that we all have when we show up to evacuate.

This week the Mountain Fire has torn through our Ventura Coun… American Horse Rescue and Sanctuary needs your support for Help Equine Community Haulers Save Our Horses

01/15/2024

Nuno Oliveira:
"I know two types of riders. The first ones, although sometimes being skillful people, work their horses mechanically and use them as tools. Fortunately, there’s another category, and to be honest, less numerous: those who love their horses and are able to safeguard, in the most complete looseness, their natural expressiveness. The first group of riders are not necessarily less skillful than the second ones and are able to take the lead in some competition categories. The second group of riders, cursed poets of this Art, sometimes appear even ridiculous in the eyes of those who do not perceive the subtlety of their ideas. **However, these are the last riders who will enjoy the real joy of feeling under them a horse that moves with pleasure, without contractions, not as a slave but as a friend.” 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

12/26/2023

My Friends, the Binningers (Hannah Ogden Binninger, Clem Binninger, Flora Binninger, and Jon) lost all their tack in a barn fire on Christmas Eve…let’s help them out in replacing their tack….🎁 They make GREAT coffee. Please contribute (since we all know coffee addicts or are caffeine addicts ourselves ☕️☕️❤️

I think we all have a good need for more coffee for the upcoming New Year right!?? I think so…..so please place your order here:

A coffee roastery in Troy, Idaho, founded in 1998. Landgrove Coffee offers direct trade, fair trade and organic products working with coffee producers in Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, Honduras, Ethiopia, Kenya, Costa Rica, and Sumatra.

12/13/2023

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

02/18/2023

"Addestrare un cavallo significa SENTIRE e dopo avere sentito, sforzarsi di aiutarlo senza forzarlo…" (Nuno Oliveira)

09/19/2022

09/19/2022

01/15/2021

Nuno Oliveira;
"Conosco due tipi di cavalieri. I primi, pur essendo a volte persone abili, lavorano i loro cavalli in modo meccanico e li utilizzano come fossero degli strumenti. C'è per fortuna un'altra categoria, per la verità meno numerosa, ed è quella di coloro che amano i loro cavalli e sono capaci di salvaguardare, nella più completa scioltezza, la loro naturale espressività. I primi non sono necessariamente meno abili dei secondi e sono capaci di primeggiare in alcune categorie di competizioni. I secondi, poeti maledetti di quest'Arte, appaiono qualche volta perfino ridicoli agli occhi di coloro che non percepiscono la sottigliezza delle loro idee. Sono tuttavia questi ultimi i cavalieri che gusteranno la vera gioia di sentire sotto di sè un cavallo che si muove con piacere, senza contrazioni, non come uno schiavo ma come un amico."

08/12/2020

Please share sbd help save this little girl!

This little girl is fighting for her life right now!! She is only 7 days old and… Shirin Amier needs your support for Help Little Lelani with medical expenses

10/02/2017

08/15/2017

What I'm raising money for: medical bills and daily care on my 12yr old warmblood show horse to hopefully recover enough to be able to be ridden once again.  How the money will be used: Daily and ongoing vet care of 12 year old warmblood.  Why this is important to me: I so love this  horse and h...

07/17/2017

History of the alamar knot. What is significant about an alamar knot.

04/18/2017

Del Mar, Calif. – April 8, 2017 – The West Coast Dressage Convention, presented by SH Productions, kicked off on Saturday with a full day of education from the headline clinician, Olympic gold medalist Carl Hester MBE. Hosted in the beautiful town of Del Mar, California, auditors were treated to six...

04/13/2017

"Every time I reach for them, I'm offering a super light deal & pretty soon, they'll take you up on it." - Buck Brannaman

04/13/2017

"Solutions to problems often come from knowing when to ask for help." - Buck Brannaman

03/29/2017

This 15'2 hds, gorgeous young man is so much fun to work with. He is currently working on training level dressage, has done some jumping and knows to go on trails. He loves to work, is very athletic and a wonderful all around prospect. He would do great with an advanced junior or amateur. Come out to our barn to meet Smokey and be ready to fall in love!

01/07/2017

01/02/2017

"Until you can lope a horse comfortably on a loose rein ON COURSE, gathering the horse or collecting the horse - it's a fantasy." - Buck Brannaman