Fuse Equestrian

02/28/2025

This message is for those who don't want to be normal. If you want to fit in, stay safe, be average, I understand and respect that, it's the normal thing to do. But then this email isn't for you.

Also note: This post is about dressage, but it's also not about dressage.

I was browsing the international rankings of the FEI CDI 1* and noticed that just over 400 riders participated at that level.

There are an estimated 175,000 dressage riders in the world today.

That means only 0.2% of the dressage riding world competes at the lowest level of the CDI ring.

I came to a couple of conclusions.

🔹Dressage is insanely hard. The odds are against you. If you're riding at PSG or above, you should pat yourself on the back, you've made it much further than most people ever will. Don't underestimate that accomplishment. It's huge.

🔹Getting to PSG or above is not the norm, in fact, it's statistically improbable. If you want to ride at that level too, you have to be willing to approach your entire life with a different mindset.

Doing what's normal or average, is doing what everyone else is doing. That makes up the very definition of normal. Normal people get normal results.

But, you can't stand out, achieve more, be more, do more, or succeed more, while doing what everyone else is doing.

You have to approach things differently. It's a fundamental necessity.

This is where things can get challenging. You can't always look to your peers because chances are they are normal too.

You have to be the one to break away, to forge your own path. It takes courage and strength, a vision. You have to believe it's possible or at the very least, worthy of the pursuit.

If you want to stand out, you can't fit in.

Big dreams take big risks, and having the courage to chase them isn't for everyone.

But if you want to push the boundaries of what you're capable of, you have to go all in.

And that....is far from normal.

02/28/2025

‼️‼️IMPORTANT READ‼️‼️

All I Want To Do Is Jump

I ran a fairly large lesson program for almost 20 years. This is a statement I have heard over and over, both in my lesson barn days and from colleagues today.

All I want to do is jump.

There are a few problems with this. Let's start with the horse. I love the old horseman's saying " horses only have so many jumps in them ". Is that 100, 1000 before it becomes lame.... No one knows....but horses certainly weigh a lot and the concussion landing on those small little legs is significant. Horses also get bored, burned out....and let's face it...sour.
Respect for the horse . The riders job is to do the best thing for the horse. Most horses only need jumped a few days a week. That means if a lesson horse works 5 days a week, only 2 of those are jumping days. 3 of those are purely flatwork or hacking.

Riders : most of jumping well has NOTHING to do with jumping. Riders need to work on pace, transitions, straightness, their position, effectiveness of aids, balance, ability to change positions smoothly ( from 2 point to sitting etc ) and so much more.

So if you are one of those students who Just Wants To Jump , please replace that with "I want to be an effective rider and horseman or woman . I want to do what is best for the horse "

And instructors who cave to this plea from students
Only YOU can set the CULTURE of your barn. Talk frequently about horsemanship and doing right by the animals.

02/27/2025

👏Congratulations to Katie Dodson and Geronimo!!

🏆Dressage – Fourth Level – Champion

“Geronimo (aka Moe, Moeseph, Moelicious, Moe Money Moe Problems) and I have been working together since 2022. Moe landed in my trainer’s barn as a sale horse and was bought by my good friend Erin Kokoshkin. Kept busy at the time with her Grand Prix horse, Erin generously gave me the ride on Moe, which turned into a lease, and quickly resulted in the decision to purchase that Fall. While I had grand ambitions at the start of our partnership, 2023’s focus was staying afloat while life kept throwing curveballs and the majority of 2024 was spent developing my business. Although we only managed to make it to a handful of rated and schooling shows the past couple years, Moe handled all the life changes in stride. It’s been so nice seeing him transform from the flamboyantly nervous horse to a steady teacher. I’ve been grateful to watch him help my junior riders get their USDF Bronze Medals, and confidently give my adult amateurs lessons. Thanks to the driving force that is Patrick Tigchelaar, Moe and I managed to make steady progression throughout the year to the point where stepping into the arena unplanned at the tail end of the season riding 4th level is a nonchalant event.

This achievement was not something that was even in the plans for this year, but that makes it even sweeter. This past year Moe has made me a more tactful rider and taught me to always have conviction behind the things I ask of him. We have been lucky to have had so many learning opportunities and such talented trainers at our disposal. He is such a talented horse and every ride on him, even the tough ones, are a dream come true. I’m so thankful that he has already helped me get halfway to my USDF Silver medal, and even more thankful to have a trainer who is confident that we can knock on the door of Prix St Georges.”

📸: Unbridled Equine Photography

02/27/2025

Congratulations to our working student extraordinaire, Haley! She’s been working incredibly hard with Splash who came to us late last year. Huge thank you to Stacey Emory for always trusting her with their amazing homebreds!

🙌 Congratulations to Junior Rider Haley Hobbs-Collier and A Splash of Color for your
🏆 2024 CDCTA Award in Dressage – Junior Intro – Sixth Place!

“This year consisted of a whirlwind of events. Eight months ago I decided to pack up and move barns. When I moved barns I didn't really have a horse of my own. I was just riding anything and everything I was offered. Soon after my trainer brought in a little fresh off the track thoroughbred that I got the chance to work with. When I first started working with Splash I didn't like him. But after a couple of months of working with him we finally started to click. After months of working with him I was lucky enough to be surprised with him on my birthday! Through a lot of ups and downs he has taught me so much patience and what hard work really is. Splash always manages to make me smile no matter the situation. I see a bright future with this amazing little horse. After a great season at intro and finding out we were 6th for CDCTA we made the move up to training where he also went around like a champ and scored a high 60. I can't thank my family and amazing trainer Katie Dodson for the continued help and support. Katie has transformed us and helped bring our partnership together. She sticks with us no matter what and I will always be grateful for her hard work. We have so much planned for 2025 and it can't come soon enough!!”

📸: Unbridled Equine Photography

02/27/2025

Nearing the closing date for our March 8th schooling dressage show! USDF, USEA, and WDAA tests all offered, great way to get a leg up on this year's show season. Kat Sepka will be joining us again to judge for March!

Sign up via StriderPro:
https://www.striderpro.com/a/7fmYhqljOUOSvaBwP0t78g

02/25/2025

Wishing the Happiest of Birthdays to our own Katie Dodson! Hope you have the most amazing day today! This year is looking good on you!!

02/21/2025

Congratulations to Makenna and Deal Driven on a very successful show season in 2024! Their first year of partnership together and starting out strong!

Huge thank you to Turning For Home for this exceptional thoroughbred!

👏 Congratulations to Makenna Franklyn and Deal Driven:

Dressage – Intro Level Senior – Third
Eventing – Baby Beginner Novice Senior – Fourth

"Had you told me in January of 2024 that I’d be a horse owner, I 100% would not have believed you. I got my horse, Brock (JC Deal Driven), in early February after my trainer had bought him from the previous place we had been at. It was a dream come true. Brock (aka Broccoli or The Great Broccolini at the barn) is a 2014 OTTB who raced for quite a while and won a decent amount of money racing. However, you would never know because he is the laziest, slowest horse ever… or at least he is until you point him to a fence. He is allowing me to accomplish all my dreams of competing in any discipline and overcoming my anxiety!

I did a lot of dressage with Brock over the summer, focusing on building his strength and my confidence and trust in him. We were relatively successful in the dressage arena with some good scores and some not so good scores, but no matter the score, I was proud of us for doing it together. When Brock and I started doing dressage together, we weren’t the greatest. He was strung out and I was just a mess. By the end of the season, we did our first training test and we just had so much more harmony together!

We competed in our first horse trial on September 29th at Red Gate. We did our first USEA dressage test ever together, we made it through our show jumping round, and cross country was so much fun (and somehow placed 3rd)! I did my second horse trial on November 16th, 2024 and while there was a lot more competition at this show, I felt accomplished because I got around successfully without any faults. Brock has allowed me to attempt disciplines I told myself I’d never do (i.e. eventing and dressage), but here I am, trusting my horse and doing it.

I want to thank my trainers, Katie Dodson, Veronica Laughman, Ali Balz-Howard, and Erica Hilton for helping me in every way you have throughout the 2024 season. I also want to thank everyone who has helped me with Brock since I bought him in February as I wouldn’t be where I am today without you. Also, a big shoutout to my family for helping me along the way and supporting me at every event! I can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for me and The Great Broccolini!"

📸: Photography

02/15/2025

How we feel at Fuse Equestrian about more incoming snow😭🥶

02/13/2025

Beyond ecstatic to announce Fuse Equestrian’s partnership with Equine Elixirs! This past year has been a rollercoaster with moving to a new facility and navigating individualized care of both my program horses and boarder horses; and Equine Elixirs products have been a god send.

Compeition safe and composed of all natural ingredients, their supplements have been paramount in our clients successfully training and competing, further developing the next generation of equestrians. With a shared interest in the betterment and well rounded education of both horse and rider, we are also looking forward to their support at our schooling show and clinic series!

02/12/2025

Nicole DelGiorno is doing vital work and addressing the hard truths of this sport! It is a labor of love to run a competition and training program geared specifically for juniors and supplying horses for them. We need to be proactive in figuring out ways to make every aspect of this discipline more accessible for our youth riders. Changing division structure, making dressage leases more normal, providing more opportunities specifically for junior riders.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬?

I’ve been following a lot of passionate social media discussions surrounding recent Eurodressage articles. Many important topics have been brought forward, but the portion of the conversation that grabbed my attention has been centered around the question: Why don’t we see more kids riding dressage in the United States?

Well, I have an opinion (surprise, surprise).

Just give me a second to get my soapbox out here... Okay, ready.

To be very blunt, the recognized youth divisions in U.S. dressage are structured terribly, and that is definitively why we cannot get more kids in dressage.

Let me paint you a picture:

You are a non-horse parent with a 6-year-old kid that loves horses. You type "horseback riding lessons near me" into a search engine and start investigating. 90% of the programs that show up offer instruction in "hunt seat equitation." Must be popular! You see that the highest rated barn offers a summer camp and you decide to send your child. She loves it and starts making friends with the kids who ride at the barn. She begs for weekly riding lessons. She takes lessons one to two days a week until her trainer mentions that she is really getting quite good! She should start to compete.

She does the leadline division and gets exposed to an environment like the Devon Horse Show. Dreams ablaze in her heart she asks if she can have a pony of her own, but your family isn't ready for that type of commitment. "No worries," says the trainer. "You can lease our small pony." Then she ages out and you lease the medium pony...or the large pony... or the Junior Hunter.

But at some point your kid is getting quite good and the trainer helps you buy a competitive A-circuit equitation horse. Your daughter goes on to place well at several big championships, catching the attention of a noted trainer who offers to take her on as a rider. She goes on to become an assistant trainer, or to cruise happily around the amateur divisions. The End.

Everything curated. Everything clear. Their goal is to not overwhelm parents because there is real money in developing youth riders in hunter/jumper land and real milestones to attain from the time the kids are little. When that's true, the trainers are happy and structure their programs to make parents and children happy.

NOW, let's say your first call was to a dressage barn. Nine times out of ten, that conversation is going to go like this: "Hello! I am inquiring about riding lessons for my 6-year-old daughter." ...."Hi! Does she have her own horse?" ..."No, we don't.".... "Sorry, can't help you."

But maybe by the grace of god you happen to call one of the 10% of dressage barns that can accommodate beginner children. Your kid takes riding lessons there for two years. In her third year she might do some dressage schooling shows at Introductory Level, your trainer may even take her to some unrated hunter/jumper shows because the format is easier, cheaper and she can get more ring time. Next year your kid begs to show recognized at Training Level. At only ~10 years old she really does quite well on the barn's lesson pony! She qualifies for Regional Championships.

When you arrive in the warmup for your first class, you see your child's eyes widen to saucers. She rides over to her trainer and asks in hushed tones, "Is SHE in my class?" Yes, my dear, SHE is. Your eyes slide over to the 21-year-old rising professional riding her client's young horse, who appears to be the second coming of Glamourdale.

The class commences. Your kid rides her heart out on her lesson pony (you had tried to find something nice for her to lease for this year, but no luck finding a quality seasoned dressage pony for lease). Still, even with her best test of the year, she places third to last with a 62%. The young pro wins with a 74%. Not because your kid isn't great and skilled for her age, but because there is a CHASM in terms of experience and physical ability between a 10-year-old and a 21-year-old!

This is what it is going to look like for the next few years until you buck up and buy a pony for her to do FEI Children's or Ponies on (probably from Europe because that's the only place to reliably find a competitive pony that's actually been shown and proven by a kid). Sure, you could aim at Dressage Seat Equitation Medal Finals, which has a 13 and under division... if you have one of the few 10-year-olds who can ride First Level inside out and backwards, and you can find a size-appropriate mount for her to do it on.

In general, we do NOT provide the Disney experience to families like the hunter/jumper community does. We do not structure our divisions to give kids appropriate milestones (Like, HELLO - why not have an equitation class that is just Walk/Trot like they do in hunter/jumper land? Why can't we get out of our own way and reward correct basics without making the kids do leg yield zig-zags and counter canter and three changes of lead through trot on the diagonal?).

Because the way our youth divisions are structured is so challenging, no trainer really wants to structure their business around it. It's a bad gamble that will almost assuredly result in a ticked off parent and a disappointed kid. Much easier to help adult amateurs who already know they dislike hunter/jumper land pursue their medals.

So here are my counter-questions: We want to see more kids riding dressage. We want to see better horsemanship and depth at every level of the sport. Then where is the space for younger riders to compete, learn and connect with their peers? Where are the milestones for them to aim towards?

Until we have an outlet for these young kids to showcase their skill and test their ability in classes that are structured fairly, I think we are going to continue scratching our heads and wondering, "Where are the dressage kids?"

Read more musings at https://www.thedressageacademy.com/blog/

📸 Priceless Equine Productions

02/10/2025

When it gets tough out there remember progress in dressage takes time, patience, and resilience. When things get tough, focus on small wins—each ride is a step forward. Remember why you started and visualize your goals. Trust the process, celebrate improvements, and embrace challenges as learning opportunities. Stay inspired by watching other riders, talk to your coach or trainer for guidance, and enjoying the partnership with your horse. Tough moments build greatness—keep going!

02/10/2025

Buckle up because Fuse Equestrian has A LOT to brag about for 2024!! Our barn family had many, many wins both personal and professional.

Huge congratulations to Veronica for winning the MVP Award after a record breaking 9 nominations! We are incredibly lucky to have her! Congratulations to Katie on winning Dressage Trainer of the Year! An award which could not have been possible without all the successes of Fuse students! Intro Level Senior, Intro Level Junior, and Training Level Junior placings swept up all by Fuse riders! Many of our junior riders moved up levels this season, including Phoebe who took home First Level Junior Reserve Champion. Katie also taking home 4th Level Senior Champion.

We also had a handful of riders qualify for eventing awards for the first time ever! Sienna winning Junior Baby Beginner Novice Champion, as well as Makenna winning 4th in the Senior division!

2024 was filled with new experiences, goals, and even horses for some. For many, growth and success don’t occur in tandem. But the commitment and drive from everyone made it all possible. NONE of this would be possible, of course, without all our amazing horses! “When you are on a great horse, you have the best seat you will ever have.” - Winston Churchill

02/04/2025

I hope your trainer doesn't give you what you want.

I DO hope your trainer gives you what you need, more importantly...what your horse needs.

There will always be someone willing to do it faster and flashier. There will always be someone willing to get you into the show ring on your time line instead of your horses. There will always be someone who will tell you only the things you want to hear. For the right price, there will always be someone.

I don't want that kind of someone...not for me and not for you all either.

So, choose your someone carefully.

Choose someone who values their process enough that they can't be swayed from it by demands and dollars. They know where they've been, where they're going and all of the things they've learned between. They put your horse first and show you the value in work that is centered around what the horse needs. They are your biggest supporter while remaining honest and realistic about what it takes to achieve your goals. The only promise they make, is that your horse will get better...and you will too. You pay them but at the same time, who they are at their core can't be bought. They live their truth each day, honest and humble.

That type of someone is priceless...

- Terra

📸: Logan Astrup

01/30/2025

Thursday bay takeover this evening!

01/28/2025

Mark your calendars for our 2025 Dressage Show Series at Fuse Equestrian!

01/28/2025

Snow day silliness! Loving all this warm weather just in time for our next schooling show February 1st!🎉🎊