Pyramid Equestrian

11/07/2024

H. SZOVALJO and Allison dance their way into FEI and achieve the final scores needed for Allison's USDF Silver Medal during their debut at Prix St George! NCDCTA put on a lovely show and we got blessed with amazing November weather!
PC: Hightime Photography

10/17/2024

Pinehurst Harness Track Sporting Services fall schooling show was a huge success! The first outing for most of these horses in a long while!

Huge congrats to Kathy and her beautiful Jimi, rocking their Second 1 rides with a high score of 69% and blue ribbons! Jimi has had a string of bad luck, and Kathy's determination and dedication to keeping him healthy and happy has been inspiring. This was their first outing in nearly 3 years!

RU Ready to Rock, lovingly owned and bred by Tami Zoftz was literally a rock star this weekend! He scored an impressive 76.6% in Western Dressage Intro level, and 69% in Basic Level, winning all 5 of his classes! This was his second outing this year, the first not so successful as he was extremely buddy sour. After 2 weeks of "sleep away camp" with Allison, he was a happy camper and a perfect gentleman all weekend.

Wilderness Farm's Captain Nemo, owned and loved by Cathi Jensen, was also a wonderful boy! This was the first outing with Allison since his arrival to NC late spring. He had a light summer due to her judging travels, but has been back to solid work, winning all 4 of his Training level classes, with scores in the upper 60s to 70%!

And last but certainly not least, was Allison’s own H. Szovaljo, aka Sam. He tried his hand at PSG this weekend, scoring 62 and 65.6% from a S judge, even with a few piloting mistakes! We are looking forward to the next recognized show to try for my USDF Silver medal!

09/07/2024

One of the places that I have the luxury of teaching and training is at McLendon Hills Equestrian Center. It is an Equestrian community centered around the enjoyment of horses, not a competition barn (though some riders do compete regularly). They hosted 2 in-house shows over the past 2 years, primarily to allow riders to showcase to their friends the accomplishments they've developed with their equine partners as well as to give some Century Club Riders the chance to earn this lifetime achievement award through the Dressage Foundation. Enjoy the photos below! The only Pyramid rider I didn't capture a photo of was Darlene and her standardbred ex-racer Bug. A HUGE congrats to Rochelle and Kobe, winning the Western Dressage High Point award (75%!) and all of her classes! And another HUGE congrats to Jody and her old man William for winning the Traditional Dressage High Point, with a 74%!! Everyone did a fantastic job and had an amazing time.

07/29/2024

I have seen this at several shows I have judged recently, and had some clinic students ask about it as well, so I thought I would make a whole post about it.

The Shoulder-In. We all know a shoulder-in is a 3-track movement, where the horse is bent around the inside leg, opposite the direction of travel. The angle should be 30 degrees, so that the inside hind leg travels on the same path as the outside fore leg. The neck should not be over bent, as the bend should occur from the horse displacing the rib cage to the outside, and the neck follows the curve of the body with inside flexion of the jaw. The inside hip of the horse will lower, creating more engagement of the hind end with an increased lifting of the withers via the thoracic sling muscles.

The question has arisen- when you are riding the shoulder-in and it is immediately followed by either a circle or a turn across the arena (a turn at E or B, or a short diagonal line), SHOULD YOU STRAIGHTEN THE HORSE FIRST? The answer is NO, do not straighten, but ride directly into the next movement. This will allow the movements to flow together and the horse can maintain bend and balance. If your shoulder-in ends at E and your circle begins at E, there is no room or time to straighten.

YES, You DO need to straighten before the CORNER, because the movement ends at the corner letter, and you should ride PAST the corner letter for your corners at 2nd level and above. If you have questions about that, throw them in the comments, and I can give you a geometry tutorial.
(This photo is not a shoulder-in, but does show the reach of the hind leg and lowering of the croup, and bend through the rib cage.)

07/27/2024

What an amazing year it has been in my judging career! I have had the privilege of apprenticing with 6 incredible USEF S judges as I prepare for my USEF "r" Dressage Judge license exam. From a FEI 5*, 2 4* and L faculty members, these judges offered their invaluable expertise to help prepare us to become stewards for the horse, to help educate riders through constructive, thoughtful comments on their competition rides, and learn the ins and outs of officiating at recognized shows. These apprenticeships have brought me literally across the country and back. Beginning at HITS in New York, to my hometown of Pinehurst, NC, to the beautiful west coast of Southern California at Del Mar and Oregon at Devonwood EC, and the incredible World Equestrian Center in Ocala, FL. Our exam is back in NY in August. I feel so blessed to have gained wonderful new friends and colleagues during this journey. My clients at home have been so supportive of all of my travels, as has my incredible husband and son. We'll see you soon, NY!

03/17/2024

Reminiscing about my eventing days with Genuine Risk as the Carolina International 4* was held over the weekend here. I scribed for the 4* dressage with Peter Gray again, though I missed the cross country day as I was judging at the Sport of Horses Park dressage show. Always a good time there!

04/15/2023

Beautiful day to judge at the Sport of Horses Park!

03/20/2023

This is maddening.

4.450 Unterschriften werden noch gebraucht! Stopp der Zerstörung des Weltkulturerbes Spanische Hofreitschule

03/20/2023

CCI 3*

03/20/2023

CCI 4* Winners Will Coleman and Chin Tonic HS. So much fun to see them in person for both dressage and x-country!

02/18/2023

Chilly morning here at the Carolina Horse Park! 27 degrees to start off the Pipe Opener combined test.

12/02/2022

What are some other the other ways you've heard the "half-halt" explained?

11/04/2022

Tarzan's first ride in the big ring! He was started 2 years ago, but has sat since. So I've been getting him carefully legged back up again. Finding a saddle to fit this thick boy has been the biggest challenge, hence the trusty Kent and Masters jump saddle with the Wide tree. Now that I see him go in a jump saddle, I think his calling is a hunter or Eq horse! He does great on a light rein, steers off the leg, and slows from the seat. Apparently there are some lovely free jump videos from when he was younger, and he did well in the Young Event Horse classes. Stay tuned!

10/23/2022

Excellent explanation, as always!

Being gentle with a horse does not mean letting the horse push you around and place you in danger. Horses need to have ground manners. They need to stand reliably for the farrier and the veterinarian. They need to stand quietly while you are mounting or dismounting. They need to let you groom them, bridle them, saddle them without dancing around.

It is not that the horse is allowed free rein. Teaching basic manners, though, is a lot different from routinely smacking a horse around, yanking on the bit with rough hands, grinding on the horse in schooling sessions, or cranking the horse into draw reins or other leverage devices.

Part of being well trained is that the horse respects human boundaries, but the good trainers use only as much pressure as needed to create respect and only in situations that to do otherwise allows dangerous behavior.

10/15/2022

Check out this beautiful boy! 2016 Oldenburg GOV gelding by Reiner K. "Tarzan" will be listed for sale soon, but early birds can inquire now via PM.

09/10/2022

Education day, auditing the NCDCTA clinic with Jacqueline Brooks.

08/30/2022

Here are some of the photos of this wonderful opportunity I was blessed to be able to help orchestrate! Mary and Banner (the chestnut) started riding with me a few months ago, and we did the math on their ages. Century Club!! So we buckled down and created an in-barn show for her to do her Century Club ride for the Dressage Foundation. With a combined age of 105, they rode expertly through Training Level Test 3, with an impressive 69%! We also were able to help Marge Holmquest also do her Century Club ride on 30 year old Buttercup! How special is this to have 2 Century Club riders at one show??! They are 2 of the only 540-ish riders since the dawn of this program.
Nick was the announcer extraordinaire, Parker was the score runner, and I was the judge, so it was a whole family affair. The McLendon Hills Equestrian crew did an amazing job putting this show on. Nancy utilized her organizational skills as the wonderful show secretary, Anne helped with scoring, Kathy organized the treats, decor, and special Century Club awards. We had many other wonderful volunteers who helped with everything from planning, scribing, warm up stewart, set up and clean up. Everyone who rode in the show did an amazing job, and the comradery was incredible. Photo credit to Diana. 😍

08/12/2022

So much fun out in the field with this guy today! "Sparky" (Inspired) has enough power steering now to ride outside of the ring more than just at the walk! He'll be 4 in October. 😍