Fairfield Farm SYV

07/19/2024

Yep!

07/03/2024

Can’t say that Greg Parks finds my place boring. 😆

06/14/2024

Greg Parks and Jesus trying to work while this cheeky monkey wants to join the party.

06/04/2024

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/early-education-and-training-under-the-spotlight-following-german-decision-860221?

Educating horses to cope with the world around them from a young age is crucial to set them up for a happy life

06/01/2024

https://youtu.be/tVBJfr5KUMg?si=okiEUWByseKtNmhu

To aptly describe Fairfield Farm is to deem it one of the most extraordinary, pristine equine properties in all of California. A stunning 20-acre expanse of ...

06/01/2024

05/27/2024

Lagniappe F3M

05/25/2024

The Holsteiner Verband would like to encourage all American and Canadian breeders who are expecting foals this year or have mares or stallions for approval to write to our office at  [email protected].  We’d love to see even more breeders attend our inspection tour and want to off...

04/19/2024

03/15/2024

𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁-𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲⁣
Horse welfare has always been the key priority for the EEF, and in the last months, several examples of poor horse welfare in a training environment have been exposed. The EEF has observed with dismay and has made it our highest priority to support our member organisations to take swift action and re-focus on the kind of behaviours we all expect of equestrianism in Europe.

To properly counter these issues going forward, it is important we first assess the current landscape, the attitudes and opinions within the industry and understand whether these issues are widespread. With this information, we can then support our National Federations to create practical initiatives to counter these unacceptable behaviours.

For this purpose, we have designed a survey with the support of World Horse Welfare, for completion by the wider equine industry. All answers are anonymous and will be used to better inform us of the current situation.

The answers will be analysed and carried forward to a panel discussion in cooperation with World Horse Welfare, the International Grooms Association, our member National Federations and international rider club stakeholders to properly discuss and consider how we, as Europe’s equestrian community, can stamp out abusive training practices and any notion that they can be acceptable in today’s sport. This is vital to strengthen trust with those both inside and outside our sport.

EEF President Theo Ploegmakers said “This is a vitally important issue.The horse lies at the centre of everything we do, and their care should be the utmost priority for everyone in our industry. The recent cases in which behaviours at home have been uncovered are incredibly worrying for our sport and exceptionally damaging to the trust we have been building with the wider public. It is of the highest importance that we now understand the depth of this issue and support our National Federations to action against it.”

Further details on the webinar panel will be shared shortly. The survey is now open and will be available for completion until April 5th 2024. Survey link: https://www.surveyhero.com/c/Eefhorsewelfaresurvey op

09/14/2023

Secrets of the trade and great words of wisdom.

https://www.facebook.com/100064094430769/posts/703697128443429/?mibextid=WiMSqg

Trainer, rider, and judge Chris Wynne shares his keys to success Preparing young horses for the show ring is an effort that involves nearly countless variables.For Chris Wynne, a Virginia Beach-based hunter rider, trainer, and judge, giving young horses aconfident start has become something of a spe...

06/25/2023

The words "never" and "always" leave zero room for compromise, and therefore should not be taken literally in every single case, and an example might be the use of draw reins on a horse.

What draw reins do----They give the rider enough leverage, because of the physics of basically the pulley principle, to force the horse's head into positions that can cause extreme pain, and can even cause long term damage.

They also can so thoroughly overwhelm a horse's ability to avoid them that some horses who have been ridden much in draw reins automatically come behind the vertical, like in this picture, even when ridden without draw reins, and once that happens, that the horse just "gives up," it is extremely hard damage to undo.

Now, sure, it is theoretically possible for an extremely gifted rider to use draw reins with extreme tact to correct extreme resistance without causing extreme damage or discomfort, just as some extremely gifted riders can use extreme bits without similar damaging results.

The problem, though, is that lots of riders assume that they are "extremely gifted," when they are not.

I read something that makes sense, "Draw reins should only be used by the most gifted riders in the world, but the most gifted riders in the world do not need draw reins."

So, yes, while there is theoretically a tiny window, a sliver, of wiggle room, it is probably a mistake for any of us to equate ourselves with riders so exquisitely gifted that we can use devices like these safely.

Which means, since many riders use these things daily, that there are more exquisitely gifted riders out there than we realize, or there are lots of arrogant riders out there who think they are, and which situation is accurate, I leave to others to judge----

05/10/2023

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT – training with Andrew McLean
There are many associations that we train into the horse’s repertoire of signals. One of the most important is the acquisition of verbal praise such as ‘Good Boy’ for reward. Few people consider how the horse acquires this as a positive re-inforcer, and consequently few horses adequately respond to it. To be effectively learned they have to be associated with a primary reinforcer, such as food or scratching/caressing the horse at the base of the withers (a proven site where French researchers showed lowered heart rate more than any other site). Because the base of the withers is so close to the hands of the rider, scratching/caressing is the most useful primary re-inforcer. To train the horse to respond to ‘Good Boy’, the words should occur just before and during the scratching. https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2014/12/the-principles-of-horsemanship-part-3-pavlovs-principle/

04/20/2023

03/24/2023

We’ve been working really hard through this rain ☔️

03/12/2023

01/20/2023

Good morning!

01/12/2023

🤣

🤣🤣🤣

01/05/2023

🙌

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=550024927143984&id=100064094430769&mibextid=ncKXMA

By Emily Elek  I’m not into that customer stuff.  You know what I mean. There are so many in this business who refer to their “customers.” And the customer is always right…right? Except the barn is not an outlet mall. Our customer support team is run by small ponies with an agenda.  And I...

12/31/2022

Beautiful boy❤️

12/25/2022

'Twas the night before Christmas…

11/05/2022

Dreaming of training with Chris Kappler? Here’s your chance!​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
Apply to ride in Chris Kappler’s clinic now at norcalhunterjumpers.com/clinic. The application deadline is November 10. 🙌​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​creative.group​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​

11/05/2022

True to any discipline.

10/22/2022

Whatever your discipline, you should understand the concept of connection. Using aids to draw your horse’s head down is not in your horse’s best interests. Understanding that your horse needs to use his body and come from the back end (not the front) is part of a proper education for any equestrian. The action of implementing this connection is what makes a true equestrian. The absence of this connection… well, the term “it separates the boys from the men” comes to mind. And if your horse is coming up back sore… much of the time lack of connection is the culprit.

This is a fantastic article for those that were never taught the concept of connection.

10/21/2022

Horse Show Photo of the Day from the Pennsylvania National Horse Show!!! I mean, sidesaddle looks challenging enough, but then try jumping...and then try jumping with this incredible horse! Wow!!!

07/07/2022

Ladybug Fly HH - 4 year old Contefino x Hy Fly. First time on long lines / saddled. We plan on breeding her next year!

06/20/2022

End of