Peachy Keen Equestrian

05/28/2024

05/28/2024

Kelly did such a great job with London during her dressage lesson today! We even threw in some grid work at the end just for fun!

05/08/2024

Ok friends, let’s be real… We’ve all seen some ISO ads lately that would make any true horseman stop in their tracks…

—————————————————————
ISO Unicorn

Absolutely no spook, quirks, vices, maintenance, special needs. 100% safe.
—————————————————————
Thank goodness they are shopping for unicorns and not horses, because a good horseman knows that is absolutely impossible from a horse.

Personally I spooked at a squirrel yesterday, and I have better vision than a horse and am not a prey animal.

No one can guarantee any activity in your life is safe—-not soccer, not baseball, not tennis, nothing. Those are the choices you make and the risks you voluntarily take on to participate in the activity you’ve chosen and to live your life. We all try to make the best choices we can of course, but any seller that promises any facet of your life is guaranteed safe is selling snake oil.

As for the horse’s quirks and special needs? I’ve owned hundreds of horses in my career and worked with many hundreds more. The five best horses of my career were as follows:

—————————————————————
Horse #5. Vices: Cannot pull mane or body clip without heavy sedation. Must be in front when hacking in group. Why it’s worth it: Horse of a lifetime for his rider.

Horse #4. Vices: Free because he failed his PPE so badly at 5yo. Needs $800 shoes from a top farrier every 6 weeks. Why it’s worth it: Competed at the upper levels of eventing very successfully and reliably for 11 years.

Horse #3. Vices: Poor mover in the trot, extremely hot, needs a very kind rider. Why it’s worth it: Evented through advanced level, national champion at intermediate.

Horse #2. Vices: May rear and buck. Kicks and bites on ground. Will not go in any wash stall. Why it’s worth it: Never once dropped his rider. Evented through advanced level.

Horse #1. Vices: Incredibly spooky, poor mover in trot, chip on X-rays. Why it’s worth it: Successful and prolific advanced horse, sold and exported to a European Olympic team.

—————————————————————

Our horse shopping advice to you? Be a good horseman.

If the horse makes you smile every day, who cares if it’s tough to pull its mane?

If the horse takes the best care of you, who cares if it flinches trotting past a trash can? Use your inside leg.

If the horse does the job you need it to do, who cares if it needs a good farrier? They should ALL have good farriers.

If the horse saves your behind every time you don’t see a distance, who cares if it cribs on a feed tub?

Good luck, happy shopping, and for the love of unicorns, stop seeking things that don’t exist or you’ll never find it.

—Megan Moore, Verona Equestrian
—————————————————————

(Welcome to share, please don’t copy paste.)

04/30/2024

04/16/2024

04/14/2024

These are good, so thought I’d share. 💞

20 Lessons From Tony Robbins "Awaken The Giant Within"

1. Controlled focus is like a laser beam that can cut through anything that seems to be stopping you.
2. Most people fail in life because they major in minor things.
3. You are destined for your own unique form of greatness.
4. Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards.
5. Empowering beliefs-this sense of certainty-is the force behind any great success throughout history.
6. In life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know.
7. The most powerful way to shape our lives is to get ourselves to take action.
8. If we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions.
9. The power of decision is the father of action.
10. It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
11. If you don't set a baseline standard for what you'll accept in your life, you'll find it's easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that's far below what you deserve.
12. True decisions are the catalyst for turning our dreams into reality.
13. Making a true decision means committing to achieving a result, then cutting yourself off from any other possibility.
14. Repetition is the mother of skill.
15. We don't have to allow the programming of our past to control our present and future.
16. Success truly is the result of good judgement. Good judgment is the result of experience, and experience is often the result of bad judgment.
17. Mastery takes as long as you want it to take.
18. There are no failures in life. There are only results.
19. In order to succeed, you must have a long-term focus.
20. God's delays are not God's denials.

04/09/2024

NV Grad Ria’s Angel aka Rio settling in nicely! Getting to work with Kelly here!

04/07/2024

How to feed your retired racehorse: Start with high-quality pasture and hay, then look to grain to shore up any deficiencies, consulting experts whenever possible.

03/21/2024

🤦‍♀️“I’ve been told that my ex racehorse needs to work more from behind”🤦‍♀️

In your ex racehorses first career, the leg is there as an aid ‘to go forward’ there is no: to lift, to engage, to push, to step under, or to move sideways/into. So why do we think that now, as a riding horse, because we have done all of the necessary groundwork, that when we apply a/the leg that we are going to be able to start creating ‘a connection; through their body and get the hindleg to step under and ‘work from behind. ‘

I would like to first point out that it is technically correct that all horses should work from behind-forward. I am not denying this fact, what I am trying to highlight is that in training some horses we have to take into account their previous history, their conformation and how by trying to ‘make the hindlegs work’ it can be detrimental to the development of them in the early stages.

By being told that your horse need to ‘work from behind into the contact’ (which by the way isnt wrong, its just for certain types of horses we have to think about ‘which way round’ to do things) Do you not feel like you could be potentially blocking them into a shape? We have the rein contact to ‘get the neck’ and then we apply the leg, because we have been told/have the knowledge that says ‘all horses must work from behind into the contact. If we were to put this into ‘human form’ would this potentially look like: grabbing and pulling them back by the ponytail whilst kicking them up the backside at the same time?

Some of the questions you need to ask yourself, when thinking, is my ex racehorse at a stage where I can start to ask for them to ‘push from behind’ are:

🐴Can you ex racehorse even lift their back?
🐴Do they have a ‘core’?
🐴Have you been able to create a language that your ex racehorse understands to be able to ‘lift and engage’ said core?
🐴Where are you, as a rider, positioned on them?
🐴Are they comfortable with you positioned there?
🐴Have you considered and understand their natural biomechanics?
🐴Are their hindlimbs strong enough to be able to; carry, support and push’?
�In the early stages of retraining we usually see horses running away from/being sharp to the leg, OR ones that are very behind the leg that cause their rider to turn beetroot colour whilst trying to do a lap of trot, usually accompanied with the phrase ‘you would never guess that he was a racehorse.’ In both of these scenarios there is ZERO chance of being able to create a language with your ex racehorse that your leg all of a sudden, now means ‘ to step under and push along into a contact’

Not only does their previous career lend to this, but also their conformation. First off, when stood up, their hindlegs are usually straight and set slightly behind/out behind the horses-so there is your first challenge. Any form of ‘hindleg stepping under’ is already ‘going against the grain’ and will require both time and patience as you’re asking the body to work in a different way. The domino effect of that, is that we need the WHOLE BODY to be in a place that allows for the hindlegs to step under and ‘carry weight’ without mentally and physically breaking these horses. This requires for your ex racehorse to be not only BE ABLE, but also STRONG enough to lift and engage their core/back and hold it for a duration of time. (This can add in the problem of fatigue) Adding to that, you then have tack and the position and placement of the rider to also consider and hope that that doesn’t impinge on the use of their back. PLUS then the natural flow of energy into the shoulders and the stiff like neck to help balance themselves all need to be in a good, balanced and able place before being able to even consider the back legs…….and this is all before we even have to think about creating an understanding with our ex racehorse as to what the leg ‘means’ (doesn’t seem quite so straight forward, huh?)

“More leg’ doesn’t mean ‘more engagement’, it *usually* in our ex racehorses, means ‘more running onto the forehand.’ This is not our fault in our riding, and nor is it our ex racehorses fault, because their body tells them to naturally do that and since baby years, that’s all their understanding of the leg has been. Through correct training, TIME, an epic home team of; saddlers, vets, farriers and physios our ex racehorses are able to: sit, push, lift and have swing and cadence, but it doesn’t start from day one of ‘working from behind’

www.thoroughbreddressage.com

Retraining of Racehorses Equine Exceed HorseQuestGlaze & Gordon Dengie Horse Feeds

02/29/2024

Mani-pedi day!!! There will be a pop quiz on hoof Anatony next week girls!!! Everyone well balanced again! Thank you Molly Aggar!

01/23/2024

Emma is putting in some good dressage work with the old man, learning a lot about biomechanics - helping Andy to be better balanced and straight. Nice halt Emma!

01/18/2024

Need to show the page some love! No stirrup November recap

01/18/2024

Bella and Monkey Business 2023 T.I.P. Championships

01/18/2024

EDIT… only Sunday opening left.

I am accepting a couple new students! I have a weekday opening and a Sunday opening. Ages 10 and up. Tuition $200 per month.

11/14/2023

Thank you Temple Ag and FFA for letting us be a part of your program! We were happy to see all the smiling kiddos today!

10/30/2023

Connor and Tuff Stuff through the years!

10/06/2023

Day two update!

So proud of my students today! Great jump school this morning! The a tenth place finish is a huge gelding class for Emily and Windsor and a 5th place finish in the adopted geldings class by Bella and Monkey! You gals make me proud!!!

10/05/2023

The PKE kids have arrived at The Jockey Club TIP Championships in Aiken SC and they are ready to rock n roll!!!

09/15/2023

Hi friends! Bella and Monkey are entered for TIP 2023 T.I.P. Championships at Stable View!!!! Entry fees have been paid! This is gonna be an expensive 4 day trip to South Carolina and Bella Drummond needs to raise money!!!! She has to pay the braider, buy shavings, get a new helmet, vet wants special shoes for Monkey, and a million other things! I need fundraising ideas and I need em quick. We have three weeks! She’s ready to work!!!

08/30/2023

While I am thinking about it!!! What a great photo from Hallie Burden of Bella and Monkey from the June show! Mane Frame also got some amazing pics this weekend and I’ll get those up soon!!

08/30/2023

This kid has been relentlessly preparing, studying, drilling… trying to learn everything and anything from anyone - and her hard work, patience and preparation - and being a great student paid off this weekend. We are proud of you Emily. Couldn’t have asked for a better first show for this pair!!!!

08/30/2023

My students are rockstars. I am so proud of Emily and Emma and the parents. They did fantastic this weekend!!!! And they did it alone! Look at the improvement in Andy and Emma over fences! Andy has knees?!

08/30/2023

I need to send a huge shout out to Sarah Hood Shockley and Cornerstone Farm in Brooks Georgia. When I was unable to attend a show with my program this weekend she gladly jumped on board to take on my students like they were her own. I am forever grateful! Thank you for taking time out of your busy weekend to make sure my girls and horses were taken care of!!

08/05/2023

BY Maddy Brown One of my biggest frustrations in this industry is the lack of understanding and consideration for the role that lesson horses play. So often, I see riders complaining about lesson horses for a huge variety of reasons: for their perceived lack of quality or value, for having to ride o...

07/23/2023

A surprising number of riders, including many with experience, bounce in the saddle at the canter. As the pace of the canter increases, the bouncing tends to increase. Riders who cannot sit the canter try to use various means to avoid the discomfort. Standing in the irons in various ways is a common "fix".

The reason riders bounce in the canter is because the movement of their hips is restrained by their shoulders being closed and tight. Closing one's shoulders stops the hips from moving forward in a synchronized or unified way with the movement of the horse when cantering.

Changing a rider's position by opening their shoulders can be helpful. Here I offer an image of the rider moving their hips freely like a child's swing. I have employed this image effectively when teaching riders to sit the canter. I tell riders who bounce at the canter to envision their body as the chains or ropes hanging from the top of a swing set's frame, with their shoulders along the top horizontal pole of the swing's frame. I ask the rider to open and push their shoulders back and open to make a straight line between their shoulders in the most relaxed manner they can. Then, when cantering, I tell them to envision their body swinging freely back and forth like the swing.

It is useful to also explain that the 1-2-3 beats of the canter are not on a single arc plane exactly like the seat of the swing, but rather there is a rotational movement in the swing of the three beats of the canter. After the rider opens up their shoulders and lets their upper body and hips swing with the horse's motion at the canter, they begin to feel the elliptical rotation of the horse's back in their hips during the 1-2-3 beats of the gait. At this step I use an image of an egg on its side to help them envision and feel the elliptical movement at the canter. When the rider is relaxed and they let the horse's movement move their body, they stop bouncing and can sit deep in the saddle at the canter.

This teaching method works with most students. When it does not, it is usually because the rider is carrying excessive tension in the upper body. I address this by having them walk, slowly trot and sometimes canter, in a circle on a lunge line with their arms outstretched like wings with no stirrups. This is important work because both the horse and rider greatly benefit from reducing and removing the rider's body tension that causes them to bounce at the canter.

07/10/2023

07/06/2023

Hi everyone! I have an opening now at 10:30 am on Sundays!! It’s rare I have an opening so let me know if you are interested! This is the ONLY opening I have on the schedule. Thank you!

06/27/2023

Sarah Kate said if Em could pull off at least a 5th place - that she would roll in the dirt…. So Em hosed her down and made her pay up like a powdered donut!!! 🤣😂