Alexandra Veleris - Third Coast Equestrian LLC

19/02/2024

What a fabulous weekend at WEC. Mackenzie and Winston are making great strides in the jumper ring. Winston gives his heart to Kenzie and she to him.

18/02/2024

The more we travel to shows the more overwhelmed I am by the amount of money required to play our sport. My daughter thrives in the jumper ring so I need to make this work. I asked around and came up with a list of things I wish I knew/did 10 years ago, so I figured I would share…

Volunteer for everything and do a great job, it opens doors and creates relationships.

Don’t be afraid to ask people for advice - most would love to chat and share their experience, be ok if they are too busy. Always ask, always be ok with the answer being no.

Read everything, or if you’re not a reader listen to podcasts, audiobooks, always learn

Learn German or Spanish, trust me.

Get a subscription to ClipMyHorse.tv for 149 Euro/year. Not only can you watch an awesome amount of international shows BUT they have an Academy that is included in the subscription. Tons of mini lessons from the best in the world.

Work the hardest (body clip, braid, muck stalls, etc) - it’s seen and appreciated by those that count

Become obsessive with your horse and its care. Obsess about their feed, their feet, their condition, make the horse you have the very best it can be.

This is silly but valid… make a note on your phone of what coffee order folks want. Nothing better than someone walking up during a long show day with your favorite drink. Relationships matter.

Be thankful to everyone. Thank the ingate, the jump crew, the course designer, the steward - their job is under appreciated and without them no one can be successful.

Help load/unload your shavings and hay deliveries. Please. I hate when folks sip lattes watching others sweat.

Find a side hustle in the horse business. We started Millbrook Leathers - there is a ton of customers out there, start small but start, every dollar counts.

Tell your fellow competitors good job, clap for them, become a friend and a supporter. It’s ok to have friends outside your own barn.

If you’re waiting for a jump, help the trainer on the jump adjust it - go up 2, go wider - you’re anyway just standing there waiting, be helpful.

No hoof, no horse. Ask questions, chat with your farrier.

When I was 16yo I braided enough manes to afford a flight to Switzerland. I worked my butt off for free, and it changed my life. People always say going to Europe is a dream, it can be a reality. 

Show up as the person you needed when you were growing up.

This is the hardest one… say hi to people when you pass. Lots of times I think they have no idea who I am, so I just look at my phone, look the other way. If you’ve met them or had some sort of interaction chances are they remember you. Make eye contact, say good morning, develop all the relationships.

Get a dog. That’s just general life advice, get a dog.

If you’re a woman, ask for opportunities, be ok with the answer being no. So many men are at the top of the sport and I swear it’s because they actively ask for opportunity while women tend to work hard and passively hope to be noticed. Ask. All they can say is yes or no, it may start a conversation and who knows where that will lead.

Dont get so busy chasing dreams that you forget the fun.

If you’re moving up a level or just need to work out kinks, do the blue ribbon rounds or school on Tuesdays/mornings if allowed. Division classes are $$ and if you’re not ready to be competitive why not do the same height in a no pressure/less cost situation? I feel like these options are too often overlooked.

If you’re a working student, be first in last out. What you lack in experience and talent make up for in work ethic. Talent is everywhere, dedicated horsemen are a rarity.

Someone is ALWAYS watching. The good and the bad.

Get the VIP. Trust me, I was never this person. But now I budget that into my savings plan - scrimp elsewhere to splurge there. VIP is where folks are sitting and relaxing, some of the most influential conversations I’ve had have happened in VIP because people had the time to chat.

Be kind and grateful to the office staff. They get all sorts of rude behavior thrown at them. They want you to succeed and your paperwork to be easy. Appreciate them and if there are issues work through them with patience and kindness at the forefront. Also, bring them cookies or cake because they are locked at that desk – who doesn’t love snacks?

Always watch the warm up, listen and learn, the warm up is the best place to be.

Talk to the course designer, ask them what's hard in their course, what's easy in the course, why they did it, etc

Walk the small classes and the big classes, then see if they ride how you thought

If you see someone needing help, go help them - this should be obvious but…

Talk to the grooms in your aisle, bring them coffee, they have so much knowledge and are so undervalued.

Look outside the box when traveling to shows. Do you have to stable on grounds or is there a trailer in option? Our horses stay in a beautiful field in Wellington for $10/day, yes it means we drive back and forth a lot, but $10/day…

If you’re a USEF member you get 10% off at Dover

Even if you aren’t a hunter, watch the pro hunter ring. Just watch trips. Many of them. In the jumpers there are fairly obvious moves made to accomplish goals. In the hunters you start to see the tiny, minuscule adjustments that add to super consistent pace and get an incredible jump out of a horse. All of these adjustments are useful tools.

Your horse’s stomach health needs to be focused on more.

Unless you have uses for hauling other things, do not get a truck and trailer to save hauling money. If you are taking less than 3 horses to every show it will rarely even out.

Be grateful. Always.

If outside hay/shavings are allowed, bring them or go to local Murdoch’s/Tractor Supply avoid paying the mark up. Always go to the gas station for ice.

Clinics! There are so many clinics out there, if you can’t afford to ride in them then audit them.

USHJA offers Emerging Athletes Program, Gold Star Clinic, etc – try to join this pathway, it’s invaluable access to some of the industry’s top professionals.

And last but not least, always pet the pony.

What would you add?

17/02/2024

Pat them. Pat them pat them pat them. If your horse even thinks about thinking about how to think about the thing you want him to think about, PAT HIM. Praise every right thing, all of the time.

DO NOT ‘make the right thing easy and make the wrong thing hard’.

JUST MAKE THE RIGHT THING EASY, and forget about any botched efforts or wrong answers. Don’t take it personally if the horse doesn’t get it right first time. He doesn’t speak your language. He doesn’t understand your ambitions. He doesn’t understand conflict through the lens of human interpretation. He just knows how to horse, yet he is willing to learn, adapt and change for YOU. Make sure you do the same for HIM.

Horses are the only animal on the planet willing to try for us and to give us everything they have, for absolutely no return for themselves whatsoever.

If you do not foster the horse’s desire to try, you will lose this most precious gift.

24/01/2024

21/01/2024

A little Tom Dorance wisdom 🤠❤️

08/12/2023

What is collection truly?
Collection is not a head set, it is not “tucking the chin” and it is not the restraining of the head and squeezing of the body.

To simplify, collection is the availability of the horse’s body. It is the ability of the hind limbs to bear weight equally and of the shoulders to be free, supple, and directable.

You cannot simply get this by bringing the horse’s chin in, you cannot get this by simply squeezing the horse via the legs into a restraining hand, and you cannot get this with tie downs, side reins, Martingales, or other restrictive gear. Muscles cannot be supple by method of any restrictive positioning - muscles must be stretched, posture must be changed, the horse must be released, relaxed, and given time to understand and develop.

The only way to develop collection is through systematic athletic development over time. It is not done in a weekend clinic or even in several months. It is done by an educated seat and hand, and adherence to classical principles - guiding the horse toward equal weight bearing hind limbs and straightness through the body. This is the essence of classical dressage - the development of the horse as an athlete and partner, and to enhance his natural ability and create longevity and wellbeing.

Photo is of Manolo Mendez

13/11/2023

Love this - barn rats > barn brats !

I like kind horse girls.

Girls who say “have a good ride” as you pass them entering the ring.

Girls who share a girth when you forget yours.

Girls who help you back your trailer.

Girls who catch your horse when you fall off.

Girls who help you braid the night before.

Girls who compliment your saddle pad.

Girls who love the horse first, and the sport second.

Be a kind horse girl 🩷

11/11/2023

Monday Inspiration🏇

10/11/2023

10/11/2023

🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊

Wilmington, Ohio – Featured competition at World Equestrian Center – Wilmington resumed Thursday afternoon with the $10,000 Welcome Stake sponsored by the Ohio State University Galbreath Equine Center. Michael Burnett (USA) ultimately secured the first win of Midwest Indoors I with his own Chagr...

01/11/2023

Nervous horses are usually nervous for a reason, and too often that reason is man made.

Calm, steady trainers tend to soothe horses, while abrupt and helter-skelter trainers create tense horses.

Go into a barn. It starts there. Is it a loud active setting or a more relaxed place? Then watch how the humans interact with the horses on the ground. Then watch them ride. Do you see reasons why what is going on might make a horse tight and apprehensive?

Forceful riding is quite common, strong bits, heavy hands, lots of that “yank and crank and spank” school of training, and horses who are forced to deal with that are unlikely to be relaxed in their work and in their responses.

It doesn’t take much to wind up a horse. If the goal, though, is to have a steady and willing and unworried horse, be the reason he feels secure rather than the reason he feels tension.

This is actually pretty darn simple. You would think---.

01/11/2023

Congratulations to and client on the lease of the best teacher, Carloss! Happy to have Carloss with - thank you and ☺️ And congratulations to Shooter on his official retirement down in Sunny Florida at - happy to have retired him sound and able to enjoy life in the slow lane, as he’s more than earned it!!
That said, for the first time in a *long* time, we have 1-2 stalls available for the right matches for our program. Reach out to us if you’re interested in learning more about our program 🌟

31/10/2023

Great visual!

30/10/2023

- When my instructor repeats to me: ′′Straighten your shoulders and open your chest!” He’s not just teaching me how to stand up. He's teaching me that in life we should always walk straight and face problems head on.

- When my instructor asks me to lower my legs and keep them close to the horse, he teaches me that in life we do not allow distractions and that little is enough to deviate from his path.

- When my instructor tells me "Too much hand, don't hang on to the reins! "He teaches me to give and not to take, with the greatest respect of others.

- When he yells and repeats endlessly: "Look forward in the direction you want to go!” He teaches me the importance of setting goals and never losing sight of them to achieve them.

- When I ask to move up or do more and my instructor says I'm not ready, he teaches me that in life you must always respect your rhythm and never skip the steps.

- When I fall and get back up, I learn that there are always setbacks, times when we back up, but the important thing is to get up more determined than before.

- If I hold my breath during a ride and he jokingly tells me "breathe! You are purple!” I understand that you have to let your emotions flow in order to get rid of them.

- When at the end of the course I am happy with the work done and my instructor says to me′ ′Well done, thank your teacher′′ I know he is not referring to himself but to my horse.

- Now you, you who are watching a rider pass in the saddle, keep saying that riding is not a sport because it is the horse that does everything. I agree. Horse riding is not a sport. It is a life lesson.

28/10/2023

by Ann Jamieson You certainly couldn’t get a better start in the show jumping world than by being the daughter of Frank and Mary Chapot. Laura has the genes, the talent, and the work ethic to follow right in her parents’ footprints. And she is doing it in high style. Never forced by their parent...

25/10/2023

BY PONYMOMAMMY Your little (or big) one has been taking lessons for a couple years, and the time has come to get her a pony (or horse) of her very own. Congratulations! You are about to enter the ranks of true PonyMom. One of the first questions you will have to decide on is whether […]