Lessons, training and coaching in dressage and jumping. Occasional sale horses available. USDF Bronze, Silver Medal and Silver Freestyle Bar recipient.
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Graduate of USDF L Judges Program.
Some pics from our family showcation to our favorite event, National Dressage Pony Cup and Small Horse Championships in WEC, Ohio. It was Kelvins first big solo trip and he was a trooper, he handled the big main ring like a pro and finished 4th in the Open Freestyle.
We had many much needed laughs with our Northwoods crew, who kept it weird. Congrats on your super rides!
Thank so much to the crew at home for keeping the place running and my support team, Dave and Heda.
I didn’t take any pictures last weekend at NWDAs Cooler By the Lake, but luckily some talented people did.
First, a huge thank you to everyone who helped with ring set up and especially takedown. I see you, I appreciate you. THANK YOU!
Frosticcino is getting more confident and consistent with this showing thing, doing a couple more training level tests scoring up to 68%. I don’t know if Wilson loves it, but he does love the extra attention and treats and I just like having my little buddy around.
Neapolitano Kirilia got more practice at 2-3 and is now qualified in the freestyle, scoring over 69%. I love riding him to music and I think he does too. I’m so proud of Kelvin, his charisma often boils over but he is making such good effort.
Thank you EM Photography for the photos!
But the highlight of my weekend was seeing Mom and Bob trekking across the fairgrounds. Mom has been coming to shows, mostly NWDA shows, for 40 years. She’s defied doctors prognosis, outlived hospice and home care and somehow made it to the bleachers for one more ride. Thank you Tonia for capturing a moment I’ll treasure always.
Looking for help setting up rings this Friday in Iron River. We will start about noon, typically takes 2 hours. Less if we have enough hands. You can earn credits towards entry fees at future shows. Also anyone to hang around at the end of the show Sunday to take them down (about 3:30, takes less than 30 minutes with enough people).
Deals on basic riding essentials!
Summer is here and so is the start of horse camp! Let us help you prepare and save a little money at the same time!
Choose from our selection of camp packages below, and we will help you along the way! Stop in store or visit this link to get started!⬇️
https://stcroixsaddlery.com/camppackages/
We had quite the time at Otter Creek Farm this past weekend, it was hot and wet like a horse show should be.
I brought my little lesson horse Frosticcino (Wilson!) to gain some more experience and help with his nervous tendencies. He was such a good boy, scoring up to 65 at training, but didn’t like when our MVF friends left Saturday night. By Sunday he was ready to go home. We had a weird moment right before he went in the ring and it rattled him. He basically switched off and I believe that was my first dressage elimination in 40 years of doing this.😂 We went back in the warm up and he was fine, seems he could use more confidence but maybe a 2 day show is enough.
Neapolitano Kirilia (Kelvin) started the show with a scratch after Rachel and I got trapped in the downpour during warmup. After a chaotic first go at 2-3, we tried the freestyle I finished Monday that week. Pretty pleased with a 68 for the first time riding through it. By Sunday Kelvin was reasonably relaxed and rideable enough during the 2-3 to bring the score up 10 points from the day before🤷♀️.
Heda got lots of air conditioned napping done in the trailer so she was well rested to charm her friends and beg for treats.
Thank you to Kate, Rachel and Lisa for the fun time, Otter Creek and all the volunteers and Dave and Lesley for keeping everyone happy at home!
Thank you Morgan Chapman Media for the photos!
Looking for help to set up rings for NWDAs Fun in the Sun Schooling Show this Friday in Iron River. We will start about 1:00, it only takes about 2 hours if we have enough hands and you can earn credits towards entry at future shows. Remember volunteers make our shows run!
New cross country jumps and arena rails are up. Need to practice perfect corners, ride through tests or get your horse out and about? We are ready!
10 year old 13.3 HackneyX gelding. Nice mover, shown training level, cute jump, good ground manners, loads and hauls well. No cheeky ponytude, but does best with more confident rider. Located near Superior WI. PM for details and video.
We’re still waiting for the rest of the snow to melt and ground to dry out a bit to add new cross country jumps to the field. MANY thanks to Dave’s dad for making the bases for these and Dave for finishing them.
The information below is shared by work of Ann Baldwin, Ph.D. and Rollin McCraty, Ph.D.
Webinar and can be found at https://www.heartmath.org/resources/downloads/heart-heart-communication-horses/
"Recent studies conducted by the Institute of Heart-Math provide a clue to explain the two-way ′′ healing ′′ that occurs when we're close to horses.
According to researchers, the heart has an electromagnetic field larger than the brain: a magnetometer can measure the energy field of the heart that radiates from 2.4 meters to 3 meters around the human body.
While this is certainly significant, perhaps more impressive than the electromagnetic field projected by the heart of a horse is five times larger than that of a human being (imagine an electromagnetic sphere around the horse) and it can influence straight into our own heart rate.
Horses are also likely to have what science has identified as a ′′ coherent ′′ heart rate (heart rate pattern) that explains why we can ′′ feel better ′′ when we're close to them. Studies have found a coherent heart pattern or HRV to be a solid measure of well-being and consistent with emotional states of calm and joy-that is, we exhibit such patterns when we feel positive emotions.
A coherent heart pattern is indicative of a system that can recover and adapt to stressful situations very efficiently. Many times, we just need to be in the presence of horses to feel a sense of well-being and peace.
In fact, research shows that people experience many physiological benefits by interacting with horses, including lower blood pressure and heart rate, higher beta-endorphins (neurotransmitters acting as pain suppressors), decreased stress levels, decreased feelings of anger, hostility, tension and anxiety, better social working; and greater feelings of empowerment, confidence, patience and self-efficacy."~ Picture credit goes to the artist, Valerie Eric
In German, there is a saying: “Reiten lernt man nur durch Fegen”, which translates as “Riding is only learned by sweeping”. I have often thought about this saying.
Wherever there are horses, there is a lot of work to be done: Cleaning, sweeping, brushing, feeding, repairing…It’s not only the fun sides of pushing yourself off the ground and into the saddle. Learning to ride takes commitment and discipline, and we might have to do a lot of things which are not very glorious. Sweeping teaches us humility and keeps us grounded.
For me, this saying is also about apprenticeship. You start at the bottom, you sweep, you get off your high horse and you become open to learn. You admit to yourself that you don’t know everything. Sweeping is good for our ego. If you are an apprentice, the master can afford be honest to you. You don’t pay for lessons and s/he has nothing to loose if s/he scares you off. And that kind of honesty we need if we want to develop.
When we do chores around the barn, we also have the chance to develop a more natural kind of relationship with our horses, or with horses in general. We are not directly focused on them and can observe how they interact and what they are doing.
Sweeping is also my zen practice. Whatever my troubles are, I usually feel better after the morning chores at the barn are done.
It’s always sad to put everything away for the season. 🫤
We’re home from USDF Region 4 Championships in St Louis. This show was packed with huge classes, deep with talent. So impressive to see how the region has grown. Great management and volunteers, and of course the facility at NEC is top notch!
Glimmeratii left it all out there in the Intermediate I Open and Intermediate I Freestyle. His first regionals was in St Louis in 2013, as a scared second level horse. And he’s attended every year since. I’d like to put his incredible work ethic into every horse, but his confidence was built, bit by bit. I can’t describe how much I love this mighty little horse and enjoyed the times we’ve had over all these years.
Neapolitano Kirilia experienced his first regionals in the super competitive First Level Open. He handled it all like a champ, we closed out the weekend schooling in the slop and trotting through the lake in the warmup. Kelvin came out this year understanding the horse show thing, after just a couple outings last year. It’s been such a thrill raise this kid from a yearling, put him under saddle and bring him to his first regionals. A true extrovert, he mostly likes the part of showing where people tell him how big/pretty/white/loud he is (he’s not picky, just keep talking about him).
Thank you Kate Phillips for breeding these horses, and being a coach, mentor and friend for so many years.
Thanks to my family, David and Heda May for their help and support, it’s always more fun with you.
Thank you to Amanda for caring for the guys at home, we can’t do this without you.
We had a great time with our friends and watching so many quality rides. Congratulations, Cheers!
Some of the boys have been getting out to shows the past 2 weeks. Glimmeratii got his qualifying scores at I1 and N. Kirilia got some miles at first level and a score to do a freestyle at Mayflower at Otter Creek. Best boy Frosticcino got some more confidence and earned drinkware at NWDA Fun in the Sun. He’s also proving to be a boss at Prix Caprilli.
First NWDA show of the year is 2 weeks away, get your entries in!
June 11-12 Fun in the Sun NWDA Schooling Show June 25-26 Cooler by the Lake I&II NWDA USDF/USEF Recognized Show July 23-24 Last Chance Summer Dance I&II NWDA USDF/USEF Recognized Show August 6-7 Fall...
We had a soggy, fun time at the Two Rivers Pony Club Mini Event in Eau Claire. So proud of Ella and Kenzie for smart and brave decision making. My bud Frosticcino (aka Wilson, aka Baby Boss) was super, I thought we’d go around some of the more imposing XC jumps but he brought his big boy knickers today. What a great first outing for the year to put some valuable experience on horses and riders. Thanks so much to Two Rivers PC for putting this on, the lovely, kind volunteers and fun prizes and schwag bags!
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Danny having a well deserved roll after his ride. Everyone is loving the nice weather and no bugs.
Glimmeratii at Sorensen Inter 1
Brittany and Nara
Rachel and Arrow at D3 Eventing Certifications today.
Gabi and Rueger at D3 Eventing Certifications today.
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