January 21, 2017

What mares have to teach us

This image is from Etsy, but unfortunately the particular item is no longer available for sale.

Many of you have probably seen the quote referenced above. There is no doubt that riding different genders of horses is extremely different. There is also no doubt that many equestrians tend to prefer one over another. You have your “gelding people” and your “mare people.” I don’t know if I’ve ever met or talked to anyone that preferred to work with a stallion, but I am sure they are out there.

For much of my riding career, I only rode geldings. I think the first mare I rode was after I had been riding for a good 10 years. Most of the mares I had experienced once I started going to different barns were, to be frank, bitchy and unpleasant to deal with.

I much preferred geldings over mares. I just clicked with them better. Unfortunately, my lack of experience with mares added with the fact that my trainers that had me ride mares never explained to me the differences between mares and geldings had soured me to working with mares.

Me riding Honor, one of my barn’s sale horses. She is one of the most pleasant mares I’ve worked with, and I love riding her.

It wasn’t until my current barn and my current trainer that I fully understood how working with a mare is completely different than working with a gelding. And, I also discovered that not every mare is mare-ish. Some are actually very pleasant to work with and ride. In fact, my barn owner has told me that having a relationship with a mare is one of the best horse relationships you can have because when you really click with a mare, they give you their all. They want to make you happy and do what’s right, and they truly cherish their relationship with their human.

There is no doubt that mares are much more sensitive than geldings. They can be more temperamental. They need to be ridden a certain way and worked with a certain way. Oftentimes, you cannot demand things from them like you would a gelding. They will test you, but, they are also incredibly loyal. When you earn their trust, you know you’ve done something right. If you respect them, they will respect you. And, while I have not yet experienced this myself, I have heard that a bond with a mare is like no other.

Senior Editor Liv Godfrey has her own chestnut Thoroughbred mare, Lulu. She gave her thoughts on what it’s like working with a mare.

—

Lulu is my first young horse and off the track Thoroughbred that I started from the beginning. I taught her how to be a rideable jumper that happens to love jumping and being in the jumper ring. She has taught me so much over the past two, almost three years. I truly believe mares are a completely different ball game than geldings. Mares just have different personalities than geldings. Geldings tend to be more happy go lucky. Mares give their all to people that they trust and that they like being ridden by. A connection with a mare feel likes a different kind of connection, especially when you click with the mare. It teaches you to constantly want to be a better rider. Personally, my mare make me strive to be a different, more motivated, stronger person.

Olivia and Lulu in the jumper ring.

I’ve found when you ride a mare you need to constantly be talking to them and figuring out what will make them go their best depending on how they’re feeling that day. For example, sometimes Lulu goes like a little hunter, and some days she will throw harmless, sassy bucks in when we are cantering around the ring. When I am spending time with Lulu on the ground, she has a different kind of attitude. I feel like I constantly have to remind her how pretty she is in order to put her in a good mood before I get on!

Oh, and lots of treat help too…..

Overall mares are the best, in my opinion. When an equestrian is patient and listens to a mare, he or she will learn what buttons to push to make a mare go the best she possibly can. For me, that also involves a lot of good training from my trainers. Personally, I highly suggest working with professionals, even if you can only afford to once a month. Working with a professional helps a lot, sometimes more than one cares to admit, when you have someone on the ground observing and giving you suggestions.

To wrap it up, mares are the best when an equestrian is able to connect with them and take one’s time to understand their personality. I personally do not think people give mares enough credit all the time, but as far as I am personally seeing, some of the nicest horses (Sapphire, HH Azur, Cylana, etc.) in this era are mares.

Take your time. Understand what makes them tick. A mare will be the best teammate you could possibly ask for.

December 13, 2016

2016 in review: What I’ve learned & my goals for next year

14915463_10207637596761392_2245396196850124972_n Hi all! I know it’s been a while. I’ve been swamped with other projects and with riding as much as I can now that my migraines have been improving & my concussion seems to have fully healed (it only took a year!).

I know it’s only December 13th, but I’ve been itching to do a year in review and to lay out my goals for next year. And as always, I have my usual disclaimer that my goals may be somewhat ambitious. I like being ambitious. It keeps me on my toes, and it keeps me pushing forward and working hard for what I want to accomplish.

First, my year in review:

I learned a lot this year. Although my riding time was affected a lot because of my concussion and my doctor’s orders to stay out of the saddle for about 4 months, when I was allowed back in the saddle, I came back with a vengeance. Here’s my top 10 lessons from 2016.

Get everything in writing, even if you trust the person. Verbal assertions mean nothing. Also, I should know you need everything in writing, especially as an attorney, but I let my non-attorney mind take over for a split second, and it definitely cost me. Lesson learned. I’ll never do that again.
Listen to your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.
Have confidence in yourself and your riding ability. I’m lucky to have a trainer I trust wholeheartedly and that I know won’t ask me to do something I am not ready to do, so even if I am nervous, I have gotten better at pushing that aside and just going for it.
Take all the time you need. Riding isn’t going anywhere. Neither is showing. Taking time off of riding to fully heal was super hard for me, but I knew it was something I had to do, especially given the severity of my concussion and of the neck injury I sustained.
Let any hate or jealousy you receive motivate you. While the deactivation of my Ask.fm has really cut down on the hate I get, it took me a while to actually get rid of my Ask. Why? Well, I did also get nice messages and messages from people, who didn’t necessarily want to make their identity known, asking for help, so I didn’t want to cut off those individuals’ method of talking to me. However, the effects of the hate eventually got to me, and I decided it was best for my health and mindset that I just get rid of the medium. I am still here to talk to anyone who needs it, and I promise not to judge anyone’s questions or situations. I also promise to keep anything you say confidential.
Making connections in the horse world is extremely important. I have been lucky enough to make a ton of connections through this blog and through other things in which I am involved. I have found that these connections have helped me along the way, whether it is with excellent customer service from a company, opening up other opportunities for me, or giving me friendships that I hope will last a lifetime. These connections have been with other equestrians and with equestrian/equine companies.
Don’t get bogged down in the drama. I know this is a HUGE revelation, but the horse world is filled with drama (I’m obviously being sarcastic). I used to get involved with a lot of drama, and it bit me in the ass. I’ve done a lot of work on myself and on my social media, and now I only get involved if it is absolutely necessary (Note: If I see you bullying someone, I will step in. Bullying is never okay).
If you are feeling burnt out by riding, take a break. Even after I was given the okay to ride, I felt myself getting burnt out by riding halfway through this year. I felt like I was losing my passion and love for the sport, and I had to drag myself out to the barn most days (and that’s if I was lucky; some days I just said ‘f it’ and didn’t even go). I’ve seen a lot of riders experience this same feeling, and I always advise taking a break. Like I said, riding isn’t going anywhere; neither is showing. Don’t feel pressured to keep riding or showing if you’re just not into it at the moment. Sometimes we need to take something out of our lives to realize just how much we love it and need it.
Find your “equestrian tribe.” I have been extremely lucky to have an amazing trainer, who also happens to be one of my best friends. But, I also have been extremely lucky to have finally found a group of riders that support one another and are not concerned with drama and trying to one up each other. In the past, I’ve found myself at barns that have riders who are more concerned with being better than one another rather than honoring the fact that each equestrian is on their own journey, and that equestrian should be supported, not ridiculed or talked about behind their back. Who cares what height you’re jumping, what horse you ride, or where you are in your career. Support is the best thing you can give another equestrian, and I finally found that in the great group of equestrians of which I am a part.
Trust the process. After I was cleared to ride, I took about 10 lessons and was jumping 3′ – 3’3″. I was over the moon. Am I jumping that height every lesson? No (and, it’s best to preserve your horse anyway. I know a lot of riders that don’t jump very high at home, even if they’re competing at a certain height, simply because it’s better for the horse). At first I was like, “well, why am I not jumping this height all the time now?” There’s a reason behind everything your trainer does. Every exercise I do in a lesson has a goal behind it. For example, Monte likes to land on the left lead after jumps simply because it’s his stronger direction. I do a lot of work, over smaller jumps, that focuses on setting him up correctly so he gets the right lead (if we are tracking right or turning right after the jump) or focuses on me asking for the right lead in the air. If I was doing this over bigger jumps, especially with me being new to jumping bigger, I would be focusing on a ton of different things over a big jump, such as keeping my heels down, releasing enough, not crashing on his back on the landing side, getting my two point correct, keeping my leg stable, getting the right distance, etc., and adding getting the correct lead to that would just make everything overwhelming. Of course as I become more comfortable, all of those things won’t be so overwhelming, but I need to trust that every single lesson and every single exercise has a purpose, and that is to make me a better rider. On top of that, I have become a much better rider than I was this time last year. While Monte is an amazing horse that most of the time seems like an old soul, he can have green moments. Now, I am able to ride those green moments and help with his training. Just last week, we did an exercise that he had never done, and I pretty much nailed it. A year ago, I would not have been able to do it confidently (or at all), and doing it confidently did what? Gave him confidence and helped me execute the exercise in the exact right way so as not to confuse him or get him frustrated.

Photo Credit: Caitlin Allen Photography.

As I was typing that list, I realized I had way more than 10 things to list as lessons from 2016 – but I decided to cap it at that.

Now for my goals. As for my goals that I laid out before 2016 started, I am not sure if I accomplished all of them nor do I remember exactly what they were, but I do know I accomplished at least some.

Be jumping 3′ – 3’3″ consistently;
Begin showing in the 3′ Amateur Adult Hunters & 3′ Adult Eq. (My trainer thinks I can make it to this level by the summer if I keep my progress up and keep working hard);
Jump 3’6″ for the first time and, if I am being ambitious, school 3’6″ occasionally;
Find a way to get rid of my show nerves;
Continue to improve my riding, especially when it comes to training horses and working with green horses;
Become a textbook picture perfect hunter rider;
Find my next young hunter that I can hopefully help bring along more with the assistance of my trainer;
Start dabbling in the jumpers (I know I said this last year, but now that my confidence is higher and my riding is much improved, maybe now I am ready);
Get Monte qualified for Indoors & Zone Finals;

Ambitious? Yes. Totally unrealistic? I don’t think so.

Photo Credit: Caitlin Allen Photography.

Here’s the thing. It’s great to set ambitious goals, and I love people that shoot for the moon. The key is: Don’t be attached to your goals (Click the bird to tweet this quote). In metaphysical & spiritual principle, this makes them much less likely to be accomplished. It’s okay if you don’t accomplish all of them – or any of them. But, listing out your goals makes it much more likely that you will reach them, and if you back them up with hard work, you’re also much more likely to put checkmarks next to everything you want to accomplish.

I am wishing you all tons of success in the New Year. I know 2016 was rough, but I hope you at least were able to accomplish some of what you set out to do last January.

Got goals for 2017 or lessons you learned this year? Let me know! Comment below or shoot me a tweet.

Photo Credit: Caitlin Allen Photography.

November 14, 2016

Equine chiropractors: One horse’s first experience getting adjusted

Written by Katie Stone.

—

An equine chiropractor adjusting a horse. Photo Credit: HorseHarmonics.

Since Furi moved to his new barn, we’ve had some struggles when riding. He was not wanting to pick up and hold his leads. After having the barn owner, who is extremely knowledgeable and certified, take a look at him, she noticed how uneven his muscles are and how sensitive his back was. She also believed his shoulder was out. She recommended sweating out his back and using the Theraplate for muscle atrophy for a full week.

After doing that for a week, I had an equine chiropractor examine him. It was my first experience with an equine chiropractor, and as far as I know, It was Furi’s, as well. Furi is usually well-behaved for the vet and farrier, so I was hoping he would be for the chiropractor as well. However, I had some worries because it was a new experience and one that might be painful for him.

The equine chiropractor asked me to walk Furi up to him, and he was able to get a general idea of what was going on. He asked me to back Furi as he stood behind him also. While the chiropractor worked on Furi, I held the lead rope. The chiropractor immediately felt and noticed sensitivity in my horse’s back. He also was very surprised at how tight Furi was in and how little range of motion he had where his shoulders were, specifically the right shoulder. He stated that my horse was the tightest horse he had seen in a long time!

All of this completely shocked me. However, Furi is also 16 years old and has never had anything done previously so I kind of expected him to have some issues. The chiropractor also worked out a few other tight spots and suggested I use liniment on the point of shoulders, sternum, and inside of the hock. He also showed me a few stretches to do weekly to help Furi’s shoulders.

A horse (and handler) utilizing the Theraplate. Photo Credit: HorseAndMan.com

Overall, the adjustment lasted 20 – 25 minutes. During that time, my horse was extremely relaxed and compliant with everything being done. As for results, prior to the adjustment, Furi had a particular spot along his spine that was hard; I just thought it was his spine. However, I noticed this particular spot was gone when I went to put him away. It was truly amazing to see the difference. I have been riding as consistently as I can since the adjustment (at least 4 days a week), and he has been doing very well! I’ve noticed major improvements in his canter, and we are working on long and low to build up his topline. I’ve also been continuing to use the Theraplate for muscle atrophy at least 3 – 4 times a week.

Riding wise, we have only been focusing on flat work, and we will hopefully be jumping during winter break when we go home for the month! I really feel that the chiropractor helped my horse, and I am interested in having him adjusted again. After mine and Furi’s experience, I really recommend checking out ways to help your horse feel their best, whether it’s by learning stretching techniques to use on your own or by contracting a certified equine chiropractor to get your horse examined and potentially adjusted.

October 26, 2016

Lessons from a green horse: What I learned from my chestnut OTTB mare

Written by Liv Godfrey.

—

Liv & Lulu.

I was sitting in my room thinking about my horse (per usual I’m not hiding it anymore… let me live) and how wonderful she is. I was also thinking about when I first got her and how absolutely awful she was and what an incredible journey this has been for me.

For those of you that don’t know – I adopted a just turned 4 year old chestnut OTTB mare in 2014. I was 15 years old. I started Lulu pretty much on my own (with moral and on the ground support from my best friend Aurora & her mom Cat) until I met a wonderful woman named Jill with whom I worked to teach Lulu the basics and so on from there. Lulu and I are now competing in the 2’9” jumper division, and I hope to move her up to 3’ next summer. She is an amazing mare who gives 100 percent every time. She loves to jump, and she enjoys learning and going fast. On the ground she’s really snuggly and loves her faced rubbed but only by certain people. She becomes shy around strangers. She is also unbelievably sassy and tends to get jealous when you don’t pay attention to her, and you can tell exactly what she’s thinking based on her face.

Lulu was a challenge for me though, and we didn’t really get along for a long time. There were many days I questioned if I’d ever be able to accomplish my dream, which was, at the time, making her a hunter. She was fast, really strong because she braced against the bit, had absolutely no balance or muscle, had disgustingly maintained hooves, and she had the attention span of a toaster. Another thing I must emphasize is how fast this horse actually is. While she failed as racehorse, I swear if you’d ever see her go in the jumper ring I wouldn’t need to explain myself any further. If you haven’t seen her, as a point of reference, the EMT at an away show told me we were the entertainment of the day.

There were weeks to months where I would have crappy rides everyday. I will never forget the multiple times I just stopped her dead at the trot and got off because I was so emotional and scared of what I had gotten myself into. One time I dismounted and ran into the barn aisle bawling my eyes out to my trainer, Renise, saying how I just couldn’t ride and couldn’t click with this horse and how I wanted to sell her. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, and I put a ton of people in shock when I bought this mare.

But because I had this fire in my stomach that lit up every time I saw her and had an immense love that I wanted to give to this horse, I didn’t give up. I kept riding, kept grinding through the bad, sweaty, frustrating, teary-eyed rides and finally everything started getting better. I had an awakening when I went back to my old trainer for a month in the summer as a getaway, and even the owner of my barn said something changed when we were away and returned as a different pair. We were starting to jump consistently and perfect a flow. I started to finally put my leg on again which is always nice, and I learned how to keep a steady, supportive leg on a strong horse. I also learned to steady my hips, which in turn slowed down the center of my motion. My hands and elbows also became a lot better, and I was starting to have better consistency. Lulu got really excited and strong to jumps at first, and it was really hard to school her out of it, but eventually she learned she didn’t need to rush to every fence. This was accomplished using a lot of gymnastics work, pole work, halts, transitions, trot fences, and overall practice.

Through all of this with us confidently jumping 2-9 to 3’ with some 3’3 tossed in with our jumper, not hunter attire, I’m so happy I didn’t give up on this little mare. She was so difficult but worth every tear, aggravation, and dragging my butt to the barn when I knew the last thing I wanted to do that day was get into fights with my horse. All of it – every moment and every fall was worth it.

She taught me that if you want something you need to work so unbelievably hard for it. Give it your all even when you don’t want to because at some point that’s what you lived for.

But also… let things work out the way they are meant to. Sometimes our perspective changes, but you will need to accept that change. I wanted Lulu to be a hunter so badly, but she is nothing close to that, and I needed to swallow my pride and realize that I bought her in order to turn her into whatever she wanted to be and help her reach her full potential.

Now I have so much fun in the jumper ring and at home because we both love what we’re doing, and I’ve found that the jumpers are much more my speed. Patience is also a virtue in life and with horses. I think as riders it’s important to recognize this virtue.

Getting frustrated only makes our horses more upset, so be calm and handle the situation with grace. It is still really hard for me to remember that, but I’m getting better at it. Overall, Lulu did not only teach me how to be a stronger rider in all aspects, but also to live in the now and experience what you can from what life presents to you with open arms – even if it’s not exactly what we expected.

October 25, 2016

Trying out for a Division I equestrian team: An interview with one of SHUET’s newest members, Gabi Sorrentino

Many junior riders dream of being able to represent their college or university of choice; many more dream of being able to attend a college or university that is considered “Division I.”

In order to ride on a Division I equestrian team (or any equestrian team, for that matter), one must go through the rigorous process of tryouts.

Photo Credit: Coach Tiffany Hajdasz

We talked with Gabriella (“Gabi”) Sorrentino, a Sacred Heart University freshman and a current member of Sacred Heart University’s Division I Equestrian Team. She gave us the lowdown on what tryouts are like. While every school is different, we thought this perspective would give some insight on what to expect when pursuing a coveted spot on a Division I team.

Gabi, 18, began attending Sacred Heart this past August. She is majoring in Sports Communications and Sports Management.

She chose Sacred Heart not just for availability of her desired major but also because it had a riding team that appealed to her. Additionally, she narrowed her school choice down to those within 6 hours of her home, which is in Maryland.

“I ultimately chose Sacred Heart because I loved the campus, loved the location, knew I was going to have lots of internship opportunities within my major, and was excited for the chance to get to ride and compete on an NCAA [Division I] team,” she said.

Although the Sacred Heart Equestrian Team (“SHUET”) is ranked as Division I, Gabi said she did not take a school’s riding team ranking into account when choosing where to go for her college education.

Gabi has been riding for 14 years and currently owns a horse named Covergirl. Gabi did not bring Covergirl to Connecticut, so Covergirl, or “CG,” has been getting some “well-deserved time off and lots of spa treatments.”

“My little sister has been riding her occasionally and has basically been getting to know her better. She has also had some slight maintenance done,” Gabi said.

As mentioned, to ride on an equestrian team in college, one must attend tryouts. SHUET holds its tryouts over a two-week period where potential team members rode on Saturday and Sunday of both weeks. During the first weekend, potential team members participated in western tryouts. The second week was comprised of hunt seat tryouts. Those interested in participating in tryouts were given a pattern in the beginning of the summer. They had to memorize the pattern and complete it at tryouts.

To prepare, Gabi practiced both patterns at home during the summer on her personal horse, as well as other school horses. She also did the patterns on foot, which she found to be “very helpful.” Additionally, she did no stirrup work, and she also did non-riding work such as running and other forms of working out.

Although Gabi has been riding for a long time, she still felt nervous for tryouts. However, she said it was “more of an excited kind of nervous.”

“I could not wait to meet everyone and all of the horses and get to ride the best I could. I felt some pressure because I didn’t want to forget my pattern, or mess up while riding, but I think the pressure was what kept me so focused and made me even more motivated to ride the best I could,” she said.

Regardless of someone’s riding background in terms of discipline, they have to try out for both hunt seat and western.

It is also worth mentioning that within each discipline, there are different levels, such as Novice, Intermediate, and Open – to name a few.

During tryouts, Gabi said the riding coach focuses on “instructions, morale, form, and positive attitude.”

During tryouts, Gabi was lucky enough to know her strengths and weaknesses. For example, Gabi was strong when it came to riding “unfamiliar” horses due to her IEA experience. She also had some dressage experience, so she felt she was very prepared when it came to the flat work portion of tryouts. As for weaknesses, Gabi knew she had to work on utilizing the whole ring and not leaning forward while jumping (Editor’s Note: I have to work on not leaning forward too!)

Since SHUET is Division I and a good team, Gabi was “a bit” intimidated during tryouts. However, she said meeting everyone and seeing how nice and welcoming they were made it easier and made her less intimdated when it came to participating in tryouts.

Gabi was ultimately chosen to participate on SHUET, and she is competing in hunt seat, specially Novice flat and Intermediate over fences. She described her experience being on the team as “amazing so far.”

“Everyone on the team is so incredibly nice, the girls and coaches were all so welcoming and I am so grateful to be in a group with such amazing young women,” she said. “Even though I have only been on the team for a few months, I already feel like I am a part of the family, it is very comforting and makes the transition from being home to away from home much easier.”

SHUET members lesson twice a week. As for showing, the coach picks each show’s roster “strategically.” According to Gabi, some weeks a member is on the roster whereas other weeks they may not be. Shows are held almost every weekend.

It is rather well-known that members of an equestrian team ride many different horses that are part of college/university riding programs. A rider rarely rides the same horse in a week, and they also switch horses every lesson, something that Gabi loves. She feels this helps a rider become more prepared, versatile, and adjustable.

“Each horse teaches you something different which is very helpful in shows where you can apply what you learned to the horses you draw.”

For those of you unfamiliar with IHSA competitions, they go something like this. A riding team member will draw a random horse. After the draw, the member is not allowed to warm up on the horse. They go into the show ring and compete against multiple other equestrians from different teams on the flat and over fences.

Gabi hopes to be able to qualify for regionals in both of her divisions. She also hopes that her team goes “as far as [they] possible can” and that they “end up on top.”

So, what does a typical day look like for a SHUET member?

On a Wednesday, Gabi does the following:

Wakes up at 7:15 am for 9 am practice.
Returns to campus around 11 am or 11:30 am.
Has class at 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm.
Has a team meeting at 2:15 pm.
Has another class from 5 pm to 7:30 pm.
Attends study hall from 8 pm to 10 pm.

Outside of team practice, Gabi also tries to do cardio exercise once or twice a week. She said that walking around campus has also helped to keep her in shape.

Not only has Gabi found SHUET to be extremely welcoming, but they are also like a family.

“We are all friends and everyone is there to help each other not only with the team, but with school and transition advice,” she said. “Everyone treats each other as [an] equal[][,] even though we are all different grades, ages[,] and levels in our riding.”

Another aspect of being on a college equestrian team is having specific apparel. Each team member is given specific clothes to wear for workouts, practice, and for horse shows. Gabi personally thinks that SHUET has “nice” and “beautiful” apparel and feels very lucky that SHUET is able to provide apparel of such great quality.

Finally, Gabi had some advice for those who wish to ride on an equestrian team in college.

“Keep in touch with the coach(es)[;] do not be overbearing, but check-in once in awhile so they know you’re still interested in being a member!” She said. “Attend equestrian open houses/information days! They are super informational[,] and it is a great chance to meet some people on the team, introduce yourself to the coach, and ask lots of questions!”

Once you’ve been accepted to the school of your choice, Gabi advised an interested rider to complete all his or her forms on time, “and still keep in touch with the team’s coach so they can keep in touch with you when school starts[.]”

Information about Sacred Heart’s Equestrian Team can be found here. You can also follow them on Twitter.