Dressage - English and Western!

A friend sent this to me and I had to share! Please watch! It's a great comparison study of two styles of riding!

Six Things About Me

On The Bit has tagged me again, this time with "Six things about me".

The rules are as follows:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Hmm, 6 random things about me...

1) I have a crazy love for cherries. I don't know when or why but cherries make me smile and I have all kinds of clothes, accessories and jewelry with the little red buggers on them. For awhile, I even had a black saddle pad made with cherry print fabric. My husband used to tell Monty he felt sorry for him every time he saw the poor beast wearing it. I finally gave in and sold it at a local swap meet to a teenage girl who went ga-ga over it!

2) I think Daniel Craig is total hotness. "Casino Royale" made me a huge fan of "the blonde Bond".

3) I secretly wish I lived in Manhattan, in a nice but not over-the-top apartment, preferably rent-controlled. My husband lived there nearly his whole life. I envy his ease and comfort in getting around in that environment. I went to college there for 4 years, but I was a commuter, not a resident. I love NYC.

4) I wish the National Horse Show was still held at Madison Square Garden. I miss the opulence, the tradition and the fun that I had in my many years going to see that show. My only regret is I never got the opportunity to show there as a junior rider in the Maclay and that my own children will never know what I am talking about when I mention it. And they won't know about Claremont Riding Academy, either.

5) I still have most of my lifetime collection of Breyer horses. At one time the herd was around 200 horses. I have sold some on Ebay but still have many. My boyz are just starting to play with some of the older, more common models. These were my favorites when I was a child. The collectible quality ones are stored safely away for a future on display or to be sold for college funds.

6) I have an impressive horse bit collection. I've mentioned in this blog that I am fascinated with bits. And thanks to Ebay, I've picked up some really nice and interesting ones, even some vintage ones. Monty likes his Sprenger bits the best but good soul that he is, he tolerates my experimenting with this bit and that one. I like to see for myself how certain styles work and he's a reliable test subject.

So, that's six things about me! I'm not sure whom to pass this one to. Most of the blogs I'd tag have already been tagged by OnTheBit! So, here's one or two I think might be game and join the fun:

A Girl and her Horse
The Posting Trot
A Bay Horse

What are Children good for?

Had to share this soooo cute picture that was emailed to me by a friend. Also, to update how my boyz are doing with their riding. They continue to enjoy their riding lessons. We entered a small schooling show on Nov. 1st at the same stable they take their lessons at and they rode in the leadline classes, walk only and walk/trot. Proud mom that I am, I thought they looked great! My husband shot video, will see if I can figure out how to get some up on the blog to share.

Of course, all the leadliners entered in each class got a blue ribbon! Leave it to my kids, after they got the blue ribbons in the first class, when they pinned the second class with all blue ribbons, they asked if they could trade them for "better" colors!! So while the Master looked on in horror, my boyz happily handed the confused ribbon girl their blues and smiled as they were exchanged for a green and a pink ribbon respectively. LOL, the next riding lesson was preceded by a gentle lecture from the Master that the only "better" color there is, is BLUE!

Why the Printer won't Work...

So You Wanna Be a Cowboy?

Nope, I'll stick with Hunt Seat Eq Princess or Dressage Queen!

Pas De D'oh!!

Now here's a "horse" of a different color! I Really LOVE those 1 tempi changes!!!!!!!

Horse Bitting, a favorite subject of mine

I have often wanted to post in depth about horses and the use of bits. I was browsing over on the Myler Bits website and liked this caption by Julie Goodnight on the home page so much that I decided to add an excerpt here:

"...There’s been a lot of discussion lately that all bits are bad and that if you really want to be kind to your horse, you’d go bitless. Have you been in on a similar discussion? While I agree that there are many horses that work just fine in a bitless situation, I think it is overly simplistic to say horses shouldn’t use bits.

To me, there’s one really important fact. Bits don’t hurt horses, people’s hands hurt horses. There’s a concept dating back thousands of years (about 3500 years ago) that’s attributed to Xenophon, who wrote the oldest complete book of horsemanship (there are older pieces but they are only partial documents). He said that the harshest bit in the world can be soft in a horse’s mouth when in the right hands and the mildest bit can be very harsh in the wrong hands.

Having said that, I think that there are many bad bits that shouldn’t be used at all. There are some bits that I wouldn’t use but could envision a use or a horse I might try it on. And then there are the bits that I love that horses work great in. Through the years I’ve learned that there are few people involved with horses that know much about bits or even how and why the horse responds (or not). Worse yet, there are people out there that are flat out wrong about what they think about bits.

The most common example I can think of is the Tom Thumb bit. It’s a classic Western bit that many people refer to as a snaffle—showing a level of ignorance about the difference between a snaffle and curb bit. There are only two types of bits—direct pressure (snaffle) and leverage (curb). People think because the Tom Thumb is single jointed that it is a snaffle and therefore mild—and they are incorrect on both accounts. There’s an article in my training library about the Tom Thumb misconceptions but the point is that when it comes to bits, most people are not only ignorant but often what they think they know or what they have been told—sometimes even by a trainer-- is flat bass-ackwards.

When a horse is struggling with the bit, there are two fundamental considerations to make, which are overlooked by most people. First, how does the bit fit the horse? Secondly, how are the rider’s hands contributing to this problem? The amazing thing about the Myler bit system is that it is born of decades of hands-on research and innovative design features (like shaping the bit to the horse’s mouth—what a concept!) which are all about making the horse comfortable with the bit. It is a passion and mission of the Myler brothers to help as many horses as possible be comfortable and relaxed in the mouth..."

Granted, she is endorsing Myler's bits, but I think most of her premise is right on point. I have ridden at various times on various horses with some very strong bits. Early in my riding career, these bits were never introduced without my trainer's supervision but now I am able to work with them on my own. No sensible rider without properly established independent and light hands should ever attempt to use one of the harsher bits without qualified instruction.

My own examples are that Monty rides at home quite happily in any of the Sprenger or KK bits with the lozenge in the center. If I were competing in dressage, these bits would move smoothly from training arena to dressage arena.

When jumping in the show ring, where the aids must be subtle and the ride must appear smooth, I may change to a Myler Dee with a twist and copper roller but without rein hooks. Monty can get forward over a course of fences and this bit enables me to get a quick response from him without exaggerated effort. By "exaggerated effort" I mean the difference between merely closing your fingers tighter on the rein vs. pulling on the bit with your entire arm.

For hunter pacing or riding in large groups of horses, I may use a 2 ring elevator bit with the same lozenge mouth with double reins, riding mostly from the snaffle rein will allow me to offer him relief from the gag effect of the bit but if we are galloping and I need to "rate" his speed, a stronger contact on the rein attached to the lower ring increases the leverage and helps control the pace.

And these choices are not set in stone. I have used a Happy Mouth Kimberwicke for trail rides and even schooled with a hackamore at home.

I have a large and ever-changing collection of bits. They fascinate me. How so many designs exist all with a fairly similar purpose in mind. I like to browse Ebay and have found some gems at great prices and have sold others there from my collection that I feel I don't need anymore. My favorite find was my most recent purchase, a KK "B" ring baucher bit at less than half of what it sells for new!