SR Ssavant 2006 Arabian Gelding (15.2h) Competing PSG and I-1  

Ssavant is an athletic, hard-working and fun horse to ride. There are not many like him. Megan Manning has been bringing him up the levels since they started at Training Level together in 2013. Earlier this year they made their I-1 debut. He is the perfect horse for anyone wanting to earn their medals (Megan received her bronze, silver, and has started getting her gold medal scores on him). He would be incredibly successful in the Arabian Sporthorse and Dressage ring; however, he has mainly competed on the USDF circuit where he has had no problem being competitive among Warmbloods. Earlier this month he took home the Region 5 Fourth Level AA Championship, and he placed 4th in the PSG. In previous years he has held AZ State Championship wins at 1st and 2nd level. He is a very soft and smooth horse to ride. He performs easily in both the snaffle or double. His mouth and gaits are gentle enough for even an inexperienced yet confident rider. Ssavant and Megan will compete one last time together at the Arizona State Championships. Contact me if you'd like more information on this very special horse.

MANY thanks to CARA Dressage and the fabulous show they hosted. It was a wonderful show with so much for the competitors - wine & cheese party, progressive dinner, a champagne brunch AND prizes!! I am beyond speechless and so grateful that Ed & Sherrill Tripp's Slipstream (Lucy) and and I were awarded two beautiful trophies- one for high point PSG and one for high point FEI test with an FEI freestyle!! Additionally, we were awarded $500 in the Prix St James challenge which will I'll use for tuition for future clinics. I want to also congratulate Luca Paulina Schoepke on her rides at CARA. She rode her first two FEI classes on Kate & Dave Earl's In D'Aire (Indy) and won both the PSG and the I1!

How to Properly Turn Your Dressage Horse

Goal Setting Tips for Riders

Advice from: Paul Haefner, Ph.D. | Source: DressageToday.com

Paul Haefner, Ph.D. of Riding Far,LLC. (Photo by Hannah Jones Photography)

What are your riding goals for the new year and how do you plan to tackle them?

Sport psychology, particularly as it applies to riding, is such an interesting topic. I like to learn more about it whenever I can. So, when I heard that my friend and Maryland-based trainer Abby Gibbon was hosting a sport psychology lecture series with Paul Haefner, Ph.D., of  Riding Far, LLC., at her nearby  Fine Idea Farm, I was eager to attend.

1. Small accomplishments are still accomplishments.  Haefner began the session by asking each person in the room to share two things: a riding goal they achieved this past year, and something they achieved that morning (it didn't have to be riding-related). I shared that I earned my USDF bronze medal, which was something I had been really focused on for the past couple of years. I also explained that on a larger scale, I was just proud of myself for setting aside my performance anxieties and getting into the show ring. I struggled to think of something I had achieved on the morning of the lecture, so, I just said I was happy that I made it to Abby's farm on time! Other riders in the room mentioned a variety of accomplishments, which ranged from jumping a full course of jumps, to earning scores at Second Level, to riding a clean cross-country course. Their accomplishments on the day of the lecture included cleaning a bathroom and feeding horses breakfast in record time. Haefner's point in all of this was that goals don't always have to be big. "When we think about goals, we think about these really big things," he said. "The reality is that goals can be big things and they can be really small things. Small accomplishments are still accomplishments. Big accomplishments are made up of small accomplishments."

2. It's human nature to be critical. He went on to explain that it's simply human nature, when we are faced with a setback, for us to dismiss our accomplishments. "One of the things human beings do consistently is that we critique ourselves and easily dismiss any sort of progress," he said. "We are always primed to look for the negative and we are also primed to interpret that as lack of progress toward our goals."

3. When you set a goal, use positive language to phrase it. "The goal you are shooting for needs to be stated in a positive way," Haefner said. For example, if you want to improve your sitting trot, state your goal as "I would like to sit more quietly in the sitting trot" instead of "I don't want to bounce as much in the sitting trot." Positive phrasing is important because it helps your brain focus on the right idea. If someone were to tell you "Don't think about a pink elephant," you would automatically picture a pink elephant. Focusing on what you don't want practices what you don't want. Focus on and practice what you want instead.

4. If we set goals in such a way that it makes the first step difficult, it is unlikely that we will attain the goal. For example, getting out of bed is actually an important accomplishment because if you don't do that, nothing else gets done.

5. Remember that goals are helpful tools, but they do not exist in isolation. In order to attain our goals we also need positive motivation, appropriate resources and supportive relationships.

6.  Think about goals as a steering wheel.

 They channel energy and provide direction.

7. Haefner broke down the nature of a "good" goal into pieces. A good goal is:

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New Thinking About Cribbing

Source: EquusMagazine.com

As researchers gain insights into this mysterious behavior, new approaches are emerging for handling horses who crib.

Complaints about horses who crib date back centuries. In one 1889 legal case, a promising colt was returned from Belgium to Scotland on the basis of "unsoundness." Chief among the complaints: The colt was a "crib-biter."

This attitude wasn't unusual: "I have no hesitation in saying that a crib-biter is bona fide an unsound horse.... I verily believe that a crib-biter, sold with a warranty of soundness, is, to all intents and purposes, returnable," wrote T. B. Johnson in The Sportsman's Cyclopedia in 1831.

There is no denying that cribbing can be annoying. The horse places his upper teeth firmly on a hard object---be it a fence, stall door, water trough, or anything he can reach---pulls back, arches his neck, and gulps air into the upper part of his esophagus with a distinct grunting sound. What's more, a cribber can damage walls, fences and other structures around a farm.

Also called wind sucking, cribbing is a stereotypy---a repetitive, compulsive activity that seems to serve no purpose---and it poses some health risks. Horses who crib may be at a higher risk for some types of colic, and prolonged cribbing can wear down a horse's upper incisors, lead to overdevelopment of particular neck muscles and cause other physical problems. The pressures of cribbing can lead to osteoarthritis of the hyoid, a small bone in the throat. Some cribbers lose weight because they'd rather crib than eat.

Why horses crib

Researchers still aren't sure why some horses crib while others managed the same way do not. But most agree that it's not "contagious"---horses do not adopt this behavior by mimicking others. "There are many non-cribbing horses kept in stalls next to cribbing horses who don't learn this behavior," says Amelia S. Munsterman, DVM, PhD, DACVS, DACVECC, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Several surveys have suggested that the tendency to crib may be inherited. In one Japanese survey, for example, the overall rate of cribbing was 1 percent among 1,500 Thoroughbreds but 7 or 8 percent within certain families. In a 2009 survey from Cornell University that included more than 3,500 horses, 162 (4.4 percent) were identified as cribbers with Thoroughbreds found to be at higher risk compared to other breeds---13 percent among Thoroughbreds and 5 percent in warmbloods and Quarter Horses.

It's possible, though, that the higher cribbing rates seen in certain breeds have more to do with how they tend to be managed than genetics. The current thinking is that an individual horse might have a genetic predisposition to crib, but the behavior isn't triggered until he is subjected to stressors related to his lifestyle.

"Some things that might lead to cribbing in certain horses include a high-concentrate diet, lack of turnout and lack of socialization with other horses," says Wickens. "We think horses start cribbing as a coping mechanism. Recent studies have shown that when horses are allowed to perform stereotypic behavior, we see a reduction in the stress hormone cortisol and/or heart rate."

In a 2016 Swiss study, researchers subjected 19 cribbers and 18 non- cribbing control horses to a series of tests that required them to find a bucket of food in an arena. The cribbing horses were divided into two further groups: 10 were permitted to crib during the tests, and nine were prevented from engaging in the activity. Analysis of each horse's saliva before and after each test showed that cortisol levels were highest among cribbing horses who were not permitted to crib. Click here for the rest of the article.

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I have found a benefit in stretching my hips and hamstrings before I ride. Just try taking a few minutes before you get on to be sure your muscles are not tight and pinching. This allows your horse's back to have room under the saddle to relax, which gives you a softer place to sit.