The World Equestrian Games in Kentucky

Just in case you haven’t heard…the World Equestrian Games are coming to the USA in Sept 2010.  Here is a Calendar of activities from their website as well as a history of the games. These sound like something you don’t want to miss if at all possible.

The following is quoted from their site and gives you the history of the games.

“History of the Games

Before the World Equestrian Games

The concept  of a World Equestrian Games, at which all the FEI disciplines would decide their World Championships at one time and place, was first proposed to the FEI in 1983. Until that time, the World Championships for each discipline was then accorded the privilege of hosting the next World Championship in that discipline four years later. 

For example, the Kentucky Horse Park was selected by the United States Federation to host the Eventing World Championship in 1978 after Bruce Davidson won the 1974 title at Burghley and thus earned for the USA, the right to host the Eventing championship.

Previous Host Countries

The very first World Equestrian Games were held in Stockholm in 1990. Six disciplines were involved–Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Endurance and Vaulting. In 1994 the city of The Hague in the Netherlands hosted the Games.

After a late cancellation of the Games that were to be held in Dublin, Ireland, Rome stepped forward to host the 1998 Games on one year’s notice. All disciplines except the Endurance were held and beautifully executed considering the very short preparation time. The Endurance was held in Dubai that year.

The next Games were held in Jerez de Frontera, Spain in 2002 and included all six disciplines and Reining for the first time.  Following that the Games went to Aachen 2006, again with seven disciplines, and were a fabulous success.

In 2010 the games leave Europe for the first time and come to the United States to the Kentucky Horse Park where, for the first time, Para Dressage, the newest FEI Discipline will be competed together with the other seven.”

Could be Fun!!

The only thing I don’t get is why none of the Western Events like Pleasure, Western Riding etc are not a part of something like this. Any ideas folks?

Oh and last but not least find their website with all the info here …

Horse Training at its Best [Video]

This video inspires me to want to work with my horses more. Showing your horse in a performance event should be a reward for your many hours of work with that horse. You can see in this video that Clinton Anderson has spent many hours with this horse. And even though he competes in the reining horse events those of us who compete in the pleasure horse events can learn a lot from him.

My advice; never close your mind to a particular kind of training just because that trainer doesn’t compete in the same events that you do. A good horseman is a good horseman.

I hope you enjoy this video.

You can find this video on You Tube

Women in Particular Need this -Today’s Motivational Quote

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ” Eleanor Roosevelt

Women seem to have a hard time with allowing men to take advantage of them. No this is not man bashing, its just a statement of fact. I’ve seen it way too many times.

But it happens with men and women so beware.

It for sure happens in many relationships with horse trainers. Horse lovers trust yourself first and the trainer next.

Men and women trust yourself, your gut feelings first before you take on what someone else has to say.

Great Webcast coming up on Rehabilitating the Lame Horse

Hi all- I just heard about a Free webcast coming up on Lame Horse Rehabilitating. Michigan State University does some really good webcasts. Be sure and sign up early for this.

http://myhorseuniversity.com/resources/emails/March_2010/Rehabilitating

See the information and links below.

Rehabilitating the Lame Horse
Narelle Stubbs :: Michigan State University
March 23, 2010 | 7 EDT | Learn More

This webcast will explain how rehabilitation and physical therapy principles can be applied to the horse with respect to lameness, loss of performance, performance enhancement, injury prevention and principles of conditioning. Exercise based rehabilitation techniques, including mobilization and dynamic core muscle exercises, and how these can be applied to your horse will also be discussed. This information will be presented to you from an evidence based perspective and highlight some of the current research in this field taking place at the McPhail Equine performance center at MSU.

Narelle StubbsPresenter Information
Narelle Stubbs is a visiting research associate at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Narelle is a Physiotherapist, University of Sydney Australia graduate and is completing her PhD candidature requirements at the University of Queensland in Australia. Since 1998, Narelle has been the Official Australian Equestrian Team Physiotherapist, treating both horse and rider in many forms of equitation at the World Equestrian Games (1998, 2002, 2006) and the Olympics (2000, 2004 and 2008).

Train Your Horse with World Champion Mark Shaffer

I had the pleasure of attending a two day Mechanics in Motion Clinic with World Champion horse trainer Mark Shaffer this past weekend.

It was one of the best horse clinics I have ever attended. He not only knows how to train a horse but he knows how to communicate with the individual horse owner to help us learn how to train our horse.

His methods are great and they work. I have a horse who has too much head bounce at the lope and in 15 minutes time he showed me the technique to fix it. Or I should say he showed me how to work my horses body so that my horse fixed the problem herself.  This trainer knows what he is doing.

Which with over 100 world championships I guess you would expect him to. His methods are safe and effective without being hard on your horse.

I’m very excited to tell you that coming soon Rail and Pattern Horse will be sponsoring an online Horse Training Clinic with Mark Shaffer. Be sure to sign up on our mailing list to ensure you are notified of this online training. One of the first that I am aware of it is sure to be sell out.

Join other horse lovers on Facebook at Rail and Pattern Horse.

Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin

This isn’t real horsey and it is an advertisement but the message is a great one. Know who you are and be comfortable in your own skin.

It’s also kind of fun!

Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin

Great Bridle less and Horsemanship Video

This is a great video of a horse trainer in Texas on a Mustang. Horses are truly amazing animals.

Enjoy!

Teach Your Horse to go Bridle Less