Christmas Party Invitiation

The 2010 Christmas Party

is scheduled for 18 December. Please watch for our flyer which will
give details about the party to include the special attractions which
we have planned. Please mark the date.

Debbie Rodriguez Clinic

The weather was gorgeous and the clinic very educational for all of
the riders. Each rider received information to work on improvement
for their level and on the balance and connection needed to perform
best at their level and to move up. We also had an evening gathering
around food and the DVD "Success in the Saddle" which Debbie has just
published. The DVD has three DVD's which cover 6 days of workouts to
improve core strength and flexibility of the rider. We are
definitely inspired to move on and up riding better for ourselves and
our horses.

Debbie Rodriquez Clinic

Debbie Rodriguez will be giving a clinic at Steel Prize Stables on 20
- 21 November. She is a USEF "S" Judge in dressage, a USEF "r"
Dressage Technical Delegate and a USEF "r" eventing Technical
Delegate. There are two 2-day slots open in the clinic; the cost
is $100 per day. Debbie also has a new DVD coming out:
www.SuccessintheSaddle.com and her web site is
www.debbierodriguezdressage.com. Please contact Judith by e-mail or
by phone 256-682-1200 if you would like to ride with Debbie.

Yearling Sale at Keeneland

En Route to WEG

We are enjoying beautiful weather on our drive to Lexington. Looking forward to meeting up with friends when we get there.

Happiness is......

a nice place for the birds to dine.

WEG Departure

Five of us are leaving on Saturday 25 September for WEG and the
dressage venue. We are attending the Opening Ceremonies on Saturday
evening and Keenland on Sunday -- so Judith can get a football fix
from the big screens in the bar! Starting Monday we will be in the
Main Arena for the wonderful week of dressage. All is going well for
Sally and Pacino and we love having him in the barn.

Pacino Arrives at Steel Prize

Sally and Pacino

This is our current front runner, a 13 year old Holsteiner imported three years ago from Holland. We're going back for another test drive on Wednesday.

Day One in Florida

Sally and I visited two farms, rode four horses and fell in love twice. Went to our room and were treated with a basket of wine and cheese to celebrate our shopping day ...and ease our weary seat bones.

The Shopping Spree Begins

Judith and Sally are in Charlotte, waiting for their flight to Gainesville, Florida. There they will be visiting four prospects. Considering airline baggage restrictions, any purchase will have to be shipped. This won't fit in a carry-on.

Hubertus Schmidt Symposium

I am off to Madison, Georgia to the lovely After the Fox Farm to
announce at the Hubertus Schmidt Symposium which is being held this
weekend. There are nine riders who will be working over three days
with Mr. Schmidt. The first day will be private with riders and
clinician, the second with riders, sponsors and clinician, and the
third day open to auditors and all as Mr. Schmidt works with riders
and horses.

Wynalda

The Princess has been laid to rest.

Nikki took this picture because she said that Wynalda was smiling down on us.

Debbie's Students Excell

Our clinician, Debbie Rodriguez, has announced that one of her
students just won the Southeast Regional 4-H Dressage Championships
with a score of 73.888% at First Level Test 2 on her Fresian mare.
Another student got the final score for her Bronze medal at the USDF
show at Raleigh, NC. She also qualified her horse for the GAIG's.

Buck Brannaman Clinic at SPS

All right riders, there is a Buck Brannaman Clinic scheduled at SPS 21 - 24 October 2010.  Point of contact is Kerry Lawrence at 256-658-9244 and the web site is www.brannaman.com.  Auditors are welcome, there is a charge.  Please check with Kerry for more information.  Here is a picture of Buck so get your saddle and check into the web site or call Kerry for more information. 

Summertime & Debbie Rodriguez Clinic

We are all enjoying the intense heat of summer and the adjustments in
riding that it brings. Taking time to walk the horses, work them a
little and then walk them again -- waiting for that sweat to break
out so we can work them again a little. It is a delicate balance to
make sure that neither rider nor horse are overheated! We really
enjoy the indoor with the cover and sometimes breeze that we get --
makes it nice to be out of the sun. Debbie Rodriguez arrives this
next weekend and we have a schedule of riders and welcome visitors.
Anyone in the classes and anyone who is shopping to join a class, you
are welcome. We are due some cooler weather this next week and we
hope it holds through the weekend. Come visit!

Happy Birthday, America

Old Glory flies over Steel Prize Stables on the Fourth of July.

Summer is here....

Steel Prize is pleased to welcome

Bellagio. He is an Andalusian who comes to us from California. He and his owner, Jess, are welcome members of the Steel Prize community.

Debbie Rodriguez Clinic

SPS had a great clinic the weekend of 8 - 9 May -- the weather was
great, who would have guessed it would be so cool! The horses were
ready to work and the riders not far behind. As always, Debbie
brings out training points to help fill out our regular riding
efforts. In the case of this grand prix rider, she reviewed the DVD
from the Memphis show and showed where points were being given away.
She also looked at other DVD rides and commented as "the judge" where
horse and rider could improve their performances. It was a great
weekend for us and also for her since all the flights were on time
and smooth. She will be back 31 July - 1 August: y'all come and
audit or ride with us.

Memphis in Spring in the Middle of a Tornado

Memphis Chicken and Fried Women

Neptune is worn out !!

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Honor Flight

Bill and I did something Saturday night which we should have done long ago. After dinner with some friends, we went to the Huntsville Airport to welcome the return of the Honor Flight. Don't know what that is? It is a nation wide program which flies World War II veterans to Washington, DC on a one day trip to visit the WW II Memorial. They also stop at Arlington National Cemetery to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Iwo Jima Memorial. Huntsville is one of the hubs in 30 states which offer the program. There is no charge to the veterans for the trip; it is funded entirely by donations.

This flight was the tenth flight from Huntsville with at least one more scheduled. It had 106 veterans on board, three of whom were ladies. The youngest was 82 years old. Oldest age? Unknown. The vets wear a black tee shirt and they are accompanied by a Guardian in a yellow shirt. Honor Flight charters the plane which flies into Reagan Airport in DC. They are met by additional Guardians and tour busses which move them around the City. The plane had a medical crew of an ER doctor and nurse plus 6 EMT's. They also carry about 50 wheel chairs. Since they meet at the airport at 4 AM and got back at 11 PM many of the vets were ready for the chairs. But many were not.

We are losing WW II vets at a rate of about 1,000 a day. Many pass while waiting for a chance to get on a flight. If their families wish it, a "burial flag" is flown to DC. It is photographed in front of the Memorial and then returned to the family with a certificate.

There were about 500 people there to welcome them home; including the current and a past Mayor of Huntsville. The Symphony provided a band and almost all of the greeters had a flag to wave. All this a few hours after a series of killer tornados raged through the area. American Idol's Bo Bice's grandfather was on the flight. Bo went to DC and sang the National Anthem at the Memorial.

Bill kept reminding me that if it were not for these heros, we would now be speaking either German or Japanese.

You can use the link below to see a slide show of the trip.

Judith

http://photos.al.com/4462/gallery/honor_flight_apr_24/slideshow/index.html

First Show at SPS

We have just held the first show of the season at SPS and the weather
was gorgeous. We had a good turnout and the judge was Leslie O'Neal
Olsen. SPS is set up so that we have two nice warm-up rings, the
indoor and the large outdoor ring so the competitors had plenty of
room to ride before going into the competition ring. The show
started on time and ran well throughout the day. We offered coffee
and fresh donuts in the morning to get the early people jump started
and carrots were on hard to give the horses their treats. A good
time was had by all.

Happiness is...

the first sign of Spring.

Poplar Place Dressage Show

Three members of the barn are going to Poplar Place 13 - 14 March for
the beginning of the 2010 show season. Cynthia Moore with Neptune,
Sally Colocho with Wynalda and Judith Fiorentino with Goliath are
heading down the road and hoping that the snow report really is a
passing weather happening. Sara Williams is going as our groom and
we invite anyone to stop by our snack bar and hang out social area.
You can share in our fun with the three gorgeous horses and hopefully
great rides due to our work through the winter.

Thanks to DBResearch

Members of TVDCTA met at DBResearch on February 23, a change of date
created by our snow the week before. Thanks to DBResearch for
allowing us to meet in their lovely Conference Room and for sharing
their soft drinks to go with our pizza dinner. This meeting was
business for the coming year with the show dates and assigning
responsibility for the various show activities. Check out the TVDCTA
web site for more details.

2009 Adequan/USDF National Convention & Symposium

I attended the convention in Austin, Texas 2 – 4 December 2009 at the
Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas. The convention was on a
shortened schedule of 3 days ending with the Symposium at the Travis
County Exposition Center with Jan Brink on 5 – 6 December.

We had presenters who spoke on these topics: Fabulous Freestyles: Hot
Tips From Top Sources was a panel discussion lead by Terry Ciotti
Gallo with Ann Guptill, Sandy Howard and Tigger Montague; and, I'm
Right. You're Wrong. The Ground Rules of Dispute Resolution
presented by Tom Blackwood who specializes in conflict management and
facilitates corporate strategy sessions. Jane Savoie presented
Finding Emotional Balance and Dr. Hilary Clayton with Balanced Rider-
Balanced Horse, and a Fireside Chat with Lynden Gray and Debbie
MacDonald.

I also attended the Adult Education Council meeting because adult
education has always been a special interest of mine. Charlotte
Bredhal Baker is under contract through March of 2011 and she has
already taught the Region 3, 8 and 5 clinics. I am hearing good
things from attendees and if you can arrange your schedule they are
great to attend as an auditor or a participator if you are selected.
The next closest clinic will be held in Hermosa, Mississippi in March
– you will see contact information in our USDF Connections magazine.

For those of us fortunate enough to stay through the weekend we were
treated to Jan Brink's "Communication: A Two-Way System of
Understanding" with the first riders and horses taking the arena on
Saturday. Jan also gave a lecture Saturday evening during which he
expressed the importance of a signal system that eases the
communication between horse and rider. He says that this
communication is of great importance for all riders – amateurs as
well as professionals – and is something we need to work on every
single day to improve our riding and performance. He stated during
the evening that the rider's goals and the capabilities of horse and
rider must match. That we need to understand that the horse is not a
machine and that the horse does not see the big picture of our
goals. Jan says the ends do not justify the means and that we need
to stay tuned to the talents and trust of our horses. During the
lecture, we got to see Jan's beginnings and now hard he worked to
reach his level of competition and place in the international
dressage community. He also expanded on comments from the day's
instruction to riders and horses which gave us important insights
into his commitment to improving horse and rider performance. We
then got to see the application of his instruction again on Sunday
and were impressed with the improvements made by these participants,
both horse and rider.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry .....

Get your copy of the February issue of Practical Horseman. There is
a 5 page article by Debbie Rodriguez titled "It's All About
Geometry". Debbie shows how to ride the figure eight in Training
Level Test 3. The article is profusely illustrated with a diagram and
pictures of Debbie with comments on how to do it correctly. It will
be well worth your time.

More Words from Debbie

The thing I love about being a teacher, trainer, judge and active competitor is that the view from one side affects the perception from the other. This week-end as I was teaching Judith at Steel Prize on her seasoned Grand Prix horse, I was reminded that the rider's position is often influenced by the horse's position. Judith was sitting in a very elegant and functional position in the left lead canter and yet when she went right the seat was not centered and supple. And on this day the difference was quite obvious.  So I asked Judith what she was feeling in her position. And the answer was focused around how the horse felt,  not normally the answer that the dressage trainer is looking for (the ones that KNOW that every fault is the fault of the rider). So the end discussion and conversation ended up focusing on the quality and straightness of the right lead canter.  And as the horse's canter showed it's crookedness through the shoulder's it became apparent that it was difficult for the rider to keep  even position. So Monday comes around and I was home schooling a horse for a student (who by the way has difficulty staying positioned in the right lead canter) and I was able to transfer what I had seen over the week-end to really getting this horse straight through the shoulders in the right lead canter and have no doubt that the rider will be able to sit the right canter with a correct position once this straightness is more confirmed. So once again the benefit of taking the same issue from different (teacher, trainer)  perspectives comes in handy to reinforce the solution.

Words from Debbie Rodriguez

Debbie sent me the following to post on the blogspot.  I enjoyed reading the words and hope that you will too.

Many brave souls braved the cold temps to take their rides with me this week-end.  Knowing that once you start trotting around you warm up doesn't make tacking up any easier.

The horses were fresh with the low temps and limited turn out. However this made for some nice energetic rides on horses where that is not the norm. So many riders got a chance to feel the impulsion that comes through when a horse maintains the desire to go forward. It is so much easier when the horse helps keep the energy and the half-halts become  a balancing and organizing aid. It allowed several riders to lighten their driving aids, relax their legs and let the horse come through. Now the challenge will be to keep that feeling over the next week as the horses return to their normal schedule.

One of the fun parts about teaching is when a rider has an "Aha" moment and gets something that you might have been trying to get across for some time. This week-end, one of the riders that often allows her horse to go on the forehand was able to rebalance over and over and really started to feel how even a slight drop down on the forehand affected  the  quality of the movement. Once you can feel what is wrong and what is right in the balance it becomes a lot easier to fix and influence.

   

Happiness is..............

a buddy in a snow storm.  Goliath (on the right) confers with Patches while James and Majestic (on the left) look on.







Picture by Nikki Cecil

Happiness is ........

having a clear spot of water while the rest of the lake is frozen.

Welcome to Debbie Rodriguez

We are welcoming Debbie with a few snow showers and some of the
coldest weather we have had in a long time this coming weekend. The
horses are glad we have the indoor with good footing and the riders
are glad to be out of the weather and a little bit warmer. The
clinic is Saturday and Sunday from 8:45 to 4 o'clock and we welcome
auditors. We will have hot cider to warm the inside while you watch
and learn.

Judith gets a new horse for Christmas...

well, maybe not a new horse but a new picture of Goliath, her Gold Medal winner.