Stone's Throw Farm Dressage

02/03/2023

Remembering James C. Wofford

Such a loss…what an icon. What a horseman.

Eventing legend Jim Wofford died on Feb. 2 at the age of 78. In his memory, we're republishing this article, which ran as a

02/02/2023

Rain, rain go away,
I have no indoor to ride today!
Far too wet to even hack,
One step forward, two steps back!
😩🙏

02/02/2023

Can’t live without this stuff—especially on these wet, raw days: on my hands, hocks—anything that needs warming up and soothing!
Mg12.com.

02/01/2023

Debbie McDonald Returns as U.S. Dressage Technical Advisor after One-Year Hiatus

Hurrah!

Debbie McDonald has been re-appointed USEF Dressage Technical Advisor, aka team trainer, after a one-year hiatus.

02/01/2023

Welcome to the Circus - Part III - Georg Wahl: From the Spanish Riding School to the Circus

Wonderful read:

It is probably pretty unique that a talented rider leaves the Spanish Riding School for a life in the circus. It was exactly what Georg Wahl (1920-2013) did. He is best known and remembered for having been the lifelong trainer of Olympic Champion Christine Stückelberger and her internationally succ...

01/31/2023

Carl Hester Down the Centerline Again after Almost One-Year Break from Competition

https://www.eurodressage.com/2023/01/29/carl-hester-down-centerline-again-after-almost-one-year-break-competition

Carl Hester, Great Britain's most beloved and respected dressage trainer, is back in his tails after almost a one-year break from the competition ring.

01/29/2023

We had better steering and balance today, despite blustery winds and colder temps. Good boy, Mr Finn! You picked a good one, Laurey!

01/29/2023

Dena and Reya have come such a long way! Some really nice transition work here today to help Reya strengthen behind. Great job, guys!

01/28/2023

01/28/2023

That pretty much nails it.

01/27/2023

And a bit to the left. Can only film as long as phone doesn’t get blown off the mirror frame 😂. Riding babies in the winter, especially 18 hand babies, isn’t for the faint of heart. Grateful for these safe, willing workouts. ❤️

01/27/2023

He’s grass green without much steering, but Finn is one, quick learner.

01/27/2023

Benjamin Werndl Gives Tips for Retraining Retired Racehorses during Clinic in Japan

THIS: One of the tips Werndl gave was "don’t be hands or legs off," he said. "While it might be tempting to use a light leg and loose reins to soothe a hot horse, it’s better to keep hands and legs on to maintain contact."

On 6 - 8 December 6-8 2022, Benjamin Werndl, brother of double gold medallist Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and a member of the 2022 German World Championships Dressage Team, held his first clinic in Japan.

01/27/2023

❤️

01/27/2023

Finn is an absolute sweetheart and a big mush. He’s also very oral at this stage. Trying to tack him up is like trying to put shoes on a toddler 😂

01/26/2023

Anky van Grunsven: "Salinero was 99% My Horse, Bonfire 110%"

Poignant read

At the end of December 2022, triple Olympic champion Anky van Grunsven gave an interview to the Dutch NRC newspaper in which she talks about her career and the recent passing of her last competition horse, Salinero.

01/25/2023

A delightful farmhouse and stable block set in a garden brimming with apples and roses

On miserable wet days like this, real estate dreaming is always fun--at least for me! This is probably the most beautiful, private property I've seen. Of course, it's very near Scotland, so probably pouring there as well, lol!

For horse owners who also love their garden, Bleach Green Farm, Alum Waters, Durham is a three-bed equestrian home set in beautiful gardens

01/25/2023

Bret Willson Sources Olympic Hopeful for Sabine Schut-Kery

Congratulations, Robert Zandvoort!

Bret Wilson Sources Olympic Hopeful for Sabine Schut-Kery

01/24/2023

It takes a huuuge horse to make me look normal, and this guy’s pushing 18 hands at 4 yrs old. Glad to get our first ride together under our belt/girth. Well done, Finnegan!!

01/23/2023

A bit blustery today, sez Lucas

01/23/2023

It’s OK not to want an ex-racehorse, says respected thoroughbred retrainer

A really good piece on OTTBs by someone with a lifetime's experience:
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/louise-robson-ex-racehorses-814204?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20230123_XHH-X_NWL_EO&utm_content=20230123_XHH-X_NWL_EO&utm_term=9078302&m_i=nPTlEbuytCr9Vlog87ywqSj7xkeX0WKrgDjyzsiT3E7gJEALwbZAT1ACjY4S12pCrZMR6bhycGLOO4qKhuQWwFBXuj9NzZnnn7&lrh=7638d24c7c1a15bb574377f7e89365702b0bab483752b29ea3f68a2000a8cec5&M_BT=41209186211457

Throughbred trainer Louise Robson on why ex-racehorses are not for the faint-hearted – and why riders shouldn’t be put under pressure to have one

01/23/2023

I love winter light

01/22/2023

Hubertus Schmidt Retires from Competition Sport

Few have the success that he has had for decades. And lucky are those who will be able to train with him!

https://www.eurodressage.com/2023/01/22/hubertus-schmidt-retires-competition-sport

There were already several dark omens in the sky, but now it is official: Hubertus Schmidt has announced his retirement as a competitive dressage rider for health reasons. He will continue be strongly involved in dressage sport from the ground.

01/21/2023

I see no problem with this!

01/21/2023

Gunnar Ostergaard’s memoirs, ‘My Life as a Dressage Trainer…In Three Countries’ is nearly completed and we give you a final tease:

"I continued to teach as many clinics as I could add to my schedule and it’s been a wonderful thing to maintain many of those relationships as well as hearing that I have helped influenced those who went on to become successful professionals. Bill Warren was one. Having met Bill through the clinics that Janet Black—a South African who was already well known in New England as a teacher and judge— organized in Rhode Island. Bill was working diligently to get his judging credentials and needed to compete at Grand Prix to earn his ’S’ license to be able to judge at the FEI levels. Bill, nowadays, is on his way to earning the prestigious, ‘O’ license.

Not all clinics were filled with such noteworthy riders, of course. Some were simply…baffling. For years, my friend, Fran Horn, put together countless clinics for me on Long Island at the rather smart sounding Gold Coast Equestrian Center. Anyone who has ever participated in a clinic knows that tardiness is not suffered and riders are expected not only to be as neat and tidy as their well groomed horses, but punctual to the minute.

At this particular clinic, the slot for the 10:15 lesson rolled around and there was no student to be seen. At 10:20 a big Mercedes pulled up and out stepped a mother and her roly-poly son who then mounted his equally roly-poly pony that was being held by the child’s groom, tacked and waiting. At this point, there were only 30 minutes remaining for his lesson and it was clear the child had no idea how to ride. Pulling my cap down a little further on my brow, I cringed at the thought that one of my high level European colleagues might walk in to see how I was faring as a U.S. trainer!

Doing what I could, I worked on the child’s position as he made it evident by his sullen expression that he wasn’t the least bit interested in having a lesson. The pony carried him safely as he alternately slumped and bounced around in the saddle at walk and trot. I managed to teach them both a few steps of leg yield and was more than a little relieved when the next student appeared on deck a few minutes later. Later in the afternoon, Fran, who always enjoys a good joke, made a point of walking into the arena to interrupt my lesson and relay a message loudly for all to hear: that the kid’s mother “Just called to say his testicles are killing him and what should she do?” I thought for a moment.

“Tell her to get him breeches instead of tight jeans.”"

01/21/2023

Welcome to the Circus - Part II - "Dressage Needs to be Visualised Love"

Part 2 of a really super article. It's far too easy to sling around the phrase, "Circus training" as deragatory after reading this:

https://www.eurodressage.com/2023/01/20/welcome-circus-part-ii-dressage-needs-be-visualised-love

Whomever has seen Fredy Knie senior in the middle of his manège directing a group of horses, showing a horse in High School or the airs above the ground in hand, will not forget it, wether horse or layman. The calmness of man and horses alike, as well as the pride and satisfaction in their faces we...

01/18/2023

Managing Proximal Suspensory Disease in Horses – The Horse

https://thehorse.com/1119800/managing-proximal-suspensory-disease-in-horses/?utm_medium=Lameness+enews&utm_source=Newsletter

A veterinarian describes the many ways to treat this complex yet common cause of lameness and poor performance.

01/18/2023

‘The dogs pushed me in!’ Mum finds son stuck head-first in haynet - Horse & Hound

Meanwhile, lol!
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/the-dogs-pushed-me-in-mum-finds-son-stuck-head-first-in-haynet-814175?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20230118_XHH-X_NWL_EO&utm_content=20230118_XHH-X_NWL_EO&utm_term=9078302&m_i=Erml1TEWzz4%2BhCPuiiQh6eIlNAGhe3MDsRK_o%2BsTiNjyEk7oIPZXcpE23ZAP4t8g3Q3CFlDUJabvZgNUwhXxcMnYZLbM1HEEEV&lrh=7638d24c7c1a15bb574377f7e89365702b0bab483752b29ea3f68a2000a8cec5&M_BT=41209186211457

There can be only one priority when you arrive in the hay barn to find your son stuck head-down in a haynet holder, legs waving in the breeze, a dog’s paw firmly on his head. And somehow, while howling with laughter, Heather Westgate managed to capture the moment on camera. Heather told H&H 14-yea...

01/17/2023

Salvino Takes 2022 Horse of the Year Honors

Very cute!

Adrienne Lyle’s Olympic dressage partner, Salvino, is named 2022 USEF International Horse of the Year.

01/16/2023

Settle into coastal life in a farmhouse with 40 acres, arena, holiday cottages and more

Yes, please. As long as there's an indoor arena for all the rain that comes to Wales...But isn't it glorious?

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/penmynydd-farm-caergeiliog-isle-of-anglesey-813887?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20230116_XHH-X_NWL_EO&utm_content=20230116_XHH-X_NWL_EO&utm_term=9078302&m_i=ApznJMlN99bzcNFBDLrfwP%2B3nwdCu%2BJFJZUZOxqWUiz896TLs1RenYvnkyhcSFGZs1XygtLb6yVKULbNNqz_W1z_MXOxDLzAA_&lrh=7638d24c7c1a15bb574377f7e89365702b0bab483752b29ea3f68a2000a8cec5&M_BT=41209186211457

Penmynydd Farm is found on the outskirts of Caergeiliog, on the west side of the Isle of Anglesey towards Holy Island. The village of Bodedern, 2.5 miles north east of Caergeiliog, offers day-to-day local shopping, with more extensive amenities found in Holyhead 5.7 miles to the north east. Holyhead...

01/16/2023

I think I need to play Einaudi on speakers during every ride!

01/16/2023

A little easier when we don’t have to splash through Lake Erie at this end 😂

01/16/2023

She put such a smile on my face today ❤️

01/14/2023

😂😂

01/14/2023

Picking our way around puddles for a few half passes. I love her work ethic after yesterday’s rainy day off and today’s crazy wind ❤️🐴

01/14/2023

A blustery, fun day. She’s getting stronger.

01/13/2023

You’re right, Lucas! It IS great sleeping weather!

01/12/2023

Ilanka rocking her beautiful Le Mieux halter. Now available at The Hayrack!

01/11/2023

We really appreciated having Katharine Stancliff out today to help us help Waldo. we put Waldo in Tommy’s jumping saddle as his dressage saddle no longer fits. With a lot of ‘bandaids’ (shims, matte pad) we were able to make Waldo comfy until he gets another saddle. And the difference in Waldo’s demeanor told us everything. Saddle fit is imperative and we’re so lucky to have Katharine’s help.

01/10/2023

‘Unrideable’ horse back in work after vets identify rare condition

Got a head shaker?

https://futureplc.slgnt.eu/optiext/optiextension.dll?ID=v32v0Sgo3WO%2BXEdjSN6sqPRWHfY1bHni%2B1w7b%2BwMyG15HhTL8uNWAKsAynwft8JxhZoTKU2P6TAz7RyXgxl7Hv7IJiqSA5N09WbtEKvU

A young horse who became “unrideable” owing to head-shaking has made a remarkable recovery to spring into the new year with a bright future ahead of him