blue roof bulletin - Blue Roof Equestrian Center

BLUE ROOF BULLETIN
Blue Roof Equestrian Center
March 2013
Volume 1, Issue 2
THE GENEROSITY OF HORSE LOVERS
People who love horses are, by and large, caring and compassionate. When a
horse is in need, folks will step up to the situation and do what they can to help.
This is certainly the case with Liebestraum (it means “Love Dream” in German),
our equine “foster child.” Liebe is a 25-year-old, black Hannovarian and was a
successful dressage competitor in her day. Quite a number of people have made
generous donations of their time and treasure to make sure this mare wants for
nothing. For that, we say a heartfelt “Thank you.”
The following people are part of “Team Liebe:”
-------
Hallie Sabo, who found us and facilitated Liebe’s adoption.
Dr. Dale Bowers is donating vet care.
Brad Steinmiller of Shelter Sheds donated delivery and labor
costs of Liebe’s shed.
Darrin Schaffner is donating Liebe’s hoof trims.
Lori Gonacha is donating equine massages.
Our generous boarders who write monthly checks to help offset
Liebe’s expenses.
Please remember to thank these people or companies when you see them or do
business with them.
JESSICA GREER, IN HER OWN WORDS
I have loved horses from the day I was born. I cannot remember a day in my
childhood where I did not think about them. I always wanted toy horses to play
with and had quite the Breyer Horse collection. To this day, I still have most of
them. I remember begging my mom to let me have riding lessons and each year
she said I had to wait until I was older. Finally, on my ninth birthday, my mom
(who is very artistic) had created a giant card almost as big as me with a horse on
the front. On the inside, she wrote that my first riding lesson was going to be the
following Tuesday, and I was allowed to have as many as I wanted for as long as
I wanted. It was music to my ears! My mom asked if I wanted to ride English or
Western, and I said English. I thought English was the harder of the two. (I don't
know where I got that idea from—I was only nine!)
The first horse I rode was a Quarter Horse named Norman. He was very solid—
a good boy. The first horse I jumped was a Thoroughbred mare named Samond.
She was a big chestnut with a white blaze; I thought she was the best horse in the
world. Before she would allow me to do too much jumping, my mom wanted me
to learn to ride dressage so that I could learn the basic aids. I had one dressage
lesson and at the age of eleven, I was totally hooked. To this day, I have never
missed jumping.
Horses became a part of our family’s life; my mom, my younger sister and I all
took lessons on the same day. Eventually, we bought our own horses. My sister
(Continued on page 5)
Page 1
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 3
Cavaletti Clinic @ BREC with
Diana Norris. 10:00am. Clinic full.
March 8 – 10
Horse Expo – Denver
March 8 & 9
The Mane Event at the Horse
Expo in Denver. Friday and
Saturday at 7:00pm. Our own
Barbara Gardner is riding in this
event!
March 9
Field trip to Bridle Bit Ranch,
Eaton, CO, for a group lesson with
Amy and Steve LeSatz. Contact
Kristi
March 15
Vet Day – Spring shots &
Coggins blood draws with Dr.
Bowers.
Contact
Kristi
[email protected] .
March 17
Clinic “Finding and Filling the
Foundation’s Holes”-- Part 2 -Amy & Steve LeSatz at Blue Roof.
April 14
Clinic “Finding and Filling the
Foundation’s Holes”-- Part 3 -Amy & Steve LeSatz at Blue Roof.
May 11
Barn cleaning day – volunteers
needed.
Contact
Kristi.
[email protected] .
May 18
Ride-a-Test at Autumn Hill –
Sandy Hotz, judge. Volunteers
needed. Contact Sarah Barnes at
[email protected] .
MEET LORI GONACHA, EQUINE MASSAGE THERAPIST
Lori Gonacha was born in Leadville,
Colorado and grew up on the Front
Range. She got her first horse at age
12. She was heavily involved in
gymkhana and team roping events in
her earlier years. She is a retired, 25year veteran fire fighter and an avid
mountain and road bicyclist. Lori
currently has two geldings of her own,
a thirteen-year-old Quarter Horse
named Keeper and an eighteen-year
old Arabian named Shamoun. She
and her boys enjoy trail riding.
“As a former professional fire fighter
and avid bicyclist, my body has been
put
through
some
physically
demanding work and exercise over
the years. Whether it was crawling
through houses with heavy hoses and
equipment on my back or cycling up a
demanding mountain road, sore
muscles and aches and pains were a
part of my everyday life.” This type of
taxing work led to having knee
replacement surgery and pushed Lori
into an early retirement from the fire
department. Lori continues, “Massage
therapy became an important part of
my life, as I used it for pain management and to help my knee heal.”
Over the years, Lori’s experience
taught her the importance of taking
care of the body to prevent injuries
from happening and to treat preexisting injuries. Nine years ago, Lori
decided that if she could benefit from
massage therapy, so could her horses.
She enrolled in the Equitouch School
of Massage is now a certified Equine
Sports Massage Therapist. “Over the
years, the results that I have seen with
the horses that I have treated support
my belief that equines, like humans,
can benefit greatly from massage
therapy,” Lori says.
A couple of weeks ago, Lori gave
BREC’s semi-retired elderly mare,
Liebe, a massage. She reported, “Liebe
allowed me to release tension in her
poll, the C-7 / T-1 junction at the
shoulder. I did an overall massage to
create circulation to her tired and sore
muscles. I had hoped to release her
sacral junction, through the pelvis and
hip, but she was somewhat
apprehensive due to her frisky horse
neighbor! During the next massage, I
hope to get her in a stall where she is
more at ease for the release work that
requires her to be totally relaxed so
Lori works on her horse Shamoun.
we can work together for optimum
responses.”
Lori has made a commitment to
keeping Liebe as pain-free as possible
and in good shape to ride. “I love
helping horses feel better and seeing
the results of massage therapy
bringing the horses back to a much
healthier state,” Lori says.
People giving of their time and talent
are one of the things that make Blue
Roof Equestrian Center a special
place. MANY THANKS, LORI!
***************
You may reach Lori at 303-709-2471 or
[email protected].
JEANNETTE HILLARY, OUR
ORGANIZER EXTRAORDINARE!
MARCH
BIRTHDAYS
Jeannette (pictured with her gelding
Dan) has serious “Mom” skills. She
is organized, helpful and has a
penchant for keeping things clean
and in their place. She has taken
the initiative to straighten up and
organize the small barn. Jeannette
has organized a lost-and-found
bucket for us. (It is a new purple
muck bucket in the small barn, on
the shelf just inside the barn door.)
She is always ready to lend a
helping hand. For this, we salute
her! Jeannette, our very own “Dorm
Mother!”
Page 2
Leslie Martien
4th
Caryn Malone
5th
Paige Smith
5th
Charlotte Sawarynski
18th 2012
Magi
21st 1996
Bubba
22nd 1995
Peter
27th 1996
Report on the George Williams Clinic
RMDS (Rocky Mountain Dressage Society) presented a dressage clinic with
famed USA dressage rider George Williams. The event was at Tomora
Training Center in Greeley, CO February 23 and & 24.
The rides each day began at Training/First Level and proceeded up the
Training Scale to Grand Prix. “It was great for the audience to hear about the
training scale, a very useful tool in Dressage,” said Jessica Greer, who
participated as the Grand Prix rider on Navarro, owned by Joy Lanzano. Mr.
Williams was a wonderful clinician, a patient teacher willing to both work with
the riders and answer countless questions from the auditors.
Sunday, February 24, in Greeley!
According to Jessica: “Navarro and I worked on a very difficult exercise: the Grand Prix zig-zag. This means riding half passes of
3 strides, 6 strides, 6 strides, 6 strides, 3 strides. We also worked on the one tempis, and the half-steps leading to real piaffe steps.
I thought George did a great job describing what needed to happen without getting too technical. I think he was very clear
and kind to the horses.”
On Sunday, the second day of the clinic, the weather turned decidedly wintry. Heavy snow, combined with winds at 29 mph and
gusting to 49mph made it a miserable day to be outside. In fact, as you can see, the snow was drifting up to three feet! Poor
Navarro had to spend one more night at Tomora. Jessica picked him up Monday morning and reports that Navarro was happy to
be home.
THE SEAT . . . HAPPINESS IN THE SADDLE
My passion to understand what a ‘good seat’ is started many,
many years ago upon hearing suggestions from instructors
like: hips are too tight, pelvic tilt, arch the back, straighten the
back, sit on your pockets, push the crotch, electric butt, too
tense, just relax, and a few more that are a bit more colorful!
Trying to decipher the meaning of verbiage still didn’t explain
what a good seat WAS. So I set out to investigate and see if I
could solve the mystery and make it a little easier for others
who were frustrated as well.
I hold an image in my mind’s eye of a symbiotic connection
between horse and rider; two bodies merged together as one.
Fluid, effortless, and dynamic motion in rhythm with each
other, the partners of the dance display their ‘oneness’ with
grace and imperceptible communication.
Regardless of riding discipline, horses breed, man or woman,
there’s one ideal sweet spot where the rider is the least
amount of burden to the horse. Finding it and then staying
balanced in that spot while the horse moves requires great
finesse on the riders` part. The ability to subtlety influence
the horse through your seat without disrupting the delicate
balance of the pair is what we all strive for.
Whether riders are fluid and go with the horses` motion, or
stiff and rigid, they are still influencing the horse. The
difference being the first leads the path to clear, consistent
two-way communication that allows requests to be heard and
Page 3
By Dawn Fisher
carried out by the horse. While the latter sets up the horse
for frustration with untimely requests followed by a
seat,which at the same time, blocks the horse from doing
what’s asked for.
The three working parts of a good seat are the pelvis, lower
back and thigh bones. Everything else balances over, is
plugged in to or hangs from those 3 key ingredients.
Understanding how they work together in dynamic motion,
to follow or influence the horse, allows the rider to be a
stable and consistent dance partner with the horse. A good
seat is loose without being mushy, tone without being stiff,
ready to make quick changes without being jumpy. It’s not to
tense or too relaxed, it’s just right!
Humans and horses alike are prone to asymmetry of their
bodies. The riders` seat should be educated to feel for the
correct balance in their own body first, and then feel for
correct balance in the horse. Riders trained to have a
sensitive and feeling seat are able to detect imbalances in the
horse and make adjustments to bring the horse into balance.
Understanding what the seat consists of and how to stay
balanced in movement will lead you toward better
communication, less frustration and overall, a horse with less
burden.
Enjoy the ride!
Dawn
POST CARD FROM PALM BEACH!!
Winter in Florida is so much fun! Many top trainers come together from all
over the east coast, Canada and Europe to train and compete here in one of
the biggest dressage circuits in the world. There are many CDI's, or
internationally sanctioned shows, and a show every weekend from January
through April.
I judged one of the CDI's, and will judge some national classes this weekend
at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, which is celebrating its 30 year
anniversary.
After losing over a month to a bronchial illness, I am now recovered and
getting the horses and myself back in shape! I took Napali to a lesson with
Catherine Haddad, and plan to take more over the next month, preparing
for upcoming shows. The nice thing about being here in White Fences
(equestrian community) is that I can hack a quarter mile down the road to
my lesson and don't have to trailer! Diderot, my big 4 year old, learning
important things like connection and working over his back. He also went on
his very first trail ride last week with great success! He was on a loose rein
the whole time and got to take it all in! Yay, Diderot!
Today Ursula (Mom) is flying in to spend 10 days
with me and the horses. She is SO excited!
I'll send another update soon...
Sandy
Q: What did the waiter say to the horse?
HAPPY
ST.
PATRICK’S
DAY!!
A: I can't take your order. That's not my stable.
Q: What did one horse say to the other horse?
A: The pace is familiar but I can't remember the
mane.
“I do not allow myself to suppose that either the convention or the League have concluded to decide that I am either the greatest
or best man in America, but rather they have concluded that it is not best to swap horses while crossing the river, and have
further concluded that I am not so poor a horse that they might not make a botch of it in trying to swap.”
Abraham Lincoln, Reply to the National Union League, June 9, 1864
Page 4
JESSICA (Continued from page 1)
After PC, (when I was 20 and in college), I stopped riding for about
and Imonths.
shared our
Trakhener
mareissues,
named
Maschka,
andburnt
my mom
had a
nine
There
were family
and
I felt a bit
out with
Thoroughbred named Dino. I would ride any horse someone would
the horses. I was heartbroken over PC, my family told me when we
let me ride, even the "crazy" ones. What is truly crazy is that I
bought
himoff
that
was the
lastI horse
would
never fell
a horse
until
was 20they
years
old. buy for me, so I felt it
was time for a break. I obviously didn't last long. I gave PC to John in
May,
Jan 2005,
on Superbowl
I realizedWe
horses
When2004,
I wasand
thirteen,
I started
showing,Sunday,
with Maschka.
started at
training
level,ofwent
championships,
andI took
place.
didher
nota
where
a part
me Ito
couldn't
live without.
calledthird
Sandy,
and Ileft
have a regular
my mom
anddoI
message
saying Itrainer,
neededbut
a horse
to ride,and
butI Iwould
didn't go
havetogether
money to
would
put myback,
bestand
footsaid
forward.
yearsolution,
I showed
first level,
it.
She called
"I haveThe
thenext
perfect
Joyat needs
went to championships, and was the reserve champion. That year,
someone to help her ride Navarro." And that began Navarro and I's
1999, I also was the USDF Horse of the Year All Breeds Trakhener
partnership.
Reserve Champion at first level. My mom and I traveled to Savannah,
Georgia, site of the annual USDF convention and I got to go up on
the stage to receive my award.
Jessica and Navarro on a chilly training ride.
The next year, I started riding my mom’s horse. I had my sights set on upping my riding and trying make the NAYRC (North
American Young Riders Championships) team. (Now this is called the NAJYRC--North American Junior & Young Rider
Championships.) We started looking for a horse for me and eventually found one in California at Steffen Peters’ barn. On my
sixteenth birthday, I rode the horse we were looking at, Lexington, with Steffen. We bought him, but he tragically died three
months later. He was seven years old, and beautiful. I never got a picture of him, but I still think of him often. We sent
Lexington to CSU for a necropsy, but they could find no cause of death. I suppose it was not meant to be.
Almost a year later we traveled to Florida, where we bought my second horse, Hercules, whose barn name was “PC” which
stood for Prince Charming. He really was a Prince Charming; he was really the perfect horse. He was about 17 hands, and I
would literally climb up his side and ride him around bareback. I also would take him out and gallop full speed until my eyes
would tear, and then on the other side of things I would take him to a horse show and ride in the Prix St. George always staying
competitive. We qualified for the NAYRC, but unfortunately he had a stifle problem that couldn't handle that level of work. I
went through what everyone does when their horse needs a new job, and you can't keep them. I had nightmares about him being
sold to a person who would inject him and make him work anyway. What I ended up doing was giving him to my farrier, John
McNerny. He still has him, his wife rides him and John takes him hunting. He is now 24 years old. I haven't seen him since the
last day I rode him.
Navarro has done so much for me, I can't even put it all into words. Through some of the most trying times of my life, mostly
family challenges, he was my constant. I showed him as an amateur the first year, in 2006, at 2nd level, and we won it all.
Unfortunately we didn't make it to Championships, he injured his leg kicking in the stall and spent most of that winter off. We
had good luck after that, and kept moving up a level each year accumulating many year end awards, horse of the year, winning
both 3rd and 4th level championships, scores in the 70%s at all the levels. We got to Prix St. Georges in 2008, and then in 2009
showed Prix St. Georges/Intermediare I. In July of 2009, Navarro tore his suspensory ligament and was off for 16 months. We
honestly did not know if he would ever be 100% sound again, let along get back to the same level of training. Miraculously, in
Decemver 2010, we got the green light that he was healed and could be shown again at the PSG/I-1 level. We had a successful
2011 and 2012, showing with scores up to 69% in the PSG and 68% in the I-1. We showed in 2 CDI*** coming in 2nd place
behind a horse who had qualified for the Pan American Games.
I guess I can say that once I started riding Navarro after having not ridden for a period I realized that in order to ride the way I
wanted to I was going to have to make it my job. I would help Joy with Navarro and I felt that teaching came very naturally. I
will never forget when I graduated from CSU and then told my parents I was going to be a horse trainer. I think they thought I
was
crazy. I told them if it didn't work I had a degree, and I would get a regular job.
The goal I set for myself was to ride in a CDI, and ride at Grand Prix by the time I was 30. I rode at Grand Prix at 26, and rode
in 2 CDIs, one at 26 and one at 27. It is a great feeling know you have accomplished what you wanted to ahead of schedule. I
am now 28, and I am focusing on developing Java's training, (who right now has a fantastic piaffe) and I want to
continue Frolik and Navarro's training as well. As far as my dreams, I would love to ride in a competition as the United States
team member. I also would love to be able to travel and train in Florida for a winter, to be able to show at some of the big
shows like Dressage at Devon. Navarro qualified for Devon two years in a row but funds prevented me from going. Overall
though, my goal is to ride my best and keep learning every day.
Page 5
The BREC Community
Bulletin Board
Please e-mail submissions to [email protected].
notices
PERSONALS
Construction on Isabelle Road has
begun and it does not seem to be
bothering the horses, thank goodness.
The stretch of Isabelle between 109th
Street and our driveway is closed and
we don’t know when is will re-open.
During this construction period, please give yourselves a
few extra minutes to get to the barn. The north detour is
Jasper Road to 119th Street to Isabelle. The south detour is
Arapahoe Road to 111th Street to Isabelle. 111th is the dirt
road across from the driveway.
CLASSIFIEDS
Thin Line half pad (Dressage) $45. In
excellent condition (retail $70). Contact
Gwen Dordick at 303-885-3363 or
[email protected] .
White
full-seat
show
breeches,
-Nathalie
Equestrian "Digby" model..
Excellent condition, worn
only once. 26 R, $165.
(Retail $360.) Contact Gwen
Dordick at 303-885-3363 or
gwendordick@ gmail.com
CLARIFICATION ON KEEPING THE BIG BARN AISLE
NEAT AND CLEAN
It is not necessary to sweep the aisle both before and
after your ride. Sweeping once, when you have finished
your ride and untacked your horse, is fine. Please stow
away saddle racks, step ladders, etc. The objective is to
keep the aisle as clutter-free as possible. This is both a
safety and an appearance issue. THANKS!
Black stirrup leathers; 58” long with ½”
holes. $25 for the pair.
Adapter sleeves (convert )
Contact Hope Ellis at 248-931-0424 or
at [email protected].
Coming Soon
THE BLUE ROOF BAZAAR!!!
BREC logo apparel for both
you & your horse.
Sprenger stirrup irons $50.
Contact Hope Ellis at 248-931-0424
or at [email protected].
If you are interested, please contact
Amy at [email protected]
The Blue Roof Bulletin is the newsletter of Blue Roof Equestrian Center (BREC), 10951
Isabelle Road, Lafayette, CO 80026. Content contributions from the BREC boarders,
friends and family members are encouraged. To reach the editor/publisher of the Bulletin,
Grace Maddox, call 720-320-8857, or email [email protected].
Page 6