This message is from: "Arthur Rivoire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia -
I thought I'd chime in on this topic with some personal observations. First of all over the years, there have been some veiled barbs aimed at me for speaking up on various issues when we don't compete our horses. It's been inferred that somehow we shouldn't voice opinions if we aren't proving our expertise in the show ring. Well, we have competed our Fjords in the past when we lived in New England, but since moving to Nova Scotia in '91, we don't compete anymore. - The reason being is we run our Nova Scotia Beginner Driving Vacations in the summer; therefore, couldn't possibly leave the farm to compete. Secondly, I'm not real fond of competition. I get very nervous, and that takes the joy out of it. When we had our farm in New Hampshire, I did enjoy going to driving clinics where we'd do dressage tests and cones courses, and lessons in each. The clinics were a blast, and I highly recommend them to people who aren't driven to compete. -- In my opinion, a good driving clinic combines all the elements of a competition without the pressure. You get to learn, drive, test yourself against yourself and others, and you get to socialize with people of like interests. -- The social part is not the least of the reasons people show. The fact that now we don't do either competitions or clinics, does NOT mean we don't continue to learn and strive to improve. That we do daily at Beaver Dam Farm. -- Jaimie (our Stable Manager) and I take turns judging and criticizing each other. -- That's year-around. -- In the summer, we have other full-time help, plus seven or eight good dressage people from Europe who spend weeks and months at a time with us. Some are just dressage riders, but some are drivers as well, and we learn so much from all of them. Frankly, it wouldn't bother me if I never competed again. -- It would bother me if I ceased to learn and improve my own performance, and that of our horses. And I feel that dressage riding and driving is the way to improvement for both people and horses. And that's our goal at Beaver Dam Farm. We try our best to breed for Fjords capable of being competitive riding and driving horses, while maintaining fabulous temperaments! -- We base all our training right from the very beginning on producing horses that conform to dressage tenets. It's unlikely that we are ever going to compete again, but we're breeding and training horses that have what it takes to be successful for other people. -- And one more thing . . . Churchill said . . . "The outside of a horse is good for the inside of man" -- We're not simply breeding horses to sell. We're breeding horses that please us - Beautiful horses to look at, and strong, athletic horses to use! Once in a while, I get a call from an interested buyer who prefaces his remarks by saying - "I'm not looking for a 'Show Horse', just something for the wife and kids". -- What these people usually mean is they're looking for an inexpensive horse, and in my experience, they're usually looking for something under $3,000 for the wife and kids. --- There may be well-trained, safe Fjords out there for under $3,000, but I have no idea where. With all our contacts, I can't buy them for that price, and most certainly can't sell a decent horse for such a price. What bothers me in these scenarios is the idea that the 'Show Horse' is the better horse. -- NO WAY! In my opinion, the very best Fjordhorse is the very best FAMILY/RECREATION HORSE, and that wonderful horse is not going to come cheap. Why should he? Is not safety the most valuable component of all? Just a few of my thoughts this morning - Best Regards, Carol Rivoire http://www.beaverdamfarm.com Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II R.R. 7 Pomquet, Nova Scotia B2G 2L4 Tel:(902) 386-2304 Fax:(902) 386-2149 Carole Rivoire, author of THE FJORDHORSE HANDBOOK, only book in English on the Fjord breed, available from Beaver Dam Farm, $36.95 US includes P&H http://www.beaverdamfarm.com/book.htm
