This message is from: "Dave McWethy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Were there any Fjords doing a demonstration of dressage at Equitana?
There wasn't a demo of dressage as such. In the drills, the horses were certainly ridden with skill showing they were capable of dressage. The horses we had were ones that were well trained, and riders such as Nikki, Jennifer and Emily are skilled with a lot of experience in showing. And 12 year old Krystal looked great too. Lindsay and Ceacy are veterans of expo work, and skilled drivers. There was just a depth of competence that made the whole thing easy. We have at times criticized ourselves within the breed being satisified with an amateur effort in showing the horses. Not the case at Equitana. It was very easy to join such a group and work together to best show off our breed. Something that was on my mind going there was the speculation I had heard over the years that the folks going would use the opportunity to promote their own horses for sale. If that happened last week, I never saw it. What I saw was a selfless effort on behalf of the breed in general. Some of us - me, Nikki, the Howards, and maybe more at the moment don't even own any horses we're selling. I can't speak for others, but I always asked folks where they were from, and if they were looking for a horse I would mention breeders I knew of in that area. I can't remember talking to anyone from my own region. Another thing that I noted was the constant effort to get exposure of Fjords. Dick and Lindsay worked hard at this behind-the-scenes effort. One example was that Lindsay made the connection to have Jennifer's horse used in a harness demo every day. Dick worked on cementing our good relation with John Lyons. Did I mention he bought 10 raffle tickets? Does anyone notice when John Lyons takes an interest in Fjords? This sort of quiet promotional effort is formidable. In the Mane Event, they had a "race" between Aaron Vale and Chester Weber, both national champions in their disciplines. Aaron jumped jumps and Chester raced a pair through a cones course. They did it three times, which was too much, and a little flat as a performance. Dick got the idea that we should challenge Chester to a race, using my team of four (actually, the wheelers were Dick's). I said to him, "Naah, Chester wouldn't share the spotlight." Dick was undeterred, and spoke to Chester, who thought it was a great idea. Then Aaron, who also was in favor. All it took was approval from the event manager, but it was too late to get that to happen. Maybe next year. I should add that I had no expectation of upsetting the champions. This is not really a competition, it's entertainment and promotion. The story is just an example of Dick's outrageous chutzpah. We were there working non-stop for all of you. And, I had a good time, I admit it!
