Re: Another report on Equitana

[john bolinski]

This message is from: john bolinski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Sessoms wrote:
> 
> This message is from: Sessoms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 

Hi all:

My husband, John and I also went to Equitana this year; our first time
there.  It was so great!  So many breed; so many horses to pet and ooh
and ahh over.  We spent 3 days and also say the Mane Event.

I agree that the Fjords did a great job. They were obviously very
versatile.  There were so many people on the sidelines with us asking
about them. I sent a few to see the Fjord booth.  Although John and I
stopped at the booth a couple times, things were so busy at the time
that we just left without maknig introductions.  

I really enjoyed watching the Icelandics 'tolt' (is that the correct
word?) having never seen it before.  If they are related to Fjords, I
guess I can't see it.  They are little movers!  The only time my Fjord,
Kilar moves that fast is when the van is moving him.

I also found a saddle that fits him (finally!); one of those
synthetics.  I used it a couple times on my quarter horse this week; at
16.2 his back has almost exactly the same shape as my 14 hand Fjord. 
Since I mostly only trail ride, it seems perfect.  I have at least 6
other, leather saddles, but none seem to fit the wide backed horses
quite right, even the ones with the quarter-horse tre
es.  I have been riding Kilar english because my old english saddle was
the only thing I had that fit, but I don't like it for trail riding
because we do so many hills and I don't feel secure.  Actually, I mostly
just drive him because he seems to prefer it so much and I DO have a
riding horse who is also fun and does not seem interested in learning to
drive at the age of 23.

We hope to get to Equitana again next year.  Maybe we can help out with
the Fjords or with the booth?

Martie and John Bolinski 
and Kilar, Lady GH, BJ, Wee Willy and RLA Kismet

mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Another report on Equitana

[Sessoms]

This message is from: Sessoms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Equitana was wonderful!  We bought several raffle tickets on the
Fjord colt, one on a Friesian filly, a Clydesdale filly, a Miniature
Horse foal, a Troyers carriage, a dressage saddle, and I don't know what
else.  But nobody called us to tell us we had won anything ... oh well.
We saw and petted almost every breed of equine in America - Fjords,
Baudet de Poitou donkeys, a Dartmoor pony, Gypsy Vanners, Shires,
Suffolks, Lusitanos, Andalusians, Lipizzans, Chincoteage Ponies, a
Connemara, a Hanoverian, an Akhal Teke, Icelandic Ponies, and on and on
and on!

And we saw John Lyons work with a 3 year old TB stallion that had never
had a saddle on his back.  He saddled him, mounted him, and sat on him
for about 30 seconds in the course of one hour.  His method was very
interesting, he never gave the horse a chance to act up on him.  The
next day he worked with a yearling QH filly, her owner said, "She can be
a witch."  His shtick, as far as I can figure, is patience; consistency;
positive attitude, don't down-mouth your buddy; baby steps; don't expect
too much, too fast; and don't get frustrated, because all that means is
that you are trying to teach something you haven't learned how to teach
yet, and that he, John Lyons, doesn't know how to teach everything yet;
to sit back, read, visit horsemen, learn, then when you think you've got
it, teach it to your horse.  He suggests not working your young horses
only 10 minutes every once in a while, but for a good long time making
the lesson's contents routine and building a lifelong bond.  He had the
filly in the ring for an hour and the only thing he did was to make her
move out, control the direction she went in the pen, and to let her come
in to him for rest and an ear rub.  The lesson was 'getting your horse
to come to you'.  He said don't get after the horse for every little
thing, that most bad behaviors can be avoided by you before they happen
if you know your horse well enough.  (I am finally at the point with
Aagot that I feel like I had already picked up on that.  I have learned
to jiggle her lead if she thinks about crowding or acting up and it
usually nips the badness in the bud so I don't have to get after her for
being a bad girl!)  He says that you have to always make time with your
horse a positive experience for the horse.  He says chains are for
bicycles, not for horses - I assume that means chin straps and lead
ropes, etc.  (I just bought a chain chin strap for Dorina's snaffle - oh
well!)  He says anytime you get mad and discouraged while working your
horse, multiply that by ten and you have the frustration and upset you
have caused your horse to feel.  To develop control.  To focus on what
you want the horse to do.  That we don't give training techniques enough
time, look for the tiniest improvement.  And to always remember that the
thing you are trying to achieve is a better relationship with your
horse.  I got a lot from just watching his technique of gentleness and
patience.  I am going to read his books and watch his videos.  I highly
recommend him.

While Steve went to an excellent trailering seminar by Neva Scheve and I
saw Jessica Jahiel, the lady I get the e-mail list from at
.  Both were well worthwhile.

We saw Jan Jacobsen who gave an excellent speech on saddle fit.  She
showed the shape and position of the tree in the English saddle.  She
was adamant against putting the saddle too far forward and working it
back like we are all taught to do because we often leave it over the
horses shoulders when we do it that way.  She showed where the shoulder
bone comes to and showed how to hold your horses front leg forward to
see how much your horses shoulder blade moved back towards or under the
saddle.  To check to make sure the saddles tree or other stiff parts did
not interfere with the shoulder blade even while moving.  That it was ok
if it went under the soft, flexible edge of the saddle.  She taught how
the shoulder blade can move back as far as 3 inches, and how to pull
your horses leg forward to see how far back it goes.  She showed how to
detect the too wide saddle and how it hurts the horse; the same with the
too narrow saddle.  And how a good fitting saddle will look and fit.
She said that if you have a stable full of different kinds of horses you
will need at least four saddles.  One narrow, one wide, one in-between,
and I didn't catch what the other one was (perhaps a different
balance).  And that you'll need padding for the ones in-between.  She
talked about balance; how you can balance a pencil across the middle of
the seat of a well balanced saddle as it sits on the horse if it suits
the horse.  She explained how the riders balance is thrown off if the
saddle and horse angles are off.  And much more.  She was good - very
knowledgeable.

The Mane Event, a show they put on every evening was fun, but we were so
far back we needed binoculars!!