August July 2009 Volume Volume 11, 11, Issue 21 Heather Blitz Clinic Special Interest Articles: Barn Banter Power Auditing Lindsay and DannyBananie Price Change Horses for Sale Lydia s Tribute Page Individual Highlights: Working Students 2 Speedy Recovery 3 DHF Quadrille 4 Bring a horse and saddle or a journal and chair and let Heather Blitz show you how to Mind Your Riding. Whether you are in the saddle or in the chair, the experience will be unique. Auditing spots ($25) are still available and a waiting list has been started for riders. After all Heather Blitz will be at DHF August 21-23, 2009! Heather s focus is on the effect of the rider s body and aids on the horse. She teaches a clear and easy to understand system of training to riders of all levels. More information about Heather is available at her Web site: http://www.heatherblitz.inf o. As the #2 US rider on the FEI World Dressage Barn Banter Rankings list, she has also been: Awarded a place on the USEF Long List Invited to the USEF team training sessions Invited to accompany the U.S. team to Germany Successful in the International Grand Prix ring and 2006 World Equestrian Games A guest judge and test rider at the Pavo Cup in Holland and for the Danish National Championship for 5 year olds RIDER BONUS: Included in the rider cost for everyone who rides at least two days in the clinic, is a "follow up lesson." Any time after the clinic, riders can video themselves and post the footage to the web or send a DVD directly to Heather for evaluation and critique. This virtual lesson is included in the clinic participant fee! Contact Jennifer@DancingHorseF armoh.com. Auditing Forms: http://www.dancinghorsefa rmoh.com/forms.html See you there! Heather Blitz Photo Credit: www.horseradonetwork.com Special Edition! Heather Blitz Heather Blitz Heather Blitz! A few more days before her arrival and we are quite excited! We have new members of our community! Welcome to Jen s new Groom, Beth Leshner. 2 New boarders: Katie Lippert and Emilion. Katie rode with us in the summers of 2007 and 2008 while finishing college. She is now here in Cincinnati while she attends medical school! Karen Dale s horse David has also joined the DHF Community. New Lesson Students: Pam Heintz and Chelsie Rabbe. We do have to say goodbye to Christina Sharkey. She is finishing college and needs to focus on her schoolwork. Her contributions to DHF will not be forgotten and we wish her all the best for the future. August Moxidectin (Quest) wormer was given as per the DHF rotation schedule. Counting down the days until Regionals in beautiful Virginia. Make sure you have confirmed your plans with Jen. Believe it or not, it is almost here! Last, but not least, thank you for all the kind words of praise. Your emails and notes of thanks mean so much to us. Paul Boland, DHF Lesson Student, writes to Jen, It occurred to me that you are the first instructor I've ever ridden with that tells the rider what to do, instead of just saying what to get the horse to do. We do appreciate our clients and enjoy watching their confidence grow thank you.
Page 2 of 5 Working Students: The Heather Blitz Clinic is required Auditing. Check the schedule online: http://www.dancinghorsefarmoh.com/dailyschedule.html Bring your coffee, pen, journal and questions August 21 st -23 rd! At your next lesson, ask Jen about auditing strategies or points of interest for the assigned rides. The Power of Auditing DHF regularly invites some of the best teachers available and this education is provided for FREE to DHF staff. It is imperative that staff and students, especially Working Students, take advantage of these amazing opportunities. Heather Blitz, #2 US Rider on the FEI World Dressage Rankings, is coming to the DHF Community What are you waiting for? Get Ready! Here are a few tips and guidelines: Prepare: Grab a pen and journal, then actively take notes and ask questions. (Obviously, the staff needs to schedule with Karen Dale to accommodate auditing times). Critical Thinking: We will gather audience questions and schedule lunch-hour discussions. This will be a very good way to promote interaction between the clinician and the audience. What questions will you ask? Schedule: Working Students will be assigned specific ride times to audit. Every Working Student is expected to attend Heather s clinic and discuss her observations. Schedule time to audit: 1. Riders at or around the same level. This enables students to watch peers working through similar issues. 2. Jen s rides. This brings a sense of reality to the relationship between student and trainer. 3. New Riders from another farm or trainer. Education is never ending someone new can bring insight to your riding. Recognize the Benefits: Jen is constantly working to improve herself, her students, her riding and her horses. She rides in all clinics plus she audits, takes notes and asks questions. Leading through example is the key to a successful trainer. Recognize the educational benefits DHF brings to its students and to its community. Audit! Participate: Ride or Actively Audit either way, Heather Blitz and DHF will help you Mind Your Riding. See you August 21st - 23rd!
Page 3 of 5 Spotlight Horse for Sale: Sjolling Photo Credit: Peter DeMott Sjolling Price Category D: $35,001-$50,000 Imported Friesian Gelding Sire: Brandus 345 Dam: Marije B. Foaled: 1997 Color: Black Height:16.1h Location: DHF Registry: FHANA Type: Only Dressage Breathtaking 3rd/4th Level Imported Friesian Numerous USDF/FHANA Championship Titles: Training through Third 2003 USDF Horse of the Year 1st Level Freestyle Champion FEI gaits, willing personality, series changes, not spooky Sjolling is the perfect dancing partner for any amateur dressage rider looking for a schoolmaster to teach them how to correctly move up through the levels. He is has excellent FEI gaits, exceptional work ethic (even better than most warmbloods), no vices and is simply wonderful to live and work with - always the perfect gentleman. Contact: Jen 937.532.3108. Congrats Lindsay Anyone who has searched the tri-state and beyond for a horse that meets certain criteria can appreciate the excitement of finally finding just the right horse! DHF Website As a courtesy to our clients, we offer a For Sale page on our website. For no cost, clients may list horses, equipment and other horse-related items. Take a look: http://www.dancinghorsef armoh.com/forsale.html Lindsay s Vacation Lindsay will be on a well-deserved vacation, August 27-30, 2009 Lori found Breezy, Lynda found Ricos, Sarah found Riley, Janet found Bianca, Heidi found Daiquiri the DHF list goes on and on but we are absolutely THRILLED to announce that our very own Lindsay Lechner has found a horse of her own. He is a six-year old Thoroughbred, liver chestnut with the sweetest temperament you can imagine. His new residence is right next to Riley in Barn 2. Congratulations, Lindsay! Welcome DannyBananie! Enjoy your new horse, Lindsay. We expect great things from this new Dancing Team! Jen, Kara and Lueka Photo Credit: K.Masterson
Dancing Horse Farm Page 4 of 5 First Price Change Since 2007 4080 Weisenberger Rd Lebanon OH 45036 BARN MANAGER: (513) 933-0343 DRESSAGE LESSONS: (937) 532-3108 EVENTING/BEGINNER LESSONS: (513) 850-9359 It s true! When developing a new price structure, the goal was to create more lesson/training package options for our clients priced in a way to minimize the financial impact. For example Jennifer s new Buy 9 get the 10 th free package of lessons will be only 8% more than the old rate and purchasing monthly training packages can result in per session fees lower than the old single lesson price. For details on all of the fees changes, please refer to the July Policy posted in both barns and emailed. Lesson price changes: Private Lessons: Jennifer $60, Lindsay, $40 Semiprivate: Jennifer $45, Lindsay $30 Group (3-4 riders): Jennifer $35, Lindsay $25 Other Fees: School Horse Use Fee: $10 per horse use in a lesson and $25 per horse use in a DHF clinic. Haul-in Fee: $10 per horse (charged for lessons, clinics and general facility use). Employee Discount: 10% off employee discount for all services, excluding DHF logo wear! Kindly refer to July 2009 policy for specifics ADVERTISING (937) 727-9239 E-MAIL: Jennifer@DancingHorseFarmOH.com Karen@DancingHorseFarmOH.com Speedy Recovery to Rick Viramontes Lindsay@DancingHorseFarmOH.com Advertising@DancingHorseFarmOH.com DHF Show Secretary, Office Manager and Newsletter Editor Megan@DancingHorseFarmOH.com Rick Viramontes, DHF s main farrier is recovering from emergency back surgery. 17 staples later, he is hanging in there, plans to start physical therapy, and hopes to return to work in 8 weeks. Mo Shaw will be his temporary replacement. DHF clients should direct any questions or concerns to Karen Dale 513.933.0343. We re on the Web! See us at: www.dancinghorsefarmoh.com We wish Rick a speedy recovery and will miss him very much while he is healing. The DHF Quadrille Team Summer Snowball Our newest hairy DHF family member is a Texas Dall Sheep (lamb) we call Snowball. A Texas Dall sheep is an exotic sheep breed that is similar to a big horn mountain sheep and is bred for big game hunting. Interestingly enough, these sheep don't have wool, they have hair like goats, so they never need to be sheared, Yay! She is timid and shy, but everyday Snowball gets used to people s kindness. She loves the goats, a little too much, in fact, since she has repeatedly tried to nurse on them! Needless to say, the boys did not appreciate the attention. Please help us get Snowball accustomed to people by petting her and feeding her treats as often as you can. She is in the goats' stall in Barn 2 Aisle 3 and is in desperate need of lots of DHF love! Snowball thanks you and so do we: Thank you! DHF now has a quadrille team! The "Black and White" team is comprised of Kara Mastern riding Lueka, Lorene Hall riding Kars, Jen Truett riding Sjolling, and Halley Mendenhall riding Finn. Practice begins August 9th at 10:30. Look for our first official performance at the DHF Halloween show!
Special Edition: Lydia s Tribute Page 5 of 5 My Gift to Lydia My beautiful girl is now galloping free through the clouds and feels no more pain. She followed in the great Barbaro's footsteps and lost her battle with laminitis by overusing the good leg. The vets aggressively treated the sinking of the inside of her left front foot and had it in an ankle high cast to try to limit its movement and thereby sink. Her right foot was in a supportive glue-on rocker shoe. Unfortunately, since the left foot hurt so much, Lydia rested it by shifting her weight to her right front foot and the tender inflamed laminae finally gave under the pressure. Her pain increased through the weekend and on Monday morning, she nearly fell down coming out of her stall for her morning graze. Both front feet hurt so much that she didn't have a foot to limp on. She grazed walking backward and x- rays that afternoon showed that her right foot had sunk 50% into the hoof capsule in a week and she had broken off the end of her coffin bone. There was very little sole left between her coffin bone and the ground, and there was nothing else we could do for her since horses don't typically recover from such severe sinking in both front feet especially given her already extremely compromised vascularity and pain level. As I sat in her stall that night watching her through my streaming tears while she happily munched hay, drank water, relieved herself, and then hobbled around the stall, I pondered the terrible truth that with no feet you really have no horse. From all appearances, she looked like a perfectly healthy, happy horse, until she tried to move. I had a week to consider the possibility that I might lose her after the unpromising diagnosis of the left foot, and a day to plan for it after these x-rays. Fortunately, Lenny was able to return home from a twoweek trip so I didn't have to go through this nightmare without him. The day was beautiful. Lenny and I bought flowers and spent the morning in the beauty shop with our girl. She loved bath and beauty shop time, so I gave her the full treatment. She hadn't had a bath since she got sick two months ago, and since she is white, it took two full baths to get her sparkling clean again. The entire time, I imagined we were back in Maryland getting ready for a show. Next I braided and attached flowers to her braids and tail for her for her final performance Once the vet arrived, I had him do a temporary nerve block on her front feet so she would no longer be in pain. Then we walked around the farm together making our final memories. We walked down centerline of our show arena for one last halt at X, then off to the indoor for pictures in front of our farm banner and mirrors. One final stroll through the meadow included such joyous rearing and bucking that I worried I might not be able to hold on. Lydia munched grass, we hugged, and kissed and then she seemed ready and started the walk down the tree lined path that leads to our farm cemetery. She was peaceful and content as I kissed and hugged one last time and gave her my final gift leaving her with Lenny and the vet. I will never forget the amazing memories, education, experiences, love, pain and sorrow my life with Lydia has brought. But most importantly, I'll always cherish the many nickers, whinnies and cookie faces she always had ready for me every time she simply heard my voice. Thank you Lydia for sharing your amazing life with us. We will never forget or stop loving you.