Hi Odele, welcome!

Tell me something about your horses! I have a thoroughbred myself...

Hi Iris! I could talk about my boys all day...

Well my old boy is 18 now, 16.2hh and a cheeky guy but we love him anyway (he breaks the hose at the stable about once a month by trying to turn it on and off...). He's taught me everything I know about dressage and how to make it fun and about team work. He loves his lunge work and doing passage over risen trotting poles. Darcy raced for seven years and as a result is super tense so doesn't do so well in the dressage arena all the time, he has to be relaxed and happy which is always a test with a hyper sensitive guy like him. He is also allergic to almost everything, which makes life even harder!

My other guy is Monty, I've only had him six months. He's five, off the track. An absolute star. When I got him he had a promising walk and canter but a ponies trot, however the last time I took him out one of the judges thought he was a warmblood! Quite a compliment considering he's still weedy and growing, but his paces have come so far already. I've got high hopes for him.

So that's my boys. When I went looking for a young understudy for Darcy I originally didn't want a TB. But they're cheap and good if you know how to manage their diets right. So it's another amazing adventure down the OTTB road!

Forgot to mention Monty is 16.3hh :-)

wow they are big! I have a TB filly, my first TB and my first mare :-) My others are a Standardbred and a Hispanic Arab (picture) a gelding and a stallion. My Standardbred is off track and totally hyper nervous..
My TB is really calm!

Tell me about the diet? You say they are difficult with diets? Haven't heard this, but I'm totally new to TB's

I have no problems my TB and her diet though, but I don't feed my horses grain, just grass, hay and a little bit of vitamins extra. I believe grain is not good for horses because it is to easy to digest for them, they don't use all of their intestines.
Even if you feed grain with hay and grass, their intestines become 'lazy' and they will be less able to get good nutrients out of the hay and grass.. also, most grain contains to much sugar...

but ok, back to TB, I love her... Though her back is a tiny bit long (TB problem I heard) but she does fine. Just have to train her a lot different then I train my HA...

She also LOVES to jump... good prospect :-)

New Zealand grass is predominantly grown for Dairy - so it's high in sugar and Rye grass, making it very easy to over feed a Thoroughbred and make them hot :-) I enjoy a fine balance which allows me to get the most out of my horses while keeping them on the grass. I make sure I feed toxin binders and plenty of fibre, as Darcy can't eat hay. I know many a person who has forgotten to adjust their diets to the spring grass and have ended up bucked off and in rough shape!

Hi Sonja, welcome! Love your story! I've never met Bent but I've read about him... I know he does work with poles to sometimes (only with VERY experienced horses though) that is fairly unique nowadays (except from some people who abuse horses this way unfortunately... this happens in Spain a lot)

Though there are a lot of people I'm really interested in (Philippe Karl, Klaus Hempfling) I am also a fan of Dominique Barbier, he lives in the states. The way thing look right now, I will be going to his stables in February, I will study with him and his wife for a year! I'm stoked!

Tell me Sonja, do you live in the states? Do you have a horse yourself? Have you been to Bent? I like to hear more about him...

I am a fan of Phillipe Karl myself as well, he actually came here for a 2-day clinic, unfortunately though I was unable to attend. As for Bent, he's located in Denmark and I haven't had a chance to go see him or work with him yet but am hoping to do the working student program he offers.

As of right now I do not have a horse of my own due to time constraints, but am looking to purchase one in the near future if things go well. I live and have lived in Canada for over 20 years am have been lucky enough to be in a very equestrian rich part of the country.

Despite not having a horse, there is one that I currently work with. She is my coach's princess oldenburg x thoroughbred mare, and an absolute dream to ride. She is professionally trained and is the type of horse that really teaches people to refine their riding. I've also begun riding her sister who is almost identical, just a bit larger. I've also been blessed with the most amazing coach to help me in dressage and riding in general. She is German trained and the ONLY coach I've worked with who teaches all her student to ride back to front and not yank the poor horse in the mouth. The thing I love about both her and Bent are neither rely heavily on equipment to ride a horse, and if my coach wanted, she could have all her horses in bitless bridles. They both work with the individual horse and don't believe in the whole, what works for one horse works for all horses.

Yes, and that is what true dressage is about! Not the 'competition' kind of dressage where they want the horse ready asap (I'm not saying everyone who ride comps. ride like that! But there is a big difference now between classical dressage and, call it 'modern' dressage often used in competitions)

Say, if you live in Canada, have you though of adopting a rescue horse in the States? Importing should not be to hard? I've adopted a rescue Thoroughbred filly and she is truly amazing! She has very good paces, she already jumped a fence (grass was greener on the other side) and despite you might think she is not a nervous wreck at all (some people think that about thoroughbreds, but then again, you ride horses that are part TB :-) )

I got my filly for free and I'm grateful she was saved from slaughter!

Btw: I like you picture! Looks awesome! Tell me something about that!

I was actually looking at rescues in and around my area and a few states close by. I'm a little wary on the type of rescue mainly because I won't be able to come up 6 days a week to work him, 4 at most, maybe 5 days a week. I've ridden and worked with a large number of rescues as well, considering my coach took in 11 needy horses (3 of which were pregnant) during a trip to buy a few more schoolies. We have a number of retired race horses who are calmer than most with the sweetest and most willing and honest personalities. The only thing about adopting from somewhere far is going to see the horse, having a vet come see the horse and possibly my coach since I trust her judgement, and finally transporting. The cost of seeing the horse alone can easily run up. However it's still an option.

As for competition dressage, I wouldn't even give it the benefit of calling it dressage as it is a disgrace to the ART. I think as soon as it was considered a sport things began to go downhill, where the value of your horse is not in how proudly he moves or how well of a partnership you have but rather in how high he scores and how he does everything you ask without question, not out of trust but fear and submission.

It's sad to see such an art form turned into the circus we have now.

This is one of my favourite quotes.
“If training has not made a horse more beautiful, nobler in carriage, more attentive in his behavior, revealing pleasure in his accomplishment, then he has not truly been schooled in dressage.” ~ Col. Handler

And thanks, the pic is of me doing standing guard for the Governor General's Horse Guard, sort of a volunteer military riding I do on the side. It's great fun with great people who all share a love of horses, riding and beating the Toronto Mounted Police force in the equine games every year lol. We do standing guard which is whats in the pic, musical rides, parades, tent pegging (a 3" x 3" target is placed on the ground, and you have to gallop by and pick it up with the tip of your sword) and a bunch of other fun and challenging activities. They recently made my coach's barn home base so it makes things that much easier for me, and we usually go up to the heated lounge to have drinks, snacks and chit chat abotu the ride and future rides. It's quite an experience.

That sounds so nice! With the 'guard' thing!

And yes, I totally agree with the dressage think, such a shame!

About rescue: yes, I understand what you mean... But on the other hand, you have to do that with buying a horse too, no? Plus with buying you have to pay for the horse, rescue often saves a lot on that aspect :-)

If you would look on 'petfinder', for the young horses closer by, maybe you see something on there... There are a lot of very young horses there too. I found my filly on petfinder. She is racetrack bred, so I would say good lines. She only has one eye, that is why they wanted to sell her to the slaughter export,luckily this lady saved her. I got her from that lady, for free! She just wanted her to go to a good home, with somebody who had plans with her, because she is such a good horse.

I was lucky, but I'm kind of a dare devil on that aspect, I picked up my filly myself. I looked at her and by seeing her, hearing her story and talking to the lady I felt really good about her. She is growing into a beautiful lady! My Spanish horse, I bought in Europe, I bought him myself too. I like the fact his back is not too long (often a weak point with horses) especially for the higher dressage I want to do with him. He has great paces too, and no pains or anything. We did do a vet test but I don't think that says a whole lot other than no real crookedness and no weird heart rhythms.etc. Good to do a test but it is certainly not 100%. I've heard the bending test (is that how you call it? when they bend the leg and let the horse trot?) is totally overrated they recently found out.

Well, I do hope you will find a great horse, but you probably will!

Hi Teresa,
that is amazing! I have a subscription to 'Horses for life' too! Tell me about your riding background, I love Nuno!

I have a Hispano arabian horse from Spain (imported to Belgium where I lived) and I plan to bring him to the US... I moved here last year.

Hi Jenna,
sorry for the late reply, it has been a bit quiet here so I didn't check the messages anymore... but we can change that, tell me your story!