August 2012 Volume 40

Supporting the needs of equestrians and building

Harmonious horse/rider partnerships.

Dancing Horse News

The horse, with beauty unsurpassed, strength immeasurable and grace unlike any other, still re-

mains humble enough to carry a man upon his back.

-Amber Senti

Alaska, Biomechanics, Showing . . . By Jen Truett

July has been a fun-filled and exciting month for us. It started with Lenny and me going on an Alaskan cruise with his family to celebrate his parents' 50th wedding anniversary!

As a gift, Lenny's parents paid for my boys to go to the "spa" at Equisports in Goshen, OH, owned and run by Skip and Anne Thornbury because I was so concerned about them being out of work for 10 days - the longest I've ever left them. What a fantastic place! The boys got to work in the AquaPacer, which is a treadmill that fills up with water creating resis-tance while the horse walks so they really build up their topline and pushing muscles. I was very im-pressed with how fit and toned Sunset was after only one week of using this amazing tool. On the other hand, Taffy stayed true to form and was quite the chicken, so he only got to "swim" a couple times. The

boys also got daily exercise on Equisports' indoor EquiGym walker - how nice! Anne was great about sending me updates when I had phone coverage and both boys were fit and happy when we returned.

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Sunset on the AquaPacer

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August 2012 Dancing Horse News Page 3

Musings on the Olympics and DHF’s part in them by Lynda Sappington

With the Olympics starting soon, the world’s attention has turned to the various aspects of Olympic sport. From Stephen Colbert declaring dressage the “Sport of Summer 2012” and even taking a dressage lesson (shown on “The Colbert Report” July 26 on Comedy Central—the video should be online now), which has given dressage a huge “bump” our sport in the public’s eye, to news reports on equipment used, such as this very interesting one on helmet construction, the world has its eyes on Olympic sports. We at DHF are doing the same kind of sport—dressage, jumping, eventing—and who knows? Someday one of our students or trainers may be wearing the red, white and blue and representing our country at the Pan Am Games and/or the Olympics!

Barn Banter by Helen Trimeloni

Welcome new boarder Maya Hall and her horse Splash! Welcome to DHF's newest lesson horse, Charisma! Welcome to Hannah Parker and her horse, Hank! Welcome to Sami’s two Arab mares, Lindy and Jazz, who have come to DHF for training. Good luck to Bill and Caitlin Dyer as they move on in their exciting Midwest journey! Join us in giving a warm DHF Family welcome to Melissa Miller Eventing as she and her clients jump into our family! To learn more about Melissa and her horses, visit her website at www.MelissaMillerEventing.com

A Big THANK YOU! A big THANK YOU to Lenny Truett, Danielle Distler, Helen Knapke, Helen T, Cheri Ohmer, Paul Fox, and Rachel Hanzak for helping install the new fence! It looks great!

DHF Birthdays! Happy Birthday to Marylou Braun August 7; Carolyn Abbot ,August 8; Ken Poleyeff, August 10; Bailey Johnson, August 10; and Natalie Regel, August 30!

A big THANK YOU to our DHF staff for doing such an amazing job painting aisle 3 in

the farm clors as a special “welcome home” gift to us after our vacation! Special thanks to Sami for coming up with the idea, then seeing it all the way through to completion. Awe-some Job! -Jen and Lenny

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Thanks so much, Anne, for taking such good care of my precious boys! Since we've been home, Taffy has calmed down in his flying changes and is closer than ever to having them finished - this past weekend, we even did our first sets of series changes with no major hiccups! What has helped the flying changes so much is that he is carrying himself in a totally new uphill balance ena-bling him to find school/pirouette canter and he's fig-uring out how to balance in canter pirouettes. He is getting much more solid in piaffe and more expres-sive in passage. Yes, I still pinch myself daily and at times, discover my eyes tearing up as I watch our re-flection float by in our mirrors as he develops into this elegant, young FEI horse. I still can't believe the progress he's made from the lame horse I bought for $1 three years ago this October. I am so excited about him and his bright future. I plan to show him in FL this winter, so he has about 6 more months to fin-ish his changes and pirouettes to be ready for 4th level and maybe, if he continues to build strength, understanding and stays happy in his work, even PSG. Taffy is such a great example of what Mary's RWYM and correct biomechanics work can do for a horse. We have several new boarders/lesson clients who are all excited to see and feel the progress their horses are making in such a short time. It's so fun to see the wonder and joy in our clients’ faces when they dis-cover a new feeling like core stability, learn a new way to communicate with their horses, and can visi-bly see the their horses' muscles change and im-prove. I LOVE this method of teaching and learning and can't stop talking about its successes, so much so that I recently began the process of applying for the next level of my RWYM accreditation, which takes months to complete. I hope to finish by the end of the year.

Did you know that there are only four accredited RWYM coaches on the entire North American conti-nent? We four recently got together and created a small web site so that more people can learn about who we are and what we do. Feel free to visit our site

and say "Hi" to my fellow US RWYM coaches, Lisa, Stephanie and Erica. The site is www.RideWithYourMindUSA.com and, this is excit-ing, Mary even gave us a plug in her newest Dressage Today article that came out in the August issue! Speaking of August, we are gearing up for our back-to-back Dayton Local Show Circuit (DLSC) DHF shows. Our Aug 25 dressage show will be judged by Sandra Arthur, USDF "L" Grad and our August 26th hunter show will be judged by Aubrey Sears. Please join us for our fun, inviting, friendly DLSC shows! I have been asked countless times this year when I will start showing, I "finally" have an answer - August! I haven't shown my boys this year because we've been so focused on training and getting their flying changes finished. Well, they are not quite ready to show yet, but surprisingly, my mom's horse Ricos is. Ricos is a 17 yr old Half-Andalusian she has owned for four years who was diagnosed with EPM early last summer. He was treated and didn't go back into full work until February this year. Since then, he has made incredible progress in his training and is stronger, more balanced, and better than ever!

We and the vets think he likely had a very low grade level of EPM for years because he always had strange balance and contact issues, including lolling his tongue out during work and stumbling flying changes among other balance and rhythm issues. Since the EPM treatment, he is a different horse. The treat-ment he had wasn’t wasn't the common and expen-sive Marquee treatment (~$900 for a one month treatment), it was one dose of Baycox (Toltrazuril) which was done with a nasal tube and cost $80, and a daily drench of Sulfa-Pyrameth for four months at a cost of $110 a month from her vet, Dr. Lance Alexan-der in Richmond, Indiana.

I decided to ride him as a demo horse in our May McPhail seminar since his issues would be an inter-esting subject of discussion. In that seminar, McPhail's Nicole and Narelle gave me some tips for increasing his strength and suppleness, including

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using their Equicore band pad which I've used on sev-eral other horses with great success. Well, it worked! Now, going on three months later, I'm about to enter him in shows at 4th level, maybe even PSG! I don't expect impressive scores because of his average gaits, but he is giving me his honest best effort con-sistently, and with a wonderful attitude. I am excited to be able to show him for my completely ecstatic mom who always believed in him, even when I

doubted, and of course, has always been my biggest supporter. These shows are dedicated to you, Mother, the ever-present wind beneath my wings :-) Enjoy your horses and the time that you get to spend with them and the people around you who give so much of themselves to support you as you follow your dreams. -Jen

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Jen Truett on Lynda Sappington’s El Paso Aricos (“Ricos”) on 31 July 2012. (Editor’s note: That’s my boy!! And that’s my girl, too! [Jen] WHOO-HOO!)

RICOS ROCKS!!!

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The McPhail Center Clinic by Helen Trimeloni

After traveling to the McPhail Center last fall, I was very excited for Dr. Narelle Stubbs and Nicole Rombach to come to the farm. Our visit to Michigan was so informative that I knew that their physical therapy sympo-sium would be just as beneficial. It started with a lecture in the morning, which was supplemented by a slide show containing pictures and video clips that perfectly demonstrated the concepts Narelle was explaining to us. Nicole wasn't present for the lecture; she was off working on our “surprise” for after the lecture. Narelle discussed why core stability is so important in sport horses and ways to monitor and improve your horse's core strength. All of the informa-

tion came straight from the research being done at McPhail, and in the horse world, where trends and fads tend to be the norm, it was refreshing to see that there was a well thought-out reason behind eve-rything she talked about. After the lecture, Nicole brought out her handiwork of the past few hours. She had beautifully painted Anja's mare, Eliice, all over her body to depict the various muscles, ligaments, and bones involved in core strength and carrying a rider. It was really neat to see Eliise performing carrot stretches while her colored muscle groups flexed and relaxed. After a short lunch break, we had some ridden demos, where Narelle and Nicole talked us through their process, starting with evaluation of any asym-metries or lamenesses and moving to targeted exer-

cise programs tailored to each horse's needs. They were able to spot the slightest inconsistencies in gait, and it showed me how important it is to de-tect any issues early, before the lameness becomes noticeable. I got many new tools for monitoring and maintaining soundness in my own horses, and I have an increased understanding of how equine anatomy affects our horses' athletic endeavors under saddle.

Narelle (left) and Nicole with Eliise (Photo by Jen Truett)

Dr. Narelle Stubbs and Nicole Rombach

Helpful Hint by Lori Aman To help prevent mold on tack in your locker, hang a Damp Rid bag, available from Home Depot or at this link: http://bit.ly/RgqQwz No guarantee it will prevent mold, but it does decrease dampness in there.

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Training for the same thing gets kind of boring after a while. It also puts the same kind of stresses on the horse’s bones, muscles, and connective tissues. Basi-cally, it can lead to a mental and/or physical break at some point in time. But such a break or injury can be avoided through cross training. Cross training can lead to a happier and healthier horse. Cross training originates from triathletes train-ing for cycling and running to help them perform bet-ter in swimming (ISSA). While, it does not actually help in that way, it does give variety, work different groups of muscle fibers, and help prevent injury. Examples for cross training for dressage horses sug-gested in The Injury-Free Horse by Amanda Sutton include hill work and gymnastic jumping. Hill work makes the engagement of the hindquarters essential to go up or down the hill and also strengthens the back and hindquarters. Jumping encourages in-creased flexion of the hip, stifle, and hock joints. Galloping is another form of cross training as it lets the horse stretch out and use different muscle fibers than the ones used for collection. It also increases ridability and gives a great mental break from the arena workouts. Even just getting out of the arena is helpful. The var-ied terrain teaches the horse to pick up its feet and

learn to be responsible for itself. The horse should not be reliant on the rider to keep it from face plant-ing. Top riders have used riding outside the ring to help horses learn to go straight and to bend properly as well. Cross training also makes training fresher for the rider. Galloping and riding outside the ring can in-crease confidence and learning a different discipline even can keep riding interesting. So, cross training can keep training interesting, lead to a better athlete, and prevent injury. There is no reason to not give it a try.

Works Cited Amanda Sutton, The Injury-Free Horse: Hands-on methods for maintaining soundness & health (Vermont: Trafalgar Square Publishing, 2001), 146-147. Frederick C. Hatfield, Fitness: The Complete Guide official text for ISSA’s Certified Trainer Course Edition 8.6.6 (California: International Sports Sciences Asso-ciation, 2011), 316-318.

Dare to Dream Applause! Dare to Dream Applause cards are available in the office next to the payment box. Just fill them out and drop them into the box when you want to express appreciation to someone for something they’ve done. APPLAUSE to Sheryl Regel for “being extremely thoughtful and kind to all the staff, bringing us ice cream and making us slushies on really hot days. Makes our days better to be thought of this way. With thanks from The Staff. APPLAUSE to Sami Namenyi for “always having a smile and a huge bubbly personality and helping out around the barn every chance she gets. She’s awesome!” With thanks from Vicki Difford APPLAUSE to Rachel Hanzak “for being a hard worker and always doing a fantastic job in everything she does.“ (unsigned)

Crosstraining by Rachel Hanzak

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This summer has been a hot one, even with the few “breaks” of 80 degree weather. We can’t just stop riding and taking care of our horses because of the heat. Horses, unfortunately, still need their stalls cleaned, watered, fed, and exercised. As owners, it’s our job to be smart about how to accomplish those vital needs without getting overheated in the scorch-ing sun. Heat stress occurs when our internal bodies’ temperature cannot release the heat that is being absorbed around the environment efficiently enough to keep our bodies cool. Heat stress happens when you are outside exercising, working, or just walking around. Even people working inside can overheat if they are next to a furnace, oven, or anything that produces extreme heat in close proximity. There are signs that you as a worker or rider need to watch out for, whether it’s for yourself, a friend, or even your horse. The four illnesses of heat stress are heat rash, cramps, exhaustion, and stroke. Heat rashes are the least severe while heat strokes are the most severe. There are a couple of signs related to heat ill-nesses that you need to be able to recognize: profuse

sweating or no sweating, intense thirst, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. These symptoms do not neces-sarily go in order, so you must stay on the look out to see if someone is walking funny, their eyes are glassed over, or a bright tomato red face. Horses can have signs such as panting, stumbling, not sweating as much as expected, or not sweating at all, unre-sponsiveness, and in severe situations, seizures. If you or your horse starts to experience any type of heat stress you fix it by following simple steps. First, find a shaded area out of the sun with ventilation (sitting in front of a fan/ sitting in an air-conditioned room). Second, get wet. Put a cool towel on your neck and/or head. If it’s a horse, then you need to hose them down with cold water to get their body temperature down. Third, drink lots of water and eat something sweet to get your blood sugar back up. You can’t make a horse drink but you can give them electrolytes, and if the horse is in really bad shape you can start an IV of fluids. To help really get this information into your brain because it’s so important I have a helper named Bob the Bear to help go over the material again.

MmmMmm… You Guys Smell Like Bacon by Helen Knapke

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Learn to Sculpt Horses with Lynda Sappington Internationally collected sculptor Lynda Sappington will be teaching a sculpting workshop at DHF October 1-5, 2012. Learn how to make armatures, how to measure horses, how to do proper proportions. Watch a horse evolve from nothing but pipes and wires and clay to a beautiful creation. No ex-perience needed, but experienced sculptors are also wel-come. $250 payable to Whimsy Hill Studio, 15401 Eaton Pike, West Alexandria OH 45381. Class size is limited, so sign up soon! If you have questions, please contact Lynda@TheSculptedHorse.com. You can see Lynda’s work at www.TheSculptedHorse.com.

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Testimonial

Jen, I just wanted to say THANK YOU so much for everything thus far!! I’m not the easiest person to teach, I’m sure, and I really appreciate your patience and not giving up on me yet! I have confidence issues I’m really tring to fix, but I do feel much better about my riding ability. If I stay dedicated and keep working at it, there’s nowhere I can go but “up!” I had the pleasure of watching you ride for a few minutes after my lesson today , and I was watching some of your vids on YouTube last night. I think the video of you and Crescendo in Florida showed me how my rising trot needed to look. Thanks for making those resources available to us! Talk to you soon, thanks again! Kendra Tolle

Learn how to go from nothing to this.

Then to this.

And learn how bronze is made.

(Shown: “Tolt” by Lynda Sappingtoni)

Horses for Sale - More info: Jen@myDHF.com or 937-532-3108 Wildorado’s Mandalay is a handsome young (DOB: 18 May 10) Danish Warmblood gelding. Mandalay is by the famous Blue Hors Don Roman-tic by Blue Hors Don Schufro and out of Kastaniegardens Eliise/Ragazzo/Raphael. Mandalay is a lovely bay with a very large star and two back socks. He has a quiet, easy-going personality and lovely, expressive gaits. He is over 16 hands already and has huge joints and substantial leg bone. He will mature to at least 16.3 hands. He had a full pre-purchase exam on 10/22/11 including x-rays, flexions, eyes, lungs, heart check and passed with flying colors! The x-rays showed that his growth plates are still wide open so he still has a lot of growing to do. He is priced at $18,000 to a show home. New videos of both Mandalay and Zachary: taken 16 May 2012: http://bit._ly/KcqTLC http://bit.ly/

MXLPGB http://bit.ly/LHSeEq http://bit.ly/Kcsa5y http://bit.ly/M76JEj

Wildorado's Zachary is an elegant young (10 May 10) Danish Warmblood gelding for sale. Zach has superior dressage bloodlines since he is by Blue Hors Zack by Rousseau and out of Noble Heart by Michellino. He is a brown bay with two small hind socks and currently stands over 16 hands. He will mature to at least 16.2 hands. He had a full pre-purchase exam on 10/22/11 including x-rays, flexions, eyes, lungs, heart check and passed with flying colors! The x-rays showed that his growth plates are still wide open so he still has a lot of growing to do. He is priced at $18,000 to a show home. New videos of Zach are at the links at the end of Mandalay’s ad above.

Sticky Bun is a 2006 13.1h flashy brown and white Shetland/Paint cross mare who is as cute as they come. She is very friendly and always ready to greet visitors to her stall, nuzzling them and searching for treats. She came to us with nice gaits but very green, and has been in training with the ap-prentices and advanced students since winter of 2010-11. Sticky now knows 1st-2nd level dressage and is jumping courses. She has beautiful hunter form and is working on her changes. She could do very well in the hunter ring and has the talent for ‘A’ shows. She is quiet and gentle enough for our beginning students and has been used for beginner lessons and camps. Sticky Bun would make a wonderful best friend for lucky child and could easily progress with her rider up the levels. She goes barefoot, is an easy keeper, and is UTD on all farrier, dentistry, and veterinary care.

Price will increase with continued training, lesson experience, and show mileage. $10,000

J.R.'s Town- "Jay" is a 1997 16.2h Thoroughbred gelding. He is a stunning cop-per color in the sunlight. He was formerly a very successful racehorse, earning $156,390 on the track. After 90 starts, his owner decided he had nothing left to prove, so he became a hunter/jumper. He came to DHF as a lesson horse and is an all-around nice guy. Jay is a scopy jumper. He navigates sizable courses very well under the guidance of an experienced rider. He has three good gaits and has clean flying changes. He has been the primary training project of Helen Trimeloni, one of DHF's apprentices and competed at the 2012 Greater Dayton HT in Novice Open, earning 7th place. Jay is unusually mellow for a former race-horse, but his size and athleticism limits him to our intermediate and advanced riders despite his gentle nature. Jay made his very successful DHF show debut

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(Jay continued) with a DHF student at our 2011 Halloween on Horseback Dressage show. He is a perfect choice for an intermediate to experienced rider looking for their next jumper, eventer, or field hunter. Jay has no vices, wears front shoes, and is UTD on all farrier, dentistry, and veterinary care. $7000. Price will increase with continued training, les-son experience, and show mileage. You can see recent pictures and video of him here: http://bit.ly/KZjCdW

Miley is a 13.1h 2006 buckskin pony mare of unknown breeding, but her fancy movement hints at some Morgan heritage. She can be a little feisty but is always fun to ride and has never bucked or reared. Her flashy gaits led to her purchase by us as a prospective dressage pony, but we soon discovered that she is equally talented over fences. Miley was quite green when we got her in January 2011, but she has been in training and now is solid WTC and over fences with our lesson students. She is a favorite in our lesson program and is jumping 2' courses with students and will begin competing in the hunter ring very soon. She is super about getting her correct leads and nearly has her changes. She has no vices, goes barefoot, is an easy keeper, and is UTD on all her veterinary, farrier, and dentistry care. Miley would

make a wonderful hunter, Pony Club or 4-H mount, or dressage pony for a lucky child! Price will increase with contin-ued training, lesson experience, and show mileage. $5,000 OBO

Solitaire: 2008 Pinto Oldenburg Gelding By Sempatico, out of Berlin/Cimarron (HOL) Will mature 17.1+ hands Registered & Branded Olden-burg NA. Detailed 5x Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/solitaire45 Well started under saddle. He is very careful over fences with a powerful jump. He will be a fantastic Open Jumper or High A/O Jumper. Solitaire will be a top level competitor and partner for an advanced level or profes-sional rider. While our farm's focus is on Show Jumping, Solitaire has good foundation in dressage work and would make a great Dressage horse. He is a smart and willing horse with superbly elastic gaits. He is a true athlete and is certain to be a top competitor in any company. He has

a sensible temperament and really bonds with his grooms and rider. He travels well; over the past summer he spent a week at the Kentucky Horse Park during the Blue Grass Festival Hunter Jumper show. He hacked out in the busy warm up rings and also went trail riding both alone and in a group around the horse park. He will be at several USEF shows this summer at the Kentucky Horse Park and will be available to be tried both at the horse shows and at our farm in Dayton Ohio. Videos available upon request. Priced at $50,000 Contact Heidi Poinsett stoneybrookfarmohio@gmail.com or call 937-263-0329

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Congratulations to Christina Sharkey, a long-time DHF stu-dent who was also a working student for two years, and Alex Knecht on their marriage August 11, 2012! We wish you many years of

happiness together!