Equinox Acres Dressage
2065 Sanders rd V9p9c2 Nanoose Bay, BC, Canada

TRAINING SCALE discussion Continued! I started this little series to discuss the components of the Training scale and help create a clearer understanding of how the RUNGS of the ladder build on each other like a pyramid . We have looked at RHYTHM-SUPPLENESS- & how this relates to CONTACT Before we move on I’d like to Discuss the RIDER. It is the Rider’s job to create a correct balance to receive the Contact. From this the horse can learn to use their body and accept the... bit. This is the difference from accepting the CONTRACT and being ON THE BIT. The RIDER must be in good balance to Receive and Recycle the driving aids with the balancing aids! So to Discuss CONTACT today we are looking at the RIDER- Diagram 1 shows the seat development and in order to have an independent torso & hand the Rider needs to work to develop a tucked seat and strong core. This will allow for more independent movement of the hips and free up the shoulder girdle and arms. Remember the hands are an extension of the arms or what I call the end of the line Next up we will explore in more detail ‘On the Bit’ and the elusive ‘half halt’ About us EC Medium Dressage judge, FEI Rider, B.Ed, B.Hkin, NCCP certified, EC Licensed

Up next in our discussion on the training scale is CONTACT ~ I feel this is a bit like Pandora’s box! CONTACT is often difficult to understand as it is the RESULT of how well the first 2 Rungs of your training scale (RELAXATION/RHYTHM- SUPPLENESS) have been achieved So in other words, CONTACT is something that occurs when you have a clear Rhythm and a Supple back. The Rider does also need to have a Balanced Seat & Hand in order to Receive the Connection. Contact shou...ld not be forced but rather it is the End point of the Energy created through the body. If Contact is inconsistent, very heavy, or too light, it is time to ask yourself what is happening elsewhere in the horses (or riders) body and to go back to your building blocks to assess what is missing Think of a HOSE. When you open up the Water Tap and the water flows nicely out the end it forms an ARCH- If you don’t have enough Volume of water (Rhythm/TACT) there will be only a trickle of water. If you have too much (Loss of Rhythm/Balance) the water will Spray with force. If your HOSE is Kinked the water is blocked and what does come out will Spray sideways (Suppleness). A Correct CONTACT is achieved when the Correct BALANCE of Rhythm & Suppleness are established. The Rider’s position and ability to have Independent aids is also of great importance! With good alignment of Elbow-Forearm-Wrist-Hand-Rein-Bit you will be able to have a direct feel to your horse’s mouth and then can begin to influence the Energy Circle . Up next - ON THE BIT About us EC Medium Dressage Judge, FEI Rider, B.Ed, B.Hkin, NCCP Certified, EC Licensed See more

A Very Special Horse Available for a 2-3 day part lease. On site only, looking for the right person who wants to improve their Dressage education & appreciates the opportunity to part lease this amazing FEI Schoolmaster Unicorn . Lesson program required, no drama barn environment, lease agreement applies. Please Pm for more details & to apply #equinoxacresdressage

We are Officially OPEN while not % complete we are pleased to welcome Drop ins/Haul ins for lessons! Limited passes also available Boarding and training options will be available April 1st Interested? Drop us a line! All horses receive TOP Care. 4 feedings, quality hay, 12x12 matted stalls with shelters and runs, seasonal grass, Track system, heated wash stalls, TWO full size arenas! Indoor & Outdoor. EC Licensed Coaches, Insured, Certified, FEI Rider/trainers Equinox Acres Dressage Vancouver Island, Nanoose Bay BC

SUPPLENESS- The second part of Suppleness is LATERAL SUPPLENESS. This is always in conjunction with LONGITUDINAL SUPPLENESS. They function together to create a SUPPLE Top line that is connected like a BRIDGE from Back to Front and Side to Side. With LATERAL Suppleness we are looking at BEND. Bend should be through the entire body. Often we see too much neck bend with very little body bend. This creates a crooked horse and breaks the Lateral connection in the Spine. I like to ...think of a SLINKY shape for the Top Line & a BANANA shape for your Lateral Suppleness. If your Banana has too much bend on one end it will Break! Using visualization can help you picture the shape you are working to achieve! When you focus on the first two Rungs of your training scale - RHYTHM - SUPPLENESS- you will arrive at CONTACT which we will discover next with Donny & Bellagio About us EC Medium DressageJudge, FEI Rider, B.Ed, B.Hkin, NCCP Certified, EC Licensed

Next up the ladder of our training scale is: SUPPLENESS There are two types of Suppleness 1. LONGITUDINAL 2. LATERAL Today in our series (post #3) we will look at LONGITUDINAL Suppleness. This is the connection of your horse’s top line from the base of the tail to the poll. It is the foundation of suppleness and you need to have it for the ability to add LATERALSuppleness.... Suppleness is achieved through a good Rhythm and balance. The horse is a series of levers, if there is a lack of balance the neck will lift/brace to counter balance a dropped back or shoulders. Suppleness comes from a thrust of the hind legs- over the back - to the withers - out to the neck and poll. Think of an Elevator, you should be able to adjust the frame lower and as your horse gains strength, your elevator rises up from Aubenhausen demonstrates the scale of balance to look for when developing the LONGITUDINAL Suppleness About us EC Medium Dressage Judge, FEI Rider, B.Ed, B.Hkin, NCCP Certified, EC Licensed

Advent Day 23 Trainer Spotlight! Equinox Acres team welcomes Loni Atwood (EC Certified Specialist Coach) to our team! Loni brings a great skill set and enjoys working with young horses & students of all ages! With our Indoor opening soon we look forward to welcoming keen students to our program stay tuned for our Covid friendly Open House in the New Year

Advent Day 22 While the top hats are out, another hat I wear is Equestrian Canada SM Dressage Judge. I began judging to improve my eye and really enjoy sitting in the hot seat . I judge now up to the Gold National level & have aspirations to become an FEI judge in the future. I hope the feedback I provide improves the rider, the horse & the sport. My philosophy is to be positive, on-point and provide beneficial input. I hope to see more faces on the center line in 2021 Happy Half Halts everyone #equinoxacresdressage #hotseat #Dressagejudge

Advent Calendar Day 7 Motivation Motivation ebbs and flows for all of us, sometimes we’ve on fire and other times it’s just so difficult and nothing works out! This year has certainly been the later for most people including myself on some levels but not in all To be motivated is to be resilient & have a belief To slow down and value how far you have come & how much further you will go #equinoxacresdressage #customsaddles #keepgoing

Advent Calendar Day 6 Sunday Sun! It’s lovely on the west coast today but still missing the California Sunshine here are some highlights of the last few seasons & some of the wonderful facilities we have traveled & trained at always thankful for these opportunities to learn & grow #equinoxacresdressage #topbarns #travelwithhorses

Advent Day 21 Gratitude As the year closes I reflect on this wonderful horse Denver S he truly has been a great gift and has taught me so much. With Big D I was able to achieve my personal best at FEI but more importantly the trust of a very good horse. He gave me the opportunity to ride with the world’s best coaches and meet new friends. This year he and I were accepted to train at Aubenhausen in Germany and booked to leave last April. With Covid and subsequent other issues our plans have derailed (curse of 2020!). With D, I rode in the forest and up mountains, we played with jumps, cantered the fields & travelled for almost 2 years. He is a once in a lifetime horse and I am so grateful for him, even the ups and downs of this journey #equinoxacresdressage #customsaddles #canpressco

No filter needed! Equinox Acres Dressage sending you best Thanksgiving Wishes Horses being horses, trails, friends & good times #fallfun #canpressco #customsaddles #dressur

Advent Calendar Day 5 Seniors!! Yes Seniors!! We all age and taking care of our senior horses is no different! Today’s highlight is Bellagio (Beau Soleil x Arkansas). This lovely 19yo has been with us since a young horse. He is the heart of the farm. We keep him fit and healthy with moderate work, varied terrain, good nutrition and care. No gimmicks here! @recent Pia clinic ~PC Grabriela Danasova #canpresscooil #customsaddles #seniorhorses

Advent Day 20 Sunday is for some R&R around here! While the horses enjoy the day off so do our other furry friends our farm is complete with all sorts of animals #equinoxacresdressage #animalhouse

Advent Calendar Day 4 What’s more fitting in our Friday advent calendar than FOALS !! Equinox Acres is proud to be producing Top Dressage Sport Horses #equinoxacresdressage #FEI #advent2020

Advent Day 19 Sponsor highlight! CANPRESSCO Oil give your horses a gift this year! If you’re going to add anything try the Omega 3-6-9 blend rich in natural Vitamin E. Made from Camelina oil in Canada * plus support local retailers summersidetack.com and Lynn Cullen [email protected] #quality #healthyhorses #benefits #canpressco

Advent Day 17 in light of the passing of the great Stallion Totilas, our Thursday throwback is to the lovely boy Totem that was bred by Patricia Close out of her GP mare Denebola (Donnerhall) and raised/owned from a weanling to 4yo by Equinox Acres. I loved this boy and am proud of his success. We purchased him in partnership and had him licensed Old NA & RPSI lifetime. Equinox Acres has retained frozen semen and breeding rights to this lovely boy (Totilas x Donnerhall) I think 2021 will be our year that we use him with our beautiful B line mare! #futureplanning #totilasRIP #dressagelove

Advent Calendar day 3 the Track System!! We love to hack around the track that circles the property there is a bridge and pond & local trails off the farm as well to help develop well rounded athletes #equinoxacresdressage #crosstraining #outofthearena

More exciting news for the Farm! Expecting our second foal for 2021 a repeat breeding Dannebrog x Florencio Dannebrog is by Don Scufro/Brentano II who is a... full sibling to MSJ Diva Dannebrog. Our foundation mare Fire & Ice is by Florencio/Hohenstein. This combo produced our lovely Duran Duran EQ ~ Elite GOV Colt in 2019!! A special thank you to Dr Danielle Fritz, Pangea Farms & Top Notch farms for their support & to my barn family- it really does take a village

More exciting news for the Farm! Expecting our second foal for 2021 a repeat breeding Dannebrog x Florencio Dannebrog is by Don Scufro/Brentano II who is a... full sibling to MSJ Diva Dannebrog. Our foundation mare Fire & Ice is by Florencio/Hohenstein. This combo produced our lovely Duran Duran EQ ~ Elite GOV Colt in 2019!! A special thank you to Dr Danielle Fritz, Pangea Farms & Top Notch farms for their support & to my barn family- it really does take a village

Really nice little mare available! Great for a junior, small amateur, contact Loni Atwood for details

Advent Calendar Day 2 we are showcasing our Foundation mare Fire & Ice ~ Fin is a beautiful, balanced, correct mare with powerful movement & a lovely temperament. She is German Hanoverian & Oldenburg GOV approved Premium/Elite mare by Florencio x Hoenstein A super mare for our farm she has produced 2019 Elite Stallion prospect Duran Duran EQ & 2018 Premium Don Nobless foal, Don Snow EQ she is currently in foal to Dannebrog for 2021 We love our girls #adventcalendar #equinoxacresdressage #FEIHorses

Exciting news for our little farm

Really enjoyed the last few days at the farm. Such a wonderful group of riders for the Janine Little clinic where we all really enjoyed our rides!! Feeling ...really thankful & optimistic for our great crew of keen riders & wonderful horses! Plus good food Bellagio strutting his stuff, unfortunately Denver S had a minor issue this week & wasn’t able to participate but we are looking forward to Next time!! Thank you to the riders & clinician for a great time #equinoxacresdressage #customsaddles #campresco #dressagehorses #janinelittledressage

Please PM if interested in a riding spot for this clinic!

Thank you to Vancouver Island PEMF for the amazing treatments for our horses! Impromptu Kingsley Boot photo shoot included @Vancouverislandpemf @loniatwood @equinoxacresdressage

More Covid-19 updates from the farm we are all in good health - keeping horses fit & healthy! Welcoming new friend Radar to the farm! Happy May #equinoxacresdressage #happyhorses

Wonderful Carl tips as usual

My new & Updated Website

To my fellow Dressage Enthusiasts ~ To keep us motivated during this difficult time I am offering Free Dressage scoring Practice test rides! Send me a video... of a practice test at home - doesn’t need to be fancy (no show clothes required- unless you want!) and I will score your ride & send back feedback *I am an EC Medium level Judge (USA Large R) & FEI Rider/trainer - EC Gold Award Rider & USDF Silver medalist* I love all horses and types so don’t be shy this is free but if you feel so obliged a $10 suggested donation I will collect & send to BC Horse Angels If you can not go to the barn I am happy to view your ride in the future- just PM me anytime See more

Wonderful day here @peridotequestrian! Enjoying a fabulous Juan Matute Jr clinic. Top young riders and the excellent hospitality Peridot is famous for! my horses enjoying their day off in the fields #alwayslearning #mindset #dressagegoals

Sad to see the passing of Jazz. I am fortunate to have a wonderful direct Jazz son, Denver S as my riding partner and friend. He has many similarities and the Jazz look that is certain! & is one of the many Jazz’s successful at the FEI level Also this week the passing of stallion Don Schufro. We are happy to also have his Grandson (by Dannebrog) Duran Duran EQ at our farm. Keeping legends alive #RIP #Dressagelegends #toplines #forthefuture