Top Form Equestrian
2990 57b street, Ladner Delta, BC, Canada

Most horses pass from one human to another - some horsemen and women are patient and forgiving, others are rigorous and demanding, others are cruel, others are... ignorant. Horses have to learn how to, at the minimum, walk, trot, canter, gallop, go on trails and maybe jump, to be treated by the vet, all with sense and good manners. Talented Thoroughbreds must learn how to win races, and if they can't do that, they must learn how to negotiate courses and jump over strange obstacles without touching them, or do complicated dance like movements or control cattle or accommodate severely handicapped children and adults in therapy work. Many horses learn all of these things in the course of a single lifetime. Besides this, they learn to understand and fit into the successive social systems of other horses they meet along the way. A horse's life is rather like twenty years in foster care, or in and out of prison, while at the same time changing schools over and over and discovering that not only do the other students already have their own social groups, but that what you learned at the old school hasn't much application at the new one. We do not require as much of any other species, including humans. That horses frequently excel, that they exceed the expectations of their owners and trainers in such circumstances, is as much a testament to their intelligence and adaptability as to their relationship skills or their natural generosity or their inborn nature. That they sometimes manifest the same symptoms as abandoned orphans - distress, strange behaviors, anger, fear - is less surprising than that they usually don't. No one expects a child, or even a dog to develop its intellectual capacities living in a box 23 hours a day and then doing controlled exercises the remaining one. Mammal minds develop through social interaction and stimulation. A horse that seems "stupid", "slow", "stubborn", etc. might just have not gotten the chance to learn! Take care of your horses and treasure them. ~ Jane Smiley

From the Plaid Horse.... "If a horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong. An average hunter course has 100 strides. Only 8 ...of them are jumps. Don’t sacrifice the 92 for the 8. On approaching a fence: good riders wait until it’s time to go. Great riders go until it’s time to wait. Don’t squat with your spurs on. It is NEVER the horse’s fault. Yes, sometimes a horse may take advantage of a situation, but there is ALWAYS something the rider could do differently to change the situation. Pass left hand to left hand. You can only lie to your horse so many times before they call your bluff. Horses do no know what they are worth. They do not know, or care, what they are capable of. They only care about the way you treat them. Injuries and colic happen almost exclusively at 10:00 pm on a Saturday. Shoes get lost almost exclusively when preparing to leave for a show. If you work hard, try your best, and never give up, your efforts will not go unnoticed. And you will be rewarded with opportunities when you least expect it. If you work hard, try your best, and never give up, you will still fail sometimes. Video doesn’t lie after being told repeatedly that I was lifting my right hand before every fence, and swearing up and down that I was certainly NOT lifting my right hand before every fence I wasin factlifting my right hand before every fence. Sometimes your brain lies to you. Video does not. On being nervous going into the show ring: you’re just not that big of a deal. No one at the show is watching you close enough to know every mistake you might make, except for the judge and your trainer, and you are paying them to watch. Be patient there are no shortcuts. Any shortcut you may try, will actually be the long way. Check your personal issues and emotions at the door. Your horse will know. It usually does not go well. If your horse is in front of your leg, you have options. We never lose. We either win or we learn. Ride like a winner. You cannot act like flip flops and expect to be treated like Louboutins. If you have to pick only two things to think about during a course, pace and track are the two you should choose. The rest cannot happen without pace and track. Give yourself and your horse brain breaks. Go have fun, go hack out in the woods, go swimming bareback, read a book in the paddock, whatever. Just allow yourself time to have fun. At home there’s no reason to jump as big as you show every time. The basics are the basics regardless of the jump height. Save your horses legs. The horse world is very small. Remember this and don’t burn your bridges and be mindful of your words. Clean your tack. Groom your horse. Properly. Every day. If you can control nothing else, you can control your turn out. There is no excuse to not do the minimum effort. No matter what the problem is, the solution is almost always add more leg. Ride the horse you have today. Not the one you had yesterday. Not the one you want to have. The horse under you at this moment is the only one that matters. You go where you look. The human head weighs 10 pounds. Unless you would like to end up on the ground, do not look down. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. " - advice excerpts from the Plaid Horse See more

Have you ever seen a horse drink water...from the bucket's point of view? :) Water is the most vital nutrient for a horse. A horse’s daily water requirements ar...e influenced by age; body condition; the amount, type and quality of feed consumed; fitness level; and activity level. Other factors influencing a horse's water consumption include the temperature, as well as the freshness, purity and palatability of the available water. An idle, 1,100-pound horse in a cool environment will drink 6 to 10 gallons of water per day. But depending on the temperature and on the conditions in which the horse is exercised, the total water intake can increase up to 30 gallons per day. The take-home message: all horses need clean, good-quality water at all times. Outdoor water troughs should be cleaned at least every couple of week to remove debris and algae; stall water buckets should be emptied and rinsed daily. If you have an automatic water system, be sure to check it daily as there could be a malfunction that would result in your horses not getting adequate amounts of water. For more information on horses and water, visit our website at https://aaep.org/horsehealth/cool-clear-water Video courtesy of Конная Россия

Congratulations to all riders yesterday at the DRC Dressage show. Finally the first show of the season!! Well done to Natasha Hall, Kayla Crampton and Michelle Whiticar.

Congratulations to our Percent Day Champions Michelle Whiticar on West-Lee And our Reserve Champions Jenna Tedford on Caly. Your prizes are in the clubhouse and available for pick Sunday, July 19 at the English/Western show.