Whispering Acres

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Step-back Saturday’s feature is the construction of our 60x100 outdoor arena! Take a peek through the photos below to see where we started, the process and where we are now. Although we are not finished our arena yet, it certainly has made a world of difference in the well-being of our equines. We can’t thank my Mom and Dad enough, for helping us with this project!

Gorgeous morning!

While their drive is to get a clear round, to jump the highest, turn the tightest, beat the clock and win the class, it’s their horses who are the real stars. They have to be quick and clever and able to get themselves out of trouble, so that if they come in on the wrong stride and scramble over a fence nearly unseated, or if their horse knocks the back rail and it bounces in the cups but doesn’t hit the ground, they can still win. The excitement, the gasping of the crowd, t...he exhilaration of knowing that anything can happen on the day because every horse is only as good as the round they’ve just jumped. There’s no biased judging here, they either jump clean or they don’t. And nothing beats the exhilaration of a clear round in the jump-off. Riding against the clock, turning as tight as they possibly can around the course without knocking a single fence, then racing for the flags, urging their horses on, nosing through the finish, knowing that every moment counts. They bring the horse slowly back to a walk, straining their ears to hear the announcer tell everyone that theirs is now the time to beat, and then wait through the impossibly long minutes as the rest of the class jumps. Friends become the opposition, and they watch them go, desperately hoping they will take out a rail or miss their striding, anything that will ensure that they take home the win today. I want to join their ranks, to become part of that world. I just need the pony to take me there. ~ Kate Lattey See more

As a coach, I can’t stress enough about how important phase one through four of jumping, really is. In addition looking beyond your current jump & on to the next, using appropriate signals through training to encourage your horse to know when to take off [this is super key for the greenies!] and ensuring that you measure your striding to account for take off/landing are sure ways to set you up for success!

The last grooming session of 2020 Roxy is certainly going into 2021 all shiny & sassy