ESDCTA MAGAZINE REMARKSCOLLECTIVE SeptemberWWW.ESDCTA.ORG2022
2 yourmagazine COLLECTIVE REMARKS Exercises to Engage: Another Great Clinic with Felicitas The L Program 10 15Horse6 Treats A Lesson with Susanne Von Dietze Amateur Dilemma 8 12 President’s Message 3 Table of Contents News from Outside the Ring 11
I hope you enjoy all aspects of your interaction with horses, whether they be riding, showing, grooming, manure shoveling, or just gazing at these beautiful animals. Happy Autumn!
See the full article here, “The Casualties of Growth: At What
3yourmagazine COLLECTIVE REMARKS President Ruth McCormick, our Board Secretary, recently passed around an article regarding the “USET rules causing horse trials to have to cancel...” that has brought into question the rules that have caused long-standing evens to be eliminated, including Jersey Fresh this year. The USEF seems to be focusing on the upper levels and those new venues run by corporations when awarding dates, instead of honoring the grass-roots events that have run for many years and have enabled young riders to move up through the levels.
https://mailchi.mp/8d032a3ee93d/heels-down-spark-1185979?e=9da6feb755Cost?”:It’sagoodread.UpcomingESDCTAEvents:•ESDCTANJHorseTrials(USEARecognized)–September24-25,HorseParkofNJ•Championships&OpenSchoolingShow–October15,HorsePark of NJ • Turkey Trot – November 20, Horse Park of NJ
4 yourmagazineBecome a friend of the ESDCTA on Facebook Follow us on Twitter @ESDCTA Board of OFFICERSTrustees Phone only before 9 p.m. please President president@esdcta.org 732.208.8715 Vice President vicepresident@esdcta.org 609.351.1054 Secretary secretary@esdcta.org 201.240.4505 Treasurer Holly Cornell Ellen Brindle-Clark Ruth McCormick Betty Adduci 3340 Curley Ct, Mullins SC 29574 treasurer@esdcta 610.564.9169 Executive Board Dressage at Large 732.814.1117 Eventing at Large 732.598.3077 Dressage Competitions 201.874.0373 Eventing MembershipMembershipMarketingCompetitions 609.306.8221 Finance 215.489.1557 Education 6093511054 Youth Jena JaniceDr.JenniferRondinelliDuelferLisaToaldoPellegrino Paige Zimmerman Vacant Heidi Lemack Gary VictoriaMaholicShilton Stephanie Warner datlargeMAL@esdcta.org eatlarge youth@esdcta.orgeducation@esdcta.orgfimembership@esdcta.orgmembership@esdcta.orgmarketing@esdcta.orgeventing@esdcta.orgdressage@esdcta.orgMAL@esdcta.orgnance@esdcta.org NJEAB Representative crunner141@comcast.net Awards Carolyn Montgomery awards@esdcta.org OFF COMMITTEEBOARD NominatingNewsletterEquipmentGrantsCalendars/ActivitiesCHAIRS MiaWilmaZimmermanPfeffer Meredith Rogers Vacant newsletter@esdcta.orgdressage@esdcta.orggrants@esdcta.orgactivities@esdcta.org nominations@esdcta.org ShowOmnibusResults Mia Zimmerman Lori Kelly calendar@esdcta.org results@esdcta.org Becky Kuc Holly Cornell COLLECTIVE REMARKS
membership
sign up. The more the merrier! Let us know what you would like to help us with in 2022. All skills and interests wanted. Have an idea? We want to hear about it. Remember, this club is what YOU make it. Contact president@esdcta.org if you are interested. WHAT’S YOUR TALENT?? 2022 ADVERTISING RATES MEMBER NON-MEMBER FULL PAGE $100 $130 HALF PAGE $65 $85 QUARTER PAGE $40 $60 BUSINESS CARD $20 $30 CARD FOR 3 MONTHS $45 $65 CLASSIFIEDS $10 $15 Deadline: 15th of prior month Email: newsletter@esdcta.org Please have electronic ads in Adobe PDF or .jpg format You will receive an invoice for ad via email. Send Payment to: Betty Adduci 3340 Curley Ct, Mullins, SC 29574 Email: treasurer@esdcta.org Have a great article that you would like to share? Please send article to: Meredith Rogers: newsletter@esdcta.org All submissions are due by the 15th of the month. Due to space considerations, the editor reserves the right to edit submitted articles. If necessary, articles will be edited and returned for your review. AND YOU GET VOLUNTEER HOUR FOR EACHNEWSLETTERSTORY! COMMITTEE For membership questions including updating physical or e-mail addresses please contact: Heidi MEMBERSHIPmembership@esdcta.orgLemackQUESTIONSPleaseContactLindaMarcianteifyouknowanyESDCTAmemberswhohaveachievedanyMilestones.Successatashow,regional/national/internationalaward,newhorse,oranythingelseyouwanttocelebrate.e-mail:lindalbbf@gmail.comMilestone COLLECTIVE REMARKS
If you’re reading this, you are probably a member of ESDCTA, but I’m sure you know of someone who rides dressage or events who is not a member. You know all about the wonderful things offered like educational programs, clinics with big name trainers, horse shows, year-end awards, and not least, that sense of being part of a community of likeminded people. The more members ESDCTA has, the better the programs we can offer. Our membership numbers are also important considerations when state and local governments decide on legislature that affects us (like open space), and we advocate for our sports (We helped get better footing at the HPNJ). reach out to your equestrian buddies them all of the benefits of and have them
5yourmagazine CROSS COUNTRY... News Across Our Region COMMUNITY NEWS
about
and tell
Please
By, Meredith Rogers
Advancing to third level has made me think about how we all learn. For my day job I’ve studied this a bit, so I will explain briefly what I’m talking about. There are four stages of competence:
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Unconscious incompetence, where you don’t know what you don’t know
Learning starts at conscious incompetence and continues through conscious com petence, although the desire to learn generally starts at unconscious incompetence. Nevertheless, we are all at all four of these stages at the same time for different things.
Conscious incompetence where you know there is a gap in your knowl edge or skills but can’t do it yet
Unconscious competence, where you can perform with little conscious effort
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Amateur Dilemma
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Conscious competence where you have the knowledge or skills but need a lot of mindful thought to execute on them
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Even Grand Prix riders have things they don’t know that they don’t know. For exam ple, when they are riding a new horse for the first (or 5th) time. I’m currently deciding what levels I’m going to ride at Regionals, and will have decided by the time this goes to print. Leo and I qualified at first, second, and third. I feel for first level, I’m primarily in the unconscious competence phase. It’s a nice place to be, especially going to the big stage of Regionals where there is a lot that is new (and electric) for both Leo and I. Not having to worry so much about the movements frees me up to concentrate on keeping him on the bit, mov ing over his back, and not spooking. These are all things that are more in the conscious competence phase for me. Riding at second is a no-brainer. For the most part, I’m in the conscious competence phase, but still a bit in the conscious incompetence phase. I need to think a lot about my shoulder-in and haunches-in and the walk pirouettes. Then there are the added pieces of keeping himOur third level debut
7yourmagazine on the bit, moving over his back, and not spooking. Third level is definitely a stretch. Regarding the requirements and movements of the level, I’m solidly in the conscious competence phase with a good chunk in the conscious incompetence and uncon scious incompetence phases and a tiny bit in the unconscious competence phase. Putting it down on paper makes it seem obvious: ride first and second and leave third for next year. On our home turf (ESDCTA shows), first level seems easy, which is why I was hesitating, but the atmosphere at Regionals will throw a wrench into it anyway, so why not set us up for success? Second is that nice mix of challenge and proficiency, and doing well at this level will mean a lot because I feel it’s really where we are at this point of time. I doubt we’ll do well at third, but it’s incredible to me that we qualified and it’s where we’re headed. I feel blessed to be able to make this choice. COLLECTIVE REMARKS
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Exercises to Engage: Another Great Clinic with Felicitas
On August 19 I had the won derful opportunity to ride in a clinic with Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel at Carolyn Laurent’s beautiful facility, Stone Horse Farm! I have not had the chance to ride with Felicitas since February, so it was very refreshing to have a lesson from her again. I left the clinic feeling like she set me right on the tracks I have been working towards and need to continue on. It’s always inspiring to feel like there is good homework to tackle!
By Paige Zimmerman
We started the lesson with some work in the walk in order to help Ducati rock more onto his hindquarters while continuing to think forward. To aid with this concept, Felicitas walked beside me carrying a bamboo stick, and she would help me feel the half-halt by tapping his chest and asking him to collect the walk, and then I was to give the reins and “give him room to look over the edge of the cliff” and bascule with his neck. This gave me a very good idea of how it should feel like in the other gaits too, especially since his long back makes it easy for him to flatten and get strung out. The half-half should engage his belly and have him lift his topline rather than brace against me and run. We also worked on some turns on the haunches, which proved to be challenging be cause I struggle to get Ducati truly supple in his rib cage and belly— what usually happens is that I put my leg on and he falls out the opposite side instead of truly giving and bending. Felicitas had me keep him super straight and in the middle: I was to keep “juggling” his rib cage back and forth between my legs so that he stayed sup ple, straight, and responsive to my leg aids. It helped me to think of asking for mini leg-yields, always checking if he is rigid on one side or the other. It also prevented me from being able to mess with his head: if I am focused
9yourmagazineCOLLECTIVE REMARKS on his response to my leg aids and his suppleness in his body, his head becomes an afterthought, and the con nection falls into place naturally. The exercise was also especially helpful because my legs tend to become too dead against his side: I don’t grip too hard or use them too strongly, I just become too static. Felicitas says that the leg needs to have “life” and be able to flutter against the horse’s side without being stagnant, and so once I became more aware of how much my leg needs to breathe against his side, his rib cage became much more supple and slinky, and the quality of both the trot and the canter work improved. He began to bounce off of the ground with energy, and it became easier to collect his big gaits.
Another exercise we worked on towards the end of the lesson was canter to halt, to a turn on the forehand in the opposite direction and then canter off again. This exercise served to help sit Ducati down on his hind end and prevent him from falling into the walk/halt transition abruptly and in an unbalanced manner and then run in the walk, which he tends to do. The turn on the forehand also prevented his outside front leg from flailing out, since the turn on the forehand rebalances him. Ducati struggled to do the turn on the forehand without falling to the opposite direction, and he had some confusion about how to make the turn and soften to the leg. He got a bit stuck in the exercise, so Felicitas came over and helped direct him from the ground and encour aged a more positive response from him. She gave me some homework on how I can work on this from the ground, so that I gain a better understanding of how his shoul ders can stay in supple alignment while he crosses his inside hind leg underneath his body. I really liked this exercise, and I think that once I get better at asking for it in a way that he understands, it will become a good exercise that I can use to bring his focus back onto me in a situation where he is distracted or worked up, such as at a Thankshow. you so much to Olivia Steidle for the opportunity to participate in this clinic and for the continuous encouragement! Thank you Brenda Curnin for the support to learn with Ducati, and thank you to Carolyn Laurent for sharing your beautiful facility with us! And of course… Thank you Felicitas for your wealth of knowledge and everinsightful lessons. I can’t wait for the next clinic at our home base of Va Pensiero in September. I plan to show off the results of all the homework we now have!
Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses – U2 Wild Horses – Garth Brooks High Horse – Kacey Musgraves White Horse – Taylor Swift Dark Horse – Katy Perry and Juicy J
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By, Meredith Rogers
Bring on the Dancing Horses – Echo & the Bunnymen Beer for My Horses – Toby Keith and Willie Nelson
We are not the only ones who sing the praises of our horses. Songs about equines run the genre gamut from folk to rock to pop, and of course, country. So, plug in your MP3 player and enjoy some of these hits.
Horse Treats
One Trick Pony – Paul Simon Live Like Horses – Elton John Tennessee Stud – Johnny Cash Three Horses – Joan Baez Black Horse and the Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall Pony Boy – Bruce Springsteen I Ride an Old Paint – Arlo Guthrie Heavy Horses – Jethro Tull Horse with No Name - America Wild Horses – The Rolling Stones
Scientists just wanted to help a sick horse and ended up creating an ultra-sensitive DNA test for Lyme disease. A very sick, 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare was admitted to Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine. With the help of Dr. Steven Schutzer, of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, they diagnosed Lyme disease in the mare using the new test when the standard PCR-based test was unsuccessful. The great thing is that this test has applications in other species, including dogs and humans! This new test will be able to detect Lyme disease sooner, which is the key to preventing potentially long-term and serious complications. Other local scientists on the study included Claire Fraser and Emmanuel Mongodin of the Institute of Ge nome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; Christopher Miller of Miller and Associates Equine Practice in Brewster, New York; Rodney Belgrave of Mid-Atlantic Equine Hospital in Ringoes, New Jersey; and Rachel Gardner of B.W. Furlong and Associates in Oldwick, New Jersey. Did you know… …that there is a Horse Grimace Scale? Horses have 17 “facial action units” that they use to express their emotions. In contrast, humans have 27 and rhesus monkeys only have 13. The Horse Grimace Scale was created in 2014 in Milan, Italy, for a study on stallion castration to test varying levels of analgesics. The scale uses a numerical score to categorize the level of muscular tension in six discrete areas: stiffly backward ears, orbital tightening, tension above the eye area, prominent strained chewing muscles, mouth strained and pronounced chin, strained nostrils, and flattening of the profile. Rutgers researcher, Ellen Rankins, used the scale to evaluate stress in horses being used in an equine-assisted therapy program for veterans with PTSD. The good news was that the horses were not negatively impacted by their work.
Lyme disease breakthrough thanks to a horse
11yourmagazine News from Outside the Ring
COLLECTIVE REMARKS
The L Program and ESDCTA
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As a non-profit educational organization, ESDCTA works to provide clinics, shows, and training opportunities for those interested in dressage and combined training, including riders, breeders, instructors and judges. Prior to the pandemic, ESDCTA and LVDA partnered to offer Part 1 of the USDF “L” Judges program, with ESDCTA taking the organizational lead. Our plan was to continue the partnership with LVDA to offer Part II of the “L” program, this time with Chris Dickenson of LVDA being the primary organizer. Enter the pandemic, causing postponement of Part II until June 2022.
By A. Victoria Shilton
Chris and I were very relieved to finally arrive in Saugerties the weekend of June 18, for the first of three weekends, at three different competitions, at which Part II will finally take place. The lingering effects of the pandemic resulted in one partici pant’s flight plan being disrupted with cancel lations, delays, long wait lists, and a night spent sleeping – or trying to sleep – in the Atlanta air port. Luckily, she finally made it to Saugerties on Saturday afternoon, and was able to take part in 90% of the program, with USDF agreeing to help her figure out how to make up the rest.
It turned out that NEDA was also holding a judge’s training session at Saugerties on the same weekend. This was due to a backup of trainings that had been scheduled at the facility, then cancelled due to the pandemic. Show secretary extraordinaire, Debra Reinhardt, made it her mission to get our program on the calendar this year, even if it meant doubling the space to be taken up by candidates and instructors. We are very grateful to Debra for squeezing us in not only in June, but for the second part of our training in August. The double-booking with NEDA turned out to be a bonus for Chris and me! As NEDA is a larger GMO, it regularly offers both parts of the “L” program, as well as other trainings for judges. The very experienced NEDA organizer, Kerry Bradshaw (or “the saint” as Chris refers to her) was very generous in alerting us to things we would have otherwise overlooked, such as the need for 5 separate waivers (NY, ESDCTA, LVDA, USDF, and the Saugerties show grounds) signed by each participant! We naively thought 3 was overkill, and I’m a lawyer.
LVDA Organizer Chris Dickenson and Amazing Volunteer Amy Dudley
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VOLUNTEERS. In order for ESDCTA and LVDA and all the other GMOs out there to present interesting, valuable, educational programs and shows to allow riders and trainers and horses to strut their stuff, VOLUNTEERS are a necessity. Organizing and pre senting the “L” program, particularly Part II, took many, many hours and many volunteers and we actually could still use more. What do volunteers get out of it? Travel and lodging are compensated, the opportunity to see what the “L” program is about, the chance to connect with other horse obsessed people and learn a great deal at the same time. And most importantly, volunteering helps ensure that GMOs are able to provide great clinics, shows, and trainings. While Chris worked extremely hard to find three shows with sufficient rides at training, first, and second level that would be willing to accept the added intrusion of a judge’s training program into their already hectic show schedule; schedule, cancel and then reschedule three separate USDF “L” program instructors; obtain needed blocks of lodging (with access to a conference room for as small a fee as possible); advertise for candidates, correspond with candidates, replace candidates, remind candidates of deadlines, and then do it all over again after the pandemic trashed our schedule; and have sufficient experienced volunteers drafter into service, her efforts were undermined by several volunteers cancelling at the last minute.
LVDA pres Jennifer Koch and ESDCTA VP Ellen Brindle Clark
Part II of the program only allows ten participants in each program. The program is designed so that the presenting GMO breaks even financially, hopefully. Which means the candidates pay for their travel, lodging, and that of their scribes, as well as paying an entry fee which helps cover the costs of the program. I think it is important that riders, trainers, and their supporters, are aware of the commitment and expense it takes for someone to become an “L” judge. Progressing up the scale of qualifications for judges requires increased financial and time commitments. Candidates enter the program to increase their knowledge, and to give back to the sport, not to become rich or annoy and confuse riders and trainers. A key component of the instruction “L” candidates receive is how to give clear comments and consistent scores. As the ”L” program is the necessary first step for anyone wanting to judge dressage in the United States, it is important that programs are available on a regular basis in locations all over the country. Unfortunately, it can be very hard for a candidate to find a program that fits into their life’s schedule and is also close enough to keep travel costs down. Our program has participants from as far away as California and Minnesota, which brings me to climb onto my soapbox. I am a lawyer after all, common perception is I must rant at some point.
YOU AMAZING AMY!
ESDCTA Stalwart volunteer Christy Pellegrino jumping in to help score
A happy ending to our last-minute need for additional volunteers for our June weekend in Saugerties came in the form of two amazing people. The first was Amy Dudley, who drove 5 hours from her home in Maine to be a much-needed scorer for our program. An amazing fact about Amy is that she isn’t a member of ESDCTA, LVDA, or any GMO, didn’t know any of our candidates, isn’t planning on being an L candidate any time soon, and didn’t know Chris or I until she volunteered. So, of course the question is why did she volunteer????? Because she loves horses, thought it would be a great learning experience, and previously was very involved in putting on horse shows in Ari zona, understanding how important volunteers are. Not only did Chris and I get to work with a truly enthusiastic volunteer, we made an amaz ing friend in Amy. While Amy had already agreed to come to Saugerties for our second training session at Saugerties in August, Chris and I were successful in convincing her to travel with us to Virginia for our final session in Octo THANKber.
Of course, there are unexpected events that can happen to anyone that are legitimate reasons to back out of volunteering. But deciding to sign up for a horse show that conflicts with the program you already committed to as a volunteer months in advance is, I submit, not such an occurrence. Volunteers are an absolute necessity for ESDCTA, LVDA and every other GMO dedicated to providing opportunities for those of us who are lucky enough to have horses in our lives. And ESDCTA is fortunate to have some amazing volunteers. But, it seems the number of volunteers is stagnant while the desire for ESDCTA and other GMOs to present great opportunities for our members continues to grow. I think I speak for everyone involved with ESDCTA when I say we want to provide as many great shows, clinics, lectures, cross-country schoolings, and open dressage schoolings, as possible! But we need volunteers to enable us to increase our offerings. It doesn’t have to be an all-consuming time commitment to make a positive impact to a GMO such as ours. Volunteer opportunities and the time required for each are listed on the ESDCTA website under the “For All” tab. Not only are you helping make ESDCA better when you volunteer, you are meeting other people passionate about horses and frequently learning something new. Did I mention we feed our volunteers?
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Our second volunteer to come to our rescue was ESDCTA’s very own Christy Pellegrino. Christy has been a loyal volunteer for ESDCTA over the years. She stepped into the role of scribe for our instructor at the last minute and also helped out with scoring, moving chairs, and anywhere else she saw a need. Christy was as enthusiastic about the opportunity to learn from scrib ing for our amazing instructor Lisa Schmidt, as we were thrilled to have her answer our plea for a last-minute volunteer replacement. Chris and I were all set to try and convince Christy to come with us to Saugerties in August, when she surprised us by volunteering to do so before we got on bended knee! hopeful that the fact Chris and I succeeded in getting two of our volunteers to agree to commit to spending more time with us means we did a good jib showing our gratitude for their time and effort. Won’t you join us?
Instructor Lisa Schmidt
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16 yourmagazine COLLECTIVE REMARKS Show Results ESDCTA Below is a list of show results that have been submitted since last month. Please click the link to access the Show Results page on the website: https://www.esdcta.org/show-results-2022/SLMSchooling 7.30.22 Greendell Dressage 7.31.22 HJS Show SquareJerseyDressageApplewoodBit-O-Woods8.6.228.6.22Farm8.10.22atJericho8.4-5.22SuddenlyFarm8.14.22Palms4.6.22and7.31.22OneDressage6.4.22and8.7.22 If you are an organizer or secretary and haven’t submitted your results yet, please send them (any format is fine) to: results@esdcta.org Thank you!
COLLECTIVE REMARKS 17yourmagazine BUSINESS MEMBERS Anjelhart Equestrian Center 38 Millers Mill Rd, Cream Ridge, NJ 08514 lacavacreations@aol.com609.758.7676www.Anjelhart.com Heart’s Journey Stable 425 Kromer Road Wind Gap, PA 18091 www.heartsjourneystables.commmorehouse07@gmail.com610.730.8016 Good Times Farm 278 Jackson Mills Road, Freehold, NJ 07728 www.GoodTimeFarm.comgtts@optonline.net732.409.2882 Jersey Palms Farm 177 S. Stump Tavern Road Jackson NJ, 08527 www.jerseypalmsfarm.comKWLYNX@comcast.net609.213.5745 Rhythm and Blues Stables 108 Old York Rd. Hamilton, NJ 08620 609 www.rhythmandbluesstables.comRBLStables@aol.com306-8221 Irish Manor Stables 718 Sergeantsville RoadStockton, NJ 08559 info@irishmanorstables.com908.237.1281www.irishmanorstables.com Equisential Equine LLC 111 Snyder Ave Bellmar NJ 08031 EVENTbryner.2@gmail.com717.649.4799CALENDAR https://www.esdcta.org/home/omni-calendar/ ESDCTA’s Calendar contains the complete and up to date list of ESDCTA’s registered shows. It also contains other activities that ESDCTA feels are important to our community. Click the link to view The Event Calendar
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