Ebony Park Friesian Magazine February 2011

FEBRUARY 2011

Kate’s Knowledge - Summer Feeding Tash’s Training Tip - flying changes/goals Lovely Loes’ Learnings - Australian Weather!

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine www.ebonyparkstud.com.au

Is 2011 going the way you want it?

Is 2011 going to be your year?

The year you: Get things done Achieve your dreams Get your goals Thats great! But how will 2011 be any different from 2010 unless .... YOU ARE!?!?

“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got” -- W.L. Bateman So to get a different result you need to start doing things a bit differently!

So how do you do that?

Well thats where I come in :) For some of you you are ready to take the step to make 2011 different.

And I want to be part of it with you! So I have come up with ... drum roll please ... The Dream Team.

The Dream Team is a team of committed dedicated individuals who want to succeed and achieve this year. If you are Ready to step up and create new goals, new standards and new strategies Ready to perhaps leave your comfort zone and push yourself to experience new levels Ready to give up the blame, the excuses, the crap and start taking responsibility for all your results and all your non results.

RIDING PROGRAMS HAVE YOU VISITED www.yourridingsuccess.com YET?!?!?

Everyone is raving about Natasha’s book “How to achieve lasting riding success” After reading it you will: • Be able to define what success is to you • Know the THREE keys that are present in EVERY successful rider and how you need to have what they have if you want the same results.

• Have done your riding goals and developed your own commitment and action plan for success Here is what some superstars had to say about the book: “I have read the e-book and I found it really inspiring and helpful.” ~ Rebecca “It’s awesome!” ~ Chantelle So go to www.yourridingsuccess.com now and fill in your details on the right hand side. You will then be sent the link to the e-book in PDF and audio format immediately! Enjoy :)

Then I would love to talk to you.

Click here, to read more, and to fill out the application form for this year-long program packed with learning and goalachieving!! :)

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IN THIS ISSUE • PAGE 4: NEWS FROM HOLLAND

• PAGE 5: TASH’S TRAINING TIP

• PAGE 6-7: KATE’S FRIESIAN TIP - SUMMER FEEDING • PAGE 8 - NOTE FROM TASH AND 2011 DATES • PAGE 9 - LOVELY LOES’ LEARNINGS

• PAGE 10 - PHOTO GALLERY

• PAGE 11 - 5 MINUTES WITH

From the Editor

Well, we have been busy little bees for the last month!!

We have started preparations for the Keuring in Werribee on the 1-2 April, which we are really excited about!

Natasha has launched her new online Riding Success programs (we are still waiting on the bank so that we can set up online payments, but check out the website, and if you are interested, email us at info@yourridingsuccess.com if you would like some more information we should have everything up and running in a couple of weeks!

This month, Tash talks about achieving a goal she has had for the last 14 years :) !! Loes shares her views on the weather here in Australia, and I talk about what is different about feeding horses in the summer months (not that summer really feels like it is here yet, but surely soon?!)

We would really like to thank Emma McKenzie for her feedback on the dehydration article last month - we would like to point out that of course (as she pointed out) we do take all rugs and flyveils off on a total fire ban day, or when there are fires reported to be nearby. This is due to horses being safer naked than with rugs on, as rugs and fly masks can get caught in fences when horses run through them (eg. if they were running away from a fire) and can melt onto their skin and burn them quite badly if they get near a fire.

We are getting excited and prepared for the Keuring in April, so our news from Holland attempts to explain in simple terms, exactly what gets judged and what the different levels of grading for Friesians are...

And our rider focus for the month is Edward Gal - we though we could sneak him in since he is Dutch!! :) Maybe his next horse will be a Friesian!! :) To Your Dreams Becoming Reality,

EDWARD GAL

• PAGE 12 - CONTACT

Kate Langdon

INFORMATION Ebony Park Friesian Magazine January 2011

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ANNE 340

NEWS FROM HOLLAND

This month, since the Keuring is so close, I thought I would talk you through some aspects of the Keuring, and who can be put in what calss.

Firstly, what is the Keuring? These are the shows where the judging process takes place for purebred Friesians. Horses are judged 40% on conformation & 60% on movement. all Friesian foals can be presented to the Keurings for grading & up to the age of 3 they are awarded Premies. If they are older than 3, they can be awarded a Premie, but will also be entered into the Studbook, and can go for the even higher Ster (Star) status.

Premie - Only the best quality horses are awarded premies. A 1st Premie is the highest award to the top 5% of horses presented to the judges. A 2nd premie will be awarded to the top 15% & a 3rd premie to the top 25%. If the horse fails to be awarded a premie at a grading it will show on their papers as 'niet geprimeerd'.

Ster - Also known as Star, is awarded to horses showing a much higher quality conformation and movement. Ster is awarded to around 20% of Friesian horses. This status can be awarded to any horse over 3 years of age. The FPS publishes the results of the offspring from the qualified stallions which make Ster status. So some stallions will have a high Ster status of their offspring, such as 50%, but mostly they will not get higher than 35% Ster offspring.

Stamboek - Studbook. Both mares and geldings can be entered into the Studbook from the age of 3. To be entered they must meet a certain requirement and be a good representation of the breed with no white markings (except a small white star no bigger than your thumb). If they qualify, their height will also be registered and shown on the papers.

Veulenboek - Foalbook - Foals are entered into this book and issued with papers. The microchip details and any premies will be shown on their papers, as well as their pedigree.

Model - Awarded to top 1% of mares who are 7 years or older. This is based on various factors including, conformation, movement and performance, as well as the quality of their offspring.

Preferent - Awared to a mare who has 4 or more offspring who have received Ster Status or to an approved Stallion who has a high percentage of Ster/Model daughters or Approved Stallion sons.

Inbreeding Co-efficient - Because the Friesian breed nearly died out, all Friesian have an inbreeding coefficient. This is a percentage measure of how much their sire and dam were related to each other.

Generally, it is desirable to get less than 5%, and less than 2% is ideal (but less than 12% is acceptable).

Source: KFPS website

DOB: 20/03/1992 Height: 160cm Approved on his offspring in 2000, Anne is noted for producing a luxurious horse with a beautiful head, great extension, strong impulsion and a fantastic trot. Anne was third overall at the stallion show in 2000. He also earned top honors in his class besting the stallions Teunis and Tsjerk.

(Anne is Abe’s sire - and he certainly has Anne’s luxurious mane and tail!!)

RESULTS Uldrik 457 (Dries 421 x Tsjerk 328) has become the Champion of the 2011 Stallion Show in Leeuwarden for the second year running! Udrik's grandsire, Jasper 366 recently became one of the youngest stallions ever to receive the prestigious Preferent predicate ( J a s p e r i s J o r r i t ’s s i r e ) .

Reserve Champion went to Tsjalle 454 (Mintse 384 x Brandus 345 - Agamemnon’s sire). Source: KFPS website

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TerrificTash’s Tremendous Training Tip Ok I'm a little excited this month!!! We had to break out the champagne as I achieved a goal I had been working towards for 14 years! 11 one time tempis in a row!

Now for some people it’s no big deal but for me...HUGE! I also know that they are not great!

The need to be more collected, straighter, smoother and easier but hey! Now that I have them I can work on all of that!!! :) Click here to watch my goal being achieved!! :) So I thought today we would look at the training scale and see how by adhering to those principles I got my flying changes: 1. Rhythm Abe needed to work on developing a complete steady rhythm to get the changes.

Sometimes the rhythm would get too fast, and then we would lose the changes as the rhythm had changed. He had to keep the canter EXACTLY the same.

2. Suppleness/Looseness Wow do we need this! I need his full cooperation I need him with me and willing to work, i do a lot of work on his suppleness as any tension or preferred side will come through with one change bigger than the other so LOTS more work to do here! :)

3. Contact I had a breakthrough moment where I went from doing 3 changes to 10 and then 11 and it was all to do with contact.

Just by changing the contact 500g ... EVERYTHING changed! So make sure the contact is EVEN :) 4. Impulsion Abe needs to be engaged and completely off the forehand to get the changes. So we work on impulsion with transitions from big canter to little canter to build his strength. If he doesn’t get the changes, it’s often because I have lost the impulsion, and he is on the forehand and running...can't get changes like that! :)

they must come from a collected canter. If I lose the collection I lose the changes.

That simple!

So you can see by working on the training scale every day wherever you are in your training you are training ones!

Thats why I say it was a goal for 14 years! You are always training Grand Prix! Even on a 3yo, you are working towards it ride by ride day by day.

Increasing your horses strength, fitness, suppleness and education. And for me thats what makes it so fun!!! :) To your success

5. Straightness Tash Haha!!! Sometimes this is my achilles heel! You must be straight to get changes! DEAD straight. If the Flying Changes (Photo: Fiona Gagliardi) horse jumps left or right in the change, how do you get back again so quick?

This means the horse has to be through from back to front and not heavy in one outside rein or the other.

6. Collection The changes must be BIG but Ebony Park Friesian Magazine January 2011

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Kind Kate’s Knowledge - Summer Feeding You know the year is moving into the summer months when your green pastures start to resemble dusty deserts, you seek shade at every chance you get and there are flies everywhere! Even though it doesn’t seem so bad this year so far, we are bound to get some warmer weather that will dry out EVERYTHING and we will be wishing for the rain to come back!! :)

Changing seasons from lush spring into summer dryness offers nutritional challenges for all horse owners, but feeding your horses during summer does not need to cause you sleepless nights!

Following are some simple guidelines for feeding your horses in summer that will leave both you and your horse satisfied and ready to enjoy the beautiful weather ahead.

Water As I explained last month, water is vital for horses throughout the year, with horses during the summer drinking up to 50 litres of water in a day! During exercise, this amount increases further still, as water is lost through sweat and even just from your horse breathing. Therefore it is essential that your horse is provided a fresh, clean supply of water during the summer – troughs need to be cleaned regularly as algae can build up very quickly, and water should be kept in a shady place to avoid heating and evaporation.

Feeding – Forage is vital Horses not only need more water in the summer due to losses in sweat, they also take longer to cool down in the hot weather than in the cooler months. Therefore it is a good idea to feed your horse ‘cool’ feeds - in other words, feeds that are not going to make your horse’s body temperature rise too much, and therefore make your

horse sweat unnecessarily.

Feeds high in protein are the main problems - lupins, soybean meal and lucerne at high levels in the diet will generally be the problem feeds, as protein digestion produces heat in the gut of the horse, causing the core body temperature to rise. High protein levels in the diet also cause your horse to urinate more frequently in larger volumes to get rid of the toxic waste products formed by protein digestion. This can lead to dehydration more quickly than usual. Feeding hay will also i n c r e a s e y o u r h o r s e ’s b o d y temperature slightly; however, forage and hay are critical in maintaining a healthy digestive tract, and your horse should be given at least 1% of his bodyweight in forage/hay per day.

It is very important to provide enough fibre and sufficient bulk to keep the digestive system moving, as falling below this amount can cause problems such as laminitis, colic, gastric ulcers and loss of condition, all of which are detrimental to the health and wellbeing of your horse. During times of drought, quantity rather than quality of roughage is important, and any gaps in nutrient or energy content can be supplemented with a hard feed.

Fibre can also be fed to bulk up hard feeds, in the form of sugarbeet pulp, hulls of grains and seeds, bran and pollard, as well as commercial feeds such as Equibix, and others with a high chaff inclusion (or you can add chaff to feeds yourself!).

As your pasture dries and dies off, hay is in high demand. Because hay becomes quite dusty in summer, a good idea when feeding is to dampen or soak hay for a couple of hours to minimise

this dust and make the hay easier for your horse to munch on.

When formulating a hard feed, it is tempting to use grains as a source of energy, and while they provide quick release energy important for horses in work, they increase the glycaemic response in your horse, effectively giving him a sugar 'high'. Replacing some of your horse's grain intake with fats and oils will reduce this sugar high, while providing him with enough energy to really go out and have some fun! Fat supplements such as oil, full fat soybean meal and rice bran are appropriate, with the energy in fat being three times more concentrated than grains, so less needs to be fed. As always, to allow your horses digestive system

time to get used to feeds, any new components of yours horses ration need to be introduced slowly over 10-14 days.

Walking for the last part of your ride and hosing or sponging your horse off is good practice, and no feed should be given to your horse until he is completely cool and his breathing has returned to normal.

Electrolytes – not just salt As the year moves into summer, we are generally in the saddle a lot more due to the fantastic warmer weather - however, the chances of dehydration occurring in our horses increase dramatically at the onset of summer.

When horses sweat, they lose not only water essential for hydration but also electrolytes – salts that are vital in tasks such as maintaining water balance and muscle function. continued next page...

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Kind Kate’s Knowledge - Summer Feeding

These salts include your classic salt: sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl), which need to be provided in the diet every day, in addition to potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg). All of these need to be replaced in the horse when he sweats to keep him hydrated and healthy.

An oral electrolyte supplement is designed to match the composition of sweat (see Figure 1), and hence is essential for replenishing lost electrolyte levels following situations where sweating has occurred.

You should be taking an electrolyte supplement with you to competitions as your horse will not only sweat during the competition, but many sweat while travelling and will need to bring their electrolyte levels up before competition to maintain balance of salts within the body and therefore optimum performance.

A salt block should be available for consumption by your horse at all times – white blocks (contains sodium and chloride) and red blocks (contains sodium, chloride and other trace minerals) are the ones to use – blue salt blocks are for cattle, hence are less cost effective for horses as they contain different minerals. If your horse does not like the texture of salt blocks and therefore does not utilise them, provide 30g loose salt

(not iodised) in the feed daily.

Remember, it is important to make sure your horse has access to water especially after giving electrolytes and salt as these will make your horse thirsty!

Supplements Vitamin and minerals generally need to be supplemented all through the year, as there are many that are not provided for in pasture and hay. In the summer, dry hay and grains are especially deficient in these important nutrients. To fill these gaps a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement should be used. If using a commercial feed, generally the use of multivitamins are not required as long as you follow the directions on the bag.

Problems Feed will go ‘off’ more quickly during the hotter weather, especially when additives such as molasses, water or oil are used. Therefore these types of additives should be included just before feeding your horse, and if your horse is a ‘trickle feeder’ – that is, he eats his feed very slowly – care must be taken as to where your horse is fed and how much is added to avoid the feed becoming rancid or going off.

As pasture dries and diminishes from the paddock out, at any sign of moisture, it will be the weeds that are the first to flourish pastures riddled with weeds tend to look "horsesick" - that is, there are bare patches in the ground where the pasture used to be, and clumps of uneaten green that unfortunately contain mostly weeds. Weeds can contain toxins that cause problems (such as

stringhalt) when eaten in excessive amounts.

Ensuring adequate forage is given to your horse in the form of hay is important not only for digestive function, but also so he does not seek to eat plants that are not good for his health and well-being.

Horses may sample plants in times of diminished pasture, which would usually be ignored when pasture is plentiful.

Horses that graze continuously on short pasture may take in excess sand, which can potentially accumulate and cause a blockage in the bowel. To help offload this sand from the hindgut, feeding psyllium husks (around 500g, two consecutive days in every month) is thought to help offload sand from the hindgut and improve motility by a process known as agglutination, causing sand granules to bond to the psyllium and move through the gut and into the outside world.

It is important to check feeds for mould, especially hay. When plants are stressed during the summer months by lack of moisture, mould can colonise grains and hay stems. The toxins produced by these moulds can make your horse very sick, causing problems such as colic, respiratory disease and even death if consumed in high enough amounts.

Ensuring you are careful with how and what you feed your horse will keep your horse healthy, allowing you to enjoy the long summer days together. Just remember - a healthy horse is a happy horse!

To Your Dreams Becoming Reality,

Kate

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DIARY DATES SUN 13 MARCH COMPETITION AT BONEO PARK FRI 1 APRIL FRIESIAN GALA

FRI 1 & SAT 2 APRIL - KEURING

Note from Tash

Hey superstars!!!

Ok how are you!?!??! I myself am fantastic!

Kate and I have kicked some goals this month and working towards many more for Feb!!!! :) How was the start of the year for you? What have you accomplished and achieved?

Remember we only get 11 of these things a year so make each day count! :) Unfortunately I couldn't tick off my goal of scoring 60% in Inter 2 last weekend.

I rode as well as I could at that moment .... problem is I have to be better! But god am I hungry for it! So it’s a good thing - I am training even harder, demanding more of myself, I have to be more focussed, more centered and more still. I know I will get it together and when I step up and ride how I need to, Abe will be right there for me and we will excel! Its a journey and one I am loving every day.

You also may have noticed we are sending out Terrific Tuesday News every week, this is just to give you a quick update of the 'goss' on the farm and also some tips about horses that we find handy and useful.

This month coming up we are working towards prepping our horses for the upcoming Keuring in April. We are taking 14 horses so maybe a little bit to do?!?! :) But Loes and Kate are taking care of it and I'm sure will handle it effortlessly!

I would like to welcome Linda into our family. Linda has purchased Milo and we are so excited to hear how Milo will go in the future!!

For all of you I trust you are having fun with your horses and making your dreams come true! Remember if there is anything you would like to see in the mag or you yourself have something you would like to share flick us an email and we would love to hear from you!

To your success,

Natasha

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Lovely Loes’ Learnings Wow!! The weather in Australia is so much warmer than in Holland right now! Everyone keeps telling me that it hasn’t even got hot here yet, but back home it is around -20 degrees so much much warmer here!! :) I am loving it!!!

I thought I would talk about the difference between Holland and Australia in terms of weather, and looking after horses - in winter in Holland, the horses are stabled all the time (except when it is nice weather) - they are rarely put into paddocks, and the paddocks are smaller if they are put out.

Loes riding EP Paris When we put the horses into paddocks, we have to be careful as the water troughs are often frozen on the top - so we have to break the ice so that the horses can drink! Also, hosing down the ice on the top of the troughs is often hard too, as the hoses tend to get frozen through too with the water left in them from las time!! :) In the stables, the automatic water feeders also often will freeze, so we have to give the horses fresh water in buckets every day - and make sure that they always have a fresh supply of water (as horses being horses will get dirt in the buckets, knock them over, etc.)

I find it so strange that even though it is so warm here, you use so many rugs here in Australia even in the summer!! In Holland, horses are only ever rugged in the winter, and even then they only have the one really warm rug, rather than lots!

I like it that the horses can always stand outside here in the paddocks during the day, and do what horses were supposed to do, even when it is raining really bad - they still have a chance to eat pasture and stay outside. :)

Loes riding EP Anika

Here at Ebony Park, we are starting to lunge Achilles (one of our 3yo colts), and he is doing so well!! :) He sometimes does really funny bucks, he has so much energy!! :) He stays very nicely on the circle, and keeps his head down and body round. He is such a circus horse in the paddock, piaffe and passage and spanish walk are already down pat (as long as we walk one of the other stallions past him!!).

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PHOTO GALLERY

Loes having a chat with Intrigue

Intrigue trying to stay sunsmart!! :) Illusion being playful!

Achilles looking very unimpressed!

Intrigue learning to shake hands

Intrigue having a snooze on a hot day

Paris all sunny and pretty! :)

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5 Minutes with Edward Gal If you follow dressage at all, you would have seen the amazing partnership between Edward Gal and Moorlands Totillas (which has sadly ended with the sale of Totillas), landing them a world record Grand Prix dressage score last year! Even though Gal does not ride Friesians, we thought it would be great to do a little piece on him, with the excuse that he is Dutch!! :) When did you start competing?

Photo: Ken Braddick

I started competing in showjumping when I was 14 years old.

Why Ride?

DOB: 04/03/1970

Although my family was never into horses at all, it is the only thing I ever wanted to do. Once my pony did not want to jump anymore, I started to compete in dressage, and I found that I liked it!!

For the record: I used to say that my Grand Prix win in the World CupTM Final in Las Vegas 2005 partnering Lingh was the most memorable. The American audience already came to see the loosing and preparations of the horses in the main arena the day before and they burst out into great enthusiasm for the extended trot of Lingh. It was amazing that they started applauding during the test as well, too special!

Ambitions during sporting career?

Ride well, get always better and have fun in riding. Feeling good after a test. I love riding the Freestyle to music! I never felt like aiming for winning, but now with Moorlands Totilas I feel there is still more to come and than I also like to show that. Of course you cannot go for a new record all the time, but I definitely want to be as good as possible. I sure want to be in the Dutch team!

Major Sporting Awards?

Rider of the year 2009, partnering the Dutch gold medal team of the Europeans having a record score, holding the WC record Freestyle to music, now 92,30%.

Most looked up to person and why?

None - everyone has his own talents and specialities.

Source: Official FEI website

FACTS

Country: Netherlands Website: edwardgal.nl Education: Completed one year of economics (while riding at the same time) - decided that riding was the way to go!! :) Current Trainers: Business partner Nicole Werner Dutch Teammate Sjef Janssen

STATS Sponsors: • Moorland Investments • 4WD Voets • Euro-star • Cavalor • Magic Stables • Petrie, County • Schelstraete • Anemone Languages: • English • Dutch • German

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BREEDING SEASON 2010 The only stud in Australasia with TWO Ster foalbook stallions with current KFPS breeding permits. Our third stallion, Ebony Park Abe, was awarded the Sports Predicate for excellence in dressage, and is Australasia’s highest graded Friesian stallion winning at the Inter II level.

To claim your free Breeding Gift Pack, including the Ebony Park Stallion DVD and your 7 Step Breeding Guide valued at $47, please email us at info@ebonyparkstud.com.au or visit www.ebonyparkstud.com.au As always we would like to thank our sponsors:

CONTACT US If you would like to have a chat with us dial 03 9796 8690 or 0422 227 364 (remember you simply have to call this month to hear what welcome we will use, and to allow us to personally wish you a Merry Christmas).

Ebony Park is located in Narre Warren in Victoria, one hour's drive from the Melbourne Airport.

If you share the love of the Friesian horse and would like to see the stallions or the youngstock, please contact us and make an appointment. We can also assist you with locating your new Friesian or with training.

Visit Us: 611 Belgrave-Hallam Road, Narre Warren East VIC 3804 Website: www.ebonyparkstud.com.au

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Click on the icon to visit our page!

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