THE PLAID HORSE QUESTIONNAIRE WITH Si a atchf

As a horsewoman, I am most proud of being able to keep a barn full of horses and ponies happy and healthy for so many years. Needless to say, I didn’t achieve that alone. I had great help most of the time and it’s been a team effort.

• I think the biggest misconception about our sport is how many different disciplines there are. I’ve had people ask me more than once if a pony won its race at the show. It can be hard to explain how multi-faceted our sport is to an outsider.

• My favorite part of working ponies was the relationships I formed with the ponies in my care.

• Something I would say ten times a day was “Has anyone seen my phone?”

• My favorite horse book is Equus by Robert Vavra. It’s an incredibly beautiful book of photos of horses taken with beautiful backgrounds.

• My favorite non-horse book is currently the Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley.

• The most difficult part of life with horses was how little time there was to do much outside the horse world. I’ve missed many family occasions and vacations, especially in the early part of my working life. But it was usually my choice, I hated to leave the animals!

My favorite part about being a barn manager was the satisfaction at the end of each day when everything was done and the only sound in the barn was the happy sound of munching.

• The most overlooked part of horsemanship can be how big a role a good groom can play in a horse’s life and career. It’s getting better now with a lot more recognition of grooms, especially at the top level, but a good groom at any level is your horse’s best friend and knows if something is wrong before anyone else. • One of the most important tasks in maintaining the well-being of horses and ponies is routine, and then within that, making allowances for individual needs.

• One thing that I did daily for each horse or pony, no matter what, is give them a treat and a pat on the neck.

WOMEN IN OUR SPORT ARE fierce competitors and

On my days off you would find me running, and catching up on housework and laundry! • The key to time management is organization, closely followed by the ability to prioritize. You can’t always do everything every day so you have to have a grasp of what’s important and what can wait. • My favorite part of retirement is going for long walks without time constraints. • If I didn’t work with horses, I don’t know what I would have done! There was never really anything else I wanted to do. • One of the best pony names I’ve ever heard is Teddy Ruxpin.

• My absolute favorite horse show is Jump for the Children Charity Horse Show in Raleigh to benefit Duke Children’s hospital. Apart from being our local venue, the hospitality is great and Joan Petty, who manages the show, makes everyone on the grounds feel welcome. • My motto is “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” • My favorite horse show memory is Jetsetter being champion in the small ponies at Harrisburg with Georgina Bloomberg in 1993. And Centerfield (Bernie) winning the Pony Medal finals in Kentucky with Ada Catherine Hayes in 2017. Both ponies and kids were (and still are) huge favorites of mine! • What I miss most about working with ponies is the day-to-day interaction with the ponies. They have always been my friends and I miss that on a daily basis. And my donkey Patrick!

This is a great exercise to help prepare any rider for the show ring. It can be a very mental challenge for riders, and successfully navigating this exercise often gives just the right confidence boost before showing.

2 flower boxes, coops, or roll-tops

This is one of my favorite exercises to help prep riders for the show ring. Two single obstacles without standards—whether it be an 18-inch flower box or 3-foot roll-tops—on the short side of the arena is harder than anything most riders will see in competition. So if you’re able to tackle this bounce with success and confidence, you know that you’re capable of anything.

I also like this exercise because it’s not very difficult for the horse, meaning that you can practice it quite a bit without worrying about undue stress on your horse’s legs. This is more of a mental challenge for riders than anything else. It’s absolutely perfect for riders who tend to get a little anxious and need to feel like they’ve accomplished something.

JUSTINE JARVIS OF HIGHGARDEN FARM IN FREDERICK, MD

Try to set this up along the short side of your arena. Leave enough room between the obstacles and the rail that you can come off the rail in a rollback turn toward the jump. Keep in mind that the closer you stay to the rail, the harder your turn will be.

You can use most any filler for this exercise, whether it’s flower boxes or coops or rolltops. The key is to not use standards.

While this exercise helps teach riders how to ride through a corner and keep their horse straight between their aids, more than anything else it teaches riders to “nerve up” and just do it. And while most riders strive for perfection, I encourage my students to allow themselves to make a mistake—as long as they learn from it on the other side of the mistake.

While it’s nice to have an instructor on the ground, I want my riders to be able to think for themselves and self-critique their own riding. So if you’re working on your own, give yourself a moment after each time through the bounce to ask yourself: What went well? What could have been better? And how could you make it better?

A lifelong horsewoman, Justine has been competing up and down the East Coast for over 30 years, including trips to Devon, Capital Challenge, Harrisburg, and Washington International Horse Show. With experience in the hunters, jumpers, and equitation rings, Justine’s program is well-rounded with students of all ages and levels. While based in Maryland, her team travels extensively and her students have picked up top finishes to earn them trips to Gittings Finals, MHSA Thoroughbred Invitational, Hunter Prix Finals, Devon, and Washington International Horse Show.

Before you even head to your first jump, make sure your horse is listening and turning well. Maybe include some smaller circles and figure eights in your warmup. And remember to keep your expectations in line with your horse’s abilities. My expectations from a green four-year-old are quite different than those from a seasoned campaigner.

If you’ve never done a bounce, you wouldn’t want to start with this exercise. Instead, introduce your horse to bounces in a more traditional format with ground poles and standards, and gradually build it up. Make sure your horse knows what a bounce is before you present him with this “weird” bounce.

Once you are warmed up, start making your plan for your bounces. Remember that successful jumping rounds come from riding straight to your jumps out of good turns at a good pace. Sounds simple, right? But sometimes the simplest things can be the hardest.

When you’ve warmed up and have your plan, simply go directly to your bounces off a wide turn, and then off a short turn. With only two small jumps, there aren’t a lot of steps.

You can play with the distance between the jumps depending on your horse. When you need help slowing your horse down, shorten the distance and teach him the rhythm of the exercise before widening the distance again.

If your horse is ducking to the inside as you come through the turn, it’s likely you’re using too much inside rein and not enough inside leg. If your horse is running to the outside, it’s likely you’re tipping in and not using your outside aids effectively. As I said already, it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you work to understand why they happened and fix them.

When you want to make this exercise harder, simply make the jumps bigger or narrower. I typically start with obstacles that are 8 feet wide, but you can challenge yourself by using more narrow jumps.

Give yourself a pat on the back when you’ve completed this successfully. If you can turn across the ring and ride into this exercise, you’ll find anything at a horse show easy!

Rizzo McKelvy boasts an extensive career in competitive equestrian sports with a focus on eventing. She has been lucky to ride with a number of accomplished instructors and believes that this has helped develop her into a well-rounded horsewoman. When McKelvy is not on horseback, she manages her own public relations, event planning, and business development service with a team of professional consultants. She and her husband reside in the Washington, DC, area.

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