DAD wrap up!

Wyatt in the Caracol Jewelry booth

 This will be pretty short and sweet as there are chores waiting for me outside. Mom and I went up for the Freestyle night at Dressage At Devon and had a lovely time. We did a bit of browsing in the stores and saw Gypsy Mare Studios work - just lovely! There were several photos of our horses - only snapped a quick shot of Wyatt (who had been so amazing earlier in the day) and continued on to Skylands Saddlery...which I'll get to in a totally separate post in the future.

The moon rising in the east

The moon over the Gold Ring from our seats

The Dixon Oval

So, it was a lovely evening. Thank you to our friends who shared their box with us - we really appreciate being able to have such lovely seating and a great view of both the warm up and the Dixon Oval.

From a (past and hopefully future) competitors standpoint, the flow of the horse traffic of this year's DAD was a vast improvement. Thank you to the organizers to making the breed show safer with "horse only" paths that were fenced off! Thank you to those who made the improved footing possible. Devon will always be special to me and it will be very exciting to show there in the future! <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">

Thank you to all of the sponsors for their support of a fabulous show. Thank you to the vendors, boxholders, competitors and staff that make DAD such a success. :)

October Long Lining Clinic Sunday the 7th

That's right! Another long lining clinic is not that far away! :)

Sunday October 7th will have us opening the doors to welcome both auditors and participants to learn more about the double lunging system! Our "official" start time will be tentative until we have a final headcount of participants.

Clinic Information

Gloves are required. Helmets are strongly recommended.

First Demo Horse will start at 9:45 AM.

The focus of this clinicis to introduce the steps to introducing the double lunge system, equipment and basic techniques of handling the lines, horse and whip at the walk, trot and canter. 

Basic lateral work, rein back, suppling and gymnastic exercises will also be included. More technical excercises and techniques will be added for the more advanced students and horses.

The clinics that follow later in the year (October, November, December) will have the same rudimentary start for beginners but move participants towards a greater understanding of more complex exercises and technique. 

Fee and General Clinic Information:
$50 per horse/rider
Auditors - $10
$25 to use a Watermark Farm horse

It's DAD time! Schooling Snapshots!

Anne & Valentino (1969 TB) at the inaugural 1975 DAD doing a PSG

So it is Dressage At Devon time! Pack your sunglasses, grab a sweater, a raincoat and prepare to watch some tough competition! The show runs through Sunday, so if your not busy training your horses at home all day, every day, it's time to GO WATCH!

Meanwhile, back at the farm...the training continues...

So the ring is super busy most of the time - which is good - because who's gone to a show and had a struggle as the warmup is crowded??? :) Lots to learn, laughter to share and fun time with the horses await! See you soon!

Happy Riding!

ETA: This is my one and only PSA about wearing a helmet. Check the expiration date! WEAR IT! EVERY. SINGLE. HORSE. EVERY. SINGLE. RIDE. NO exceptions. And if you're schooling a greenie - put your vest on too!!!!! Even if you're 'just schooling on the flat'.

For your reading pleasure...

I'll admit to being a snooper, a lurker and a datahound here on the internet. There is no sense in denying what occupies a portion of my day! Seeking information from across the pond, from trainers and riders I respect and the ever-elusive-tidbit(s) that may or may not have a stallion or bloodline on my "Watch List"...the search never ends for all these well articulated facts!




Which brings me to a couple of things -

FIRST this is an awesome article on Eurodressage about the effectiveness of timing, mental focus and relaxation and a whole pile of other things that I can't explain. So have a read through and mull it over.


That site is a big source of breeding, show results, training tidbits and news from all over Europe...so a handy one to check out!

Then there is a big reading project - Catherine Haddad Staller's blog on The Chronicle of the Horse. It's entertaining. It's got training tidbits. It's got the international perspective of a great trainer and rider. It's pretty funny! So with all of that in mind, I am trying to find the way to link to the beginning of the blog and then seriously stress READING the whole thing in it's entirety - from start to finish. AH-ha! Got IT!

So if you have children, they're in school and have a million activities, so that means some waiting around - download the blog and have a read. 

The light is perfect outside now. The footing is also perfect...so I'm off to spend some training time with the horses. Happy Riding!

Time for more education!!! It's a Fall Reduction for our Lesson Fees!

Fall is upon us! For many of us that means winter is looming and it is time to address training conundrums, add in new exercises and challenges or get our young horses out and about in new locations in a socialized group experience!

With all of the above in mind, we will be offering a reduced Group Lesson Fee of $35 per horse for groups of 3 or more. A Semi Private Lesson (just 2 horses) is reduced to $50. 
Lessons will run for exactly 1 hour. 

This is a super opportunity to have a less intense environment to get some instruction and have a few minutes to practice on your own while the other rider(s) get some one on one help! With many years of FEI experience behind us this is a great chance to have a correct foundation established for both horse and rider!

These reduced fees will apply September 25th-November 30th, so it is time to band together, share the ring space and improve your riding and your horse’s education!

Email Anne@watermark-farm.net to reserve your Group Lesson Time!

Thank you to our clinic folks!

Oreo wants to say "thank you!" to all our clinic attendees. He looks forward to seeing everyone again in October!

Another Weekend, A Different Discipline

So last weekend Wylie and Wilona rocketed around the HHSA Hunter Show and were stars. Yesterday they got to be dressage horses again and did us proud at a local schooling show. As it is a new venue, we went with a 'test the waters approach' rather than "we're Showing!' which is a totally different mindset...

So enjoy some photos of the girls in their lovely Stubben Genesis D saddles. Wylie is also sporting a Stubben bridle from the '90's - proof that their equipment LASTS! :)