tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83393213087172151152024-02-21T08:41:57.763-05:00From Racehorse to ShowhorseA blog to share the experience of retraining two off-track thoroughbred racehorses and their owner as they both learn dressage
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Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.comBlogger266125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-313971064531284652015-06-12T21:21:00.001-04:002015-06-12T21:21:46.718-04:00Meet Market Light (Marley)I'm super excited about the Retired Racehorse Project coming to Lexington this fall. I love what their mission is all about and I support it whole heartedly. In fact, I had hoped that I could compete in it with Canoodler but, and I figured this was true, he has been off the track too long to be eligible.<br />
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So I teamed up with my friend Christine's horse that is in training with my coach Emily! It's perfect and this horse is PERFECT!<br />
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The horse is a 3 yr old filly named Market Light (by After Market). We call her Marley. She is the spitting image of "Black Beauty". So well put together, so friendly and kind, and she loves to have a job and gives our coach, Emily no fuss about it!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My coach Emily Brollier in the saddle and my friend and Marley's owner, Christine Siegel standing by them.</td></tr>
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She's just so trainable and nice! I love to watch them! Emily rides Marley on the same days as we work Canoodler so I see them all the time. I am completely living vicariously through them as they prepare for the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover in October. So I signed on to be their photo/video team member.<br />
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Marley was once in training to be a race horse at Winstar Farm. Her owners realized she wasn't going to make it as a race horse and rehomed her to Christine. And here we are today.<br />
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You can follow Christine, Emily and Marley on their facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MarketLightRRP?fref=ts" target="_blank">Market Light: RRP 2015 Makeover Competitor</a>. Please "Like" their page! You will be able to see their progress and share in the adventures as we go along. I'll be there as often as I can with camera in hand!<br />
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Last week I created this video of Marley and Emily as they worked. She's a young horse and Emily explains in the video what her training goals entail. This will be a whole lot of fun to see her progress!<br />
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Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-76120988449809189642015-06-07T20:22:00.001-04:002015-06-07T20:24:26.981-04:00Summer is Here And We're Having Fun<br />
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Since the horse show in May, Noodle and I have been continuing our work
with Emily Brollier and working through some of his physical issues. We seem to work great right after he has a chiropractic treatment, then we slowly get stiff and grumpy and by 3 to 4 weeks later, he's spooking at everything and difficult to ride. Call the chiropractor and he's good as new and the horse I always dreamed of! </div>
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I actually have Dr. Lark Carroll come out about once a month for the adjustment, then two weeks later we do massage and laser therapy. He also gets a monthly injection of Adequan. We are seeing improvements in him and his chiropractic adjustment don't seem to be as big as when we first started. Our last adjustment he only needed mild adjustments most everywhere, his right TMJ (jaw) was the only major adjustment - the month before it was his left TMJ! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Lark Carroll making an adjustment in the hip of a Friesian gelding.</td></tr>
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The combination of the regular exercise, massage and chiro are helping Canoodler a whole lot! It shows in his topline and the best result I'm seeing is that the roach in his back is going down and the muscles around his spine are getting bigger so it's going away! The bad news was that my saddle was causing most of his back pain now. It took me awhile but I found a saddle fitter that came out and was able to add flocking where we needed it. The saddle fits him well and I can tell he's much happier about it. </div>
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We are continuing on with training. I really love how we are developing. Both of us are improving and eventually I'll be able to really keep my seat in the tack at the canter. Darn those hunter/jumper days!</div>
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Here is a video of me and Noodle just before he had a chiropractic adjustment and after we had the saddle reflocked.</div>
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Considering he had tantrums and spooking fits just two days earlier I thought he was going darn well!<br />
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And then here is Emily working him after he had the chiro too. She can really get him to stride out so much better than I can. Must work on that!<br />
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Canoodler looked so good today with Emily Olive Brollier! He should... He was adjusted by Dr. Larkspur Carroll on Wednesday night and he's usually his best after that. He also had our saddle flocking adjusted to fit him better. But the icing on the cake is having an excellent rider on him to help him get his you know what together! I love the shoulder-in in the video!<br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wendy.u.wooley">Wendy Uzelac Wooley</a> on Friday, June 5, 2015</blockquote>
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So we are keeping on with our program. I hope to do some outings with him soon and see if we can gear up for another horse show in August.<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-75772156521520796232015-05-21T16:51:00.001-04:002015-05-21T16:51:13.678-04:00testTest post<br />
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Preakness Images</h1>
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<img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8789/17870632092_503d3721d4_b.jpg" title="15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2-2" alt="American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables" /><br>15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2-2 American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables</p>
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<img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8793/17686043660_1d26863920_b.jpg" title="15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2-4" alt="American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables" /><br>15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2-4 American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables</p>
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<img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8802/17251055804_64a70ebe67_b.jpg" title="15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2-5" alt="American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables" /><br>15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2-5 American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables</p>
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<img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5347/17874095291_12f79afd51_b.jpg" title="15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2" alt="American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables" /><br>15_0516_americanpharoah_ww_ew-2 American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and jockey Victor Espinoza win the Preakness Stakes (Gr I) at Pimlico Racecourse 5/16/15. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Zayat Stables</p>
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<img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1097/4608800148_a74c0b75aa_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4528" alt="pimlico outrider catches Diva Delite after unseating the rider." /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4528 pimlico outrider catches Diva Delite after unseating the rider.</p>
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<img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1008/4608799890_85d1c83f52_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4512" alt="pimlico outrider catches Diva Delite after unseating the rider." /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4512 pimlico outrider catches Diva Delite after unseating the rider.</p>
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<img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1295/4608191875_f4024e5dc1_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4357" alt="Lights Off Annie wins Skipat stakes at Pimlico" /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4357 Lights Off Annie wins Skipat stakes at Pimlico</p>
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<img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3361/4608799092_d44da7299b_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4061" alt="" /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-4061 </p>
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<img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3330/4608190999_975f75db8e_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1914" alt="" /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1914 </p>
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<img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1160/4608798736_b2f8b1b1f3_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1902" alt="" /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1902 </p>
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<img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3397/4608190663_7c18c4192a_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1835" alt="" /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1835 </p>
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<img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4011/4608797904_08edfb6460_b.jpg" title="blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1706" alt="" /><br>blackeyedsusanday_5.14.2010_esp_wu_wm-1706 </p>
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<img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3613/3546205596_24109f7039_b.jpg" title="Bejarano giving thanks" alt="" /><br>Bejarano giving thanks </p>
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<img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2459/3546204512_50c9bddfc0_b.jpg" title="wash my mouth out with soap" alt="" /><br>wash my mouth out with soap </p>
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<!--END JUICEBOX EMBED-->Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-6852627248432912212015-05-08T15:08:00.003-04:002015-05-08T15:08:56.212-04:00This Should Have Been Our First ShowThis was the show that should have been our first show...<br />
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It was quiet, fun and relaxed. If your horse was nervous and silly, nobody would look down their nose at you. We've all been there. This was an all Thoroughbred show.<br />
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This time I felt more prepared for showing. I had given Canoodler some calming supplement called "Perfect Prep". It has vitamin B and best of all Tryptophan! Yes, the stuff in Turkey that makes you sleepy. It seemed to help him take an edge off. Also, I turned my horse trailer into a box stall. It was much more inviting and he loaded easily both going to the show and leaving the show.<br />
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We got him to the Kentucky Horse Park and set him up in his stall there. I braided him up and "Stable Boy", my husband Matt, checked us in at the show office. Noodle seemed fairly relaxed this whole time. <br />
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We headed down to the warm up ring and I got on. I warmed up Canoodler as best I could without any help. He started eye balling everything and looking for excuses to spook. I tried and tried to keep his attention and to ride every stride. It's a whole lot of work physically and mentally. I said to Matt, "I think I'm going to scratch." Then Emily, our coach, arrived. She was wearing capris and flip flops. She had no intention of getting on to warm up my horse. I think my heart sank into my stomach...<br />
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I discovered later that Emily planned this. I was going to have to face my fears head on! She talked me through what I had to do to keep his attention. I was getting better at foreseeing his distractions before he did. He wasn't an easy ride at all. But we kept moving. Even while waiting to enter the show ring, we had to keep moving in circles around Emily. <br />
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So we entered the ring and did something that sorta resembled our test. Canoodler was sucking back, jigging, and when I gave him more leg to move forward he'd hop into canter. In a nut shell we were perfectly awful. But we did it! Me and Noodle! We entered the ring, were not whistled out of the ring and completed the test! It was a moment I had waited YEARS to do - way back since I had Jaguar Hope. So I cried when we walked out of the arena. I was so happy! I was able to conquer my fears and handle the situation!<br />
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I had an hour between my two tests. I headed back to the barn, untacked my horse and let us both eat and drink something. Ten minutes later, I was tacking him back up, and heading back out. Canoodler was a completely different horse. He was relaxed, calm and looked lovely. He was fun to ride! He was the horse I know he can be!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis749tnq-aboloiq-lN-z9OHewn5aWNOmaavTCPTIXazGmQymI2bod6y-qI1iOu5CUyTnzWU0FWsOgTVX9fsi0JhDAMhKDrr-hppYlMMRnuwQ8-gRvdn1baQBjaXLW_f78uhEqcJy0GXIb/s1600/15_0503_ALLTBSHOW_ww_ew-8334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis749tnq-aboloiq-lN-z9OHewn5aWNOmaavTCPTIXazGmQymI2bod6y-qI1iOu5CUyTnzWU0FWsOgTVX9fsi0JhDAMhKDrr-hppYlMMRnuwQ8-gRvdn1baQBjaXLW_f78uhEqcJy0GXIb/s640/15_0503_ALLTBSHOW_ww_ew-8334.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sadly, Canoodler's evil twin was the horse that entered the show ring. He was back to jigging, and I had to shoulder fore everywhere we went to keep him from getting away from me. At one point I had to do a tight circle with him to get his brain back to our task. -2 on our score but I didn't care much about my score. My entire goal was to just get Canoodler around the show ring and complete his test. He was not going to get away with his naughty behavior.<br />
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In the end, our 2nd test was about the same as our first test. Not so great. But my crowning moment with him was his transformation in the warm up. He was so beautiful in the warm up before our 2nd test. In my mind the day was a great success! People there were fun and understanding of a green horse. We had brief moments of greatness in warm up and even in parts of our test. And surprising me were several people from my barn who came out to cheer us on. That meant a whole lot to me! I really like the barn where Canoodler lives! Super supportive people and they make this whole horse training, showing thing fun.<br />
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There is no video from this horse show. Not enough helpers so I didn't take the camera. However, I did create a compilation video of Canoodler and myself from when we first started this journey. I thought you might enjoy seeing how we have changed:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/127292630?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>
<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-36136777072784117572015-04-15T14:58:00.001-04:002015-04-15T14:58:24.113-04:00Testing slideshow programsI am investigating slideshow software programs and wanted to test things out. This gives me a great opportunity to show off the images of Canoodler's first show! Of course I had to make it a blog post!<br />
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Reliving our first show at the Kentucky Horse Park...<br />
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Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-33265336336261314342015-04-02T20:32:00.003-04:002015-04-02T21:04:39.725-04:00First Show!!I have so many things I want to say and so many emotions about the day that I've hesitated to post about our first horse show. I didn't know where to start!<br />
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First of all, I've wanted to take an off track thoroughbred I own to a dressage show since way back when I first started this blog. The horse I felt it was going to be about left me unexpectedly. The horse I hoped would do it after that, wasn't available to me at that time, the horse I got simply can't get to a show yet. Horses are like people and some are more nervous than others. It wouldn't be fair to take Ollie to a show, it wouldn't be fair to Ollie's well being.<br />
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So... when the "unavailable at that time" horse comes back into my life and we get to a show - tons of happy emotions for me!<br />
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Canoodler, my "unavailable at that time" horse, is a quiet steady guy 90% of the time at home. In the back of my head were his previous people who said he was "hot". I'd just never had a "hot" moment with him. Hot to me is Ollie. Ollie was bucking and kicking all by himself today because he saw me and was impatient to get into the barn to eat. That's what "hot" means to me. Lots of energy all the time. Noodle is usually slow and steady. So I felt he wouldn't be too bad at a show. And for a first show, he wasn't too bad in my book. He was far from good, but he didn't rear, he didn't buck, he just would try to "run away" when he became afraid.<br />
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Because of his fear, I felt having a confident rider on him would help him more than having me on him. I had our trainer ride him for the show. Emily Brollier understands thoroughbreds and nervous horses. She was amazing to me and I learned a lot watching her. She worked to occupy Canoodler's brain in the warm up. They were never on a straight line, he was always doing something bendy and changing directions all the time.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJLyUlNhpiiUbMOR2uJEswb1i0kfLz33dVC3VDTHC99VhxphjYxsZVfDBKq-8bq0fQt1_fjHOVTZP7iHzGlgRjGPdjp7iFFap4H6D0Rt32X243VFUybudeZU-pPvYDRYn5Jbo7KI-B_Lqf/s1600/15_0327_Canoodler_mw_ew-9649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJLyUlNhpiiUbMOR2uJEswb1i0kfLz33dVC3VDTHC99VhxphjYxsZVfDBKq-8bq0fQt1_fjHOVTZP7iHzGlgRjGPdjp7iFFap4H6D0Rt32X243VFUybudeZU-pPvYDRYn5Jbo7KI-B_Lqf/s1600/15_0327_Canoodler_mw_ew-9649.jpg" height="512" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Brollier warming up Canoodler.</td></tr>
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He tried to listen to her. He was truly trying but every now and again he'd do this:<br />
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Seemed it was horses coming at him during warm up that upset him the most. His nerves were rattled. But he did get through his test and I give him a ton of credit for trying so hard when every fiber of his being wanted to go home. Here is a video of his test: <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/123568228?byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe></center>
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I was elated he did it! I knew how hard it was for him but he did it! I was busting with pride! I see potential and I think we can work with his fears!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxhlU-ma6ekS1vET0YHl328ESxsI6lhYmLnmoj0PMeHGsrbb31nT2oLLTouOpVjjEM6qmEIixJ22bmwlhr61RsXvotbHiAJQ2bP86__7Pou1jg36COcLGbZggvLgeFJ-kz8Sh-9OaH0hW/s1600/15_0328_Canoodlershow_mw-9696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxhlU-ma6ekS1vET0YHl328ESxsI6lhYmLnmoj0PMeHGsrbb31nT2oLLTouOpVjjEM6qmEIixJ22bmwlhr61RsXvotbHiAJQ2bP86__7Pou1jg36COcLGbZggvLgeFJ-kz8Sh-9OaH0hW/s1600/15_0328_Canoodlershow_mw-9696.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily brought out moments of a dressage horse during his test. Doesn't he look great?!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The photo above cracks me up because I'm the only one who is so happy! Noodle wants to go home, Emily's abs are killing her from riding him defensively for so long and I'm cheesing it from ear to ear! I love them both!<br />
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I also want to do a shout out to my friends at our new barn. What a wonderful and supportive group of people! Many of them were showing too, we went to the show as a group and hung out as a group. Their support gave me much more confidence that I was doing right by my horse. He can overcome this with miles under his belt. I loved that my first show was with such a great group of friends!<br />
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Finally, I must say that I could not have done this without the support of my husband who likes to refer to himself as "stable boy" at horse shows. He was a trooper and he took wonderful photos to document our weekend. <br />
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We have plans for another show and plans to manage Canoodler's fears now that we know them. I bet we will improve.<br />
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For the record, our test was Training Level Test 1 and he scored a 51.52% which was good enough for 5th place.Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-32473379727118740332015-03-03T17:07:00.001-05:002015-03-03T17:07:53.096-05:00CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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February was a little tough on us keeping on track with our riding. Mother Nature really stuck it to us as with most of the United States.<br />
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Our show was cancelled because of the conditions which really bummed me out. I can't do the next show because I have to work that weekend. We will try and perhaps have Emily show Canoodler so he can get show experience.<br />
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In the meantime, we are keeping on. We've had real nice rides and working to the right seems to be improving a lot! Having said that, one day I got him out to ride and noticed that he was off on his front right. There was a big weather change and I think it affected him in a bad way making him sore and tight in his neck/shoulder area and coming out as being "off" on the front right. Like people, he has good days and bad ones.<br />
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We've also had Dr. Lark out to adjust him which he loves. He's amazing after a treatment! The massage work and laser therapy by Michele Haman is also helping him. I'm just keeping with the program. It seems to be working.<br />
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So here are a few photos of us from today:<br />
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And just to see, I wanted to do a comparison of his build.<br />
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Here is Noodle on the day he arrived at the farm in mid October, 2014<br />
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and here is his in November, really before I put him into full time professional training with Emily Brollier:<br />
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And here he is today:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4J2Z1aXItbskgC-88Yp5oW8m4AAneWJlDyuY3MPkeEn_AYlDTTAWK7XIY7mNFDs6qV8tS1NxzoR2XI0exIebD5mPsxWbmD__KECikJ7l9wtsZsVe3sLOMYaRS5e_136cluaSWzGKh9KCw/s1600/15+0303_canoodlerlesson_mw-3617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4J2Z1aXItbskgC-88Yp5oW8m4AAneWJlDyuY3MPkeEn_AYlDTTAWK7XIY7mNFDs6qV8tS1NxzoR2XI0exIebD5mPsxWbmD__KECikJ7l9wtsZsVe3sLOMYaRS5e_136cluaSWzGKh9KCw/s1600/15+0303_canoodlerlesson_mw-3617.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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According to Dr. Lark Carroll, the worst of his problems are in the base of his neck and to quote Michele Haman "He was like a turtle with his head in his shell". He kept his neck compressed in and hollowed his back. You can see in his current photo that his neck does look more relaxed and longer! And his back is beginning to come up with his new added strength. Validation that he's improving!<br />
<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-28252458617849530472015-02-02T17:51:00.004-05:002015-02-03T08:36:51.041-05:00One Month Progress Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilidf4vTHG_JsyrG7XzTDaAiPneVmDw4rw8KMAKXiEV69LnQYuherTg9a3A0mVa0MuU3A5SR87FI3-AGhOeCxeRIUFs2aF-POBytZMIqe2YP2_Ef9CUQEUIOrtlabIC_Fs56geE0VaD0a3/s1600/15_0120_Canoodler_ww-0089-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilidf4vTHG_JsyrG7XzTDaAiPneVmDw4rw8KMAKXiEV69LnQYuherTg9a3A0mVa0MuU3A5SR87FI3-AGhOeCxeRIUFs2aF-POBytZMIqe2YP2_Ef9CUQEUIOrtlabIC_Fs56geE0VaD0a3/s1600/15_0120_Canoodler_ww-0089-2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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Canoodler is progressing along just fine. We've been working with <a href="http://www.miramonteequine.com/" target="_blank">Emily Brollier</a> for about a month now and he's getting better and better each ride. He has some physical issues (<a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2014/12/putting-humpty-dumpty-back-together.html" target="_blank">Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together</a>) and we have a team to help him out with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/coretherapiesdvmpllc" target="_blank">Core Therapies</a> doing chiropractic work on him and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Equi-librium-Therapy-LLC/175465265805617?ref=br_rs&pnref=lhc" target="_blank">Equi-Librium Therapy</a> doing massage and laser therapy. Fitness is also a big part of this as he's weak on his right side. We hack out with others and now I feel pretty good about hacking him alone in the fields he knows. I try really hard to change things up and keep him happy.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiss-ek3eywISRoTtgKNDNvz6MUyx2u-9caN5BsVZ8MZf9xJTsi2KpA8yPm6KeT19q5Xhwzhh0iHdOqTjo2kQ_05oA-6FByBtip1zo5y2tz0T-2xEnobMsTvBAfF4z-zfII7QdtBAcnARzC/s1600/canoodler+hack.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiss-ek3eywISRoTtgKNDNvz6MUyx2u-9caN5BsVZ8MZf9xJTsi2KpA8yPm6KeT19q5Xhwzhh0iHdOqTjo2kQ_05oA-6FByBtip1zo5y2tz0T-2xEnobMsTvBAfF4z-zfII7QdtBAcnARzC/s1600/canoodler+hack.tiff" height="354" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canoodler and Quinn heading out to the fields across the street from the farm.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6DTCrgI_GYhMAHOfaaTDg2X63NlftTQg08HKiU73jRsarCGlN7fXXpnjrY4HBnmTx58XI4q7gITi0RkaP3DLrYaH4FGTcdr5lvBgCFKXWI4Xroj-X4C42oP9NuMWSIALFu3ES6YP-5ny/s1600/15_0126_canoodler_ww_ew-0904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6DTCrgI_GYhMAHOfaaTDg2X63NlftTQg08HKiU73jRsarCGlN7fXXpnjrY4HBnmTx58XI4q7gITi0RkaP3DLrYaH4FGTcdr5lvBgCFKXWI4Xroj-X4C42oP9NuMWSIALFu3ES6YP-5ny/s1600/15_0126_canoodler_ww_ew-0904.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canoodler, after he drinks will keep his tongue out for a few minutes just like small foals do when they suckle. In the background he is receiving a laser therapy treatment from Equi-Librium Therapy.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Canoodler is pretty good, no, he's actually WORLDS BETTER than Ollie at going out for hacks. He's not perfect but he's real good.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Y8N8xD0Bf__eyYfdcF9pGsCU6EsekOamjWBT7du4Pl-pkqLcUfK0WPz-wYwxoU34eXuBkplRH3apYWlmMgnc4N8b0UhR619APOgiViNrwvKCn6VSqjz01kpJ1bli45lzQpKHOuYchGXw/s1600/IMG_9567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Y8N8xD0Bf__eyYfdcF9pGsCU6EsekOamjWBT7du4Pl-pkqLcUfK0WPz-wYwxoU34eXuBkplRH3apYWlmMgnc4N8b0UhR619APOgiViNrwvKCn6VSqjz01kpJ1bli45lzQpKHOuYchGXw/s1600/IMG_9567.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Canoodler out in the fields. Photo by Christine Siegel.</td></tr>
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We are planning on the Snowbird Schooling show at the Kentucky Horse Park at the end of the month. I'm super excited about it and hope we have a fun time!<br />
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So here is our video comparison. The first video is from January 1, 2015.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LWw7tM21zTY" width="640"></iframe><br />
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And here we are on February 1, 2015<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_mM1ACA9cAQ" width="640"></iframe><br />
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I think we are on our way!Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-23646802558737862252015-01-16T15:50:00.000-05:002015-01-16T15:50:13.640-05:00Emily Brollier, Training and Shows! Oh My!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYkn4eBXMWr3p1KV2MzilYHXvzzIsrXCYPOke4TcuevybFi6VMDqEeOtGFsY2C_5ELQaEd4IGY2jrC8ouUGTpL9TjkRIb7J3i176BqObRkjpoYoe5Yb0lkRfG4ZKv0l3Pj4S8TwqcAgj9/s1600/14_1120_Canoodler_mw_ew-0354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYkn4eBXMWr3p1KV2MzilYHXvzzIsrXCYPOke4TcuevybFi6VMDqEeOtGFsY2C_5ELQaEd4IGY2jrC8ouUGTpL9TjkRIb7J3i176BqObRkjpoYoe5Yb0lkRfG4ZKv0l3Pj4S8TwqcAgj9/s1600/14_1120_Canoodler_mw_ew-0354.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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Canoodler and I are getting into gear. Winter is a slow time of year for our business so this is the best time of year for me to work on my riding.<br />
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<a href="http://www.miramonteequine.com/" target="_blank">Emily Brollier,</a> a dressage trainer, comes to the farm 3 days a week and rides a variety of horses there. She is the bomb! You can learn about Emily out at her website: <a href="http://www.miramonteequine.com/">www.miramonteequine.com</a> Canoodler and I have weaseled our way into her schedule and we're loving it! Emily understands us. At one time she used to work at the track as an exercise rider so she has a lot of experience with thoroughbred race horses. Bonus for us!<br />
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This was us after our first lesson with Emily...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4Z4OhyRRaTY" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Canoodler is pretty green but he's smart. We are working on him getting on the bit, carrying himself in a good round frame, and building up his muscles so he can do it longer and better!<br />
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I have so many little goals I want to meet this year. One of which is to get to a show. Both Canoodler and myself are greenies in this department. The immediate plan is to hit the Snowbird Show at the Kentucky Horse Park at the end of February. We'll go in the Intro classes because we both need the introduction to dressage showing. I'll reevaluate after that show and see what we need to do from that point.<br />
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In the meantime, I had another great ride on Canoodler with help from Emily today. I video taped from my iphone how Canoodler is coming along with Emily in the saddle. He just started to do work at the canter with her.<br />
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Can you tell? I'm very excited about this horse!<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-47095801902527269852014-12-26T10:01:00.000-05:002014-12-26T10:01:16.894-05:00Merry Christmas and Moving Into the New Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZGsoMq1gqS2QAMijpfHOn6k044nHAxc8A8wwPr_3MChWiG6hMh1WdJE88iTDQ2xkTnlpVF3G9gEf31XlQPkb69pJulekyGAC5F6w7AjW1H2HoDQH9c1puBv0QfKKTar22cftN9iOcHkb/s1600/14_1207_canoodlerxmas_mw-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZGsoMq1gqS2QAMijpfHOn6k044nHAxc8A8wwPr_3MChWiG6hMh1WdJE88iTDQ2xkTnlpVF3G9gEf31XlQPkb69pJulekyGAC5F6w7AjW1H2HoDQH9c1puBv0QfKKTar22cftN9iOcHkb/s1600/14_1207_canoodlerxmas_mw-.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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We wish everyone a very happy holiday season!<br />
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Now that Christmas is behind us, I'm starting to look forward to my new year. I'm super excited because I believe I finally have a horse that I can take to a show! Ollie just mentally can't handle it and I don't want to put either of us through it. He is the king of meltdowns. But he's a blast to ride so we will keep on with our work and perhaps one day he won't be so anxious about going into canter. <br />
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In the meantime, I want to set myself up to get Canoodler going! We're lucky here in Kentucky that we have many schooling shows. Even in winter! The "go to" schooling shows for winter are the Snowbird Dressage Series. They have a show each month except in January. So we have plenty of time to work on our strength and suppleness before the next show. It's a low key show that is perfect for newbies both equine and human. I happened to take Ollie there a couple years ago but we <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2011/12/first-show.html" target="_blank">never made it into the show ring</a>.<br />
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The barn where Canoodler is located has several horse and riders that will be participating in these shows as well. This is perfect because I'll be clueless and need my friends to help me out. <br />
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Assuming Canoodler can handle going to a show, I want to set up some goals for future shows and real shows! Not just schooling shows. I guess that means I need to fill out memberships to everything - USDF and Kentucky Dressage Association. It's all so new for me! I love having goals!<br />
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Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-2913860543824209472014-12-22T07:44:00.000-05:002014-12-22T07:44:34.122-05:00Winter Solstice lesson with Sharon Vander ZielDecember 21st, 2014<br />
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Jim Koford has headed south for the winter (look for him at Wellington) and I want to keep working with Canoodler. So on this winter solstice, Canoodler and I took some coaching from Sharon Vander Ziel. Sharon works for the US Dressage Federation, is active in coaching as well as conducting many clinics in the local Lexington area. She regularly comes to the barn where I keep Canoodler so I thought I'd give her a try.<br />
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I explained to her where we were, what I saw as issues and what the Canoodler team (chiropractor, masseuse, vet) saw as issues to work on. Clearly, suppleness and strength are where we need to work.<br />
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Canoodler has a much more difficult time going to the right than going to the left. When pushed to carry himself correctly, he tires quickly. We worked for a long time at just the walk. Sharon explained the bio mechanics of where we needed his jaw and poll to be in order for the rest of his body to align correctly which in turn allows his back to be used. Then we worked a long time at trot. It's just difficult for him to hold it for any length of time. It was most obvious with our attempts at canter to the right. In the video you will see that he only canters a few strides before falling out of it. I had him moving so nicely at the trot at the point of asking for the transition that he lost his balance and fell apart when asked for more. Regardless, it was a small success from which to build on! This one time where we captured the right lead was after a few failed attempts, so that's why I was excited about it. LOL!<br />
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Here is our video - it's not very exciting but I want to document our progress.<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-84290043543237259962014-12-15T20:31:00.000-05:002014-12-15T20:33:30.495-05:00Putting Humpty Dumpty Back TogetherIt's been a month since my last post and things are moving along swimmingly! Canoodler is improving physically and mentally each and every day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-o-8WDUjOSD1xmC4j2-88Jf7NIinyrBRQo0omI7UZnEDh22ZYSJIfs3EsIeKchKpq9ViWteT59daUhkIh-71BvZeYwb2qlglfiYGJVkdEtrZRBOY4v46xPtr8C-Mn4A2_XqzudP1tO5H/s1600/14_1207_noodle_mw_ew-1878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-o-8WDUjOSD1xmC4j2-88Jf7NIinyrBRQo0omI7UZnEDh22ZYSJIfs3EsIeKchKpq9ViWteT59daUhkIh-71BvZeYwb2qlglfiYGJVkdEtrZRBOY4v46xPtr8C-Mn4A2_XqzudP1tO5H/s1600/14_1207_noodle_mw_ew-1878.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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We've had Michele Haman of <span data-si="true"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Equi-librium-Therapy-LLC/175465265805617?ref=br_rs&pnref=lhc" target="_blank">Equi-librium Therapy, LLC</a> out to work on him. She gave Canoodler a very thorough massage to help him work out some of his soreness. </span><br />
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<span data-si="true">In November, I got Canoodler a start in being straightened out with a chiropractic adjustment by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/coretherapiesdvmpllc" target="_blank">Core Therapies</a>', Dr. Larkspur Carroll. I was thrilled with the results as you can see in my previous post! </span><br />
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<span data-si="true">I felt he needed massage to help him out as well. So in came Michele Haman. She spent 3 hours working out so many tight muscles. Both Dr. Lark and Michele came to the same conclusion that he may have had a poor saddle fit for a long time that put him into his current uncomfortable situation. He is very tight on the left side of his neck and in his right hind. Horses get messed up diagonally... So she worked and worked to unblock those muscles and get circulation to those areas needing help. One of the hallmark indications of poor saddle fit is where the horse is very sore in the base of the neck (wither/shoulder area) and in bad cases their back is roached. This was Canoodler. We are still working on the roached back (it's a slight roach) and it will take a long time but we have already seen improvement. The best sign of improvement is in the way he moves. He is becoming more supple and slightly more flexible. He lets me know he's feeling better by running out in the field now. Best news is that my lovely Albion saddle that was fitted for Ollie is a fantastic fit for Canoodler! What luck!!</span><br />
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<span data-si="true">The other ingredient we brought in was our coach <a href="http://www.koforddressage.com/" target="_blank">Jim Koford</a>. Jim is a gem. He worked with Canoodler and me to get him to flex/bend to the right for a long time. Keep in mind, his issues are left shoulder/neck and right hind. We are asking him to carry himself more on the right hind and stretch those left shoulder/neck muscles when we go to the right. But he was trying and trying hard! So proud of him! Ultimately, it has helped to loosen up those muscles even more! He has become much more supple and he's looking more like a proper dressage horse! I'll try to post a video in the next couple of weeks. To quote Jim, "The best part of Canoodler is that he will out you when you ride improperly!" Jim likes him...</span><br />
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<span data-si="true">At this point, I have a great team of people helping me with Canoodler's aches and pains. I feel we are in a really great place and working in the right direction for him. He seems so grateful for the help.</span><br />
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<span data-si="true">I have another lesson with Jim this week. </span><br />
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<span data-si="true">I'm riding the Noodle-man most every day and each day I go through a stretching regime with the big boy. Today's stretching produced a whole lot of popping sounds from his bones which I KNOW had to feel good. His whole neck popped and his tail bone, when pulled, gave a loud pop around his hip area. This is telling me loud and clear that we are helping him and putting him back into to place! </span><br />
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<span data-si="true">In the meantime, my rides on him, especially after having Jim work with us, have been amazing! He's so much more supple and balanced. Now we can work on building up his strength and keeping those muscles loose! And a bonus with this horse is that I can work more on my position when I ride. I was rather defensive when I rode Ollie because Ollie was just so tense and nervous. Canoodler is just a laid back guy who will give me just what I ask for to the best of his abilities. We're going to be a great team together!</span><br />
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<span data-si="true"><br /></span>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-3957334438490616032014-11-15T13:14:00.002-05:002014-11-15T13:14:53.690-05:00What Chiropractic Work Can DoI realize it's a bit quick to post again however I can't contain myself!<br />
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What a difference in Canoodler after his chiropractic treatment!<br />
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This is our "Before" video:<br />
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and this is our after video taken the day after his treatment:<br />
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He's still very inflexible but now he's not inverted and avoiding pain. He's not above my hands! So happy with this!<br />
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Just had to post!Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-89909931567605166782014-11-14T09:34:00.000-05:002014-11-14T09:34:54.891-05:00Our Starting PointFinally getting around to having some time for Canoodler!<br />
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Canoodler is like no Thoroughbred I know. He's huge, big thick boned with correctly proportioned hooves. He is completely out of shape right now but that will change as we go along.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRgahqnnE42QvWkxj4dAjDzkamQIq5kaOmZ3iDu4dbRreWwb_1Q2NlLfAuu00dno1uAlHl5wTQBEjz8zKzEQBMHrxtmuSCeFLVe4DCnVl8aGxj1YHvToJc77B0LT9dpnRboSa34Ei5bfU/s1600/14_1016_Canoodler_ww_ew-6990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRgahqnnE42QvWkxj4dAjDzkamQIq5kaOmZ3iDu4dbRreWwb_1Q2NlLfAuu00dno1uAlHl5wTQBEjz8zKzEQBMHrxtmuSCeFLVe4DCnVl8aGxj1YHvToJc77B0LT9dpnRboSa34Ei5bfU/s1600/14_1016_Canoodler_ww_ew-6990.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a><br />
Due to his big boned self, I was unable to give him any Toby/Ollie hand-me-downs. So I ordered a lovely new halter from Quillin's Leather and Halter Tack in Paris, KY.<br />
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It's a warmblood size and I had a nameplate put on with his name and my phone number (in case he ever escapes me at a horse show or other outing). I have to say, the leather is fantastic and it's super well made! I'm very happy with the purchase.<br />
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The other new purchase was a bridle that would fit his big head. I had used Ollie's bridle for a couple test rides but I had the buckles let out to make it as big as I could. Also, the leather is more delicate to fit Ollie's small dished face. So I went to Ebay and found a great bridle for a very good price - We got a brand new Red Barn Centerline dressage bridle in the oversize size. It will look great on him! Super nice leather too! I'm very happy with it but at the time of writing this, I haven't put it on him yet. I don't anticipate any problems.<br />
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As for Canoodler himself, he has some issues I want to point out so you know what I'm working on. One issue that I can't do too much about are his front feet. The Noodle is pigeon toed. This will cause him to paddle in his movements and wear out the outer side of his front hooves. This will also quickly wear out the outside heel and make it underslung thus stressing the outside of his other leg joints. So he has front shoes on to protect his hooves and allow his heels to grow out.<br />
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Once he had shoes put on, I got on him for a real test ride to see what we had.<br />
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Going to the left was not so great. His trot felt uneven and odd. He could not pick up his left lead. He felt pretty good going to the right. His canter feels nice too, much like a rocking horse. He has a nice "go" button but not aggressive. He had troubles holding a frame for more than a second or two. <br />
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We followed up the next day with a visit from our favorite equine chiropractor, Dr. Larkspur Carroll of Core Therapies. Canoodler didn't exactly trust her and kept one eye on her at all times but after a couple adjustments and releases by him (lots of licking and chewing), he was feeling much more comfortable. He had a real problem in his lower neck ( C6b, C7b and his ribs near T9,T10,T11. His TMJ (jaw) was also very very tight. We think the lower neck area was caused from being ridden in a poor fitting saddle in the past. So we checked out my saddle on him. Amazingly it's a perfect fit!! What are the odds of that?! In fact, it fits so well that I was instructed to not put too much padding underneath the saddle as that will make it narrower. So a single saddle pad with no fancy sheepskin 1/2 pad is how we will go. <br />
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The Noodle has very little in the way of topline muscles and a weak hind end. This is from years of never learning how to carry himself properly. This will be a slow process but we are going to improve his suppleness and strengthen him up so he can carry himself in a nice frame. This will be lots of ground work so he can learn to balance himself without a rider as well as lots of trot work.<br />
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So that's where we are today. He has a couple small spots of rain rot that I also need to treat but other than that, he's in good health and ready to get to work!<br />
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FUN!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canoodler with his nose up his ass. ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the big boy!</td></tr>
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-88739369762283901472014-10-29T16:15:00.001-04:002014-10-29T16:17:58.073-04:00Breeders Cup WeekendThis time of year is always crazy busy for us. People don't seem to think about photos until they see the gorgeous fall color and then they say "Hey! We need to get photos of this!" So that's been our life for the past couple of weeks. <br />
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To get you up to date on all our activities, Matt and I photograph <a href="http://www.unveiledphotos.com/" target="_blank">weddings</a>, all kinds of <a href="http://www.equisportphotos.com/" target="_blank">equestrian work</a>, <a href="http://www.peepsandpaws.com/" target="_blank">pets</a> and <a href="http://www.archphotomotion.com/" target="_blank">architectural</a>. It keeps us busy. Then you add in the Keeneland race meet, Breeders Cup and the Fasig-Tipton Select Sale the Monday after the Breeders Cup and you can kiss our October goodbye! <br />
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So getting a new horse in the midst of my busy season is not ideal but we had to make it work. Canoodler has settled in well. He has such an even temperament. Everyone at his new barn says he's "totally chill". The funniest part is that he instantly bonded with the burro, Peso.<br />
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They make quite the pair out in the field. <br />
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And in their first greeting, Canoodler was showing us some fancy dressage moves!<br />
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I haven't gotten on him yet. My plans are to test him out when I get back from the Breeders' Cup and we get past the Fasig-Tipton Select Sale and my "To Do" list becomes more manageable. <br />
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In the meantime, Matt & I are in California for the Breeders Cup. You'll see our work on <a href="http://www.paulickreport.com/" target="_blank">The Paulick Report.</a> and <a href="http://www.racingpost.com/" target="_blank">The Racing Post</a>. Here is a link to our stuff from last year's BC! <a href="http://www.equisportphotos.com/Horse-Racing/Breeders-Cup-13/33140648_z8wn4x#!i=2902668425&k=nDXLxqn" target="_blank"> Breeders Cup '13</a><br />
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Who do you guys like for the BC Classic? Or the Turf Mile now that Wise Dan isn't running? <br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-1059117119486150162014-10-17T21:33:00.000-04:002014-10-17T21:33:42.569-04:00I'm Blogging Again...Let's go back in time and remember some moments I posted about a horse named "Canoodler"...<br />
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It all began back in 2009 when I made an offer on the largest, cutest horse I've ever been around.. <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2009/04/im-going-to-jinx-it.html" target="_blank">I'm going To Jinx it,</a> and again I mention him a couple weeks later on <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2009/04/illinois-champions-day.html" target="_blank">Illinois Champions Day</a><br />
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Then his name is mentioned in cameos in a couple posts, <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2010/05/post-preakness-blues.html" target="_blank">here after the Preakness in 2009</a>, then again here when I made an <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2009/07/waiting-game.html" target="_blank">offer on Ollie</a>, and then again from the <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2009/08/past-present-and-our-futures.html" target="_blank">Arlington Million</a>. My most painful post about him was this one when I found out he was neglected at a hunter/jumper barn - <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-day.html" target="_blank">what a day...</a> and finally my last word about him in November of 2009 <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2009/11/hola-c-bright-by-wendyu-on-flickr.html" target="_blank">On The Bit</a>. That was the last time I had any news on Canoodler. I always had an offer open for him and reminded his owner after each race that it still stood but was always turned down because of money. Or lack of money on my part. <br />
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That was until April of 2014. That's when I got an email from a young woman in Pennsylvania. She wrote..."Hey Wendy! I recently purchased a TB gelding from auction and (after some tattoo deciphering) thought that I had a match. So I googled the name and your website popped up with photos of him from spring of 2009! His name is Canoodler and you were hoping to get him from the track."<br />
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My heart sank. What you don't know is that oddly, on that same day, I talked about Canoodler to a friend and said "I always have wondered how he was doing." That exact same day!<br />
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The auction he went to was the New Holland Auction in Pennsylvania. It's essentially a last chance place for horses before they go to an unspeakable end. Some are lucky. Some are not. Thank you so much for making Canoodler a lucky one!<br />
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That email shook me up so much. I cried. I cried because he didn't deserve to go to such a place and I cried because I was so happy he found a home! I sent his new owner photos that I had of him from his racing days and wished them well!<br />
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Some time goes by and Canoodler's owner contacts me again. This time it's because she's putting him up for sale. He just isn't a good fit for her. Totally fair and good to say! However, I felt that I could handle all I could handle with 2 horses and said I could not take him. A few months later, I broke down. He was now listed as "free to good home" and that always makes me worry because in my mind, this is a horse with a great deal of value. I loved him! Now I was constantly worrying about him. I realized that I would always worry about him. That's when I had a talk with my husband Matt. At first we both felt we could find him a great home but that lasted about 10 minutes. Canoodler needed to be in our home.<br />
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What I wasn't prepared for were all the people behind this decision and willing to make it happen!<br />
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I always knew the people that worked for and with Graham Motion were the best of the best. I just didn't have any idea how much they would dig down to help out one of their friends. They made it happen for me since Canoodler, fortunately for me, was located very near by to them! So first off was to get him to a farm where a shipping company comes to and the handlers are some of the best equine professionals in the business. These would be my friends Fenella O'Flynn and Bridget McFadden. They operate a lay up facility called Gratton Farm where they have some pretty cool horses that need down time come to hang out. I once visited them when they had the race horse Pluck on their farm. They had room and welcomed Canoodler for a few days until he would ship out. The next piece of the puzzle was finding a shipper. That's when Sue Kenny, the office manager at Herringswell Stables and Maggie Kimmitt, office assistant and photographer at Herringswell Stables took over. They contacted their people at Brook Ledge Horse Transportation. They all made it happen without killing my piggy bank. I never could have gotten this kind of service and help without all of them! Brook Ledge was incredibly great to work with and happily loaded up Canoodler onto my little 2-horse trailer for me when I picked him up at their Lexington facility! They even stopped to let me take their picture for the records.<br />
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Canoodler was all about photo opportunites.<br />
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So here we are! I have 3 horses. One who is 24 yrs old and pretty much hangs out to care for Ollie. Then I have 14 yr old Ollie who has been coming along in dressage but at the moment has a bruised hoof and needs a little time off to feel better and be less grumpy about riding. And we now have 10 yr old Canoodler. I haven't ridden him yet and I have no idea what he can or cannot do. All I know is that he fox hunted for a few years after his racing days and because he was 10 yrs old, he was sent to the New Holland Auction. Yes, that's what we were told by the gentleman that took him there. His elderly female owner that fox hunted does not keep horses that are 10 or older. Makes me sick to think of it.<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-74019846982503260622013-04-06T08:21:00.001-04:002013-04-06T08:21:28.061-04:00Keeneland! Must mean Spring is here!One of the best treasures in Lexington is Keeneland and all the beautiful horse farms in Kentucky. Lexington is a well planned city where they have protected the farms from urban sprawl. It's just minutes away in any direction before you pass mares and foals in the fields. Just beautiful....<br />
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I've been trying to capture some of the beauty of the area and expanding my visual art into videography. My expensive cameras are capable of recording high definition video - in fact, these cameras are capable of creating full blown movies. So I want to see what I can do with it. The hard part is that these cameras cannot auto focus when filming movie clips - I have to focus by hand. That takes practice! But the benefit is that I can control the exposure and do some very creative things with the light. I like to think my inner Steven Spielberg can come out...<br />
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All my clips I purposely keep short, for the short attention span of people these days. Here's is one of a napping foal at one of the farms where we were doing some work...<br />
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And this one is about a foal who was born prematurely. He's owned by the people who own Eclipse award winner She Be Wild. He's by Arch out of Trappings (She Be Wild's dam) which makes him a 1/2 to She Be Wild as well as making him 3/4's to Breeders Cup Champion and the only horse to ever beat Zenyatta, Blame!<br />
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This next one is just for fun with Amos. Matt and I were experimenting once again. We attached a camera to my truck with a fisheye lens on it. Then we took Amos and drove by many landmarks in downtown Lexington (UK campus, Transylvania campus, Mary Todd Lincoln home, Rupp arena, Red Mile, etc). It's longer than most my videos - over 3 minutes...<br />
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Lastly, this one is my most favorite... It's all the activities that go on at Keeneland in the mornings.<br />
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ok - this one really is my last. If you liked the pony in the Keeneland video - you can learn a little more about him in this short clip...<br />
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I hope you enjoyed the videos!<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-47287293695485449322013-03-18T13:46:00.000-04:002013-03-18T13:49:00.980-04:00The Road To The Horse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yesterday was a soggy, rainy day. I couldn't ride and we couldn't take photos... or could we! Thanks to <a href="http://hoofcare.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Fran Jurga</a> posting on Facebook about The Road To The Horse as well as another FB friend <a href="http://www.happyart.com/" target="_blank">Marti McGinnis</a> (owner of HappyArt), I felt the urge to go. So I dragged Matt out to the Kentucky Horse Park. He had no idea what this was all about.<br />
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We ran into a few friends and clients with their families. It was going to turn into a fun filled afternoon!<br />
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The only trainer of the four in the competition that we were familiar with was Dan James of Double Dan Horsemanship. We had met Dan James at the Steeplechase last year where he performed a demo. I had never seen anything like it! He and his horses were incredible! Here's a photo from his demo at the Steeplechase.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendy_u/7258689038/" title="12_0520_Dan_ww_w-6186 by wendyu, on Flickr"><img alt="12_0520_Dan_ww_w-6186" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7258689038_21488dc287_z.jpg" width="427" /></a></center>
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Here is Dan during the Road To The Horse... His horse (everyone had an unbroke 3 yr old gelding) was difficult and probably needed a slower pace for learning things. He gave a lot of double barrel kicks in protest. Dan pretty much had to lead him through the entire obstacle course that he had written on his shirt so he wouldn't miss anything.<br />
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I soon learned the other trainers were amazing as well!<br />
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Probably the trainer with the most PR was Obbie Schlom. Obbie is an 18 yr old girl with the wisdom of an 81 yr old horse trainer. She's incredibly mature for her age and amazing in her talents as a trainer. Watch <a href="http://www.obbieschlom.com/" target="_blank">her videos</a> and friend her on facebook! You just have to love a girl whose personal ride is a mule...<br />
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The other US competitor was Sarah Winters. Some of you may be familiar with her Dad, <a href="http://www.wintersranch.com/" target="_blank">Richard Winters</a>. He has a show on HRTV and offers his own horsemanship clinics as well. Sarah was excellent! I think I liked her training style the best although I have to say I liked all of them. Her horse performed very well!<br />
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Her horse was such a curious thing and wanted to smell and eat most everything he came across during the obstacle course. But he did everything except going up on the platform. Also, she was the only trainer to ride using a halter instead of a bridle.<br />
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Lastly, was the eventual winner. <a href="http://www.guymcleanusatour.com/" target="_blank">Guy McLean</a> from Australia was amazing! He was great with his horse, added a lot of humor for the audience and he built up his horse's confidence as the ride went on. I loved it! So did the crowd and the judges. <br />
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The order of finish for the competition was 1st place, Guy McLean; 2nd place Obbie Schlom; 3rd place, Sarah Winters; 4th place, Dan James. But everyone was a winner, especially the horses and it was a treat for all of us in the audience to see such excellent horsemanship!<br />
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As a final note, and to end on a bit of equine humor... please watch Guy McLean on his A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. horse Spinabbey (the Seabiscuit part and the show jumping are my faves)...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-VUEQOh_OIU" width="640"></iframe>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-40364801884205430972013-03-13T09:44:00.001-04:002013-03-13T09:44:48.789-04:00As Requested... Video!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I bartered with Matt. I'll video tape his golf swing if he video tapes me riding Ollie... Ollie and I are still very green but we pretty much did nothing for most of 2012. This is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCu4zHK6DnA" target="_blank">our last video at work</a> as a reference.<br />
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Ollie's biggest issues are fidgeting a lot, keeping his focus on what we are doing and accepting contact with the reins. We've only been working on moving in the gait that I've asked for (he likes to go up in gait) and keeping a round frame. So here is a short video of us where I can see a lot of improvement and I can also see that we have a lot to do yet. <br />
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If anything, we're much more comfortable with each other! I just love this guy so much....<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-22859938157924292102013-03-12T12:05:00.001-04:002013-03-12T12:05:40.487-04:00It's An Eventing World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ollie and I continue to progress and again I have no new photos or video. Sorry about that! He is holding a round frame longer and longer. When he's all sassy he gets super round. He can be such a pretty mover! I know, I hear ya - video! I will say that we don't always have perfect days. One day our ride consisted of us going round and round in circles. I'm trying to keep him at the gait I have asked him for. He likes to go into trot before I ask for it. So we circle until he walks again and we head into whatever direction we're facing at the time he decided to walk. We must've looked silly but pretty much that's all we did for our ride. On the flip side, our next ride was terrific! I'm sure I'll have more days like that, especially with the grass greening up and giving him more sugar in his system. I like the horse I have right now and I keep wishing the grass won't start growing again. :)<br />
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In other news, Matt had a photo of his as the cover of the February issue of Practical Horseman. That's the photo at the top. We plan on going to Rolex again this year. It's so much fun to photograph! And we may have another photo in an upcoming issue of Practical Horseman. I'll let you know! It will be of this horse and rider but not this photo...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice (aka Happy)</td></tr>
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Eventing is a big sport in central Kentucky. So many people do it! We have two public areas where riders can practice x-country jumps. One is <a href="http://www.mastersonequestrian.org/" target="_blank">Masterson Station Park</a> and the other is The Kentucky Horse Park. So many of my friends take part in it. Even <a href="http://www.paulickreport.com/features/ottb-showcase/ottb-showcase-pirates-bid-a-k-a-pirate/" target="_blank">my vet competes </a>in eventing with her OTTB!<br />
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As you can imagine, many retired race horses are retrained in eventing. They excel in the sport! One of them is a horse I wrote about on a blog post a couple years ago, <a href="http://racehorsetoshowhorse.blogspot.com/2011/04/keeneland-spring-and-my-copilot-dog.html" target="_blank">Sour</a>. <br />
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Sour was owned by Adele Dilschneider and she had him on the Kentucky Derby Trail. You may remember her name as she co-owned Blame with Claiborne Farm. I'll really refresh your memory with this photo - Blame is the only horse to have beaten Zenyatta...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blame has a nose ahead of Zenyatta in the 2010 Breeders Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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At any rate, Sour wasn't competitive at the track at the higher levels of racing. They didn't want him to go into the claiming ranks so he was retired from racing and put into an eventing home this past December. His new owner found this blog and contacted me to tell me she had him now! He's learning to be an eventer!<br />
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He's in South Carolina and seems to be having the good life there! How much fun does that look!! Jumping logs on the beach! He's been renamed "Sur" because he's now a southern gentleman (and who wants to own a "sour" horse!). They hope to make the Thoroughbred Celebration Show in Virginia this year. We can cheer him on there and many other shows! I love that!<br />
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That's it for now. I promise I'll get photos and video of me and Ollie soon!<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-36207888762335726722013-02-20T13:36:00.001-05:002013-02-20T13:36:38.761-05:00Need A Favor: Gustas McCrae<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gustas McCrae (right) with is buddy Jacie Mae</td></tr>
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Today I'm going to blog about a dog. He's a special little dog to me. I first met him when he came to the Lexington Humane Society with his buddy. I thought he was the most adorable dog EVER. The LHS tried to adopt him with his friend. However, life got in the way and Gustas came down with an ailment and had to go to the quarantine area of the LHS. While the two dogs were seperated, Jacie Mae found her forever home<br />
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Gustas came back to the adoption area and kept hoping to find his new home. But no one fell in love with him. Month after month, when I would go to photograph the animals at the LHS, I'd see Gustas there still waiting. I made it a point to sneak him into my <a href="http://www.peepsandpaws.com/" target="_blank">pet photography</a> when I could.<br />
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It's like he was made for the camera! Such an expressive face and those ears! Those beautiful big ears!<br />
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Recently, I saw that Gustas continued to be looking for a home. During the holidays, I'd post his photo on people's pages who I knew were looking at adoptable dogs online. I felt so sneaky... and hopeful at the same time. Maybe one of them would take him home! But of course nothing happened.<br />
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Finally, I had enough. I called for a family meeting. Matt, Amos, Monster (the cat) and of course me. We talked for a long time about bringing in Gustas. We made a list of things we'd need to work on. Gustas, evidently, had been attacked by another dog while at the LHS. He's a little gun shy about other dogs and protective of his hind end now. We believed, and from our experience, that we could work it out between him and Amos. It would be work for us but we felt it could be done. Then we looked at our cat. Monster is 12 yrs old. He's very independent and he's not afraid of dogs. He completely controls Amos who weighs 80lbs more than him! However, Monster is a bit funny about who he approves and who he doesn't. During the 2 yrs that my elderly frail feline lived with us, Monster would stay away from home except for an occasional visit. Once my cat passed away, Monster felt he could come back home. For good. We do not want to change his feelings about it. So we concluded that Gustas (or any dog or cat for that matter) could not come home to live with us with our current situation.<br />
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To make me feel better about it, Matt promised to help me with a
dedicated photo shoot for Gustas. It's my hope that getting more photos
of him out to the public will help him find his forever home. Below are some of the photos from our shoot:<br />
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Finally, I want to ask you a favor. Please share his information. I made a cute video that can be shared (see below) or just share my blog post. Either way, I would appreciate any help in finding this guy his forever home. Thanks!<br />
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Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-48227699467157932052013-02-19T10:29:00.001-05:002013-02-19T10:29:33.745-05:00Be Patient And He Will Figure It Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm so excited about Ollie! I had a lesson with him over the weekend and he was a star. I came home and couldn't stop babbling about it. I love what we're doing!<br />
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It may sound very basic to all of you. And it sounds basic to me. In fact it's all things I already know. But putting something into practice and reading about it are two entirely different things.<br />
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Our lesson began with me on Ollie and Ollie telling me that all he wants to do is trot. This is very typical behavior. That's all fine and good except I wasn't asking him for trot. There we are in the riding ring he knows well, with his best buddy hanging his head out the window watching us, everything around us is familiar and comforting to him. He had no excuse for wanting to go fast. He just felt he was in control and was going to dictate to me when we trot and when we walk. This just isn't going to work out in the long run. <br />
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George, my instructor, had me take one rein and hold it on my thigh, causing Ollie to go into a small circle and we would hold that position until he walked and I immediately released the rein and we would walk off in whatever direction we were heading at that moment. We did this every time Ollie decided he wanted to trot off. I would alternate reins so our circles would always be different. Ollie caught on quickly... I felt like I could see the wheels in his mind working it out, "If I trot, then the bit will hit the bars of my jaw and I go in an uncomfortable circle. When I walk, that nuisance goes away. I think I'll walk!" The moment that walking became his idea was the moment of joy for me! We did this so methodically, and without any drama or arguing. It was like an "ah ha!" moment for me. I can communicate with my horse!<br />
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Then we got to where I was asking Ollie for trot. He'd move along just fine, then he'd get to a spot and speed up. We did the same procedure as before but instead of getting him to walk, I was just getting him back to a nice working trot. <br />
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The best part of our lesson was working on his self carriage. George told me that I need to get rid of the running martingale. I told George I'm all about it! I need to get rid of it if I ever want to go to a dressage show! The problem is when Ollie throws his head up and takes the bit. My martingale is very loose so it is only effective when Ollie is very head high. Read: it makes me feel better even though it's not doing anything 99% of the time...<br />
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At any rate, we worked on getting a round frame. And boy did we succeed! We would travel in a mini version of our arena with 2 long sides and 2 short sides. As I traveled down the long sides, I would tip Ollie's nose to the outside with my outside rein but maintain our travel in a straight line with the inside rein. When Ollie gave with his jaw, I immediately released the pressure from the reins and he would trot off in the most gorgeous fancy dressage horse frame. I was peeing in my pants with excitement! At first it was only a few strides, then he held it longer and longer. George told me that soon enough he would be doing it all of the time. I was exaggerating the release of the reins. In time, it will be much more subtle. George wants me to be very clear in what I'm asking Ollie to do at this point. <br />
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This is all so basic but I'm moving forward with Ollie and I'm thrilled! George told me I could do everything in our lesson at the canter as well but he recommended that we work on his frame at the trot for now as he builds strength along his top line. <br />
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George also caught me moving our mounting block a few feet to my horse rather than leading my horse to the mounting block. So he gave me some homework to steer Ollie to the mounting block. It'll be a good exercise for our groundwork. It'll probably be helpful in loading him onto a horse trailer too. <br />
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I love what we're doing! I know it's basic but it's huge in our book. This year is going to be great!Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-40712337068251502192013-01-06T09:12:00.000-05:002013-01-06T09:12:35.136-05:00New Year and New GoalsThis isn't a post about resolutions and listing my goals. I just don't have that many specific goals that they need listing.<br />
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Rather it's about keeping on with my big goals and moving forward. In particular with my gray horse. We started out last year pretty well and I was excited about it. Then we were thrown a little curve ball in the midst of my busy time of year and I never got us back on track.<br />
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Well it's a new year and I'm determined to get back to doing something with my horse. Dressage is what I prefer to ride and learn more about. The problem is, I haven't found a dressage instructor around here. I know they are out there. I just haven't found that person yet, especially one I can afford. I don't want to just let Ollie sit out in a field and do nothing. It does him no good. He starts annoying the other horses and getting himself into trouble when he's not working. I want to set him up for success and put him into doing something. Anything!<br />
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So we are beginning to work with a natural horsemanship kind of guy although he probably doesn't like to call it that. His name is George Smok and he works and trains many of the babies at the horse farms in the area. He's an avid polo player and best of all he's a friend of <a href="http://brannaman.com/" target="_blank">Buck Brannaman</a> and organizes Buck's clinic here in Lexington each year.<br />
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George will help me work with some basics with Ollie and develop a strong foundation for us to move on. Right now, we are just working on having Ollie move away from pressure and to understand how to move only the body parts I'm asking him to move. Ollie's a quick study! Best of all, George really likes Ollie! <br />
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The things we are practicing now is all on the ground for now. I am learning to drive him forward, to go when I ask him to go (not when he thinks he should go), to turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches, change direction on the lunge line, etc. These are things that will help me in many other areas down the road. We need to practice but he and I pick up on it pretty well. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmA4LpbtVXzYfdDL4BoIEm37KuOYIZ_RRvP4A09gj6Q9PA3KHXnEG9Rd1nq9PN3zolkcy05NUvpJ9efwt3uUnh8_C1wpqiXU7EaT_bTduEmgNCEAscVFavG-Zs1Vg8uzverCJoatgV3yJ/s1600/2013-01-06_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmA4LpbtVXzYfdDL4BoIEm37KuOYIZ_RRvP4A09gj6Q9PA3KHXnEG9Rd1nq9PN3zolkcy05NUvpJ9efwt3uUnh8_C1wpqiXU7EaT_bTduEmgNCEAscVFavG-Zs1Vg8uzverCJoatgV3yJ/s640/2013-01-06_0003.jpg" width="640" /></a>
So I'm feeling pretty good that we are doing something again. We don't have an indoor arena so we are subject to working only when the ground isn't frozen. Thankfully, that hasn't been much of a problem especially in the afternoons when it's sunny.<br />
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We will keep you posted on our progress! <br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-60613862284125723142012-12-03T16:01:00.001-05:002012-12-03T16:01:33.957-05:00Holiday Spirit and Other Fun Projects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been having a good time lately with my work. Holidays are coming up and some of my clients want to share in the spirit. Here's the beautiful St. Bernard, Nana (think Peter Pan) who will be competing in the Eukanuba Dog Show this week!<br />
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Then we had my cancer surviving friend Carrie (she's inspiring) with the love of her life, Melvin. He's the cutest boxer!<br />
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And I'm all about black labs! Fetch obsessive, crazy faced black labs. Amos has taught me all I know about their crazy habits.<br />
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And sometimes I'm hired to take photos for lasting memories before tough decisions have to be made. In this case, this beautiful horse had a neurological problem that could not be found nor resolved. He would collapse without warning. The vets couldn't find the source of the problem and these are some of the top equine vets in the world. This young lady had to make a tough decision because he was a danger to himself (he could break a leg when he collapsed) as well as to others. It's tough to do these photography sessions but it's also very meaningful and important to the owner.<br />
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This family of pugs had the elderly stateman of their group going into his last days. He's the one laying down. The other 6 were also documented on a very blustery day - thanks Sandy... <br />
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Of course I still photograph the cuties at the Lexington Humane Society...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_7fzYoBZ5ivWdaA-xdlISJZsrrM_jXzrXchn1O_deFoRqSA61NjiAeAEej46AjoL3wrLgVpTicTCSN0q9-6rfL5MQk5njY8l96b04qeBYX_6z5HgKT65X8WSutW6TueL66ilGhhqXB02/s1600/2012-12-03_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_7fzYoBZ5ivWdaA-xdlISJZsrrM_jXzrXchn1O_deFoRqSA61NjiAeAEej46AjoL3wrLgVpTicTCSN0q9-6rfL5MQk5njY8l96b04qeBYX_6z5HgKT65X8WSutW6TueL66ilGhhqXB02/s640/2012-12-03_0001.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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And then there are certain events that we document every year since I've met Matt... This is the Blessing of the Hounds at Shaker Village here in Kentucky.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4RXCYc-cQFU6le308TmEd-rIN8Lfn3XJFO8cfhbuqrtKTzwK48bzNs8BsAYaIxpvKVXpbYyj0g79iNBGXcnIibo1I02GB2a8pUdSRdh9tD2KXVC4TDx3vlXQO7IqnoPb1EIJJFpWyabk/s1600/2012-12-03_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4RXCYc-cQFU6le308TmEd-rIN8Lfn3XJFO8cfhbuqrtKTzwK48bzNs8BsAYaIxpvKVXpbYyj0g79iNBGXcnIibo1I02GB2a8pUdSRdh9tD2KXVC4TDx3vlXQO7IqnoPb1EIJJFpWyabk/s640/2012-12-03_0002.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Finally, I have fun with the four foals I've been following since their births back in April. They are now weaned and getting so big. I decided to put together a video showing their growth over the past 6 months. This young girl has the most personality of them all...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ggiZoSC3cfE" width="640"></iframe>
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Toby and Ollie are doing well. I have more time to get back in the saddle now and anticipate writing about our adventures soon! :)<br />
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<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339321308717215115.post-59418068073135556502012-10-18T19:58:00.001-04:002012-10-18T19:58:38.489-04:00October In KentuckyThis is simply the most beautiful month in Kentucky. The rolling hills of central Kentucky mixed with the colors of the hardwood trees. It's incredible. It's also a popular time of year for photography. <br />
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Matt and I have kept ourselves out of trouble by photographing the races at Keeneland<br />
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Working on the farms taking pictures of certain weanlings:<br />
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Making some new friends along the way:<br />
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and getting a ride on my guys when I can. Toby has been such a good boy for me...<br />
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I love fall!<br />
<br />Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564627110822414614noreply@blogger.com4