Category: Ruth’s Journal

The past year has thrust us all into change, and as we know, change can be hard even when you agree to it and have it planned.  With physical distancing, rolling lockdowns, and the shifting landscape of what we can do when and with how many, I compel myself to remember that although we can’t completely control all of our surroundings, we can absolutely control how we react.

When the first set of lock downs arrived, I had just returned from back-to-back weekends of teaching in Atlantic Canada.  I had a trip to England scheduled, a full show season planned out, and a bustling roster of students to teach.  And then it all stopped.  I went through the 5 stages of grief:

• Denial – I can reschedule my trip, after all this won’t last long… show season won’t really change… I will just take a week or two to slow down and eat some mini eggs and then life will return to ‘normal’.  
• Anger – I’m not generally an angry person but with the mini egg supply dwindling, I definitely verged on anger.  I busied myself with angry baking, angry cleaning and angry re-organizing.
• Bargaining – Maybe I can trade something for mini eggs?  Or try other types of chocolate?   
• Depression – The mini egg supply is gone… I’ve cleaned all the tack… this is it, the hardship begins. 
• Acceptance – This one is a powerful one.  Acceptance gives us the power to move forward.  The power to understand where we currently stand and to then allow us to chart a path forward.  The whole cycle is incredibly like one we use in coaching:
  • Observe
  • Analyze
  • Interpret
  • Plan
  • Prepare
  • Perform    

For me, with acceptance came the ability to plan, prepare and perform with clarity.  And with that came some pretty cool opportunities I might have otherwise missed:

• Paperless competition scoring:
  • Finding the Compete Easy Software by Nominate has opened a flood of ideas around the way the sport is scored and how to make it easier for organizers volunteers and competitors.  Thank goodness I have a genius sister who fearlessly embraced the concept.
• Facility layout and timing:
  • With physical distancing and contact tracing now being a focus on a daily basis we implemented a sign up and tracking schedule for our boarders.  This has allowed people to better plan their outing to the barn and feel confident when they are here that they can best use their time. 
• Meal planning and Family time:
  • Being able to sit down and enjoy dinner when most families would was not a norm in our pre-pandemic life.  When we ran out of mini-eggs in the first lock down we came to the stark realization that someone would have to volunteer as tribute and go to the grocery store. 
  • We began sitting down as a family and planning our meals for the week, and then enjoying those meals together.  We’ve gotten to know each other better as people and appreciate our similarities and our differences.

• Riding:
  • This may come as a surprise but I enjoy riding.  And because sometimes we flow along with life in a way that perhaps doesn’t cause us to pause to analyze or interpret, riding had slowly moved down my priority list of things to do.  We need to do things that give us happiness, pleasure and peace, just as riding does for me.  I had gotten so busy with so many other things that I had forgotten this.  When the school horses needed to get back to work after the first lock down I picked up the ball and was quickly reminded of the happy place that is the back of a horse. 
• Teaching:
  • I love teaching, the pandemic hasn’t changed that.  Through the first lock down I spent more time not teaching than ever in my adult life. 
  • The time off teaching found me doodling lesson plans on everything.  Progressions for old lesson plans became clearer.  How one training session built upon the next would wake me up at night.
  • The break became a bit of a reboot and time to digest the thousands and thousands of lessons I have taught.  It gave me an opportunity to feel re-energized about my passion to teach.

• The Sport:
  • I get goosebumps when I think about watching a horse and rider cross the finish line (both figuratively and literally).
  • Seeing horse and rider in harmony moving as distinct but bonded athletes is extraordinary.
  • Working my way through the twists and turns of the past year has given me the opening to remember why the sport of Eventing means so much to me.  To watch horse and rider demonstrate their speed, agility, bravery, training and partnership is so incredibly special.

I was asked once by the parent of a student what the secret to the sport was. 

In the words of Mr. Ping, ‘There is no secret ingredient.  To make something special… you just have to believe it is special.’ 

In 2021 Oakhurst Farm is hosting its very first FEI Event and we believe that it will be incredibly special.  The amazing volunteers, competitors and supporters of this Event will be the secret ingredients.  To check out more and to be a part of it check out www.oakhurstevents.ca

See you there!

Ruth

P.S.  If you don’t know who Mr. Ping is, grab a bag of Mini Eggs and watch Kung Fu Panda… you might be pleasantly surprised by the secrets you discover.

I have frequent conversations about the mentors in my life and the influence and respect I have for them.  I got the most amazing piece of advice last week which I will share with you: “Listen.  Listen a lot.  And when you do speak, be slow and deliberate.”

That seems simple, but when I start speaking about the fabulous sport of Eventing, the amazing riders that exist within it, the volunteers that spent countless hours devoted to it, the owners and breeders of horses who support it, the coaches that are so dedicated and every other individual that believes in it, the concept of speaking slowly and deliberately is very challenging for me.

If we haven’t met yet we should be clear that I don’t make friends easily.  Its not that I don’t play nice with others or that I am antisocial in any way, quite the opposite.  The nickname #funruth that evolved over the past 2 days of coaching meetings in Toronto are a perfect example of my social ability.  However, the blunt honesty that comes along with being my friend is tough for some.  So, although l was recently called conciliatory (I had to look that up), I would say that I will listen to everyone’s opinions… respect them when they are fact based, and be blunt when they are not.

I read an article recently that explored the idea that people who swear in conversation are more intelligent than people who don’t.  I therefore know a lot of very intelligent people. 😊   Having just sat in 2 days of meetings with both the National Eventing committee and then the Provincial Horse Trials committees I can easily say that I was not the smartest person in the room (maybe not calculating my  swearing).  And thank goodness.  I crave learning from people smarter than me and I am not vain enough to think for a second that I know everything there is to know about every facet of this sport that is such a huge part of my life.  I wouldn’t argue that I have some expertise in a couple of areas surrounding the sport, but that’s why a committee of individuals comes together with their own specific skill sets, to have conversations and disagreements and consent about the direction and pathway for our athletes and the sport.

There is no argument that the people that volunteer their time and energy to shape the sport are invested.  Whether they are National, Provincial, or local they have skin in the game.  There are plenty of people that will sit on the outside and complain.  I’d prefer to lose sleep by trying to make change… not just bitching about it.  Change is tough.  We get used to the way things have always been, and we need to understand the history and not discard it, but it is scary for many people.

Let me explore the difficulty of change in an easier way to understand… Monday at our meetings I was coerced into going for lunch at a place that specializes in Sushi Burritos.  I don’t eat green things.  I almost NEVER change what I order at a restaurant once I’ve been there.  And I don’t eat things I can’t identify!!!  Yup, Sushi Burrito… Did I love it, no.  Did I try it, yes.  Did the other people that were with me think it was the best meal ever, yes.  So there is merit to it.  I don’t have to love it to understand it has a place in our world.

Just breath.  Change is ok.

After days of meetings I am sitting on the train watching the world zip past and have time to reflect on the meetings that have just happened, the amazing individuals who are passionate about the sport and my place within that.  I listened.  I spoke deliberately and we worked collaboratively.  If you know the sport then you know that this is a great time for change.  We have to work together to make that happen.  Its not an us and them situation, its we.  We need to make positive changes happen, and those that are fine with heckling from the sidelines then in my opinion you need to step out of the way so those of us that are committed to doing something can move forward.

So with that I say, swear often, embrace that you may not be the smartest at the table and get the f@$k out of the way if you aren’t willing to help.

In the words of Robert F. Allum, ‘It’s time to run at the wall’.  (figuratively of course)

Ruth

#newchairofeventing  #stillfunruth

Where has the time gone?  It feels like the show season is just getting underway and yet the days are getting shorter and shorter, and apparently it is almost Thanksgiving??  So, what am I giving thanks for this year?  Glad you asked!

Here we go:

• The adrenaline rush. Yup, you read that right, the adrenaline rush!  We were at Grandview Horse Trials on Saturday and we had 2 girls go Preliminary for the first time and my gosh, the intensity of feelings when they left the Startbox, and jumped over the 1^st fence was what I live for.  They made it real by galloping on to the 2^nd, the 3^rd and so on until I regained sight of them coming to the last and then galloping across the finish with a smile so big and that amazing look of, ‘I just did that’ on their faces.  Yup, that adrenaline rush was mine too.  Not because I rode it with them because I didn’t; but because I had a hand in teaching them the skills they needed to get the job done, and that they did.  The adrenaline rush is so real for me when I am watching a rider and/or horse achieving their goal whether that’s a new Prelim combination, a hard-earned clean Training level cross country ride or some seriously kick a$$ flying changes in a 3^rd level Dressage test.  Of course, on Sunday at the Silver Dressage Show at Oakhurst, I resisted the urge to ‘whoop whoop’ during dressage tests, but I am sure you all now that internally I am doing a happy dance when I know my rider has produced the winning test.  Have I ever mentioned how much I crave winning??

• My Team. Its not just about the riders and their horses.  It’s the moms and dads, siblings and friends that bring coffee, make sure we have dinner reservations, that have a water bottle ready, hold horses, and that make the whole experience possible.  I give thanks for them because without them I wouldn’t have the support needed to work with the most amazing athletes.  The expression, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ rings so true with every athlete I have ever worked with.

• Okay, if you know me at all you know I am not thankful for math!  But I do love statistics, which has some very basic math stuff involved.  I have kept statistics on all of our riders since 1999.  This past weekend marked the 50^th horse/rider combination I have helped go Prelim or above.  So, I was trying to figure out how many more years it would take me to get to 100.  Granted the first few years of that I really feel I underachieved.  And then the math got the better of me so I went and set a jump course… I am good at that!

• My family. Sappy but true, my family makes me truly thankful.  They support me in every crazy endeavour I declare, they give me room when I fail, they enlighten me when I’m wrong and they congratulate me when I’m right.

• My Lifestyle. I get to travel, work outside, and interact with likeminded, crazy passionate individuals.  Phewf!

• My Husband/Partner/Best Friend. Yup, he fuels up and washes my truck for me, he hitches up (and backs up) trailers for me, he harrows, welds, constructs, mows, and plumbs every possible thing that you can think of.  He helps guide and raise our amazing children (although I still had to give birth to them).  He is my rock, my reality and my sounding board.  Plus, ladies, he brings me coffee in bed every morning.

So, these are a few of the things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving.  I wish everyone the best of their Gobble Gobble day.  Salute the people who aren’t with you at the table, embrace the ones that are.

And jeepers, make the best of every day you are here!  This weekend Mark and Tatum and I are heading out east to do a little celebrating and teaching.  Both things I am thankful for.

Ruth

Education, really?  You already own a hairnet!  I tell the girls that ride with me all the time that they have job opportunities based on their hairnet application proficiency.  I mean c’mon, what other fry girl has had the chance to repeatedly put on their hairnet not just for function but for fashion?  Think about it, we have them beat in terms of practice & performance.  I coach hairnet proficiency, its in my handbook… does McDonalds have that in their handbook?  Maybe their handbook covers the multifunction of the hairnet, but as comprehensively as mine does?? … I’m just saying… who’s got who beat??  I think you know the answer.

Although I suppose there is the other side of the argument that education might be an important equation to getting where we are now with the sport.  The words like ‘when you are older’ ring true with me lately in terms of education and more specifically, athlete development.  The ‘Carousel in Time’ has brought me to a place where the education of our riders is paramount both in my own barn and across the country.  As coaches and educators of the next generation of equestrians, its our duty to try to figure out what their needs are or get out of the way so that someone else can do it, hairnet and all!!!

With kids having now returned to school my attention has turned to lesson plans that address gaps in education with both horse and rider.  This week’s exercise in the indoor and outside is all about footwork, balance, and energy and all of our riders have tackled it brilliantly.  Having smart, thinking riders and horses is my ultimate goal.  When they leave the start box they need to be ready to answer every question they are faced with 100%.  And let’s get real for a minute, I talk about coaching equestrians like it’s the most important job on the planet… like the earth would stop revolving if equestrian coaches just stopped teaching one day (don’t panic, that’s not happening) but I do have the understanding that it’s a sport… we aren’t curing cancer, because if we were we would have so many friends of the sport still with us, like my dad.

He would have been excited to see the team of Andrew, Sylvain and Rebecca, we had out last weekend led by Helen and Megan at the Meadowvale ESD Dressage show and would have beamed at their success just like we do.

This weekend we have riders at both the Wesley Clover Horse Trials and the CADORA Silver Championships.  A busy weekend for all involved but I have confidence that our coaching staff will produce top notch results.

And genuinely I embrace each one of the Oakhurst team that has made the choice to head to an institute of higher learning education… what does that even mean??  How high do they jump?  If you put a ditch in their way do they spook?  Let’s discuss it when you come home for the Oakhurst Christmas Party which will be on Friday December 29^th at the Ashton Pub…  Yup you earned the first beer on me because you are awesome.

Ruth

Last weekend we hosted 147 competitors at the Oakhurst Horse Trials and I was asked early this week if I had FUN at our Horse Trials.  Hmm, fun you ask.  Probably not the F word I would use on the actual day of the Horse Trials or the lead up to it but certainly after the last horse was safely across the FINISH line I FELT a huge wave of relief and you could say that moment was FUN.

With the rainiest spring and summer on record in Ottawa, the FINAL days leading up to the Event seemed to stretch on FOREVER with Event preparation, so the word F word I would have most identified with on the actual horse trials day was FATIGUED.

However, with that FATIGUED FEELING also came another F word… FAITH.  The volunteers that come out year after year to help with the running of the event are FLABBERGASTING.  They sit in the sun & bugs, they run for scores and then meticulously tally those scores, they time and check tack, they scribe and whip-in, along with other countless jobs and they are absolutely FANTASTIC!!  With the help of these volunteers the Eventing world runs and to them I say FRIGGIN AWESOME JOB! 

And of course, this brings me to the old FRIENDS that arrived to show their support.  Where would any of us be without FRIENDS?  Lonely for sure but definitely with a less sore rib cage from all the laughing we did after the Event.  Thank you for reminding me how to laugh.

The other overwhelming F word that comes to mind for this past weekend is FABULOUS… yup FABULOUS weather (aka it wasn’t raining)!!!  The sun shone all weekend and even as Mark and Eric rolled the cross-country course between divisions we watched the FOOTING dry.  Yay for sunshine, it FINALLY FELT like show season!

Then of course my next F word is FEAR.  FEAR that I will miss sharing in the success of my students 😊.  But thankfully the team work that makes our students the amazing group that they are rises to the top and ensures that they are FIRST past the post and they include me in their success!  Good job team!

Now I’m back to the original F word.  FUN.

This week I have at last been able to go out and school the cross-country course with our riders and if you asked me if that was FUN I would have one answer: FINALLY!!!

We jumped all the jumps we haven’t been able to and we also played… yup, played!  Jumped things side by side and one after another and there was laughter and giggling and FUN.  The reason we all started in this amazing sport, FUN.  The best F word out there in my opinion, and you all know that I use others.

To watch riders who are serious about their sport enjoy themselves and FROLIC around the cross-country courses was FANTABULOUS!!! 

To old FRIENDS and new ones, to FABULOUS trips cross-country and to FANTASTIC volunteers, I salute you!

Let’s make every weekend as great as this past one!

What’s your favorite F word?

 

Ruth   

 

As balls roll past us in our lives (figuratively) we have the option to watch them roll past or we can take a chance and bend over and pick one up.  And sometimes we see the ball and wonder, ‘am I worthy of picking up that ball?’ or ‘am I strong enough… that ball looks pretty heavy!’

I recently saw a ball rolling past and I picked it up.  I took up the challenge of becoming a mentor in a Coaching Association of Ontario (CAO) initiative called Changing the Game – Changing the Conversation.  The project is designed to enhance female leadership in sport by helping women coaches become more qualified, more engaged and feel more supported.  I filled out the application to be a mentor, sent it off and waited.  In the waiting, I went through a list of thoughts:

• I probably won’t be selected as a mentor
• I will totally be accepted as a mentor
• What the heck do I have to offer to another coach in terms of advice to another coach?
• I have tonnes of life experience to draw on!
• What even is the role of the Mentor??

And then I got a phone call from the CAO asking if I would consider being part of the program as a mentor, which without hesitation I of course said yes.  And I was so relieved to hear that as part of the process I would receive training in how to actually be a mentor, Phewf!

With show season doing its best to be in full swing I couldn’t attend the in-class mentor training, which happened to be the same as about a dozen other coaches.  So, the CAO arranged an interactive webinar version of the training, which was super cool!  The opportunity to train with coaches from other sports was inspiring.  Hearing how other coaches plan and train filled me with confidence that I do actually have something to offer of benefit to the next generation of coaches, and I left the training feeling energized and eager to be the best coach (and Mentor) I could be.

One of the most revealing parts of the training for me was the concept of a mentor being a conduit for guided self discovery.  Sometimes that might be through recounting my own experiences, but also through curiosity without judgement.  “People don’t care what you know until they know you care”, was a quote that resonated hugely with me.  Its an exciting adventure to embark on!  If you want to see more of this and other multi-sport programs check out the CAO website:    http://www.coachesontario.ca/

And speaking of embarking on new adventures, you might have seen this happening right outside the barn all week:

Yup, our son Eric is turning a canoe into a sail boat.  Talk about embracing the wet weather!  There have been many redesigns of the structure so far and I am sure that there are more in the works but to watch the daily progress has been pretty fun.  Definitely a Game Changer.

This weekend the Show Team is headed to Knowlton Quebec for the Tandalee Farm Horse Trials and we are EXCITED!!!  Excited to travel, excited to go cross country and excited to finally get out again!

As well, if you are following the progress of preparations for the Oakhurst Long Format 3 Day Event you probably saw the list of sponsors is growing and clinicians are being added to the roster.  Keep up with the details as they happen by checking out the 3 Day section of the website.

And if you are feeling that the season is slipping away on us because of the weather we are happy to tell you that the Silver Dressage show that we had to cancel on July 1^st, has been rescheduled to October 1^st and the great news about that scores  for that show will still count towards this year’s OADG awards, this year’s CADORA awards, and are qualifiers for next year’s Silver championships!  Game Changer!!

All of the great opportunities in your life (balls rolling past) are just waiting to for you pick them up… what will your game changer be this summer?

We Believe in You – #SheCanPlay

Ruth

When I pull into an Event like Bromont and see the white roping on the cross-country course I start to get excited.  I know that the quality of the course is not dependent on the roping however I also appreciate the time it takes to rope, and the attention to detail that exists when there is roping on a course.  This past weekend we were at Little Bromont Horse Trials on the Friday and Saturday and the Oakhurst Derby on the Sunday.  Both had roping… happy day!  Granted the roping at Oakhurst was just to designate parking and non-parking areas but it still filled me with joy to pull in and see it.

The last 5 days have reminded of the amazing words of Sport Psychologist Paige Mattie, ‘Small Wins Matter’.  Amazing Dressage scores at Little Bromont followed by the best Show Jump rounds a coach could ask for!  Not to mention that the team work of this group was definitely something to be incredibly proud, and that was both amongst the riders and the support they brought with them.  The moms and dads who mucked stalls, carried water, ran for bridle numbers applauded at the ring, and were there when we needed them, they make the horse show days amazing.

And speaking of wieners… we had a quite a few on Sunday!  Yup, not only did we have an amazing canteen with Eric’s Weiner Wagon, we also had some big winners at the Derby.  In other words, we had some Champions!

• Andrew McDermott & Nemo – Welcome Division Champion
• Zoe Richardson & Talk O’ The Town – Beginner Division Champion
• Chelsea Arden & Power Tie – Entry Division Champion
• Janan Steward & Top Gear – Entry Division Reserve Champion
• Megan Jenner & So Much To Offer – Pre-Training Champion
• Kieryn Davison & Tatti – Training Division Champion
• Michaela Robinson – Top Gun – Training Division Reserve Champion

And speaking of small wins, many of you know that I took the day off today to have a root canal done, and good news I lived.  Small win.

Thanks to everyone who shuffled lessons to accommodate my teeth, the small win here is that I am not in as much pain as I was a day ago!

This weekend we have 3 horse shows to go to which means tag team coaching, my favourite!

Saturday is the Dewmont Silver Dressage show with:

• Sylvain Jobidon & Heimdall – Training Level
• Barb Eamer & Black Magic – First Level
• Emma Richardson & Sokit2ya – First Level
• Elyse Howat & Polaris – First Level
• Kristin McLaren & Sambucca – First Level

Sunday is the Dewmont Gold Dressage show with:

• Kristin McLaren & Sambucca – First Level
• Jackie Naida & Conquest – Second Level
• Jenna Mayhew & Kinsale – Third Level

Sunday is also Touch a Rainbow Horse Trials:

• Kieryn Davison & Tatti – Training
• Misha Wylie & Power Tie – Pre-Training
• Taya Davison & King Stag – Pre-Training
• Megan Jenner & So Much To Offer – Pre-Training
• Janan Steward & Top Gear – Entry
• Devon Eustace & Gemini – Pre-Entry
• Zoe Richardson & Talk O’ The Town – Pre-Entry

With Fathers Day last weekend, I was also reminded that my Dad diligently walked me to the start box at every Event and said these word, ‘you’ve done all the preparation to be here, you have earned the right to be here, you are ready to do this’.  When I say ‘trust in your training’ this is the sentiment I hope to implore.  I would never let anyone leave the start box without feeling that they are ready to tackle every challenge out there, and sometimes it may not go perfectly as planned but the ability to tackle the challenge is what I am confident is instilled.

Congratulations to all who saw success this weekend, whether it was in the show ring, at the canteen buying a Father’s Day hot dog or in surviving the humidity with great hair you rock!

See you this weekend to celebrate all wins!

Ruth

So, some of the adjectives of crazy = eccentric, foolish, wild, keen, passionate, devoted, enthusiastic.

To a person like me those actually sound not that bad, and realistically, when I think about a whole bunch of those words I’m thinking, yup, that’s me!

Sometimes the greatest part of an ‘away’ horse show is the drive home.  Sport psychologists call it the ‘post performance analysis’; and don’t get me wrong I encourage all of my students to do a post performance analysis worksheet (I pinned them to the bulletin board this morning 😉 ), but remember that as coaches we wrestle with the ‘what if’s’ as well.

We spend all winter building programs that we think/believe/hope will work leading in to show season and then we wait…  This past weekend we had our first Eventing outing at the Grandview Horse Trials in Orillia, Ontario.  And I have to genuinely commend one young lady (and her parents) for allowing me a complete leap of faith and gut feeling last fall about horse selection and although I am super stoked about all the results but this one in particular I would like to highlight because I think it directly speaks to the point I am trying to make.  Some things seem crazy to believe in on the outside, but there is a ‘feeling’ that we get that guides us through… call it intuition, a hunch or just luck but sometimes it just works.  However, that said I am a true believer in the idea that good luck takes hard work.

When we paired Alexa and Tess together last fall I knew there would be moments that we all doubted my gut feeling and honestly waiting for the first Event to arrive so that we could try out all the cool stuff we have worked on all winter I thought would kill me!  But here we were at Grandview, and I am a true believer in the sentiment that ‘small wins matter’.  So when I goal set in my head for this horse and rider this is how it went, and check out the check marks!

✔  Horse gets on trailer at Oakhurst

✔  Horse survives 5-hour trailer ride to Grandview

✔  Horse goes in to temporary stabling and eats and drinks

✔  First ride in warm up area goes smoothly and horse and rider look of similar skill to at home

✔ Horse and rider survive night

✔ Horse & Rider look pristine for dressage warm up

✔  No one is freaking out

✔  Warm up for dressage looks calm

✔  Dressage test is accurate, rhythmic and obedient

✔  No one is freaking out

✔  Warm up for show jumping looks calm

✔  Show Jumping round is accurate, rhythmic and obedient

✔  No one is freaking out

✔  Warm up for X-C looks calm

✔  X-C is accurate, rhythmic and obedient

✔  Check the leaderboard and see how we stacked up

✔  WIN THE DIVISION!!

Okay, so truthfully, I didn’t have the last one in my pre-competition goals but I was super excited to see that Alexa and Tess won their division.  It was icing on the cake of some excellent performances this weekend.

But what about next weekend you ask??

This weekend we have 24 horse/rider combinations going out!  WHAT!!!!  24!!  I know right, that’s crazy (eccentric, foolish, wild, keen, passionate, devoted, enthusiastic)!

This Saturday is Horse Day at Wesley Clover Park and we have 4 horse/rider combinations representing Oakhurst Farm.  Elyse & Dan, Emma & Sox, Alexa & Tess, Kieryn & Tatti will be doing the Event Horse and Dressage Horse demonstrations on Saturday from 11am – 4pm, come and cheer them on!

As well on Saturday we have 4 horse/rider combinations representing Oakhurst at the Westar Silver Dressage show:  Jenna & Kip, Jackie & Mario, Barb & Candy, Sylvain & Flash.

Sunday we have 14 riders on the roster for the Eventing at the Park Horse Trials as well as 2 more headed to the Westar ESD dressage show.

So, all in all I would say that we, as a unified and solid, awesome team are heading out in full force this weekend!

Mark has made a tentative reservation at the Ashton Pub Sunday night to drink a toast to the team.  If you want in on that just send us a text!

Thank goodness for show season, and thank goodness for this eccentric, foolish, wild, keen, passionate, devoted, enthusiastic team!

 Ruth

P.S.  Did you see that we are holding a Derby at Oakhurst on Sunday June 18^th and that there will be $500 prize money??  WHAT???  See you there 😊

The Oakhurst Long Format 3 Day Event Buzz took a big leap this weekend.  On Saturday night Helen gave an awesome presentation about the 3 Day at the Eastern Canadian Thoroughbred Association Awards Banquet, which by all accounts was extremely well received.  I am of course super proud to also mention that at this awards banquet we had 3 Oakhurst riders bring home a table full of trophies:

Elyse Howat & Polaris were named the Reserve Champion Event Horse of the Year

Janan Steward & Top Gear were named the Reserve Champion Junior Competitor of the Year

Taya Davison & King Stag were the Champion Event Horse of the Year, the Champion Dressage Horse of the Year and the Champion Junior Competitor of the Year

Way to represent girls!

The excitement about the Oakhurst 3 Day also went East this weekend.  First stop for us was in Harvey Station, New Brunswick to the site of the Brae Fearann Horse Trials.  We were treated to a guided tour of the cross country courses, a visit with the dogs, horses, cats and chickens on the farm and a warm home cooked meal and great conversation.  Thanks to Lori and Jeff for their unsurpassed hospitality.

Then it was on to Prince Edward Island where we toured the Cross country courses at the Strathgartney Equestrian Park.  Checking out the changes that the team had made to the course and with an eye on preparing a Maritime Championship course for this year. 

The same day, with the help of the crew at Bonswell Park we dressed the indoor arena with logs, brush, barrels and flowers in preparation for the next days riding clinic.  And what a great day it was!  So many keen horses and riders ready to tackle new challenges and embrace new ideas and that they did! 

With a day of riding clinics done, we headed to the viewing lounge to learn more about the Oakhurst Long Format 3 Day Event as well as the fitness practices in place within the program at Oakhurst.  With talk of Interval training, Long Slow Distance work, Strength Training, Yearly Training & Recovery plans, the group grasped it all. 

On to Nova Scotia!  The next morning, we were greeted at the Central Nova Horse Trials site by a group of educated individuals keen to walk through the morning dampness and talk cross country course design.  The 3 Day event talk followed our course walk and was met with similar eagerness. 

The most enlightening aspect of the whole trip for me was the collaborative nature of all the individuals we worked with.  A group of coaches, riders, parents, owners, talking about how to improve our performance in training and competition.  Sharing ideas.  Talking about solutions to common problems and brain storming on best practices.  This to me is the value of sport in its pure form.                

The buzz about the Oakhurst Long Format 3 Day is partly about increased competitive experience, but its more than that for me.  Its about coaches and athletes coming together to learn from each other and to develop into the best possible team we can be… locally, provincially, and nationally.

With Spring trying its darndest to show itself we are quickly thrust back into the groove of filling out entry forms and juggling the lesson calendar to make sure the final polish is firmly in place for the start of our show season.  Our first team outing is this Sunday to the Meadowvale Dressage ESD show.  On that same weekend we have a group of courageous young athletes taking their EC Rider Level evaluations.  They have been practicing their lunging, perfecting their bandaging and rehearsing their flat and jump tests and they are ready to show their stuff.

The time is now.  The preparation is done and the opportunity to be the best is upon us.  Kick into gear and let’s go show!

Ruth

 P.S.  The 2017 Oakhurst Show Team Cross Country shirts have arrived and I am now taking orders for students on the Oakhurst Student page.  I have a few of each size to try on and sell and will re-order on May 20^th.  Build the Buzz!