Knabstrupper USA

Home after a really good weekend at the Region 1 Champs. CCS TInuvel (Sugar) and Halifax went. and they did Knabbies proud.
Sugar was 5th place in the Second level open division, an incredibly tough and competitive open division against some of the best warmbloods on the East Coast. And she was so good. She got 65.714% which put her only 2 percentage points from Harmony’s Wambuto, a horse who won his 100 day test in Holland! This is an amazing performance for our little 5 yr old, she held her own against the best! Kudos to April Shultz who has trained her from the get go and who rode her so well.

Not to be out done. Halifax Middlesom did 3rd 3 for the first time. He di this test twice. On the Friday he scored 68.974% winning his class. On the Saturday he did the test again, this time he scored a very impressive 77.434% way to go April and Halifax.

A great show and great way to end the season.

Thank you to all the Knabstrupper owners, breeders and enthusiasts who came out to support the first Dressage Sport Horse Breeding Individual Breed Class (IBC) for Knabstruppers at the very competitive Dressage at Devon (DAD). The class was sponsored by Altamont Sport Horses and was open to both RPSI and KNN registered Knabstruppers. With 7 horses entered this was an excellent turnout for a first time IBC class especially considering the rarity of this special breed.

Congratulations to Nicole Davison, owner/breeder of 1st place Knabstrupper – 2012 filly Rapide, by Ravaldi and Effet de Neige (Snow Effect) 2010 gelding by Ecuador that took 2nd place. Congratulations to Melyni Worth, the breeder/owner of the 3rd, 4th and 5th place horses as follows: CCS Boromir 2009 gelding by Ravaldi,

CCS Shadowfax 2012 colt by Halifax Middelsom, and CCS Tinuvel 2007 mare by Ravaldi. Congratulations to Nicole Davison’s Perseid, 2011 colt by Pegasus who placed 6th and Angela Stanaways mare, Chocolat Cat Cracker by Apollon who placed 7th.

All the Knabstruppers present were of good sport type, well mannered and excellent ambassadors for the breed. Indeed, many DAD attendees had never heard of, or seen, a Knabstrupper until today.

We were happy to have a few extra Knabstrupper enthusiasts in attendance to support the effort and cheer them on – Carla McKnight (owner of Fanfare de Bec by Ambrosius af Asgard “Atlantis”), Louise Jordan Beam, owner of Captain also by Atlantis and Martha Mitchell the owner of two 2012 Knabstrupper fillies Astrid af Midgard and Freyja af Midgard (both by Atlantis).

The Knabstrupper riding horses, CCS Tinuvel and CCS Boromir, ridden by April Schultz, represented the breed well in the open under saddle classes for young horses.

CCS Boromir was 8th place in a big class of 3 yr old colts/geldings and an a very impressive 4th place in the 3 yr old Materiale class.

CCS Tinuvel was 4th in a big class of Broodmares under saddle and was 6th in a HUGE class of 4/5 yr old mares Materiale. There were some very impressive mares in this class including the eventual Show Chmapion, so she really did hold her own in open competition against the best or the best.

Thank you to all the owners, handlers and volunteers who presented these horses and worked hard behind the scenes to make the IBC class a success. We’re already looking forward to the 2013 DAD Knabstrupper IBC and hope to see more young Knabstruppers competing in the open under saddle classes next year. Now is the time to set your goals and start working towards getting your Knabstrupper ready for the ring for 2013. Have fun!

Monday Oct 14th, Hinckley OH

Cedar Creek Stables, VA, Weds Oct 16th.

Baroque’n'Dreams, Anza CA Oct 18th,

La Vernia, Texas Oct 20th.

Sunday both April and I rode in a schooling show. I did I1 and April did PSG. Our trainer the Great Jim K, felt that we needed to get out and show our new skills to a knowlegeble person and have them assessed so so off we went.

We have been working on getting X rounder and more consistently on the bit, so that I can put a leg on and get a forward response without him lifting his head and tensing his back. It does seem to have worked. he stayed rounder and softer, I got a forward trot, which Halleluja! I was able to sit! He didn’t drop his shoulders in the flying changes so his right hind came through properly. No late changes or short stepping ones even in the two tempis. I still can’t sit the extended trot but I can now sit his collected and some of the medium. I did ride backwards in the right pirrouette and let him get out of rythmn, but otherwise we were pretty respectable. Even April said so.

On the bit is such a poor phrase for it, it’s the back and the tension of the back and neck muscles which need to be soft and loose, it really hasn’t anything to do with the bit!

April rode Levi who did not have a good day.We knew we were in trouble when he refused an apple treat! He broke away when unloaded and did a tour of the parking lot! Thankfully there were only a few trailers in it! Then he warmed up fine, but as soon as he went into the arena he decided that ALL the letters were just too scary! I mean seriously, how many dressage letter has this horse seen in his life! They battled on and finally finished. Oh well there will be other shows.

It’s down to our final week. We go home a week from today.
I have really enjoyed it, and I have learned so much. My horse is going so much better, I have made new friends and reconnected with old ones. But it is time to go home. I can feel it.

It’s getting warm down here and I do not enjoy heat, plus the the things I need to do are piling up at home. But I am very glad we came.
Hopefully I’ll get to return next year.
MW

A good friend came down from Orlando to West Palm to visit me and to watch us train. What a weekend, on Saturday we went and watched Jim in the High Performance Dressage clinic, Eye opening to see such minutae of detail in the corrections. Then we went to the Jim Brandon Center to watch the afternoon GP classes in the show. Sat night we went to WEF and watched part of the Showjumping GP, a class of 80 competing for a purse of $125k!
Sunday she watched my lesson with Jim. Then we had the choice of another HP session with Jim riding or we could go and watch a Polo Match at the Polo Grounds.
Now where else in the World can you watch GP dressage and Jumpers, and Polo all withing a 20 mile radius? That’s part of the charm of South Florida, all this high level horse stuff going on so close by!

Quote of the week;
Today X and rode through the I1 test, we didn’t do too badly, so Koford decides that we need to work on the 1 tempi’s. Well I couldn’t ride a line of 1 tempi’s to save my life. Huffing and puffing and kicking like mad, I finally got 2 lines of 3 X 1 but barely got that. “Oh Boy” says I, “we really have some work to do”. Says Koford “Xavoy and I are doing just fine, YOU have lots of work to do”… Uh huh! Oh well.

There’s nothing like being able to go and watch riders who are expert, riding at the level you are struggling to attain. We work at something and I make a complete hash of it, so Jim sends us off to the shows to watch the top riders doing it, I see how smoothly they perform what ever it is that I struggling with and a light bulb goes off! Ah ha, that’s how it should look. One of the most beneficial aspects of the extended time in So Fl training, is that you can every weekend go to a show, in less than an hours drive, and watch really good riders doing the exercises.
And then you get to come home and work at them yourself, with such short period of time between exposure and practice there is a greater possibility that you retain the information and can actually put it to use.
Plus it helps no end that Jim is riding at GP everyday on 2 horses and there are others all at or above my level so that I get to watch better riders than I, doing what I need to learn to do. They say the best way to improve is to be the worst rider in the barn! Well it sure fits for me here!

One thing that I come to appreciate is the sheer hard work for both horse and rider in generating a performance at this level. No wonder so many do not make it this far. The sheer work load to get strong enough to carry means that some horses are just not strong enough or sound enough to be able to do this level of work day after day, and over and over.
GP horses are not always pretty, but they always have a fantastic work ethic and are so willing to put out such an effort. This is truly not an art for a weekend rider. Even a good workout leaves you drained and weak. Euphoric, but weak!

One thing you have to do is to schedule enough down time for the horses. We do trail rides and walks at least twice a week. turn out is limited and not the best, but they have to have the relaxation both mental and physical or it is to easy to burn them out. Fortunately the facility we are at has a lot of trail riding available.
MW