50/ DECEMBER 2012 THE RIDER A Night With Captain Canada
Despite the thick fog on the evening of October 24th, a crowd of over 250 equestrian enthusiasts showed up to An Evening with Ian Millar at the Orangeville Fairgrounds. The event was organized by Agribrands Purina in support of Long Run Thor- oughbred Retirement Soci- ety.
Marc-Andre Blouin, the Equine Technical Ser- vice manager for Agri- brands Purina started off the evening. Marc-Andre is passionate about nutrition
and is active in the horse industry racing his Thor- oughbreds at Woodbine Racetrack. As the first speaker of the night, Marc- Andre combined humour with nutrition to teach about the importance of fibre in a horse’s diet. After a quick break with coffee donated by The Shed Coffee Bar in Erin, the evening continued with none other than Captain Canada. Ian Millar, always an entertaining speaker, discussed his keys to suc- cess which captivated chil-
dren and adults. He then continued with stories from his most recent and record setting, tenth Olympic experience. After a ques- tion period, a draw was conducted to pick a winner for the original oil painting done of Ian, by renowned artist, Linda Shantz.
Following the formal part of the evening, auto- graphs were signed by Ian and nutrition questions were answered by Marc- Andre. There were also booths set up by Omega Alpha, Life Force, Fiske, Caledon Equine Hospital
and SMB products where everyone had a chance to ask questions, learn about products and mingle.
After a successful evening Agribrands Purina is proud to announce the donation of over $1000.00 To Long Run Thorough- bred Retirement Society. This money will be used for foster care expenses for the horses such as feed, vet and farrier care and basic retraining. With the current situation in the racehorse industry, organizations like Long Run can use this money more than ever.
Western Style Dressage By Elaine Ward.
Dressage is the sys- tematic training system to develop a well-balanced horse, which is supple, willing, confident and obe- dient ready to perform and excel in any discipline the rider chooses. Dressage does not demand that you be in English or Western Tack. It’s the systematic development and training of the horse and rider. Do we have to take the horse to the highest levels? No. It’s like you are giving the horse training to under- stand the BASIC concepts. Think about it like you learning the three basic life
skills; reading writing and basic mathematics. We can equate this into the horse. Teach them the basics. Teach the rider the basics. The basics are the key to successful riding. Once the correct basics have been established, the advanced work can be very easy to attain! Only after you learn the basics do you special- ize.
So where should we be heading in Western Style Dressage?
Should this concept be used as a means to an end? I tend to agree with this statement. How can we differentiate Western style
dressage to regular dres- sage? How can we appease the National Equestrian Federations to its unique and distinct difference as a discipline? I may have the answer but I am not letting anyone know until I have done complete research on it. This may be the way Canada is allowed to have Western Style Dressage recognized as a unique equestrian discipline. No one that I know of has looked to this approach. It does not entail changing the letters in a dressage court or altering the princi- ples of correct dressage rid- ing. Or, marketing that one style is “light” and the
other is not.
Again, why western style dressage? I personally think its use should also include being, to develop confident and educated horses and riders that can branch out to other disci- plines if they wish, or keep the horse strictly in the dressage discipline.
Should Western Style Dres- sage be placed exclusively inside a dressage court? For the education of the rider I think it’s a great idea. It’s a chance for those riders to present their hors- es to a dressage judge. To others, it may be a means of developing their West- ern Horse for other disci- plines.
So, if that’s the case, then we are not changing our training ideals from the tradition and theories of dressage, which have been passed on for the past 400 years. Let’s not include the circus moves and the pat- terns that have been written that promote backward training concepts. Keep the patterns clean, progressive and simple following the true dressage principles. At this point, if someone wants to competitively ride the upper level dressage movements, let them either show in the dressage ring with Dressage tack, or per- form freestyles in Western dressage competitions.
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