This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
38/ JANUARY 2014 THE RIDER


ANUARY 2014 THE RIDER /39 Reconnecting With A Solid Foundation


hard to believe that time seems to have passed so quickly. Over the many years in which I have been involved with horses, I have continued to be in awe of this magical, beauti- ful and somewhat enigmat- ic creature. Even after hun- dreds of years in which horses and humans have been connected, there still exists a huge “language barrier”. Such is not the case for those humans who have taken the time, put in the effort and accepted the mentoring of the masters, to learn to listen to and to “speak” in the language of Equus. In other words to truly communicate with the horse!


includes our body language that is strongly influenced


Such communication


By Hilary Balmer. 2013 is over and it is


years, this quest has been made so much easier under


Canadian Elizabeth McMullen


FEI 5* Dressage Judge Selected for the


2014 Normandy Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games


Ottawa, ON — Equine Canada and Dressage Canada are pleased to announce that highly respected FEI 5* judge Elizabeth (Lib) McMullen, has been selected to be a member of the judges panel for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games to be held August 23 to September 7, 2014 in Normandy, France. McMullen holds the honour of being the sole Canadian dressage judge chosen to officiate at the Games. “Lib was Canada’s first 5* dres-


the World Equestrian Games please visit: http://www.alltechfeiweg2014- normandy.com/


be included with the other members of the panel for Normandy,” stated McMullen. For more information regarding


sage judge and has officiated at four World Cup Finals and the World Games in Jerez, Spain. She is emi- nently qualified for this role and it is a great and well deserved honour for her and Canada!” commented Cara Whitham, Canadian FEI 5* Dressage Judge. “I am honoured and delighted to


About Dressage Canada Dressage Canada, as a committee of Equine Canada, is the national gov- erning body for dressage in Canada. Dressage Canada’s objective is to fos- ter the growth of dressage and the pur- suit of excellence in the sport at the local, national and international levels. Dressage Canada provides support and guidance to both amateur and pro- fessional through the following pro- grams: coaching education and pro- grams, officials’ education and pro- grams, rules and qualifying criteria, sport development, and publications and awards. For more information about Dressage Canada, please visit the Dressage section of the Equine Canada site or connect with us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dressage- canada


http://tinyurl.com/lp8cnd. or Facebook at


enhance my partnership. I was so fortunate that this process was accomplished with the help and support of some very special horse- masters. Over the past twelve


trate this point from my personal experience. As I have tried to do with each one of my horses, I contin- ued to explore many avenues


that would


by our thoughts and emo- tions on the physical, men- tal and psychological lev- els. It is the same for hors- es. Unless we, as the sup- posedly more intelligent creatures become willing to explore and understand these concepts, our success with our horses will be much less than that to which we would aspire. I would like to illus-


has been able to design and develop programs that are tailor-made for each horse in training. The ingredi-


Through being a veracious reader about the art and science of horsemastership, and also by her attendance at various workshops and clinics, Sandra really is a “student” of her chosen vocation. As a result, Sandra


this period of time, I have had the opportunity to observe and actually study the way in which Sandra (Nighswander) Rizzo approaches the training and conditioning of the horses with whom she works. Sandra certainly is an “out- of-the-box”


thinker!


whom I acquired the horse that I currently own. Particularly during


the mentorship of Gloria Nighswander,


through


at RCRA. Sandra and Shadow’s warm-up on each of the two days was exquisite and flawless. When I mounted and pre- pared for our classes, Shad- ow worked with rhythm, grace and lightness. The four tests were the best we had ever performed. We finished with a champi- onship at the Training level!


Hilary & Silent Partner (Shadow)


includes elements of dres- sage, natural horsemanship, cross country work (for physical conditioning), working over and through various obstacles and a lot of work with the horse in hand. One of the ultimate goals is to have our horses working completely at lib- erty or riding without a bri- dle.


www.davisfeed.ca


and I embarked on our “project”. At first, my


piece of the process includes riding the horse. Once again, the clarity with which one “speaks” to the horse through the body lan- guage (and silent cues) is critical. So, Shadow, Sandra


that a horse, in whatever discipline, maintains the correct “frame” without leaning or relying on the rider’s hands to carry his front end, thus shifting his weight to his hindquarters through balance and fluidi- ty. To really accomplish this, the ground or in-hand work is an absolutely essential element. One learns just how clear or confusing our communica- tion really is when we are verbally “silent” and instead, hone our body lan- guage cues. Of course, the second


my personal experience, in February I asked Sandra to design an individual pro- gram for my horse (Shad- ow) and me. The goal and purpose of the program was to a) help me to “rebuild” my riding skills right from the basics and b) for Shadow to develop among other things “self carriage”. “Self carriage” means


human half of the equation, Sandra has been able to translate for the humans just how important our “body language” is when communicating what we want from our horses. There is an old saying – “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. Without exception, Sandra really does get consistent results with each one of her equine students. Some may take longer than others to accomplish what is being asked. However, there is always progress. Now, getting back to


In working with the


ents of this “recipe” that could be best described as “cross-training”


and


conclude with a wonderful story about Sandra and her beautiful pinto American Saddlebred “Spot Me Five” (“Cinco”). Before Sandra began working with Shad- ow, she had done extensive training with Cinco, who can be, when asked, a fiery and elegant show horse. Cinco is both quick and extremely intelligent. How- ever, with Sandra’s quiet and consistent education, he now shows a completely different side of himself. Cinco willing works


Sandra Rizzo & Spot Me Five (Cinco)


made a beautiful and ele- gant picture and were real show-stoppers even before the class. People could not resist taking photos! Cinco posed over and over again, all the while standing qui- etly simply watching everything going on around him. When his turn came, he quietly negotiated each obstacle. Sandra’s goal was not to win, but simply to have fun and to show just what a difference all the wonderful “cross-train- ing” had made. Cinco real- ly was a true champion! What is extremely


reward from all the hard work became very evident when Sandra and Shadow competed at the Bronze dressage show in May at the Royal Canadian Riding Academy (RCRA) and gar- nered two first and two second place awards.


progress was extremely slow, in that I really want- ed to breakdown every part of my riding to the most basic point. One does develop bad habits and it takes a lot of concentrated effort to override such technical errors. However, as the weeks and months passed, under Sandra’s patient eye, we moved for- ward. Shadow is an excel- lent student, albeit with his own idiosyncratic opinions being very evident. The results and the


Sandra (Nighswander) Rizzo & Spot Me Five (Cinco) Following that, we set


our next goal, which was that Shadow and I would compete at the Blue Star dressage show in Septem- ber. Once again, Sandra’s training paid huge divi- dends. Sandra’s warm-up with Shadow was absolute- ly beautiful and when I mounted up – it was like he had really emerged and grown; I felt like I had acquired a new horse! The only negative of the entire show was the weather. The show rings were a sloppy mess. However, although I rode with great caution, I know that if I had asked, Shadow would have never questioned me. We placed fourth. Finally, the Pièce de


résistance was our entry in the October dressage show


everyone and a successful and Happy New Year.


Sincerely,


Hilary A. Balmer Uxbridge, Ontario


sincere appreciation to Sandra for her patience, expertise and ability to facilitate hugely improved communication between Shadow and me. We have achieved the goals that we set and look forward to our 2014 season. Merry Christmas to


exciting is that more and more folks at the Nigh- swander Equestrian Centre continue to ask Sandra to work with their horses using her “recipe for train- ing”. And what is best of all – when they do work with Sandra, they get amazing and very satisfy- ing results! I want to express my


through various obstacle challenges such as walking over, under or beside a plastic tarpaulin, stepping onto and over a bridge, playing with a large soccer ball or negotiating a water crossing etc. without even “turning a hair”. So, in September, Sandra took Cinco to the Uxbridge Fall Fair and entered him into the “Cowboy Obstacle Challenge”. Now it must be remembered that the majority of horses entered in this competition had pre- vious experience, in some cases quite a lot. Sandra and Cinco


It is only fitting to


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52