20/ SEPTEMBER 2019 THE RIDER INSIDE


AQHA News ..........................20 Lindsay Grice.........................20 OQHA News ..........................21 CQHA News ..........................21 EOQHA..................................22 QROOI News.........................23


AQHA Director’s Report


By Kathy Patterson AQHA Director


Shop At The New AQH Store AQHA is excited to launch


the new American Quarter Horse Store, hosted by Advanced-On- line.


The new AQH Store offers


a much greater array of merchan- dise to AQHA members and cus- tomers. Visit AQH Store to


purchase apparel, business accessories, gifts, decals, promotional products for events and much more! Cus- tomers will be able to cus- tomize their apparel and gifts, not only with the American Quarter Horse Association and American Quarter Horse Foundation logos, but also with the As- sociation’s affiliates’ logos. AQHA members will also be able to take advantage of monthly promotions avail- able at www.aqhstore.com. Be sure to sign-up for pro-


motions for free products, dis- counted


products and


new-product announcements. AQH Store guarantees stock and shipment dates with much quicker turnaround times to get your merchandise and apparel to your doorstep so you can show off your American Quarter Horse pride. Start shopping today at www.aqhstore.com!


The Canadian Quarter Horse Association is an affiliate of the AQHA. Annual membership is


on-line, visit the CQHA web site: www.cqha.ca, and choose


Choose “Affiliates” to link to provincial Quarter Horse & Racing Association sites. Contact: CQHA President,


Wayne Burwash, ph: 403-246-8283, email: president@cqha.ca Shop at the new AQH Store


“Rise To The Challenge” - 2019 AQHYA World Show Theme The four very talented


youth and their horses from On- tario did just that at the Ford Youth World, the world’s largest, and single-breed world champi- onship horse show in August in Oklahoma City! Congratulations to Hannah Buijs from Lisle and her horse “Lopin To The Bar” was showing in Showmanship at Halter, Horsemanship, Hunt Seat Equitation, Western Riding and Trail. Bailey Donaldson from Waterford Ontario and her horses “Cassanova Wimp”, “Atinas Freckle” and “Travelin Home” showing in Ranch Sorting, and Breakaway Roping. Chloe Nadrofsky from Simcoe and her horses “Hickorys GinN7” and “Sugar Dual Doc” showing in Ranch Sorting and Cutting. Abi- gail Schaap from Midland On- tario and her horse “My Secret Addiction” showing in Show- manship at Halter, Hunt Seat Eq- uitation


and Western


Horsemanship. Special congratu- lations to Bailey and Chloe, both 19 years old, who returned home as world champions together in Level 2 Ranch Sorting! We are all very proud of


your accomplishments compet- ing at this prestigious event!


Congratulations to the 2019 AQHA Best Remuda! Each year, AQHA honors


the contributions ranch horses have made to the heritage of the American Quarter Horse by pre- senting the AQHA Best Remuda Award to a ranch that raises out- standing ranch horses. Congrat- ulations to this year’s winner, the legendary King Ranch, also known as “The Birthplace of American Ranching”! Capt. Richard King founded King Ranch in 1853, and today, the family ownership of King Ranch is in its seventh generation. The ranch has extensive interests in addition to ranching and horses. The horse division is supervised


by sixth-generation family mem- ber James Clement III, and its equine breeding program has been guided with the hard work of former ranch vet Dr. John Tolkes and current ranch vet Dr. Ben Espy, who is also a sixth- generation family member. King Ranch will receive a specially de- signed award presented at the Working Ranch Cowboys Asso- ciation World Championship Ranch Rodeo, November 7-11 in Amarillo. The ranch will also be recognized at the National Cattle- men’s Beef Association Conven- tion in February 2020 and again in March at the AQHA Conven- tion in Las Vegas. King Ranch will be featured this fall in The American Quarter Horse Journal.


OQHA Congress Youth Team Each year the Ontario Quar-


ter Horse Association is proud to send a team of youth exhibitors to represent the province at the National Youth Activity Team Tournament at the All American


Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio. Team members will be competing on Sunday Oc- tober 20, 2019. I would like to congratulate the youth who are representing Ontario. They are Amber Zabel from Caledon ON showing in Horsemanship and Hunter Under Saddle, Cassidy Cressman from Belleville ON showing in Showmanship and Hunter Under Saddle, Emily Yates from North Bay ON show- ing in Horsemanship and Hunt Seat Equitation, Taylor Carney from Kincardine ON showing in Showmanship and Western Pleasure and Abigail Dunlevy from Oro Medonte ON showing in Western Pleasure and Hunt Seat Equitation. Best of luck to the team and team advisor Holly Robinson on their journey to the Congress!


Till next time if I can be of


assistance, please contact me at: Phone: (519) 345-2861, or by e- mail at: tbrkathy@hsfx.ca.


The Science of how Horses Think & Learn Confusing horse training jargon


• Unique terms define my personal brand • A little mystery makes my clients more dependent on me • I know how to do it, but struggle to explain it • Jargon adds some comic relief to the conversation. Some horse trainer lingo is just – funny!


So here are some of


the top terms I’m often un- scrambling for folks: Pick up his belly. Drop-


As trainers we benefit our horse's welfare to ask "Am I


communicating distinctly? Or are my aids vague and diffi- cult for my horse to discern?"


By Lindsay Grice, Equine Canada certified coach and show judge. Mystical, humorous or deliberately elusive – the


terms we use in the horse business can leave a rider scratching her head. I was a coach’s worst nightmare - “What do you mean by that?”, I’d ask. I rarely got a meaningful answer. “Everything should be made as simple as possible,


but not simpler.” Einstein. When coaching, I’ll often ask a rider to explain a


term they’ve used. If they struggle to put it into words, we’ll unpack the idea and isolate the pieces step-by- step. For example, if they say they’re reining back, I may ask 1. How are you using your reins? Steady, puls-


ing, or releasing with each step? Are you using your legs as well? If so, before or after your reins? At the girth or behind the girth? Alternating or simultaneous? What part of your leg? Training a non- English speaking horse


partner is complicated enough without in- cluding vague terms which prompt riders to give vague signals and horses to be stressed out. If we can’t describe our aids in such a way someone who’s never ridden could un- derstand, chances are the aid is fuzzy to the horse too! I get a kick out of those light bulb moments – my student grasps the “phonics” of a certain skill, the horse relaxes – and re- sponds. So why do we do it? Why do we horse


professionals have these weird terms? Here are some of my ideas:


ping his shoulder. Drive him into the bridle. Disengage his hip. Engaging his back.


Ride him in front of your leg. Put him on the bit. And the ever elusive half- halt.


Complex or confounding? So what about scientific academic lan-


guage? At a recent equitation science confer-


ence, hosted by the University of Guelph, researchers used plenty of academic terms. Scientific terms may seem befuddling in their own way, because of their complexity, yet are designed to cut through the fuzziness to the exact meaning like a scalpel. I guess that’s the key – are the terms we


use meant to create mystery or to uncover and unpack the mysteries of humans inter- acting with horses?


The best gift I can give to the riders


AND the horses I work with is to communi- cate clearly, saving them from having to ask, “What do you mean by that?”


As a coach, my goal is to objectively unpack the /mys- teries/ of interacting with horses! Using words as de- scriptively as I can.


About Lindsay Grice. A horse show judge and certified riding coach


with a special interest in equine behaviour. After 25 years as a competitor and horse trainer, Lindsay en- joys teaching clinics and travelling to Ontario farms as a freelance instructor. She’s taught the science of equine behaviour and learning for horse associa- tions, courses for University of Guelph and thera- peutic riding facilities. Lindsay judges many disciplines and breeds and serves on an EC judging committee


Why do horses do what they do? “In the horse world, our traditions and evidence sometimes collide – I love to help riders solve their horse puzzles with logic, patience and equitation science.”


www/lindsaygriceridingcoach.com “Membership” section.


free to current members of AQHA. To enroll


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  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56