Kathleen Dodds, You Might Think This Is Crazy But…

July 28th, 2010

Kathleen Dodds, horse lover, blogger, trail blazer and adventure seeker, has been kind enough to start sending us regular postcards from her horseback journey CROSS COUNTRY. Yes, you read that correctly, she is riding cross country on horseback. This horse girl thinks it’s just too neat and we’re really happy to share this experience with her through her great postcards.

Here’s the awesome wild horses on the front of the card we just received from Cokeville, Wyoming!
postcard-front

And here’s what Kathleen had to say!
postcard-back

Thanks for sharing your experience with me and the HorseGirlTV® viewers Kathleen! Your postcard is on our fridge and we’re looking forward to the next arrival in the post. Save travels and happy trails! If you’d like to follow Kathleen’s blog you can go to http://youmightthinkthisiscrazy.blogspot.com/.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Digg Digg This Post

Reining The Fundamentals Of Judging

July 27th, 2010

Thanks to the recommendation of Mike McEntire (http://www.mcentirereining.com/) for this great new DVD that just arrived. It’s called “REINING the Fundamentals of Judging” from NRHA and I can’t wait to watch it. Mike had an older copy he was kind enough to sit down with me and watch a bit of so I could get the basic idea of what perfect maneuvers are.

It covers the definition of reining, maneuver scoring, penalty application and scoring live runs. You can buy it for $64.95 from the NRHA website.

reiningfundamentals

Can’t wait to start watching it tonight and absorbing the info! I hear they have a pretty neat judges program as well!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Digg Digg This Post

HorseGirl Cooks: No Sugar Added Peach And Blueberry Cobbler

July 26th, 2010

I’m continuing with my series on fun ways to transform traditional horse show tail gate and concession eating experiences into a health conscious and even gourmet encounters. I’ve been playing with cutting out as much refined sugar from my diet as possible and seeing that almost everything has sugar or high fructose corn syrup of some sort that’s a bit challenging. This recipe is my cobbler recipe replacing the sugar for honey. When replacing sugar with honey it’s best to use a tad less because honey is naturally sweeter. I do like the dough to be a bit more crisp than this recipe turned out so I might experiment next time with adding some room temp melted butter to the actual dough.

You’ll need a few basic ingredients that you’ll likely have around the house already. In regards to honey, I hear if you eat honey local to your region it can help with any allergies you might have come springtime. So we stock up when possible at the local fruit stands.
ingredients

Working with frozen fruit is easy but show season is typically spring and summer when lots of great local fresh fruits abound so I prefer to bake with fresh fruit and in this case, local fruit stand peaches and blueberries.
fresh-peach-blueberry

Now I’m not suggesting to go out and spend money on a toaster oven if you don’t already have one but back in the day living at the stable with just the viewing room to prepare food I ended up purchasing a convection toaster oven which does come in handy on hot summer months when I don’t want to pre-heat the full sized oven (which in the summer is almost never) and save a bit on the energy usage as well. I have this toaster oven and it has worked great for me the last 4 years! So pre-heat your oven to 375F.
toasteroven

I put the stick of butter in my baking dish and let it melt inside the preheating oven. Below are the basic ingredients you’ll need.
        1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted
        3/4 cup honey
        1 cup all-purpose flour
        2 teaspoons baking powder
        1/4 teaspoon salt
        1 cup milk
        1 teaspoon vanilla extract
        4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, cubed
        1 cup blueberries
        1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt topping with the honey and blend well. Stir in the milk and vanilla until blended. Pour the batter over the melted butter in your baking dish. Toss the peaches and blueberries in and dash the top with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. The top will be browned and the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan slightly.

Now for horse show prep, I like to bake in a dish that comes with its own cover and will sit well in the cooler. This is usually an arrival night dessert after a long day of traveling or will keep well until lunch or dinner the next day too.

Enjoy and success in your competitions!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Digg Digg This Post

Parelli Exhibition Royal Festival of the Horse Outrage

July 23rd, 2010

Here’s a clip from the examiner.com about the Parelli exihibition that when so very wrong.

The British are famous for their great love of animals, particularly dogs and horses, and it’s not surprising that they are among the most progressive countries in the world with regards to animal welfare. Many equestrians in Great Britain have embraced the natural horsemanship movement which puts the horse’s needs first and foremost.

But last Friday at the 2010 Royal Festival of the Horse, British students of natural horsemanship were left speechless and uncomfortable, if not downright angry, by a demonstration conducted by Pat Parelli, with some assistance from his wife Linda Parelli.

Generally when a natural horsemanship show comes to town, they solicit in advance for ‘problem horses’ to use in their demos. One of the problem horses selected for the 2010 Royal Festival of the Horse Parelli demo was a young stallion named Catwalk, owned by British show jumper Robert Whitaker. Catwalk’s ‘problem’ was that he was nearly impossible to bridle. Apparantly Robert Whitaker owned Catwalk for only two months before the Parelli demo, and it’s not clear what possible mishandling or abuse he may have endured in the past. Most trainers would not have attempted to rehabilitate such a horse to accept the bridle in an afternoon’s time. A horse exhibiting extreme distrust and fear needs time and space to be rehabilitated, and certainly no one should be in a hurry to ride a horse with an obvious fear related to being handled by humans until the trust issues can be resovled.

But, for whatever reason, Parelli Natural Horsemanship chose this particular problem horse for their demo, and it seems clear from spectator’s comments and the video that Pat Parelli was in way over his head, and desperate to resolve the problem then and there, regardless of the means required to accomplish his goals, which included the perceived abandonment of his own principles of natural horsemanship!


Read this complete article on examiner.com at http://www.examiner.com/x-7431-Animal-Training-Examiner~y2010m7d14-2010-Festival-of-the-Horse-Parelli-demo

Here’s a letter from Parelli in response to the uproar:


Here’s a video taken by a member of the audience on their mobile phone.


Remember the blue tongue when this is viewed tho. The compression is not good, lighting off and only shows a few minutes of a 2 hour session. I’m not saying either way just passing along info. Happy riding and have a good weekend!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Digg Digg This Post

FITS Does It Again With Cool Factor And Function

July 22nd, 2010

So it’s no secret I’m a big fan of the FITS technology. I met FITS innovator, Sheryl Rudolph back in 2007 and have been inspired by her forward thinking attitude since. Her concepts never seem to amazing me and her latest is no different. I received this PR yesterday from FITS and was shocked to see the before and after pictures of how these Wunderbreech really smoothed out the lines! Here’s their latest launch! Check the pictures out! Before and after…. SCHWEET!

Change that “ugh” to “ooh” with new FITS Wunderbreech™ and hide any embarrassing looks when wearing white or light colored breeches. Wunderbreech is a flattering blend of cotton, poly and Lycra® in a capri length that shapes and hides what you’d prefer not be seen. Our highly opaque fabric blend fills in cellulite lines and hides skin blemishes. Wunderbreech also features a seamless, gusseted crotch for maximum comfort. The capri length eliminates unsightly panty lines and is cooler than full length designs which add bulk under boots. You’ll like them so much that you’ll want to wear them every time you ride. You will love the way breathable Wunderbreeches feel next to your skin under any breech, white or not.

“We developed the Wunderbreech in response to consumer input that unlined white breeches of any brand are simply unflattering. Wunderbreech provides a comfortable base layer to be worn under any breech to insure a highly opaque (not see through) look. It also does a superb job of camouflaging cellulite and skin imperfections.” states Sheryl Rudolph, Founder and President of FITS.

For a limited time introductory offer FITS is offering a free Wunderbreech with every new order of FITS Energy Rib White Full Seat breech. Suggested retail price is $32.00. Available at fine tack stores and online through FITS valued dealer network at www.FITSRiding.com beginning August 2010.


These look super comfy:
A409WUNDERBREECH

Before the Wunderbreech:
sm1540_WunderB_BEFORE_1

With the Wunderbreech (toooo neat!):
sm1540_WunderB_AFTER_1

Looks like FITS does it again on innovation and kewlness. Thanks for sending this info and pictures over Sheryl! Have a great time at Dressage at Devon!

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post Post to Digg Digg This Post