Classic Eventing Nation

I love making good matches. This is Public Scandal and his little girl, Anna. I helped her parents surprise her with him this past Christmas.

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Being an up-and-coming professional is pretty difficult in our business.  Selling horses is one of the best ways for me to keep my business alive.  I am not interested in being a “horse trader,” and I try very hard to train each horse fairly without pushing them just so I can get them sold quickly.  I am interested in getting them going well, so that they will be successful in their future homes.  Making good matches is something I love doing.

Throughout my time dealing with sales horses, I have made up my own set of rules that I think everyone should consider.

For Sellers:

1.  Be HONEST!  There are so many stories of horrible experiences in the sales world.  Lying only gives you a bad name, and it could put the horse and the buyer in a bad position at a later date.   So many horses are misrepresented, and it just makes people more and more untrusting of sellers.  My biggest pet peeve: Stick your horse and be honest about its height!  I often say that most of the horse industry has no idea of exactly how tall their horses are.   We’ve been told for so long that 16 hands is really 16.2, that our concept of true size has been lost.

2.  Return e-mails/phone calls promptly.  This is a buyer’s market.  If you wait around and don’t reply, the buyer will just move on to someone who will.  If you are serious about selling, be serious about following up.

3.  Represent your horse as best you can.  I know that it can be difficult to get good photos and video.  Trust me, I struggle with this myself.  However, picking a photo where the horse is jumping horribly over their shoulder or standing placidly in the field is just not a good way to draw in buyers.  Even if the horse in question is not in work, at least clean it up and stand it up for a good conformation shot.  Buyers do not want to waste their time traveling to try a horse.  If you don’t represent it well in your ad, your horse will never get  a chance.

4.  Be open minded.  There are people out there who are a good match to your horse.  However, they may not have the exact amount of money that you are asking.  If the match seems like a good one, be open to REASONABLE offers.  I am definitely a seller who will bend my asking amount a bit if it means that the horse is going to the perfect home.  Yes, selling horses is about making money, but to me, it’s also about doing what’s best for the horse.

For Buyers:

1.  Be realistic and fair.  If your budget is $1500, people asking $5,000 are probably not open to your offer.  Granted, some people have no real idea of what their horse is worth.  However, it is not very respectful to e-mail someone with a $5,000 horse to ask if they will take $1500.  I understand that it is a buyer’s market, but without ever having seen the horse, this can be upsetting to sellers.  I am much more willing to negotiate some on the price if I have seen the horse with the buyer.  Again, I realize that I would be even more frustrated if the buyer did not inform me of their low budget and came to try the horse before springing it on me.  I think, for the most part, it is safe to say that buyers should research horses within $1,000 of their budget.

2.  Be open-minded.  There is no perfect color and their is no perfect height.  There are some mares in the world who are not evil!  The trend toward gigantic horses astounds me.  I am 5’9″ and Bug is 16 hands.  We do just fine.  A smaller horse with a bigger barrel will sometimes fit a taller rider than a tall horse that is narrow.  Though I am partial to redheads, I am open to any color.  Do I want to spend hours scrubbing a grey horse?  Not particularly.  Am I going to pass on an exceptional horse because it’s grey?  No.  I have always been a gelding person, but I must say, my farm is full of mares right now, and they are all amazing girls.  I think it’s easy to pass over a great horse because our minds are closed to certain things.

3.  Respond to e-mails/phone calls promptly.  If the seller has taken the time to get back to you quickly, please be respectful and do the same.  I realize that life gets busy.  If that happens, try to at least drop a quick line to say you will get back to them soon.

4.  If you have requested pics, info, video, and the seller responds, please acknowledge that you got them.  I send out info all of the time and never hear one word back from the buyer.  If you don’t like the horse, please respond respectfully stating that you are not interested or don’t think it would be a good match.  The seller won’t be upset that you don’t like the horse, and they will appreciate that you took the time to respond when they took the time to give you the info you wanted.

5.  Be honest.  When you are talking with the seller about what you need in a horse, don’t embellish.  Good sellers really want to make a good match.  They need to know exactly how well you ride and what you are interested in doing with the horse.  It is fair to everyone involved if you are up front from the beginning.

I think this little set of rules helps everyone involved in the buying/selling business.  I am sure there are many other rules out there that I haven’t listed.

What rules do you have for buying and selling horses, Eventing Nation??

EN reader Denya is back with multiple reports from recent clinics taught by Clayton Fredericks and Jessica Phoenix. Denya submitted one of our favorite clinic reports for 2012, and we’re excited that she’s back to share more from Canadian eventing. Her second report looks at a clinic Clayton Fredericks taught on June 1 and 2. Click here to read her first report. Take it away, Denya!

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Rain or shine!

From Denya:

As I was discussing the clinic Clayton just gave at Arthur Tateishi’s Eventing Canada in Tottenham, Ontario, with my vet, who also events, she asked what was new compared to his clinic we both took six months ago in our area. I thought for a moment and realized that there were small nuggets of information that were new to us, but the core principles were the same. So why would you take the clinic a second time? Because those small nuggets are precious bits that continue to help us build a stronger base, a better ride, a more successful outcome. Why work with the same coach every day/week/month if only one or two lessons could accomplish everything? And besides, Clayton is engaging, witty, and has that great Aussie accent and phrasing. His clinics are fun, even while you work!

We went from polo shirts to parkas and back again, but, sporting as always, Clayton gave his positive energy to each session, with those core messages: get the horse between your legs and hands, and keep the shoulders, hips and heels in line. The “Pony Club kick” raised its head again more than once, twice … (keep counting. When you use your legs, the horse is to move forward without question. Don’t forget: “riding is NOT wrestling.” Other core messages are rein back as a demonstration of submission, canter poles for judging distance — “if you can’t see the distance to a canter pole, then you can’t jump, because accuracy is critical.” Balance and the “set up zone” is essential, so you can adjust your horse’s stride to meet a fence correctly. And — last but not least — have someone hold your horse, and find your “balance hold” position — knees up and level with the ground, and then out off the horse’s sides. There’s your “balance hold” position. Oh, those core muscles at work too!

My favourite new tip is at the end, but there are plenty others, so in no particular order:

We’ve all seen the eventers lose their reins to the buckle for various reasons — how to get them back? Hold the buckle, slide one hand down the reins, and when you have contact again, let go of the buckle and move that other hand up to the appropriate rein — voila — no reins flapping in the wind, no grabbing at air, and no uneven pressure on the bit for the horse. That’s how you stay straight even without reins. Have you all tried that? It works … but maybe try it in the ring first!

On the same page (sort of!), it’s important to school on different lengths of rein. This was eye-opening because you can’t always have the “correct” length of rein. If you’re competing, and lose your contact, especially in a combination, the horse should keep going. Practice letting the horse jump naturally, practice letting them balance themselves and not always depend on you. Clayton used a simple ditch to encourage the riders to jump on a loose rein, to let the horses use their heads and necks for balance, and jump in a natural shape.

Acceleration works to keep the horse straight without muscling them. Clayton was really pushing the riders to focus on one point on the top of a jump — a knot, a bump, a spot — and keep that spot until you and the horse are committed to the take-off spot and “when you land, GO!” Get going between fences, don’t lose time after the fence. And to see your distance 10 strides out — most didn’t know where 10 strides out started. When you can judge your distance 10 strides out, the change you need to make to compress or lengthen to meet the fence well is minimal, but from four strides out it’s abrupt, disruptive to the horse and seldom successful.

The footing was pretty heavy given all the rain. Another factor to consider: your horse needs more support, especially at take-off, so don’t overload their front end. Free up the front; keep the horse balanced so they don’t get strung out. In her clinic, Jessica Phoenix stressed a similar theme, especially working in bad weather.

This was funny in the telling, but actually translates really well. Hold your reins like you’re holding hands — not a grip; not a limp fish; but kindly, friendly, with compassion. A nice correlation.

My favourite bit? “Slow down time.” Clayton suggested that elite athletes (hey, I’m not quite that, but I still think I can use this) can slow down time to prepare, adjust, plan, to avoid rushing, which leads to costly mistakes. It was ably demonstrated by a rider who jumped a line, had to make a full U turn to another line, and made a hash of it. When the idea of slowing down time to imagine what should happen was introduced, the rider repeated the exercise with an excellent result.

So much to learn, so little time … if only we really could slow it all down. Take every opportunity to learn because there is always something new to take away. I just learned that for sure.

We’ve posted miniature horse jumping before.  But have you seen it on a grass tennis court?  Little “Crunch” is 80cm (31.5″) tall, and can jump up to 1.1m (that’s 3’6″).  Think about that next time you walk your show jumping course!

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Skybreaker doing what he was born to do-at Tamarack Hill Farm. Photo credit to Flatlandsfoto

A straight, straight flush, full house and a royal flush are all poker terms that hold little value in my world. I can see the allure and intrigue behind a card game such as poker, and I can also understand the appeal, or addiction rather, that’s associated with gambling. Gambling is a slippery slope; those who mildly follow the game will likely come out on the bottom, and those individuals who really understand how the game’s played will have a better chance at winning, though there’s never a guarantee that you will come out on top. I’m guessing those genius players who know how to count cards and understand probability have the greatest chance at succeeding in the volatile world of cards.

I think the same can be said about horse breeds and breeding in general. In fact, breeding has become so refined and so specific that you can actually breed this mare to this stallion and you are very likely to get this type of horse. I am not an expert in horse breeds, or breeding for that matter, but I am starting to have a decent idea about what could make for a really nice event horse.

Eventing now is not what eventing used to be. Arguably, we can all accept this fact, regardless of whether or not you like this fact. If we can accept the fact that the long format has essentially vanished, and a “three day” event now is comprised of three phases only, then we can agree that a “new” type of horse is emerging. Arguably, the long format events were ideal for thoroughbreds, because what other breeds could do roads and tracks, steeplechase, dressage, show jumping, cross country and still have energy that last day? Of course other breeds besides thoroughbreds did long formats and did well, but a vast majority were TB’s, or had TB in them.

Times have changed and so has this sport. Let’s by perfectly honest, if you have a decent mover that is also very brave and goes around jumping everything he is pointed at, but you are up against a spectacular mover who also jumps around clean, then the fancy mover is most likely going to win. So much of eventing NOW revolves around dressage. Riders are actually getting scores of 19 in dressage. How can you beat a 19 in dressage? Or how can you beat a 19 in dressage when that horse goes and also jumps around clean? Of course this game is not solely based upon dressage, there are numerous other factors, one of which revolves around breeding.

Let’s look at two very different horses here at Tamarack Hill Farm that were chosen because of their pedigrees. Both are currently going novice, both are very good jumpers and both seem to have potential to go far in eventing. Let’s start with this adorable little mare that my buddy Daryl Kinney competes, Cabin Society, or better known as “Jumbie.”

Daryl and Jumbie rockin it over this large oxer!

Jumbie is a 6 year old mare who is by Jumbo, the leading British-based eventing sire today. Jumbo has been a top producer of eventers, dressage horses and top show jumper. Not to mention he is the sire of Headley Britannia, an unbelievable mare that won the 2006  Burghley Horse Trials, a win at the 2007 Badminton Horse Trials, and a win at the 2009 Rolex Kentucky Three Day. This cutie pie mare Jumbie was really purchased because of her breeding. She is only going novice right now but is demonstrating serious potential. She’s nice on the flat, has a very low key personality and a powerful and scopey jump! Will she go advanced? We don’t know-but her breeding suggests she could go very far.

Next we have a big hunk of a gelding, Beaulieu’s Cool Skybreaker, better known as “Skybreaker.” I am currently competing this big dude and we have high hopes for him as well.

Skybreaker Ho He Hum through a gymnastics line-last oxer around 4'3"!

Skybreaker is an 8 year old gelding by Beaulieu’s Coolman, who is by Quidam De Revel, the most distinguished and most expensive living sire of jumping horses. Skybreaker is out of a Heartbreaker mare so he has double powerhouse jumper lines! Heartbreaker is sired by the world famous Nimmerdor and as a six year old Heartbreaker was 5th at the World Championship for young horses at Lanaken. The following year he was 4th at Lanaken in the World Championships. Skybreaker had a slow start but is showing tremendous ability and ease over large fences. He is very fancy on the flat but has such an enormous body that he has taken this long to grow into his large feet…and believe me-they are huge plates he’s got. He is only going novice, but we will see how far he can go.

Both horses have their weaknesses and their strengths. Both horses are relatively young and green in eventing but have very interesting pedigrees. Denny is extremely interested in bloodlines and constantly quizzes Daryl and me. He knows that eventing has changed and that breeding a horse for modern day eventing can be very tricky. Eventing now seems to require a very specific type of a horse: one that can clean up on the flat, one that is scopey and can leave the rails up in show jumping, and on xc the horse not only needs to be able to gallop, but needs to be incredibly brave and quick over these tough questions that course designers are having us do now.

Do you agree or disagree that pedigree’s have so much to do with your horse’s innate ability? Do you know your horse’s bloodlines like the back of your hand? Do you care about bloodlines? Of course there are horses whose breed we don’t even know. There are “mutts” that make fabulous event horses and we see this all the time…like Theodore O’Connor, the super pony that rode around Rolex. But we also know that this sport has and is changing right in front of our eyes. We know what horses have done really well and we know what horses are currently doing really well. If we understand the way the game works, then why not pick and choose horses that we believe have a chance at succeeding? Do either of the two horses mentioned earlier stand a chance at Rolex? I have no clue, but knowing their pedigree’s and understanding what produced these two types of horses certainly helps when attempting to predict their futures.

This is not an anti-thoroughbred, and pro-warmblood discussion. Nor is it the reverse—pro-thoroughbred and anti-warmblood. Really, I’m interested in how this sport has changed and how specific the horse needs to be in order to go advanced, and actually do well at this level. Maybe this game is all about experimentation and trying out different breeds in order to see how they fit in this sport. Or, maybe eventing is like playing cards; if you understand how the game is played and what tools, skills, or knowledge you need in order to win, then perhaps you will succeed.