The Carolina Equipment Company harrow at Great Meadow International 2017 Nation’s Cup. Photo courtesy of Melanie Bartenstein
If you want to keep your good footing good, you have to take an active interest in it. No … you don’t have to ask how its day is going or bring it flowers, but here are three little tips that will help you keep your investment performing at its best for years to come.
1. Move the jumps. Once a week take all the jumps out of the ring and give it a good grooming. That way all of the footing is groomed, not just 60% of it. And when you reset the course, make it different, even if it is only slightly different. Sharp turns in the same place will incrementally over time create an unevenness in your surface.
2. Water your footing. If you don’t have polymer-coated footing, there’s a hose in your future. Moisture is what binds most footing. So a regular watering program is one of the best things you can do for the longevity of your arena footing. From very basic sprinklers to advanced underground watering systems, there are watering solutions for every budget. Without water, your footing will break down faster and you will be riding through dust in no time.
3. Groom. Groom. Groom. It’s time to teach yourself to be the Emma Ford of arena grooming. And it starts with your drag or harrow. You want to make sure that it’s level. If you pull your drag with a tractor, most likely it has a three-point hitch. Simply lift the drag up 4” to 5” off the ground to see if it tilts to one side. If it does tilt, adjust your hitch to make it level. And enjoy making BIG circles.
National Holiday: National Sea Monkey Day
Major Events:
Event Rider Masters @ Wiesbaden Website, Start Times, Results, Live Stream
U.S. Weekend Preview:
Hitching Post Farm H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times/Live Scores]
Kent School Spring H.T. [Website] [Live Scores]
Fair Hill May H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Chattahoochee Hill May H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Otter Creek Spring H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
CCC Spring Gulch H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Your Wednesday News & Notes:
Do you train young horses? Do you instruct riders who frequently ride young horses? Sign up for the ICP Young Event Horse Workshop to be held June 19 – June 21 at Kinnitty Capall Stables in Ancramdale, New York to start your certification towards the USEA ICP Professional Horse Trainer or Instructor title. The USEA is considering having an ICP YEH Assessment in Area 1 this fall, so this is a great opportunity for those in the area to begin the certification process. [ICP Young Event Horse Workshop]
Area VI, like all other Areas, is knee-deep into NAYC fundraising season. Pancake breakfasts, apparel sales, parties, braiding, mucking stalls…basically, if the kids are not in school or at the barn, they are fundraising! Recently, they launched our Area VI online auction, “Journey to the 2018 Championships” which will run active through next Friday, May 18th @ 7:00pm PDT. 32Auctions is hosting the event and you can help out some hard-working kids by checking out the auction. [Area VI NAYC Online Silent Auction]
Great Meadow Foundation Announces New Chair of the Board of Trustees. Cate Magennis Wyatt has recently been elected to Chair the Great Meadow Foundation Board Of Trustees. On April 25th, the Board unanimously elected Magennis Wyatt after accepting the resignation of MG (ret) Henry A. “Buzz” Kievenaar, Jr. who had served in that capacity for the past 10 years. Kievenaar led the Foundation during the acquisition of the adjacent 175 acres called Fleming Farm, built a World class all-weather arena on that property, and developed the only FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ in North America. [Great Meadow Announces New Chair]
