Massachusetts Horse February/March 2018

M A S S AC H U S E T T S

HORSE

INSURANCE CONFUSED? A GUIDE TO THE BASICS

GEORGE HALKETT February/March 2018 mahorse.com $4

HORSEPERSON

DUNROVEN FARM HORSE FARM

D.A.R. STATE FOREST TRAIL GUIDE

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contents

February/March 2018

columns 18 Reconnect and Get Reacquainted Horse Logic

depositphotos

20 D.A.R. State Forest 22

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Trail Guide

34 Bay State Events Calendar

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Rizzo, courtesy of Pine Lodge School

courtesy of Stoneleigh-Burnham School

Massachusetts Only!

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features 8

Insurance

in every issue 22 Dunroven Farm

Confused? A Guide to the Basics

Dream It, Do It, Share It

Lead Feature

Farm Feature

5 From the Publisher 7 Your Letters 26 Overherd 32 Partners

16

George Halkett

24 Two Horses,

Training Tomorrow’s Trainers

One Language

Horseperson Feature

Guest Column

34 Events Calendar 39 This Olde Horse 40 The Neighborhood 42 Is This Your Horse?

Massachusetts Horse

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February/March 2018

From the Publisher

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Jamie Kubosiak

o far this winter has been what many New Englanders call “character building.” Here in the foothills of the Berkshires we’ve had a lot of high winds and bitter-cold temperatures. Doing the farm chores becomes a challenge, as sometimes just the simplest things require much more effort.

However, today it’s a beautiful sunny winter day — blue skies, snow-covered pastures, and chickadees and juncos hopping about. The days are getting longer and it feels as though spring is not far off. My hay supply is good — I’ll make it through the winter. The horses are content pawing in the back pasture for the grass beneath the snow.

Cat, Caszual, Little Rasta Man, and Peanut on a snowy morning at Pocketful of Ponies Farm in Goshen.

One of the things I often think about when taking care of the morning chores is how I am around my horses. I’ve always been super observant — checking for cuts, swellings, and odd or different behavior — and in recent years I listen and see even more.

I’ve found that my horses can read my body language and intent, better than I ever could’ve thought, with the smallest change in my hand, my voice, my eyes, my posture. The lightest touch of my fingertips on Caszual’s shoulder tells her to step over so I can open her stall door. A look at Cat’s hip leads her to make room for the wheelbarrow. Peanut is content to follow me everywhere, including into the feed room, where he eats his ration balancer while Ella kitty rubs between his legs (he’s a Miniature horse). Sometimes he even bumps into me from behind when I stop suddenly. That cracks me up, as does the look he gives me every time this happens.

As part of my continuous quest for knowledge and new skills, this spring I’ll be attending plenty of horse-related things to do in Massachusetts, such as clinics, auctions, demonstrations, and lectures.

See you out there!

Massachusetts Horse

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M ASSAC H US ETTS

HORSE vol. 16, no. 5 February/March 2018

ISSN 1945-1393

99 Bissell Road, Williamsburg, MA 01096 phone: (413) 268-3302 • fax: (413) 268-0050 • mahorse.com

Massachusetts Horse is an independently owned and -operated all-breed, all-discipline equestrian publication for the Bay State. © 2018 Massachusetts Horse All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this magazine or portions thereof in any form without prior written permission.

publisher Stephanie Sanders • steph@mahorse.com • (413) 268-3302 editor Kathaleen Emerson feature writers Nicole Birkholzer, Andrea Bugbee, Susanna Forrest Sheryl Hodge, Alessandra Mele, Stacey Stearns contributors Caeli Chesin, Suzy Lucine, Laurie Neely, Katelyn Parsons, Annamaria Paul reporters Alessandra Mele • (413) 949-1972 • alessandra@mahorse.com Cora Shillinglaw • (508) 737-6810 • shillinglawc@gmail.com Holly Jacobson • (978) 356-5842 • holly@mahorse.com Karen Morang • (508) 797-2828 • karen@mahorse.com

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February/March 2018

© Alessandra Mele Cinderellie is an American Quarter Horse owned by Brooke Mele of Wilbraham.

Massachusetts Horse is printed with soy-based ink on recycled paper.

the fine print The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Massachusetts Horse staff or independent contractors, nor can they be held accountable. Massachusetts Horse will not be held responsible for any misrepresentations or any copyright infringement on the part of advertisers. Massachusetts Horse will not be held responsible for typing errors other than a correction in the following issue. All letters addressed to Massachusetts Horse, its publisher, editor, and staff are assumed for publication. Photos, stories (verbal or printed), notifications, news items, and all other material that is submitted, including all materials and photos not specifically solicited by Massachusetts Horse, are assumed to be legally released by the submitter for publication. Massachusetts Horse assumes no responsibility for damage to or loss of material submitted for publication. Reasonable care will be taken to ensure the safety and return of all materials.

Your Letters To the editor: Thank you very much for the Massachusetts Horse Junior Horsemanship Award basket you donated to the South East Hunter Association Medal Finals Horse Show. The award went to Laurel Flaherty, a junior rider from Pembroke. Laurel received an overwhelming amount of votes from attendees at the show. Thank you for the award.

Nancy Venezia, SEHA President, Marston Mills

Betsy Merritt Barefoot Performance Natural Hoofcare Orthopedic Trimming and Holistic Lameness Rehabilitation

To the editor: Logan was beyond thrilled with the [December/January Youth Profile: Logan Decourcey]. Positive feedback doesn’t begin to describe it. Her family and friends loved the article.

She has had acknowledgement from people she didn’t previously know. It was a great article. You did an amazing job!

Thank you for providing Logan such great exposure.

Katie Decourcey, Kingston

To the editor: A very special thank you to Sheryl Hodge, one of our amazing boarders, for writing an incredible article and featuring Robby Hill Stables in the December/January issue of Massachusetts Horse!

Let us know your thoughts!

Erin Langan, Robby Hill Stables, Hubbardston

We’ll enter you to win a $75 Cheshire Horse gift card!

All letters received by March 5 will be entered in the drawing. Send your letters to: steph@mahorse.com or Massachusetts Horse, 99 Bissell Rd., Williamsburg, MA 01096.

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Dealer

Dealer Massachusetts Horse

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Confused? A Guide to the Basics

T

here are certain things people simply don’t like to think about: taxes, death, and insurance, for example.

We go about our day-to-day routines with our horses, many of us wrapped in a bubble of “It won’t happen to me,” which only makes it an even more brutal intrusion when the unthinkable does happen.

Maybe it’s human nature to cringe at thinking ahead to the worst, or maybe it’s weighing financial output against calculated risks, but whatever it is, it can interfere with you protecting yourself adequately in case of an emergency.

Properly insuring your horses and your farm is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your family.

For a commercial facility, insurance is an important part of being in business. For the average horse owner, those of us with one, two, or three equines in our backyard, insurance may be something that gets pushed aside.

Indeed, many of us aren’t aware of just how many types of coverage are available, or what all of the options are.

Sure, most of us know about mortality coverage. But what about major medical? Loss of use? Personal liability?

Think your homeowner’s will cover that last one? Better check that policy before you need to use it.

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February/March 2018

So are you one of the ones still thinking “It won’t happen to me”? Let’s take a look at some potential scenarios.

The First Scenario You aren’t a commercial farm or operation, just an enthusiast. You love to show and have been successful at it for years. You load up your horse to take him to a local show. Prince has always been a nice, calm horse, bomb-proof.

When it comes to horses, you can’t be too safe.

Be prudent: Protect yourself and your barn from serious financial repercussions.

You arrive at the show, offload him, and tie him to the side of the trailer when suddenly a neighboring trailer’s awning is sent flying by a huge gust of wind. Prince explodes, tears himself loose from your trailer, and takes off through the grounds.

Along the way, he knocks down a show mom and cuts his leg. The show mom has to be taken to a hospital because she hit her head when she fell, and Prince requires three stitches in his

leg. You’re stunned when you receive a bill from the show mom for her hospitalization and now have a vet bill too.

Who’s responsible for the damages?

Well, actually, you are. Even though the wind knocked loose someone else’s awning, it was your horse that tore through the grounds. And now those bills are being presented to you.

Everyone who owns a horse should purchase a liability policy for it.

Stand alone liability policies for personal horses start at $350. Richard Bourgault, an agent at A & B Insurance Group in Westford, explains the coverage: “My preference is to find a homeowner company that will cover personal horses on and off premises. Some homeowner companies will cover up to five horses.”

“If the number of personal horses gets too great there are companies that will write a hobby farm policy that will compete costwise with a homeowner policy,” Richard says. “This is a better insurance strategy, because if you have the need for a liability umbrella policy, that umbrella will also cover your horse exposure that’s covered by the underling policy, bringing all of your protection into play.”

“Liability umbrella policies increase the coverage limit you have on any policy that the umbrella policy goes over,” says Richard. “So if you have a

Shoot That Horse Photographny

Insurance

along with care, custody, and control policies at the very minimum. Commercial liability insurance protects the policyholder from lawsuits from either your action or inactions causing injury or damages. Usually it will cover up to $5,000 in medical payments without lawsuits.

That’s an important distinction: without lawsuits. In the case of Susie’s accident, not only is her hospital trip to x-ray her wrist covered, but the dent in the fender of her mother’s car is too. If Ranger had sustained an injury in all of this, however, he wouldn’t be covered unless he had his own medical coverage policy in place.

depositphotos

The Third Scenario

homeowner or farm policy with $1,000,000 of liability coverage and you add a liability umbrella for $1,000,000 you now have $2,000,000 to settle any liability claim covered by the homeowner or farm policy. Just keep in mind that if a situation is excluded on the homeowner or farm policy it’s also excluded on the umbrella. If the situation is covered by the homeowner or farm policy it will be covered by the umbrella as well.

“Limits of liability on a homeowner or farm policy start at $100,000,” says Richard. “The option for higher coverage amounts are available at $300,000, $500,000, and $1,000,000. If you want more than $1,000,000 you can purchase a liability umbrella policy in $1,000,000 increments up to $10,000,000.”

Now, regarding the stitches Prince needed after his romp through the grounds, unless you have a major medical policy on him, and very likely even if you do have one, you’re paying that bill. Liability won’t cover damages to your horse: it covers only damages caused by your horse to someone else.

For damage to your horse, you’ll need a major medical policy in place.

This type of policy has a deductible and offers major medical coverage for up to a certain amount per year in protection for your horse. This covers diagnostics, and reimburses you for your vet bills . . .

a very important distinction here: reim-

burses. Many people are under the impression that they just submit the bills to the insurance company, but it doesn’t work that way. You have to pay your bills first and then you get reimbursed for them, minus any deductibles.

Another thing to bear in mind with this scenario is that the event you attended probably also carried insurance. So you think, why wouldn’t the event itself cover this accident? Well, event coverage is a tool designed to protect an event holder from lawsuits from third parties. Though the event holder would be covered if the show mom sues it, you won’t be.

The Second Scenario Little Susie is taking lessons at your barn. She’s riding Ranger, a longtime school horse. Ranger’s getting a little long in the tooth, though, and lately has taken to stumbling. While walking through the parking lot to the outside ring, Ranger stumbles. Susie hasn’t been paying attention and goes off over his shoulder, causing him to step sideways away from her. Unfortunately, he bangs into the fender of her mother’s car and dents it. Susie is crying and holding her wrist, so to the hospital she goes for x-rays.

A commercial operation should have in place general equine liability

You take good care of your horses. You make sure they’re eating properly, are dewormed regularly, have vet care, and get good hay. Therefore, it comes as a shock when one of your horses starts colicking . . . and he doesn’t respond to walking or traditional treatment. To your horror, the vet diagnoses a twisted gut, and you find yourself en route to Tufts. Your horse is only eight years old.

You gulp, hand over your credit card, and watch the charges mount.

Colic is one of the most dreaded words a horse owner can hear. A horse is built with an internal schematic that’s a recipe for disaster. Many feet of intestine loop back and forth, packing its barrel full of gut. It can’t burp or vomit.

Horses love to roll around on the ground, and will often eat things they shouldn’t. Now add humans and their artificial environments for horsekeeping and it’s no wonder that colic is such a common occurrence.

You can build in protection for your horse by purchasing policies specific to colic. Most companies offer some level of colic surgery within the mortality insurance. You can also purchase a policy specific to the care and treatment of colic, often up to $7,500 worth. And as anyone who has ever experienced this can testify, in an equine hospital you can reach $7,500 in a matter of days.

The Fourth Scenario Alice and Peggy were out trail riding.

Peggy was on a young horse, one that wasn’t too good about crossing water.

They reached a small brook, and her youngster started to refuse. Peggy asked and asked him to cross, but the horse refused every time. Alice was sitting on her old-timer to Peggy’s left. She was Massachusetts Horse

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riding western, with an eight-foot set of split reins tied in a knot so she wouldn’t lose a rein when she dropped them on her horse’s neck. She was sitting quietly, waiting, with the reins hanging in a low loop below the neck. Peggy asked her youngster again, and that’s when he lost it. Wheeling to his left, he thrust his head beneath the neck of Alice’s horse . . . right through the loop of reins.

Suddenly both horses were panicking and bolted through the woods, tied together. Peggy and Alice hit the ground and sustained injuries; the horses sustained injuries too. Fortunately, all the injuries were minor.

There are a couple of things that could happen here. Peggy’s homeowner’s insurance might cover damages to Alice and her horse. Homeowner’s is supposed to cover damages caused due to negligence by the policyholder. If they were riding on Peggy’s land, she’d have a chance at having the claim honored if her company hadn’t specifically excluded horses. Otherwise, Peggy had better hope she had a personal liability policy on her horse, because she could be held liable for the damages to Alice and to Alice’s horse.

Many of you are probably wondering why your homeowner’s wouldn’t 10

February/March 2018

cover accidents like this one. After all, it would cover liability from pets, if your cat scratched the neighbor’s child, say, or your dog gnawed their rare oak deck furniture. So why wouldn’t it cover equine damages?

Maureen O’Mara, an agent with Farm Family/American National Insurance Company in Williamstown, explains that Farm Family was founded specifically to handle the agricultural needs of the farming community.

“During the more than three decades that I’ve been an agent with Farm Family/American National,” says Maureen, “the focus of farming has shifted from such agrarian activities as cattle/animal raising and crop farming to now include more equine-related activities. The role of the horse went from the farm work animal to the backyard pet, and can now often be found as part of a business venture with significant changes in liability exposures.”

“Farm Family has adjusted and refined the business liability coverage on its special farm package contract to address the varying liability needs often found in the horse world,” Maureen says. “Horse boarding, riding lessons, off-premises rides and carriage activities, horse sales, breeding operations,

pony rides, horse training, and many more are now common activities found within the horse community, and are, as such, businesses.”

“The personal liability of the standard homeowners policy most often excludes commercial/business/farm activities from their contracts,” Maureen says. “Some carriers specifically exclude any horse exposure. A company that allows liability for personal horses will usually limit the number of horses owned from to one to four.”

“As we all know, horses have a mind of their own, and people take their gentle manner and kind eye as a sign that nothing could ever go wrong around them,” says Maureen. “Sudden noises, a barking dog, kids running through the fence to see the pretty pony, or a gust of wind can send a fearful gentle giant fleeing. These are things that your standard homeowners contract may cover, but you want to know those specifics before something happens, not after.

Be sure to check with your insurance carrier to assure you have the right coverage for your specific equine needs. A dollar spent now could save you thousands later.”

The Fifth Scenario You own a small commercial barn and you have equine general commercial coverage in place. You’re trailering your own horse to an event and your neighbor, John, asks you to take his horse too. You have room in your trailer, and John’s always been a good neighbor, so you say sure, and you don’t charge him for it.

Along the way, you get cut off by someone, causing you to swerve hard to the right. A trailer wheel drops into a ditch and flips the trailer. John’s horse has to be euthanized because of the injuries he sustained. John presents you with a bill for the value of his horse, some $25,000.

This is a case in which you should have had care, custody, and control insurance in place. This type of policy endorsement provides the farm owner a layer of protection. Melody Taylor-Scott, equestrian protection specialist at Corinthian Insurance Agency in Medway, explains: “Care, custody, and control (CCC) is an endorsement added to a farm’s commercial equine liability policy and not a policy itself. It is issued to boarding/training/riding stables to protect the business owner from claims brought against them from

clients whose horse is injured, gets sick, or dies because of negligence or a mistake on the farm owner’s (or employee’s) part, up to the limit of the CCC endorsement.”

“The CCC endorsement, as part of the farm’s commercial equine liability policy,” says Melody, “pays amounts you are legally obligated to pay to your clients for the death, injury, or theft of horses, and defense costs for suits brought against you, for horses in your care, custody, or control.”

“One very important concept for the farm owner is that CCC coverage does not apply to horses you own or lease,” says Melody. “The stable owner’s horses typically are covered by the farm’s commercial equine liability/ mortality policy. The commercial equine liability policy will respond if the farm’s owned horses cause property damage or bodily injury to a third party that results in civil suit against the insured.”

“Additionally, a CCC endorsement does not cover you if a client’s or thirdparty’s horse in your care injures someone else or damages their property,” says Melody. “The CCC endorsement only protects you against claims of damage to, or loss of, the client’s horse itself.

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Massachusetts Horse

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The client is responsible for any damage or injury his horse causes to others and should carry his own private horse owner’s equine liability policy.

“Premiums for the CCC endorsement are generally based on the average number of horses in your care, or the total number of horses in any one barn, whichever is greater,” says Melody.

“The trailering scenario is a common question in the horse community, especially for smaller operations,” says Melody. “One gray area of this particular question is neighbor. If John keeps his horse at his farm and walks it over to put on your trailer, is he a client?

Technically CCC will not extend to a farm owner who is shipping non-owned horses from other barns, as the coverage is for existing client’s/boarder’s horses at the farm’s location as it is part of daily farming operations. In this situation, I strongly suggest you get a signed release from the horse’s owner, drafted according to the state’s guidelines, relieving you of liability and spelling out the details of shipping the horse.”

“Most CCC policies will cover incidental transportation of horses in your care,” says Melody. “Incidental transit is typically defined as up to six trips of 150 12

February/March 2018

miles or less per year. It’s always best practice to be honest and straight forward when filling out your insurance applications. Remember, the underwriter has the right to check your company records to verify the actual amount of business and trailering for others you do, so if it’s a busy part of your business, I recommend getting an additional trailering coverage policy.”

CCC won’t provide coverage if your client’s horse is injured or killed in any manner that’s unrelated to the insured stable or transportation.

The Sixth Scenario Maria finally received her instructor’s license and wants to work as a freelance teacher. She doesn’t have a place of her own and doesn’t want to work for just one facility. Can she legally practice her trade now?

If Maria goes to work at a farm that has in place an equine general commercial policy, it should cover both employees of that farm and independent contractors. For added protection, she should purchase her own general commercial liability policy. This coverage will follow her no matter where she teaches. “Shop around and ask questions,” says Maureen, of Farm Family

Insurance. “Ask about what the policy covers and what sort of deductibles it may have.”

“It’s a lot more affordable than most people think it is,” Maureen says.

In a Nutshell As you can see, insurance is a worthwhile investment. But what exactly should you get? Call around and talk to agents. Get advice to see what sort of coverage best suits you, get quotes, research companies.

Ask people who have insurance if they like their company. If they’ve ever had a claim, how well was it handled?

Were they satisfied with the results?

As a rule of thumb, commercial operations should have — at minimum — a general equine liability policy and a care, custody, and control endorsement added to it.

If you have a horse that’s valuable, it would be to your advantage to have at least mortality insurance, as well as major medical and possibly loss of use.

Private Owners You need at minimum a personal liability policy covering your horse. You also want mortality if the replacement value is more than you could afford out of pocket, and major medical if it is a competition horse, valuable, or your horse of a lifetime. The more you use your horse, especially if you travel with him, the more coverage he should have.

Commercial and Private Owners Research whether the equine insurance company can pick up your homeowner’s policy as well. Some companies offer policies for the barns and outbuildings associated with a farm, along with coverage for equipment. Having your insurance needs met through one company could streamline things if you ever have a claim.

When it comes to horses, you can’t be too safe. Be prudent: Protect yourself and your barn from serious financial repercussions. In today’s litigious society, it’s unwise not to take care of yourself and your family first.

Remember to shop around and ask questions, and don’t be afraid to compare companies until you find the right fit for you and your barn.

Coverage for Horses

Mortality This type of policy is strictly for death.

Some companies, such as Hallmark

color page

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Insurance, have a clause that says a horse is still covered up to 30 days after the expiration of the policy. Check with your agent to verify the coverage period and the conditions attached. You must have a realistic assessment of a horse’s replacement value.

If a horse is valued much higher than is plausible, the company may send someone to appraise the animal.

On average, this policy is available for foals on up to age 19. There’s usually some colic surgery and theft coverage built in. Premiums are assessed on a horse’s insured value, ranging from 3 percent on horses up to 15 years old to as high as 12 percent on horses 16 and older.

Personal Liability Coverage Major Medical and Surgical (MMS) Some companies offer this in addition to the mortality insurance. MMS typically covers medical and surgical procedures, including diagnostics necessary as a result of accident, illness, injury, or disease.

This coverage is available for horses aged six months up to about 15 years.

Some companies offer a surgery-only addendum to a mortality policy, meaning that coverage would be for surgical costs, not diagnostic testing. Ask your agent for details. MMS coverage usually runs from $7,500 to $10,000. This type of policy is a must for anyone who does heavy competition with her horse, such as an eventer.

This policy covers an owner in case of damage or injury caused by her horse to a third party. It does not cover things like someone riding your horse with your permission. You may purchase a policy from $25,000 up to $1 million.

Coverage may be added to an existing mortality policy or be a stand-alone policy for up to five horses, with the ability to purchase coverage for more than that many. Everyone who owns a horse should invest in this coverage; many boarding stables are now making this a requirement. Premiums start at $25 a year.

Professional Coverage

Equine Commercial General Liability Colic Medical and Surgical Coverage A condition-exclusive policy, this covers strictly colic-related medical and surgical expenses.

Loss of Use (LOU) This coverage is for horses that are injured or otherwise compromised such that they can no longer be used in the manner they were intended for. This loss of use may be the result of an accident, illness, injury, or disease. Coverage may pay up to 50 percent of the insured value; check with your agent. This coverage is available for select coverage only.

Note: In some cases, the ownership of a horse is turned over to the insurance company upon payment of an LOU claim, so be sure to get full details from your agent about the restrictions and conditions of this sort of policy.

Named-Perils Coverage You can insure against specific events, such as fire, theft, wind, lightning, and accident. Some agencies will allow you to pick the coverage you want; others group them in tiers of protection.

This coverage is very important if you perform any commercial equestrian activities, such as boarding, instruction, training, breeding, and buying and selling horses. The policy can be augmented to provide on-premises coverage for independent trainers or instructors while acting within the scope of their duties at your operation. Premiums start at around $500 a year. Be sure to have your agent explain exactly what’s covered, what sort of aggregate it carries (multiple incidents in one year), and what the maximum coverage will be.

Also find out what other policies could be purchased with this one: perhaps Care, Custody, and Control (see below).

Care, Custody, and Control (CCC) Consider this coverage if you board, train, or breed horses for others. If one of those horses is injured or dies while in your care and you are found negligent, this policy will provide for the medical care or replacement cost of the horse up to the coverage limits. Legal defense costs are also covered. This policy extends to trailering horses too,

although there may be a range limitation in place, such as up to 100 miles from home or within the United States only. Every barn owner who has horses that belong to someone else should carry this policy.

Equine Clubs and Associations Equine member organizations that would like to protect themselves can obtain this liability coverage. The basic policy provides coverage for several public event days during the year, and coverage for additional days is available.

This policy helps to protect your group if you are faced with a lawsuit by a third party. Defense fees, as well as property damage and/or bodily injury, are covered. This sort of coverage is a must for anyone who wants to hold public events. Many companies offer policies for one-day events too. Some of them will even cover the setup and breakdown required for that event.

Farm Coverage You can establish almost any degree of coverage you want, from Equine Commercial General Liability (ECGL) and CCC to coverage for your residence, structures, equipment, livestock, and more. Having all of your insurance needs covered by one company can eliminate the lag time incurred when several agencies must determine whose coverage applies to the situation. Ask your agent to explain the various packages. Most companies offer tiers of protection, for a homeowner with one or two horses, a private owner of several horses, or a commercial operation taking place at your residence. Make sure you have your equipment properly covered, as well as your buildings.

Massachusetts Horse

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Horseperson Feature

Greenfield

George Halkett Training Tomorrow’s Trainers

by Andrea Bugbee

Association National Championship in 2002.

“We’re running a one point five million dollar campaign at the moment to expand the equestrian center,” George says, underlining his quest for quality. This newest expansion will improve SBS’s already exceptional facil-

Jayson Lecuyer

courtesy of Stoneleigh-Burnham School

“My foremost job here is to make a [successful] program for the school, but I’m always looking for things that are beneficial to our students, too,” says George, a Scottish national who came to the United States in 1997 to build the equestrian program at Savannah College of Art and Design. He later

Jayson Lecuyer

C

upped within the foothills of the historic Mohawk Trail stands a sandy-white girls’ school perched like a rambling, country manor at the center of a rolling expanse of lawn and fields. The school, Stoneleigh-Burnham, is known for its multinational student body, rigorous International Baccalau-

George Halkett at Stoneleigh-Burnham School.

Stoneleigh-Burnham School student showing.

Mina Payne and George Halkett helping a student.

reate program, feisty debate team, and commitment to giving girls the courage to be who they are.

It’s hard not to notice, however, that the first building on this Greenfield campus is a stable. The rolling expanse of fields is actually one of western Massachusetts’ most popular crosscountry courses, aesthetically sculpted into the school grounds with loads of portable and permanent jumps, a bank, a water complex, a ditch, and an excellently footed woodland stretch.

Stoneleigh-Burnham is, indeed, all about educating middle- and high-school girls to be the best version of themselves — yet, for about a third of these girls, that best version blossoms in the barn.

grew the equestrian program at Albion College in Michigan, doubling its size and running that facility for eight years.

“I was a troubleshooter in the U.K., figuring out what was the niche in the area that you can tap into that nobody else is doing,” George says. In his nine years at Stoneleigh-Burnham School, he says he finds the East Coast to be both competitive and abundant in its equestrian opportunities. His strategy in the Bay State has been to offer quality in everything, variety for the surrounding riding community, and a lead line to catch opportunities that amble by.

Throughout his career, George has been active in competition and instruction. He served as a member of the Queen’s Household Cavalry in the British Army, competed internationally, and coached students to international competitions including the FEI Samsung International, Volvo World Cup, and the International Intercollegiate World Championships.

George has helped coach SBS students to four national titles in three years including the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) National Championship title in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and the Interscholastic Dressage

ity by adding a second, all-weather outdoor arena; 19 new paddocks with heated, automatic waterers; and a large car parking area to accommodate visitors and competitors on horse show days.

George’s commitment to variety is evidenced in the equestrian center’s packed schedule. Regular programs include horseback riding for every SBS girl who wishes to participate, a 20member IEA team, the Bonnie Castle Summer Riding Camp, the Summer Intensive Riding Camp for teenage IEA riders, and a Barn Mentorship Program designed as an outreach for select Greenfield Middle School sixth graders.

It also includes jumper shows throughout the winter, and horse trials in the spring and fall.

Finally, George isn’t afraid to try something new. The latest opportunity he’s roped in has made SBS the host facility for Smith College’s equestrian classes and Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) team.

“We’re horse people, and we were very upset that they had lost their facility,” says George, referring to Smith’s recent decision to close Fox Meadow Farm, its campus stable. He immedi-

Quality, Variety, and Saddle Up Smith!

If you’re among the thousands of New England riders who have been to Stoneleigh-Burnham School (SBS) for a horse show or cross-country trials, then you know that Equestrian Center Director George Halkett doesn’t keep the school’s two indoor rings, heated viewing lounge, derby field, crosscountry course, and 100-acre campus to himself.

16 February/March 2018

ately sent out a proposal and, after viewing all options, Smith agreed that the SBS Equestrian Program would be the ideal match. With careful horse scheduling by Stoneleigh-Burnham Riding Director (and alumna) Mina Payne, Smith students now take a quick zip north on Route 91 to spend their early mornings and evenings training with George.

SBS’s IEA team captain, Katie Kowalyshyn of Lebanon, Connecticut, likes this new arrangement. She and fellow rider Gwen Healey, a junior from Boylston, still feel a teensy protective of their 35 coveted school horses, yet, Katie says, “The Smith riders are good role models. They’ve already gone through high school, and they’re from a women’s college.”

In the fall, the two teams had a mingle night (pizza at the barn, of course) to get to know each other. They are two groups of equestrian women who love the same horses, suffer similar no-stirrups lessons, and help at each other’s shows. At Stoneleigh-Burnham’s last IEA show, Katie says, the Smith IHSA team made the SBS IEA team a poster. It said, “Smith College Loves SBS!” Those four words say much for the match.

Training Tomorrow’s Trainers George is also the reason that SBS is the only secondary school in the United States to offer the British Horse Society (BHS) Training Certification Program.

Encompassing mounted, unmounted, and horse management skills, BHS certification is recognized in 32 countries, so students who earn a BHS International Trainer’s Passport qualify for equestrian careers around the globe.

Additionally, SBS is certified as one of only two BHS testing centers in the nation.

Class of 2017 alumna Maren Vogel of Piermont, New Hampshire, began this intense equine education program as a sophomore, and has since passed with distinction stages one through three, and her preliminary teaching test. Maren, grateful for the program and the advantage it’s given her, describes BHS as, “Pony Club amped up on steroids.”

“By the time I had gotten through all the exams, I had to be able to put on every kind of boot,” Maren says, listing a small sample of skills she’s had to master. “You have to know how to put on polo wraps and cross-country bandages and how to put on a double bridle and adjust it properly. You have to put on all

kinds of training aids. I had to be able to longe [a horse.] I had to teach a longe lesson. You have to be able to braid for shows, pull manes, and tack up for cross-country, for show jumping, for dressage. You have to identify different grains and their use and the horse’s digestive system, and a little bit of the cardiovascular system. By the time you go through all the examinations, you’ve got a really, really solid foundation in how to care for horses.”

Maren’s goal is to become a lifelong equine professional, and BHS has her well on her way. Presently on a gap year between high school and college, she’s already an instructor and barn manager at a local therapeutic riding center, and she just landed a job grooming for Show Jumping Hall of Famer Katie Prudent in Wellington, Florida, and Middleburg, Virginia.

Maren is only 18.

“The edge that I have is genuinely because of George,” Maren says.

“Balancing BHS with school was a lot, but it was definitely worth it. It serves a wide range of people. Even if you’re not somebody who wants to pursue a career in horses, just take the first exam. Then you know you have a solid foundation in horsemanship.”

Katie and Gwen are in the BHS program now, which means they attend two lectures and two practical lessons each week on top of their regular academics. Gwen would like to go into engineering and Katie wants to become a doctor. Both know that, whether they ride for work or for joy, BHS will give them the practical knowledge for excellent husbandry far into the future.

A Teacher at Heart If directing an equestrian facility is like running a business, then George is absolutely not the kind of CEO who sits in an office issuing memos. With a job description that includes building, planning, scheduling, fundraising, and facility oversight, a single hour in George’s day might include inspecting a hay delivery, planning a new jump for the spring horse trials, liaising with his superlative staff over lessons, shows, and horse usage, then scooting up to the school for a faculty meeting.

At the heart of these hectic days, however, George remains a teacher.

Amidst high-profile duties and nittygritty chores, he says his best moments are when he helps a beginning rider or a young horse finally grasp a new skill.

“He focuses on the basics because that’s the most important part,” Gwen says. “In every lesson, no matter how

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skilled a person he’s teaching, the basics are always at work. I definitely find that helpful because, once you’re focused on the basics, then you can look at the next level up.”

“George specifically loves eventing and show jumping, but he’s done it all and he knows how to coach it all,” Katie says. “And, I know, as much as George would love to have an Olympic rider that came out of his barn, he honestly would be just as happy if we just continue riding. He cares.”

“He does care,” Gwen says, agreeing. “He’s a big personality, and he might be hard on you in lessons or about getting your schoolwork done, but he does care.”

“If you show up and work — always — that gets you far with George,” Maren says. “I’ll emphasize again that George is awesome. I owe a lot to George. He’s an incredible trainer. He’s brought me to where I am.”

Andrea Bugbee is a member of the StoneleighBurnham School class of 1984. She’s a Pony Club mom, an IEA mom, and a backyard horse enthusiast. She does most of her writing while she waits for her daughter in the parking lots of numerous wonderful stables scattered throughout western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.

Massachusetts Horse

17

Horse Logic

by Nicole Birkholzer

Reconnect and Get Reacquainted

Y

ay! Spring is around the corner and riding season is almost upon us.

This winter has been pretty rough right from the beginning. Snow and ice swept in quickly and stayed. Cold winds whipped around the barn for days on end. Humans and horses pulled their shoulders up toward their ears to stay warm.

By the end of winter, I’m excited to connect with my horses beyond filling the hay nets and water buckets and mucking the run-in shed. Before you hop back in the saddle, here are a few ideas on how you can connect with your horse in preparation for the warmer seasons and that first ride.

horse shows a sign of release by taking a deep breath, licking, chewing, or yawning. Once the horse has released some of that tension the sensation under my hand often changes to a neutral temperature or feel.

the area around the poll. Horses hold a lot of tension in that area because their head helps them balance as they traverse icy terrains. If my horse starts bracing against my touch I lighten it, if my horse leans into my fingers, I take

Then I place my hand behind the withers again to see if there are more spots that need attention, and if I find another, I repeat the sequence. When there are no spots left, I take the dock of my horse’s tail in my hand and slide my hand down the tail and out and beyond. It is a nice way to swoop out any remaining tight energy and complete our session.

that as an invitation to go a little deeper.

Next, I move my hand along the neck toward the horse’s shoulder and chest. My horse Shana loves long strokes and scratches up and down her neck. If she pushes her chest into my hands I know she is ready for me to ‘go to town’. It’s always fun to see the first fur flying telling us spring is on the way!

Since I’m at the horse’s chest, I keep on going and move right down the front legs. I feel for heat or swelling and then check around the coronary band and the heel for cuts and scratches that might need doctoring.

From there I move along the belly and check the sheath or teats. If there’s any crud, I’ll take note to come back and clean those areas at the end of the hands-on grooming session.

Having arrived at the hind end, I run my hands over the croup and down

Trying to stay warm during the winter months, horses and humans contract their muscles a lot. I don’t know about you, but the area around my neck and shoulders is always tight, and when I put my hands on my horse’s body they often retract from my touch because they have been holding so much tension as well. So when I feel those first “warm” rays of the late winter sun, I take my horse to a sunny spot and reconnect in a few easy steps.

Standing by my horse’s shoulder, I take three deep belly breaths, inhaling through my nose all the way into my abdomen, and exhaling through my mouth. And, because a deep breath is contagious, my horse usually takes a deep breath as well.

Three deep breaths reduce stress in your body and will move you and your horse out of the fight-flight response into a more relaxed state of mind.

Next, I place my hand on my horse’s back right behind the withers and take another deep belly breath.

Then I slowly move my hand from behind the withers toward the horse’s tail looking for spots that feel hot, cold, or tingly. When I find one of those spots I keep my hand right there and breathe deeply into that area. Often my horse shows me I found a spot of unease because he will raise his head, brace his body, or give me the hairy eyeball. If that happens, I’ll breathe deeply and keep my hand in that spot until my 18

February/March 2018

Alessandra Mele

Softening the Body

Hands-On Grooming After months of touching the horses with mostly gloved hands, I look forward to some hands-on grooming. My horses love it when, instead of using a bunch of brushes, I groom each horse with my bare hands. Because we already connected through the body softening activity I can now move on to all areas of the body.

I start by putting my fingertips right behind the ears and gently stroke

the butt cheeks. Both my horses love to be scratched to the left and right of the tail. Usually, their heads go down and they take a deep breath, a sign of relaxation. Then I explore the hind legs in the same way I did the front legs.

At the end, I pick my horse’s hooves. Instead of going in the typical order, starting at the left front, I start with the hoof that is the lightest, meaning the hoof that’s carrying the least amount of weight. Once that hoof is picked, I watch how my horse puts that hoof down and which one becomes light next, and so on.

By changing the routine for both the horse and myself, we’re not on autopilot and he might show me signs of discomfort the way he places his hooves. Walking around on ice and snow for a few months can create sole bruising and also soreness. The sooner I know if my horse is uncomfortable the quicker I can resolve the issue and be ready for our first ride/outing.

Tacking Up Because most tack has not seen daylight for months, I always pull all equipment out and take inventory. Some pieces need a wash, others a drop of leather oil, and usually something needs to be repaired or replaced. Instead of doing this in the tack room by myself, I invite the horses to keep me company.

On a nice spring day, I put all the tack into a big tub and carry it out in front of the run-in shed. Sitting on my mounting block, I go through each piece while my horses stick their noses into the

Alessandra Mele

another deep breath to encourage him to stay relaxed while I pull up the straps.

I take a deep breath and invite Cutter to come along for a short walk.

This allows him to get used to the feeling of having something on his back.

After that, I remove the equipment and call it a day. Spending time together without the need to get on his back or behind the driving lines is a great way of easing us back into work mode.

Spending time with my horse in these ways always feels like connecting with a great friend whom I’ve not seen for a while. Of course, I see my horses every day, but in the winter I often rush through my chores just to get out of the

tub, investigating all the goodies. Horses are so curious by nature, and this is a great way for them to acclimate again to the scent of leather and rope, fleece and metal.

Once I clean and sort through it all, I play with the horses using the tack.

I put a halter on my Palomino Quarter Horse Cutter, hold the lead in my hand, take a deep breath, and let him smell the saddle pad. Once Cutter has had a chance to investigate it to his satisfaction I place the pad on his back. Next, I take the saddle or surcingle and let him explore that. Usually, he gives it a lick and a little nibble that tells me he’s ready for me to place it on his back.

Then before tightening the girth I take

cold, and usually my horses care more about their hay than my company.

These small but meaningful activities are a great opportunity to get reacquainted and reconnected with my horses before I put my precious behind into the saddle for the first time again.

Nicole Birkholzer is on a mission to understand the logic behind our horses’ behaviors. Contact her and watch her free Horse Logic video series at horse-logic.com.

Massachusetts Horse

19

Trail Guide

Goshen

by Stacey Stearns

D.A.R. State Forest

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short distance from the parking lot, along the Upper Highland Lake trails, although I didn’t ride in that direction on a December day. The Nature Center is further north, and closed during the winter.

In the off-season, mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians, and wildlife have the woods to themselves. There are 15 miles of trails. During the winter the trails are popular for cross-country ski-

It’s U-shaped, so easy to pull out at the end of your ride without needing to back up. Parking along the roadside is prohibited. On the day I visited, there were only two other vehicles in the parking lot. In the summer, this parking lot fills quickly. You may be better off continuing to the parking area that’s closest to the campground.

When entering the D.A.R., the field on the right has evidence of being

ern foothills of the Berkshires. The D.A.R. donated 1,020 acres in 1929 as a state forest and the state acquired additional acreage, including the Upper and Lower Highland Lakes. The Civilian Conservation Corps made improvements in the 1930s including reconstructing dams, creating camping and picnicking areas, and building roads and bridges.

D.A.R. is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and offers campsites, swimming, fishing and kayaking in the summer. During peak season it costs $8 for Massachusetts residents to park and $15 for non-residents. Motorized boats and off-road vehicles aren’t allowed. All of the campsites are equipped with bear boxes — secure metal containers for food and garbage — as wildlife abounds.

Summer amenities include several campsites, showers, a pavilion, picnic areas, restrooms, a boat launch, and the handicap-accessible Highland Lake Trail. There’s a wildlife viewing station a

ing, snowshoeing, snowmobilers, and even dog sledding.

Climbing the Goshen fire tower reportedly provides views into three states and out over the Connecticut River Valley. There are also blueberries you can pick in the summer. I may need to plan a summer visit without a horse to check out the views. Balancing Rock, a balanced boulder, is another popular destination, an erratic landmark left by the glaciers.

recently logged. There may still be logging activity as I heard a chainsaw while I was in the parking lot. Carry in and carry out any litter, and make sure to clean up around your horse trailer before you leave.

Hours are sunrise to sunset.

The D.A.R. is a mixed deciduous forest; I noticed a lot of pine, hemlock, and oak trees. Numerous picnic tables and amenities are available at the parking area to accommodate the heavy day use and camping during warmer months. Although the restrooms and warming hut appeared closed, there was a port-a-potty. The water fountain was turned off for the winter.

You can download a map at dcr.gov.

Maps were available on the signboard by the warming hut and on the opposite side of the payment station when you enter the parking lot. They are in a black mailbox at both locations. The map you get at headquarters is larger than the map you can print on dcr.gov.

One side has summer use, the other has winter use, and they provide more

Stacey Stearns

obcat Trail, Moose Run Loop, Porcupine Trail, Beaver Pond Loop, Black Bear Trail, Turkey Trail, and Fisher Trail — the trail names say it all. When you come to the D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) State Forest in Goshen be prepared to see, or in my case hear, wildlife, even if it’s only birds and squirrels.

The 2,100-acre northern hardwood and conifer forest is located in the east-

20

February/March 2018

A Leg Up I took Route 9 through Williamsburg, and passed over the West Branch of the Mill River several times. Williamsburg and Goshen are agricultural, rural communities. I drove past logging operations, sugarhouses, churches, old stone houses, and a general store before arriving at Cape Street, also known as Route 112.

There’s a long, paved roadway to the parking area. It’s plowed in the winter. There are two large parking lots. If you arrive early you can pull through several spots in the main parking lot.

detail, including gate numbers and on which trails horses are not allowed.

Mountain bikers love these trails and have spent countless hours on trail maintenance and improvements. If there isn’t snow, expect to meet some bikers out in the woods. Horses aren’t allowed on the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) trail. Other trails closed to horses include the Highland Lake Trail, the Long Trail, Fisher Trail, Hemlock Trail, Moose Run, and Pine Marten Trail.

A friend used to board her horse in the area, and entered the forest through Camp Howe, the 4-H camp adjacent to the D.A.R. near Lower Highland Lake. The camp has a dirt road, and when camp wasn’t in session, she rode her horse down the dirt road and onto the D.A.R. trails.

Trails are rocky underneath the snow. Whatever season you choose to ride, be sure you have the appropriate hoof protection for your horse.

Out Riding It There’s a quiet stillness to riding in the winter that you miss during the other seasons. Maybe it’s the diminished amount of wildlife, or fewer trail users, but there’s definitely a different rhythm to winter rides.

The trails were slick with snow cover the day I was at the D.A.R. I saw snowmobile and dog tracks.

Snowmobile trails are marked with yellow snowmobile signs. I didn’t see any evidence of cross-country skiing.

However, if you ever come across crosscountry ski trails on a winter ride, don’t ride on them if there is snow cover. The hoof prints make it difficult for the skiers.

I started off by exploring the paved Moore Hill Road through the center of the forest; it’s a popular snowmobile trail in the winter. It was covered in snow on the day I visited the park. The D.A.R. stops plowing just beyond the parking lot so pavement wasn’t an issue on this ride. Moore Hill Road takes you across the bridge over a stream from Upper Highland Lake, out into the heart of D.A.R. state forest. From there, you have several options, depending on your personal preferences.

Since it’s winter, I was avoiding getting lost in the woods. The easy loop is to ride out Moore Hill Road and stay on it as it runs parallel to the power lines.

Then you can take a right, and follow Oak Hill Road south, down through the forest. Near the end of Oak Hill Road,

you can head west, following the Town Trail.

It gets tricky in this section. There are lots of small trails and possible turns. Ride with the map, as the trail isn’t well marked in here. Depending on trail choice, including the Town Trail, you’ll also cross onto private or town property — specifically the Goshen ball field and Camp Howe. If you keep heading west, you’ll eventually end up back at the parking lot.

I often extol the virtues of the woods, and the peacefulness of the trail options in Massachusetts. D.A.R. state forest deserves the hype. It’s in a more remote location than some of the other places I ride, and in the off-season, truly is a quiet and majestic forest waiting to be explored. The sun was trying to peek through the clouds as I rode along, and I know I’ll be back again in warmer weather.

I’m looking forward to getting lost in the woods while exploring different parts of the forest.

Happy trails!

Stacey Stearns, a lifelong equestrian from Connecticut, enjoys trail riding and endurance with her Morgan horses.

Supporting our horse community since 2001.

Donating more than 2,100 Massachusetts Horse Junior Horsemanship Awards to Bay State competitions.

Raising more than $63,000 for horse-related nonprofit groups through the Massachusetts Horse Benefit.

Providing free subscriptions to the members of 32 organizations and clubs.

In our 16th year of news, photos, and event coverage.

Massachusetts Horse

21

Harvard

Farm Feature

Dunroven Farm Dream It, Do It, Share It

by Sheryl Hodge

or Laura McGovern, making dreams come true for so many started with realizing her own very special dream. She yearned to have a barn of her own where all would feel welcome, a place with no drama that fosters a love of horses and learning, a place that always puts the horse first

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and pine-studded paddocks. It is, simply put, 26 acres of horse love.

Laura and her business partner (and brother-in-law) Jay Wallace searched for quite some time before they landed in Harvard in 2004. The property had a simple seven-stall barn and it held great potential, so they pur-

Paying It Forward

and teaches others why that matters. To quote Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” and Laura did just that when her vision became a reality in Dunroven Farm.

So, why the name Dunroven? Laura has been teaching and competing since 1983. For years she worked a variety of jobs as a rider and instructor at a number of local barns focused on dressage, eventing, hunt seat, Standardbred racing, and therapeutic riding. Those years involved a great deal of travel — all day every day — to teach students and train horses. A wealth of experience was gained and the work was definitely rewarding, but in time the endless travel sparked her vision of creating a place of her own, fueled by the realization that all that driving time could instead become riding time! To put it simply, Laura was done roving, and therein lies the inspiration for the name, Dunroven Farm.

chased it. “We gutted and refurbished that original barn and added on. We now have twenty-six permanent stalls and four temporary stalls,” Laura says.

“We built out the paddocks to include sheds, added new fencing, built an outdoor ring, cleared some acreage for a jump field, cleared trails, built crosscountry jumps for Elementary through Novice including ditches, banks, and water obstacles.”

They collaborated with A&B Barns to create a spectacular indoor riding arena suitable for jumping, dressage, and flatwork. “Bob Austin was super helpful every step of the way,” Laura says. “Jay and I came up with the details of the design and A&B delivered! I highly recommend them.”

Going beyond the visual appeal of the facilities, it’s the feel of the farm that makes it most attractive. You can feel the passion for and commitment to the horses as you walk around the grounds and talk to fellow horse lovers.

You can sense Laura’s mission and message — you feel welcome.

barns who inspired her. She became totally immersed in all things equine.

“Sue Blinks encouraged me to learn as much as I could and from all different disciplines,” says Laura. “[Sue] is an Olympic dressage rider and trainer.”

“As I didn’t really get much ride time or [equine-specific] education until college, I had a lot of catching up to do,” she says. Not only did Laura catch up, she’s now paying forward that encouragement and support tenfold.

Laura has had students qualify for regional and national competitions in dressage, eventing, and Pony Club.

Ultimately, if her students are happy so is she. “I enjoy helping and teaching people about horses and horse care, under saddle and in-hand,” she says.

“Teaching someone to drive a trailer, take a [horse’s] temperature, or learn to leg yield all gives me the same great feeling. Beginner or advanced, it’s the same [goal], helping people enjoy and improve their relationship with their horse.”

One young student, Ella, loves riding and beyond that she can’t get enough barn time. Laura fully supports

True Beauty: Inside and Out The farm is beautiful and the facilities are immaculate. Outside you’re treated to a view of magnificent rolling pastures 22

February/March 2018

Laura’s journey with horses and riding began in college. She was studying prevet/animal/agriculture and equine studies and psychology. She had some great instructors and trainers at StoneleighBurnham School Equestrian Center, UMass Amherst, and a number of local

and encourages Ella to stay and help out with the care of the horses whenever Ella’s mom Kerri allows, which she’s always happy to do. “Finding Dunroven has been wonderful for my daughter on many levels,” Kerri says.

“She’s growing as a rider, but more than that, she’s growing as a person.”

One of Laura’s adult students, Nancy, started riding later in life and says Laura challenges her mentally and physically. “She pushes encouragingly and uses a variety of tools to help her students understand and succeed,” Nancy says.

Judy, a student of Laura’s, spent many years being a show mom to her two kids (taught by Laura) and during that time she didn’t ride, but she certainly learned a lot on the sidelines.

Once her kids were grown, Judy decided it was her time to get in the saddle. So, she began taking lessons with Laura who encouraged her to become an instructor herself and went on to successfully run a local Pony Club chapter.

Lois started with lessons then moved on to leasing. That horse soon became her own and she took on boarder status. Lois supports fellow riders of all ages with a great deal of affection and warmth.

There are countless examples like this that speak to what a wonderful place this is for students of all ages. So many amazing stories, all of which revolve around one common thread, a love and respect for horses.

When You Love What You Do Martha Meyers has been teaching at Dunroven Farm for almost 13 years.

She started riding at age 30, and as so often happens, once you finally start living your dream you’re all in. “Laura taught me to ride and almost everything I know about horses,” says Martha. “Eventually horses became a way of life and I started teaching.”

It’s clear to any who see Laura and Martha with their students that they share a great affection for horses and a desire to help others succeed. “I love teaching at Dunroven and will teach there until I retire,” says Martha. “I have a wide range of students, which makes my job exciting,” says Martha.

“They range in age from six to sixtysix.”

“It’s such an honor to help someone get on and ride for the first time,” Martha says, passionately. “I never tire of seeing someone’s face light up when they figure something out and have

success on a horse. I have students who just want to do dressage, some who just want to learn to be safe and happy riding trails, and some who want to event.

I enjoy working with beginners of all ages.”

Laura makes sure that the horse's health, happiness, and safety come first at all times. “Because the lesson horses are so well cared for they enjoy their work and are wonderful to teach on,” Martha says. “I always say they are the best coworkers I’ve ever had!” Not only do Laura and Martha put the horses first, they teach it to their students as well. “It’s important that all of my students keep in mind that they are working with a living, sentient being, with thoughts and feelings.”

Challenges Can Be Fun Laura has a great mantra. “I tell folks in order to communicate to our horses we need to have a plan, a pace, and a path,” she says. “To get there we need patience, persistence, and much practice.” First and foremost, it’s always all about good horsemanship.

When you witness Laura and Martha’s students with their lesson horses, lease horses, or horses they own, continued on page 38 . . .

Massachusetts Horse

23

Guest Column

Two Horses, One Language

by Susanna Forrest

tries to understand. His neck curves away before me, as arched as a chess knight’s, and at the end, those two eloquent white ears. Like radar dishes they swivel to concentrate on me, or on another horse nearby, or they drop sideways, as if waiting in concentration or confusion. If I look down, I see my wobbling hands holding the reins as lightly as I can, so that the information

conditioning: respond correctly and the pressure is lifted or a reward given. And yet he sometimes anticipates commands.

This is the central mystery of riding a horse: this third-language subterfuge we clever apes have to employ to communicate with a fellow mammal who is capable of reading us at a deeper and simpler level than we can read ourselves.

Interaction with a horse can be

The author with Sasa. Sasa, ridden by Holly Barber of Pine Lodge School, at the 2014 World Working Equitation Championship in Austria.

ance on his hinds, and with a crested neck that ends in ears tilting forward like his rider’s lance.

I’ve begun riding lessons again, after more than a decade away, and I’m trying to do it right. When I have the privilege to take a riding lesson with Sasa I feel as though I’m a boor in conversation with a gracious foreign diplomat who tolerates my inept forays into a shared language, one that more skilled riders use to communicate with him and other horses. He’s ranked tenth in the world for working equitation, a sport that combines dressage with the traditional cattle-working skills of the Iberian Peninsula. With a better rider than I he can pirouette on the spot, but we stick to basic paces.

Our time in the arena is like one of those tandem meet-ups where native speakers make conversation in one another’s mother tongue for practice, although instead of halting exchanges about the day’s news and the latest movie, I tell Sasa what to do, and Sasa 24

February/March 2018

I transmit down them to the metal bit in his sensitive mouth is a respectful but firm request and not an abrupt bark or a feeble “might I trouble you to halt?”

I’m often wrong — it can be a feat of coordination to make the small physical adjustments — but Sasa interprets my mumblings and generously responds with what he thinks I’m requesting.

Once I gave a botched signal for a trot, and Sasa moved smoothly into a passage, a ceremonial, suspended, springing pace more often performed in the Olympic dressage ring. It was like requesting a glass of water and receiving a goblet of the finest champagne.

Our shared language is not really a language per se, but a set of cues — a touch of the left or right heel, a shift of weight on the knee, a squeeze of hand on rein. It’s similar to but different from the cues I learned in thousands of hours of horseback riding lessons as a child (squeeze, kick, pull). It’s not Sasa’s mother tongue either — he’s had to learn it from humans through classical

uncomfortably intimate for a species that likes to filter its real feelings through evasive spoken words. Studies have shown that horses respond to the changes in their human handlers’ heart rates, and react differently to experienced and inexperienced riders.

Anecdotally, I’ve heard of horses knowing their owner was pregnant before the owner herself knew, or who detected oncoming migraines, or distinguished between a disabled rider (who was carried carefully) and an able-bodied child (who got bucking, bolting, and exuberance from the pony).

Each horse we ride has its own biography, and usually we can barely guess at it — few riders own a horse from its birth to its death. That backstory has shaped the horse’s perception and preferences — which could include a hatred of a particular color to a preference for male riders, a love for jumping timber fences, or a dislike of dogs.

Above all it’s conditioned by interactions with people. The horse that we

Rizzo, courtesy of Pine Lodge School

S

asa’s name means “so-so” in Portuguese. It’s a little joke, because the gray Lusitano gelding is anything but — he’s a beautiful horse who can, like many Iberian equines, claim descent from the warhorses of the Renaissance. Look at Uccello’s Battle of San Romano and there’s Sasa’s likeness carrying a Florentine general: compact as a rubber ball, strong enough to bal-

call naughty or disobedient may simply be responding as other humans have inadvertently taught him to respond.

I doubt Sasa has known anything worse than a clumsy learner like me, but as a teenager in Norfolk, I rode a pony who’d lived a few earlier lives.

Mactavish Mactavish was a bright orange chestnut cob who was pushing 20 when I knew him, although the local scrap metal dealer — who had owned every hairyheeled cob in the county at some point — used to slow his car when he passed us and say, “That horse is older than you think.” He’d spent a decade in a riding school and was the standard, four-by-four type of pony you find all over Britain — we called him a Highland, but he was the wrong color for that breed. He looked like a small version of the local draft horse, the Suffolk Punch, but whatever his pedigree was, no one committed it to paper.

Tav didn’t belong to me. He was owned by a generous friend who let me ride him at my leisure. But he and I were a good match. I’d spent a decade in riding schools, too. My mother first put me on a horse when I was a baby, imprinting me with the kind of horse craziness to which little girls devote mind-boggling passion and imaginative efforts. At eight I wanted to be the best rider in the world — I’d win both the Kentucky and the Epsom Derbies — and measured my skill by the size of the jumps my teachers let me tackle. I adored the ponies I rode, even if “squeeze, kick, pull” was my language of choice. But by the time I met Tav at 14, I’d crashed headfirst into a few too many fences, and at last lost both my nerve and my ambition.

Before I began to ride Tav, I’d been in a more advanced jumping class, riding touchy, sometimes difficult sport horses. Some might have considered my riding of a pony like Tav a regression.

But to me he represented both comfortable, unchallenging reality, and freedom. He was the closest I would ever have to my own horse, and we rode out alone, finally free of the arena and instructors.

Tav and I wandered around suburban streets and greenbelt countryside for hours every Saturday, dawdling on leafy bridle paths where I could reach up and pick blackberries as he grabbed mouthfuls of cow parsley, or galloping along the margins of fields spiky with wheat stubble until we were both out of

breath and exhilarated. He was the perfect companion for a restless teenager, because, unlike many horses that cling neurotically to their home field and herd, he never balked at new trails.

Steer him off the road and into an unknown wood and he’d prick his ears and pick up his hooves. We shared curiosity. I can’t sing in tune but I would sing to Tav, and he would snooze as he walked, his ears sagging in relaxation.

The cue language we used wasn’t as finessed as the one Sasa knows. If Sasa is a diplomat, Tav was a journeyman who’d developed his own serviceable phrase book over the years. I didn’t ask much of him, and he didn’t volunteer more. We rubbed along.

Our shared language is not really a language per se, but a set of cues — a touch of the left or right heel, a shift of weight on the knee, a squeeze of hand on rein. It’s similar to but different from the cues I learned in thousands of hours of horseback riding lessons as a child (squeeze, kick, pull).

While I’ve no doubt that Tav could read my body as acutely as Sasa, he needed heavier hints to respond — not, I think, because he was less physically sensitive, but because he had less interest in the subtleties of what humans might want him to do. The person who started him had used a dumb jockey, a pole that sits upright on the horse’s back, secured by a strap around its ribs and fixed to tight, unyielding reins, forcing the horse to bend its neck to implacable pressure. From the dumb jockey, Tav had learned brute, unfeeling force. Perhaps because of this, there was a point where communication failed with Tav, and he would simply lock down and bolt. A long-gone source of pain had taught him a useful evasive tactic. In horseman’s language, he had “no mouth.”

This made some of our Saturday rides unpredictable, even dangerous.

Once, he took off down a road with me, sparks shooting from his shod hooves.

Another time he careered through a wood, dodging trees, and exploded from a hedgerow in front of a car. Once he ducked under an electric fence at the gallop, and I found myself snagged in the wire-threaded tape, arms pinned as Tav charged on, bowing the fence

posts till the tape snapped and I was freed. When Tav went into one of these fugue states, it felt as though my hands, which a second before had read his mouth like a page of braille, were wiped of nerve endings.

Luckily, these episodes seldom lasted more than a few seconds before we would return to our companionable state, and continue our amblings.

Tav gave me a lot, but he did not teach me better form. I slouched out of my teenage years as a fairly mediocre rider. We won a couple of rosettes at a local show in the Handy Pony class, despite the judge, who recognized Tav and told me he’d once thrown her, so I should get a better show pony. Riding petered out altogether after I’d left home for college. Tav eventually went on to a well-deserved, cushy dotage with a family whose small children adored him. He must have been very old when he had to be put down.

Starting Over I didn’t get on a horse for another 11 years, when I realized I’d been keeping myself from something I loved for no good reason, and started riding lessons again. There were a few false starts.

After all, I was now a 30-something who read books on horse physiology and psychology, not National Velvet and The Black Stallion. It took me a while to find the right approach.

This time I knew I wanted to be a better, subtler rider — the type who speaks that third language like a poet who has the proverbial good hands. I wanted to make succinct, eloquent gestures that were well received by my conversational partner. So I went back to the formal arena and the discipline of classical equitation. In the Renaissance they called it sprezzatura — an easy nonchalance that concealed effort. For me, it’s riding quietly enough to hear what the horse is saying, whether they are Tavs who arrive skewed by their mysterious biographies or luckier ones like Sasa, who’ve never known poor handling.

So now I am learning. In the arena Sasa shows me what I get wrong and what I get right, and I listen, my halting grammar slowly becoming a repertoire of phrases that will some day elide into instinct.

Susanna Forrest is the author of If Wishes Were Horses: A Memoir of Equine Obsession and The Age of the Horse. She lives in Berlin. This feature was originally published in the New York Times.

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Overherd

News in Our Community Advanced level three-day event rider based in Pennsylvania. Dom’s

Clinician Roddy Strang is returning to Apple Knoll Farm in Millis March 10 to 11.

Roddy brings more than 20 years of experience starting young horses, resolving problem training issues, and developing a peaceful partnership between horse and rider.

“My goal is to develop a horse that is trusting, accepting of pressure and their environment, confident in their purpose, and willing to work,” says Roddy. “I strive to help them find a balanced frame and success in each moment while helping their people to be present, balanced, patient, and understanding.”

“Roddy welcomes all levels of horses and riders,” says Adrienne Iorio, owner of Apple Knoll Farm. “Whether you have an off-the-track Thoroughbred or Warmblood, ride dressage, hunter/jumper, or on the trails, he can help you understand from your horse’s point of view. He’ll help you both be safe and have fun.”

Roddy has worked with Ray Hunt, Frank Barnett, Bryan Neubert, and Joe Wolter. Each one of these trainers has had a profound influence on Roddy’s riding and training methods. The knowledge he’s acquired has helped to establish a long-lasting foundation for the benefit of the horse, regardless of its intended career. Roddy continuously strives to expand his own education by attending clinics and studying the written works of the great masters of horsemanship.

Apple Knoll Farm is also hosting a Dom Schramm Clinic March 31 and April 1.

Dom is an Australian 26

February/March 2018

be afraid of making mistakes, and to learn. Dom’s always quietly insistent that riders

Megan Stapley, Practical Horseman

Apple Knoll Farm’s Upcoming Clinics

Advanced level eventer Tik Maynard and Remarkable 54 won the Freestyle division at the 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium. Tik will be at Apple Knoll Farm in Millis May 12 and 13.

patience, experience, and knowledge shows in his ability to bring along young horses and instill confidence in riders through his clinics.

“Dom is great about bringing the best out of each individual horse and rider without getting stuck on anyone at the expense of the others in the group,” says Adrienne. “He spends time answering questions and talking some of the more nervous riders into a place where they find confidence.” Dom works with riders of all levels from Novice to Preliminary.

“Dom has a great way of taking a moment to just quiet the horse and rider before beginning a new challenge,” says Adrienne. “He puts everybody at ease and creates an atmosphere that invites people to try, to not

get it right, and if that means schlepping poles around to create a jump to encourage straightness or hefting cavalletti over to an exercise to encourage a horse to jump rounder, he’s willing to put in the work to help the horses and riders succeed.”

Tik Maynard will be at Apple Knoll Farm May 12 and 13 for a clinic. Tik is an Advanced eventer and a natural horsemanship advocate.

“Although I love the thrill and challenge of eventing,” says Tik, “if I could never ride again, I would be perfectly happy to spend my days working with horses from the ground.”

Tik spent six years on the Canadian national team competing in the modern pentathlon, which includes riding, pistol shooting, fenc-

ing, swimming, and running.

He competed at the 2007 Pan American Games, three World Championships, and 11 World Cups before focusing on eventing. He was long-listed for the Canadian eventing team for the 2012 London Olympics. He was a working student for eventers David and Karen O’Connor and Ingrid Klimke; German dressage trainer Johann Hinnemann; and natural horseman and cutting trainer Bruce Logan. He also worked as an assistant trainer for Olympian show jumper Anne Kursinski.

Tik competed in the 2015 Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover and won the Freestyle division with Remarkable 54.

“When training Remarkable, I thought ahead to where I wanted him to end up, not just in six months but also in six years,” says Tik. “The farther ahead I think, the more attention I pay to the foundation of training so my training pyramid won’t topple over. One of the hardest parts of training is knowing when to back off and when to forge ahead, and it was no different with Remarkable.”

To learn more, visit appleknoll.com.

Sue Payne Honored at Reception The Smith College Department of Athletics and Recreation celebrated the career of Sue Payne with a dinner in December. More than 75 alumnae, friends, family, and colleagues came together to honor Sue for an accomplished 40-year career.

Smith College Director of Athletics Kristin Hughes presented Sue with a Smith

College commemorative chair. Words of appreciation were delivered by guests, including Bob Cacchione, Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) founder and executive director; Tracy Farnham, the former equestrian coach at UMass Amherst; and Sue’s students from graduating classes 1973 through 2019.

“I feel truly blessed to have had a forty-three-year career at Smith, which enabled me to combine my love of horses and riding with my passion for coaching and teaching,” Sue says. “I will always cherish the lifelong friendships and memories made with so many wonderful people.”

Sue began directing the Smith College riding program in the 1970s and has coached the IHSA team since 1981. She’s been a member of the IHSA board of directors since 1989 as president of Zone I, Region

III, and served as chair of the personnel committee since its inception. In 2000, Sue received the highest tribute from her peers — the IHSA Lifetime Achievement Award.

During her career, Sue sent two high-point teams to the IHSA Nationals and coached two Cacchione Cup riders. Her program yielded two individual national champions, four reserve champions, and numerous others who placed in the top ten. She’s a lifetime member of U.S. Equestrian, United States Hunter Jumper Association, and served as past president of the Pioneer Valley Equine Association.

When not in the classroom, she taught riding at her home-based farm and took students to shows all over New England.

As a junior, Sue competed successfully in the equitation divisions and trained with Captain T. Fred Marsman at the Dana Hall

School. Later, she showed hunters and jumpers. She credits Fred for the basis of her schooling program, inspired by a classical dressage foundation. Sue is known as a gifted trainer of young horses. She raised and trained many young horses including two horses born at the Smith College Equestrian Center. She’s a passionate teacher and says that coaching riders of all levels was the most rewarding aspect of her career. Sue lives in Northampton with her husband, Bill, and her Jack Russell terrier, Keeva.

“For forty-plus years, Sue has selflessly given so much to the entire Smith equestrian community,” says Jessica Hatch, who graduated from Smith in 2005. “It was important for students, alumnae, colleagues, and friends to say thank you for Sue’s incredible contribution as a coach, leader, and part of the Smith College community.”

Smith equestrian alumnae Jessica Hatch and Deebie Symmes (1981), who were both instrumental in the planning of the event, presented Sue with a memory book at the conclusion of the evening.

Historic UMass Horse Barn Relocated Long before the University of Massachusetts in Amherst was nicknamed Zoo Mass, the former Massachusetts Agricultural College was known as Mass Aggie. As the years rolled by, the campus transformed and multiplied, yet a vacant blue horse barn remained as a reminder of the school’s origins.

The historical Grinnell Way Horse Barn will be moved to the Agricultural Learning Center at 911 North Pleasant Street. The 1894 barn has a lot of historical value because it was home to some of the first students who studied agricul-

M ID DA W TE EEK S!

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Indoor and Outdoor Arenas . Permanent Stabling

CLASSES INCLUDE: Training Level through FEI Tests FEI Young Horse Tests FEI Para-Equestrian Tests

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ture when the University was an agricultural college.

Yet the barn has not been used for over a decade, closing after UMass Police stopped using it for mounted patrol horses.

The restored barn will be used as a wash and pack station for the UMass Student Farm, and will also have storage facilities.

According to Amanda Brown, director of the Student Farming Enterprise, the benefits to its relocation include student exposure to industry standard equipment, increased capacity of the harvest at the student farm, and a new facility right on campus.

“We’ll be able to bring more produce more efficiently to the campus community each fall,” Amanda says.

The idea originated from Dr. Stephen Herbert, a professor in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, whose fundraising efforts from

2009 to 2013 got the project off the ground, thus keeping the horse barn from being demolished.

Knowing its relevance and importance to the original campus, Dr. Herbert believed the barn could be moved to the Agricultural Learning Center and reconstructed in a design that was useful and demonstrated the history of its original location.

The Agricultural Learning center is a yearlong program set up as a handson, living classroom for students to learn about farming.

“I wanted students to go back to the days where Levi Stockbridge said, ‘We learn by doing,’” Stephen says.

The university will keep as much as possible of the original post-and-beam structure of the barn as well as some horse stalls, but residue from lead paint made the wood clapboards unsalvageable. To retain the look of the original barn, windows and doors will be replicated

Tack Shop & Consignment Area

to original measurements.

Like the original barn, the new roof will be metal.

“It was a beautiful barn,” says Stephen. “Downstairs, there were horse stalls, and they were pretty, and upstairs, there was a hay loft.”

n Caeli Chesin, The Daily Collegian Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

Several exhibitors from western Massachusetts crossed the Canadian border to show horses and ponies at the 95th Annual Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. The Royal was held November 3 to 12, 2017, and attracted more than 1,000 equestrian exhibitors and offered in excess of $950,000 in prize money.

The number one equestrian event in North America, held under one roof, draws Olympic show jumpers, elegant coaching teams, six-horse hitches, exciting Hackney horses and ponies, and roadsters.

Rodney Hicks of Rodney Hicks Stable in Pittsfield took ten ponies. Rodney coached One Hot Momma and owner Cheryl Innis to the Amateur Road Pony Grand Championship.

Nathan Roden presented his pony X-Pression to the Hackney Pleasure Driving Pony Canadian National Championship and the Reserve Adult Hackney Pleasure Driving Championship.

Sue Harrod is another amateur showing under the Rodney Hicks Stable banner.

She drove Royal Image to the Harness Pony Canadian National Championship and the Open Harness Pony Championship.

Rodney drove the black stallion The Spiderman to reserve honors in both the qualifying class and the championship in the Open Hackney Pony division.

Edward Ochsenschlager owns this very popular pony.

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February/March 2018

Kimple of Kimple Horseshoeing drove DS Highly Independent to the Amateur Road Pony Championship and the Reserve Amateur Road Pony Grand Championship. Collin shows under the direction of Amy and Page Champion of Braeburn Equestrian Center in New York.

This was the second time Collin showed at the Royal.

“I enjoy the whole experience of the Royal Fair,” Collin says. “It’s a great horse show and it gives you an opportunity to meet new and interesting people, go shopping, and enjoy the restaurants and culture of the Toronto area.”

Harvey and Mary Waller of Orleton Farm in Stockbridge showed their four-in-hand in the elegant Four-In-Hand Coaching division. Harvey drove the Dutch and German Warmblood geldings to reserve honors in the Suitable for Pleasure

class, and the bays won the Performance and the Appointment classes. The Wallers were also successful presenting a unicorn hitch and pair hitch.

“This was our twentyfifth year competing in the coaching division,“ says Mary, who as a younger woman competed at this event with hunters and jumpers. “We love showing at the Royal because of the event’s history and tradition.

We also get to visit with longtime friends.”

Upon their return from this year’s competition, the Wallers, their farm, and horses were featured in the local newspaper, the Berkshire Eagle.

When not showing horses, trainers, exhibitors, and owners enjoyed all that the Royal had to offer, including more than 4,000 other animals exhibited, Ontario wines, artisan cheeses, giant vegetables,

The Youth Mustang Challenge Applications Are Open!

butter sculpting, and so much more.

n Suzy Lucine

Top-Rated Nonprofits According to greatnonprofits.org, New England Equine Rescue North (NEER North) and Central New England Equine Rescue (CNEER) are in the top five of Top-Rated Nonprofits in Massachusetts.

The GreatNonprofits TopRated Award is a people’s choice award where volunteers, donors, and people served by nonprofits share stories of inspiration and express appreciation.

Since April 2010, NEER North has been helping horses and owners in crisis, primarily in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It’s dedicated to rescuing horses that are abused, neglected, or at-risk of slaughter. In addition to rescues, NEER North educates the public on responsible horse ownership and it also networks to

provide help where it is needed.

“What an amazing, wonderful, and loving family of volunteers and equines [at NEER North], says volunteer Denise LeJeune of Ipswich.

“I’m in my happy place when I’m with them . . . it’s the best decision [to volunteer] that I’ve made in a long time. I’m inspired by Mary Martin with her unrelenting drive to do right by these majestic animals and all the folks at NEER North who devote time out of their busy lives for this worthy cause.”

CNEER’s mission is to rescue and find suitable homes for neglected horses.

CNEER is an all-volunteer, nonprofit rescue organization sustained by the generosity of others.

“I was recently asked how I got involved with a horse rescue,” says Laurie Drazek of Paxton. “Approximately ten years ago I attended an equine day

Presented by Peter Whitmore of It’s A Pleasure Training in Orange and the Mustang Heritage Foundation.

Selected youth trainers get to gentle and train a young wild Mustang! ey then return to the event to compete against other youth trainers in a variety of in-hand classes for prizes, awards, and title of Youth Trainer of the Year! Youth Division Open to Ages 8-17.

2017 Youth Mustang Challenge Champions Cat Zimmerman and Minnie Mouse.

Mustang Pickup is April 13 & 14 in Logan Township, New Jersey, or April 15 in Massachusetts Competition is August 25 in Swanzey, New Hampshire

Applications and more information available at:

itsapleasuretraining.com (978) 413-1770 . youthmustangchallenge@gmail.com

Applications due March 14, 2018!

Massachusetts Horse

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event where I met two amazing women — Vicky and Betsy, a mother-daughter team — who started Central New England Equine Rescue.

At that event they took the time to talk to me, and open my eyes to the horse rescue world. I had no idea about horses being surrendered because of difficult circumstances, as well as horses going to horrendous auction houses and often ending up on brutal transports headed to Canada and Mexico in order to be slaughtered.

“Since that conversation, I’ve watched Vicky, Betsy, and their team of volunteers and donors work tirelessly to save hundreds of horses from a possible horrible fate,” Laurie adds. “Not only does this fabulous team help the horses, they also help the human owners who are struggling to keep their horses.”

“Personally, Central New England Equine Rescue helped me save a beautiful

30

February/March 2018

horse out of the auction house in New Jersey headed toward the slaughter pipeline, Laurie says. “ I named her Sophia and she’s safe and happy.”

Laurie praises the work of CNEER. “Central New England Equine Rescue and their team of positive horse advocates are outstanding.

They are equine angels on earth! I’m truly grateful to be a part of this rescue, and in turn I’m able to educate others on what horse rescue is all about.”

To learn more, visit cneer.com and neernorth.org.

New SmartSupplements SmartPak is excited to introduce four new SmartSupplements formulas: SmartStride Ultra, Smart Osteo, SmartBreathe Ultra, and SmartComfort.

“At SmartPak we’re continually monitoring nutrition and health research to stay on top of information that will help us better support

equine health through thoughtful supplementation,” says Jessica Normand, SmartPak’s senior director of product research and development. “Over the last year we’ve dedicated even more resources to research and development, and we’re proud to be introducing an innovative new joint health formula in SmartStride Ultra, as well as several other outstanding new supplements that use unique combinations of ingredients.”

SmartStride Ultra’s unique formula was designed to provide horses with a cutting-edge combination of ingredients for healthy joints, tendons, and ligaments. The foundation of the formula is collagen, which has been demonstrated to help support healthy, resilient cartilage and comfortable movement.

Another cornerstone of the formula is turmeric — a potent antioxidant that helps fight oxidative stress and sup-

ports overall health and wellbeing. The active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin, has been shown to help combat discomfort associated with exercise and aging, making it particularly beneficial for horses in need of additional support for joint stiffness. To pack even more antioxidant punch, SmartStride Ultra also includes resveratrol, known for its ability to help protect cartilage from the damaging effects of free radicals. The new formula also provides Cinq-B, a specialized blend of boron, which is a mineral that plays a role in joint and bone health.

Finally, it includes MSM, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid for well-rounded joint support.

SmartStride Ultra is perfect for horse owners who want revolutionary joint care for their horses and an excellent choice for those who have tried traditional joint supplements and haven’t seen the results.

For targeted bone health, new SmartOsteo provides a unique combination of ingredients to support bone that is both strong and resilient. This formula includes hydrolyzed collagen to support a healthy bone matrix, as well as silica and other vitamins and minerals to promote bone strength and normal healing. Like SmartStride Ultra, it also provides Cinq-B as a source of boron to support bone health.

SmartOsteo Pellets are the perfect choice for performance horses in need of bone support, and for horses in recovery, especially those on stall rest or with limited activity.

Respiratory health is important all year long, so SmartBreathe Ultra is designed to provide the most comprehensive selection of ingredients for supporting healthy airways. The unique formula includes spirulina, a fresh-water blue-green algae

with components that target the airway system in horses prone to respiratory issues.

The supplement also contains DHA from fish oil. DHA

provides a potent combination of ingredients to help the horse’s body address the stiffness and discomfort associated with exercise and

ior horses that need added support for day-to-day aches and stiffness.

To learn more about these new products, visit smartpak.com or call (800) 461-8898 and speak to one of SmartPak’s extensively trained supplement experts who can help develop a custom supplement program for your horse.

Overherdisms

is a specific type of omega-3 fatty acid that may be especially helpful to horses with seasonal allergies. A recent study in horses with airway syndromes documented the benefits of supplementing the diet with DHA. Finally, SmartComfort

aging. This comprehensive formula provides carefully selected herbs and other ingredients such as devil’s claw, yucca, MSM, and cetylated fatty acids to help support a horse’s comfort.

SmartComfort Pellets are perfect for adult and sen-

• “Do you ever forget what a diagonal is in the middle of a flat class?”

• “Can I take a picture with your ribbon so my parents think I’ve won something?”

• “My dad has no idea which horse is mine so he takes videos every time a gray goes in to the ring.”

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Partners

Bay State Trail Riders Association As winter winds down, BSTRA is looking forward to a spring filled with trail improvements, projects, and rides.

You’ll find our full calendar is posted at BSTRA.org. Be sure to check it out so you don’t miss any of our events.

Spring is the time for cleaning and we’re asking for volunteers to help us clear out winter clutter on local trails. There will be a workday April 21 at West Hill Dam, April 29 (Park Service Day) at Douglas State Forest, May 5 at the Mendon Trail, and June 2 in Oxford. This is a great way to give back to the trails while having laughs with friends old and new.

The ride season officially kicks off March 25 with the annual March Madness Ride sponsored by McIntyre Loam. The five-mile route through the Douglas State Forest offers a great start toward getting humans and equines back in shape. A hot lunch will be served. Pre-registration is required and early sign-up is recommended due to limited trailer parking. If trail or weather conditions are poor, the back-up date is April 8.

BSTRA is excited to announce that this year’s National Trails Day Fundraising Ride, sponsored

by Yered Trailers, will be held at Apple Knoll Farm in Millis on June 10. This is a 32

February/March 2018

great opportunity to ride these gorgeous trails. The ride is New England Horse and Trail affiliated and will include a hot lunch, a huge raffle, and prize packages for top participants who collect sponsors. Stalls will be available for rent for those traveling to attend.

Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation Chrislar Farm and Equestrian Center in Rowley has been a loyal member of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) since 2012.

Owners Chris and Larry use their philosophy of com-

Annamaria Paul

Our goal is to foster connections within the horse community throughout the Bay State, and one of the ways we do this is with our Partners Program. Massachusetts organizations that partner with us receive a free one-year subscription for each member; space in the magazine for news, events, and photos; and a link from mahorse.com to its website.

BSTRA president Becky Kalagher, Rita Cardinal, and 46 other riders enjoyed the BSTRA Early Christmas Ride on December 3 at Bearfood Farm in Grafton.

BSTRA thanks you for your continued support.

Through membership, event attendance, and raffle purchases, BSTRA was able to make significant improvements to our trail network.

Last year’s completed projects include improvements to the Southern New England Trunkline Trail in Bellingham, Franklin, and Uxbridge; trailer parking at Inman Hill Wildlife Conservation; the East Trail in Mendon; and the Mount Jefferson Conservation Area trail bridges. We could not do it without you!

To learn more about BSTRA rides, volunteer opportunities, and membership, visit bstra.org.

See you on the trails!

7 Annamaria Paul

fort, health, knowledge, and convenience to create the “stable of stars” that Chrislar Farm is known for today.

Started in 1978, its barn is enclosed with a cedar wood finish that's both functional, safe, and pleasing to the eye.

The farm is surrounded with miles of state forest trails and staffed with dedicated professionals.

This dedication to the equestrian community drives Chris to be involved in MFBF, including serving on the statewide Equine Advisory Committee.

“We enjoy being a part of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation as people are more effective in groups,” Chris says.

With nearly 6,000 members, MFBF effectively advocates for policy that matters

to the equine industry, including wetland protection. To educate farmers and equine stable operators, the organization created guidelines about wetland regulations.

“The Farm Bureau tries to help our legislators understand that farmers care about the environment and care about the land,” Chris says.

“They all want to see it open.

We don’t want to see Chrislar Farm, for example, be turned into a housing development.”

To make this happen, MFBF has always been there for the farming and equestrian community.

“When a horse person or a farmer needs assistance, Massachusetts Farm Bureau is right there to give assistance or to give advice or to make recommendations,” Chris says. “It’s important for us to be a part of this organization.”

MFBF also realizes the importance of the equine industry to the Commonwealth, as it recently published an equine industry economic impact study. This report estimates that the state’s equine industry has a total annual economic impact of $386.6 million and employs more than 7,000 people in both full-time and part-time positions.

“The economic impact study is helpful in educating the legislature about the size and the importance of the equine industry,” says Larry.

“The equine industry extends way beyond horses to include land use to feed to equipment to saddles and more.”

However, Farm Bureau is more than an advocacy organization, as it’s the largest general farming

organization in the Commonwealth. As such, networking and socialization are important aspects of MFBF. “We can all learn things from one another in running our businesses and other things as well,” says Chris. So, “It’s a good organization and it’s certainly well worth it for us to be members.”

To join the MFBF, visit farmbureau.co/online-application. For less than 65¢ a day, MFBF will become your voice on Beacon Hill.

7 Katelyn Parsons

used the occasion to gather some ideas for events and projects to add to our already busy 2018 calendar.

To see the calendar, visit neeca.org and start penciling

for additions to the NEECA calendar.

On March 21, the annual NEECA general membership meeting will take place at the Environ-

Winter came in with a vengeance and many of us haven’t been able to do as much riding or driving as we’d hoped. At NEECA, we’ve used the time for some planning and dreaming.

We had a purely social gettogether in late January, and

Kevin Hios

New England Equestrian Center of Athol Chris Cassenti, of Chrislar Farm in Rowley, graced our June/July 2013 cover riding Morgan Beams Nighthawk. “Nite” was voted Morgan Road Hack Horse of the Century and won many Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice awards.

events in your calendar for scheduled gymkhanas, rides, and clinics, and stay tuned

mental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol. It’s an opportunity for members and others

to hear about the gains of the past year, the events we’ve planned for the coming year, and to get your input. What should NEECA be thinking about or doing differently? What have we done well? Come listen to an interesting speaker, chat with other winter-weary horse people, have some refreshments, and share your thoughts. We’re looking forward to seeing you there.

A reminder that NEECA memberships run on a calendar year, so it’s time to renew or start your membership. To join, go to neeca.org.

The first gymkhana is April 22 and we’re introducing a fun scavenger hunt day on April 28. After all, as the old poem Ode to the West Wind by Shelley says, “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” We’re already counting the days!

7 Laurie Neely

Paula Simmons

Paula Simmons

New Indoor Arena!

w New Sho

Series!

Accepting New Clients & We Have Training Slots Open Heather Reynolds Dostal, BHS trained, USDF “L” Graduate, Bronze Medalist, Clinician & Judge RER Ponies is a U.S. Pony Club Riding Center offering boarding, training, horse/pony starting, and tune-ups.

Professional, well-rounded, goal-oriented lesson program for riders of all ages beginner through advanced.

Winter Schooling Show Series Dressage . Dressage Trail . Prix Caprilli Jumping to 2'3"

Feb. 24 . March 31 . April 28

Riding Center Junior Pony Club Ages 4 to 10 Pony Club Horsemasters - Adult Pony Club

RER Ponies

. 54 Plain Rd., Hatfield, Mass.

(413) 427-2026 . RERponies.com . rerponies@gmail.com Massachusetts Horse

33

events Massachusetts

February

3 WNEPHA AWARDS BANQUET, Crown Plaza, Pittsfield. wnepha.com.

3 CABIN FEVER MINI WINTER SERIES, Fairview Farms JJC, Brimfield. fairviewfarmsjjc.com.

3 SSHC BANQUET, Holiday Inn and Suites, Mansfield. sshconline.com.

3 VERSATILITY SERIES, It’s A Pleasure Training, Orange. (978) 652-2231.

4 WINTER SCHOOLING SHOW, Camp Marshall, Spencer. campmarshall.net.

4 BSTRA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND AWARDS BANQUET, Bellingham. bstra.org.

7 AN OWNER’S GUIDE TO EQUINE DENTISTRY, Winter Equine Health Lecture Series, Cummings

School of Veterinary Medicine campus, North Grafton. ce.vet.tufts.edu/program/equinehealth-lecture-series-2018.

11 WINTER FUN JUMPER SHOW, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

10 VERSATILITY SERIES, It’s A Pleasure Training, Orange. (978) 652-2231.

11 BOOLI SELMAYR CLINIC, JH Evening, Sutton.

(978) 875-2036 or jh-eventing.com.

10 NEHC YEAR-END BANQUET, Doubletree by Hilton, Milford. nehc.info.

17 IEA HUNT SEAT REGIONALS, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley. rideiea.org.

10 JUMPER SHOW, Stoneleigh-Burnham School, Greenfield. sbschool.org.

17 VERSATILITY SERIES, It’s A Pleasure Training, Orange. (978) 652-2231.

10 MHC SHOW, Saddle Rowe, Medway. saddlerowe.com.

17 – 19 SMARTPAK PRESIDENTS DAY SALE, Natick. smartpak.com/RetailStore.

10 IHSA WESTERN SHOW, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley. ihsainc.com.

18 DRESSAGE SERIES AWARDS BANQUET, West Brookfield. whitesprucefarms.com.

Scott Porter

H U N T E R / E Q U I TAT I O N SHOWS Blythewood Stables

March 11

White Horse Hill

April 29

Bellwether Stable

May 13

White Horse Hill

May 20

Blythewood Stables

June 3

Harmony Hill

June 17

White Horse Hill

June 24

Emerald Glen

July 1

Bonnie Lea Farm

July 8

Bellwether Stables

July 15

Heritage Farm

DRESSAGE SHOWS English and Western Tests

Featuring year-end awards in many divisions.

April 22

Heritage Farm

Full schedule can be found at

June 3

Emerald Glen

WNEPHA.com

July 15

Emerald Glen

An organization for horsemen, by horsemen.

34

March 4

February/March 2018

18 WINTER SCHOOLING SHOW, Stoney Hill Farm, Barre. stoneyhillfarm.org.

25 WINTER DRESSAGE SCHOOLING SHOW, Camp Marshall, Spencer. campmarshall.net.

10 MHC SHOW, Saddle Rowe, Medway. saddlerowe.com.

18 WINTER SCHOOLING JUMPER SHOW, Cutter Farm, Dracut. cutterfarm.com.

March

10 JULIO MENDOZA CLINIC, Sleepy Hollow Farm, Dartmouth. (508) 317-0098.

3 PONY CLUB QUIZ RALLY, Southeastern New England Region Pony Clubs, Mansfield. southeasternnewengland.ponyclub.org.

19 – 23 SMARTPAK KID’S WEEK, Natick. smartpak.com/RetailStore.

24 COLONIAL CARRIAGE AND DRIVING SOCIETY ANNUAL BANQUET, Morgan House, Lee. RSVP by February 12. colonialcarriage.org.

3 VERSATILITY SERIES, It’s A Pleasure Training, Orange. (978) 652-2231.

24 CABIN FEVER MINI WINTER SERIES, Fairview Farms JJC, Brimfield. fairviewfarmsjjc.com.

3 WHO’S IN YOUR HERD with Chris Korben of Heart’s Desire Stable, Rochester.

(508) 763-5254 or chriskorben@gmail.com.

24 VERSATILITY SERIES, It’s A Pleasure Training, Orange. (978) 652-2231.

3 MHC YEAR-END BANQUET, Doubletree by Hilton, Milford. mahorsecouncil.com.

24 5TH ANNUAL TACK SALE, Independence Stable, Belchertown. (413) 284-0371.

3 IHSA SHOW, Four Winds Farm, North Oxford. ihsainc.com.

24 WINTER SCHOOLING SHOW SERIES including dressage, dressage trail, prix caprilli, and jumping to 2'3", RER Ponies, Hatfield. rerponies.com.

4 WNEPHA HUNTER SHOW, Blythewood Stables, Pittsfield. wnepha.com.

24 IEA HUNT SEAT REGIONALS, Maplewood Farm, Berlin. rideiea.org.

4 BSTRA THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS DINNER, location TBA. bstra.org.

4 WINTER SCHOOLING SHOW, Camp Marshall, Spencer. campmarshall.net.

25 Forest Lane, Millis, MA ~ (508) 376-2564 Roddy Strang Clinic March 10 – 11

Dom Schramm Clinic March 31 – April 1

Cross-Country Derby

Karen Morang Photography

April 22

Prize lists and entry forms at:

CRDA Dressage Adult Camp April 28 – 29 crdressage.org

Norfolk Hunt at AKF May 1

CRDA Dressage Show May 6 crdressage.org

10 SHOW PREP THROUGH A JUDGE’S EYE CLINIC, Dream Big Performance Horses, Belchertown. dreambigperformancehorses.com.

10 – 11 RODDY STRANG CLINIC, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

11 HERRING BROOK FARM SHOW, Pembroke. herringbrookfarm.com.

11 38TH ANNUAL CABIN FEVER AUCTION, Heritage Farm, Easthampton. (413) 527-1612 or heritagefarmeasthampton.com.

11 WNEPHA HUNTER SHOW, White Horse Hill, Richmond. wnepha.com.

18 WINTER SCHOOLING JUMPER SHOW, Cutter Farm, Dracut. cutterfarm.com.

18 HUNTER EQUITATION SHOW, Evenstride Farm, Byfield. evenstrideltd.com.

18 IEA WESTERN SHOW, Briggs Stable, Hanover. rideiea.org.

Tik Maynard Clinic May 12 – 13

Schooling Horse Trails May 20

Horses and Ponies For Sale/Lease Training with Adrienne Iorio Three-Day Eventing Competitor and Trainer

appleknoll.com. Check the website often as new events are added!

The facilities at Apple Knoll Farm are available for rental for horse shows, clinics, and other equine activities.

Our cross-country course is open for schooling by appointment, weather permitting.

Massachusetts Horse

35

Cabin Fever Auction!

March 11, Sunday New and used tack at 10 a.m., followed by trailers and equipment, and horses and ponies of all sizes, ages, shapes, and disciplines. Stay tuned to our website and follow us on Facebook for updates! Always a nice selection of horses and ponies for sale. Watch videos and view photos at HeritageFarmEasthampton.com.

18 – 21 UPHA CHAPTER 14 SPRING PREMIER SHOW, West Springfield. (413) 427-6782.

24 CAPE COD HUNTER SHOW, Saddle Rowe, Medway. capecodhunter.com.

24 — 25 IEA ZONE 1 HUNT SEAT FINALS, Eastern States Exposition, West Springfield. rideiea.org.

25 IHSA SHOW, Maplewood Farm, Berlin. ihsainc.com.

25 WINTER SCHOOLING SHOW, Stoney Hill Farm, Barre. stoneyhillfarm.org.

25 BSTRA MARCH MADNESS RIDE, Douglas. bstra.org.

s ee Call us to s and new horse s! ponie

25 WINTER DRESSAGE SCHOOLING SHOW, Camp Marshall, Spencer. campmarshall.net.

31 CAPE COD HUNTER SHOW, Saddle Rowe, Medway. capecodhunter.com.

31 WINTER SCHOOLING SHOW SERIES including dressage, dressage trail, prix caprilli, and jumping to 2'3", RER Ponies, Hatfield. rerponies.com.

31 – April 1 DOM SCHRAMM CLINIC, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

WNEPHA Hunter Shows July 15 & Sept. 30 WNEPHA Dressage Show April 22 April 1 HERRING BROOK FARM SHOW, Pembroke.

Open to buy, sell, and trade horses 7 days a week, by appointment.

Nice Horses for Nice People.

The R aucher Family 30 Florence Rd., Easthampton, MA (413) 527-1612 HeritageFarmEasthampton.com State Auctioneer license # AU450

Are you and your horse having problems?

herringbrookfarm.com.

7 CNEER BENEFIT PASTA DINNER, John Boyle O’Reilly Club, Springfield. cneer.com.

7 SCHOOLING DRESSAGE SHOW, Independence Stable, Belchertown. independencestablellc.com.

7 – 8 FIELDSTONE APRIL, Fieldstone Show Park, Halifax. showfieldstone.com.

13 – 15 MASSQHA NOVICE SHOW, West Springfield. massqha.com.

Would you like your horse started under saddle and/or in harness?

Peter specializes in starting young horses correctly. 100% customer satisfaction using natural horsemanship techniques. More than 20 years experience starting horses as well as fixing existing problems. References available. The cost of the one-month training is $1,000, including board.

It’s a Pleasure Training with Peter Whitmore (978) 652-2231 . ItsaPleasureTraining.com 36

February/March 2018

15 MHC SHOW, Saddle Rowe, Medway. saddlerowe.com.

15 TRAILER SAFETY WORKSHOP, JH Evening, Sutton. (978) 875-2036 or jh-eventing.com.

15 HUNTER EQUITATION SHOW, Evenstride Farm, Byfield. evenstrideltd.com.

15 HERRING BROOK FARM SHOW, Pembroke. herringbrookfarm.com.

21 BSTRA WEST HILL DAM WORK DAY, Uxbridge. bstra.org.

jumping to 2'3", RER Ponies, Hatfield. rerponies.com.

21 MHC SHOW, Cornerstone Farm, Haverhill. ridecornerstone.com.

28 DANCING WITH HORSES AND HORSEMANSHIP DEMONSTRATION, Peace Haven Farm, Plainfield. peacehavenfarm.com.

21 CAPE COD HUNTER SHOW, Rozena’s Field, Raynham. capecodhunter.com.

22 CROSS-COUNTRY DERBY, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

22 DANCING WITH HORSES AND HORSEMANSHIP DEMONSTRATION, Birch Glen Stables, Rowe. peacehavenfarm.com.

22 HERRING BROOK FARM SHOW, Pembroke. herringbrookfarm.com.

22 WNEPHA DRESSAGE SHOW, Heritage Farm, Easthampton. wnepha.com.

28 SOUTH EAST HUNTER SHOW, Rozena’s Field, Raynham. southeasthunter.com.

28 TRAILER LOADING USING A SIMULATOR FOR SUCCESS, Topsfield Fairgrounds. (508) 479-5266 or bobcatfarm@yahoo.com.

28 WINTER SCHOOLING SHOW SERIES including dressage, dressage trail, prix caprilli, and

28 MYOPIA HUNT SPRING ROADING BEGINS, Hamilton. myopiahunt.org.

28 EQUINE EXPO AND PARAPHERNALIA SALE, Topsfield Fairgrounds. (978) 768-6275 or kljoreo@aol.com.

28 – 29 CRDA DRESSAGE ADULT CAMP, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

29 MHC SHOW, Century Hill Stables, Bolton. centurymillstables.com.

29 DRESSAGE SCHOOLING SHOW SERIES, White Spruce Farms, New Braintree. whitesprucefarms.com.

29 WNEPHA HUNTER SHOW, Bellwether Stables, Pittsfield. wnepha.com.

29 GRAZING FIELD FARM SHOW I, Buzzards Bay. grazingfields.com.

Dressage Schooling Show Series

May 6 - Adam Cropper “r” judge June 10 - Lainey Johnson “L” judge July 8 - Corinna Scheller-Flemming “L” August 12 - Roberta Carlton “L” judge September 16 - Jutta Lee “r” judge

Dressage Clinics Bill McMullin Sharon McCusker Bill Warren Verne Batchelder

Like us on Facebook to see who’s coming!

Events Calendar continued on page 41 . . .

Independence Stable

Tack Sale - February 24 Presents the 23nd

Rent a space in our heated indoor for just $15 with proceeds going to a local rescue.

Equine Expo Paraphernalia Sale

2018 Dressage Schooling Shows

Saturday, April 28, 2018 . 9-3

Traditional & Western Dressage Tests

Large marketplace of new and used items!

Plus services for the horse, rider, and driver.

April 7 . May 5 August 12 . Sept. 9

Demonstrations All Day and a Silent Auction $5 Admission . children under 10 free Held in the Arena Building at the Topsfield Fairgrounds, Route 1, Topsfield Vendor Spaces Available . Free Parking

Contact Kay at: 978-768-6275 or kljoreo@aol.com

Stalls Available

Stalls available in the 16-stall barn with attached indoor arena. Nestled at the base of Mt Toby this “Massachusetts Horse Farm of Distinction” provides outstanding care for you and your horse.

XENOPHON FARM

30 YEARS OF OUTSTANDING CLINICS, LECTURES & COMPETITIONS! JANICE

Check our Facebook page for updates!

404 S. Washington St. Belchertown, Mass.

(413) 284-0371 independencestablellc.com

& ELAINE KACHAVOS

80 SUNDERLAND RD., RTE. 47 MONTAGUE, MASS. 413.367.9828 X ENOPHON FARM @ AOL . COM

Massachusetts Horse

37

. . . Dunroven Farm continued from page 23

HORSES SMALL ANIMALS EXOTICS ACUPUNCTURE CHIROPRACTIC HOMEOPATHY PHYSICAL THERAPY

HOUSE CALLS FULL-SERVICE SMALL-ANIMAL HOSPITAL GROOMING PET SUPPLIES

FAMILY VETERINARY CENTER BUD ALLEN, M.S., D.V.M. ROBIN KARLIN ALLEN, D.V.M. 99 MAIN ST. (RTE. 9) HAYDENVILLE, MA (413) 268-VETS FAMVETS.COM

you can see the respect and love they have for their equine partners. A really great example of that shone brightly during the Versatility Challenge held in early December.

Riders ranging in age from 4 to let’s say 40-plus (because age is just a number and it’s never too late to live your dream) came to participate. Some rode their own horses, some rode the horses they lease, and others rode lesson horses. All displayed great teamwork and partnership as they navigated a variety of holiday-themed obstacles.

There were colorful blinking lights and Christmas trees, a small snowman that needed to be relocated (and if you’re a little person on a tall horse that certainly upped the level of difficulty), barrels and poles to navigate, hanging garland, and assorted sparkly things all about. It was a fantastic combination of festivities, challenges, and fun.

Some horse and rider teams were learning to conquer “scary” things for the first time together, and did so with great success. Some were looking to beat the clock and complete the course with the quickest time, and did so very impressively. The crowd was having as much fun as the competitors for sure.

The joy was quite contagious.

The youngest equestrian in the versatility challenge, all of four years old, exemplified the simple, sheer joy of being on a horse. Martha took her around the course on a lead line and the waves of pure happiness radiating from that little girl, the ear-to-ear grin, and the giggles said it all.

Every participant displayed good

February/March 2018

Sheryl Hodge is a long-time editor, but more importantly a life-long horse lover. She’s a horse crazy girl who never gave up the dream of having her own horse. It took decades, but was well worth the wait as she’s now owned by a smart, sweet, and sassy chestnut Quarter Horse mare who inspires her on every level, every day.

Subscribe today! at mahorse.com

Got Manure?

MANURE REMOVAL FOR LARGE & SMALL FARMS

Roll-off containers 10 to 30 yards on call or scheduled service. Full stock pile removals.

Lise Krieger

Certified Saddle Fitter

978-425-6181 MitranoRemoval.com Proud sponsor of Bear Spot Musical Freestyle and Oakrise Farm Shows.

38

sportsmanship and horsemanship to the highest levels. Seeing one young rider hug her pony after an inspiring and successful run summed it up—they did it together! It was the kind of moment that makes your heart smile. Everyone (and every horse) who participated or watched won in some way that day.

Dunroven is a place where everybody thrives. Support and encouragement are second nature for Laura and her team members. If you can measure success in smiles, Dunroven wins the blue!

saddle assessments fitting evaluations flocking . repairs consignments . sales

newenglandsaddlefit.com newenglandsaddlefit@comcast.net 203 . 685 . 2308

Barefoot Hoof Care

Mill River

Rehabilitation of Laminitis/Founder & Other Hoof Pathologies Transitions from Shod to Barefoot Maintenance Trims

This Olde Horse

Diet & Nutrition Analysis Total Body Health

Natural Horsemanship Training Connection & Communication

Achaina

Classical Dressage & Work-In-Hand Balance, Strength, & Agility

Holistic Equine Services . Kathleen Ladendecker

(413) 310-4692 . Achaina.com kathy@achaina.com

Tack Repairs & Restoration

Have a photo for This Olde Horse? Email editor@mahorse.com.

A family out for a drive in Mill River, 1900.

saddles . chaps belts . halters bridles . reins harnesses dog collars & leashes

Blue Dog Leather 64 South Shore Dr., Orange, Mass.

978.544.2681 bluedogleather.com Open by appointment, please call ahead.

Lessons 5 Training Clinics 5 Drill Team Horse Shows Games Nights Summer Camps

DRESSAGE

Susan Rainville

Dressage Training, Groundwork & Response Training for a more confident partnership.

USDF bronze & silver medalist

Dressage Schooling Show Series April 29 May 27 August 26 October 7

White Spruce Farms Central Massachusetts (978) 257-4666 whitesprucefarms.com

Recovery . Maintenance . Performance Therapeutic Massage . Bodywork . Reiki

(413) 320-7690 jobunny@comcast.net Massachusetts Horse

39

the

neighborhood

ASSOCIATIONS •••••••••••••••••••••••••• BAY STATE TRAIL RIDERS ASSOCIATION bstra.org Keeping trails open for equestrian use; organized trail rides; volunteer opportunities for trail clearing and maintenance.

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY RIDING CLUB Goshen, MA, (413) 268-3372 hampshirecounty ridingclub.org Monthly trail rides, woodland obstacle course, scavenger hunt, and clinics.

Your Everything Equine “white pages”

EQUINE ENTERTAINMENT •••••••••••••••••••••••••• DALE PERKINS/MESA FARM Rutland, MA, (508) 886-6898 daleperkinshorseshow.com Trick riding and much more.

EQUINE MASSAGE •••••••••••••••••••••••••• EQUISSAGE NE/NY MA, CT, RI, (860) 564-7759 equisportmt@sbcglobal.net Integrated body work for performance horses: reiki, Masterson Method, sports and therapeutic massage, myofascial release, cranio-sacral therapy, infrared photon therapy.

Wilbraham: (413) 887-8817 Williamstown: (413) 458-5584 Worcester: (508) 752-3300 JUDGES •••••••••••••••••••••••••• MARY BRAZIE Egremont, MA, (413) 528-2367 arabpinto13@yahoo.com Judging open, 4-H, carded; lessons.

ED GOLEMBESKI Gill, MA, (413) 863-2313 riker119@comcast.net 4-H, open shows, clinics, lessons.

BARN CATS •••••••••••••••••••••••••• PAWS WATCH P.O. Box 7005, Warwick, RI 02887 cats@pawswatch.org, pawswatch.org Barn cats need homes! Healthy, fixed, vaccinated barn cats provide rodent control. Delivered!

HORSEBACK AND BODY Northampton, MA, (413) 320-7690 jobunny@comcast.net Massage therapy for horses, humans.

DRESSAGE •••••••••••••••••••••••••• BRADFORD EQUESTRIAN CENTER Haverhill, MA, (978) 374-0008 Dressage for all disciplines and driving.

Keith Angstadt, USEF dressage judge.

HAFLINGERS •••••••••••••••••••••••••• SOMMER HILL FARM Adams, MA, (413) 743-9301 sommerhaflingers@yahoo.com One Haflinger is never enough.

PHOTOGRAPHY •••••••••••••••••••••••••• KAREN MORANG PHOTOGRAPHY Find us on Facebook.

Equine photography and events.

CATHY DRUMM Pittsfield, MA, (413) 441-5278 cathydrumm.com Clinics, lessons, training, western and English dressage, hunter/jumper.

HORSES FOR SALE •••••••••••••••••••••••••• HERITAGE FARM Easthampton, MA, (413) 527-1612 farmheritage.com Auctions, sale horses, shows, clinics, boarding, lessons, and training.

REAL ESTATE •••••••••••••••••••••••••• ALTHEA BRAMHALL HOMETOWN REALTORS North Quabbin region, (617) 678-9300 althearealtor@gmail.com Real estate is more fun with horse people!

STRAIN FAMILY HORSE FARM Granby, CT, (860) 653-3275 strainfamilyhorsefarm.com New England’s largest quality sales stable celebrating 50 years. Supplying NE with horses and ponies since 1967. Forty family, trail, and show horses to choose from. New loads every week. We buy horses, take trade-ins and consignment horses. Great three-week-exchange guarantee. Find us on Facebook.

EQUINE HOMES REAL ESTATE LLC MA and NH, (800) 859-2745, ext. 704 equinehomes.com sally@equinehomes.com Sally Mann, Realtor, MA and NH.

FAIRFIELD FARM Rochester, MA, (508) 763-8038 dressageatfairfieldfarm.com Boarding, instruction, training, indoor.

MEG HILLY South Deerfield, MA, (802) 595-1258 mhilly@mtholyoke.edu USDF “L” judge; FEI rider; private, semiprivate lessons; clinics.

NANCY LATER LAVOIE Ashby, MA, (561) 714-7447 nancylaterdressagehorses.com Training, lessons, clinics. Accepting new students of all levels. Top-class facility.

WHITE SPRUCE FARMS New Braintree, MA, (978) 257-4666 whitesprucefarms.com Dressage shows, instruction, all levels/ages.

EQUINE DENTISTRY •••••••••••••••••••••••••• WENDY BRYANT, EQDT Northampton, MA, (413) 237-8887 wbryantnatrualbalancedentistry.com Natural balance equine dentistry.

Improved topline, maximized performance, increased flexion. Serving New England.

NORTHEAST EQUINE VETERINARY DENTAL SERVICES LEAH LIMONE, DVM Topsfield, MA, (978) 500-9293 nevds.com Licensed professional veterinary dentistry.

Routine preventive care, maintenance, diagnostics, extractions.

40

February/March 2018

INSTRUCTION/TRAINING •••••••••••••••••••••••••• BACK BAY FARM Ipswich, MA, (978) 356-0730 backbayfarm.com Lessons, boarding, training, and sales.

INSURANCE •••••••••••••••••••••••••• DON RAY INSURANCE Marshfield, MA, (781) 837-6550 donrayinsurance.com Farm, mortality, major medical and surgical, clubs, shows, instructors.

FARM FAMILY INSURANCE farmfamily.com Boxborough: (978) 467-1001 Carver: (508) 866-9150 Centerville: (508) 428-0440 Easthampton: (413) 203-5180 Great Barrington: (413) 528-1710 Marlborough: (508) 485-3800 Middleborough: (508) 747-8181 Northborough: (508) 393-9327 Southwick: (413) 569-2307 Topsfield: (978) 887-8304

NORWEGIAN FJORDS •••••••••••••••••••••••••• BLUE HERON FARM Charlemont, MA, (413) 339-4045 blueheronfarm.com Quality, purebred registered Fjords.

BERNICE GIARD REALITY Oakham, MA, (508) 882-3900 oakham@charter.net Country properties.

STABLES, FARMS, BOARDING •••••••••••••••••••••••••• CARRIER’S FARM Southampton, MA, (413) 527-0333 rcarrier0333@gmail.com Indoor, outdoor arenas, round pens, fields.

GLENCROFT FARM Southampton, MA, (413) 527-8026 kraymond24@hotmail.com Boarding, pastures, ring, trails, fields.

STRAIN FAMILY EQUESTRIAN CENTER LLC Southwick, MA, (413) 569-5797 strainfamilyequestrian.com Boarding, lessons, training, sales, therapeutic riding.

TACK •••••••••••••••••••••••••• CHESHIRE HORSE Swanzey, NH, (877) 358-3001 cheshirehorse.com English, western, feed, supplies, trailers.

SMARTPAK RETAIL STORE Natick, MA, (508) 651-0045 smartpak.com/retailstore Tack, equipment, supplements, blankets, apparel, gear, gifts, clearance outlet.

TRANSPORTATION •••••••••••••••••••••••••• J.R. HUDSON HORSE TRANSPORTATION West Bridgewater, MA, (508) 427-9333 jrhudsonhorsetrans.com Serving the lower 48 states and Canada.

VETERINARIANS •••••••••••••••••••••••••• FAMILY VETERINARY CENTER Haydenville, MA, (413) 268-8387 famvets.com Traditional and alternative care for dogs, cats, exotics, and horses.

SOUTH DEERFIELD VETERINARY CLINIC DR. ROBERT P. SCHMITT S. Deerfield, MA, (413) 665-3626 sdvc@aol.com Equine medicine, surgery since 1969.

Advertise for just $49 a year?

Yes!

Have your business and/or services in Massachusetts Horse and on mahorse.com for just $49 for the year.

Plus, receive a free one-year subscription .

Place your ad at mahorse.com.

. . . Events Calendar continued from page 37

29 BSTRA PARK SERVE DAY, Douglas. bstra.org.

May

1 NORFOLK HUNT, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

5 CAPE COD HUNTER SHOW, Rozena’s Field, Raynham. capecodhunter.com.

5 SCHOOLING DRESSAGE SHOW, Independence Stable, Belchertown. independencestablellc.com.

5 BSTRA TRAIL WORK DAY, Mendon. bstra.org.

6 DANCING WITH HORSES AND HORSEMANSHIP DEMONSTRATION, Birch Glen Stables, Rowe. peacehavenfarm.com.

11 – 13 HUDSON VALLEY ARABIAN SHOW, West Springfield. (860) 302-2061.

12 AEL HUNT SEAT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, Mount Holyoke Equestrian Center, South Hadley. athleticequestrian.com.

12 BSTRA EARLY MEMORIAL DAY RIDE, Upton. bstra.org.

12 – 13 TIK MAYNARD CLINIC, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

Send us your events for the Annual Events Issue

by March 5!

Email events@mahorse.com.

13 MHC SHOW, Saddle Rowe, Medway. saddlerowe.com.

13 SOUTH SHORE HORSEMEN’S COUNCIL SHOW, Raynham. sshconline.com.

13 HERRING BROOK FARM SHOW, Pembroke. herringbrookfarm.com.

6 DRESSAGE SCHOOLING SHOW, Adam Cropper “r” judge, Xenophon Farm, Montague.

(413) 367-9828 or xenophonfarm@aol.com.

13 WNEPHA HUNTER SHOW, White Horse Hill, Richmond. wnepha.com.

6 CRDA DRESSAGE SHOW, Apple Knoll Farm, Millis. appleknoll.com.

15 SPRING FUN SHOW, Camp Marshall, Spencer. campmarshall.net.

6 GRAZING FIELD FARM SHOW II, Buzzards Bay. grazingfields.com.

15 HUNTER EQUITATION SHOW, Evenstride Farm, Byfield. evenstrideltd.com.

Request a free Junior Award

for your event at mahorse.com/junior_awards.

Massachusetts Horse

41

Annamaria Paul

Is This Your Horse?

Now Accepting Boarders 20,000-square-foot Facility!

Horse Leases Available

Is this your horse?

This photo was taken at the Bay State Trail Riders Early Christmas Ride on December 3 at Bearfood Farm in Grafton. If this is your horse, contact us at win@mahorse.com for a month’s supply of SmartPaks and more from the Bay State’s very own SmartPak, smartpakequine.com, and a two-year subscription to Massachusetts Horse.

partial $275/mo., half $400/mo., full $525/mo.

Beginner to Advanced Instruction Hunt Seat/Equitation, Dressage, Eventing, Western

Brimfield, MA 413-245-3083 fairviewfarmsjjc.com

Large and Small Animal Medicine & Surgery Serving the North Shore since 1951 Helen Noble, VMD . Robert Orcutt, DVM Derek Cavatorta, DVM PhD Kirstin Anderson, DVM . Ashley Taylor, DVM Mary Ann Montesano, DVM

295 High St, Ipswich, Mass.

Trailers 2018

ur wo Vie and new wned -o he pre s on t r e ! l i tra ebsite w

Brands we carry Abady Alpo Poulin Blue Seal Precise Canidae Pro Plan Diamond Purina Eukanuba Purina Mills Friskies Science Diet Iams Sensible Choice Kaytee Solid Gold Merrick Triple Crown Natural Balance Triumph Nature’s Recipe Wellness Neura Whiskas Nutrena Nutro Wild and caged bird Wysong and small animal feed.

Old Mother Hubbard Kakadu Oilskin Coats.

Pedigree Pinnacle

Country Corral 35 Main St., rear, Rte. 9, Williamsburg, MA (413) 268-0180 countrycorral@aol.com

978-356-1119 (ph) . 978-356-5758 (f)

srhvets.com 42

February/March 2018

M-F 9:30AM - 5:30PM, Sat 9:30AM - 4:00PM Right behind A-1 Hilltown Pizza in Williamsburg center.

Massachusetts Horse

43

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID BRIDGEPORT, CT PERMIT

Amherst Farmer’s Supply 320 Pleasant St., Amherst (413) 253-3436 amherstfarmerssupply.com A.W. Brown Pet & Garden Center 144 Shaker Rd., E. Longmeadow (413) 525-2115 . awbrown.com Bernardston Farmer’s Supply 43 River St., Bernardston (413) 648-9311 bernardstonfarmerssupply.com

Brattleboro Agway 1277 Putney Rd., Brattleboro, VT (802) 254-8757 . achilleagway.com

Dodge Grain Company 59 N. Broadway, Salem, NH (603) 893-3739 . dodgegrain.biz

Bridgewater Farm Supply 1000 Plymouth St., Bridgewater (508) 697-0357 . bridgewaterfarm.com

Essex County Co-op 146 S. Main St., Topsfield (978) 887-2309 essexcountycoop.net

Country Corral 35 Main St., Williamsburg (413) 268-0180 . countrycorralonline.com

Hardwick Farmers Co-op Exchange Rte. 32, Gilbertville . (413) 477-6913 hardwickfarmers.net

#140

Hoosac Valley Coal and Grain 2 Gavin Ave., Adams (413)743-0163 hoosacvalleycoalandgrain.com Sweet Meadow Feed & Grain 111 Coolidge St., Sherborn (508) 650-2926 sweetmeadowfeedandgrain.com Thibault’s Poultry 92 N. Spencer Rd. Spencer (508) 612-1907