Flying Changes

This summer I decided not to show Devlin but rather put my showing money towards extra lessons. I really wanted to get the flying changes started and confirmed this year.

My trainer is about 100 miles away and she comes to Maine every other Wednesday for lessons. In addition to these 2 monthly lessons, I have been driving Devlin down to her barn. Her schedule had been very hectic with sales horses and showing with her other students. Recently, she had a Friday open and so I drove Devlin down. It was super hot and humid out, like most of the summer thus far in New England. It was a perfect day to work the changes as we did not know how he would react being a very sensitive warmblood.

Devlin was great! He was a little confused at first and only switched the front legs but after a few he was doing the flying change. The changes weren’t perfectly clean but very calm and collected. So we considered it a success for day 1!

About five days later I had another lesson. I had only done a few changes one ride between the lessons, so this was day 3 of working on the changes. It was a little harder to get the change this lesson. We tried it in several places, going across the diagonal into the corner, after a half pass to the wall, and on the straight part of a serpentine. The serpentine was the third place we tried it and it worked like a charm. Not only did Devlin do the change but he did them clean! We were all so pleased and ended the lesson with lots of pats and of course sugar!

Tips for Creating a Successful Horse Listing

Tips for Creating a Successful Horse Listing

This information was gathered from several dressage professionals to provide some tips on how to create a successful horse listing that attracts buyers and increases traffic to your listing. This article is on www.DressageMarket.com.

Horse Description

Provide buyers with accurate and honest information. Stating who your horse would be most suitable for whether it is a junior, amateur or professional is important both for the buyer and also for your horse. Make sure to list the level which your horse has been shown at and what movements they are currently schooling. List your horse's good qualities such as extensions, piaffe, or that they are well behaved at shows or on the trail.

Photographs

Be sure to use good quality photographs without any fuzziness or embellishments. Also, photos taken outside can be beneficial as the lighting can be better. Present a clean horse and rider in the picture to increase attractiveness. Show photos of the horse being ridden and also a picture showing conformation are beneficial to potential buyers. On DressageMarket, you have to option of providing 4 photographs of your horse.

Video

Make sure lighting is bright for easy viewing and that both horse and rider appear tidy and clean. Include video of the walk, trot and canter in both directions whether the horse is young and hasn't been started under saddle or is a schoolmaster. Provide a current video of good quality that has few if any interruptions in filming. Also, keep in mind that buyers enjoy seeing the horse perform the exercises in their current level and especially like seeing a complete dressage test whether it is filmed at home or in the show ring. All horse listings on DressageMarket include the option of a video without additional fees.

Final Tips

Keep your listing up to date! On DressageMarket you can update the description, sales status, photographs or video of your horse at anytime with no additional fees.

Make sure you provide contact information to buyers and that you check your voice mail and emails regularly for potential inquiries. Be sure to respond to interested parties in a timely manner even if you tell them that the horse has been sold or taken off the market.

DressageMarket.com Reaches the 6 Month Mark!

Dressagemarket.com has been on the web for 6 months! This website was created to offer dressage enthusiasts a location on the web that was exclusive to the sport of dressage, and where users could easily post dressage horses, businesses and tack/equipment at an affordable rate. (All listings on the site can be purchased for 33 cents/day or less.)

Since it's creation, DressageMarket has continued to reach milestones each month. Currently, there are 220 dressage horses on the site and visitors to the site are up at least 50% from one month to the next. New accounts are created daily along with many interested buyers sending out inquiries. DressageMarket has also become international, with users from the United States, Europe, Canada, and South America. We are also very active on Facebook with our page being updated almost daily with recent listings from the site and over 1100 fans and counting.

We would like to thank all who have visited and recommended the site. We also ask that everybody please continue to spread the word about the website whether at your barn, through email or Facebook. Thanks and happy riding!

Devlin and the sugar cube.

Throughout my 3 years with Devlin, I have come across times when he needs a little more positive reinforcement than normal to tackle things. Since Devlin is very sweet, smart and honest, I have decided to use a treat in addition to pats and talking to him. This is where the sugar cube comes in!

When I first purchased him as a 4 year old, he would fidget when I mounted. I really wanted him to stand still while mounting and adjusting myself before walking off. So, I decided to give him a sugar cube after I got on and was adjusted and then would let him walk off. I think after about 3-4 times, Devlin had it figured out, "Stand still for mom and I get a sugar". It is now at the point where I get on and if I ask him to walk off without a sugar, he won't move. It's like his feet are almost glued! (Although he will move after a little nudge.) Everyday I make sure I have sugar with me for my ride because after all we would like to leave the mounting block area!

Nice Horse People

I went through my normal routine this morning, feeding the horses and putting them outside and then rushing to get myself ready for my job as an office manager. Things have been going quite rough at work lately and I have decided that I need to look for another position, although would rather stay at home and work on my website, www.DressageMarket.com and of course ride during the nicest part of the day. This is the plan I have set aside for the future but as for now, a normal job during the day is a reality.

While not looking forward to going to work this morning and really feeling down about the whole situation, I got a ping on my phone. I had a message from a Facebook friend that I did not really know. Her message revealed that she wanted to help me spread the word about the website and she complimented my site several times. I went from feeling blah to ecstatic immediately.

I have been involved with riding since age 6 , and specifically dressage since age 10. Throughout these years, I have met some incredible dressage people either at barns, clinics or the multiple shows I have attended each year. Some people you see at multiple horse shows annually and others at maybe one show but you still remember their name and of course their horse's name.

I competed in the first FEI Junior Rider Championships in 1997, which was hosted in the Washington, DC area. We were there for about a week and during that time, the 12 junior riders representing the United States became friends. Throughout time, I would bump into one of them occasionally at shows but mostly I would just read about them through some sort of dressage publication until I joined Facebook. It was amazing! After all this time I still remembered one of the team members that I really liked (Julie) and sent her a friend request. Since then we have talked many times and she has been very supportive of the website and continues to spread the word. The person that contacted me today was a friend of Julie's that I had never met and she wanted to help also. The word about the website has spread to many people wonderful people. I want to thank Julie and my newly found friend for their efforts to spread the word about the site and for brightening my day! Thank You!

Why ride?

I had the hardest time thinking of an idea for my first blog posting, so I decided to write about something I would have in common with most of my readers, horses and specifically Dressage.

I started riding at 6, when my mother decided that if I was going to jump on the horses in the pasture at my house, when nobody was looking and break my arm in the process, that I should really take riding lessons. So after my arm healed fully, I started my lessons immediately. I still remember my first lesson. I think it must have been January and there was no indoor, so we walked through the snow in the outdoor arena. I was so happy just to be riding and it didn't matter that it was probably only 30 degrees outside.

I must say, today I still feel the same. There is something about getting on my young horse, Devlin, whether it is 30 or 90 degrees, I am still happy that I have the privilege to ride such an amazing animal who is my best friend. Although I must admit, I do complain about the weather before I get on and maybe a little bit after too, as I think most of us do but don't even notice it while riding. I just enjoy the progress that we make in our rides and Devlin is quite goofy, so he makes me laugh atleast once a ride.

The past week or two, the weather has been very hot outside, making record highs here in Maine. So we (Devlin, Taz and I) have been doing our hill work in the field more often than usual. Taz is my other best buddy, he is my very smart Jack Russell Terrier/Beagle. Taz loves Devlin to pieces, following him everywhere including during our hill work. As a half beagle, he does like to eat, so the hill work is perfect exercise for him also!

I will end this post with a picture of us doing our hill work this past weekend. :)