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. :)