A winning attitude isn’t hard to achieve, but it does take some effort. For some reason, many people find it easier to wallow in negativity than to make the effort to turn things around and be positive. Horses aren’t like that. We don’t think about the past or the future. We just live now.
I’ve noticed Jane using the tools she’s learned and developed over the years to change her attitude. You see, even Jane has bad days. But she doesn’t stay in a bad place. She’s learned how to consciously change her thinking, and, therefore, change her experience.
One of Jane’s most powerful tools is deciding to have an attitude of gratitude. She’ll tell me how much she appreciates me, my soft coat, my powerful muscles, my long, pretty mane, and my work ethic. She’ll go on and on about how good my tempi changes are, and how wonderfully my piaffe is developing. Even when I make a mistake, she’ll tell me how grateful she is that I willingly try my best. Yes, gratitude is the fastest way to turn a bad day into a great day.
So today, look for things to be grateful for. It doesn’t matter if they’re big things or small (like the fact that you’re breathing!). Just pay attention to all the good stuff in your life. There’s no faster way to turn that frown upside down than developing a sense of gratitude!
Now get to the barn! Your horse is grateful for your attention!
Adrienne Lyle, an Ambassador for Trilogy Dressage Saddles, scored big at Thermal’s Dressage Getaway show aboard four horses. (Photo courtesy of Amy McCool)
Thermal, CA (February 16, 2010) – Adrienne Lyle, the 2008 National Brentina Cup Champion, was on fire during Thermal’s Dressage Getaway show, winning Grand Prixs with both of her horses and earning top scores aboard all of her mounts. Lyle, an Ambassador for Trilogy Dressage Saddles, competed at the Dressage Getaway in Thermal in January and continued her winning streak in February at Thermal’s Dressage Getaway CDI.
“I was thrilled with my horses during January’s show. Wizard and Felix came back two days in a row and put in really consistent tests,” Lyle said. “I was first and second in the Grand Prix classes both days. It was really wonderful.”
Lyle and Wizard earned a score of 80.213% in January’s Grand Prix, followed closely by Lyle and Felix with a score of 78.936%. “We flip-flopped because the day before Felix won the class with a 76.809% and Wizard came in second with a 72.128%,” Lyle said. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10298
Wellington, FL – February 16, 2010 – Todd Flettrich rode Cherry Knoll Farm’s Otto to consistent placings at the Wellington Classic Spring Challenge CDIW in Wellington, FL, on February 12-14, 2010. Competing in the main arena at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center, Flettrich and Otto showed in Saturday’s FEI Grand Prix de Dressage finishing third with a 67.319% and continued on to another third place finish on Sunday in the Grand Prix Special with a score of 67.792%. Otto is a 13-year-old Danish Warmblood that Flettrich has worked on forming a good partnership with over the last year.
Competing in the Grand Prix de Dressage Flettrich and Otto received a 67.319% following scores of 66.170% from the Judge at E: Whitham, 67.234% from the Judge at H: Yukins, 68.298% from the Judge at C: Clarke, 67.447% from the Judge at M: Fore, and 67.447% from the Judge at B: Ernes.
By AQHA Professional Horseman Jay Holmes with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal
For a roper who is thinking about tying-on, here’s what Jay had to say on the subject.
Tying-On Options
Leather quick-release
Made of leather with a brass ring.
Can loosen rope even with pressure on.
Common to jackpot ropers.
Cost: $5-$12.
Comments: My wife, Rhonda, uses this quick release. It’s leather with a ring and a slot. You push the ring up through the slot and then push the tail through the ring. When it’s wrapped around a saddle horn, the tail end holds it on the horn. When there’s pressure put on that, it won’t come off the horn. But all you have to do is reach down and pull that tail, and it comes loose.
Mechanical Quick Release
Made of metal; mechanical, spring loaded. Brands include Hector Heeler and Easy-Action.
Can loosen rope even with pressure on.
Common to jackpot ropers.
Cost: $50-$65.
Comments: With the Hector Heeler, your rope goes in and around a little pin. It’s spring-loaded, and that holds it together. When you push that knob down, it releases.
This is probably the most used to tie-on and probably the easiest to use, because all you have to do is push down on that metal piece.
Horn knot
Made of braided leather, nylon, plastic or aluminum.
Must have slack to loosen the rope.
Used in tie-down roping.
Cost: $1-$5.
Comments: With a (quick release), even if there is pressure on the rope, you can get this loose. With a horn knot, you have to ride your horse up so you have slack to loosen it. If you use this to heel, you want to leave a longer tail in the knot so you can use it to pull it off your horn.
There’s nothing wrong with using a horn knot as long as your header knows you have it on your horn. When the steer gets stretched, it can’t go anywhere as long as the header holds it. You can ride up and loosen the rope and take it off.
But if for some reason your header didn’t know you were tied on, and he faces and immediately turns his rope loose, and the steer takes off to the other end of the arena, there’s still pressure on the rope, and you’re stuck. I’ve never seen someone have to cut off a rope, but there’s a heck of a jerk on the heel horse and on the cow.
My daughter, Morgan, uses a horn knot, but the only person I’ll let head for her is me. I take care of the issue of her getting it off that horn.
Rope Length
The ropes that people use to tie-on with are shorter, because you don’t need a 35-foot rope. The only reason we have 35-foot ropes out there is because we miss dallies, and we want another chance at it while that steer is still moving away, and we let that rope slide through our hand.
Normally, if everything goes right and I dally, the other three coils are still in my hand. If something goes wrong and I have to slide more rope to get my dally, then I use the other part of that 35-foot rope. But if everything goes right, this is all the rope I’m going to have out anyway.
So instead of having three coils in your hand when you dally, you have a loop and no coils when you’re tied-on. Exactly how long is by preference, but there should be no more than one coil in your hand.
Never “Hard and Fast”
If you’re out in the pasture, there are a lot of ways to tie-on: You can braid the end of your rope several ways or tie something like a half-hitch in it, tie a knot and pull it down on your saddle horn. But those ways don’t come off the saddle horn.
You only do that when you don’t have any other options. You’re out in the woods or brush, and you need to rope something, and you’re not sure you can dally. You have to tie off the rope hard and fast.
For a competition, it makes no sense – not when these safer options are available.
American Quarter Horse Association
1600 Quarter Horse Drive
Amarillo, TX 79104
One of the largest wild horse roundups in Nevada history is over. The Bureau of Land Management says it gathered more than 1,900 mustangs from the sprawling Calico Range in Northern Nevada, but that’s far fewer than the agency expected to capture.
Critics of the BLM say the Calico roundup is a perfect illustration of what’s wrong with the BLM wild horse program, which uses roundups as its principal management tool.
BLM often says it is “mandated by law” to gather up wild horses from public land. The fact is, the law doesn’t say that. It allows BLM to use roundups as one of the management tools at its disposal, but it doesn’t order the agency to gather up mustangs. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10290
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