Posts from the members of the Canadian Standardbred Network's demo team and guest bloggers from around the globe! Follow Team Standardbred as they promote the breed!
A link to this magazine was posted in the Canadian Standardbred Network group on Facebook. It looks like a really interesting publication for Standardbred owners and fans. It features stories about Standardbreds doing things outside of Harness Racing.
This month: Endurance riding, going out with the hunt and touring the Big Apple are just a few of the activities that the Standardbreds in this edition are participating in.
Check it out!
In December, 2013, I came onto Facebook (which, admittedly, I didn’t have until 2 weeks previously) and saw I had had been tagged in a post. I clicked onto the picture of a ragged, boring-looking bay. My good friend, and first ever riding instructor knew my family was interested in adding a 3rd horse to the group, and that I was particularly interested in Standardbreds, because I had the naive perception of them having “calm minds.”
Since I’m a sucker for animals in need, and was spending most of my time alone, I decided before anyone could tell me otherwise, this was my next horse. I got the message through to her direct rescuer (the instructor who was training out of the same barn as my friend). She told me the horse had a broken tail, was 4 years old, but not much more was known about her condition. After some consideration, I agreed to keep my interest in her.
The next day, the horse was pulled out of her paddock that she had been sharing with a cow, a goat, and some chickens. She did not look like the pictures I had seen.
The piece of information the former owners did know was her freezebrand, 7AC07. With research, I learned her race name, back in the day, had been Dragon’s Red Fury. She was 10 (oh well, what difference does 6 years make anyway?). I found out her sire’s name was Dragon’s Lair, a Standardbred that comes up with a Google search of his name. That’s a pretty big deal! There’s a race of him that I’ve watched several times from back in the day when he was up against some other big stud from those times, which Dragon’s Lair won.
I had already named Dragon’s Red Fury with the barn name of Muse. 1. The horse is inspirational. 2. Muse is an awesome band.
She progressed insanely well after a colic scare in the first few days due to getting too much food too soon, but she later became known to have an iron digestive system. Her legs got definition, and though they’re not clean (there’s a nice big splint in the back right), she’s sound. A little clutzy, but I think that goes along with her personality. She’s very hot when working, but it seems to be from anxiety. I mostly work with her on the ground and when I ride her, we don’t do too much because I want her to learn that she can relax. She used to be an Amish buggy-pulling horse. Those were the 4 years before her former owners got her at whatever auction they picked her up at (possibly in their own way saving her from a meat buyer). Before that, she was a brood mare for a couple of years, I think. She had one registered foal, according to the database. His name was Dragon’s Buddy, and he was as talentless at racing as his mother was, from what I could gather from the U.S. Trotting Association database. Muse raced for a couple of years before being a broodmare. It makes sense to me as to why and how she gets so anxious under saddle, bareback, and doing ground work, because she thinks she has to run like crazy.
Next year, Muse will be looking forward to my good friend and first ever riding instructor working with her, because I do not have the experience to advance her riding career, and she has shown she doesn’t like not having a job.
The reason I am sharing her story is because you can go out, intentionally looking for a horse for a specific purpose. A trained, healthy, wonderful partner. In other cases, you can fall into a river and lead out a ragged, cow-smelling, dying horse, and potentially save its life. Now I have done and have 2 mares at war with each other over who should spend time with me more (I have a full time job, so they play the guilt trick on me by giving me that look). I love Standardbreds! Even though they’re not what I thought they were, or is that just mine?
So what's the next event for Team Standardbred?
Why the Mane Event in Red Deer of course!
Team Standardbred will be attending the Mane Event at the Westerner in Red Deer, Alberta and participating in the Standardbred Breed Demos!
Our riders will also be spending time in the Canadian Standardbred Network booth (in the trade show) between rides. The majority of our team has ridden their Standardbreds at this event before, and are looking forward to returning to their old stomping grounds with some fresh new faces. They'll be ready to answer your questions and meet other Standardbred fans - come by and say hello!
Once we have a schedule of the demo times we'll be sure to post them here for everyone. Team Standardbred is looking forward to another kick ass event. :)
A little late - but here's a blog from team member Kelly Stasiuk about her experience competing at Spruce Meadows (yes that Spruce Meadows) with her Prime Time Scooter.
Kelly & Scooter Compete at Spruce!
After coming home from Saskatoon, Scooter and I only had a few days to reset before we headed out to Spruce Meadows! The both of us didn’t really want to be out showing again so quickly; I at least was super excited to be at Spruce!
Once Scooter was all settled in I put up our ‘Team Standardbred’ sign we brought home from Saskatoon as well as some race photos. People were stopping by and looking, probably wondering what we were doing there!
I found this jumper land to be a very different environment from eventing. People come across as much more ‘barn biased’ and like to keep to their own, instead of wandering around and socializing. Mind you when your horse costs $80,000 - I can see why. The people stabled around me were very nice and the lady across from me used to own a Standardbred!
This show was a new experience for me as it was my first totally solo competition. I had no help at this show (i.e. no friends or family on site). But it was a new experience for me to be so totally independent. I ended up spending much more time with Scooter….and with my homework.
On Saturday we were entered in two clear round classes at 0.70m and one clear round class at 0.80m.
The .90m and above classes were being run in the big ring so the smaller classes were run in hall E. As I was very late in the order of go, I was able to watch some of the other riders in my class compete before getting ready myself. I was a little worried about the time limit as it did seem quite quick (325mpm) and those who trotted, all ended up with time faults. However, Scooter and I got in there and rocked it! He tried his heart out. We were not only clear, but fast.
The next class was another well-built course but with challenging questions that Scooter and I aptly answered. The last class of the day was the 0.80m clear round, and did the jumps ever get big! Many of them were to max height combined with wide oxers off long lines paired with tight turns. We arrived to warm up (with what should have been 5 rides until I rode), and trotted around half the warm up area when the gate guy told me I had to go in. Turns out they bumped up some riders and the others had scratched creating a smaller class and a shorter line-up ahead of us. So we went in with no warm up. Although the jumps were technically not huge – Scooter decided to jump them like they were. But we were clear and fast again! So we ended Saturday at Spruce with 3 clear round ribbons!
Although Scooter did amazing, I decided that on Sunday we would do a 0.60m clear round jumper, and two 0.70m jumper classes. The .60m class had about 25 entries of competitive kids and adults! No mercy was shown as riders attacked the course. Second last to ride the course all I knew is we had to go as fast as possible (in any gait haha). We zoomed around as quickly as we could, unaware of the fastest time. We ended up taking second place, and pacing about half the course! Turns out we were only .28 of a second away from first place and a champion cooler – how’s that for speed! Getting to join in the victory gallop was a definite plus! In the following 0.70m clear round Scooter showed up and did amazing with another clear fast round.
The final class of the weekend was the 0.70m jumper. We were 40th in and the previous teams had set blistering fast times. We went in and went as quick as we could. There were some tight inside corners that Scooter was just not balanced enough to make. The ribbons were out of reach, but I am proud, Scooter tried with everything he had. We ended up 7th by .73 of a second out of 46 people! He is truly an amazing horse that I am so honored to get to ride him and represent the breed at Spruce Meadows.
After the challenge that was Day Two, Sunday (Day Three) was met with a refreshed team, ready to take on the final day of the expo.
We started off the morning with coffee, and conversation about approaching Tim Horton's for sponsorship. We start every day off with coffee.
After getting ourselves organized for the day we again headed to the round pen to give the boys some time out of their stalls. Scooter was able to revisit the pedestal, and soon enough we had a small audience interested in what we were up to.
Amanda and Jose were more than happy to rise to the occasion and gave a mini demo and fielded questions. Brava!
Following some more meet and greet with the spectators attending the expo that day, and meeting some seriously cool Standardbred enthusiasts, who do everything from racing, to gymkhana, to working cattle - a nice change from our team which is entirely english riders - it was finally time to get ready for the final event of the battle - Trail. In addition to finding out the event was more aptly named "Cowboy Challenge" and we found out that our team had to be in whites, and tacked 1.75 hours earlier than expected (giving us roughly 30 minutes, with Amanda and Jose competing in the middle).
After a little bit of chaos, and a warmup that was again limited to a round pen with 6 other horses, it was time for Amanda and Jose to start off the "Trail" portion of the Battle of the Breeds.
Entering the ring, Jose was quite surprised by not only the number of obstacles, but the noise from the crowd as well. For only being 4 years old, and this being his first big event, Jose handled the entire situation beautifully. He settled right back down after a lap of the ring, and Amanda made the wisest decision possible and aimed at a positive experience for the youngest team member rather than pushing him to rack up points for a competition.
They were able to complete a few obstacles, which they were awarded full points for, and were even offered the bonus obstacles at the end of their round. Wow! Cookies for Jose!
After trail all the teams were invited in for the lengthy awards ceremony where each team member was briefly introduced. It would have been nice for them to tell the audience something about each individual horse, or even each breed, but the acknowledgement was appreciated regardless. The top three teams, QH, Arab, and Paint definitely deserved their placings, they did well in each event, and were wonderful people. Talk about sportsmanship! They should be very proud of their team mates and their ponies.
We drew the winner for our raffle who was able to come down to the barns to accept her prize bag courtesy of Standardbred Canada! They also provided us with some window decals, and magazines which were a huge hit - we only have a few left!
We'd like to send a huge thank you to Team Paint, and Team Mule who helped make the weekend much more enjoyable! It was great to see others who were out to promote their breed instead of just winning a title. We sincerely hope to see some of their lovely faces and four legged companions in the future!
With Love,
Kelly Stasiuk (Scooter), Amanda Preston (Jose), and Charlene Barry (Leo)
PS - In case you missed it, our team sported a helmet cam this weekend and will be posting the rounds on Youtube soon! We filmed trail, barrels, and jumping. (Compulsory was not filmed due to Charlene's insistence about about it sending the Dressage gods rolling over their graves.)
Stay tuned for more from Team Standardbred!
Again apologies for this being SO delayed, but I’m pretty sure our team has been in a bit of a coma for the last couple days after arriving home.
DAY TWO!
We all managed to survive Saturday at the expo which proved to be a long day indeed with two events. Compulsory (aka Dressage) and Jumping.
After a delicious exhibitor breakfast, we took the boys into the round pen for a little break from their stalls to let them stretch their legs a bit. Through out the morning we had surprising number of people stop by to say hello to our ponies and learn about Standardardbreds! (The route from the trade show to the arena lead them straight through our shedrow - concerning for biosecurity, but wonderful for PR.)
The Battle of the Breed events didn’t start until 3:00pm Saturday afternoon, so were were able to tour around the trade show and bit, and catch a couple of the clinics, and other events happening that day.
A rider, horse and border working as a team to move a herd of cows.
Jonathan Field!
No sleeping allowed in this trailer, human or equine. You will get get injured and you will die! (#meangirls anyone?)
This trailer had a surprisingly large closet in the bathroom. Large enough to fit at least one Kelly!
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Saturday brought another set of confusing warm up situations. For dressage our warmup was more or less limited to a round pen (with 6 other horses), with a couple laps around the exterior of the arena immediately prior to your test. Not great for a sport horse coming from a cold barn. Despite this, Leo brought his A-game a pulled off a 59% basically going into the ring cold, and earned a solid 4th place. Even though Leo elected to add a levade to the beginning of his test (“I appreciate he was on his hind end, but seriously.” - Charlene), Leo and Char rode their patterns very accurately, and dealt well with having their test in a ring 20 meters shorter than expected. (Those were some STEEP leg yields!) Good boy Leo!
Charlene would like to send a big shout out to the lovely ladies who make up Leo’s fan club, she really appreciates your support! Although Leo’s ego was almost too big to fit in the trailer on the way home - the fangirls totally went to his head. <3 Leo sends his love and adoration.
Scooter and Kelly were next to shine - and thankfully were actually allowed a warmup in the ring, AND over fences. The warmup was a little concerning as none of the jumps were flagged, and there were jumps being jumped that weren’t part of the warmup. After surviving that - we’re relatively sure Charlene was more stressed watching than Kelly was riding - Kelly and Scooter walked out unscathed to wait for their turn. Unfortunately, there was a mishap outside the arena, and the Clydesdale team had a wreak in the barns, over turning their wagon and spooking the horses waiting to enter the ring. Poor Scooter was a little freaked out but Kelly was able to settle him and they pulled through to put in a great round!
With 560 points - and sitting in 6th, they decided to attempt the joker fence, worth 200 points. The joker fence was ~3’ high, and located right in front of the audience. The crowd cheered as our team approached the fence, and Scooter stopped about a stride out to have a look at all the people (the arena was PACKED). But Kelly, being a tried and true eventer decided it was over, under, or through! Half a stride out, Scooter took a couple walk steps and hurled himself, and Kelly, over the fence just BARELY tapping it with a hind foot. Sadly, it was enough to bring the top rail down and lost them 200 points. But the crowd LOVED the pair, and cheered for Scooter’s great show of heart!
Later that night after taking Team Bromance for a walk (Leo and Scooter have attended a number of events together, both expo and competitions and are serious bros now) Charlene brought Jose out to stretch his legs, and give his mind a break. He ended up performing a few tricks and earning a fan club of his own.
Just before tucking the boys into bed, Kelly and Charlene walked around the barns to hand out the left over cake, from the previous night’s festivities, to the other exhibitors and competitors. It was an awesome way to meet not only the members of the other teams, but the cow horse riders, jumpers, heavy horse drivers, boarders, and horsemanship people as well.
Finally, Team Standardbred was able to call an end to Day Two and retire to the hotel for some well deserved R & R. Bring on Day Three!
Alright, first off there WILL be a post summing up yesterday's events. Our team had a bit of a late night last night and opted for sleep. However today is the final day of the Battle of the Breeds at the Saskatchewan Equine Expo. Amanda Preston and Jose will be competing in trail this afternoon, shortly after that are the awards presentations. Come on out and cheer on Team Standardbred! And as always feel free to come down to the barns and meet the ponies and their riders one on one after the competition is over.
We're currently sitting at the exhibitors breakfast. Thanks Prairieland Park and Smokehaus! Free breakfast definitely makes getting up early a lot easier. Today is compulsory and jumping day, so Kelly and Char will be dawning their whites and repping the Stbs in front of what's proving to be a great crowd. Compulsory is this afternoon. Jumping is this evening during the extravaganza.
Whoa what a busy day! Thank goodness for Timmies - we were all a little caffeine dependant today.
Kelly and Charlene arrived at the barn just before eight, planning to ride as nothing was scheduled until 9:15am in the arena, but found out the arena actually was closing at 8:30. So the boys got to go for a quick walk instead.
Later this morning we took the boys into the round pen to give their brains something too do, Scooter learned how to pedestal! And Leo learned to bow while being ridden. One of the arena events ended, and Jose ended up doing a little show for the spectators as they stopped on their way back to the trade show.
After a couple cups of coffee, we got a kick ass surprise and were able to ride for 40 mins, before heading back to the hotel to crash for a quick nap, while Amanda and Judy hung out at the grounds and held down the fort.
Following another visit to Tim's (Seriously, we should seek out sponsorship) we zipped back to the barn to get Kelly and Prime Time Scooter ready for the Barrels phase of Battle of the Breeds.
Team Standardbred is so proud of our Kelly Stasiuk and Prime Time Scooter! Following a bit of a confusing warm up situation (12 horses in a round pen just wasn't working) they were 6th in out of 7 teams to go. The audience was great and WONDERFULLY supportive, the stands were LOUD and it was a very intimidating arena. Scooter went in and took his first 2 barrels well but got a little overwhelmed when being sent down to the far side for the last barrel. He backed up and unfortunately backed over the start line. Kelly handled him beautifully though and got him straightened down and around the final barrel before given 'er back home. Good kids!
Tomorrow afternoon Charlene Barry and Leo will be in compulsory test and tomorrow evening Kelly and Scooter are back in for jumping.
We've made a bunch of new friends - with really cool horses! have a great camaraderie going on and are learning every step of the way.
Amanda and I just loaded Leo with Jose and are on the road. Kelly and Scooter left a little earlier from Calgary and will meet us there. See you soon Saskatoon! -Charlene
Team Standardbred heads for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan tomorrow for Battle of the Breeds. Stay tuned here for photos and updates from our lovely ladies and their boys!
500 of these delicious milk chocolate bars arrived in Calgary, Alberta today! They are $2/each with all proceeds going to Team Standardbred. If we sell out we can request more to accommodate orders. Go Team Stb! (Contact me or CSN for details)
Holy Hanna is 2014 chalking up to be one busy year for Team Standardbred.
Thankfully, January appears to be quiet, and by quiet I mean lots of time for prepping for the events in February!
February 8&9 - Our non-profit society is having a fundraising clinic at Maple Leaf Meadows just outside of Edmonton, Alberta. It'll feature a trick training clinic and silent auction. Jose will be making an appearance with his owner (& clinician) Amanda.
Not even a week later, the whole team loads up to head on out to Saskatoon, SK for their Saskatchewan Equine Expo, and more specifically, Battle of the Breeds!
Following a couple weeks off, and more practice time, the team reunites at the end of April for the Mane Event in Red Deer, AB. This time we'll be doing demos and answering questions and networking at the Canadian Standardbred Network trade show booth.
During all of this we'll be selling Purdy's Milk Chocolate Bars to help us make our way around to bring these awesome horses to you! They're $2.00 each and can ship of out both Edmonton and Calgary, AB.
Obviously, this only takes us four months into the year, but we have a few more events whose details aren't quite sorted out yet. Once we have something more concrete, we'll be sure to update with all the lovely details.
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