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@teamstandardbred
It's safe to say we're all familiar with at least a few of these!
The Standardbred Connection
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!
Story of Muse
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.
Up Next for Team Standardbred!
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. :)
Kelly and Scooter at Spruce Meadows!
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!
Sask Equine Expo Day Three
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.
Sask Equine Expo Day Two
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! ______________________________________
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!
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.
Good Morning from Team Standardbred!
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.
Day One Down!
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.
Leo has discovered a new love - cake!
Hello Saskatchewan Equine Expo!
Here we go!
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!
(We all ride geldings.)
For anyone in the Edmonton, Alberta area, our mothership the Canadian Standardbred Network is holding a trick training clinic fundraiser!
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)
Busy Year Ahead
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.