Summer has hit us like a freight train, with heat indexes over 100* and high humidity here in Virginia. Summer is long and unrelenting here in the South, so it’s acclimate or don’t ride. Of course on the really hot days we use good sense and will adjust our riding plan accordingly, but my team and I have a few tricks up our sleeves to keep our horses—and ourselves!—happy and healthy when the weather gets hot.
Read the rest at The Chronicle of the Horse!
We’ve come, seen and won some stuff! And we’ve also had some great events both on and off the farm, and made a fantastic trip to The Netherlands. Read all about it and more at our June e-newsletter, and if you don’t receive our news directly in your inbox, sign up!
The Mayo Clinic is one of the finest hospitals in the world and uses a creative approach to patient care: each patient has a team of specialists to treat not only the patient’s primary condition but also to use diet, exercise, wellness, alternative therapies and more together to support a patient’s whole health. Each patient has a team, and that team sees a problem through their own unique lens.
When Puck arrived in my life, he twisted his neck a bit in the bend to the right. And over the last year, I’ve made my own Mayo Clinic approach to solving it.
Read more at The Chronicle of the Horse!
It’s been more than 500 entries and almost nine years since I started this blog. I think I had about 12 readers in the beginning; the last one logged more than 150,000 views in just a few days. That is AMAZING. I am so touched!
But that means I’m getting lots of new readers, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce myself again. Hi! I’m Lauren. My last name is spelled SprIEser, and pronounced SPRY-zer. I’m a Libra, which allegedly means I’m well balanced, which is hilarious. And I’m a September Libra, which is apparently a thing, though I have no idea what it means.
I grew up outside Chicago to non-horsey parents, and while I’d ridden horses at summer camp and on family trips, I got serious about it at age 11, after a football accident left me with a broken femur. My football and figure skating careers over (lol), I started taking dressage lessons. As a kid I’d ride my bike from home to the public library, where I had a job putting covers on books, then pedal to the barn for my lessons, and then head home.
The book thing stuck too, because I went to college in New York to pursue a degree in Writing And Reading Stuff. While there I had the great joy of riding with Lendon Gray, going to three NAYRCs, and taking a semester to work in Germany with the late George Theodorescu. I graduated and taught freelance for a bit, then was a working student for Carol Lavell and Pam Goodrich before moving to northern Virginia to run my own facility about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C., in the heart of Horse Country.
Read the rest at The Chronicle of the Horse!
Parents, let your daughters grow up to be horse girls.
Let them learn early the joy of dirt under their fingernails and the responsibility of cleaning tack or sweeping aisles. Let them learn that if they don’t do the chores, or if they don’t keep their grades up, they can’t go ride. Let them struggle it out with lesson horses that aren’t very skilled, only to then earn their way to either a horse that is kind and fun to ride, or a horse that is just a big enough monster to keep them humble, and to maim them just a little, but not permanently damage them. Whichever one they start with, make sure it’s followed by the other.
Parents, let your daughters go to horse shows. Let them learn to deal with nerves, with crowds, with going from hearing their coach in their ear every step to being totally alone. Let them learn to plan ahead, or let them forget their breeches or hairnet or test, and don’t save them, so they learn to take some ownership and not do it again.
Let them set goals and reach them. Let them set goals and fail miserably. Let them learn that, if they work incredibly hard, practice like hell, ride the best quality horse they can and take impeccable care of him, they’re sometimes going to get beat by someone with 10 times the money and one tenth the drive.
Read the rest at The Chronicle of the Horse!
Show season is here! And we’re ready, with our first round of results and with some awesome educational opportunities including saddle fit, bit fit and Michael Barisone. Read all about it in our April e-newsletter, and be sure to sign up to receive our monthly report in your inbox!
UPDATE 4/23 – Below is the schedule for our April 25-26 clinic with Michael Barisone. Sign up for auditing at EventClinics.com!
WEDNESDAY
11:30 Rhonda Van Lowe & Escritor HGF, 5 yr PRE Gelding, Training Level
12:15 Lee Phaup & Rainy, 15 yr Hanoverian Gelding by Rosenthal, Prix St. Georges
1:00 Hannah McSween & Avatar, 12 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Art Deco, Third Level
1:45 Judy Sprieser & Stratocaster, 12 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Sir Donnerhall, Fourth Level
2:30 Jodie Harney & Mia MC, 9 yr PRE Mare by Venidero MC, Second Level
3:15 Lauren Sprieser & Gretzky RV, 7 yr KWPN Gelding by Johnson, Second Level
4:00 Beverley Thomas & Fiero, 11 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Fidertanz, Third Level
4:45 Lauren Fisher & Eureka BBR, 9 yr KWPN Mare by Sir Sinclair, Third Level
5:30 Liza Broadbent & Victorious, 16 yr KWPN Gelding by Patijn, Grand Prix
THURSDAY
7:30 Liza Broadbent & Victorious, 16 yr KWPN Gelding by Patijn, Grand Prix
8:15 Lee Phaup & Rainy, 15 yr Hanoverian Gelding by Rosenthal, Prix St. Georges
9:00 Lauren Sprieser & Gretzky RV, 7 yr KWPN Gelding by Johnson, Second Level
9:45 Judy Sprieser & Helio HI, 7 yr Lusitano Gelding by Dom HI, First Level
10:30 Beverley Thomas & Fiero, 11 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Fidertanz, Third Level
11:15 Lauren Sprieser & Ellington, 4 yr Westfalen Gelding by Everdale, Training Level
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Jodie Harney & Mia MC, 9 yr PRE Mare by Venidero MC, Second Level
1:15 Stacy Gallagher & Eva, 9 yr Fjord Mare, Second Level
Unless you’ve done the winter circuits in Florida or California, you’re probably thinking about your first show of the season. And for many of you amateur riders, this might be your first show season ever. As I watch my own students make their plans for the year, I wanted to share some musings on showing from the trainer’s perspective—mistakes I see riders make, both in and out of the ring, that make their lives so much harder and shows so much less fun.
1. Remember this is supposed to be a pleasurable experience. Amateur or professional, this is supposed to be fun. No one gets into horse training for the money; we do it for fun. And I’ve never met an amateur who feels obligated to ride; they choose to do it, again, because it’s fun. So lighten up. Take a breath. Enjoy the journey.
When it all goes to hell in a handcart (which it definitely will, at some point), you’re allowed between 10 minutes and 12 hours of pouting, doled out on a sliding scale of the severity of the disaster. (One bad ride at local show on green or new-to-you horse: 10 minutes. Calamitous performance at the National Championships: 12 hours. Fill in the middle as you see fit.) Pouting shall, under no circumstances, involve crying in public, shouting at anyone, taking any of your feelings out on your horse, or generally making a scene. I recommend, once you’ve gotten your horse and your equipment put safely away, getting in the car and driving to Dairy Queen. Just as a trailer ride to the vet cures many colics, the car trip to Dairy Queen bolsters the spirits of most failed competitive endeavors.
Read the rest at The Chronicle of the Horse!
Where is Lauren Sprieser off to? All over! Here’s the list of clinics Lauren will be teaching in Spring & Summer of 2018.
April 21-22 – Huntleigh Equestrian Center, Ottawa CAN
May 12-13 – Maven Sport Horses, Powder Springs GA
June 2-3 – Kaleidoscope Farm, Springfield VT
June 30-July 1 – Carbery Fields Farm, Lebanon CT
Lauren has weekends available in July and August, as well as in October, November and December. Email her to learn more.
US Olympian and trainer of Olympians Michael Barisone will be joining us monthly for a weekday clinic. Ride spots are available only to current students, but auditing is $35/day if pre-registered on EventClinics.com, or $40/day at the door, and lunch is included. An RSVP is appreciated either way so we know how much food to make!
Michael will be joining us April 25-26, May 23-24, June 20-21 and July 18-19.