Driving with Corbin

Today we took Best over to Cove Lane Dressage (Greene, NY) to use their arena.  My nephew was ready for his first time actually driving.  He is eight and his hands are just getting strong enough to hold the lines all the time. He is just eight though so we didn't totally turn him loose.  I kept control by adding a second set of lines so that when it looked like we might drive into the wall (a kitty cat that came into the arena was distracting) I was able to override the little driver.

Best did great and was his normal understanding self.  You'll notice he's gained quite a bit of weight and is looking very relaxed.

First Parade!

We recently took Best to his first parade.  It was in the little town he is currently living in and was just a few blocks long - perfect for a first try.  The night was mild so there was huge turnout (I'll be honest, I didn't know there were that many people in Afton). He was frustrated at first as we were behind my Mother's minis and they walk too slow for Best but as soon as we were in front of them, he was golden.

 Police lights were flashing, music was playing (plus we went past the band in the warm up area) and he just raised his head and flick his ears.  All total I think we were in the line up for maybe a mile.  After the 4th time we stopped when the wagon in front stopped he figured out the pattern.  He then stopped and stood like a seasoned carriage ride horse every time they stopped.

Back to NY

It was a tough decision but I did decide to send Best back to my parent's farm in NY.  While I like the people where I board I think that it is in Best's best interest to move on right now.  While I have ridden him several times he needs someone with more confidence (I haven't ridden, really ridden, since 2003, we think) to help him under saddle.  I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get that done in NY.  The move will also allow me to sleigh this winter.  I love living in Pittsburgh but the hills are not real conductive to sleighing.

As you can see by the picture Best is not upset at all by the move.  He is spending his days at the Haak spa enjoying the mud (he loves to roll in it) and soaking up the sun.  He is becoming good friends with Draken, our other Standardbred.

Saratoga Driving Trial

Best did his first big event at the Saratoga Driving Trial in October.  We started out with Driven Dressage first thing in the morning.  When we exited the ring a person commented that we had the best entrance, stop and stand that she had seen.  That was great because we had really been working on stopping anywhere and being able to stand until I said it was time to move on.  Unfortunately, we hadn't practice our test in an actual dressage ring and Best found the white chain and letters a bit scary.  He did a wonderful counter-bend (aka controlled spook) for the first half of his test which unfortunately dropped his test numbers.  We ended up 5th in that phase.

Cones was up next and as you can tell from this photo we took them pretty seriously.  The course was great for Best - there were lots of gates with lots of room between them.   He's still working on his turns so if it had been a tight course he might not have done as well but with this course he could show the speed that made him a winner on the track.  In fact we ended up winning that part of the trial.

The marathon phase went well. Sue Call came out to be my navigator.  I was a bit worried about Best's conditioning because while he is fit to do 7K pulling me this was going to be his first time out with two people.  The first two kilometers he did in fine fashion but then we hit some mud and hills.  We took a few breathers, slowing to a walk, but otherwise he was fine.  He did the first hazard, which was out in a field, with no problems and hardly a change in speed.  Then we entered the woods and you could feel him relax, he had just been in the Allegheny National Forest the week before and he seemed to think he might be there again.  But then it happened!  Best spotted the second hazard, tucked in the woods at his left, and just seemed to pause mid-stride.  It was funny because you could tell he just didn't know why a hazard would be in the woods.  Despite his surprise we continued on to come in second in the marathon phase.  The mud did slow us down slightly and we were a minute over time but that was okay as it was really about safety.

We finished the day as Reserve Champion!  Not a bad ending to Best's first driving trial.

Back in the USSR...or rather the Allegheny National Forest

The weekend of September 24th was a Father/Daughter weekend for my Dad and I. He met me with his Fjord horse, Aiken, up at the Allegheny National Forest for some relaxing driving. I have to say that it didn't start off well. We pulled into the Kelly Pines Campsite where I stayed before and it was full. We asked a gentleman what they recommended we do and he replied "go home." Well...that wasn't really an option. Fortunately a much nicer person came over and told us how to get to Allegheny Trail Ride which ended up actually being a much nicer camping experience for us. Best and Aiken were able to stay in actual stalls, play in the creek behind the barns and in general, have a better stay.  If you're going, I would recommend checking them out as you can make advance reservations (Kelly Pines is first come, first serve). It was only $12 a night which is hard to beat.

Best not only had what I believe to be his first experience with a covered bridge (thumbs up) but also played in the creek. He walked in willingly enough but seemed a bit confused at first by the fact that that the water kept moving. Best, for some reason, had his first real nature moment. He was just walking down the path, minding his own business, when a leaf came down and bopped him in the head. You could just see him go "What the heck?"

Neither of us are real campers but we're getting the hang of the nature thing little by little.

Allegheny National Forest drive

We went on our first camping trip on Labor Day weekend.  I'm not a big camper but I wanted to try out the Allegheny National Forest so I headed up to spend Saturday driving.  It's about three hours to the Forest from Washington Co where Best is boarded.  It was an easy trip though so no worries.  Many thanks to Joe Langianese and the staff at the Marienville Information Station for answering all of my questions.

When I pulled into the Kelly Pines camp site I was able to get the last site.  If you're a day visitor you can park in the middle of the campground but I thought I'd go ahead and get the site just in case.  Each site comes with four tie stalls and there is no charge.

I was able to get Best out of the trailer, settled in the tie stall, get the carriage out, and then get hitched without any problems. Several riders came back from their trail rides while we were getting ready - everyone was very nice and said 'hello.' Once hitched we headed off, we went about 6 miles over a combination of dirt roads and asphalt. It was a nice easy drive, very appropriate for Best's first forest experience. He was very good and didn't even look at all the shadows the trees created on the road. I think he enjoyed stretching his legs on some relatively flat ground.

I enjoyed the drive so much that I decided to stay overnight. I needed a bit more hay for Best if I did so, I knew I had seen an Agway so I asked my neighbor how to get back there and instead they generously donated a bale of hay to our camping cause. They also invited me over for Apple Cake later that evening. Since I'm not a fan of sleeping on the ground I cleaned out the horse trailer, put a tarp down and then popped up my tent inside the trailer. It worked surprisingly well and kept me out of the early morning rainstorm.

Best survived his first time in a tie stall and his first night in the forest without any problems. Actually, the only problem was that he's used to being turned out at night so he was wide awake and looking for something to do. When he finished his hay he thought playing with his water bucket would be great fun. At 2am I did not. A bit more hay kept him busy until I was truly ready to get up. Despite the rumors I did not take great delight in waking Best up in the morning when he was ready to sleep. (It was only with a small evil laugh.)

We had a great morning drive once the rain stopped. A few things to be aware of - there is no cell phone coverage, there is no Wal-Mart (or anything else other than a Dollar General and a grocery store), and take a pitchfork (works much better than a shovel in the tie stalls.) There are some hills so if you're driving your horse I think brakes would be very helpful.

All in all the trip was a success and I would highly recommend the Allegheny National Forest to both my riding and driving friends.

Standardbred Pleasure Horse National Show

Anxiety?  What anxiety? Just because I set off for NJ with a new horse, new harness adjustments, new carriage, new trailer and new truck all by myself is no reason for anxiety.  Actually it turned out that there really wasn't a reason.  Best and I safely made our way to NJ and back, despite bad weather and construction.  I made one more harness adjustment at the show but was otherwise fine in that area.  I did use my marathon harness instead of our leather harness as I need longer traces on the leather harness.  The new cart did well,  I have different shafts ordered but otherwise it looked okay. 

Best did okay too.  He was much more nervous than I thought he'd be but he still managed to get two firsts, a second, two thirds, a fourth and a fifth place.  The wins were in obstacles, he's just starting to figure out what that is about.  I wasn't overly pleased with his inability to stand still during the line-up but he'll get there.

Congratulations go out to our SPHO-Ohio friends who traveled to NJ for the first time.  All American Legacy (Big Al) won the National Championship in Halter against a very tough crowd.  I think all total Ohio went home with 1 National Championship and 3 Reserves.  Not bad at all for a first trip!

Getting ready for the National Show!

The National SPHO show is this coming weekend and we're getting ready with a new wagonette.  Here is a quick video that I made of Best.  I'm still adjusting the harness a bit so keep that in mind.

SPHO

You may not be aware but there is a Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization!  They help raise awareness about the retraining, placement, and promotion of the Standardbred, both as a pleasure mount and a driving horse.  I've been involved in passing with this organization for several years and have to say that they're a fun group.  I say in passing because there isn't an active chapter in my state.

If you're in Ohio, check out the SPHO-OH.  They're probably the most diverse group of Standardbred people you'll meet. They have a group that goes camping and have hunter paces, plus display the breed at the KY Horse Park and Equine Affair (OH).  Horse wise they have everything from roadster, saddleseat and gaited horses to pasture ornaments.  They love them all!  One thing that is rather unique about the Ohio shows is that you may see some people riding sidesaddle.  Check them out at http://sphooh.org/.

SPHO-NJ is the place to be if you're interested in jumping!  Helene Gregory and JB set the standard, jumping well over 3 feet these days.  SPHO-NJ has a nice working relationship with several of the local show circuits which helps assure some Standardbred only classes at the Horse Park of NJ.  They are also involved with the Battle of the Breeds, which pits the Standardbreds against the Thoroughbreds! Last but certainly not least, they host the National Standardbred Show in August.  This show keeps getting more and more competitive with STBs competing in halter, dressage, hunter, jumper, western, driving, and speed events.  While it is competitive, it's also one of the friendliest national shows you'll ever go to.  Check them out at http://www.standardbredpleasurehorse.org/.

SPHO-FL is the Standardbred Dressage headquarters!  Sea the Gray and Whiz Bang, two of their STBs, were selected to demonstrate what the breed can do in the dressage ring at the World Equestrian Games 2010.  Currently they're putting that precision to work doing Team Riding (like a drill team).  You'll often see them perform at The Grand Oaks Resort.  SPHO-FL is more heavily involved in placing Standardbreds, having placed more than 30 since 1997.  Check them out at http://www.sphofl.com/.

I know one person from the SPHO-ME group but I've not been involved with any of their events.  I will say that they have some great shirts for sale.  They are also the only SPHO group that I know of that offers a driving clinic.  One of the benefits of this group is working with Robyn Cuffey.  She literally wrote the book on the retraining of racehorses.  Check them out at http://www.sphomaine.net/spho_events.php

There are other SPHO groups out there so feel free to Google for one in your area.  I've just included the ones that I have personal contact with. 

Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA)

It's been so hot out that it is hard to drive, so Best and I have been working on our Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA).  Well, it might be more accurate to say that I have been and Best has been along for the walk.

The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) challenge helps add an activity, in my case walking, to your daily life, and then rewards you when you do. As a very results oriented person this is a good challenge for me.  Last year I did the 3-Day Walk for the Cure (60 miles in 3 days) which was fun but I ended up with a nasty case of tendinitis which doesn't want to go away and then last December I blew out my calf muscle.  I spent New Years Eve in a hot tub trying to get my leg muscles to relax after they had contracted to the point were the right leg was nearly a 1/4 of an inch shorter than the left.  It took a long time to get that straightened out but I'm definitely making progress (have to keep up with Best when he walks) and this gives me an extra incentive to get out there again.

What do you have to do?  For adults, you need to be active 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, for 6 out of 8 weeks.  Horseback riding is one of the recognized activities so if you're riding feel free to join up.

What do you get? Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.  You can also get a t-shirt, stickers, etc.  You do have to pay a small fee to get them mailed to you but it's still cheaper than signing up for a 5K.  There is no fee to sign up.

It's too bad they don't have an award for all the pets that walk along with their people, I'd bet they'd have a lot of them sign up.  I thought of signing Best up some how but thought they might notice someone named "Against the Best."  :)

Priceless

When starting a new horse after driving a champion driving horse there are bound to be comparisons.  Tonight "Best" showed that even if he never wins a blue ribbon he's still an outstanding representative for Standardbreds.  We had three 'priceless' moments tonight.

Today was the open house at the Deer Creek Stable where I board.  I'm the only driving horse there and they don't do driving lessons so I hadn't planned on driving today.  I put my ribbon wall hanging on Best's door and made sure the cart looked good but that was the extent of my planned participation.  Oh, and I braided Best's mane and tail.  While I had him out, brushing on him, two young girls came by.  They had driven a mini once and were interested in driving a horse.  I wasn't going to hook but I thought, what the heck, I'll tack him up and let them line drive him.  As an extra precaution I hooked a lounge line to him so that if something went wrong I'd have a back up, after all this is a horse that was racing just 50 days ago. 

That was when we had our first priceless moment - he was perfect.  Both girls line drove him several times around the ring and had a blast.  They thanked me several times and gave Best a good petting.  One remarked that she was going to consider doing some more driving.

The second priceless moment came when I was walking around with Best.  We ended up near my car and I thought I'd save myself a walk later by grabbing the lawn chair then.  All was well until I took a bad step. Down I went!  Chair went one way, glasses went another, and I did a landing that included multiple location grass stains! As I was falling I thought, CRUD!  There goes the horse!  How wrong was I?  He just stopped and patiently waited until I got up (which took a couple of minutes).  Anyone else would have been gone!

The third priceless moment was the result of several people asking me about hooking Best.  I finally decided I would and immediately had a line of people wanting rides.  None of them had ever had a driving experience before.  One little girl, when asked if she had ever been in a cart before, replied "Only in the grocery store!"  Another little girl who might have been 2 or 3 years old rode with her Mom with a smile and loved trotting.  Later she came up to me and asked if she could have another ride.  I promised that the next time she came I'd be happy to take her for another ride.

I loved driving Draken and wouldn't change the experiences I had with him for the world but he never would have done what Best did today.  And so I can say with all seriousness that even if he never wins a blue ribbon he's providing me with priceless experiences all the same. 

The Right Side

Sometimes you're right but it doesn't make a difference if your horse believes you're wrong. I've been working with Best on leading and lunging to the right and he just doesn't believe it is the proper thing to do.  He's not mean or obnoxious about it, but if you give him an inch he'll put you back on his left side.  My big achievement of the week?  He made it one round of the lunge line going clockwise without stopping.  Stop the presses!

Actually it is a big deal for Best.  For 11 years everyone worked with him in one specific way and now, in a very short amount of time, I'm asking him to give up those 11 years of training for something very different.  Even when he was in harness they turned him to the left more often than the right. That's hard for him to learn such a different way of going. 
Draken never had any issues with people being anywhere around him, which I think was a result of being at Morrisville College.  So in an effort to help Best I've tapped into my local library.  Currently I'm reading Clinton Andersons' Downunder Horsemanship for some advice and have found his concept of "comfort zones" to be helpful with Best. 

I did have to put us both in 'time out' on Sunday though.  Best was bending to the left but just wasn't getting it to the right.  It was very frustrating for both of us. However, before either of us did something stupid I put us in the center of the ring and we just stood there for a while, chilling.  When we hit the rail again we still couldn't bend to the right, so I stopped and went to the left.  We finished on a semi-positive note.  Before we go back to work on bending I'm going to spend some more time working with him on the lunge line.  Realistically, if he can't get a round circle with me on the ground then it's probably to early to be asking for it in the cart.  Hopefully that will get us going in the 'right' direction.

Bend just a little bit

Best is starting to bend, just a little bit but enough to notice a difference.  We've been doing so many circles that I might be getting dizzy!

Big circles, little circles, spiralling in to the center of the ring and then spiralling out, I think we've used every inch of the arena at this point.  We've spent so much time down there that even the wild life is starting to accept us.  Yesterday a bunny joined us for quite a while, he kept an eye on us but didn't let us interrupt his dinner.  I think he must have heard that we are trying carrot stretches.

"Best" at the KY Horse Park

From the first weekend I drove Best until the next time I saw him was about 10 days.  While I was making arrangements to board Best in Pittsburgh, the rest of the family was getting ready for our trip to the Kentucky Horse Park for the Carriage Round-up.  We greatly enjoy the Carriage Round-up and try to attend every year but we skipped last year because Draken was going to WEG.  It was a busy week for everyone. 

I ordered a new Zilco harness with Empathy 3 collar for Best from Advanced Equine Products and they rushed it to me so I would have it in time to go to KY.  I found a place for Best only 30 mins from where I live (which sounds like a lot but believe me when I say it's hard to find a place that will take a driving horse in the Pittsburgh area).  It all came together though in time for KY. 

Above is a clip of "Best" appearing in the KYHP's Parade of Breeds during the Carriage Round-up.  This is actually his second appearance there, he also appeared the day before.  In both cases he did fabulous.  I just kept him walking before it was time to go into the ring, presented him and then kept him walking afterwards.  When we were invited back into the ring for pictures he stood well on the second day after he learned that people would come and pet him if he did.  He might be a 'ham' in the making because he was definately sucking that up.

First Drive

Against the Best came recommended to us by our vet, Gary Smith.  We'd made him aware that we were looking for a replacement for Draken, as we were getting ready to retire him.  That left us with some pretty big shoes to fill and after several months of looking "Best" was gifted to me from Kyle and Robin DiBenedetto .  Best raced just three days before he came to my parent's farm in NY.  He spent a week relaxing before I was able to visit from Pittsburgh.  This is a picture of our first drive on May 21, 2011.

He was nice at the walk but we had some issues at the trot.  Mainly, he didn't know the same verbal command 'trot' as I did and by the time I figured out what worked we were moving quite briskly along.  We got the hang of it though, and by the second day Best demonstrated both a slow trot and a working trot.  He wouldn't stay in the slow trot for very long (which isn't surprising) but he also wasn't trying to run off with me. 

One thing you always have to keep in mind when driving a STB that has raced successfully is that they race at 30+ mph.  What may be a scary speed to you as a pleasure driver may just be a working gait for the horse.  Draken had a road gait (meaning he could keep the same speed for miles) of about 13 mph for years, at age 20 it's more in the 8-10 mph range but he'll never be a truly slow horse.  I haven't clocked Best yet but I would guess that he's in the same range.  For comparison, most horses average about 8 mph or less at a trot.  As long as you don't expect the race horse to become a pleasure horse overnight you shouldn't have any problems - it can actually be a lot of fun!