Author: RoanokeEquestrian

GET YOUR HORSE FIX: Equestrian events in the Roanoke area Aug. 29-30

 

Novelisto, who starred in “A Winter’s Tale” will be part
of a mini-clinic with Hollywood horse trainer Rex Peterson at the
Virginia Horse Center on Saturday evening..

VIRGINIA HORSE CENTER

  • Sallie B. Wheeler East Coast Hunter Breeding National Championship, Aug. 28-29: The Sallie B Wheeler/US Hunter Breeding Championship was created to increase awareness of the Hunter Breeding division and provide an arena for handlers, owners, and breeders to showcase their talented young horses. It offers two championships, East and West. The same judges officiate at both. Classes are judged on conformation, way of moving, quality, substance, and suitability to become hunters.
  • Young Horse Festival, Aug. 28-29: The Young Horse Festival is held in conjunction with the Sallie B. Wheeler/US Hunter Breeding Championship Event. Both events will take place in Wiley Arena.
  • IALHA Andalusian Nationals, Aug. 24-29: The Andalusian National Championship continues this weekend in the Coliseum. On Saturday at 5 p.m. a Hollywood Trick Training mini-clinic will be held with top trainer Rex Peterson. Peterson trained Novelisto, Hidalgo, Black Beauty and many other famous horses for the the silver screen. “Hidalgo” star RJ Masterbug and “Winters Tale” star Novelisto will appear. This event is free and open to the public. Saturday evening’s session will follow and includes a variety of classes including costume classes, driving, saddle seat and Western. 

OPEN SHOWS

  • Astride with Pride Benefit Horse Show, Aug. 29: The 12th annual show will be held Saturday at the Pine Spur Hunt Club showgrounds in Vinton, Va. The show will include halter, Western, hunter, English, Youth, driving, Draft, Saddlebred and Arabian classes. Find a show bill here.
  •  New London Horse Show Series, Sept. 5 (postponed from June 6): New London will hold the third show in its series at Coyote Crossing Cattle Company (4178 Headens Bridge Rd.) Bedford. Lauren Maddox will judge.
  • Sprouse’s Corner Ranch Series Summer Horse Show, Aug. 29,: The horse show series continues in Buckingham, Va. (16680 W James Anderson Hwy.) Ken Davis will judge. The show is Blue Ridge Horse Force sanctioned and counts toward year-end high points for the series.

TALKS/CLINICS 

The Bedford County Fair is back and on Friday it includes several equestrian demonstrations.

  • 1:30pm – Plowing and seedbed preparation with draft horses BEA members
  • 1:30pm – Presentation by Bedford Hunt Club
  • 2:00pm – Horse Shoeing Demonstration by Dr. Hilgartner
  • 3:30pm – Side Saddle Riding by Heidi Opdyke
  • 4:00pm – Logging with draft horses by India Nichols
  • 4:00pm – Equine dentistry talk and demonstration by Heather Hilgartner
  • 5:00pm – Parade of breeds by various people 

LOOK AHEAD

Like Roanoke Equestrian on Facebook for continued updates on horse shows in the area. Have a show coming up? Contact us at Roanoke.Equestrian@gmail.com to add it to our calendar.

Clinton Anderson brings his Walkabout Tour to Virginia Horse Center

Clinton Anderson rides one of his performance
horses during a session on Saturday.

Clinton Anderson’s Walkabout Tour came to the horse center in Lexington, Virginia, this weekend, bringing Anderson’s message of demanding respect from our equine partners.

Demonstrating his method throughout the sessions, all problems there were illustrated along the way come back to the same refrain. Equestrians were shown that they don’t have a problem with spookiness or trailers or [insert bad horse habit here], they have a problem with respect.

Working with a combination of his own horses and local horses brought to the tour to fix a problem, Anderson showed how gaining respect is the door to fixing any problem.

Anderson mixes humor with a no nonsense approach to horse training while introducing his life’s work of his method for training horses. While Anderson rides Western and is now competing on Western performance horses for events such as reining and be used for any discipline.

The tour is informative, but if you are fairly familiar with his method and already a believer, you may only pick up a few tidbits. It’s not a how-to session, but an impressive demonstration of how the method can completely change a horse. Just like his TV show on RFD-TV, the sessions are mixed with product endorsements from his sponsors. Anderson is an excellent salesman, and you’ll find yourself talked into products you never knew you wanted. Those pitches are accompanied by giveaways, with winners dancing and screaming at times to earn a prize. But all the dancing in the world couldn’t beat little girl cuteness and one lucky little girl was chosen to receive a saddle from Anderson when her program number was picked. There are times when you start to feel like you have a ticket to a weekend-long, live infomercial.

One of the local horses enters the arena to begin its groundwork.
Clinton Anderson’s student Diego comes forward to take the lead from the owner. The horse wouldn’t stand still and would push into and circle his owner repeatedly.
Diego begins driving the gelding out of his personal space
by hitting the lead with his stick to back the horse away.

Diego drives the gelding to move his feet.

The gelding gets some time to rest, his head down and licking his lips,
showing his change in attitude.
Anderson stresses that if your horse is having fun, you won’t be.
The local palomino came back with a much different attitude for his second lesson on Sunday.

Later on Sunday, the gelding was ridden, demonstrating
using the fundamentals under saddle.

The humor kept the crown laughing, and often at their own expense. Anderson takes shots at just about everyone along the way, often ribbing those who ride English, Gaited horses or blondes from California. If you are sensitive and looking for politically correct, you’re likely to be offended at least once during the weekend. The sessions are kept lively and fun, and the crowd remained attentive and interactive with Anderson.

Anderson’s methods are criticized by some as being too aggressive, but he explains that the only gets as rough with them as is necessary to get the job done. Anderson and his students, who did much of the training work at the tour while he talked about what was going on to the crowd, have incredible feel for the horse. And Anderson continually repeats that the horse doesn’t learn from pressure, but the release of that pressure.

Several local horses were used on the tour and each of them showed an incredible change in attitude even in a very short period of time. One of the most impressive may have been a chestnut quarter horse who wouldn’t load into a trailer without first being drugged. After about an hour of work with Anderson’s student, the horse was loading and craving being inside the trailer. “Make the good thing easy, and the bad thing hard” is behind much of the method. Moving the horse’s feet is the key to progress.

Clinton Anderson warms up for a riding session.

Clinton Anderson warms up a performance horse gelding.

Clinton Anderson stands with one of his horses.

Diez lopes a circle around his handler, waiting to be told to yield.

One of Clinton Anderson’s students works with Diez.

Clinton Anderson shows a few tricks with his star horse, Diez.

Clinton Anderson jokes as he starts to work with a Chincoteague pony that it’s going to make him look like a jerk because the pony is so little and cute.

Clinton Anderson works with a Chincoteague rescue pony who acted afraid of people. Anderson spoke about how the pony had gotten very good at training people to remove pressure and get away from him.

Dancing for a prize.

Dancing the “Macarena” to win a prize.

A winner of one of the drawings cheers.

GET YOUR HORSE FIX: Equestrian events in the Roanoke area Aug. 22-23

The Cross View Horse Show Series continues this weekend with Dog Days of Summer.

  OPEN SHOWS

CLINICS/TALKS

  • Watch Clinton Anderson put one of his horses through their paces as his Walkabout Tour comes to the Virginia Horse Center Aug. 22-23. The Downunder Horsemanship method of horse training is based on mutual respect and understanding and gives horse owners the knowledge needed to become skilled horsemen and train their horses to be consistent and willing partners, according to his Website. Tickets are required to attend the clinic:  $50, 12 and under are admitted free. Day 1 of the clinic includes: Philosophy Behind the Method, Roundpenning, Gaining Your Horse’s Respect on the Ground,and Advanced Riding.Day 2 includes: Tricks and Liberty,Desensitizing Your Horse to Spooky Objects,Advancing Your Groundwork,Gaining Respect Under Saddle, and Trailer Troubles. 
  • Richard Winters Horsemanship Clinic with Cattle, Aug. 21-23, Crockett, Va. Join NRCHA World Champion Richard Winters for a Horsemanship Clinic at Dreamweaver Farms in Crockett, Va. Spectators are welcome for $25 a day.
  • Equi-Fest at the Sedalia Center, 9 a.m. on Aug. 22 at the Sedalia Center in Big Island, Va. Featuring a variety of demos including the Bedford County Hunt, Natural Chimneys Jousting Club and Mounted Shooting. Plus find vendors, concessions, musical performances, pony rides, a petting zoo and a tack swap. Free admission, $5 parking per car.

VIRGINIA HORSE CENTER

Clinton Anderson’s Walkabout Tour will be the big show at the VHC this weekend. But it’s not the only thing going on. The USEF/PFHA double pointed Paso Fino horse show in the East Complex and the American Connemara Pony Society Region III Show will be in Barn 5 and Northern Arena.

And next week, moving in on Monday, Aug. 24, the IALHA Andalusian Nationals comes to the horse center. Tuesday, Aug. 25, will include the Virginia Open Breed Dressage Show. Among many other classes, this show will include Working Equitation, a discipline based on the tradition of field work on ranches. Some might describe it as Trail Class on steroids.  Working Equitation is scheduled for Wednesday in Fletcher Arena. Find a video example below of 2012 Andalusian Nationals Working Equitation Champion.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/geU1Cmbp2bc?feature=player_embedded

TRAIL RIDING

ONLINE

Want to stay home on the couch and still get your horse fix? The Internet understands.

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Like Roanoke Equestrian on Facebook for continued updates on horse shows in the area. Have a show coming up? Contact us at Roanoke.Equestrian@gmail.com to add it to our calendar.

GET YOUR HORSE FIX: Equestrian events in the Roanoke area Aug. 14-16

OPEN SHOWS

The New London Horse Show Series continues Saturday at Coyote Crossing Cattle Company at 4178 Headens Bridge Road, Bedford. Neal Bost will judge. The arena footing at Coyote Crossing’s new show grounds has been recently redone with a new stone base. The show will begin at 9 a.m. with halter and showmanship classes. The show includes classes for English, Western, Minis, Arabians and Ranch Riding. Send pre-entries to NewLondonHorseShow@gmail.com.

VIRGINIA HORSE CENTER

The horse center will host the National Barrel Horse Association’s Colonial Nationals from Thursday, Aug. 13 to Sunday, Aug. 16. The Colonial Nationals is one of eight national shows that lead to the NBHA World Championships and attracts more than 1,000 entries from 20 states to compete for $100,000 in cash and prizes.

TALKS/CLINICS/MISC.

  • The Trail Horse Clinic & Challenge with Perfect Partners Equine will be held Aug. 13-16 in Ivanhoe, Va. Clinicians Odell Grose, Jackie Turnbull, Joe Most & Trent Rhea will join riders along the New River at the Ivanhoe Show Grounds, 527 Trestle Road, Ivanhoe. Thursday and Friday will feature clinics, while Saturday and Sunday will feature Trail Horse competitions. Classes will be offered at three levels — Training, Intermediate and Masters.
  • The Botetourt County Horseman’s Association will host Virginia Trail Talk with Sally Aungier, who is a member of the Governor’s State Trail Committee at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, at Fincastle Library. The talk will focus on who manages the lands equestrians ride on, places to ride and a Q&A session. Please RSVP to bilju@yahoo.com. That evening the organization will also host a BCHA Member Summer Social at Fincastle Vineyard & Winery. The event is part of a membership drive. $12 gives you a concert and wine-tasting plus a yearlong membership with the BCHA. RSVP with Debbie Mooty at 540-312-8393. 
  • ABT Tack will be having a tack yard sale this Saturday in Roanoke at 6109 Ashmont Drive (off Cotton Hill Road) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Find a list of items for sale here.

REMEMBER TO REGISTER

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    Mary Elizabeth Cordia wins VHSA/EMO Medal Finals

    Mary Elizabeth Cordia won the VHSA Medal Finals
    on Saturday night. Photo by Phelps Media Group.

    Mary Elizabeth Cordia of Alexandria, Virginia, grabbed the VHSA/EMO Medal Finals title on Saturday evening at the Virginia Horse Center as part of the Lexington National Horse Show.

    Cordia was also Reserve in the Championship on the Flat prior to the Medal Finals.

    Nineteen competitors vied for the year-end title in the Coliseum. One rider didn’t finish after a fall on course.

    The top four riders were invited back into the arena after all riders had completed the course. Each of those riders were then given a new course to ride that included hand-galloping to the first fence from the lineup, trotting the second fence, cantering the next three fences, then halting before cantering the next fence and walking back into the lineup on a loose rein.

    “I was a little bit worried about the halt because that’s definitely our weakest point. Sometimes he just decides that he doesn’t want to stand. I was happy when he agreed with me when I asked him to do it!,” Cordia said of Thrift Shop, her winning mount, a Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Fairfield Farms.

    Cordia was the last to ride the work-off course and maintained her lead in the class with a final score of 85. Find the video of her work-off round at the bottom of this post.

    The Top 3 riders dismounted before the placings were made and mounted podiums Olympic Games style to receive their awards. Personally, it made me feel like their equine partners were a little left out standing on the side with grooms. And it was hard to follow for spectators as you could no longer tell which rider was which once they left their horses.

    The Top 3 placings were:

    1. Mary Elizabeth Cordia of Alexandria, Virginia.
    2. Darby Cole of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
    3. Grace Boston of Owings Mill, Maryland.

    The groom of the winning horse was also given an award for all their hard work getting the horse to the top of the competitive class of equitation riders.

    Mary Elizabeth Cordia takes her victory gallop on Thrift Shop.
    Casey Schmitz of Ashburn, Va., placed fourth in the Medal Finals.

        

     

    Casey Schmitz of Ashburn, Va., placed fourth in the Medal Finals.

    Elizabeth Bailey of Roanoke.
     

    Mary Elizabeth Cordia rode Thrift Shop to a win in the
    VHSA/EMO Medal Finals at the Virginia Horse Center.

    Mary Elizabeth Cordia rode Thrift Shop to a win in the
    VHSA/EMO Medal Finals at the Virginia Horse Center.

    https://www.youtube.com/embed/WN8FHehoG2k?feature=player_embedded

    Elizabeth Bailey of Roanoke wins VHSA Championship on the Flat

    Elizabeth Bailey takes her victory lap.

    Elizabeth Bailey of Roanoke outlasted a class of 24 to win the VHSA Championship on the Flat on Saturday evening at the Virginia Horse Center.

    The large class was put through several gaits in each direction including extension of both the trot and the canter.  The class was also split in half to perform a counter-canter in each direction.

    The top nine riders were asked to take the rail and given additional testing as the judges’ whittled the class to its top rider. By the time the riders were asked to drop their irons, only two riders were left. At the working trot, sitting, reserve champion Mary Elizabeth Cordia, was invited to come to the center, leaving just Bailey on the rail.

    The Top 3 (from left) Selina Peronelli, or Churchville, Maryland, Mary Elizabeth Cordia,
    of Alexandria, Va., and Elizabeth Bailey, of Roanoke.
    Elizabeth Bailey of Roanoke

    GET YOUR HORSE FIX: Equestrian events in the Roanoke area August 1-2

    VIRGINIA HORSE CENTER

    The Eastern Arabian Horse Show & East Coast Championships will be held Thursday, July 30 through Sunday, Aug. 2 at the Virginia Horse Center. Michele Blackwell-Betten, Oliver Brown, Phoebe Devoe-Moore, Nicky Vogel and Gwen Ka’awaloa will judge the Eastern Arabian Horse Show. Wendy Gruskiewicz, Kevn Price, Dawn Coons, Grace Greenlee, David Schmutz,Phoebe Devoe-Moore, Gwen Ka’awaloa and Nancy Ashway will judge the East Coast Championship classes. In honor of the late Sue Eves, a perpetual trophy has been established in her honor to be awarded to the Purebred Arabian earning the most points in Sport Horse In Hand and Sport Horse Under Saddle classes, combined, at the East Coast Championships. The show will also include a Egyptian Arabian Performance Challenge. A detailed class list can be found here.  And if you are curious about Egyptian Arabians, find an article here by The Roanoke Times on a local breeder.

    HUNTER/JUMPERS

    • Horseplay 4-H Benefit Show, will be held Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Alphin-Stewart Arena at Virginia Tech. This show is also Blue Ridge Horse Force sanctioned. The show begins at 10 a.m. and has a variety of flat and over-fences classes. The afternoon session, which won’t start before 2 p.m., also includes several dressage seat equitation classes, leadline and showmanship.

    CLINICS/TALKS

      A few auditor spots are still available for the Julie Winkel Clinic (hunt seat equitation), Tuesday, Aug. 4, Virginia Horse Center. Winkel is a trainer, judge, and popular clinician. She’s trained and shown hunters and jumpers to the top levels, nationally and internationally, and has had many grand prix wins and hunter championships throughout her career.

        LOOK AHEAD

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        GET YOUR HORSE FIX: Equestrian events in the Roanoke region July 18-19

        OPEN SHOWS

        The New London Horse Show Series will hold its first show of the season (after the first show was postponed due to weather) on Saturday, July 18, at Coyote Crossing Cattle Company (4178 Headens Bridge Road) in Bedford, Va. Wendy Snyder is set to judge. The show includes classes for hunters on the flat, Western, Ranch Riding, Halter, Minis, Gaited, Arabian, Saddle Seat and includes several championship classes with added-money payouts. The show is Blue Ridge Horse Force sanctioned. The Jo Anne Bass Memorial Trophy will be presented to the winner of the Arabian English Pleasure Class.

        VIRGINIA HORSE CENTER

        The center will be hosting the Rockbridge Regional Fair this week, and two horse shows will be included. The Southern States Horse Show is July 16-18 in Wiley Arena. Brook Jacobs of Georgetown, Kentucky, will judge Saddlebreds and Bill Garvey of Hagerstown, Maryland, will judge Hunter, Western and Walking classes.

        • THURSDAY, 6:30 p.m.: Saddlebred classes included Park Harness, Country Pleasure, 5- and 3-Gaited Pleasure classes.
        • FRIDAY, 6:30 p.m.: Saddlebred classes continue
        • SATURDAY, 8:30 a.m.: Open show classes including Saddleseat, Western, Hunter, Showmanship and Model English/Western classes throughout the day
        • SATURDAY, 6 p.m.: Saddlebred Championship Classes

        DRESSAGE

        The Southwest Virginia Dressage Association will hold a schooling show on Saturday, July 18, at Green Hill Park in Salem, Va.

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        At Pine Spur Hunt Club Horse Show, draft horses have a place in the spotlight

        Pine Spur Hunt Club held their 62nd annual horse show on Saturday, July 11, featuring a variety of breeds. Gaited horses dominated the classes in the evening session, but the drafts and draft crosses also were featured in several classes and a demonstration to lead off the evening session. Here are photos of the gentle giants from Saturday night:

        Equestrian community mourns loss of legendary coach J.T. Tallon

        “Hunter courses are a little bit like Muzak in an elevator. You know it’s there but it should never call attention to itself.” 

        J.T. Tallon riding Charlotte Jones’ Goldschaum in 1996.
        Photo via SWVHJA Facebook page.

         

        Collegiate riding lost a legendary and colorful figure Saturday, July 11, when J.T. Tallon died in a Lexington, Va., hospice center, the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association said Monday in a news release. He was 62.

        Tallon had battled cancer for some time and suffered complications from a car accident in March.

        IHSA Executive Director Bob Cacchione has pledged IHSA will create a Zone 4 scholarship in the name of Tallon.

        Tallon was best known for coaching perhaps the most successful IHSA team of all time – Southern Seminary for Women in Buena Vista, Virginia – first as an assistant to Russ Walther, and later taking over as head coach. Southern Seminary was the IHSA National Champion team eight times in the 1980s.

        Over three decades, Tallon became involved in nearly everything in the central Virginia hunter/jumper business. “He was always there,” said his old boss, Russ Walther. “He truly was a fixture of the horse industry in that part of Virginia, as a coach, trainer, course designer and judge.”

        Photo via Facebook

        For 16 years, Tallon made the hour-long drive daily over the Blue Ridge Mountains from his home in Lexington, Va., to his job as equestrian director at Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, before retiring in 2011. At Randolph, he won three championships in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, coached several riders to IHSA and ANRC Nationals ribbons, and coached Randolph-Macon to its best (third-place) Collegiate Cup Team finish at the 1999 IHSA Nationals.

        “He was a great coach and improved riding tremendously in this area,” said Nancy Peterson, the long time Equestrian Director of Hollins University in Roanoke.

        Tallon was originally from Philadelphia, coming to Virginia to attend Roanoke College. He was teaching lessons when Walther hired him at Southern Seminary. Since retiring from collegiate coaching, Tallon worked as a instructor, as well as judging horse shows and doing course design. He recently had been working out of Stone Bridge Equestrian Center in Lexington, Va.

        J.T. Tallon died Saturday,
        July 11, in Lexington, Va.
        Photo via Facebook.

        “Hunter courses are a little bit like Muzak in an elevator,” Tallon once said, “You know it’s there but it should never call attention to itself.”

        He was famous for his colorful and descriptive way of teaching: “He jumps like a cow falling out of a tree.” His students will tell you they still hear his commentary running inside their heads while riding.

        Contributions to the JT Tallon IHSA Scholarship may be mailed to IHSA VP George Lukemire at 311 Parker-Slatton Road, Simpsonville, SC 29681.

        Tallon and a group of other riders formed the Southwest Virginia Hunter/Jumper Association (SWVHJA). They formulated a set of rules, divisions and levels of competition based on the horse’s experience and the rider’s ability. Tallon served as president of the group in the early 1990s and was just inducted into its Hall of Fame.

        Tallon was also a fixture at the Roanoke Valley Horse Show for many years and his wife, Sue, was part of the show office staff.    

        Elsewhere in the media: