Join us at Equine Affaire Ohio

April 11th at 10 am I will be discussing From Racing to the Ring: Transitioning the Standardbred from the Racetrack in a New Career on the Nutrena Seminar Stage at Equine Affaire Ohio. Among the topics that will be covered are:

Finding the best career fit for your horse - western, english and driving or any combination thereof

Bending and balance

Trotting, pacing and other gaits including the canter

Showing - SPHO and open shows

Overcoming prejudiced

I hope you'll come out and learn a bit more about this wonderful breed.

http://www.equineaffaire.com/u/pdf/13_oh_schedule_03-20-13.pdf

Tandem (aka I thought I was retired?)

Draken recently made a trip to the KY Horse Park for Carriage Round-up.  While our family has been going off and on for over 10 years now, Draken hasn't been to the park since WEG.  In fact, I think it was his first trailer trip in 2 years!  While Joyce (my Mom) drives him a couple times a month it's mainly just down the road or around the back pasture so he was really relaxed this trip.

My brother, Brian, driving Draken with his son in the back seat of a carriage once owned by our grandparents.  Not looking too bad for a 21 year old, is he?

We had a bit of rain to cool things off on Thursday but it made for nice driving weather, if a bit damp. Draken and Mom with the marathon vehicle.

On Saturday, Clay Maier was nice enough to come over and help us drive tandem.  Here he is working with Draken before we hitch.  While Draken taught a lot of people how to drive while at Morrisville, he's not always the easiest horse to drive (he always gives you 110% whether you want it or not) and he doesn't really appreciate being lunged so I wasn't sure how he'd do with Clay.  They got along just fine!  Clay mentioned twice that he was a really nice horse and you can tell by Draken's attitude that he liked the way Clay drove him.

This is it, the moment you've all been waiting for!  Draken and Against the Best together in Tandem!

Many thanks to the Jerry and Nancy Bedinghaus for their help getting hooked.  Also, thanks to Charlie Poppe for loaning us the equipment.

Clay definitely makes driving tandem look easier than it is.  Both horses were doing well enough that I was able to take the lines for a few minutes and what an experience that was!  That top line really needs to be able to slide while the bottom line stays steady.  As we practice and become more comfortable we'll be working on my rein handling skills, getting Best more collected and forward, and getting the boys more in step.  All in all, it was a great experience.  Many, many thanks to all those who helped make it possible!

Sleighing with Draken

Draken at 20!

Moving on

As you may know we did decide to retire Draken from competition (okay, so he may go to a fun show now and then just for the heck of it).  I've started a new horse called Against the Best and if you'd like to follow our adventures in driving our welcome to visit us at http://www.againstthebest.blogspot.com/.  I'll continue to update Draken's blog with major events in his life but right now he's just enjoying life in the shade along with the occasional treat.

Draken Racing!

Many thanks to Ryan Castro for sending me this picture of Draken racing!  We've had Draken for 12 years but this is the first racing photo we've seem.  Thank you very much!!

Seeking a racing photo of Draken

Desperately seeking a racing photo of Draken - anyone have one or have any ideas on how to get one? I want to get his ribbons turned into a wall hanging. Found a person to do it, have the ribbons but want to include 4 photos - racing, dressage, cones and marathon.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.