April 22, 2013 Spring is here and we're getting ready for another show season! The horses have been working wonderfully all winter. I'm excited to have the RPSI mare, Deliteful, to show this summer along with my own horse, Silverado. There are also a number of Expressions Dressage students that will be showing as well. We're all hoping for a beautiful summer and show season! I also have another horse for sale. He's a super 14 year-old thoroughbred gelding suitable for a wide variety of riders. Please visit my 'sales' page or email me at expressions.dressage@yahoo.com for more information. Please check in to the 'schedule' page regularly for updates to our 2013 show and clinic schedule! Enjoy the spring everyone! January 11, 2013 Happy New Year Everyone! Only one week until Silverado, Deliteful and I leave for our two weeks of training with Judy Kelly. I'm so excited to have this opportunity and so grateful to my friend and client, Lynn McIntyre, for sponsoring me and making this trip possible. If you're in Michigan and in need of auto repairs be sure to visit one of her Midas stores. She has locations in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Lansing. They've been a wonderful sponsor! December 27, 2012 Happy Holidays! 2012 has been a great year for Expressions Dressage and we're looking forward to a successful 2013! To start the year off right, I'm planning an intensive two-week training trip up to Clarkston, MI where I'll be working with my trainer, Judy Kelly. I'll be taking Silverado and a young mare I have in training, Deliteful. There is nothing more beneficial to training than spending quality time focusing on riding without the distractions of every-day life. This is my kind of 'vacation'!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and best wishes in 2013! November 10, 2012 I have a lovely mare for sale. She's a 1995, 15.2 hand thoroughbred mare with an incredible temperament. She would be a wonderful lesson horse, therapy horse or first horse. Please visit my 'Sales' page for more information and a video. September 14, 2012 I'm excited to announce that Silverado and I will be participating in the Michael Barisone clinic at Albion College next weekend, Saturday, September 22nd. There are still auditor spaces available so if you're interested in coming to watch please contact me asap! July 10, 2012 CONGRATULATIONS!!! Over the weekend of July 1st Expressions Dressage traveled to the Woodbine schooling show in Chelsea, MI. This show was a tremendous success! The young RPSI mare "Molly" brought home a first place finish and a 60% at her first show ever. Amanda and Storm won both their classes with scores of 67% and 65%. The young RPSI mare "Deliteful" won her first First Level test with a score over 65% even though she started out the day rather feisty. Shaylee and Annie earned third and fourth place finishes in their Intro classes with scores of 63% and 61%. It was Shaylee's first time cantering in a test and she was competing against adults and professionals (she's only 10!) so we were very proud of her! Overall it was a lovely and successful day. Congratulations everyone! June 26, 2012 CONGRATULATIONS!!! Over the weekend of June 15-17 we traveled to our first recognized dressage show of the season. Lucy and Dee earned both of their qualifying scores for regionals and they placed well in all of their very large classes with all their scores well over 60%. In addition, after only a week and a half of working together, Cloudette and Annie had a successful weekend and brought home the Reserve Championship for their division. We have another show coming up this Sunday, July 1, 2012. This will be the first show for several of my training horses and many Expressions Dressage students will be attending. Good luck to everyone! Finally, I have TWO new sales horses. These are both lovely horses and they have both been in training for a while so they are solid and ready to go to new homes. Information, pictures, and video are posted on the 'Sales' page but below is some basic information: Love Song, 2007, RPSI, Mare. This 16.2 hand mare has basic dressage and jumping training. She has started the shoulder-in and leg yield on the flat and some basic grid and course jumping over fences. This lovely mare would make an excellent dressage, eventing, or hunter/jumper prospect is priced to sell at $9500.00 obo. Tucker, 2003, AQHA Appendix and American Warmblood, Gelding. Tucker is a lovely 16.0 hand, first level, gelding with a wonderful, safe disposition and a lot of potential for dressage. His is a very soft and willing horse with warmblood gaits. He would be suitable for many riders as he is a high enough quality horse for a professional or young rider but smooth enough and safe enough for an amateur. Asking $7500.00 obo. June 4, 2012 CONGRATULATIONS!!! Amanda and Storm won both their classes at the Michigan All Morgan dressage competition in East Lansing, MI on Saturday, May 26, 2012. They scored a 67% and a 70% at Training Level in their first recognized competition and only their second show together! On Sunday, June 3, 2012, Lucy and Deliteful placed third (out of 11!) at the Cobblestone Farm TEAM Horse Trial. They finished on their dressage score with clean cross country and stadium rounds. Our next show will be a recognized dressage show at the Waterloo Hunt Club on June 15-17, 2012. Following this show we will attend a schooling show at Woodbine Farm on Sunday, July 1st. Check out our 'Schedule' page for more information. May 9, 2012 SAVE THE DATE! Our 2012 Intensive Day Camp is scheduled for Saturday, August 4, 2012. Every participant will have the opportunity to take a dressage lesson in the morning and in the afternoon participants will be able to choose between going for a trail ride or taking a jumping lesson. I will be giving the morning dressage lessons and leading the trail ride and two-star event rider, Brett Huard, will be coming in to give the jumping lessons. It should be a fun and educational day! More information can be obtained by emailing me at expressions.dressage@yahoo.com. Everyone over the age of 10 is invited!!! April 18, 2012 Viva Las Vegas! I just returned from (not so) sunny Las Vegas. A friend of mine flew me out to help her through her first recognized dressage show. We had such a lovely time. She won both her classes and had the highest score of the day! It was so much fun to show her all the ins and outs of showing at the rated level. Eventing University is this Sunday! I am so excited to be one of the dressage instructors participating this year. There are over 6o entries so it should be a very fun and busy day. I'm also excited that several Expressions Dressage students will be riding in the event as well. I'm a huge proponent of cross training dressage horses and this is the perfect opportunity to introduce the horses to new training opportunities in a new environment. Everyone at Expressions Dressage is gearing up for show season and we have a lot planned this year! Please check out my 'Schedule' page to view the updated calendar of events. This year's schedule includes a combination of recognized dressage shows, schooling dressage shows, and horse trials. I also hope to add an adult camp to the schedule soon so check back often! February 14, 2012 Happy Belated New Year everyone! Sorry for such a long delay since my last update. On December 2, 2011 I went through major surgery for endometriosis, adenomyosis, and chronic appendicitis. The surgery was very successful and I'm feeling much better. I started riding almost four weeks ago and have never been happier to be back in the saddle! My schedule has been updated to include a show on March 18th and a clinic on April 22nd. I will be giving dressage lessons at the Eventing University, which will be organized by Jennifer Brooks, and I have several students attending this event. If you are interested in more information please let me know. Also, please note that I have posted a new Rate Schedule for 2012. My lesson rates will remain the same and I have lowered hauling rates for clients. Finally, I'm still looking for more testimonials to post on my website so if you've been happy with your Expressions Dressage experience and would like to write something up please do so and email it to me (with a photo!) at expressions.dressage@yahoo.com. More updates to come... November 16, 2011 It has been a while since my last update and there have been several changes over the past couple months. I'm happy to announce that I have been able to somewhat lower my hauling rates for clients. (Please see my rate schedule on the 'Training' page for more details) Hopefully this change will make traveling to shows more affordable for clients and students. I'm also excited to announce that I have been asked to take over the teaching and training at Misty Meadow's farm in Parma. This lovely facility is just getting up and going again but it has a lot of potential and will make a wonderful compliment to my current teaching operation at B&J Horse Farm in Jackson. In addition, I will continue to travel to both Mason and Milan on a weekly basis. In addition, I would like to wish a HUGE congratulations to Shaylee and Annie for winning both of their dressage tests at their first dressage show two weeks ago. Both score were over 60%. Way to go!!! Finally, we are in the process of making plans to travel to several dressage and jumper schooling shows this winter. Check back often for details. Happy Thanksgiving!!! September 19, 2011 I have added a new page to my website offering testimonials from past and current clients. These wonderful people were generous enough to take the time to write about their experiences with Expressions Dressage. Check out what they have to say on the 'Testimonials' page. This page will continue to be updated so check back often! August 31, 2011 I added pictures of my new colt, Sinatra Soleil, to my 'Horses' page. I'm so excited about this youngster and will continue to add pictures as he grows. I'm also very excited that he will come home on October 15th!! I can't wait! August 22, 2011 New activities have been planned for September. Please visit my "Schedule" page for more information! LESSON HORSE AVAILABLE SOON!! I am so excited to welcome Cooper into my lesson and training program. Cooper is a 12 year-old thoroughbred gelding that has spend most of his life in a successful racing career. After retiring from the track at 8 years old this lovely gelding has been enjoying his career as a dressage and lesson horse. After allowing him a bit of time to adjust at my farm I hope to have Cooper available for a wide range of riders wishing to learn from this sweet boy. July 21, 2011 I'm so sorry it's been almost two months since my last update! The summer has definitely not turned out the way I had planned. Six weeks ago Silverado suffered a very serious torsion of his large colon and had to be rushed to MSU. He ended up going through surgery to correct the problem and has spent the time since recovering at home. Silverado's illness and subsequent recovery has forced me to cancel several schoolings, clinics, and shows due to the time required to care for and rehabilitate him. The good news is he's doing very well and can return to work in only two weeks! I'm also excited to announce that we have a potential buyer for Miss Bella and her pre-purchase is scheduled for Saturday. If all goes well she'll have a new owner and may even stay with us in training for a while. Everyone here loves Bella so that would be wonderful! As soon as Rado is completely back on normal turnout we'll begin scheduling some shows for the end of summer and for the fall. Please check back often for the updated schedule. May 25, 2011 It's a boy!!!! Early yesterday morning my Sinatra Song colt was born. He's a big, leggy boy and seems very healthy. I am so excited to welcome this beautiful boy into my horsey family! Spring is in full swing and there are many shows and activities planned for the next few months. Please visit my 'schedule' page for a full list. I hope everyone can join us!! May 3, 2011 I am so pleased to announce that we will be hosting a dresssage clinic with Grand Prix dressage rider Judy Kelly on June 18, 2011 at B&J Horse Farm in Jackson, MI. Please visit my 'Schedule' page for more information and a sign-up sheet. I hope everyone can join us! March 22, 2011 Spring is here and all the horses are feeling fresh and frisky! I am so pleased with the progress everyone has made over the winter and am looking forward to summer and the upcoming show season. I'm also extremely pleased with the progress my sale horse, Bella, has made in her training over the winter. This incredible mare is such a joy and is so willing and pleasant to train. More infomation can be found on my 'Sales' page and I should have new video within the next month. February 18, 2011 I wanted to share this wonderful quote by Charles de Kunffy. I've felt this way about teaching for years but have never found such an eloquent way to put it into words: "The obligation of the teacher to the pupil-regardless of the pupil's age, talent, financial circumstance, future prospects, etc.-should be to conduct each lesson as if you are coaching the future gold medalist of the next Olympics. It's not the teacher's job to teach an art or a science according to talent. It is not our job to punish or reward what we think is talent or a lack of it. I hope that in my teaching I never compromised that principle and show by attention, enthusiasm and diligence that each student is worthy of the best we can offer. Therefore, the job of a teacher is to conduct a lesson impeccably as if it were given to the greatest rider, deserving of the greatest attention in the finest way, suitable to the horse and the rider at that particular time. This concept must be your guiding light. This is the foundation of any and all teaching." February 10, 2011 WINTER HORSE HEALTH TIP: PREVENTING WINTER COLIC Colic is by far one of the most common winter health issues horse owners face. Often clients will ask me what causes winter colic and how it can be prevented. Most veterinarians agree that winter colic has three main causes; not enough water due to dry feed and freezing temperatures, inactivity and lack of exercise, and too many carbohydrates (grain). It's very tempting to care for horses in a way that seems comfortable to us however horses are not designed to live like humans. Horses are made to live outside, wander most of the time, and forage on grasses. When these natural tendencies are not met and horses are stalled for long periods of time and fed large quantities of grain problems can occur. Equus published an article about winter colic and below is a link to an excerpt from this article. Copy and paste the address below into your browser to read more about this common equine ailment: http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/illnesses_injuries/eqcolic3473/ January 18, 2011 So far January is off to an exciting start! I am pleased to announce that the Dressage Test Riding Clinic hosted by the MDA was a HUGE success!! An overwhelming 250 people attended this very educational clinic and Silverado was in his element performing all of the second and third level movements. Last Sunday the MDA hosted their annual awards banquet at the beautiful Waldenwoods Convention Center. Silverado and I were the Third Level Open Grand Champions and received a beautiful leather halter with an engraved brass name plate. It was a wonderful time! There's not much on the calendar for the rest of January and February however I am hoping to put together some mini-clinics with Maryal Barnett at the Milan barn and maybe get another clinic with Judy Kelly in the works for this spring at B&J Horse Farm in Jackson. Until then, stay warm everyone!!! December 28, 2010 The tentative schedule for the MDA Dressage Test Riding Clinic on January 8, 2011 is finally ready. Please visit my 'schedule' page for the link to view the schedule in .pdf format. I hope everyone can join us for this fun and informational clinic! December 16, 2010 I am so excited to announce that Silverado and I have been selected to participate in a clinic with Olympic Bronze Medallist, Debbie McDonald, on July 30-31, 2011. This is such an incredible opportunity for Rado and I to receive instruction from one of our country’s top riders. I would love for everyone to consider auditing. The riders in this clinic had to qualify to participate and all riders had to be competing at Third Level or above. For the auditors this will give a rare and exciting opportunity to watch accomplished riders and horses school the more advanced dressage work. Even if you have no desire to ride at the FEI levels it would still be a huge benefit to see first-hand what we are all striving for in our every-day riding. Please visit my 'Schedule' page for the Auditor Registration Form. Registration begins on January 3, 2011 and they are limiting the number of auditors to 200 people so get your registration in early! There will also be vendors on hand for all of you who love to shop! Maybe we can get a group to go and share hotel rooms... December 3, 2010 On Saturday, January 8, 2011 the Midwest Dressage Association will be hosting a Test Riding Clinic with Maryal Barnett and Dr. Hilary Clayton at the MSU McPhail Equine Performance Center in East Lansing. This clinic will introduce the new dressage tests for 2011 and will discuss in-depth the different movements and what the judges are looking for. I will be participating as a demonstration rider with Silverado and everyone is welcome to attend. The clinic is free to all MDA members and $10.00 for non-members. Doors open at 9:00am and the clinic starts at 9:30am. Please visit my 'Schedule' page for more information. It should be very educational a ton of fun! November 24, 2010 It's official! Silverado and I are the Midwest Dressage Association's Third Level Open Year-End Grand Champions with a 70.662% average! Silverado will be awarded a leather halter with an engraved name plate at the Awards Banquet in January. Silverado and I made our return to the competition ring in 2010 and it was a magical year. I debuted Silverado at both Third and Fourth levels and finished the summer completely undefeated. In addition, my teaching and training business continues to grow! I'm now working out of stables in Jackson, Aurelius, and Milan. The past few years have been a long, hard journey but I couldn't ask for a partner more special than Rado or better clients and sponsors. You all mean the world to me and it's such an honor to return to competition with such supportive friends. November 23, 2010 My website is FINALLY back up and running! More updates to come soon!!