Trail ride at 7IL Ranch November 13-14th 2010

Jack held a trail riding clinic at  the beautiful 7IL ranch in Cat Spring, Texas last weekend. The students started out in the arena warming up and once Jack saw that they were prepared to ride out safely they headed out for the trail.It was a cool windy day and some of the horses were  anxious and frisky so Jack had them play some games like leap frog while trotting, follow the leader and the ribbon find . Playing games to get them settled consumed most of the day. The next day the horses were a lot more relaxed and ready to work on water crossing,cantering away from the herd and trotting back to the herd. They spent time helping the horses get used to riding up and down in the varied terrain. Five out of the group of seven were riding in dressage saddles and it was great to see them using their dressage horses out on the trail. 7IL is a great place to practice trail skills and Jack plans to have more clinics here in the future. Everyone had a good time and said they would like to do a beach ride next so we are planning for this February or early March and will have the information on the website calendar when the date is picked.

7IL resident piggy looking for food

This past weekend Jack and I went to audit a clinic put on by Jack Brainard. Jack is a legendary horseman who has some innovative ideas and although soon to be 90 years old he is still riding and teaching horsemanship. He has much wisdom and knowledge to offer. 

When we heard that he was founding the Western Dressage Association along with his friend renowned horseman Eitan Beth Halachmy we decided we had to go see what it was all about. 

Jack Lieser has been studying classical horsemanship under the instruction of 

Dr.Thomas Ritter for the past two years and has always used dressage along with his natural horsemanship methods. He has not found a discipline to compete in that he felt good about so hearing about the newly forming association we were excited to learn more. We think it is going to be BIG so we encourage you to become a member and help them launch a new and much needed discipline. Jack L is looking forward to the first show and when the date is announced we will let everyone know because he hopes to ride in it.

The clinic was inspiring and it was great to see the western riders mostly on Quarter Horses doing their first dressage tests judged by a licensed dressage judge. She was impressed with the riders and their horses and was very encouraging about western dressage.We met a lot of nice people and discovered that there are many riders that want to explore classical horsemanship but have not wanted to give up their western tack and stock horses. The future for western dressage is very promising and we are grateful we were able to see it in its debut.

For more information and membership go to www.westerndressageassociation.com

World Equestrian Games Kentucky 2010

Jack and Aaron talk to the crowd at WEG

Jack and his good friend Aaron England aaronengland.com did a demonstration at the World Equestrian Games to help promote the Nokota horse www.nokotahorse.org.
 They showed the horses four times in the two arenas at the Clinician's Coral in the Kentucky Horse Park.
The horses were owned by Margaret Odgers of Paris Kentucky. Aaron rode Billy Jack a Spanish Mustang and Jack rode Moonshine a blue roan Nokota. We were lucky to have Leo Kuntz co founder of the breed to join us on our adventures in Lexington.
We handed out fliers and talked about the Nokota's to everyone that would listen!

Lecture at Lexington Convention Center

Jack riding Nokota horse "Moonshine" at WEG

Aaron England,Leo Kuntz, Jack Lieser

Jack and Aaron in front of Rolex Arena

Kentucky is a beautiful place and driving into Lexington for the first time and seeing all the beautiful horse farms is an experience we will never forget. We were fortunate to stay at a really nice farm called Beacon Hill. Across the street was Gainesway  one of the most famous racing farms. We are grateful to everyone who helped us be a part of this wonderful and memorable trip to the Bluegrass.

Beacon Hill Farm

Lexington Walmart