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WELCOME to the Llano Estacado Dressage Association, or LEDA.  We are a GMO (group member organization) of the U.S. Dressage Federation Region 9, which consists of five states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.  LEDA services West Texas and its surrounding area.  Enjoy your visit, and  y'all come back, hear?
Visit Becky's Blog from Rolex 2005!  Check out her New Blog for 2006! And the Newer Still  Blog for 2007!  And the West Texas Mommies Who Event page!  And note the NEW "Fossils over Fences" blog!

NOTE:  Please help me with information:  What do you want to see?  What needs to go in this web page?  email me with your ideas!

LEDA MEETING

  Monday, July 28th   7 P.M.

 Home Plate Diner

      82nd & Slide

OFFICERS for 2008:

President
Renée Smola    (806) 788-1841
cell: (325) 236-5613
3109 A  33rd St., Lubbock, TX 79410
reneesmola@hotmail.com
 
Vice-President:
Julie Epps (806) 788-1841
3109A 33rd St., Lubbock, TX 79410
terotrue@yahoo.com
 
Secretary:
Karen McPherson    (806) 863-2538
8802 FM 1585,   Wolfforth, TX 79382
mcpherson@sptc.net
 
Treasurer:
Joan Briggs     (806) 748-1233
2004 94th St.    Lubbock, TX  79423
joanbriggs@mailstation.com

More of Stephen Wright's dead pan approach to life

  • If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

  • Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

  • Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

  • Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.

  • Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

  • If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

  • Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

  • To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

  • The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

  • The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

  • Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film.

  • If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?

Dates to Remember:

  • Aug. 2-3: Freestyle Clinic featuring Cynthia Collins from Luna Tunes Freestyles.  Stirling Farm, Folsom, LA   $20 per person. 6:30PM at Stirling Farm. RSVP with Leslie Morris

  • Aug. 16-17: Region 9 Summer Meeting- - The Woodlands- Just South of Conroe, Tx.  All Region 9 members welcome !!!    Friday nite wine & cheese party; Saturday regional meeting; Saturday nite bar-b-que; Sunday morning GMO Round Table / Grant writing/application session. Followed by Balimo Seat Seminar.  Mark your calendars / make your airline reservations.  Hotel information to follow soon!

  • Aug. 23:  Mini-Olympics at Lagniappe Farm
    Folsom, LA    Download more info.  Open to everyone. This event will combine dressage, jumping, & an obstacle course. All levels - from Beginner to Advanced, all ages welcome!  Team up with friends or family! Riders may ride on more than one team and horse! Be brave - perform as a one-man team and do it all yourself! Prizes: Gold, silver, bronze medals for all divisions. Ribbons 1st through 6th place for all individual events. Special prizes (highest dressage score, most team spirit, etc).  Contact: Elizabeth Cummins, 985-705-2833/796-5011

  • Aug 23-24:  Dog Day Dressage Show, Orange, TX.  Judge:  Sonja Vracko.  Intro- to Grand Prix.  Recognized by USDF/USEF and is SWDC qualifying. Secretary: Albert Pugh IV apugh@gt.rr.com or 409-746-2884 or 409-746-2402

  • Aug. 30-31:  K-9 Search and Rescue Benefit Show at Holly Hill Farms, Benton, LA.  (TSDS recog.).  Contact Kathryn McFadden at (318) 347-1338,

  • Oct. 11:  Bluebonnet Horse Expo held at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin, TX. a day of fun, education, shopping and horses - and the proceeds will benefit the needy horses of Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society.  The day includes clinics on desensitization, trick horse training, saddle fit and much more.  It will also include an auction of saddles and other tack as well as plenty of shopping opportunities Info at www.bluebonnethorseexpo.com

  • Oct. 17-19:  2008 GAIG/USDF Region 9 Championships and Great Plains Championship. Lazy E, Guthrie, OK. Contact Stacia Wert at (405) 341-3946 or gtgray@aol.com  

  • Oct. 25-26:  The United States Dressage Federation invites you to audit the USDF FEI Jr/YR Clinic Series Region 9, featuring Jan Ebeling at the Canaan Ranch at Fulshear, TX. RSVP by October 15, 2008

  • Oct. 31- Nov 2:  New date for Southwest Dressage Championships, hosted by Houston Dressage Society.
    For more information www.houstondressagesociety.org
    or contact Kathy Jones, (832) 722-6121 or kkj3156@sbcglobal.net
    Secretary: Susan Peacock; show manager Ed Lavalle

  •  Dec. 3-7:  USDF Annual Convention at Denver, CO. Anyone looking for a roommate, please contact Evie Tumlin at    etumlin@cedarwindfarm.com

  • Dec 6-7:  Kyra Kyrklund will conduct her third Adequan/USDF National Symposium in Denver, CO. For more information, please visit www.usdf.org or contact the USDF office at (859) 971-2277

Spirit Photography:  Capture your equine partner/equine event!

 
 Joylynne Harris Equestrian Photography
  phone : 806-535-1298
New dressage scoring:
 
0= what was that?
1=was that supposed to be ???
2= that could have been???
3=movement recognizable but really, really sucks
4=ugly but they did it.
5=slightly better than 4
6=most of the pieces in place, but boring.
7=pleasant to watch
8=really pleasant to watch
9=WOW
10=Holy sh**, I really hope someone got that on film

The Horse's Advantage Over Men

  1. If they don't work out you can sell them.
  2. They don't come with in-laws.
  3. You don't have to worry about your children looking like them.
  4. You never have to iron their saddle pads.
  5. If you get too fat for one you can shop for a bigger one.
  6. They smell good when they sweat.
  7. You can repair their "clothes" with duct tape.
  8. It's possible to keep them from "jumping the fence".
  9. You can force them to stay in good physical condition...with a whip if necessary.
  10. They don't want their turn at the computer.
  11. They turn white with age, but not bald.
  12. They've never *heard* of PMS.
  13. They learn to accept restraint.
  14. They love to go trail riding.
  15. They don't care what you look like, as long as you have a carrot.

If anyone tells you that a pig is smarter than a horse, you may offer this unscientific study in reply. If the horse were not a highly perceptive and intelligent animal, HOW WOULD THE SPECIES KNOW …

 

1. that you are holding a halter and lead rope behind your back from a mile away.
2. that a scrap of paper blowing thru the pasture means nothing, but airborne paper on the trail indicates the “spin and bolt cue”.
3. precisely when it is Sunday morning, trail riding day, which necessitates hiding in the nethermost corner of the pasture.
4. exactly when it is five o’clock pm and therefore time to gather at the gate for the dinner wagon.
5. a microscopic bit of medication is hidden in a quart size bowl of oats and applesauce.
6. the exact location of the weakest strand in the cross fence.
7. an unopened box of paste wormer in a human hand shall indicate the “head tossing cue”. 8. the farrier's truck coming thru the gate signals retreat and stampede, however, the feed store truck arrival cues the nicker, prance and dance response.
9. the ideal time for a nose-to-tail 360 degree roll is immediately following a bath and two hour grooming session, preferably in the muddiest possible location.
10. a two inch water puddle by the stock tank is harmless, but the same size puddle on the trail is a horse-sucking whirlpool.
11. lips were created for untying knots, opening gates and prying lids off feed bins.
 

TOP TEN EXERCISES TO BECOME A BETTER HORSEMAN
10. Drop a heavy steel object on your foot. Don't pick it up right away. Shout, "Get off, Stupid, GET OFF!"

9. Leap out of a moving vehicle and practice "relaxing into the fall." Roll lithely into a ball and spring to your feet.

8. Learn to grab your checkbook out of your pocket or purse and write out a $200 check without even looking down.

7. Jog long distances carrying a halter and a carrot. Go ahead and tell the neighbors what you are doing - they might as well know now.

6. Affix a pair of reins to a moving freight train and practice pulling a halt. Smile as if you are having fun.

5. Hone your fibbing skills: "See hon, moving hay bales is FUN!" and "No, really, I'm glad your lucky performance and multimillion dollar horse won the blue ribbon. I am just thankful that my hard work and actual ability won me second place."

4. Practice dialing your vet number with both arms paralyzed to the shoulder and one foot anchoring the lead rope of a frisky horse.

3. Borrow the US Army's slogan: Be All That You Can Be -- bitten, thrown, kicked, dragged, slimed, trampled, frozen...

2. Lie face down in a puddle of mud in your most expensive riding clothes and repeat to yourself, "This is a learning experience, this is a learning experience, this is..."

1. THE NUMBER ONE EXERCISE TO BECOME A BETTER EQUESTRIAN: Marry money.


Betty Bolte
Editorial Consultant

Write Away Editorial Services
 Technical editing/writing; articles; books; and more! 165 Scott Orchard Road
Taft, TN 38488
Office: (931) 425-0163
Cell (931) 625-9355
Web:   Betty Bolte

 

       A Horse’s View Of The World

a.. Arena: Place where humans can take the fun out of forward motion.

b.. Bit: Means by which a rider's every motion is transmitted to the sensitive tissues of the mouth.

c.. Bucking: counterirritant

d.. Crossties: Gymnastic apparatus.

e.. Dressage: Process by which some riders can eventually be taught to respect the bit.

f.. Fence: Barrier that protects good grazing.

g.. Grain: Sole virtue of domestication.

h.. Hitching Rail: Means by which to test one's strength.

i.. Horse Trailer: Mobile cave bear den.

j.. Hotwalker: The lesser of two evils.

k.. Jump: An opportunity for self-expression.

l.. Latch: Type of puzzle.

m.. Lunging: Procedure for keeping a prospective rider at bay.

n.. Owner: Human assigned responsibility for one's feeding.

o.. Rider: Owner overstepping its bounds.

p.. Farrier: Disposable surrogate owner; useful for acting out aggression without compromising food supply.

q.. Trainer: Owner with mob connections.

r.. Veterinarian: Flightless albino vulture

All-Too-Familiar Dressage Test

1.   A.   Enter at ordinary serpentine

X.                   Sprawl.  Salute 

2.   C.   Stop dead. Try to remember if you turn left or right. Scribe flips test sheet; horse snorts and dances to the left in a leg-yield. Go with the flow and turn left. Good, no whistle for off course. Horse sees open gate at A. Continue at ordinary working gallop.

3.   E.   Haul horse into 15, 20, or 22 meters circle, or pear, or egg, or star or whatever geometric shape the horse will do.

4.  K.    Begin to halt.

Z.          Keep trying.

F.          You can do it.

B.        Pull rein. Give up. Continue at gallop.

5.   H.   Jerk rein hard. Continue at usual trot, bouncing. Regain right stirrup.

6.   MKT   Change rein. Free walk loose reins. Remove horse from  judge’s lunch tray. Ask judge for leg up. Re-enter the ring, jumping. Continue down the long side with angry horse, tail switching.

7.   Z.   Turn down center line. Horse halts 2 foot shy of X. Tighten legs to nudge forward. Grit teeth as horse stamps his foot. Squeeze firmly forward. Remove horse’s teeth from boot. Give up. Grin. Salute. Burst into tears.

Leave ring at free walk on long reins, loose language

"...three basic areas of horsemanship that the rider must master before advancing to upper-level work. First, he must master himself, controlling his body and emotions. Next, he must develop feel, knowing how to time the aids and how much he can ask of the horse. Then, he must develop the horse's strength and understanding."
    -- Sabine Schut-Kery, Dressage Today, August 2005


Your Web groom,
Becky Rickly
Lubbock, Texas