Armadale Stables & Ride That Horse Equestrian

It’s the last week of spring lesson semester! This one went very quick, with new programs that worked out really well. Thank you everyone for such a fun spring.
The ponies will be turned out for their pasture break on Sunday - to rest and dream of new adventures. We have a few ride dates in July / August and then back to modules in September. See you all in the fall!

Idar wants all his friends to know he had a good dental float & exam with our friends from Sherwood Animal Clinic! Chhhheeeese!
Edit: Idar has informed his social media people that the correct term is Caaaaarrrrooooots! 🥕

Three years ago when RTH Fostered 3 elderly Fjord mares - This picture means alot to me. This chute leads to the one way trip on the transport truck. Luckily for these girls on that day we diverted to the left and loaded them for home. This started my love for Fjords! The Canadian Fjord Horse Rescue Network makes miracles!

Today marks the halfway point of our spring modules, always seems to go by so fast and each passing year even quicker. We had a super week. Thought it would be a good idea to mark this milestone with a sibling photo! Gabe Lachance & Alexa Lachance on their Morgans Duna (Workwize Ariel) & Jett (CLM Cavaliers Smoke). Keep trying to remind myself THESE are the the good old days, many Thanks for our riders and their supportive families.

We agree - Lusitano are very special equines!
We love all horses but there is just something extra about this breed that makes our hearts flutter.

💫Lusitano💫

🐴🤎A true vision of beauty and grace! Known for its exceptional qualities as a riding horse, this enchanting breed mesmerizes in the dressage arena, blending intelligence, versatility, and a natural flair for collection, captivating all.

We are smitten with Hobbit Interagro!

⭐️Piaffe to the 9’s ⭐️
Hobbit and Tiago recently had several fantastic tests in Ocala and Wellington starting the 2024 show season, including scoring over 70% in the Grand Prix!

We are so excited for this duo and look forward to the next one!!

Hobbit Interagro is (****) APSL Recommended for Dressage / GOV Approved 💎🤍💎

ALL the HORSES! Spring session has begun and it’s shaping up to be a fabulous group. YEAH!

“Uncle” Idar watches over a snoozing baby Trooper - oh my 🤎!
Almost time for us to gather again dear friends!

Some new and interesting research on hay net use and equine dental impacts. Happy news!
Our horses are mostly on hay nets. It allows for 24/7 feed access but slows down the intake time so they don’t over eat and have an unhealthy weight.

So much Pud (poo mud) but we are getting a little closer to riding season again. Happy spring equinox to those who celebrate and bring on the longer days filled with sunshine & shedding ponies!

🐴 UPDATED Lesson schedule alert! We are now fully booked for spring and Suitability waitlisting for summer. Waitlist is open to New or returning riders aged 10 years old and up, can be customized for a brand new beginner rider or an intermediate rider on school provided horses.

Thank you!

Workwize Ariel update! Miss Duna put her skills to the test for the hay net recoveries. She was an opinionated but good sport and pulled this one inside for inspection and repairs. Later she had a very nice visit with Mr. milk 🐾. All in days work with this beautiful Morgan! With Gabe Lachance

A little light reading and some info on the Lusitanos. Many say the APSL were bred for work and not focused as much on beauty. We think Saga is gorgeous, as is her mama! Morgans & Lusitanos are very different structurally (Morgans have the cutest tippy ears and curvy heads) but the personalities of the Lusitano (Cadencia, Saga, Troovario) mirror the WorkWize Morgans (Idar, Duna, Hudson) bloodlines personalities and although they look very different they both have that athletic, level headed work ethic we love!

📖USLA EDUCATION:

THE HISTORY OF THE LUSITANO

Did you know that Portugal has always been a separate country from Spain? And there was never a single studbook that was shared between Portugal and Spain? For decades a story has circulated that there was a single studbook shared between Portugal and Spain that “split” sometime in the 1960’s. And that up until that time the Lusitano, PRE and Andalusian were the same breed of horse.

This story is historically inaccurate and because a single studbook never existed, there was never a “splitting” of the studbooks. While horses in this region share similar ancestors, the breeds are not the same.
Despite Spain making several attempts over the centuries to acquire Portugal, it was only between 1580 and 1640 that Spain and Portugal were ruled by the same king. The Portuguese people have their own language, their own traditions and customs, and their own horses.

Want to learn more about the history of the Lusitano?
The full article, as well as sources used to gather this historical information, is found on the USLA website here:

www.uslusitano.org/index.php/lusitano-horse/history



📸 APSL

It’s a U year for the Lusitanos!

📖USLA EDUCATION:

NAMING YOUR LUSITANO

Lusitano names follow a specific naming scheme, where the first letter of the horse's name must be sequential to the Portuguese alphabet, corresponding to the year of birth in the Northern Hemisphere beginning Nov. 1.

The letters K, Y and W are excluded from the alphabet.

For horses born in the Southern Hemisphere that same letter is used between July 1 of the preceding year and June 30 of the following year because of where their breeding season falls during the year.

Which is why you may have noticed, a horse that was born for instance in Brazil, may be off a letter from the same year as a horse born in Portugal.

The United States and Canada fall under the Northern Hemisphere rule which begins on Nov. 1. So, breeders must honor this naming convention when naming their Lusitanos. If this is not done, APSL will automatically insert the current year's letter followed by a hyphen at the beginning of the name of the horse, thus becoming part of the horse's official name.

2024 is the letter "U"

Give us your suggestions for foal names beginning with the letter U!!!



🐴 Suprema de Keberica owned by Audra Zehe and bred by Kébérica
📸 Teresa Laudenbach Art and Photography

It’s official - HUDSON BAY is our first lesson of 2024 ~ with Mikhailia Hardy! Off to a super start!

New Years Resolution? BEST decision ever!

💖🐴

Merry Christmas from Troovario to all our friends, family & followers!

We made it! Whew, soon the darkness will recede and the days will get longer. Now it’s time for a short rest break for the ponies and we will be back in March with some new adventures. Rest up friends!

The new hoodies have arrived and they are awesome!

Super opportunity for youth equine enthusiasts! I

Flashback of Gisele!
As a three year old at Morgan Grand National & Worlds Championships with our dear friend Cec Watson up.
Even our lesson horses are fancy 🤣

It’s our last week of the regular lesson season already? This one has been fun and flew by! We have a few tidy up sessions over the next little bit and then we will be on our “winter chores are all consuming” as the horses get their much deserved break. Thanks for the excellent effort riders & instructors - you did amazing.

💖💖💖🐴💖💖💖🍎

Rider: Sometimes I wonder if I want to even ride anymore.

Mind: You should probably just quit.

Rider: But i've come so far.

Mind: This is a lot of heartache and emotional and financial stress.

Rider: But sometimes it's ok to not be ok. Sometimes if you want to ride the pendulum of success, you will hit some lows before swinging up even higher.

Mind: But this slump is taking forever. You'll never get out of it.

Rider: Just like when you are training horses, sometimes in order for the horse to learn, you just have to wait it out. Patience is powerful.

Mind: But this is too painful.

Rider: Pain means you have passion. That you care. And you should never give up on something that you care this deeply about.

Mind: Lets keep everything comfortable and stop pushing ourselves. Comfort is easy. Pushing is more pain.

Rider: I'm sorry.

Mind: No need to apologize, lets just ease off for a while.

Rider: No, I'm not apologizing. I'm telling you I'm sorry so you can prepare yourself for more pain. I'm going to keep on pushing harder than ever.

Mind: No, you can't!

Rider: Maybe I can't. But I would rather can't than won't.

Mind: Noooo!

Rider: Yes, so get ready to roll.

Mind: Alright then. Lets go for this.

Rider: Seriously? You gave up that easy?

Mind: Yes.

Rider: But all those years, all that self doubt, all those times you told me I couldn't. All the pity, the frustration when you said I'd never succeed. You are giving up just like that? All it took was one time to fight back?

Mind: We will do whatever you want to do. You do realize you've just been talking to yourself this whole time.

Sometimes the best dressage lessons have nothing to do with riding.

📷PC to Joseph Newcomb 💥

Love Fjords!
Figgy Newton has many of these same qualities as Tink!

“Slowly, Melissa realized that riding Tink never failed to improve her day. We ended up keeping the horse that I had vehemently not wanted to come back to my farm. Melissa decided to focus on dressage with Tink. We both fell in love with Tink’s innate personality…she was gentle, kind-hearted, people oriented, OPINIONATED, and she was very fun to be around and interact with. She was also fun to ride, and for the first time in literally a decade, I saw my wife smile every time she was on a horse. After watching Melissa put so much money and time into horses that didn’t work out, seeing her consistently smile was an awesome sight to behold.”

This month on , we have been celebrating Norwegian Fjords as our featured breed. In our latest story, a horse-husband in USDF Region 3 shares about his wife’s equestrian struggles, which all changed when a rescue Fjord with an unforgettable attitude unexpectedly came into their lives & gave the whole family a reason to smile again. Read it here: https://yourdressage.org/2023/10/30/bringing-back-their-smile/

Photo by John Borys Photography