Gallop Equestrian Center

Before backing your youngster please read - A horse ages roughly 3 times faster than a human. So a 90 year old human is a 30 year old horse. Both very old, us...ually arthritic, don’t have many of their original teeth left, and very likely retired and enjoying the finer things in life. A 25 year old horse is a 75 year old human. Still works so far. A 20 year old horse is a 60 year old human. At that point where the body doesn’t work like it use to but the brain is all there and wants to be active. A 13 year old horse is a 39 year old human. Middle aged, prime of their life where their knowledge and physical ability are about equal. So let’s get down to the babies and work our way up. A 3 year old horse is a 9 year old child. A child. Not ready for work by a long stretch. We have moved past sending children down the mines. A 4 year old horse is a 12 year old child. Often will do odd jobs for pocket money, maybe a paper round, mowing lawns etc. Basically a 4 yo horse can start a bit of light work to earn their keep. A 5 year old horse is a 15 year old teenager. Think they know it all, cocky, and ready to up their work and responsibilities. Still quite weak and not fully developed so shouldn’t be at their physical limit but can start building strength. A 6 year old horse is an 18 year old human. An adult. Ready to work hard. Pushing your youngster too hard too young will result in failure of many body parts. Joints, tendons, ligaments as well as their brains. Waiting one year at the beginning can give a horse another 10 years of useful working life. Be patient with your pride and joy!

Happy Valentines to all of my hard working, sweeping, mucking, freezing horse loving friends!

Horse keeping can be so different. This is fascinating.

How old were you when you found out Ariat comes from Secretariat, and the three shoes that make up their logo stands for his triple crown win? How old were you when you found out Ariat comes from Secretariat, and the three shoes that make up their logo stands for his triple crown win?

I can credit the polo world for a true concept of proper fitness for performance horses. In good programs, the horses often go out twice a day. They go in sets ...of 3-5 or so horses. They walk for an hour (walking is IMPORTANT too), they trot for 15-20 minutes or so & walk some more. Most are singled several days a week. They short work/school them & breeze them out often. You have to condition their lungs too (that’s a whole other conversation I won’t go into right now but we’ll talk about it later). These horses are in incredible shape. They have to be. I find proper conditioning to be undervalued & quite frankly, many lack knowledge on it. Whether they truly don’t know or they don’t care to know is a different story. You cannot pull your horse out of the pasture on the weekends & go expect them to perform for you after not touching them all week. You’ll always see the bragging posts like pulled sparkles out of the pasture after seven months off & entered the jackpot last night!! 7th in the 6D even outta shape!! I’m EMBARRASSED for you. That’s not impressive. Personally, I find it cruel & selfish. That’s like someone pulling your happy ass off the couch after hibernating all winter & making you run a 5k. Do better. Be better.

A riding instructor is only as good as the care and training of the horses they use.A riding instructor is only as good as the care and training of the horses they use.

HAPPY Halloween!

Thought for the day... Your trainer breathes with you through every movement whether at home or at a show. Your trainer stands at the in gate and physically rid...es the test with you - mentally moving your horse forward, or giving a whoa or riding your rhythm through every turn. She gives you words of wisdom and encouragement as you go by. Your trainer shares your nerves as you walk in the ring, feels your disappointment when things don’t go right and rejoices when you smack down that amazing test. They celebrate your tiny achievements and are filled with pride when you achieve a huge goal. They love your horse as if it were their own, making sure they are happy and healthy. Your trainer beats themselves up when things don’t go as planned. Your trainer takes on the responsibility of caring for your emotional needs ... both through the good and bad. Your trainer respects your budget and tries with all their might to make a very expensive sport as affordable as possible. Your trainer takes the job of matching you with the horse of your dreams very seriously and are filled with happiness when that partnership produces success. Trainers are therapists, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, doctors, care givers, equine linguists, supporters, cheer leaders, and optimists. We love what we do, love the sport and are forever grateful to the clients and horses that come into our lives!! Please remember this the next time you see your trainer. They are, like you, human, trying their best to make you successful. They are your biggest fan!! Jodi Bondar

Here's to the girls. The chore girls. The feedlot girls. The ranch girls. And the cowgirls. Here's to the doers. The hustlers. The ones getting their hands di...rty. The women who worked outside all day and the ones who fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow at night. The ones with callouses on their hands. Here's to the women working beside men. The women who are keeping up and doing it their own way and surpassing expectations. The ones who need to be twice as strong to feel half as good. Here's to the ones who scroll through Instagram and notice all the pictures of beautiful women. Then they put their phones down and go back to work with no make up on, their hair a mess, and their old chore clothes on. The ones who feel more comfortable with a branding iron in their hands than a curling iron. The ones who own more wild rags than pairs of shoes. Here's to the ones that aren't often talked about. The overlooked women. The ones whose silence on social media doesn't reflect the large lives they lead. The ones who actually stay honest with an honest day's work. The humble ones with big hearts. May we know them and may we be them. Here's to the girls.

We’ve helped hundreds of horses find new best friends over the years... But more so, we’ve answered thousands of inquiries. I’ll say it again like I say every ...year, in case someone out there needs to hear this... HOW TO FIND YOUR UNICORN 1. PARAMETERS: Sticking to your parameters is only hurting your search. This is like when you have a friend who says they’ll only date a guy over 6 feet tall. Would you turn down meeting your soul mate because he’s 5’11? I’ve learned from many good Horsemen over the years and the saying is true: God never made a good horse in a bad color. The number of times that people are looking for a precise height or a precise color and I think I have the perfect match for them to fulfill all their dreams, but they won’t budge 1 inch on height in either direction. I can tell you that my current 17 hand horse feels much smaller than my current 15.3h horse. It’s much more about their barrel and their neck set and then the height of their withers. Stop looking for the horse that is 5-7 years old 16.2-17.0h bay or grey gelding. You are only sabotaging your own search here. 2. WRONG QUESTIONS: When people call about horses, I tell them what kind of rider he needs and what the horse wants to do for a living. Why does NO ONE ever ask that?! They ask how fancy his trot is or how his dressage score was last weekend or how many ribbons he has or how tall he is. They don’t ever ask, Will he tolerate my mistakes? Will he make up where I’m lacking? Can I handle this horse? Does he have the same goals that I do? 3. WRONG PRIORITIES: I always teach my students this lesson. My keeper horse as a 4yo was the worst mover in the barn. Choppy trot, canter like a tractor trailer on ice, pads on his feet, and some seriously unimpressive knees. If I pulled him out of the stall for you at a sales appointment at 4 years old, you would tell me to put him away! Then he won 3 events at 5yo. At 6 he’s a dream to ride because we’ve put in serious sweat equity for three years. I’m going to burst your bubble here. Unless you’re trying to literally win the Olympics, you don’t need the best mover in the barn. Find the horse that makes you SMILE, that you want to ride every day, the one you can train. Beyond that, you can teach it to win the dressage if you work hard enough. Heck, the worst mover I’ve ever owned won a dozen upper level events and got our Bronze Medal in dressage, and if you saw him today you’d swear that was the best canter you’ve ever ridden. When you’re shopping, don’t buy for the fancy trot. Find the horse that makes you smile. 4. MAINTENANCE: The number of people who put in search ads, absolutely no maintenance or ask me if he has to wear shoes. So you’re telling me if I can find you your perfect unicorn that will make you happy for the rest of his life and you have to give him hock injections once a year, you wouldn’t do it? Because that’s about what you’re spending on your Starbucks this month. If you find a horse that will take care of you, you need to take care of it. Period. 5. VETTINGS: It’s been said by a million people so I’ll keep it brief. Vettings are a fact finding mission, not an attempt to rule out every horse you meet. No one can predict the future-I’ve had upper level horses that would have failed as 4yos who never missed an event in their lives. I’ve seen vets give two thumbs up to horses who dropped dead a week later from a heart problem. Vets are our greatest resource, but they aren’t fortune tellers. Any good vetting WILL find something. Have your trainer help you understand what is realistic when the vet jargon sounds scary. Here’s hoping that this list helps someone searching somewhere. Because I know over the years in my career, if I had stuck to my parameters and broken my rules, I would not have bought any of my eventual upper level horses. I would have missed out on so many special horses in my life, because I didn’t want a 3yo or I didn’t want him to be 15.3h or his ankles aren’t pretty. When you find a horse that you like to ride and it makes you happy, that’s really all that matters. Photo by Canter Clix