Downeast Medal Finals

July 2024

September 12-15, 2024

Visit our website for more information about Downeast. We welcome all feedback and suggestions: please email Ginger at ginger@downeastmedalfinals.com

Message from the President

The show season is in full swing and so far the weather has been far more cooperative than last year. We are excited to see so many people out there showing and gaining points towards Finals! If you have any questions please feel free to reach out, also please note that if your name is in red on the points page we need your address so that we can mail your qualification letter and medal. Please send your information to katie@downeastmedalfinals.com.

We have several changes for the 2024 Finals. As most of you have heard the Junior division is now a 2’6” division. We have also changed the Mini Medal/Special Children’s and Adult division to 2’. What you have not heard, is that we will be offering a Derby for the 2’ riders! We are still working out the details and will keep you informed.

If you are interested in applying for a scholarship they have been posted. Scholarship applications are open now and will be accepted until August 7th. Please be sure to read the requirements carefully, including those for acknowledging the sponsors, we will be strictly following these, with no exceptions!

Horsemanship riders: We will be using questions from articles in the newsletters from the past two years for the written part of the challenge. Happy reading!

The closing date for entries will be August 20th, so all of the shows listed on the website through August 18th will count towards DMF 2024.

Many thanks to all of our sponsors for their continued support of DMF. Their support is critical to this show, please support them and let them know that you show at DMF! If you have an interest in any level of sponsorship, please feel free to contact me ginger@downeastmedalfinals.com. We can use one of the packages listed on the sponsorship page or we can make one that better suits your needs.

Happy showing, we are looking forward to seeing all of you in September!

-Ginger

Independent and Effective Aids Start with a Strong Position

By Holly Hugo Vidal

Are your aids clear and independent of each other? Are you telling your horse conflicting or contradictory things at the same time? Maybe you are aware that you clash your aids but have difficulty avoiding it? Can you isolate and use different parts of your body?

If you watch a successful hunter rider such as John French navigating a course, all of their aids are soft and invisible yet extremely effective. Another great example of aids working together is grand prix rider McLain Ward. If you study him closely, you will see all the parts of his position work in concert with each other.

Riders need strong positions to use their aids effectively and independently. A rider is considered in balance when all the parts of the body coordinate correctly and work in equilibrium.

The four main parts of a rider’s position include:

• Leg—from the knee down

• Base of support—the thigh and seat

• Upper body—all parts of the body from above the seat

• Hands and arms

The All-Important Leg

I consider the leg to be the most important part of a rider’s position when it comes to solidity because it allows independence of use. The leg is the foundation of the position. It should be directly under the base of support, and the stirrup iron, which can greatly affect leg position, should be positioned so it is angled across the ball of the foot with the outside branch leading. On this subject, a pet peeve of mine is a rider leaning down looking at her foot and using her hand to reposition the stirrup. A rider should be able to move her foot at the canter if the stirrup has slipped or turned and needs to be readjusted because this could happen on course. The angle behind the knee should be about 110 degrees when jumping, and there needs to be an even distribution of contact among the calf, knee and thigh.

Read the rest of the article at Practical Horsemen.