Downeast Medal Finals

July 2025

September 11-14, 2025

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

Happy Summer! The show season is in full swing, hopefully the rainy Saturdays will be a thing of the past and seasonal temperatures will prevail!

Qualified riders, if your name is in RED on the points page, we need your mailing address so that we can mail your qualifying medal to you! Please send your address to: katie@downeastmedalfinals.com. For those already qualified they will be mailed soon.

We wish to thank all of our sponsors for their continued dedication to our show. You can see their logos at the bottom of this newsletter as well as on our homepage. Please be sure to click on their logos for a shortcut to their homepages, be sure to let them know that you saw them at DMF!!

We are excited to have a new food vendor this year, I think that everyone will enjoy their food. Speaking of food, we will once again host the free exhibitors’ barbecue Friday during the Team Challenge, burgers, dogs, salads and those wonderful whoopee pies for dessert! Everyone is invited, come hang out or take a plate down to the ring and enjoy the class!

We are looking forward to having you join us for a fun weekend in Skowhegan!

-Ginger

Qualify for Downeast at GMHA!

It's not too late to enter for the GMHA Summer Hunter Jumper Show!

These shows are NEHC “C” Rated, VHJA Affiliated, and offer NHHJA Medals, and Downeast Medals classes.

The entry and stabling reservation deadline has been moved to July 5th. Don't delay and enter today online for the GMHA Summer Hunter Jumper Show scheduled for July 10th - July 13th!

Tuesday, July 8: 12:00 PM Stables open for arrivals
Wednesday, July 9: Warm-ups – See schedule for available rings and times
Thursday, July 10: Walker Ring classes. Warm-ups in White Ring
Friday-Sunday, July 11-13: Summer Hunter Jumper Show (No jumpers on Sunday)

There is always great competition and fun at GMHA and they also offer the Arion Sellier Hunter Derbies for all levels of horse and rider.

2′ Hunter Derby
$500 2’6″ Hunter Derby
$500 3′ Hunter Derby

What can be better than horse showing, then trail riding or walking through the brook and summer fun with friends? GMHA will have its regular fun offerings of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes for all ages and abilities. This show is not to be missed! Bring your whole barn!

Questions? Contact Show Manager Kelly Cyr or Show Secretary Kelsea Carpenter.

Want to Jump Better? It's All About That Flatwork!

Alana Harrison, Practical Horseman

Riding a successful jumping course starts with your flatwork. Working on the flat gives you the opportunity to zone in on any position imperfections in order to develop a stronger and more secure base of support that will carry over to your work over fences. Top hunt-seat trainer Geoff Teall puts a strong emphasis on flatwork with all his students.

“Flat is the basis for all of it. This is where you build your habits and where you learn. This is where you develop the skills you need for jumping,” he said. “There’s no question that at certain times you just want to warm up and jump. But if you really want to improve, then you have to work and get things organized on the flat.”

In trying to better all your skills in the saddle, Teall advises to keep it simple, start at the beginning and take care of the details. “Figure out what you need to work on first in order to slowly and gradually get to the end of the story to where you can comfortably gallop and jump a course,” he said.

Here, Teall offers tips on how to establish good habits during your flatwork by finding the proper rein length and contact and correcting your hand and leg position. He also explains how the angles that make up a rider’s position affect your balance and in turn influence your horse.

Flatwork: Rein Length & Hand Position

“When we’re talking about rein length, you have the right length when you have contact with your horse’s mouth and your hands are at or a little in front of the withers. Your elbows should be a little in front of your body. If you’re not sure if your reins are the right length, they’re probably too long.

“Once you establish the right rein length at the walk, start trotting and find something you don’t like about your reins. Once you decide what to work on, go back to the walk to make adjustments or think about it. Riding is a balance between going, thinking, reviewing and going again.

“Your fingers should be closed and your hands should be slightly inside the vertical—not on the vertical, but just inside it. You can also think of it as following the slope of your horse’s shoulders with your hands.

“A lot of riders carry their hands a bit low and wide, but I’d like to see you carry your hands a little bit up and together. When I ride, I actually have one hand touching the other and carry my hands higher for two reasons. Number one, when your hands get low and wide, it makes it more difficult for you to balance. Two, if your hands are up and together, it will position your reins on either side of your horse’s neck, which will help you maintain steady contact.

“As you start to get the position of your hands more accurate by being up and together, you’ll naturally find the right rein length. Ideally, this will help you find steadier contact that your horse can accept and trust. Always think about maintaining very smooth, steady and even contact with your horse’s mouth. And in order to do that, you have to find balance through your leg and your base.”

Read the rest of the article and view the flatwork videos here, at Practical Horseman.

If you are a Downeast Medal Finals rider, we would like to feature you! Send your bio and picture to ginger@downeastmedalfinals.com

Upcoming Shows with DMF Qualifying Classes

Qualifying for DMF 2025:

July 1-6 NHHJA Summer Festival, Halifax, MA

July 5 Life’s A Ride Equestrian Center, Saco, ME

July 9-13 GMHA Summer Hunter Jumper Show, Woodstock, VT

July 12 East Ridge Stables, Charleston, ME

July 13 Maine Hunter Jumper Association Summer Classic, TBD

July 19 NHHJA Show Series, Fremont, NH

July 20 Lucky Clover Stables, Sanford, ME

July 20 MHA MidCoast Classic, Topsham, ME

July 26 Seacoast Show Series, Fremont, NH

July 27 Graystone Stables, Berwick, ME

Aug. 2 NHHJA Show Series, Fremont, NH

Aug. 9 Seacoast Show Series, Fremont, NH

Aug. 9 Cornerstone, Haverhill, MA

Aug. 10 KKF SeaCoast Classic, Hollis, ME

Aug. 10 Tri-County Horsemen, Union, ME

Aug. 15-17 GMHA August Hunter Jumper Show, Woodstock, VT

Aug. 16 NHHJA Show Series, Fremont, NH

Aug. 16 Life’s A Ride Equestrian Center, Saco, ME

Aug. 17 Graystone Stables, Berwick, ME

Aug. 17 Cornerstone, Haverhill, MA

Aug. 24 Lucky Clover Stables, Sanford, ME

Want to see your show listed here? Fill out our Downeast Classes Form to host our classes!

Become a Downeast Medal Finals Sponsor:

All levels accepted and appreciated!

Visit www.downeastmedalfinals.com for more information.

For more information or to become a sponsor, please email Ginger at ginger@downeastmedalfinals.com.

Thank you to Spotted Vision Photography, It's A Horse Life Photography, Hillary Turner, and Riitta Fortier for providing us with many wonderful photographs from the Downeast Medal Finals.