Downeast Medal Finals

December 2022

Presented by Dover Saddlery

September 14-17, 2023

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

It is hard to believe that this is the last newsletter of 2022! We hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and has a very Merry Christmas and holiday season.

We would love to hear from our riders and be able to feature you in a newsletter, please send your bio and a picture to Ginger. If you won a class or just had a good time at DMF, please let us feature you!

Show managers: If you are thinking of offering DMF qualifying classes at your shows in 2023, please be sure to go to the website and fill out a hosting form to send in. There are no fees involved. Once your show has been accepted, we will put it on the show calendar. Please remember to have the show secretary send the points in, on the form available, within 2 weeks of the show for the points to count. Points not received within this time frame will not be accepted.

Sponsors: please be sure to contact Ginger soon so that your classes/categories can be reserved. If we have not reserved your sponsorship all logos on the homepage will come down as of 1/15/23. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor for 2023 feel free to be in touch so that we can discuss your options. DMF relies heavily on the generosity of sponsors, so please consider helping us out so that we can bring another great show to the riders of Maine and New England.

Horsemanship riders or anyone interested: Please consider participating in helping us to make up your tests. We would love to have you submit questions that you would like to see on the test. We are looking for questions for riders 12 and under as well as 13-17. Please send your questions in a multiple choice format (along with answers) to ginger@downeastmedalfinals.com.

2023 marks 15 years of DMF!! We wish to thank each and every one of you who have helped us to achieve this milestone. To our sponsors, our trainers, riders, parents and grandparents, as well as each member of our staff, thank you. We have led the way in giving back to the exhibitor, in promoting our exhibitors, and in bringing back the camaraderie of horse shows. Some of our riders have gone on to do wonderful things in the sport and we congratulate them on all of their accomplishments! We hope that all of our riders maintain their commitment to these wonderful animals that we share so much of our lives with.

Thank you all for sharing in our continuing effort to bring you the most fun and educational final ever! On to celebrating 15 years in 2023!

Happy Holidays!

-Ginger

How to Cope with Ringbone

By Heather Smith-Thomas with Laurie Bonner

Medication, specialized farrier care and/or surgery help many horses with this type of arthritis remain sound and healthy for years.

Time was, a diagnosis of ringbone in a horse would have been very bad news—at best, he might be retired to spend his days on pasture. At worst, well, there’s only one humane thing to do when a horse can no longer stand or move without severe pain. It’s not too dramatic to say that ringbone in horses was either a career ender or a death sentence.

Fortunately, today there are many more options to help a horse who develops ringbone. In fact, if a developing case is identified early enough—and addressed with the teamwork of a veterinarian and a farrier—a horse may stay sound for years to come.

Practically any horse who works hard for a lifetime is a candidate for ringbone. Nonetheless, taking some basic precautions and keeping an eye out for the first signs of trouble can go a long way toward helping a horse remain sound. Here’s what you need to know.

High and low ringbone

“Ringbone” is the term for the bony overgrowth (exostosis) that develops on or around the pastern bones in the wake of injury and/or inflammation. The overgrowth can be articular—affecting the joint—or develop on the side of a pastern bone, often where the ligaments attach. In some cases, the bony overgrowths may encircle the pastern, hence the name.

If only bone but not joint is affected, ringbone may be little more than a blemish that requires no special treatment. “The bony growth or calcification deposit may grow and expand, but if it isn’t causing pain/lameness, it’s not as much concern,” says Todd Allen, CJF, a farrier in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.

When ringbone affects the pastern or coffin joint, however, chronic lameness may result. Two types of exostosis can affect the pastern joint: low and high ringbone. Low ringbone develops around the joint between the coffin bone and the short pastern bone, just within the top of the hoof wall.

Continue reading here: https://equusmagazine.com/lameness/coping-with-ringbone/

Stoney Brook Landscaping and Masonry

Thank you to Stoney Brook Landscaping for sponsoring the Downeast Medal Finals!

A family-owned business, Stoney Brook Landscaping and Masonry provides a full range of custom landscape and hardscape services. We focus on landscape design, construction and gardening, and offer a wide variety of specialty services including installation of stone walls, fireplaces, outdoor kitchens, walkways, patios, gardens, trees and lawns. Our work perfectly blends and integrates existing natural landscape elements into new and innovative designs. Stoney Brook’s emphasis is on quality of work and commitment to customer service and detail. We are proud of our great list of references and our work can be seen throughout the seacoast community. Contact us today to see how we can turn your landscape and hardscape dreams into reality.

Spotlight Rider - Sarah Kane

At the 2022 Downeast Medal Finals, Sarah Kane was the 2022 DMF Modified Adult Medal Champion and the 2'3" Hunter Derby Champion on her horse, Karlotta. Let's learn about Sarah!

"It was such a special Downeast Medal Finals for me... the culmination of my first year back in the show ring since 1992!

I started riding at age 10 at Ox Ridge Hunt Club in Darien, CT. I eventually came under the tutelage of Vince Jones, who coached me to the 1991 ASPCA Maclay Final and 1991 AHSA Medal Final, my last year as a junior. I took a long break from riding during most of college and medical school (and was grieving the sale of my Big Eq/Jr Hunter heart horse), and came back to it in 2004 when I bought a very green gelding, who ended up launching me while bucking like a bronco one December day when I stupidly hadn't lunged him beforehand. I ended up with a broken humerus that needed surgery. I took another few years off from riding while I started my family in Topsfield, MA and settled into my career.

Fast forward to November 2020, when my youngest daughter Skylar decided she wanted to begin riding lessons. She started at Autumn Sky Farm, which is how I met Bethany Jones. After watching Skylar's lessons and helping her tack up and untack for a few months, of course I got the itch to get back in the saddle. All it took was one lesson with Bethany on her Dapper Doug, and I was hooked again.

I think I sat on almost 20 horses- this time the match had to be right. The first course I jumped on a then 6-year-old Karlotta, I knew she was the one.

What a fantastic way to end our first season together by winning the Modified Adult Medal and the 2'3" Hunter Derby! The courses were technical and challenging, but so much fun on a handy horse who loves the rollbacks! As Karlotta is now 7 years old, she also won the West Neck Farm Futurity Hunter class.

I'd like to thank the entire Downeast Medal Final staff, the generous sponsors, the judges who had us work for it but provided us a great time doing so, the Autumn Sky Farm barn family who has always been so supportive of my daughter and me, and most importantly, Bethany Jones, who saw the potential in both of us if only I could regain my confidence and Karlotta could see more of the world. I can't wait for next year's season!"