Downeast Medal Finals

December 2021

September 15-18, 2022

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

The DMF Team would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays!!

Message from the President

We at DMF are so thankful for the support shown to us by our exhibitors, sponsors and our staff every year, but most especially in 2021. After missing 2020 due to Covid, everyone came back and we enjoyed a great show. It was awesome to witness and share the happiness of everyone at the show. Thank you to all!

We are now looking forward to planning DMF 2022. I would greatly appreciate sponsors contacting me about their participation in 2022. This commitment will hold your level/class/vendor slot open for you and we will keep the link/logo up on our homepage. Existing sponsors and anyone interested in becoming a sponsor please feel free to contact me (ginger@downeastmedalfinals.com) and we can discuss your options. No matter how large or small every amount given helps us to put together this wonderful show.

As of January 1, 2022 we will be taking down all links/logos that have not committed. We are asking that sponsorship funds be paid no later than March 1, 2022.

Stay tuned to future newsletters for information about DMF 2022 and let us know if you have any suggestions.

We wish you a wonderful Holiday season, and happy horse time in 2022!

Thank you,

Ginger

Learning to Evaluate Your Horse’s Hooves

By Dawn Willoughby

It seemed like every day I trimmed horses, I was asked the same question, over and over again: “So, how do my horse’s feet look?”

It wasn’t long before I had an epiphany: Why not teach the owner to evaluate and trim her own horse? If I could do it, why not other owners?

Before long it was me asking, “So how do your horse’s feet look this month?” And the owners couldn’t wait to answer. Because every month, the feet looked better and better. After 7 months, they usually looked exceptional and I was off the case and on to new students. Vets and farriers alike were asking the proud owner-trimmer, “So who does your horse’s fantastic feet?” Oh that was music to my ears! For the vast majority of horses, this is not rocket science. If you want to understand ‘all things hoof’ at the molecular level, you sure can be. But if on the other hand, you want to put a nice foot on your horse and then hit the trails, by jove I say let’s keep it simple!

In the first photo you see a hoof capsule that I cooked down on my outside grill. The primary goal of trimming is to encourage the hoof capsule to grow a strong, protective enclosure for the coffin bone and soft tissue structures (cooked off) which are located in the back of the foot. Inside the capsule you can still see remnants of the laminae. The coffin bone also had laminae on the surface and the two lamina were connected. See how the coffin bone sits in the capsule. The lateral cartilages are soft tissue structures on either side of the back of the coffin bone; they cooked off. The digital cushion, also gone, was located in the back center of the foot, over the frog. Dr. Robert Bowker has likened soft tissue structures of the hoof to the excellent, gel padding found in running shoes. One of the jobs of the soft tissue structures is to absorb shock.

Click here to read the rest of the article!

DMF Farrier Spotlight - Katie Longcoy

Katie "Kel" Longcoy is a farrier/blacksmith. She lives in Albany Township Maine with her boyfriend and two dogs. She travels all over the state of Maine as Up North Farrier. She grew up spending her time at the barn, riding and working with horses. She attended Heartland horse-shoeing school in spring and plans to become a certified farrier in 2022.

Thank you to Kel for being the on grounds DMF farrier and sharing her knowledge with all of our horsemanship kids!

Rider Spotlight - Sara Plaisted

The 2021 Downeast Junior Medal Final was won by Sara Plaisted. Let's learn about Sara!

"Hi everyone! My name is Sara Plaisted and I was the winner of the 2021 Junior Medal at DMF. This win was very special to me because I have been coming to DMF for 7 years in a row now, and because I was the winner of the 2016 Short Stirrup Medal at DMF, and I had the pleasure of riding with the same people all 7 years I have been coming. This year when I won the junior final, I was on a new horse, Champtino, one of the coolest horses I have ever ridden. I also have another horse, Dimi, that I have been showing for 3 years now, both in the equitation and jumpers.

Other then riding I have also won multiple sportsmanship awards in IEA, and enjoy doing any horsemanship test I can.

Outside of riding I enjoy working as an equine vet assistant and working at the barn, and love caring for my chickens and dogs at home. I am 16 now and a junior in high school, with goals in the future of running an equine retirement and rescue."

Attention to all Medal Finals winners, Derby winners, Hunter Futurity winner, Team Challenge winners, Pro/Am winners, and Horsemanship winners: We would like to feature you in the upcoming newsletters!

Please submit a bio including where you are from, where you ride, trainer, years at DMF, where you go to school/grade, favorite things about riding, your horse, future goals in riding and life, your horse’s favorite treats, anything about you and your horse!

Please submit to ginger@downeastmedalfinals.com. We look forward to learning about you!