USEF SHOW JUMPING TALENT SEARCH EAST 2008

Hi, everyone, wanted to get back to you about the USEF Talent Search competition held on October 4th and 5th at the USET Headquarters in Peapack/Gladstone, NJ. For those of you who may not be familiar with the competition, it is somewhat different than the Medal, Maclay and Washington Equitation finals. The Talent Search competion has four phases; flat, gymnastics, show jumping and a final four phase where the top four riders switch horses, riding each of the four horses that have qualified for that phase. Riders can qualify and participate who are twenty one and under and who have either amateur or professional status with the USEF. Stallions are also eligible to compete.

In early September, just prior to the date when the entries closed for the USEF Talent Search competition, I learned that I was given the opportunity to enter the competition on a beautiful stallion, named Kaiser de la Couer. Kaiser had come to Hunters Moon Farm, East Norwich, NY, to be tried by one of the customers and I was fortunate to be able to show him this past weekend. And before I go on, I would like to extent a sincere thank you to everyone who helped me to secure the ride on such a wonderful horse!

In the flat phase of the competition which took place on Saturday, riders were divided into groups. The, second phase, called the gymnastics phase, was also held on Saturday. Unfortunately, Kaiser was strong in the second phase and we dropped from first place in the first phase to twenty first place after the two phases. With the resolve and determination to learn from my experiences on Saturday, and after some quick changes to the horse's equipment, the show jumping phase on Sunday went well (the judges scored the round tied for third place). After three phases of competition, we placed 6th place overall. I would like to extend a sincere congratulations to the winner, Sophie Benjamin, and to all the other top ten finishers, as well as the all of those who competed.

Catch up with soon for an answer to one of your recent questions.

Talk to you later!
Maria Schaub

CAPITAL CHALLENGE EQUITATION WEEKEND 2008

Hi, Everyone, wanted to catch up with you today after workng at the Capital Challenge Equitation weekend in Maryland. The last couple of weeks have been really busy with a new type of adjustment - juggling attending Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, full time and working for Frank Madden Show Stables at Hunters Moon Farm in East Norwich, New York. The number of traveling miles on my car has been significant and, the ongoing learning with a passion for everything equestrian continues to propel me everyday!

While watching and teaching this weekend, my thoughts were directed toward how constructive feedback between trainer and student during the indoor season, and all year round for that matter, is essential, yet difficult to achieve. The trainer's goal is to establish a receptive atmoshere for appropriate and helpful feedback so that the junior equestrian will hear the message and focus on improving rather than feeling criticized. So as you start your journey into the next few weeks of intense competition, or even if you are not doing indoors this year, listen and be open to what your trainer has been trying to tell you. Try to use the information received during the next show or while at indoors. Discuss the trainer's feedback with him or her because it can really help you and your horse to achieve your goals.

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the management of the Capital Challenge Horse Show for asking me to participate in the award ceremeony for the winner of the Monarch International Equitation Championship. Congratulations to, Matt Metell, and to the other top ten finishers as well as all of the other riders who competed in the class.

Catch up with me next weekend during the USEF East Coast Show Jumping Talent Search, at the USET headquarters in Gladstone, NJ, for my next blog. Next weekend, I go back into competition mode at the finals.

Talk to you later,
Maria Schaub

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS BEFORE THE HAMPTON CLASSIC

Hi, everyone, thank you for your continued support and questions about riding and horses.

Today, I wanted to write to you about why I may not answer some of the questions that you have asked of me. I do appreciate the time you spend thinking of questions and for all of the personal experiences you have shared with me during the past two plus years. I want to share a word of caution with you about why I may not answer some of your questions such as what do you do when you flat a horse. Although I am gaining experience everyday as a professional, I am a far cry from an equestrian expert. Horses and riders are individuals with unique characteristics which require a wealth of consideration especially when they are being trained. So, when you flat your horse, for example, the degree and persistence of each exercise executed for a particular horse and/or rider's benefit will vary over time, with differences in intensity and duration. For example, one of the reasons you are asked to specify what height you will jump a horse when attending a clinic taught by an expert, is to insure that the lesson/clinic/instruction are commensurate with the ability of the horse and rider. When you are training your horse and you have gotten to know all of his or her quirks, strengths and weaknesses, you soon recognize that what is required of a young horse changes as they age, or as their work and competition level changes. In general, teaching strategies will change according to the ability and experience level of an individual and without that information, it is difficult to answer a question not knowing the details and the first hand knowledge of the horse and rider involved.

The same problem in one horse can require a completely different solution in another horse. The point, here, is that in order to develop an accurate program, using the guidance of an experienced professional will help to insure that complex variables which require assessment will be addressed.

So what about those of you who can not, for whatever the reason may be, get lessons or guidance from qualified professionals? Please try to read all of the books and magazine articles you can written by the masters, such as Bert de Nemethy and George Morris, to name a few and/or rent training videos at your local tack shop. Try to keep in mind that your horse has individual needs and characteristics and get advice from people in the know as much as possible!

Catch up with me next week for a report on the Hamptom Classic.
Talk to you later!
Maria Schaub

THE NEXT BIG STEP

Hi, everyone! Thanks for your continued support and questions, and for your concern about my career.

I just got back from taking some riders to a one day show. It was a small show in Brewster, New York. It was great to see the students using what they had learned in their lessons during the week as they competed in the show ring.

After I finished working today, I wanted to try answer one of your recent questions about what I believe will be my next big career step. Currently, I am taking a bigger role in giving lessons, immersing myself in the regular training routines of the horses at the barn, and attempting to assist with the day to day functions of the business. The next big step would be to become competitive in the open jumper division, to continue to develop and show young hunters and jumpers and to increase my competency as a rider. As a young professional and at this point in my life, I am proud of what I have accomplished thus far and I recognize that it takes time to develop the expertise and skills necessary to be considered a master in any field. I am quite lucky to be working with experienced professionals and I am learning something new about horses and the sport practically every day. So, I guess you can see that my goal is to continue to gain knowledge and experience, first and foremost, because riding and horses are what I love. By the way, along with my continued work at Hunter's Moon in East Norwich, NY, I will be starting college in a few weeks at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. My plan is to continue working while I attend college.

Catch up with me next time when I answer another one of your questions.
Talk to you later!
Maria Schaub

SHOWING AS A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL

Thanks so much for your continued support and confidence in this blog!

Recently, someone who saw me working at the Lake Placid horse show, asked how much showing I was doing as a young professional. As it is with many other careers, a professional rider must earn the confidence of an owner, sponsor or benefactor and, or their boss, in order to be asked to show a horse. When you are starting out, like I am now, you are competing for rides with other professionals who have many years of experience and with those who have vast achievements and accomplishments. Your new peer group is quite different from your peers in the junior ranks. Of course, I am not saying that there weren't fierce competitors in the junior ranks, but that the opportunity to ride and show as a young professional is diminished by the new peer group, in particular. So you might wonder how I am thinking about this, right?

So far, this year I have been very fortunate to have shown more than a half dozen pre-green hunters, a six and a seven year old jumper in the young jumper division and, at Lake Placid, I was given the opportunity to show a horse in the 1.35m and 1.40m classes. In addition to the rides that I have just mentioned, I have schooled hunters, jumpers and equitation horses in and out of the show ring. I am taking a long-term view about trying to get the best riding/showing opportunities possible and, in the process, I want to enhance and further develop my riding skills. I am committed to continue to work as hard as I can to attain my goals. So far, the experience has been great!

Catch up with me next time when I answer another one of your questions.
Talk to you later!
Maria Schaub

CATCH RIDING OPPORTUNITIES

Hi, everyone, thanks for your continued support and for sharing your thoughts, feelings and questions about riding, competing and horses!

Today, I thought I would share some of my own personal experiences with catch riding and hope that what I experienced may answer some of your questions about it. When I started riding with Beacon Hill Show Stables in December of 2000, I was very lucky that my parents could afford to lease a very nice, experienced, older equitation horse named, Archie, who helped me learn the basics. My trainers and some of the customers at the barn, gave me the chance to flat and, even have some lessons, on many of the horses at the barn and this was an valuable opportunity.

After indoors in 2001, my family could no longer afford to lease another horse, and with knowing that family finances were tight, my trainers helped find sale horses for me to show and my parents paid some or all of the expenses on quite a few of those horses. I was just trying to get my feet wet and to earn my stripes and I was unbelievably passionate about the sport and thankful for whatever chances to ride came my way. What I did not realize or understand was how subsequent events would and or could transpire and/or unfold but, I did recognize that I had the support of my trainers, my parents and many of the customers. I loved to ride and be around horses and tried to help out at the barn whenever I could.

With the resolve to continue riding and with the never ending support and encouragement of my trainers and my parents, I spent the next two years riding mostly sale horses, and some of them belonged to customers at the barn. When the barn traveled to Wellington in 2001 and 2002 for the winter, I visited Florida for a weekend but had the fortunate opportunity to ride and lesson on the horses that stayed in New Jersey. Looking back on the years when I spent the winters in New Jersey, I realize they were building block years that helped prepare me for what was around the next corner.

In 2003, thanks to my parents financial support, I went south to Wellington, Florida, for over a month, and with the help of my trainers, got some catch rides. As it was in previous years, some of those catch rides were owned by customers at the barn. During the last week of the circuit, my trainers arranged a catch ride on a young, large, attractive equitation horse that was for sale and stabled with a New York and Wellington based trainer, David Raposa. I schooled the horse before the show during the week and was very excited about the chance to show a horse of great quality. That weekend, after winning the USET class, I got my first chance to ride and participate in the Ronnie Mutch Equitation Championship. That particular weekend at WEF was truly an exciting one for me!

In the late spring of 2003, several special opportunities came my way and yet, again, I must say that I had no idea what they would mean to me in the future. One catch ride that stands out in my mind started at the Old Salem A show, just before Devon in May of 2003. My trainers had secured some catch rides for me with, Sam Edelman, of S & L Farms, one of which was a handsome and talented gelding that had done the jumpers and was being marketed as an eq horse. His name was S & L Whimsey. I showed Whimsey in the Maclay class and we were called back on top! Later that summer, Whimsey came to Beacon Hill to be sold and I was so fortunate to get to show him again. At the USEF Medal finals in Harrisburg that fall, I was awarded 8Th place riding Whimsey! Subsequently, luck was with me again, and a benefactor (who chooses to remain anonymous) offered to purchase half ownership of Whimsey, and with their help and the help of my parents, I was given the wonderful opportunity to own my own horse. Unfortunately, Whimsey was injured at Capital Challenge in 2004, but my prior experiences catch riding helped my trainers to continue to secure additional catch rides for me. Without the help and support of my trainers and my parents, I would not have had so many special experiences catch riding.

Each day, I still say to myself that I am just getting my feet wet, earning my stripes and that I want to achieve my personal best. All of my experiences as a junior rider have taught me to be grateful and to look ahead positively because you really might be very surprised about what is around the next corner.

Catch up with me next time with another answer to one of your questions.
Talk to you later!

Maria Schaub

DEVON 2008 - A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL'S PERSPECTIVE

Hi, everyone, thank you for your continued support!

In an attempt to answer a recent question about what a work day was like, I thought I would talk about my experience at the Devon Horse Show this year. Before going into the details about my day, I thought I would tell you more about one of the oldest horse shows in the United States. For those who are not familiar with the show, the Devon Horse Show, circa 1896, is held in late May for a week and a half and participants qualify for many of the classes; the junior equitation classes are an exception to the qualifying rule. For seventy five years, the show proceeds go to the Bryn Mawr Hospital Foundation which benefits the institution. This year, there were a reported three thousand volunteers planning year round to make the show a special event. The show grounds include beautiful landscaping and, for the children and family, alike, an old fashioned country fair with cotton candy, rides for those who are game, wonderful shops and a food court.

So, now that you have some background information on the show, I will tell you about one of my days working. I was at the barn by five fifteen in the morning, and exercised a horse or two so they could adjust and acclimate to the new setting. Afterwards, I assisted the trainers in every way I could and I helped the riders prepare for their classes. Throughout the day. I spoke with the trainers and remained on a designated schedule. Along with the trainers, I assisted at the warm up ring and at the ingate, and was involved in the feedback after a rider's round was completed. When the classes were finished, I helped clean up and set up for the next day. The days were quite long, so when the work day was over, I ate and went to bed early so I could be rested for work the following day.

I am hoping that next year or the year after, I will be showing in a class or two with other professionals.

Catch up with me next time, when I answer another one of your questions.
Talk to you later!
Maria Schaub