newsletter three March 2013

Upcoming Events:

March SANESA – show on 17th March at SDRC Good luck to all our young riders!

April

SANESA – 19-21 April, in

Robertson

Champagne breakfast We ride our horses to a secluded picnic in the vineyards… and consume a fabulous feast, while our steeds graze.

Amazing Race A fun event (kids, get ready!) to test you and your horse’s hand-eye coordination, flexibility and guts. Based on TV’s Amazing Race, a series of tasks are accomplished on horseback. Prizes to be won! (watch noticeboard/email for dates)

By Ursina Rusch

The Maties Equestrian club organized their first show of 2013 (on 24

February) with much success. Over 40 entries in five dressage classes and

five show jumping classes provided a day of excitement and quality

riding! Maties Equestrian was well-represented on home turf both with

riders and Maties-owned horses.

The upper-level dressage tests (PN Preliminary 2 and PN Preliminary 4)

ridden in the morning, were dominated by Equidae Stable’s Kathleen van

der Linde and Robin. Maties rider Lauren Boyd and Magic Bean came in

a close second in PN Preliminary 2, and Maties rider Ursina Rusch on La

Falda achieved a second place in PN Preliminary 4. Many riders used the

opportunity of the small, quiet show setting to gain their first experiences

in the show world or introduce their young horse prospects to the show

atmosphere. This made for some exciting viewing for the spectators with

the occasional leaps, bucks and even a jump over the arena fencing by a

number of horses, dis-proving the age old adage that dressage is a boring

discipline!

The show jumping classes commenced in the afternoon and were well-

attended. With heights from pole-on-the-ground to 80cm, an action

packed afternoon was guaranteed! In the 60cm class, the versatile Maties

rider/horse team of Lauren Boyd and Magic Bean were edged out of a

victory by Dominique van Zyl and Daisy from the Equestrian Sports

Centre. The 70cm and 80cm height classes were dominated by MEC

riders with MEC Stable Manager Julie Lustgarden and her (only 5 year

old!) thoroughbred mare Holden, taking victory in the 70cm class. The

80cm class was a battle between MEC riders Cheree Canny on

Ballesteros and the eventual winner Danielle Cronje on her gelding

Hiawatha (we welcome Danielle to the Club!).

The show provided a day of fun and learning experiences for all horse and

rider teams involved. Thanks to Julie, Cheree, and Di Arnold. Maties

Equestrian Club is looking forward to organizing more successful shows

in the future! Visit our website at http://blogs.sun.ac.za/matiesequestrian/ for

full show results, upcoming shows, riding lessons, outrides and stabling.

SHOW TIME!

Courtesy Elizabeth Turkstra.

To ask Elizabeth about her photography

or to engage her for an affordable shoot,

contact elizabeth.turkstra@live.co.za

A Word from our Stable Manager…

Hi all! Welcome to a new year at Maties Equestrian Club. With one successful dressage/jumping show already under our belts and many more events lined up, it promises to be an exciting year. It was great to get support and active participation in our show from Rita Pienaar’s yard, Klein Lanzerac, Kathleen van der Linde’s Equidae Stables and Dominique van Zyl’s Equine Sport Centre – wonderful to be building rapport in the local horsey community. We are particularly pleased to see our younger riders getting involved in SANESA this year. Maties shirts are available – please let me know if you would like to order one (julie_lustgarten@yahoo.com). Happy riding! Julie Lustgarten *******************

A little bit about Maties Equestrian’s

new riding instructor:

My name is Kayleigh Moller, I am 20 years

old I originally come from Port Elizabeth

where my riding career took off. I

started riding at the age of 3, just a

bit of plodding around while mom took a

break from me. Later on I started with

proper lessons at the age of 6. Since

then I have been in many riding schools

and ridden tons of different horses, one

of my first ponies used to run under the

jumps with me and leave me hanging in

trees.

At the age of 13 I was blessed with a looney thoroughbred mare

who was abused and no one else wanted. I became the proud owner

of my first horse. I left the riding school and started having

private dressage lessons with a top instructor. All the while

doing a few shows on the side, mainly dressage and showing.

Jumping not as much.

Dad had a mid-life crisis and moved us to Hermanus when I was in

grade 9 which kind of ended all competitive riding.

After Matric I went to study on Megan’s mom’s farm in

Villiersdorp where I completed up my SANE Module 3. I would like

to eventually attain a module 5 and when I am much older maybe a

module 6.

I’m not as skilled as Megs and could never fill her shoes but I

do have years of experience and a serious passion for what I do,

I also feel that if you are going to do it, then do it properly

or not at all. I am here to help your child as much as I can to

better their riding and at the same time make it enjoyable.

“ Welcome Kayleigh!

INTERESTED IN SANESA?

SANESA promotes riding within the schools. Every Province/Region holds up to 4 multi-discipline

competitions in the first 7 months of the year and then the top 8 riders with the most accumulated points in each

discipline go forward to represent their Province at the annual SANESA National Championships during

September/October.

It is not essential for anyone to actually own their own horse or pony to participate in SANESA – MATIES

EQUESTRIAN CLUB will assist our young riders with our talented club horses.

Check out http://www.sanesa.co.za and email info@sanesa.co.za to get a sense of the organization.

Then talk to Melanie Lustgarten (melanie_lustgarten@yahoo.com) who is doing so much to promote the

development of our Maties child riders.

THANKS MEL!

TALKING POINT (a forum for debate and conversation – to contribute email sss@sun.ac.za)

Spurring the Issue – Part 1 by Ursina Rusch

Recently, I was watching a new installment of an online training video by Ingrid Klimke, training her

four year old dressage hopeful Just Paul. The commenting on the video, by the usual arm-chair riders,

centred around one thing: Klimke’s use of spurs. Why, they asked, is Klimke riding a 4 year old with

spurs? At some point even the word “cruelty” came up. Klimke, in a later video addressed the above

question, explaining that she rides all her horses in spurs, regardless of age or training level and

explained how she uses them (that is a whole article on its own though).

But the above story left one question to be answered: when is a rider ready to wear spurs? Who should

wear spurs? We have all seen the Junior eventing classes at Agri shows where 13 year olds, wearing

spurs fit for a rodeo queen, come galloping on their heavily bitted horses, hanging on for dear life,

screaming (and sometime crying) like banjees, attempting to kick and whip their confused steeds over

the next jump all while having a downright petrified look on their faces. Should that kid wear spurs? If

yes or no, by what guidelines was that determined? Is there a universal guideline? While a lot of paths

lead to Rome, there is one tried and true guideline (but by no means the only one!). In the German

language, there is a saying that one must “earn their spurs” when they first start a new job, education or

a sport. What is meant is that one needs to get experience at anything they attempt to do before being

“good” at it. The saying originally comes from the cavalry days when soldiers were taught to ride for

the military. The soldiers were only allowed to wear spurs once they had enough experience in the

saddle to have acquired an independent seat, quiet legs and soft “feeling” hands in all three paces. In

other words, they had to ride well enough to have deserved wearing i.e. “earned” their spurs.

The concept may sound over-simplified but it is used to this day in Germany and does provide a

guideline as to whether a rider should be wearing spurs, regardless of the horse he/she rides. So the

next time you see a rider and you ask yourself whether they should really be wearing those spurs (I

dare to say Ingrid Klimke has earned hers!) ask yourself whether they have been properly earned, by

evaluating the seat, legs and hands of the rider.

MOUNTED GAMES

By Danielle Vinay

Mounted games is a developing equine discipline. It involves a series of fast pace races which can be divided

into individual, pairs or team races. It incorporates horse riding with many other skills. Skills such as vaulting ,

hand eye co-ordination and much more. It is all about speed, accuracy, strength and agility of both the pony and

rider.

South Africa has a national mounted games team who has competed in many world championships and

Southern Hemisphere Championship. This year the South African team placed 3rd

in the Southern Hemisphere

Championships and will be hosting the next international competition in 2013 in KwaZulu-Natal. The 2012

South African team is Megan Marr, Chris Krizinger, Danielle Vinay (a Maties rider!), Victoria Patrick and Tom

Forthste.

This is the team who traveled to Australia in the month of September last year. The trip to Australia taught us

many valuable skills and we have brought back so much knowledge to pass on to other mounted games riders.

The opportunity to travel to another country and represent South Africa is an irreplaceable experience and to

compete at such a high level of riding is in itself such an achievement.

Our great achievements have given us motivation to develop this exhilarating sport further in all provinces .An

official Western Province Mounted games association has been developed and I (Danielle Vinay) anticipate

many great things from the Western Cape. Competitions to look forward to include SA Champs 2013 (where

they will be picking the next team to compete in the Southern Hemisphere Championships and World

Championships in France 2014), Inter Provincials and many, many more.

For more information on this new exciting equine discipline contact Danielle on

0828066552 or 16976959@sun.ac.za

MAYBE WE CAN PERSUADE DANIELLE TO PRESENT A CLINIC FOR MATIES ON THIS NEW DEVEOPMENT!? - ED

.

FEATURED RIDER Sarah Cawood

Age: 20, born on the 27th

of March

Studies: BSc Physiotherapy at the University of Stellenbosch

Bursary holder: For Equestrian – discipline Polocrosse

I started riding horses from a very young age, I took part in many

different disciplines, my favourite being gymkhana. At the age of

13, I (and my sister) were introduced by my father to Polocrosse, an

extreme sport that gives one the most incredible adrenaline rush. I

love this sport and I will never regret having started it as it is one

thing in which I can get totally lost.

I play for the Maties Polocrosse team and I have played Polocrosse

on a Provincial level and represented South Africa at various junior

and senior levels. I have just recently been asked to join the South

African World Cup Squad that is due to play in 2015 at the world

cup hosted by South Africa.

Motto: Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation

determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

Sport awards: Polocrosse 2007 and 2008

Sport colours: polocrosse 2009

South African colours (Protea) for Polocrosse 2008- U16

Provincial colours for Polocrosse 2007- U16, 2008 - U19, 2009 –

Ladies, 2010 - Ladies and 2011 - Ladies

Presidential colours for Polocrosse 2009 – U23 and 2011 - U19

Best Player for the South Africa VS America U23 series 2009

Best Lady Player the South Africa VS America U23 series 2009

South African colours (Protea) for Polocrosse 2010 – U19

Best number two position for the South African VS Australia U19

series 2010

Honours award for equestrian June 2010

U19 South African team touring to Zambia 2011 (Tour cancelled)

U25 South African colours (Protea) for Polocrosse 2012

FHS Sports Women of the year 2012

Certificate for sports in Meerhoff 2012

Maties Sports colours for Equestrian 2012

PHOTO OF THE MONTH.

The winner of this edition’s photo competition was Andrea Trollip. The judges liked the precision and contained energy in this photograph of Cheree and Bally. We liked the shared expressions of utter concentration on both members of the partnership. (to enter next month’s competition, please send pics to sss@sun.ac.za)

Andrea wins a prize of a bottle of wine!!

Maties Rider Cheree Canny on Ballesteros (Bally) finishing second in the 80cm Show Jumping (Andrea Trollip)

Community Project Update On 27 February, Maties Equestrian hosted a dynamic morning workshop on life-skills, team work and leadership. The aim was to use horses as the medium of instruction – to act as windows into understanding group dynamics and individual challenges. The participants were a diverse group of students and university staff. Pegasus and Magic Bean volunteered to assist in the group work, which was facilitated by Fiona and Sarah, trained counselors from Reflectionz.

By Fiona Bromfield The group arrived seeming unsure of what to expect and some of them were unsure of each other as they had not all met prior to the session. A few voiced their inexperience with regards to horses, and were curious as to whether this would impact their experience, of which we assured them it would not. We allowed the group to observe the horses and reflect their observations back to us. Some of the observations made were about the horses’ physical reactions to the group and to each other. The group then approached the horses and each had their own experience during the interactions. Our observations of the group thus far were that they were very aware of the horses and that some of them felt vulnerability due to lack of understanding of horse behaviour; however, after having met the horses, their confidence appeared to increase and they interacted more with the horses. The initial activities allowed the students to engage with the horses, reduce their feelings of vulnerability, and gain more confidence in understanding the process of EAL/T. One of the themes that presented early on was that the group was quite ambitious and, throughout the session, tended to do more than was expected of them. The labels that emerged from one of the first activities (to create squares and label the squares as values that they felt are needed for success, and the horses were labelled as characteristics that aid towards success) were

determination, positive attitude, willpower and deadlines. The horses were labelled integrity (Pegasus) and self-belief (Bean). Once instructions had been given, the group immediately split up and took the horses to the various squares at different times and in a different order. During reflection time, we discussed the metaphorical links of the group splitting, reaching deadlines before having visited “determination” (is this a shortcut or is it ironic that determination and positive attitude were visited last by one team?), and each group only using one characteristic (horse) to visit their values. The group generally related these metaphors to their academic careers and found it relevant to where they currently are in terms of achieving their deadlines. The main task that created a lot of thought processes for the group was for them to label an obstacle that they felt they needed to get over towards achieving a personal/academic goal. They labelled their obstacle (a small jump) as self-doubt. The objective was to get the horse over the jump using whatever resources they felt necessary/appropriate, and with no rules. During reflection time they commented that it was easy being connected with the horse through the rope and that it felt productive to lead the horse and get over self-doubt and the group commented on how much easier it was than they had initially expected. We reflected with them that sometimes things are easier than what we think to get over our self-doubt, and that the resources we require to connect and lead us there are within our reach. The group was then given the same task, but with 3 rules: no touching the horses, no bribing the horses (or simulating bribing), no using halters/ropes. They also had to choose a consequence to perform when a rule was broken, which was to run on the spot for 10 seconds, and the whole group had to perform the consequence. They found this task considerably more challenging than when they could use a rope and touch the horses. They felt that the lack of connection to the horse and the inability to directly guide the horse created a lot of self-doubt in terms of not being able to allow the horses to understand what they were doing. We reflected on this, discussing how important communication and being connected to one’s situation/surroundings is in terms of getting over one’s self-doubt. The group originally tried with the previous horse they had taken over the jump, but that horse showed no interest, even though they came up with innovative ways to direct the horse towards the jump. A pattern began to present itself, whereby whichever horse the team tried to get over, every time they neared their obstacle (self-doubt), there would be a rush/panic amongst the group to complete the task, and the horse would run out. When we reflected on this, the team acknowledged the pattern and discussed how that seems to play out in reality with each of them on an individual/personal level and they each felt it was something they could take away with them from the session. The team then focused on Bean, which was more skittish/wary [no kidding – ed], but was reacting more to the group’s efforts of achieving their task. There was a point where someone broke a rule, and there was a bit of a discrepancy amongst the group regarding the consequence – metaphorical link to life in terms of how often are there consequences we

don’t feel we deserve, but are as a result of our rushed approach which in turn creates a narrow view of achieving our goal (a pattern that emerged from the group was that often there would be members standing in front of the jump, preventing the horse from getting over “self-doubt”). The group then felt quite frustrated/flustered and subconsciously shifted their approach by working together as a group and the horse they had not been working with turned its attention to them and walked with the group over the jump. During reflection, this created a very powerful metaphorical link for the group to consciously take a step back and review the situation they find themselves in, and look for support in their surroundings, and getting over their self-doubt will then be achieved more easily. Some of the group members then wanted to get the other horse over the jump, but others were wary due to the effort it had taken to get the one over, however the group then decided to try and get the other horse over. Members extended their obstacle so that it ran the width of the arena and worked towards getting the horse to go over any section, which it then did. Reflecting on this experience, the group discussed how broadening one’s view of the obstacle does not necessarily make it bigger, but rather makes it more achievable.

The group seemed to benefit a lot from this session in terms of getting a more finite understanding of how to achieve their goals and how to broaden their ability to face their challenges. For more by Sarah Garland & Fiona Bromfield, contact Reflectionz (info@reflectionz.co.za)

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT…. in a very dissimilar act of community service, AIMEE RUSSOUW and KAYLEIGH MOLLER very kindly volunteered to take Conner Bay and Lance to the annual Simonsberg Met on 15 February – much to the delight of the crowds. It is no easy feat to control horses in a crowd situation – particularly given the festive mood of many participants and onlookers. Both horses were menaces on the way down – prancing sideways into the road. But as soon as these two racehorses got onto the “track” they were perfectly behaved – showing off for the crowd…

Maties equestrian does it all! We accommodate your nearest, dearest and –

frankly – weirdest! Cowgirls and cowboys, forest picnics, vine-yard al fresco, pony

parties and more, come celebrate your birthday with us....

For very special, organised kids (and grown-up) parties please contact

Cheree Canny 0823757070 or cannycheree@gmail.com

ADVERTS

FIRLANDS PARK EQUESTRIAN

CLUB

This is an Ungraded Jumping Show

DATE: Sunday, 6 April

VENUE: Firlands Park Equestrian Estate

ENTRIES CLOSE 3 April

ENTRIES Brenda Wessels coachhouse@capvin.co.za

Cell No.: 083 692 2379

ENTRY FEES:

R50.00 (Per class) Late entries or on the day R70

GROUND LEVY: R70.00

Medical levy: R20 per rider

Please send me your news! We would be delighted to receive snippets of gossip (well, keep it clean), articles, adverts and ideas! Send them to me at sss@sun.ac.za Be safe on your horse – watch out for low-flying pterodactyls, Sandra Swart

From the Editor

We’re on the Web! Visit us at: http://blogs.sun.ac.za/matiesequestrian/activities/

Yes, we DO have livery space at Maties! Phone stable manager Julie Lustgarten at 083 3910566

Yea though we ride in the Valley of the

Shadow

Your hard-working committee has appealed

to the university to fix the death-trap of

a path connecting the rugby fields to the

bergpad, behind the gym. (It is bordered

by a trench and lined with iron spikes and

barbed wire, like a minimalist re-creation

of the Battle of the Somme)

Several of our horses have been injured.

After a bit of nagging, the university has

kindly agreed to make it safe, but are

waiting until May as sparks from the tools

could trigger a fire in the hot, dry

conditions of summer.

Sandra

LETTERS (send letters for publication to sss@sun.ac.za)

Dear All Re: fund-raising The stables have never looked better! But Maties Equestrian committee has many projects on the go – lots of fund-raising initiatives: to improve the jumping and dressage arenas, build a wash-bay [for our horses], install a shower [for humans!], pave an area between the containers, help the broader community, train the club ponies… We have a very hard-working, entirely volunteer committee who are deeply committed but …. they can’t do it alone. Please let us know if you would like to get involved! Also, contact Andrea if you have any fund-raising ideas…. andrea_kruger47@yahoo.com Sandra