Howdy everybody,

Jeez, competition season is just around the corner.  I didn’t think summer was ever going  get here, but the horses are finally just about shed out.  They don’t want to all do it at the same time, oh no, that would be way too easy.  Instead they would prefer to drag out the torture of one shedding some and then the two others and finally leaving the baby to walk around in her fuzz.

I purchased a new grooming tool this winter on Ebay on a whim.  Have to say I would highly recommend it.  Furmilinator.  Beats the heck out of a shedding blade, but, on the other hand, you could buy a whole bucket of shedding blades for the cost of the new toy.

On to a bit of the more serious stuff………

Everyone has been reading about all off the recent tragedies involved in the Eventing world, Darren C, Rolex, and a the others.  I want all of our membership to know that our Board of Directors takes safety within our sport very very seriously!  There have been many discussions on how we can make our sport safer within New Brunswick and the Maritimes.

As a coach I strongly believe that our riders need to be secure in their abilities to ride at the level in which they compete.  As a rider I strongly believe in the need to be competent and capable to ride in the level in which I intend to compete.  As a parent I need to be able to assure my family that both my horse and myself are able to compete in a fashion that will bring me back home at the end of the day, and as President of this Organization, it of is paramount importance that our riders are able to compete in a safe and capable manner.

Dr Rob Stevenson and Mike Gallagher are both an excellent, knowledgeable resource that we rely on for up to date, current, standards of safety.  Several ideas were discussed at our last BOD meeting as to how we, as directors of our sport within the province of NB, can ensure that our competitors are as skilled and competent as the courses they are riding on demand of them to be.  There is no hard and fast rule, no easy answers.  We, as riders, need to heed our coaches, they have our safety first and foremost in their minds.  We need to heed our inner voices, when they tell us that maybe we just are not ready yet to tackle a new level of competition.  We all, as responsible individuals, need to be honest and respectful of each others aspirations and abilities, and of our own. 

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t challenge ourselves, that we shouldn’t step outside of our circle of comfort, and that we shouldn’t strive to become better riders and equestrians than what we currently are.  But we need to do it in situations and settings in which we can learn the new skills that we require.  This is where the importance of regular lessons comes in.  The attendance of clinics.  The ongoing evaluation and re-evaluation of our abilities, of our horses abilities, of our growth as a team, of our goals and of our aspirations.

Be honest with yourself, and make a promise to never stop learning, and to never stop striving to be better than you are.  To know that there is ALWAYS room for improvement for each and every one of us all.

Donna Lee Cole
President HTNB