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News!
Ready, Set...SHOW!
Our 2014 NFF Show Team has been busy for the month of May.
We’ve already attended two horse shows, and have another one coming up this Saturday.
We have 20 members on our show team, and even though we offer shows almost every weekend, not all 20 show at the same time!
Our first show was Saddleview, and we took six horses and riders. Last
week we attended the Lytle Show and we took nine horses and riders.
This coming Saturday we’ll be going to WBTA with 13 horses and 12
riders! We’ve had fun at all our shows, and they’ve been a great learning experience for our team members.
If you’re not busy this coming Saturday, stop by Meadowbrook
Stables down in Chevy Chase and watch the show! Don’t forget, Saturday students, that there are no lessons this coming Saturday.
We have three upcoming shows in June, and a bunch in July - including a show we’re having here on July 26th! We’ll have more information about this show, but this will also be an opportunity for you to
try showing if you aren’t on the team.
Vacation Time!
The countdown has begun until school gets out for the summer!
And that means vacation time - for all of us!
First up for vacation is me (Amy). There will be no weekday lessons May 28 or 29th. Saturday lessons will be as usual (I just won’t be
here).
Next up for vacation is Jen. There will be no lessons for her students from June 13-20.
What about you? If you know you’re going to be out of town, please
let us know. I’ve been posting the current week and the following week
of Jen’s schedule on the board, so if someone has cancelled you are
welcome to take that spot.
We’ll also be switching to a summer schedule for weekday students
starting the week of June 23rd. We’ll have some early morning times,
and of course some evening times. We’ll keep you updated as the time
approaches.
And so you can mark your calendars...no lessons Memorial Day
(May 26) and July 4!
Summer!
NFF Stables Lesson News
May 14, 2014
We’ve had some summer-like weather
these past few days, and it’s time to remind
you about taking care of your horse when
it’s hot outside.
First, when you’re in your lesson, you’re
going to get hot and thirsty. Feel free to
bring a water bottle with you and keep hydrated throughout your lesson.
When you’re done with your lesson,
you’ll need to properly cool down your
horse. You’ll need to walk him on a loose
rein until he stops huffing and puffing and
his body feels warm (not hot) to the touch.
This can be a couple of laps, or it might take
5-10 minutes.
Next, you’ll need to hose off your horse.
Start on a leg first, then slowly move the hose
up to the rest of his body. You’ll need to use
your hand to work the water in his coat to
get the sweat off. Get their chest, in between
their tail, and of course the body. And don’t
forget their face! They will sweat around the
browband and behind the ears. Most horses
don’t like having their face sprayed with the
hose, so use a wet towel or wet sponge and
get all the sweat off their face. When you’re
all done hosing off, use the sweat scraper to
get all the water off of them (do this in the
wash stall so you’re not leading a dripping
wet horse through the barn).
Don’t forget to take extra care when cleaning your bridle - get all the gunk off the bit,
and make sure you get the underneath side
of the bridle that touched their face. And the
girth - both sides need to be cleaned!
Parents, please understand that your
child needs to take proper care of the horse
they rode, so they will need to stay after
their lesson to do this!
NFF Calendar
May 17: NFF Show Team Show
(No Saturday lessons)
May 26: Memorial Day; no lessons
May 31: Trail Ride Saturday!
May 31: NFF Show Team Show
(lessons as usual, though) - Turner Farm
June 1: NFF Show Team Show
(Centurion Farm)
June 8: NFF Show Team Show
(Red Gate)
June (date TBD): Field Day!
June 23-27: Five-Day Camp,
open to everyone, beginner
through advanced!
July 4: No lessons
July 6: NFF Show Team Show
(Red Gate)
July 13: NFF Show Team Show
(Saddleview)
July 14-18: Horsemanship Camp
- learn everything and anything
you want to know about horses
and ride, ride, ride!
July 19: No Saturday lessons we’re at a horse show
July 26: No Saturday lessons we’re hosting a horse show here
at NFF! (more details to come)
July 28-August 1: Five-Day Camp
August 18-23: Six-Day Camp, the
most fun week of the entire summer! Our theme this year will be
foxhunting!
Saturday Students:
Please don’t forget that we
will not have
Saturday lessons on
May 17th!
Check, Please!
Please don’t forget that you need to pay for your lessons. After you
have taken six lessons, you’ll owe for the next set. Our lesson sets are to be
paid before you take your lessons, not after!
Check the lesson bulletin board every single time you have a lesson don’t just assume you know what horse you’ll be riding - we might have
had to make a change for some reason or another. And then you can also
check and see if you owe for lessons.
If you haven’t paid for your set by the time you’re three lessons into
your set, we will be unable to teach you until you’ve paid. We don’t like
having to hunt you down and ask to be paid - just check the board, so
you’ll know when to bring a check!
Horse Sweat
Ever wondered why your horse lathers up when it sweats? It’s all because of a special protein in the sweat appropriately named latherin.
Horses are one of the few animals that sweat...dogs don’t sweat (they
pant!). Pigs don’t sweat (that’s why they need cool mud). But horses sweat
to help cool them down.
Us humans sweat, but our sweat contains more salt than protein.
Horse’s sweat contains more protein than salt, and that’s what makes that
white foam you see on them. I once had a student tell me that whoever
washed the horse they were riding must not have gotten out all the shampoo! The white lather does look like shampoo, but it’s actually latherin.
Some horses sweat more than others - it can depend on the horse, and
of course the amount of activity they are doing. Even though the horse’s
sweat contains more protein than salt, we still replenish the salt their body
loses by providing salt blocks - those brown blocks you see in stalls and
out in the fields. The horses lick the blocks, which contain salt, protein
and minerals. For some horses, we add electrolytes to their grain - almost
like powdered gatorade.
Where Do They Go?
We’ve kind of sort of switched to our summer turnout schedule. Full
care horses are in during the day when it’s hot, and out at night. So if you
take a lesson on the weekdays and you ride a horse in full care (Ru, Duncan, Doc, Digger, Sooner, 99), check and see if he’s been fed his dinner,
and then turn him out for the night (no halter - and bring the halter you
used for turnout back with you, please). For Saturday students, you may
return them to their stall when you are done. If you’re not sure where the
horse gets turned out, please ask! It does make a difference where they go,
and we don’t want a horse getting hurt due to fighting.
For field board, we generally leave the lesson horses we are using in
the paddock for the day. On weekdays, when you are done riding, turn the
horse out the back gate (not back in the paddock). On Saturdays, check
and see if we are using the horse again, and if not - same thing, out the
back gate - no halter!