Ken Borden Clinic at Timber Ridge – November 2011

 

By Kristin Hermann

 

I have been receiving emails about Kenneth Borden from WPDA member, Robin Birk.  Ken has been performing clinics at her barn for years and yet I had never once attended one.

 

This month I needed a place to board my horse and Robin had a stall available and so we went to her facility and while there, decided to sign up for the clinic too.  What a great decision!  Not just to board at her Timber Ridge Equestrian Canter, but also to have the refreshing experience of witnessing dressage training being fun, Ken Borden style!

 

If you “google” the name Ken Borden, you will come across his website, www.littlebitfarminc.com.  The first greeting you see is not about his accomplishments, and trust me there are many, but instead, you find a quote by Rumor Godden, “A garden isn’t meant to be useful.  It’s for joy.”  It continues, “To all our friends and Little Bit Farm family, we wish you the joy of a grateful heart and a very Happy Thanksgiving.”

 

Then, as you read on, you will find, “…2009 & 2010 USDF & USEF Leading Dressage Breeder!  I can’t help but imagine what he accomplished in 2011.  Then, as I was finally reading my USDF Connections magazine dated February 2011, I came across, “Rashka – ridden, bred, and owned by Kenneth Borden.  “Training and First Level Horse of the Year 2010.”

 

Ken Borden is not a name that stands out like Debbie McDonald or Steffen Peters but if you read about his breeding and riding accomplishments on his website, his name should be on the tips of everyone’s tongue.

 

I took a few notes on the first day of his clinic and will share with the WPDA readers of Newsbits.  However, on the second day, I was totally disappointed as I had left my note book at home.  But, you may well be glad that I did because you would otherwise have many more pages of these notes to read, instead of this short briefing!

 

My horse participated in the clinic and on the second day he just bloomed.  He engaged his hind end, lifted his back and lengthened his stride.  Robin Birk was correct when declaring that Ken comes up with a gymnastic exercise for every need in a horse’s training.  My horse, being of a Baroque breed, with not-too-much natural schwung needs help when lengthening his trot.  In order to help develop the horse’s stride, Ken had him canter to get a huge push from behind and then had the horse transition to a trot on a straight line to develop a lengthening!  The push from the canter-to-trot transition got that horse’s huge “booty” engaged and pushing right over his top line and helped start the first lengthened trot steps!  “Wow!” I thought, “So simple and yet, effective.”

 

Ken took four of his stallions to the Dressage Sport Horse Seminar with William Solyntjes and Kristi Wysocki, hosted by the lovely Majestic Farm in Batavia, Ohio.  The seminar was oriented not just towards judging at breed shows, but also for everyone who may be looking to purchase a horse or just develop a better eye.  It was well organized and covered both younger and older horses (an additional seminar focusing on foals is an exciting possibility for the future), using PowerPoint presentations, printed hand-outs, case studies, and live-horse demonstrations.  That’s where Ken along with Sir Flemmingh, Raybol, Rashka, and Ovation came in.

 

The four boys (ranging in age from seven-year-old Rashka to two-year-old Ovation) were part of the live demonstration.  Rashka and Sir Flemmingh (four years old) were stars, scoring 8s and 9s from most judges.  The youngsters (Raybol is three) also did well scoring several 8s, and no one got less than 7 on anything.

 

Ken noted the way the instructors kept coming back to the overall impression and balance of the horse, including center of gravity and whether they were uphill, level, or downhill.  They talked about dropping a mental plumb line as a tool for gauging line of correctness, and the “triangle of bones” in both front and back.  Especially interesting was their explanation of “double dipping” with regard to problems in conformation and movement.  If the horse shows a conformation problem that hurts their movement, it counts against scores for conformation, for general impression, and for the affected gait.  However, if there is an evident problem that does not affect the horse right now, such as a narrow chest, points should be lost only for conformation.

 

A sort of “seminar within the seminar” developed when Ken was asked to catch handle some other horses.  One owner asked him to show the audience their horse again, and the difference between a horse being handled by its amateur owner and by a professional handler was graphically demonstrated.  Many people can ride large movers, but far fewer can keep up with running them.  Hopefully the lesson learned was that people should hire a good handler if they cannot run the horse well themselves.  Ken joked, “I often win with my horses not just because they are great horses, but because I can show them to their best advantage.”

 

 

 

                 2nd in 4 YO & Older Stallions

                 3rd in 4 YO & Older Stallions Under Saddle

 

Raybol: 2nd in Suitability to Become a Dressage Horse - 3 YO

                4th in Materiale 3 YO Colts & Geldings

Raymeister: 6th in Get of Sire

R Cor Ray: 8th in Get of Sire

               

 

Ovation:  Region 2 Grand Champion 2 YO Colt or Gelding, Grand Champion Colt

 

Masterpiece: Region 2 Mature Stallion Reserve Champion

 

Sir Flemmingh: Region 4 Champion Mature Stallion

 

Raybol: Region 4 3 YO Colts & Geldings Champion

                3 YO Young Horse Champion

                3 YO Grand Champion

                Won 3 YO Materiale

                High score of show, 77.9%

 

Rashka: 3rd at Region 4 4th level Championship

 

Congratulations to Paige Miller, Region 4 4th Level Jr/YR Champion

 

Rashka was high score of show with 71.143 at 4th Level

 

Masterpiece qualified with a 68% at 4th Level

 

Sir Flemmingh: Won his class, won Mature Stallion Champion, and was Grand Champion.  Under saddle he was Reserve Champion at Training Level.

 

Bashka:  Ridden by Joey Miner, won several classes, qualified at both Training and 1st Levels, and was high score of show with a 75%.

 

Congratulations to Stephanie Celander-Schultz; her gelding Verro Dello (bred by Little Bit Farm) qualified at 3rd level.

 

A little colt (Opus/Del Pierro) was born just after midnight on May 31.  Check our Foals of 2011 page for details and to see other foals as they arrive.

 

Rashka won his four classes with scores at 2nd level of 72.143 and 71.714, and at 3rd level of 71.316 and 70.789.

 

Sir Flemmingh won 4 YO Stallion with 83.21, was Champion Stallion, and won his Materiale with 72.5.

 

Ovation  was 3rd in a very tough 2 YO class with a score of 81.20

 

Orphan Annie won 3 YO Fillies with an 80.30 and was Champion Filly.

 

Tiamo's Gauguin (O'She's Gauguin x Tiamo Trocadero) owned by Paige Miller, won Yearling Colts with a 77.00, the ISR/Oldenburg class, also with a 77.00, and was Reserve Champion Young Colts & Geldings.

 

Midsummer's Night Dream (Harmonika x Masterpiece)  owned by Sue Bauer-Lee, won Yearling Fillies with a 76+ and was Reserve Champion Filly.