HTC-Q Gala 2016

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On Saturday November 12th we went to the HTC-Q gala (Horse Trials Canada-Quebec) held at the Granby zoo. Once again, we were treated to a beautiful room, great food and numerous door prizes!

Congratulations are in order for Karianne Fortier and Denzel who won the Champion title for the Training Sr. division!

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We all can’t wait to see what 2017 has in store for us! Have a good winter!

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BGR Farm Clothing

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You can now order your BGR Farm clothing! Orders will be processed regularly, just contact us to place yours! Here are the different styles we have, many other colours are available!

Sleeveless New Balance 25 $

 

Sport Polo 45 $

 

Sleeveless Vest 50 $ / Windbreaker 80 $

 

T-Shirt 15 $

t-shirt

Other style may be ordered if you ask!

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Grid of the Month – March 2016

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In this category of articles, I will suggest, every month, a jumping grid-type exercise. This can be useful to vary your work, to address a particular jumping problem or simply to perfect yours and your horse’s technique. If you have suggestions or if you have a specific problem, please let me know!

March 2016

Target : Get better turns when jumping

Set Up

GridOTM-Mar16

Place four jumps according to the image. You can put the number of strides you want between jumps 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, based on the size of your ring. I recommend to keep the height of the jumps at a level below your competition level.

Progression

  1. Begin by warming up on a single jump, both directions.
  2. Start by jumping 1 and 2, then circle after 2. Walk, pat your horse.
  3. From a left lead canter, jump 2 and 3, then circle after 3. Walk, pat your horse.
  4. Once the circles are easy on both directions, do the complete course, from jump 1 through jump 4.

You want to pay attention to where the rider is looking. We want to teach the horse to follow that indication, so he can easily rebalance after a jump and be ready to turn in the desired direction. You can start by doing bigger circles (15 meters), but your goal should be, in multiples work sessions, to do this exercise with 10 meters circles.

Enjoy!

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Grid of the Month – February 2016

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In this new category of articles, I will suggest, every month, a jumping grid-type exercise. This can be useful to vary your work, to address a particular jumping problem or simply to perfect yours and your horse’s technique. If you have suggestions or if you have a specific problem, please let me know!

February 2016

Target : Improve straightness and accuracy over jumps

Set Up

GridOTM-Feb16

Start by setting up a crossrail in the middle of the ring along with four ground poles, at a 45° angle from the jump, one stride away.

Progression

  1. Start by jumping the crossrail on a straight line, going between the poles, from both direction.
  2. Once this is done, aim to jump the cross rail at an angle. To do that, go over one pole, then the jump and over the second pole, on a straight line. Do this from both leads and direction. At this stage, it is essential that the horse stays straight throughout the exercise, going over the middle of each element.
  3. When the exercise is easy on a straight line, we can start turning. Go over a pole and the jump, like in the previous step, then turn and go between the two poles after the jump. The horse must follow where your eyes are looking and turn easily before proceding to the next step.
  4. Finally, the last step is to go over a pole and the jump, then turn and go over the second pole in its center (for example, get the first pole on the right lead, then make a U shape over the exercise to finish on the right lead). Do it from both direction.

Some horses might need a few sessions to be able to do the whole exercise, especially the last step. For the first session, the first two steps might be enough or be used as a warm up before other exercises.

Enjoy!

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Grid of the Month – January 2016

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In this new category of articles, I will suggest, every month, a jumping grid-type exercise. This can be useful to vary your work, to address a particular jumping problem or simply to perfect yours and your horse’s technique. If you have suggestions or if you have a specific problem, please let me know!

January 2016

Target : Maintain a quality canter over a long distance

Set Up

Begin by setting up a series of poles, in 9′ bounce and 18′ one stride. Once again, I suggest using the corners of your ring to keep working on the quality of the canter through the turns.

Progression

  1. Start by going over the poles at the trot, then at the canter. You want to keep the same rhythm throughout the entire exercise, with the rider being as quiet as possible. Don’t be afraid to let the horse do some mistakes and do the exercise again until he settles in a good quality canter.
  2. When the horse is successful over the poles, put some of them up to a little jump 12 to 18″ high and redo the exercise this way. The horse must work a little extra to get over the small jumps without getting faster or increasing the length of his stride.

Some horses may need a few schooling over this before they can do it in a calm and easygoing way, but you can do this both during flat work and jump schools and it is excellent to teach horses to balance themselves at the canter.

Enjoy!

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Easy to find!

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BGR Farm is now easy to find on Route 112, only a few minutes from Sherbrooke downtown, thanks to the installation of this beautiful lighted sign!

Affiche_Rte112

June 1st is coming up and we will be ready to welcome you!

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Grid of the Month – December 2015

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In this new category of articles, I will suggest, every month, a jumping grid-type exercise. This can be useful to vary your work, to address a particular jumping problem or simply to perfect yours and your horse’s technique. If you have suggestions or if you have a specific problem, please let me know!

December 2015

Target: Maintain the pace and balance in the turn between two obstacles

Set Up

GridOTM-Dec15

Start by setting up three bounces in the width of the arena. Keep them at a low height (18 “) and angle them to follow your turn. Then, at least 3 or 4 strides away, place a jump of your choice in the length of the arena at a height at which you are comfortable.

Progression

  1. Start by going over the bounces at each hand, until you are completely comfortable with this exercise. It may take more than one session if you have never done something like this.
  2. Go over the bounces, then follow up with one of the jump on the side of the arena.
  3. Finally, do the complete exercise: jump, bounces on the turn and jump.

Keep in mind that the objective of this grid is to maintain an even pace throughout the exercise and keep the horse under him during the turn between the two jumps.

Enjoy!

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HTC-Q Gala : A Success!

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On Saturday, November 14th was held the HTC-Q Gala (Horse Trials Canada-Quebec) at the Auberge West Brome. The room was beautiful, meal was delicious and the prizes were better than ever!

The evening was particularly good for the team of BGR Farm with EWSZ Jalando who was crowned Sr. Training division Champion in his first season in eventing!

ACCC-Q 2015

The HTC-Q gala officially closed the 2015 season and preparations for 2016 are already on the way! Have a good winter!

Geneviève, Patricia, Melissa et Eric

Geneviève, Patricia, Melissa et Eric

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Opening this spring!

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Slowly, discretely, but surely, things are moving to get BGR Farm ready for the opening on June 1st 2016. Our Facebook Page probably was the first visible step, along with publicity in some key places.

We then bought some really nice cross country jumps so the course can be set up right when we open!

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We also did minor work in the barn, like redo the lighting in the second aisle of stalls, but most of the work on the property will happen in the spring.

Our business cards are ready; if you see a team member, ask for one!

carte d'affaire

We will be ready to welcome you in the spring, join us!

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How to enter a horse trials?

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1. MEMBERSHIP CARDS

HTC-Q : You must be a current member of the HTC-Q, either junior, senior or as a family (2 juniors and 2 seniors). The membership form can be found on the HTC-Q website.

EQUINE CANADA : You must have an Equine Canada (EC) sport license. You’ll have the choice of Bronze (Entry & Pre-Training levels), Silver (Training level), Gold (Preliminary, Intermediate & Advanced levels) or Platinum (FEI competitions). In addition to your sport license, you must check the box beside “Affiliate with Canadian Eventing” (20$ supplement) in order to get your omnibus. You can buy or renew online or print the form on the Equine Canada website.

HORSE PASSPORT : Every horse competing at the Training level and up must have an Equine Canada Passport. As with the membership card, this can be done online or you can print the form on the Equine Canada website. To order a horse passport, you will need a copy of the horse’s registration papers (or a declaration that the horse is not registered), a proof of ownership and a color picture of the horse, from the side, untacked.

CHEVAL QUÉBEC (formerly Fédération Équestre du Québec) : You must be a member of Cheval Québec as a junior, senior or family. You can buy or renew online (and save 2$) or print the form on the Cheval Quebec website.

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Once you receive your omnibus you can decide which events you want to attend and you will have all the informations required to enter it.

Don’t forget to pay attention to the opening and closing date of each show you plan to attend, your entry must be received between those dates.

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2. ENTRY FORMS

SHOW ENTRY FORM

Fill out all the show relative information based on the omnibus, then fill out the rider and horse section. The horse owner information must be filled out as well.

EC SL/-CE # : Your Equine Canada Sport License number

Prov #. : Your Cheval Québec (FEQ) number

PHTA # : Your HTC-Q number

FEI reg. number isn’t required unless it is a FEI competition.

You must always fill the qualification section, no matter what level you are entering!

Don’t forget to fill out the fees section on the right upper corner. Write your checks to the good person and don’t write postdated checks!

STABLING FORM 

You only need to fill one if you wish to have a stall at the show. If you request a tack stall, you will usually need to pay for a second stall.

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3. SENDING YOUR ENTRY

You must send your entry to the show secretary (not the organizer, unless stated otherwise). Make sure you send the following as well :

-Check(s) (enter your horse name and yours on it to avoid any confusion)

-COPY of your horse coggins (less than a year or 6 months old, depending on the show)

-Copy of all your membership cards

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FOR CANADIAN RIDERS COMPETING IN THE UNITED STATES

You must be a member of the USEA (US Eventing Association) and your horse must be registered with the USEA as well.  It is a lifetime registration for the horse. You can choose the Limited Status (up to Training level) or the Full Status (Preliminary and up).

If you are competing at the Preliminary level and up, you must also be a member of the USEF (US Equestrian Federation).

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In a future article, we will discuss how to enter a FEI competition.

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