Pal-O-Mine Blog

New Members of the Pal-O-Mine Family!

April 30th, 2008

Two new members have recently joined us!

Gigi is a six-year-old haflinger pony from Maryland. She was donated by a friend of Pal-O-Mine that wanted her to be involved in our mission. She is very quiet and calm, and loves kids. She has a ton of movement, but a nice smooth trot. Haflingers are known for being tough, strong, hardworking, and sturdy. Gigi is traditional haflinger color, with a golden chestnut color and blonde mane and tail. She is a cutie!

Skippy is a 10 year old paint mare who has a history of reining and eating (hence her rotund appearance). She is getting back into shape and working on becoming a dressage/therapy horse. She is a tobiano paint and enjoys her job very much and has an outstanding work ethic. Paint horses are known for their athletic ability and agreeable disposition. Her partner Rambo, a bay quarter horse, also loves his job, keeping Cookie company!

Please help us welcome them at the Mane Event, our largest event of the year on Saturday May 3rd at 1 pm. All are welcome!

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The Pal-O-Mine Equestrian Team

April 20th, 2008

For years, Pal-O-Mine Equestrian has been a leader in offering inclusive competitive opportunities to students with and without disabilities. The Pal- O-Mine Equestrian Team (POMET) has a busy show schedule this year with over twelve horse shows for the 2008 Show season. Yesterday, the first show of the season kicked off and our riders demonstrated their amazing equitation and riding ability in the walk, walk-trot, and walk-trot-figure 8 divisions. Results are below:

Walk Only Division
1st- Kim Wolf , riding DW
2nd- Barbara Spindler, riding Jill
3rd- Briana Maldonado, riding Mac

Walk Trot Division
1st- Barbara Spindler, riding Jill
2nd- Kim Wolf, riding DW
3rd- Briana Maldonado, riding Mac

Walk Trot Figure 8 Division
1st- Barbara Spindler, riding Jill
2nd- Kim Wolf, riding DW
5th- Briana Maldonado, riding Mac

Overall Grand Champion- Barbara Spindler
Reserve Grand Champion- Kim Wolf

Special thanks to my fellow co-captain Caroline Thompson for all her hard work and her horse show hair skills, Sam Heim for all the preparation that she did, Meg, Kim, and Liz for bathing our team, Meg and Liz for being amazing grooms, Paddy and Trevor for being all around awesome (Trevor is our new horse show groom!) , and Christine, Carol, Lisa, and the rest of the Pal-O-Mine gang for supporting us and our first show of the season!

It was really a special experience, and on behalf of everyone at Pal-O-Mine, I am very proud of our riders and our horses.

Also, special thanks to Tina Rocco, the Long Island Horse Show Series for Riders with Disabilities, Horseability, and the Thomas School of Horsemanship for a great show and great competition. It was a great day!

Please come support the team at our next show on Sunday June 8th in Muttontown at the Muttontown Park and Preserve.

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A new arrival!

March 6th, 2008

We have a new pony!!!!

She is a black and white pinto pony, probably a shetland or another small breed of pony. She loves carrots and to be groomed in her stall, and is settling in with the busy atmosphere of Pal-O-Mine Equestrian.

She came from a little backyard barn in Ridge, NY, where she lived there with her baby (yes baby!) and another pony. Her baby was 8 months old and sassy, and as big as her!

She drives a cart, which we got with her, so she has a full cart and harness! It is very exciting, our very own driving horse. She will be a great asset to our program!

However, she doesn’t have a name or anything (she just came with her halter, her harness, and her cart, that’s it!). So we are having a “Name that Pony” fundraiser to be able to purchase her some supplies. For a few dollars, you can put a name in a box and we will pick a name on the day of the Easter Egg Hunt! I still haven’t thought of my name, but a few people put in Cookie, and I thought that was a good one.

Additionally, the pony has no clothes, so if you are a pony lover, please donate some funding to dress the pony. For $100.00 you could purchase her a waterproof blanket, for $75.00 you could purchase her a waterproof sheet, for $50.00 you could purchase her pony leg wraps, and for $35.00, you could purchase her a pony-sized girth. She is a sweetheart, and is ready to be loved by you!

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The Halters are IN!

January 31st, 2008

So recently I wrote a post about our newest and most exciting fundraising opportunity: The Hold Your Horses Halter Sponsorship Program, where for a tax-deductible donation of $100.00, you can purchase a custom made halter for one of our beloved Pal-O-Mine Horses. And our first batch of four horses’ halters are in! They are beautiful! Below are some photos.

The recent arrival of our beautiful new halters has caused some stir amongst the herd. Seems that Redford, the veteran of the Pal-O-Mine program was a little miffed that he hadn’t gotten one too, after all, he has seniority. So someone promptly donated his halter and it should be arriving shortly. Below are the list of horses and their status on whether they have a halter or not (word is, that all the horses are having a competition on who loves them the most and those without a halter are feeling a little left out).

Yankee- Sponsored by Selena Sibai
Maxwell- Sponsored by Richard Newman
DW- Sponsored by Betty C.
Cora- Sponsored by Philip Varca
Redford- Sponsored
Tiara- Sponsored by Kim Wolf

The following horses don’t have the fancy schmancy halters and if you are interested in sponsoring them, contact Caroline at

cthompson@pal-o-mine.org.

Vinnie

Cajun
Jill

Loretta
Mac
Dallas
Sundance
Jake
The Donkeys: Jake and Annabelle

We also could use a couple extra for the occasional visitors that we get, so there are plenty of sponsorship opportunities!

Enjoy the pictures:

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Proper Riding Attire

January 10th, 2008

What do you ride in? Tall riding boots, work boots, winter boots? Do you like jeans or breeches? Are you a glove wearer or do you go barehanded?

I remember a time, in the good old days, where I would ride in sneakers and sweatpants and didn’t think anything of it! But times have changed, and as I transitioned from being a student to an instructor, I realized that by wearing inappropriate riding apparel, I was inhibiting the success I could achieve as a rider and also creating a dangerous situation.
Helmets

Proper riding attire always begins with a helmet. No matter what, this is the bread and butter of all riding attire. Helmets can range in price from $50.00 to upwards of $400.00 (my dream helmet is a whopping $469.00 http://www.doversaddlery.com/gpa-professional-riding-helmet/p/X1-36252/cn/39/). If you are a recreational rider, and just plan on riding and competing at Pal-O-Mine Horse shows, the helmets that we sell at Pal-O-Mine are perfect. They are adjustable (to fit growing head sizes) and lightweight and keep heads cool in the heat, and warm in the cold. If your aspirations are to compete, velvet covered helmets are advised (as they are a part of more formal attire). It is NOT recommended at Pal-O-Mine to wear bicycle helmets, ski helmets, or any other helmet designed for other use besides riding.

Riding Pants

I recommend for all my English riders to invest in a pair of riding pants, commonly known as breeches or “britches” or jodphurs. Breeches are designed to fit under tall boots and jodphurs are designed to fit over small paddock boots (see below for boot explanation and examples). They provide protection for saddle sores on your inner knee (where the leg comes into most contact with the saddle) and have an appropriate fit for the rider. While many of my colleagues are jeans fans, I am not a jeans fan. I find jeans ride up on my leg, the seam rubs against my knee (especially when I don’t have my stirrups), and are just not comfortable for me to ride in. However, as I said, many of my fellow riders are huge fans of jeans so you if you like jeans and they are comfortable, keep wearing them! Also, if you are a western rider, jeans are proper riding attire (and if you really want to get serious, full chaps over your jeans).

This rider is wearing full riding chaps.

Footwear

Depending on what kind of pants you wear will also influence what kind of footwear you choose. First, let me talk about the DON’Ts of footwear. 1. Do not wear sneakers, dress shoes, or shoes without a heel. They do not provide the proper support for your ankle and are very dangerous, as the shoe could slip through the stirrup and get caught. 2. While Pal-O-Mine encourages sturdy boots, the more advanced your student gets, the more appropriate it would be to purchase actual riding boots for your student. Actual riding boots (whether tall english boots, short paddock boots, or REAL western cowboy boots) provide the appropriate support for the foot and the ankle, are narrow enough to fit in all of our stirrups, and encourage the proper placement of the foot, heel, and ankle, encouraging good equitation and balance. 3. Boots that look like riding boots are also just as detrimental as sneakers because they focus on fashion and not the position the rider needs to be in.

As an instructor, I will sight some of the problems I have with footwear. I have many students who wear sneakers to their riding lessons and their sneaker’s tongue gets caught on the top of the stirrup, causing the foot to get stuck in the stirrup, being dangerous, but also not allowing the student to have a proper foot, ankle, and heel placement, which also greatly affects the student’s balance. Another big problem I have is with work boots or Timberlands. The tread on these boots is so thick that when the stirrup gets stuck on the arch of the boot, the student has a difficult time moving the stirrup back to the ball of his or her foot (which is the proper position of the boot in the stirrup). The tread causes the stirrup to get stuck, also being dangerous and being detrimental to the balance of the rider. Additionally, these work boots are traditionally very wide and can get stuck into the stirrup or not fit at all. Finally, if a student wears a shoe without a heel, the foot can slip through the stirrup, causing the foot to get ca

My best recommendations for footwear include the following:

For riders riding in breeches, I recommend tall english riding boots. The support of these boots cause for optimal leg placement and encourage appropriate positioning and balance. This is also proper riding show attire for individuals over 10 years old for horse shows.

This rider is wearing riding gloves, tall English riding boots, and breeches or “britches”.

For riders in jodphurs, I recommend short paddock boots. These boots are convenient to put on (as opposed to the tall boots) and jodphurs come with elastics that go right over the boot. This is also proper riding show attire for individuals under 10 years old for horse shows. The zipper kind are even more convenient than the laces, and can encourage children who have trouble tying their shoes to be responsible for their own footwear.

This rider is wearing jodphurs and paddock boots (what you can’t see is the elastic attached from the pant to under the boot, preventing the pant from riding up). For show attire, garters, gloves, and a proper riding jacket and shirt would be necessary.
For riders in jeans, I recommend half chaps and paddock boots (see below). These provide the feel and look of the tall boot without the hassle of putting on a tall boot. They can also be worn under breeches (I wear half chaps and breeches with my paddock boots in the warmer weather). However, they cannot be used for a larger show (are acceptable for Pal-O-Mine Shows). OR, if you are a western rider, REAL western boots! I love western cowgirl boots. I just got a pair for Christmas

These are half chaps and paddock boots.

This rider is wearing proper western attire, with jeans and real western boots.
Gloves

While gloves are pretty much mandatory in the winter, it is up to the rider whether they wear gloves in the other seasons. I always wear leather or cotton riding gloves because it allows me to better grip the reins and also protects my hands from the chafing of the reins. Riding gloves are fairly inexpensive and are designed specifically for riding. Gloves are optional, but I recommend them fully.

Ultimately, it is up to you and your instructor to discuss apparel, helmets, and footwear, as there may be special considerations to the situation that cause accommodations and adaptations to proper apparel. Especially if you are interested in competing, it is important to get proper riding apparel that can be used in your weekly lessons and for shows. These are just some tips to keep in mind when purchasing apparel for the rider in order to maximize the success and safety of the rider.

Pal-O-Mine Equestrian has a strong relationship with The Rider’s Choice, a tack store that you can purchase and/or order all of the above apparel from. The Rider’s Choice is located at 3333 Veterans Highway in Ronkonkoma, NY (631)471-5050.

It is located close to Pal-O-Mine (take a left out of the POM driveway, follow Old Nichols Road past the LIE and down a while until you hit Veterans Highway. Take a Left and the Rider’s Choice is on your left down a ways.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask your instructor!

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