The Audubon Lifestyle Equestrian Program Has Launched!

The program has officially launched, and we already have four or five facilities, including several international equestrian facilities, in the process of applying. The Audubon Lifestyle Equestrian Program is available to any existing or planned equestrian facility. Our approach is an integrated, holistic approach that positively impacts all aspects of an Equestrian Facility.

As equestrian amenities become more popular at communities and resorts worldwide, real estate developers are discovering that a truly sustainable equestrian amenity involves a comprehensive approach, from beginning to end.

The basic objective of the Audubon Lifestyles Sustainable Equestrian Facility Program is to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, to minimize waste, to create healthy, productive environments, and to inform the public, residents, guests, clients and employees about the benefits of sustainably-managed equestrian facilities.

Through participation in the program, Audubon Lifestyles assists equestrian facility managers, staff, and planners who desire to manage and operate their equestrian facilities sustainably. The program is geared toward assisting those seeking to become local, regional, national and international models of sustainability by incorporating sustainable principles, concepts, and management strategies.

Once a facility meets all of the requirements of the program, which include adopting a Sustainability Charter and completion of the Sustainability Audit, Audubon Lifestyles will brand the facility as an Audubon Lifestyles Equestrian Facility. In addition, based upon the score earned in the Sustainability Audit, the facility will be awarded between one and five stars. Those earning three or more stars will earn the right to use the International Sustainability Council’s Seal of Sustainability.

Learn More Here.

(top)

Equestrian Services, LLC receives International Sustainability Council Chartered Member Designation!

The International Sustainability Council is a not-for-profit organization comprised of individuals representing universities, non-profit organizations, government agencies and businesses with a broad range of expertise and experience.

The council’s main purposes include promoting the adoption of the Principles of Sustainability, serving as a think-tank on all topics pertaining to sustainability, acting as a virtual warehouse of information related to topics related to sustainability, showcasing and recognizing specific places, businesses, organizations and individuals who are leading the way toward a more sustainable planet, and defining and encouraging scientifically-based methods that we, as a society, can use to merge sustainability into the operation of our businesses, create new or improve existing “places,” foster new products and technology that will improve our lives at home, and provide sustainable lifestyle choices that are economically priced, environmentally healthy and socially beneficial. To learn more, visit www.thesustainabilitycouncil.org.

(top)

Entertainment: Maximizing the Value of an Equestrian Amenity
By Michael Donovan

Everyone likes to be entertained. Whether it’s watching a movie, seeing the ballet, going to a football game, or simply feeding pigeons in the park, there is real value in providing opportunities for entertainment. This is an opportunity often not realized when development and operations stakeholders consider their equestrian amenity. Let’s revisit our football game-as-entertainment example again. Look at the lengths to which people will go enhance or maximize their perceived value of the experience: elaborate tailgate parties, long-distance travel, unusual costumes, etc. Now consider for how many of these people the entertainment experience actually involves playing football: right, very few. This example has direct parallels to equestrian amenities, in that the residents or guests actively participating with (i.e., riding) the horses will be a minority. Herein lies the unrealized opportunity.

Horses are an excellent source of entertainment for the non-riding population. Like most aspects of the horse-world, there is a broad spectrum of possibilities from which to choose. The ideal form(s) of entertainment for your amenity will be influenced by a number of factors, and they often are specific to the community or resort. Some of these factors include:

• Physical location and topography;
• Number of residents and volume of guests;
• Seasonality of attendance;
• Capital funding.

The form of entertainment can vary from the seemingly mundane to the wonderfully extravagant. Nevertheless, the goals are still the same: attract people to your community/resort, create an experience those people will value, and ensure the sustainability of the amenity (and therefore the development). Entertainment opportunities include:

• Horses at liberty in pastures – Undeniably simple, yet tremendously effective. Pastured horses provide people with an opportunity to safely connect with horses and view their activities in a natural setting. Allocating sufficient acreage and practicing proper pasture management will also maximize the aesthetic quality of the experience.
• Scheduling social events at the barn – Also simple, it takes any social event (i.e., a cookout, an ice cream social, even chilled watermelon and lemonade on a hot summer afternoon) and adds the dimension of being able to safely see, interact with and learn about horses.
• Clinics and demonstrations – People value the opportunity to watch highly-skilled people perform (just like in football or ballet). Inviting high-level competitors and trainers to your facility will engage your riding population and entertain your non-riders, while generating revenue for your amenity (from participants and auditors) – everyone wins.
• Equestrian spectacles – This is true, production-based entertainment. It can also vary widely, from a group of riders in local costumes parading on regional horses, to an arena-based extravaganza like Cavalia or Arabian Nights. The latter are high-dollar productions that can take over a year to develop and produce, but which can generate significant long-term revenue for a resort.

People have been drawn to the combination of beauty, strength, size and grace of the horse for ages. Providing non-riders with the opportunity to safely interact with horses lets them experience these majestic animals on their own terms. Including entertainment-based activities with your traditional equestrian (active) offerings creates broader interest and depth in your equestrian program, which enhances its sustainability and maximizes value for all involved.

(top)

Hungry Souls: Proper Feeding Solutions for Horses
By Rhonda Gailey

More and more, horses are becoming therapy for all sorts of reasons. Many horse owners consider their horses to be part of their family. With that comes a responsibility to ensure that they are getting all of their nutrition needs met. I have found that more often than not, there are many horses being overfed. As parental figures, we always want our children to eat and look healthy. However, for horses, we must consider their level of activity, age, breed, size, temperament and many other factors. Overweight horses are much more prone to injuries and foundering than those kept in trim condition. Obesity is just as unhealthy in horses as it is in human beings. Additionally, high levels of protein or sugars can cause anxiety, unnecessary energy and “sugar highs” that can lead to behavior problems. Though your horse may be the same sex, age, and general use as another, this does not mean that he will want the same amounts of feed, or even the same kinds. Also, it should be realized that the individual work and exercise regimens must correlate to their rations and types of feeds, and these may need adjustment from time to time, while still keeping in mind that rations should not be changed abruptly, as this could lead to digestive problems.

The best way to begin evaluating your horses’ nutrition plan is to weigh him, weigh your hay and grain, and begin charting it on a monthly basis. Always feed by weight, not by volume. You also need to look at several key ingredients in the feed that is being served, such as:

• Protein
• Fat
• Fiber
• Sugar/Starch (carbs)

There are typically many other ingredients in grains or “complete feeds”, such as vitamins and minerals, that you should pay close attention to, especially if you are also feeding supplements. You want to make sure that you are not “overdosing” on minerals. Supplements should only be given if there is a reason. Typical levels of protein in grain for your average horse should be in the 10-12% range. You also need to evaluate your roughage sources and consider the protein levels in your pasture or hay you are feeding. For example, If alfalfa hay is provided, do not exceed 1lb per 100 lbs of body weight. I am personally not a fan of alfalfa hay, but just a little mixed in with something else can be fine in small percentages. You should also adjust the amount, or possibly even the type, of hay that you feed, depending on the time of year and their turnout and grazing. I am a firm believer that horses like to live outside as much as possible, and that they are made to graze and nibble little bits at a time, all day long. With this in mind, if a horse gets turned out on beautiful, lush green grass all night long during the summer months, when he was previously dormant during the winter months, then his hay intake should decrease to a certain degree.

A proper balance between the concentrates (grain) and roughage (grass or hay) is important. Typically, a 60/40 split is a good general rule to live by - 60% roughage and 40% concentrates. At the end of the day, it is important to remember that a healthy, well-managed horse has more potential to be a functioning, safe and happy horse for a longer life. Manage your horse’s diet so that you can “manage” your horse. It might make you feel better to be dumping all sorts of goodies in their feed pan, but trust me, it is not going to make them feel good. There is nothing worse than the owner who can’t ride his “high” horse because of what I call "The American Buffet Syndrome."

(top)

Keep your Teaching Fresh: Escaping the Riding Lesson Blues
By Alex Abella

Those of us who have been lucky enough to have been bitten by both the horse bug and the teaching bug are twice-blessed; we enjoy our riding, but we also enjoy imparting what we know about it equally. And we are a rare breed! We’ll teach in the sun, the rain, the sweltering heat and the freezing cold, and when it’s all over, we’ll either get on a horse ourselves, or we’ll seek out others of our kind to share how much we enjoyed our endless hours in the ring, or that epiphany that one student just had. Ask my husband, and he will tell you that there is no worse “shop talk” than that of riding instructors - at least for those not enlightened enough to realize there just isn’t anything better in this world than teaching about horses! But sometimes, even we get stuck in a rut and don’t quite know what to say about riding and horses; our teaching can become stale and stuck and the Riding Lesson Blues start to play in the back of our minds. Keeping your teaching fresh requires work, creativity and, often, that time-tested prescription: rest.

When Your Hobby is Your Job

I was recently lucky enough to participate in an instructor-training ride at the Bergen Equestrian Center (BEC) in New Jersey, and I was reminded of how important it is to realize that just because we riding instructors managed to turn our hobby into our job, we still have to work at it. Yes, we love it, so it doesn’t quite feel like work most of the time, but keeping our teaching from sounding like something that belongs in grandma’s gramophone requires work. As I listened to the instructors in the ride sharing their knowledge, experience and different points of view with each other, I thought about my sources of knowledge.

My husband tells me that I’m a big nerd, and that is why he loves me (hope it’s for more than that, though!), so I admit I am one indeed, and that I stick my nose in a book as often as possible. Or a magazine, or a video, or anything that will help me learn more about my craft. You can call it research, or training, but I call it a necessity if you are a teacher, because your students want to know the best and latest, and they want to learn how to do it.

A few years ago, we still thought cribbing was nothing but a stereotype that had nothing to do with nutrition, and only a few, select riders knew of the connections between lameness and a bad saddle fit. Today, we know better, and we can build that knowledge into how and what we teach. For centuries, we didn’t know much about the suspension sequences of a horse’s gaits, and many paintings depicted horses’ legs fully splayed-out at the gallop, as if the horse had the same flexible spine as a feline. But in 1882, photographer Eadweard Muybridge came to our rescue and gave us the first real glimpse of a horse’s true gaits, by suspending a moment in time, as well as our disbelief. Who knew? Those who read about it and who shared the news knew, that’s who! We need to build all of the fascinating knowledge about our magical friend, the horse, into our lessons. As instructors, we need to get together and discuss what we know and what we want to know more about, because it makes us better horsemen to stay abreast of the research and the knowledge, and it makes us better teachers to impart it.

Finding Inspiration

One of the things we – and our students – love about riding and handling horses is the many parallels we can draw to other situations in life. As the BEC instructors and I worked together the other day, we looked for life lessons in a drill exercise: team work, leadership, communication, thinking ahead, and respecting space and time. Horses teach us responsibility, respect and compassion, and they inspire us everyday. But where do we go for inspiration and fresh ideas to give back to the sport?

I encourage instructors to get creative and produce thinking, thoughtful riders that appreciate lessons learned from all walks of life, and to look outside the sport for inspiration. I have found riding exercises in the most unusual of places: in the way a wave travels across the ocean (disciplined, methodical, deliberate), in music (rhythm, tempo, cadence), in a classroom (patience, building blocks, organization). One of my favorite exercises, the one I used to renew my riding-instructor certification years ago, I found while helping my son with his Latin homework. Picture this: Julius Caesar arrives in Gaulle, modern-day France, and from the top of a hill, he looks down at the barbaric hordes that he is about to conquer. Veni, vidi, vici, he pronounces. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Caesar took one look at the fighting in the valley below, and realizing that being there was half the battle, he moved on to think out his winning strategy and to see, in his mind’s eye and before he even raised a sword, his victory. I use this historic and powerful lesson in jump-course exercises when I need the students to really be present and conscious of what they are about to do (veni), to look at the jump early and take their horse there with their body and with a plan (vidi), and to learn to succeed in their mind and their heart – to conquer the jump – before they are over it (vici). Since the last place you want to make a plan about how to take a jump is in front of it, this exercise helps students to learn to be thinking riders that set their horses up to succeed.

Step Away From the Horse and No One Will Get Hurt

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to freshen-up our lessons, we still find ourselves sounding like a broken record, exhausted and just plain blue. We are saddened because we lose the joy of teaching, and we start to wonder if we can do this anymore. In those moments, the best thing an instructor can do is realize that they just need to rest and step away from the horses for a little while. Instructor burn-out is very real, and it can happen due to physical exhaustion, but also from being intellectually spent. Taking the time to see friends and family, watch a movie, or go walk the dog can be helpful, and before you know it, you will be hanging around other instructors, listening to them talk about that perfect lesson, and the bug will start to bite you again. Ad multos annos!

(top)

In the News

Equestrian Services, LLC continues to make headlines and bylines. This past March, we were featured on the Horses in the South, Private Communities, Northwest Horse Source, CSR Wire and Equestrian Land Conservation Resource websites. Click the logos below to read this articles.

(top)

Operations & Management News:
Staff Retention - It's Not About the Money...

Want to know how to attract and keep good staff?

Research shows that employees:

• Value training and continued education;
• Value challenging and meaningful tasks;
• Will stay when an amiable team environment is fostered, where each staff member’s contributions count;
• Are content when good managers are hired, whom provide solid leadership;
• Enjoy their work and will stay when proven employees are allowed to work autonomously and to be accountable for their work;
• Value flexibility in terms of working hours and comp-time when needed

When possible, but surprisingly less importantly if competitive wages are already being offered, bonuses and raises are also welcome rewards.

Jennifer Donovan
Principal, Equestrian Services, LLC and Equestrian Management, LLC

(top)

Project News

O'Connor Signature at The Oaks is selling
real estate in this market!

Visit www.theoakslakecity.com to learn more.

Zhangbei Equestrian Centre
Chaoyang District, Hebei Province, China

Equestrian Services, LLC was chosen to provide design, program development and equestrian-facility master-planning services for a 1,800-hectare (4,000-acre) mixed-use project in China. Thus far, our team has conducted a site visit, and we are in the process of confirming program objectives for Zhangbei Equestrian Centre, as well as providing input to the design team for the development of equestrian elements, themes, structures, operations, program/experience narratives and the integration of the equestrian amenity within the larger context of the overall conceptual Master Plan. Additionally, Equestrian Services, LLC has been asked to provide the complete Master Plan for the 260-hectare (660-acre) equestrian community, along with design development services for all of the equestrian elements. (image courtesy of enchantedlearning.com)

John & Beezie Madden Wellington Training Club
Wellington, Florida

Equestrian Services, LLC and Three Oaks Hospitality were retained by O’Dell Development Inc., representing Wellington Preserve (the Client), to evaluate the 610+/- acre property that encompasses the proposed Wellington Training Club community in the Village of Wellington, Palm Beach County, Florida (the Site).

This study evaluated the feasibility of developing a club-based equestrian amenity for The Wellington Training Club. The objectives of this investigation included:

• Provide an overview of the site land-use opportunities and constraints;
• Summarize current and developing comparable equestrian programs;
• Identify potential equestrian programs for project;
• Conceptualize design criteria and estimated capital expenditures for the equestrian experience;
• Identify the equestrian enthusiast buyer profile;
• Conceptualize equestrian amenity elements;
• Provide operational programming overview;
• Develop conceptual capital and operational budgets;
• Identify opportunity to phase amenity construction.

Read More: www.equestrianmag.com/news/john-beezie-madden-wellington-training-01-09.html

(top)