Softwind Stables LLC

12/26/2025

A community of blind equestrians from across the US finally meet in person for a groundbreaking dressage clinic where the blind truly lead the blind.

11/01/2025

10/25/2025

Terrific idea!

Let’s talk accountability groups. My students and I are so often talking about our future goals and because I teach a lot of people, I often hear about the same goals or slight variations on a theme over and over again. It occurred to me that goals are a lot easier to reach when we have accountability partners. Here is a list of topics I hear mentioned a lot: Weight loss, exercise/stretching to improve riding fitness and skill, improved competition results, improve my dressage theory, improve my eye, riding more often especially in the winter, better sports psychology/mindset when riding. Any more common ones out there? I would love to hear what areas people really want accountability in. I propose that if you have interest in one or two of these categories you contact me, preferably by my email at [email protected] and we will come up with a plan to help each other out. Up here in the Northeast a lot of us have arrived in our ‘training tunnel’. Most competing is done and it is time to gear up and make our new commitments. Let’s see if we can help each other along the way.

10/01/2025

🌟 Grant Announcement 🌟

The Dressage Foundation is proud to announce Michelle LaBarre (NY) as the recipient of the 2025 $5,000 Team Tate Mentorship and Leadership Fund Grant! 🎉

Michelle is a USDF silver and gold medalist who has competed at both the CDI and CPEDI levels in dressage. Michelle will participate in 20 bi-weekly online sessions with Elizabeth McMillan of Equestrian Professional, focusing on strengthening business management, leadership, and operational systems for her training business.

Michelle said, “In many ways, dressage is about helping people and horses grow into their full potential. Dressage takes time and a steady commitment to process, and so very much education. The Dressage Foundation exists solely to help people and their horses reach that potential. Being on the receiving end of The Dressage Foundation’s Team Tate Fund Grant is a gift beyond monetary support. To feel supported and given a vote of confidence by such a respected segment of our industry helps me believe in my own potential in a new and bolder way.

“I am very excited to use these funds to commit to improving my business confidence, savvy, and marketing to help me reach my greater goal of raising the level of ethics and quality dressage training in my corner of the world. Mentorship and business guidance are truly vital to our industry, and I am so excited to grow in this area. I look forward to sharing what I learn within my own sphere of influence. Thank you, The Dressage Foundation and the Tate family!”

The Team Tate Fund was established in 2020 by the Tate family to support dressage professionals in developing their business, leadership, and riding skills. Applications are due each year on July 15.

Read more about Michelle and the Team Tate Fund at https://bit.ly/4nCDOL8

Photo by Terri Miller

05/28/2025

🚩🚩Red Flag alert!!🚩🚩🚩
This ad disturbs me for a few reasons..
🚩1) GERD and ZES have never been reported in horses. These are human gastric conditions. That instils a lot of confidence in this company already, right? If horses could get GERD (which is a reflux disease due to low tone of the cardiac sphincter) they would be able to vomit. 🤮 And boy would that make our lives easier! (But they can't)
🚩2) Omeprazole sold to treat disease is a PERSCRIPTION item. This is not an FDA approved medication!! There is no grantee that there is ANY omeprazole actually IN this product!
🚩3) Instructions say "give 1/2 to 1 full tube daily." That's a huge range. Because when they know it has all the therapeutic benefit of Elmer's glue, accurate dosing doesn't really matter, right? 🙃

Yes, I know GastroGard and UlcerGard are not cheap, at ALL. So why do we veterinarians insist that they be used when treating gastric ulcers? Is it because we are getting kickbacks from the company? (I wish... hit me up BI, I'm for sale 😘) No, it's because it's the ONLY THING THAT ACTUALLY RELIABLY WORKS.

Here's the thing with omeprazole.. the drug itself is pretty cheap to manufacture. HOWEVER- it also is broken down by stomach acid very easily. And in order to get a therapeutic dose the drug needs to make it through the stomach acid to get absorbed in the small intestine. The MOST important part of GastroGard is the gastric buffer that the omeprazole is packaged in. *This* is what makes GastroGard so effective, and also so expensive.

Making FDA approved, research supported, quality products is not cheap. And let's be honest, horses in general are not cheap! 🤑🐴 You spend SO much money on your horse, and they do SO much for you... why would you cheap out on them when it comes to keeping them comfortable and out of pain..? 🤔