Ellen Murphy Sporthorses

11/13/2025

Get your votes in!!

Special award nominations are closing in just two days! 🏆 This year, we’re adding something new to our usual performance based awards. We’re inviting YOU to help us celebrate the people who make KDA great!

Nominate one person for: 👔 Best Turnout, ✋ Sportsmanship, and 🙋 Top Volunteer.

Use the form below to submit your nomination and help us recognize those who go above and beyond! https://forms.gle/CoK6ANeM4SJUTTWy9

📸: Lisa Michelle Dean Photography

10/31/2025

Attention to all KDA members! Please check your email for two important updates.📨

1️⃣ Vote for the 2026 KDA Board of Directors
Help shape the future of KDA by casting your vote. The deadline is November 15th, 5 PM EST.

2️⃣ RSVP for the 2025 KDA Awards Banquet
Time & Location: 11/15 at 5 PM EST @ Copper Roux in Lexington, KY
RSVP by November 2nd

10/20/2025

Sold! Congratulations to the new owner of this fabulous filly!

Located in Georgetown KY

This absolutely stunning filly arrived from the track yesterday. She is sound, clean tight legs, no vices, nice feet in good shape. RRP eligible. Sweet and easy to handle. This one is going to be a QUEEN when she grows up, will be a big, scopey mare with a huge presence. Need to move her along quickly as the farm is very full currently. PM if interested.

09/26/2025

Our Demo Sale is on! ✨

Take 10% off demo saddles with a minimum purchase of $2,000 USD. Available in North America only. This offer cannot be combined with other promotions, and trade-ins are not accepted. Don’t miss your chance to ride in the saddle you’ve been dreaming of - while supplies last!

09/18/2025

Get those scores submitted!!! 🏆🥇

We apologize for the confusion in our earlier post in August regarding Year-End Awards. The correct deadline for submitting scores is October 10th, not September 15th, but it is a huge help if you can get them in as soon as possible!

✅ Upload your scores here: https://forms.gle/Lyy4BV44mspfpiwj9
📧 For any questions, please contact: [email protected]

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We can’t wait to celebrate everyone’s accomplishments this season! 👏 Stay tuned for a link on the website coming soon for our member nominated awards: Best Turnout, Best Sportmanship, and Best Volunteer!

09/09/2025

Your competition warm-up is not a training session.

Trying to teach your horse something new under the additional pressure of an imminent dressage test can lead to both you and your horse becoming tense and losing confidence.

If there are any movements in the test that you and your horse struggle with, consider riding them once or twice during your warm-up. However, avoid trying to make drastic improvements or make too big a deal out of it.

Instead, accept that you won't score highly on that movement and focus on picking up extra marks on the other movements where you and your horse excel.

Stock image from Shutterstock

09/09/2025

Unpopular opinion: Know when to back off.

Horses are not machines. Make sure you find a trainer that knows when to push, and when to back off.

Get you a trainer that pays attention to your horse and their needs.

Some horses are such people pleasers, such hard workers, so trusting and willing, that they'd follow people into their own breaking point; and the wrong people will push them past it.

Make sure you find a trainer that recognizes the limits in your horse and doesn't try to experiment with their mental or physical soundness for faster results.

Like it or not, sometimes days off teach your horse more than constant daily pushing will.

They cannot speak, but the right trainers can still hear them. Make sure they listen.

- Good Secret Horsemanship

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

09/04/2025

Creek Hollow Veterinary Services PLLC working on the dressage horses and sales yearlings this week with our trusty supervisor, Puffers the cat.

09/04/2025

09/04/2025

Frequently changing your horse's frame in your schooling sessions is a very useful training tool, as long as it is done correctly.

Working your horse in a shorter and taller frame for short periods followed by work in a longer and lower frame will improve your horse’s thoroughness, connection, engagement, strength, and overall body suppleness.

Changing the frame frequently can also help prevent tiring muscles, ligaments, and joints, which can come from asking your horse to work in the same frame for an extended amount of time.

For more info, check out the link in the comments.

Illustration created and copyrighted by HowToDressage.

08/30/2025

🐴✨ The AHS Foundation’s Breeder Advancement Scholarship is now open!

This scholarship—funded in part by the Don Kapper Memorial Fund—supports and empowers U.S. breeders, helping to strengthen Hanoverian and Rhineland breeding programs and elevate the quality and competitiveness of the breeds.

💰 Awards up to $2,000 annually
📌 Application Deadline: September 15

👉 Apply today: https://ahs-foundation.org/the-breeder-advancement-fund/

Let’s invest in the future of Hanoverian & Rhineland breeding—together! 🌟

08/30/2025