Florida Law Enforcement Games

Congratulations to Jill Orpin and Baby of Brooksville, FL.  They won the Gold Medal in Equitation at the Florida Law Enforcement Games this year in Sarasota, FL.  The team of Jill & Baby have come a long way, and their hard work paid off.  The Captain always had faith in their capabilities to do well during their training sessions.

Colorado Clinic

The TAME Foundation was again the site for our Colorado Clinic in Breckenridge.

Square dance on horseback was introduced by Capt. Barry to help all his students improve on their communication skills whilst putting their attention and focus on the dance movements. The horses gained the confidence of close interaction with other horse whilst putting their rhythm and tempo into the Square Dance music. Everyone taking part expressed their delight in how it helped them understand their horses more.   Diane Ebel was the event organizer, and did a great job.

2nd Angleton Clinic
Kathy and Craig McDonald were the hosts and organizers of the 2nd Angleton, Texas, clinic.  Since Craig had trouble getting his new young Clydesdale to move, the Captain introduced a perfect training tool.  “Zeus” readily tried to get the carrot.  Oh yes, Carrot Sticks are available for $49.95, minus the fishing pole!  Although all progressed, we must include this “after” picture of Susan and her horse—what a change!  The schedule of this clinic allowed for children’s sessions to be placed between the intermediate sessions, so the weekend turned into “Share a Clinic with your Child”.  Amy and Angus even had matching ponies.

Under the caring direction of Philipa McKie, the Buffalo Soldiers, composed of boys from the Rivendell Academy, performed for the annual weekend clinic of the Florida Foxtrotter’s Club.   It was one of the first trips out for the group, so they learned about tacking up away from home as well as trailering horses and performing in front of a live audience.

8 different acts were performed by MECS clients at Bayridge Farms, Apopka, Florida, in June 2008.  Despite the heat, riders were in full costume and performed well.  Capt. Barry started our group off as Zorro on Xisto Interagro, the Cook’s Lusitano stallion’s first outing.  This was followed by a duet with Kathy Cook on Emma.  Susan Croft on her Paint, Arrow, performed a great Indian act, and Beth Moore did a salute to her Navy Dad as Yankee Doodle Daddy.  The Rivendell boys, including Kevin, C.J., Blake and Davon, performed superbly as the Buffalo Soldiers.  Philipa McKie, Ashley Denski, Jordan Rodgers, and Laura Causey performed as the Spice Girls, and Philipa stole the show as Winnie the Pooh and Eyore (Double T).  The promoters of the fundraiser were quite impressed with the large entourage and our tailgate party.  Thanks to everyone for helping with food, drinks, and a special thanks to our grillmeisters.  We couldn’t have done it without out grooms and support staff—thank you all!  It was good practice for us all. 

Rafiki Performance

Soaring on the wings of success from the Fabulous Freestyle, part of the MECS team again performed for a large group of missionaries from Africa hosted by the Rafiki Foundation at the Mckie Equine Center.  The home turf gave some of the horses (and riders) the confidence they needed to do even better.  Well done all who took part.  It was much appreciated by the Rafiki Foundation (www.rafiki-foundation.org).

Rocking Horse Stables Dressage Show

Bettina Haim  and Laura Causey entered a summer dressage schooling show at Rocking Horse Stables in Altoona, FL, with good results.  Both horses and rider’s continue to show a lot of improvement in their performances.

Capt. Barry and the Wekiva Basin Pony Club

Capt. Barry took several Rivendell boys with him to the Wekiva Basin Pony Club to demonstrate vaulting and how to correctly communicate movements to the horse by the rider’s body movement.  Tolerant Bogey (one of MECS vaulting horses) put up with a large number of Pony Clubbers trying out what they saw. CJ, one of the boys, showed fantastic talent by not only beating the 24 through-vaults record held by Michael Martin with an awesome 25 times, but also showed his high jumping talents by hurdling  a 5’4” horse show jump.  Greg showed off a fantastic backflip.

Focus on our Sponsor:  Cowboy Magic

Thanks so much to one of our sponsors, Cowboy Magic (www.cowboymagic.com) for the fantastic grooming products that we have been using ourselves and sharing as prizes at clinics.   If you go to their website, you will see free E-books and articles on grooming as well as a description of each product.  Since we only accept sponsorships from products we really believe in, we know you’ll be interested in how Kathy Cook keeps those Lusitano stallions (see Zorro Duet pictures) looking so good.  She washes them with Cowboy Magic Rosewater Shampoo, followed by Cowboy Magic Rosewater Conditioner.  And the Detangler & Shine is a necessity with all that mane!  She finishes up with Cowboy Magic Super Bodyshine.   Amy and Angus remind us that you can use Cowboy Magic on your own hair as well. The extensive testing of all the Cowboy Magic products insures that it is safer and of higher quality than most of the expensive salon equivalents.  Thanks again, Cowboy Magic! 

What's Wrong with this Picture?

In the last newsletter, we challenged you to come up with what was wrong with the picture of the boot in the stirrup (see Spring Newsletter).  Many of you responded that the Captain didn’t have his foot in the stirrup far enough.  You were right, but what you didn’t know was that the stirrup was too small.  He was using on one of his client’s saddles.  Good eyes, those of you who got it right!

First Two MECS DVD's

Don’t forget the first two McKie Equine Communication Skills DVD’s are available.  You’ll enjoy Captain Barry’s style and advice as you enjoy these two informative DVD’s.

  Capt. Barry McKie's first training DVD is entitled "Lead Follow the Movement of Your Horse".  They are available in local tack stores Altoona Station (Altoona, FL) and Dan's Discount Feed (Umatilla, FL) as well as by clicking right here.

Thanks for reading our newsletter, and Happy Trails!

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Volume 5

"Natural communication between horse and rider"

Site Last Modified:  August, 2008