Good Bye Aiken Hounds

Dear Aiken Hounds Friends,

It is with much regret that I write this letter to all of you. On August 9th, at 9:00am, Linda Mclean came into my house unannounced and told me I was no longer Joint Master of the Aiken Hounds. There was no discussion or communication. The decision had been made and I was out. I wish to make it perfectly clear that I have not and will not resign upon Linda’s orders without due reason and/ or cause. To this day, I am unclear of the reason for this decision.

I have hunted with the Aiken Hounds under several masters and have a long standing family history with the hunt. This is not only unfair and unwarranted to me but a direct insult to my family history in this town and also to the Aiken Hounds itself. It is also insulting to all of you that the hunt is being run in this manner.

It was a huge honor to be asked by Linda in 1997 to become a Joint Master. This has always been a job I have taken seriously and carried out with tremendous pride. .I have filled almost every position in the hunt and hunted hounds myself for several years. I have fulfilled all kennel duties and have organized multiple activities to support the hunt.

Apparently, the Aiken Hounds have no formal By-Laws. The way this has happened is all rather mysterious. After receiving the news from Linda, I approached the past Masters of The Aiken Hounds to learn if I had any recourse. I was assured by the three past Masters that this was not the way to do things and they offered to hold a meeting where Linda and I could discuss this in a calm, controlled manner. They assured me when the Mastership was passed onto Linda, The Aiken Hounds was never meant to be owned by one person.

They also assured me of their complete support. Just before the meeting, I received a call saying the meeting was cancelled and there was nothing anyone could do. Again, there was no reason, no explanation. I was told I just had to accept Linda’s decision.

I feel this is an unrealistic and unprofessional way to handle a situation. Just two weeks prior to this debacle, Linda and I were planning the calendar for the next season and all seemed right with the world. There was no indication that I was to be “removed “from the hunt.

Apparently, I have somehow fallen out of Linda’s favor. She has made the decision that I am not interested in hunting or the welfare of the Aiken Hounds. It is my intent that all of you know why I may not be hunting with the Aiken Hounds again. I have been told I am not “allowed to”.

It is my intent that I tell you my interest as Joint Master was to maintain the integrity and tradition of the Aiken Hounds, full stop. There was no duty I would not do to support the hunt.

My exodus from the Aiken Horse Show was well known, as are my feelings towards the modern practices of drugging horses. Linda does not share these feelings.

The Fox Hunter safety clinics have been highly successful and improved the quality of our hunting. I shall continue to hold them as I hope they will help maintain the old traditions of good riding and horsemanship rather than promoting better riding through chemistry. It is my opinion that one must learn how to ride a horse first before one can ride with hounds.

I enjoy my time with the Aiken Hounds immensely. I have hunted in many places and the Aiken Hounds are very special to me. Linda is very wrong to have come up with whatever opinion she now holds. Sadly, she has created some scenario in her mind that lacks the dignity and honesty a senior Master of Hounds should portray. Her mother would be mortified by this behavior as is mine. No hunt can run without complications and issues but communication is a far greater tool than annihilation and/or sabotage. I am willing to own up to any offense I may have committed but feel I am due the respect and courtesy of a full explanation.

I am sure there may be people out there who are not interested in the knowing the “what’s or why’s” of these goings on. In Linda’s most recent hunt invitation of 2011, she made public that I am no longer hunting with the Aiken Hounds... I am terribly grateful for the outpouring of support I have received from many of you and I hope this will not make things awkward for any of you when next we meet.

I am and have been an active supporter of this town and care very much about Aiken. I hope you will continue to join the Fox Hunter safety clinics and support the Horse Trials at Paradise Farm. I also want you to know that I was “advised” not to write this letter telling me this would be bad for my business and future in Aiken. I have chosen to write this as I believe in who I am and what I do. I believe in principle and proper etiquette.

The Aiken Hounds and the Hitchcock woods and Aiken itself are for no one person. The tradition of sport and sportsmanship founded by the Hitchcock’s are something we all need to remember and emulate. This is what Aiken is about.

In closing. I strongly suggest that a committee be formed and formal by-laws be written to govern the Aiken Hounds, to protect all involved from issues like this. The Aiken Hounds are unique and very very special. I do not believe the entire future of one of Aiken’s finest traditions should lie completely in the hands of one person. I was told there was a committee, by the committee to do just this. But that committee changed their minds and stories very quickly.

I am looking for closure to a very sad incident in my life. I have never been thrown out of anything... I do not know why this has happened or how long this had been preplanned by Linda. I feel I deserve, as anyone would, a proper explanation. I ask all of you to put yourselves in my position for a moment and decide how you would feel if this happened to you.

Respectfully,

Lellie Ward

A Sad Time For Aiken

I try to write happy , upbeat things but sometimes I can't always be that way. I am currently away from Aiken but feel it is important to write this blog.

Right before I left on this trip, at nineA.M.. I was bombarded by a purple faced screaming Linda Mclean. This visit was unannounced and a big surprise. I was minding my own business about to teach a lesson to a paying client when Linda arrived.Screaming and yelling with a wagging
finger
, she scolded me me like a bad child.She huffed and puffed like a baseball umpire telling me "YOU;RE OUT!" Her demenour was laughable.After scolding me,she stomped up from her chair and ran out to her car like a coward.She drove away spewing the pebbles from my driveway like a bankrobber in a getaway car


I consider this inappropriate behaviour from a Master of Foxhounds.There was no discussion. The decision had been long made behind my back.Apparantly she has wanted to do this for a very long time. This is in fact the second time she has demanded my resignation.

The first time she made such cowardly demands was due to rumour involved by another one of Aikens fine citzens. I have known Linda most of my life .We both have a long standing history in Aiken with our families.Her current behaviour is a direct insult to the way we were brought up.But Linda is a much more social animal than myself. She is easily swayed by gossip and stories and does not have a backbone strong enough to seek the truth. Information gained at cocktail parties and restaurant jabber are the primary sources of her opinions.

Linda has decided for the second time that all I care about is myself and my eventing. She has declared to all behind my back for some time that I am not interested in hunting or the Aiken Hounds. An interesting concept. None of it true in any sense of the word and completely unfounded.

Our differences are ethical. I believe in the maintaning the integrety and history of the Aiken Hounds. Linda does not. Linda is pro drugs and I am not. I think this was where the trouble started. I cannot abide seeing first hand the majority of our staff and our master using drugs to be able to ride to hounds or to ride in the famous show in the woods. Full stop.Mrs. Hitchcock would roll in her grave.

There are plenty of opportunties to learn how to ride to hounds. But most people think they know it all and do not need to practice. Her attempts at down grading the quality of the drags is sad. Her attempts at making it more like live hunting are a crime. The Aiken Hounds is a drag pack. Let's hope it does´t die out completely with Linda.

Linda has made the assumption that my lack of participation at hound shows means I do not like hunting or the Aiken Hounds.This is not true. I work for a living and have little time to attend shows I am not actively participating in.

Hound shows are great fun when one has the time.I do not have the time.Nor am I interested in the subjective opions of the judges.

Linda has excluded me from every aspect of the Aiken Hounds.. Never in the history of the Aiken Hounds has any Master made the hunt their own personal hunt. I have been told by Linda and Dennis Foster of the MFHA that this is indeed Lindas hunt and she can do what she wants.So she has chosen to dismis me the way she has chosen to put so many of our hounds down.In Linda's world everythinig is disposable. A warning to all of those that choose to remain.

I am disgusted by Lindas cowardice. I despise untruth. Her holier than thou attitude is contemptuous.

I have written about the honor of wearing the green coat. I have written about the beauty of the Aiken Hounds for years. There is nothing I would not have done to prove my loyalty to the hunt.Once again, Linda has chosen the wrong path.

I am sad it has ended this way.Aiken is changing so fast. Gone are the days where one´s word is one´s bond. Gone are the days of honesty. Gone are the days where the Master of Hounds is not afraid to ride.

Linda says she needs a new Joint Master that will show more interest in the hunt than I did. I hope she will at least explain to the new JM their duties according to Linda. It is not easy to be a mind reader. It is a sad time for Aiken.It is a sad time for me.

Stages

The majority of us will say to our teachers and coaches."I bet you're sick of telling me that so much.When am I going to learn?"We are so quick to blame ourselves and head out on that self destruct,confidence sapping stage.

The self destruct stage is a very very familiar one to me.There are many days I do not even want to get into the saddle for fear of drifting away from my goals rather than towards them.Things can quickly multiply into my convincing myself I should give it up.

But something makes me want to go back out there and DO IT AGAIN. So I do. Over and over again. It usually comes right eventually. Practice practice practice. Barby is my body guard. I have her with me whenever I really feel like I am in a mess. She has seen enough now that her eye is getting pretty sharp. She watches all my lessons. We CONSTANTLY watch videos and I show her pictures of riders and horses I want to emulate.The shape of everything is so important.So we work it out.

I am staging a personal comeback from my latest crash in Virginia last May. Peter Pan had done a lovely dressage test at the one star level, leaving him in a very good position.I made several very very big mistakes that day. My horse was having a VERY hard time with stabling and had managed to kick off both hind shoes, step on the clips and have a really rough night. It was very touch and go that we were even going to be able to compete on the Saturday. But a sleepless night and lots of hard work got us to the start box the next day. (I always say eventing is like going to war)Battling sore feet was a big enemy.

I think I put the possibility of " making the magazine" a bit before sensible riding. Peter felt well enough for me to put my foot on the gas peddle. I angled a nice hay rack jump and whacked it and crashed. I thought the time was going to be very hard to make. I was wrong about that. I did not need to hotshot it to that hay rack. I had a fairly bad crash resulting in six weeks out of the saddle.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Maybe this maybe that. Maybe it was the feet. Maybe I was greedy. Maybe it was bad luck.

Thankfully Peter bombed off and was no worse for wear. I finished the event on my darling Harry and went home one sore dog.

Now I am back riding and have been given the green light to go again with strict instructions not to fall off. GREAT. No pressure or anything.....I am obviously very keen to get back moving along as I am playing the qualification game. Another blog topic. I have huge goals with my devils. But the main thing is to RIDE WELL with these wonderful horses and climb the ladder sensibly.

When coming back from injury there are many stages.

First one has to get past the pain stage. The Ohhhh Ahhhhh make you pass out thing when you press to hard or stretch too far. Let pain be your guide I always say. It will stop you quick enough.

Once you can get past that and you start to get fit again. A different kind of pain sets in more like aching. That's just screaming muscles. We can ignore them a bit , stretch them out and get on with it. There's usually a bit of excess fatigue but the urgency to ride and get back going again wipes that out for me.

Then comes confidence. Well I don't want to mess it up again. The what if's.One has to push through pain and one has to really push through the lack of confidence stage.. Last year after having broken my leg jumping a corner I had real "corneritis" in the beginning.Ten thousand corners later I'm out of that stage..

Dressage hurt at first. I thought ugh.... Can't stand to sit the trot. Vertical impact. But it is Ok now.I am out of that stage.Down transitions were scary.

Peter Pan was almost un- rideable at the beginning. He actually made me feel he had the best of me with his bucking. I came very close to hiring a cowboy. He has settled now. Thank god he is out of that stage!

My first jumping school was conservative. "Good, no pain I thought."

My first cross country school was dodgy. I rode like a mouse and choked a lot. No can do at the level I intend to ride at. Answer......Jump more fences later on. Not all at once. I needed more work at that stage.

I watch DVDs constantly. Mary king and Apache Sauce are big favs of mine. I see Pickles in him and that is a great memory for me. Of course there are zillions more but I like Mary cause she loves her horses and the game the way I do. Very simple. And I see Pickles over and over..God how we miss him. The Dvds seem to enable me to see balance and how the other riders manage the jumps before them. Watching them repeatedly almost makes me feel as if I am riding .

Today I jumped again. I had Pickles and Apache Sauce there with me and I was very pleased with the way things went.I had my flow back.I am not yet ready to ride to the stage I was at before the crash ,but I am getting closer. I am two weeks out from my first competition. I chose to downgrade a level from where I was just to make sure I can manage all the parts of a competition with confidence and balance.There are so many stages at a horse trial. Then I am entered back at the Intermediate level again, aiming for two star.

We are on go....Harry is not a great fan of the heat. But he is hanging in there. Stay tuned and remember to hang in there when you are in a "rough" stage. The good ones are well worth it.Push through the bad for the good.It will come.

Communication

Riding is a three way street around here.There is the horse. We must listen to him/her as much as we want him/her to listen to us. There is the rider.The rider has CHOSEN to ride the horse. Years ago Jummy Wofford (excellent teacher and very experienced horseman) said, "it is better to make a decision and have it be the wrong one than to make no decision at all."In other words do something rather than nothing on the horses back. THINK......MAKE IT UP IF YOU HAVE TO!But try not to do NOTHING. The horse is looking for guidance too.

The third person is the teacher.The teacher can HOPEFULLY recognize and read the horse and the rider. The teacher is not there to judge or form personal opinions.The teacher is not there to say their personal likes and dislikes ,unless they pertain to safety or a mechanical application.

It is easy to see when a horse doesn't like something. It is easy to see when it is confused,unhappy,in pain ,lacking confidence,balance or knowledge.They make it clear that the "flow ain't there".

This teacher makes it clear when there is a no flow situation. Stop,wait, let's discuss this or that.No,not like that,like this. Ok, now that's good. DID YOU FEEL THAT? DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT NOW? Good DO IT AGAIN.OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.we practice this walking in the field as well as jumping big fences. you do not have to be doing anything grand to ride well(safely) all the time.

The rider usually shows the teacher they understand with a big smile or sigh of relief. "he did it...I did it!' type reaction, often referred to as light bulb moments.

It is not always smooth and easy around here.We all fall off. We get too hot. We are all tired. We are all stressed about money. Most of us have some degree of pain that runs through our bodies 24-7. But we WANT TO RIDE. Riding is not easy. Nor is it the safest of games we choose to play. So we make many many sacrifices to do this.

If the horse is unhappy , we try endlessly to try and access, and decide how to make things better. He tells us, we must listen and then go to work to make life better. When the horse is happy ,everybody is happy.......

I wish riders would do the same. Sometimes they do. Communication is the key. I KNOW I lost YEARS AND YEARS of my riding career by not being open with my instructors. I went home after YEARS of lessons thinking I just wasn't good enough. I thought for years I would never get better. And I digressed. I got worse.I spent hours and years thinking my teachers didn't like me.

IT WASN'T ABOUT THAT!!!!!

I lost my confidence many many times. Yet I wanted to ride. I wanted to get better. I didn't want to give up.Something drove me. I was ashamed to ask questions!

I have learned I have to be around teachers that are going to allow me to speak up and say I don't get it. I don't feel it. What did you mean by that? I have had teachers say to me at the 4 star level.......How can you ask me that and ride at Rolex? You should know that(referring to how to better ride a shoulder in)The teacher made me feel like a jerk and I withdrew. I went backwards not forwards. I wasted time in self pity and loathing. And I wasted my horses time, legs and life too.....

Teachers have different styles. Lord knows mine is quite graphic. I use very unorthodox language. I want people to SEE in their minds what I am talking about. There a few terms I wish to bring up here."Fairy Riding",the" Helpless Housewife,""crumpling" or the famous" fat lady position."What do you think of when I use the term"life Support?"or "C 4?"I do not mean the explosive.

I love bunnies ,butterflies, cuddly puppies, Easter dresses , flowers. When I think of those things I see visions of soft pinks and blues dancing around in my head. Vivaldi pops into the soundtrack. Perhaps even the occasional angel and maybe a fairy or two. I see fairies as lighter than air little people that do kind things and live in a happy, soft kind place. I have never thought of the nasty horrible connotation that refers to ones sexual preference. That goes to the dark place. Bad music and dark colors......... Black.......

I do not look at riding as a a sport practiced in the land of the bunnies. My job is safety first. The music changes from Vivaldi to Heavy Metal. When dealing with a horse or pony, one has to be ready for anything. Like going to war. When one trains for war,,,,it is hard work. To sharpen ones reaction time.....often the exercises are difficult and hard.One has to endure mental and physical discomfort occasionally to get though to the other side. Survival first.......Learn to clean and hold your gun. Shoot to kill.....You never get a second chance to make a first impression.....

The fat lady position does not mean I think you are fat. The fairy ride does not mean I think you are gay. The helpless housewife.........well I have seen a few and they are not safe on horses. I even call men helpless housewives.. They get it!

I called a GREAT friend of mine Mrs. Tomato Face once and that did not go over well. She was VERY VERY hot and her face was red and I was laughing. I said a girl had wimpy wrists once. I did not think she was a wimp! That took three years to get past that one........She never rode with me again because I was so insulting......Now we can laugh.....I tell one of my best students right now that she leaves the classroom and goes back to California (and she is a blond,housewife). Come back,come back from California.....You are about to JUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Ok you get it. So if EVER EVER EVER I offend any of you. Come get me. COMMUNICATE. If you don't feel well.......COMMUNICATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I t is FAR BETTER to SAY WHAT YOU Think than leave hurt or upset.

PLEASE COMMUNICATE! We can do this...

PS I do not like Heavy Metal and far prefer Bunny Music..................................Kick on silly wabbit

Message From God

Lord knows I talk enough during the lessons to drive people crazy.I often feel like an incessant mosquito, buzzing buzzing around in my riders brains, trying to get them to react to various situations.

It is difficult to listen and FEEL at the same time.Very often, one trys so hard while riding to get a FEEL that they can't see or hear anything. It is easy to bump into a jump standard in the ring. It is easy to miss a jump . Mud puddles can come out of nowhere and cause your horse to spook and catch one WAY off guard. I call this "riding blind."

It is easy to "go blind" with fear. When one's horse grabs the bit and starts to speed up, pull, or "get bigger". It is easy to forget what to do to REGAIN control and then confidence. That is all we are trying to do. It is the same out in the cross country field, hunt field, show jumping ring, even the dressage ring.

TIMING is another hard thing to learn right up there with FEELING!!!!! How much is enough and when do you do it and HOW DO YOU DO IT?

A great way to learn all this is by practicing, making mistakes, having problems and getting through to the other side. The aha moments. Sometimes God steps in. He shows up a lot in the open spaces. He says........You had BETTER find your balance. You had BETTER sit back. You had BETTER learn how to balance and control your horses step.... OR ELSE I WILL RAISE YOUR PULSE TILL YOU GET IT.

Of course this is all relative and should be thoroughly discussed with the rider beforehand. A great lady said to me today....."Oh,,, this is what I am supposed to be doing everyday!"I need to ride better!!!!Oh hallelujah . She got it! "YES ,,,EVERYDAY ,EVERY TIME YOU RIDE!!!!!" Thanks be to God. A real light bulb moment. Great fun and that's what teaching is about.

My lady went from fairy riding with a minimum of control and confidence, to clearly owning her ride and getting her young horse downhill into the water jump. She knew what to do when her horse said no. Even though I had loaded her guns with at least an hours worth of discussion about position and the application of the aids, it was a higher power that went down that hill into the water with her......She was safe.....And she was BEAMING at the end of her ride.

It is so much fun to see people transform from helpless housewives that ride blind into functioning riders with a real purpose.Yippee, another score at Paradise today.Thank God!

Better Riding Through Knowledge Clinic

In putting together some sort of flyer to announce clinics ,we had to come up with some sort of name.After going round and round we came up with the name Better Riding through knowledge(and not luck!)

I feel there are to many people out there that throw their legs over a horse ( any horse ,any discipline) thinking its all going to be alright and take care of itself.These clinics are about the most basic principles of general riding and horsemanship. We have people and horses of all levels come to play.We have people that have a huge fear of open spaces,jumping on unlevel terrain,cantering,steering,,,you name it. We have Fox hunters, trail riders and eventers.It simply doesn't matter to me. I only try to help people gain an understanding of how to better communicate with their horse in the hopes of creating a safer,more confident ride.I want people to know HOW to create that feeling of security with their horses.

This past weekend,twelve brave riders faced the heat. My house was chock a block full of bodies that slept EVERYWHERE so they could be ready to ride bright and early.There were air mattresses and two coffee pots. People were ready for the onslaught.

This time we had two videographers come and tape the sessions with the help of their handy dandy flip cameras. At lunch we were able to review position and the application of the aids over and over on their fancy computers. There were lots of AHA moments for all.It was terribly helpful for the riders to be able to really see themselves and play back moments of their lessons over and over. The general theme of this session was to teach everyone the importance and the How to get and "uphill balance" and maintain it throughout their rides.Out came the pencil on the videos ,where we could show the riders,see that's uphill.....that is not.......It is very beneficial to see oneself rather than listen to me all the time. My job was to INCESSANTLY be a bug in their ear to create enough muscle memory to help them do their respective jobs.

People came from everywhere. We had representatives from Louisiana,Georgia,North and South Carolina. I only wish more Aiken people would come to these clinics as they are right in their own backyard.But.........Hopefully they will one day.

Sometimes I hear,I do not want to work that hard. Or I am sitting up straight,or he is light,he's not pulling. "Oh yea?,then why is his mouth wide open?" .........."Oh yea,,,,,,that"

More often than not we work on straightness,which is far harder to maintain than one would think.The ability to adjust the stride plays a huge role in confidence and safety.

I receive constant messages from God and often create incredible scenarios for the riders in order to achieve a point. Most of the time the messages become quite clear.After two or three sessions the riders are able to leave with some great tools and concepts.It is my hope they can retain these concepts and return and build up their riding repertoires,so they can learn and know how to fix situations in their futures.

I was please with the improvement I saw in every lesson.The use of the video and lunch in the cool office was also helpful. Can't wait till the next one July 16-17.The heat is tough but we made it through by getting up early. None of us have time to waste......Stay tuned!

Full Gallop May Horse Trials

Paradise Farm had a large contingent of great people go to Full Gallop last weekend. I had the pleasure of riding Lynda Clary-Burkes lovely horse Rasta Mon in the beginner novice class. He was a real gentleman in all three phases but had a baby spook at the third fence cross country so I felt a circle was needed and that gave him his first 20. Hopefully his last. It was a purposeful decision on my part as he saw some sort of monster way far out and temporarily lost his marbles and his balance. The ground was beastly hard and I felt no reason to gallop hard around with such a nice youngster , so we also had some time faults. I adored the way he handle his first recognized event and should prove a real little star for Lynda when she is ready to go again.

It is a real honor to be able to start someones baby horse. I know she was bursting with pride as she saw her boy go around. I am lucky to be part of that with so many fun people.

Amy Zaiser rode the Blizzard of Oz . Amy and her family have been STALWART SUPPORTS of Paradise for years and she is a beautiful rider,a GREAT FRIEND, and a SUPER competitor.We all have bogey fences in our minds and Amy's was a ditch. Her horse sailed perfectly over it and in her excitement, Amy suffered from what we call (having a cigarette......you know after.........) and relaxing too much with great pleasure and dispelled tension........ and went right on by the next fence. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. There are so many ways to get eliminated in this game......But it made us all have a laugh. She won't do that again for a while I am sure!!!

Arthur was a star and furthered his eventing experience by conquering his first fence itis demon. Let that demon be gone! What a trooper. The world is now his oyster.........

Nancy Thrasher came and rode the pants off of Tom in dressage and show jumping. She forgot to eat and got pooped out on the cross country and had a stop. But she finished and knew what she needed to do next time to get improve her result.

Denise Putnam bombed around on George after being disappointed with her dressage test and beat us all!

Fawn had a great day with her big boy. Last I heard she was second and groaning. But she went a double clear. I'm just not sure where she ended up.

And Gigi Thomson came and had a fab day too and really conquered some of her demons. She wept with happiness and relief and that was special.

So many people try so hard to ride in these events. Everybody has their own saga.A horse trials is like a mini city on the day.So far the only thing I haven't witnessed first hand is a baby being born at a competition!

It's really fun to watch everyone evolve and work so hard with their horses. WE are so lucky to be able to do this.

The paradise team will spend the month of June back in the classroom to get ready for the fall season.We have a clinic here at the far4m the last weekend in June for everyone to continue their education and get some serious practice in. During the summer months we don't back down but tend to attend more dressage and Jumper shows than events.It's a good break for us all.

The devils are on holiday except for River whom I hope to take to some Dressage and Jumper shows.The babies are in full work for the next season. So stay tuned and thanks to all you great , fun , people out there!