The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2)
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: September 1, 2014
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year
Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
Fees: None (Free)
Volume Numbering: 11
Issue Numbering: 1
Section: E
Theme Type: Idea
Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
Theme Part: 26
Formal Sub-Theme: “The Greenhorn Chronicles”
Individual Publication Date: September 8, 2022
Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2023
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Interviewer(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Interviewee(s): Moya Byrne Merrin
Word Count: 868
Image Credit: None.
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the interview.*
*Interview conducted January 2, 2022.*
Abstract
Moya Byrne Merrin is the Director of High Point Equestrian Centre. Merrin discusses: the care for the horses; sold; properties; the sport; centralized in Europe; and the types of horses that tend to work best for dressage.
Keywords: British Columbia, Canada, dressage, equestrianism, High Point Equestrian Centre, Moya Byrne Merrin, The Greenhorn Chronicles, Township of Langley.
The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2)
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I know what you’re talking about. I’ve worked in restaurants. I am working at one stable. With this, I want to ask, more as the barn manager, about the care for the horses, e.g., the proper feed, the proper shavings, etc.
Moya Byrne Merrin: That is shared information over years of experience and also with what is available to us: The internet, bringing in people, asking them what they use. What can we get? What is best for the horse? We do constant research. There’s always new stuff coming up. Vets, we listen to them. “Look at this,” especially when learning with more horses coming through. We can up this or cut that.
When it comes to feeding, very motivated to find what is the best way to feed. What is in their food? How is it processed? That is a combination of shared wisdom and internet research, and constantly educating ourselves, taking in horses and anything new, i.e., papers that have been researched and published, and trying to adapt with what is available. Hay, it always gets tested now. Steamers, this is proven to work.
We have seen it not only in horses who are old and had issues. But we can see the differences in the horses when they are working. The seizing is less, the coughing that they blow out, same thing when it comes to the modalities for keeping them competition ready. Everyone has their favourite, but we can also see what’s actually working.
We have the luxury of people coming in and saying, “Hey, I thought I’d get this into your corner.” They will come to the show and get set. We get to try these modalities. The horses will tell you what works. We can tell we’re feeding them write because their skin, hair, coat, changes, and also a change in attitude towards work and play. So, the same approach when it comes to keeping them fit and competition ready.
We share information with friends in different disciplines. “This works. This horse slept during it,” couldn’t be happier when it works. That’s pretty much [Laughing] what we do in our spare time.
Jacobsen: Others have sold their properties. How does this change the industry?
Merrin: There are properties very tight in this area. It keeps getting more expensive. What you get, there is a sense of unease. We are losing a lot of places that were not just for dressage, but for horses in general, keeping horses in general. It is far more lucrative to turn it into blueberries, Christmas trees, whatever.
Horses are for older ages. You are not so much working on the ranch anymore. There is a lot of uncertainty about the future of our sport in general, horse sport.
Jacobsen: What do you think, in terms of dressage compared to jumping, hunting, eventing, the sport?
Merrin: Dressage is a lot smaller in this area. It doesn’t attract a lot. It is deemed pish-posh and cold. That hasn’t been my experience. My personality would, probably, be more jumper. I came into contact with ladies in the sport. People who are incredible mentors for young girls. These girls drive big trucks and huge horses, and have them trained to move off the slightest push of a leg or a cluck.
I think that dressage in itself is a smaller community, but incredibly dedicated. It is the foundation. It is the basic thing. I have talked to jumpers. This is just dressage with obstacles.
Jacobsen: [Laughing] I like that.
Merrin: It is the foundation. We just take it to a next level. I think it is a personality type that is attracted to it. There is adrenaline, but in a very different way. We are trying to avoid the adrenaline. We are trying give the picture of harmony and piece. Trust me, there is adrenaline going there. Jumping gets the numbers, gets the sponsors, gets the “ooh” and “ahh.”
Dressage, as a growing sport, is hard to get the young people in it. A lot of the ladies, maybe, that is part of its image issue when it comes to being stuck-up and detailed-oriented. They like things a certain.
Jacobsen: Is it also centralized in Europe, mainly?
Merrin: North America is pretty strong, but yes.
Jacobsen: Which countries in Europe?
Merrin: Germany and France, Holland, the Dutch are a very strong team. Again, it is the basis of all training, of anything you want to learn and do. There are strong dressage roots. It is just elevated, when you go past the basics. “I just want to stick in this sport.” Dressage is Europe.
Jacobsen: What are the types of horses that tend to work best for dressage?
Merrin: It is arguable. Every horse should be able to do dressage. At the upper levels, at the Olympics, you will see mainly warmbloods, Andalusians are coming along. There have been horses bred magnificently able to do multiple disciplines, but, I would have to say, the warmblood. It is a generic term. The Hanoverian, there are a couple of breeds. Every horse should be able to do it. That’s one of the bragging rights about dressage.
Jacobsen: Moya, thank you.
Bibliography
None
Footnotes
None
Citations
American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition): Jacobsen S. The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2). September 2022; 11(1). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2
American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition): Jacobsen, S. (2022, September 8). The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2). In-Sight Publishing. 11(1). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2.
Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): JACOBSEN, S. D. The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2). In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 11, n. 1, 2022.
Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott. 2022. “The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 1 (Winter). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2.
Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott “The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 1 (September 2022). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2.
Harvard: Jacobsen, S. (2022) ‘The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2)’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 11(1). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2>.
Harvard (Australian): Jacobsen, S 2022, ‘The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2)’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2>.
Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott. “The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.11, no. 1, 2022, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2.
Vancouver/ICMJE: Jacobsen S. The Greenhorn Chronicles 25: Moya Byrne Merrin on Horse Care and Dressage Horses (2) [Internet]. 2022 Sep; 11(1). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/merrin-2
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