Welcome to Barnmice Willow.  I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

Welcome to Barnmice, Willow! :) Very glad to be friends with you on here! Maybe we can share our Equine Science knowledge together as we learn? Your name reminds me a book I read when I was younger called "Willow King" (book on Amazon) - What a strange coincidence! :)

Yeah! I think maybe the girl had one leg shorter than the other, too. Maybe that was another one I read. I'm kind of a horse-book nut. 

 

I'll be starting my Equine Science course this fall with University of Guelph. I'll be taking one class at a time since it's rather rigorous, though. :) Hopefully we can learn some cool stuff together! I'd love to bounce ideas back and forth.

Hi Willow.  I'm glad to be your friend.

Tell your mom that the only reason I am still walking is because I ride horses.  Before I re-started riding I wore out an electric wheelchair.  I did not have to replace it because of the physical therapy riding gives me.

Besides, I just love riding and training horses though I can't really do much any more.  I just told my riding teacher when I started that I was ideal to school lesson horses because they would learn to obey a less than perfect rider, shaky and without good balance.  But then I already knew how to ride and had trained some horses so I know what I am doing.

My neurologist's eyes start to glaze over as I repeatedly proclaim how the outside of a horse is good for anybody.

hi willo. hope we can be friends

Colorado State is fantastic. I've got a friend or two from High School that went there. I may be over in Colorado this summer working at an equine retreat! :) 

 

It is a shame there are less books geared towards older folks. There are some, but definitely the "my fuzzy wuzzy cute widdle pony" type outnumber the others, haha. I'm a big fan of Riding Lessons and Flying Changes by Sara Gruen. (She wrote Water for Elephants). I also read one once called "Trading Paper". It was really rough, I think self-published (lots of typos), but it was a good look into the Arabian industry, with a bit of crime/detective twist (not my style at all, but it was good). Currently I'm reading An Eventful Life (link here). It's interesting thus far; short interviews/bios of some of Australia's biggest eventing riders. :)

Rocky Mountain Pathways Ranch is the name. I just applied for the Summer Barn Assistant position they have open. You might contact them on their website and see what else they have available, as they like to hire high school aged kids for the summer, it seems. The responsibilities for the position I applied for are basically barn management and trail boss. It sounds super fun!

 

I've done a little bit of work here and there mucking stalls or training some pack horses/putting rides on some greenies/etc., but I think working at a retreat would be really great. It'll definitely give me a lot of insight as to how a barn is successfully run with customers/clients, and work on my rather antisocial behavior, haha! :)

Oh wow! I just looked on Google Maps to see where in relation you are to the ranch. It's in Allenspark, about an hour and a half. If I get on over there, we'll have to go for a trail ride or something at some point! :)

For sure! Depending on when you'll be 18, you could work something out with them maybe. Or perhaps have your parent/s sign a waiver if you won't be 18 by then. You never know! :)

We'll definitely have to keep in touch and I'll let you know what happens with it so we could maybe plan something! :)

Definitely! :)

Might I suggest you head over to the Forum? I think you'd have a lot of fun over there; we have a lot of pretty fun discussions, and it never hurts to have someone with similar ideals to back up your opinions, haha! 

Another thing (just repeating what I said over on that discussion), might I also suggest next time you're book shopping or at the library, if you haven't already, pick up Monty Roberts' "The Man Who Listens To Horses" and Bill Dorrance's "True Horsemanship Through Feel". Tom Dorrance (his brother) also has a book out that's similar, but I haven't read it yet.

 

Oops. just noticed I referenced the book as Tom's over on the discussion. Bill wrote it, but both men are great horsemen.

Wicked! :) True Horsemanship Through Feel is pretty long but if you've got the time to read it through, it's well worth it. Lots of pictures, lol. I read The Man Who Listens To Horses in my spare time in my Senior Project class my Senior year and managed to finish it in about 2 weeks. It's somewhere around 200-250 pages if I remember right, but pretty easy to read and I couldn't put it down.

 

So now that I've overloaded you with books, time for a new subject! What do you hope to do with your Equine Science degree once you get it? :)

Actually pretty dang close to what I plan to do, as well. My best friend is starting her 5th year at Guelph, and I'll start my first year in the fall. Together we plan to run a training/showing facility focusing on all-around horses. People say it's a bad idea to be business partners with your best friend or spouse/etc, but we've been at this plan for almost 10 years now, and never looked back. She's written a 60? page business plan for the farm, and when I take the Business Management class, I'll do the same thing. Luckily we're educated/educating ourselves so that it's more than just a pipe dream.

On pipe dreams: don't ever let anyone tell you that you won't succeed with your idea. Most people thing it's insane and you'll never make any money. Honestly, for the first five years you won't even break even. But for what it's worth, if you believe in yourself and your goals are attainable, you will succeed. I've had too many people tell me that it's crazy to do what I want to do, but the best folks come from the toughest situations, I think.

Inspirational moment of the day! :D haha!

That's great. I'm glad you realize that doing what is important to you is more important than a 9-5 wage. :) I wish more people thought this way; the world would be much happier, I think.

 

I'm also glad you support your best friend that way. Sometimes it's really difficult to see such potential in someone when their plans seem a little ludacris. But then... you gotta look back at your own plan (especially us) and see that our plans seem a bit ludacris as well. To each their own and best of luck to them, I say!

You should look into the Equine Science program at the university you want to go to and see if they have a Business Management course. If they don't, you can easily take Guelph's online. I advise waiting to take it until toward the end of your university career, though. It's the hardest course they offer and takes a ton of time. Senior year might be too tough to fit in, so perhaps your junior year. Something to consider :)

It's alright, crazy minds think alike! lol, I'm A.O.K. with being "crazy". Just means the snooty people will keep their distance!

Your mom might like to read these blogs of mine:
http://www.barnmice.com/profiles/blogs/facing-my-limitations
http://www.barnmice.com/profiles/blogs/adjusting-to-my-mshands
http://www.barnmice.com/profiles/blogs/adjusting-to-my-mslower-legs
http://www.barnmice.com/profiles/blogs/adjusting-to-my-msbalance
http://www.barnmice.com/profiles/blogs/adjusting-to-my-msfatigue
Though all my blogs that are not about riding theory describe me riding with MS!
I have done therapeutic riding for a few months. Since I already knew how to ride I much prefer controlling the horse myself, but for someone with MS who has never ridden, therapeutic riding with a leader and two spotters is defenitely the way to go.

Hi again Willow. Your mom might also be interested in this post of mine--http://www.barnmice.com/profiles/blogs/riding-gives-me-back-my-body.

Hi Willow,

He's a 5 yr old Irish Sport horse/thoroughbred cross and I've had him for 5 months. We do dressage- hes young , but a sweetheart. We have a great relationship already!!

Thank you for the note Willow! We've spent our entire adult life in the horseback outfitting/vacation industry, from wilderness pack trips and hunting camp to the adventure rides we are doing now. Our website is very comprehensive and our About the Wade Family page will tell you more about us and our philosophy. There are lots of job opportunities in the guest ranch industry, pack trips, etc. if you are interested in learning more about horses. We are staffed ourselves, but I refer people to Ranchweb.com and funjobs.com to start with if you are looking for a job in the industry.  On the Press Kit/Media page, scroll down and you will find PDF's of a couple of recent articles about our trips, in The Trail Rider Magazine and the Canadian Horse Journal.

Hi Willow,     Yes I guess we share King.   I however married into mine.   Great name though.    I have a 9 year old Quarter horse and mostly trail ride western.    I have to sell him this summer though.    We are moving to Barbados in November and although I am very excited about it, I hate the thoughts of selling Bud.    He's my best pal and I will miss him.      Nice to meet you and as soon as I figure it out, I will post some pictures on here.

Thanks for the friend invitation, Willow. I look forward to reading your blog! :)

Hi Willow,

Thank you for the kind words about my photos. 
Cer

For sure we can be friends!

Goose is adorable, and coming along wonderfully.I just moved him home yesterday and after the seven hour trailer ride he was a complete champ. Quite calm on the trailer and fairly relaxed after being introduced to his new home. He continues to surprise me.

I would love to hear about what you are up to as well!

Congratulations on your new blog.