MJ and I Try a New Bit

In my eternal search for a yet more perfect bit I decided to try one of Fager Bit's two new types of Weymouth curbs. Unlike the Mullen mouth Victoria curb these new curbs have a “port”, but it is not angled like the Cambridge mouth port which is parallel to the shanks of the bit. The Fager “port” goes up vertically from the line of the shanks of the bit. The Fager site…

R.I.P. Bingo

I was not able to ride at Debbie's for two weeks. When I got to the barn Debbie told me that Bingo had died, he had gone down, could not/would not get up, and the veterinarian put him down. The vet had known Bingo for many years, and she told Debbie that Bingo could well have been even older than the mid to late twenties we had assumed. Debbie stayed with Bingo during the process…

Cider is My Thigh Master

The past two weeks I did not ride at Debbie's stable at all, which means that I did not get a lesson and I did not get to ride with the double bridle.

I have been able to ride Cider, thank goodness.

Cider is so stiff now, and she…

We got invited to the Eglinton Caledon Hunter Pace meet on Labour Day. Not an actual hunt, but a long course across country, very far from the city. I think I've found Oakley's calling.

The course is simple, we follow a marked trail 19km long, which wends its way over hill and dale, across meadows around crops, along paths and through woods. Sometimes we walked, sometimes we trotted, sometimes we cantered, and sometimes we galloped full out. Still kind of fun to pass my friends like…

A Taste of Fall

Last Sunday's weather was simply wonderful. When I stuck my head out of the front door it was COOL, so cool that I felt no need to wear my ice vest. In fact it was cool enough that I could wear my protective vest, a regular shirt, leather half-chaps, and I did not have to use my hanging neck fan. Together with the lower humidity it was glorious.…

A Truly Horrible Noise

At least Cider thought so.

Last Sunday I had my usual ride on Cider, and as usual lately Cider was not too eager to move—at all. Shannon told me that Cider had her hooves trimmed a few days before which probably explained a good bit of it, changing hoof angles can magnify pain until everything settles…

We began the summer, after the Solstice, with some relaxing of the COVID-19 health restrictions. Finally, open-air competitions were allowed, and, glory be... there was a weekend with a training meet and I wasn't working! The competition was a teaching format, which means day one, I went round the entire course with a coach, over all the jumps, and day 2 went round again, but as a competition.

So we spent the first training day doing well enough, our dressage was sloppy... much…

It Does Help, But

I actually had a lesson this week, on Thursday, and while the temperatures were “only” in the 70s F, the humidity matched the temperature. This is the one drawback of riding early in the morning, when I ride at the dew-point temperature the air is SATURATED with moisture. This reduces the cooling efficiency of my summer gear which often depends upon evaporation.…

Bit Measurements

For various reasons I did not get to ride this past week.

To drown my sorrows I got on-line in search of yet more titanium double bridle bits. During my search I ran into something really interesting, a company that sold its titanium bits measured in inches, not millimeters (mm). I FINALLY got to buy some…

Some of My Plans Go Bust

Last Sunday I did get to ride, and I continued my experiment to see if just wearing my hanging neck fan was enough so I could ride without my heavy ice vest.

It was not.

I started off the ride with the neck fan “upside down” so…

My Neck Fan Helped

My neck fan finally came on Monday. It comes with a very short cord to hook up to a charger, but no charger was included. Luckily in these modern time my house is littered with chargers, for our smart phones, tablet, and other electronic gizmos that clutter our lives. The neck fan did have a charge on its battery and it worked when I pushed the button. Before we figured out…

In Spite of the Heat

Hot, muggy weather, I deteriorate in the heat. I tend to deteriorate so much in the heat that I generally assume that summer is just not the time for me to make any changes with the horses because I am so afraid that I will give the horses an excuse to resist me.

Maybe I was worrying too much.…

We Introduce MJ to the Double Bridle

I had been worried about using a double bridle on horses during the summer heat since my body degrades so much. I was worried that my hands would not be good enough, that my coordination would be too bad, and that accidentally I would turn the double bridle into something scary to the horse rather than an advanced method of communication between horse and…

The Summer Heat

It is now that time of year, hot and muggy even in the morning, and I have to wear my ice vest.

Darn it.

I am grateful that ice vests exist and that I can afford to own one, but having to breathe the hot humid air seems to keep me so hot…

I Got to Ride MJ Again

The last two weeks Debbie had summer camps so I could not get a lesson. It worked out because I was sick the first week and recovering the second week, getting over the scary weakness and exhaustion.

I got to ride Cider last Sunday and I took it really easy, not hard since nowadays Cider is not very…

There is a very old expression in horse care that goes, “No hoof, no horse” and it couldn’t possibly be more true. Horses are very large, heavy animals that stand on what amounts to a tiny foot in comparison to the rest of them. 

While hooves seem durable and able to withstand anything, they are actually very susceptible to injury and must be maintained properly to keep your horse healthy. Improper shoeing of your…

We spend a lot of time looking for things that are wrong with our animals, be they dogs, cats, or horses. What about the indicators that you’re doing a good job and your horse is happy and healthy? We’ve compiled a list of things that will indicate that your horse is in great health and you’re doing an awesome job. Let’s take a look at the list!…

A Sacred Trust

This week Debbie had a summer camp (next week too) so I was not going to get a lesson anyway. In some ways, then, me getting sick came at a “convenient” time, I wasn't too sick, took my homeopathic remedies and stopped doing much at all, and my fever finally went away. I would have hated missing my lesson for being sick, isn't it odd how the Universe works sometimes?…

A Favorable Beginning

When I got to the stable Friday morning for my lesson, Debbie told me that Bingo was having an attack of his moon-blindness. She gave me a choice of three horses. I rejected riding on poor Bingo because I've read that horses eyes hurt during an attack, they are treating him and he just needs to chill out until he gets better.…