Why attending the 

Painted Pony  - Creative Retreat is as good as a Vacation

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the fast pace of your life and endless to-do lists. Feel like you just NEEEED a break?

But with heavy schedules and commitments its hard to get away on a vacation, I hear you!  Whether it’s impossible to take time off work or the many responsibilities at home with a family, for many people…

Mara B have been out enjoying the neighborhood around the stable today!…

Have you ever been unsettled by your classmate’s handwringing before an exam? Or the patient before you holding their jaw as they emerge from the dentist’s room?

Its not that you sense or smell fear. You’re reading their body language….and catching it like an infection.

Riders often tell me that their horse senses they’re nervous. I ask them if they…

• hello from Helen and Mara B! We are out riding with snow still on the trail! Please enjoy our daily posts @maramomentshorsetime.com 

       Happy Trails …

I Try Out My “Old Type” Wellep Lever Cheek Snaffle

Lat Sunday was a good day. The weather was nice, Shannon's ring was dry, my grandson was visiting, and I got to try out my new bit on Cider! This bit, the “old” type Wellep Lever Cheek Snaffle has some differences from the “new” type Wellep Lever Cheek Snaffle that I had used a little bit several years ago. The cable that goes through the…

  As training went, March was pretty good.

  I got some stuff cleaned up around the arena that has been bugging me for a while. There is still a massive amount more to do, but almost all of the broken jump stands are now either repaired or removed, all of the broken poles have had the jagged parts cut off so they can be used as ground lines, or likewise trashed.

  The top bars on the jumps have been raised another hole, so that we are now jumping over obstacles about mid-thigh…

I will preface this story with the advisement I love Thoroughbreds and Thoroughbred Horse Racing. At the age of six I discovered the Kentucky Derby and the subsequent US Triple Crown Races, then the Canadian Queen’s Plate and our own Triple Crown series. This year will mark the 56th Derby I’ve watched. I will also express my undying gratitude to the CBC broadcasts of…

Working on My Knees

When I got to the stable on Friday to ride Mia it was already warm, I even took off my hoodie before I walked into the barn. Mia is still shedding, though not as bad as last last week, so grooming was quicker. Since she still has a good bit of her winter coat still covering her body I decided that it might be a good idea to leave her BOT butt blanket off. She was definitely…

A Frustrating Ride on Magic

Last Sunday my grandson, who was visiting me, got his desire to go riding again after six months of not getting up on a horse. We rode at Shannon's, and I gave up my ride on Cider so my grandson could have a less frustrating ride, so I got the opportunity to ride Magic and get frustrated! Shannon did not mind me switching horses, she knows that Cider is much more…

Reliable brakes – not just for reiners!  Anyone ever been thankful for a horse who had a braking safety feature installed? An accident averted, an equitation class won, an opportunity to re-group before things got “out of hand”?

I’ve been thankful for horses that know “whoa” before they steps on the reins, unseat a novice, or bump into another horse in the warm…

Flight response is a prey animal’s instinct to flee from perceived danger.

Dr Andrew Mclean says “A structure deep inside the brain called the amygdala, sorts out stimuli as to whether they are fearful or not. Fearful stimuli receive special recognition by the brain in terms of remembering - unlike other information, once learned, fearful responses…

Don’t give up what you want most for what you want right now.

I had the privilege of speaking to a student group last night- Life Lessons Learned from Horses. From the city, on outdoor education at a local retreat centre, everyone had experienced their first “horse encounter”.

Horses are hard on fences, I told them. They bend…

My New Wellep Bit Signals How My Hands Need to Improve...

And it is the “zing” of the cable through the mouthpiece that shows me how I have failed through the decades to truly follow the horses' mouths.

From the first day I tried the Wellep bit I have marveled at how I finally found a bit that ameliorates the bad effects of…

Further Progress

My hands continue to improve, they are steadier and and more acceptable to the horses.

When I got up on Cider last Sunday I was prepared for her to decide that, on second thought, she did not appreciate me changing to the JP Dr. Bristol snaffle. Hey, she is a mare, the weather is spring like, her coat is…

I Did Not Have to Warm Up My Bit

It got up to 80ºF a few times this week. I wore my summer riding clothes, the horses were not buried under exercise sheets, and all the horses are shedding out rapidly.

My…

My New Bit Gives Me a Chance to Improve My Riding

After looking at an ad for a Wellep bit for over a year, I finally had enough spare money to buy it. It was described, and the picture showed, a Wellep Mullen mouth Full Cheek Snaffle. The web site's title was Wellep Western Bit, which confused me because on the Wellep bit web site there was no mention of Western bits! I finally ordered it and…

Is it an AHA moment in a horse’s understanding? A sign of submission or a sigh of relief?

Always one to ask questions, I think a little differently about the licking and chewing thing  than I did in earlier years training horses. We recognize this mouth behaviour in a horse after stopping to take a break in an intense training…

The Cold Wind Just Drained All of My Energy

Our extremely persistent moderate drought is easing. The ponds are filling up again, our local river has stopped looking like an easily fordable creek and we are seeing persistent mud again. This is good in many ways, at least the soil will have enough moisture to grow the first Spring hay crop! So I do not complain too much about the rain. Of course…

   It's been a rather strenuous month, for me. Oakley has had it easy. The weather has been giving 30 degree swings, from 10C to -20C and back, which, of course, leads to melting and flash freezing into ice that is treacherous to move over (I don't ride over to the arena, we walk). I did manage to cover the path with freshly-used bedding from the compost pile during one of the brief warmish spells, so the footing, while frozen, is not ice.

   You see, I learned to work the tractor,…

You might jump to the conclusion, that they don’t have a Bible.  But let’s assume theses teens and I will let all the adults off the hook for now, do have a Bible and in fact they also attend church.  

They are filled with good intentions and know in their heart of hearts they ought to spend time in God’s word.  So I ask you again why don’t they read the Bible?

The answer is little more complex however I stumbled on a simple…