All Blog Posts (4,792)

Horses I Have Seen-mini pony

I received a call for a saddle fit to a stable I had never been to. It was quite a long drive, and as I drove in the yard, my mood sank. The stable was an old rundown cow barn, and the yard was full of piles of junk. The owner was a grumpy old cowboy who walked with a limp. He gruffly agreed to show me the horse I had come to fit the saddle for, but I could tell he had little interest in helping me. As we walked to the stable door, I wondered about the condition of the animals inside. I got… Continue

Added by erin wilson on August 18, 2008 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Catching up

Well, it has been pretty eventful working with Sky.

Monday, we went on our weekly trail ride.

The kayaks were going to eat her, she was convinced of this. She's a very smart horse and she kept having to look back to make sure they either weren't there or weren't following her.

We did some hills, some galloping, some cantering, trotting, and all and all, had a great ride.

But the highlight of our ride....

We jumped for our first…

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Added by Heather on August 15, 2008 at 12:30am — 1 Comment

Jobs with horses. It doesn't always mean scooping poop! :)

At www.HorseJobs.ca we have many people ask us about how they can progress in the equine industry or they are looking for ways to get back to doing what they really love....working with horses.

Like many of you, I started as a child, mucking stalls in return for a riding lessons or to pay off a lease on a riding school pony. Later I was mucking stalls to help pay for the stabling of our pony and so the barter system goes... Also…

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Added by Sarah at HorseJobs.ca on August 14, 2008 at 9:00pm — No Comments

MADNESS

A friend sent this in an email the other day, and it really tickled me:

Why do I like horses? I reckon I must be mad.

My mother wasn't horsey - And neither was my dad.

But the madness hit me early – and it hit me like a curse.

And I've never gotten better. In fact…I've gotten worse.

My stables are immaculate. My house is like a hovel.

Last year for my birthday - I got a brand new shovel.

I hardly read a paper - but I know who's… Continue

Added by Ottilie on August 12, 2008 at 4:10am — 4 Comments

Horses I Have Seen

I work as a saddle fitter. My job is to make horses more comfortable in their every day work. As a result, I am on the road most of the time. I go to different stables, seeing the best, and the worst situations horses find themselves in.
I would like to share some of these stories with you, as the people, and the horses I meet are sometimes heart warming, sometimes heart breaking, but always interesting.

Added by erin wilson on August 11, 2008 at 11:11am — No Comments

me and oscar

rode oscar in outdoor with schooling whip. was a bit fizzy but settled. got him doin proper leg yeilding pirouette turn on forehand rein back shoulder in! dead proud of him! was told that the two of us look like proper sj!! dead happy with that!!!!!!

Added by lauren on August 9, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Links to Olympic Blogs

GENERAL

Brian O'Connor is the announcer of the equestrian events - http://special.equisearch.com/blog/brianoconnor/

EVENTING Greg Tryon

http://teamtryon.blogspot.com/

SHOW JUMPING

Beezie Madden - http://teamusa.usatoday.com/bmadden/

DRESSAGE

Debbie McDonald-…

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Added by Barnmice Admin on August 9, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

Day from poop....literally

So starting with yesterday, rough day at work. Just busy busy busy.

I go out to the barn and I'm saddling up Sky. My mom calls and I'm talking to her while saddling up, and I told my mom straight up that I really couldn't talk because I was tacking up. My mom is a horse person, she should know this.

Well, she kept talking. And Sky mildly scared herself, I don't exactly know how, and she jumped in the air and landed on my two middle toes of my left foot. It wasn't her…

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Added by Heather on August 8, 2008 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Seeking a Trainer

I have a young gelding here who is about 2.5 yrs old and needs backing. I am not setup to start a youngster here and need someone who is willing to put '30' days on him to get him going. He has had saddle on him, has been bitted and longes with full tack. We are still working on ground driving. He has regular hoof care and is UTD on all shots, deworming etc. He is fearless and kind. Please contact me if you can take on a colt to start this fall.

Added by Danielle on August 8, 2008 at 8:26am — 3 Comments

me and oscar

oscar followed me in from the field with no hed collar or lead rope! didnt ride because outdoor was in terrible state after rain!
he hasnt been rideen since mon!¬ his coat shone after 2 hrs of hard grooming!!!!!!lol

Added by lauren on August 7, 2008 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Looking for Donnersong children???

Does anyone else out there own a 'child' by Donnersong?

Just fancied comparing notes with someone else who has come across a horse by this lovely stallion...

Added by Jane Broomfield on August 6, 2008 at 8:04pm — 7 Comments

Fun Stuff that Only the Olympic Athletes Know!

Just for fun, we asked Canadian Olympic dressage rider and Barnmice member Belinda Trussell to give us the scoop on some stuff that only the athletes know.

1. How do they organize all the athletes before they march into the stadium? What is everyone doing?

All the athletes travel to the stadium on a bus. In Athens, I was on a bus with the other members of the equestrian team, as well as the baseball team. I sat next to a nice ball player whose name I didn't…

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Added by Barnmice Admin on August 6, 2008 at 3:00pm — 2 Comments

UNBRIDLED – Chapter 23: Triplets and Redheads and Sentries, Oh My!

SPOILER ALERT!!: This is the final chapter of Unbridled. You can read the entire hay-covered series in the UNBRIDLED Channel on our home page.

Hillary placed the phone in its cradle and turned to face Maxim. “Get out of my house,” she said after speaking to Ritka. Apparently Maxim had been having DNA tests. Apparently Maxim had been up to no good with an Icelandic groom. So much “no good” that the rather foul-mouthed Ritka was pregnant.

“You bastard,” she said as…

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Added by Barnmice Admin on August 5, 2008 at 10:30am — 2 Comments

Trail Ride

Sky and I went on our first trail ride today.

Since she's only 4, I didn't really know what to expect from her.

She was AMAZING. She was looking around at stuff, yes, but she didn't spook, she was smart, and wasn't dangerous at all.

The best part about today? She and I cantered for our first time.

At home, I've been working on our walk and trot, but she was doing so good today, I thought...well why not!

My jaw was dragging behind us. I had… Continue

Added by Heather on August 4, 2008 at 10:34pm — 2 Comments

Sky

My friend came over to meet Sky today.

I spent a little time working her at the walk and trot some more, with some major improvements. I'm so proud of how she's coming a long.

I free jumped her a little bit as well.

We're going on a trail ride tomorrow so I didn't want to tire her too much! But she's being such a good little girl!!! /end proud mommy

Added by Heather on August 3, 2008 at 11:26pm — 2 Comments

NEW FOAL!!! : )

OMG!!!!!!! my horse Wind just had her foal!!!!!!!!!! it's a boy so we are going 2 name him Teddy!!!!!!! : - ) He looks like Wind 2!!!!! ill put a pictures of him at the bottom of MY PAGE................................................................

Added by Erin on August 3, 2008 at 7:51pm — 1 Comment

Barrel Racing

when i was out in the arena today one of my Riding instructors was taking pictures of me while i was runnin the course,

So as your suposed to go direct to the barrel i was avoiding my instructor and zig zaging the first few times i was on 20 and they figured my time would be better if i wasn't dodging my instructor but on the 4th shot i asked my gelding for a bit faster we got 18 doing zig zags the instructors figure it would have been 15 if id have been going direct to.

This is the… Continue

Added by Kimberly Mikoula on August 3, 2008 at 2:29am — 1 Comment

Milner Downs summer Classic 2+3

What a successful show! I am so happy with the way Mascot performed at the show. My 16 year-old boy pulled through. We were Reserve Champion Children's Hunter, won the Mini-Cet and won the huge $500 gift basket for the Aquarius Jumper Medal. We are now third in BC for the Children's Hunter which is very exciting and we are qualified for the finals in the Mini and Aquarius. We are off to MREC on Sunday just to warm up and get him on the grass field before the finals in September.

Ciao

Added by Madi McDougall on August 2, 2008 at 6:35pm — 1 Comment

Talk to the hoof

Yesterday was "Talk to the Hoof" day. No matter what I did, how hard I asked, begged, cajoled or pleaded with my leg, I was greeted with "talk to the hoof." Bear was simply not interested in listening to my opinion or in going forward the way I wanted him to.

Was it the heat? We worked in the arena because the sand ring was too soggy, and even with the doors thrown wide open, there wasn't a lot of air circulation. We both were coated in sweat when we were done. (This lady doesn't…

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Added by Dorothy McDonall on August 1, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Quotation Of The Month - August

"The love for a horse is just as complicated as the love for another human being... If you never love a horse, you will never understand."
~ Author Unknown

Added by Suzanne on August 1, 2008 at 11:00am — 2 Comments