Cold Weather Riding

 

It seems like just yesterday.  Ellen and I would saddle up Ranger and Cruiser on a brisk fall day and head out for the trails.  They could be very difficult when the weather cooled off.  They wanted to fly down the trail, and we were young and wanted to fly with them.  It would be a blast—and then we would turn around to go home. …

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It is always safe to say there is nothing boring going on at the stable I work at. This past Saturday I  arrived early in the morning to feed the horses, as I do every Saturday and Thursday morning. When I arrived Oulav, the Fjord we have there, had his head draped over the gate, as if to say "Well, it's about time you got here, I'm hungry!". I entered his paddock and Money and Sully came over to say…

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It's been forever since I last posted on here, been busy with life as a whole. But I will try to get back to writing, it's a great stress reliever and fun to do. Where to begin.....

Last Friday I was able to shadow another veterinarian, Doctor Rob van Wessum. Dr. van Wessum is a specialty vet, focusing on…

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We have had 6 ½ inches of rain down here in the last two weeks, and of that 5 inches fell this week.  All the ponds, creeks and rivers are swollen, there are puddles everywhere, the horses’ winter coats are getting all muddy and matted, and I think every single bug on my land is trying to get into my house to get out of the wet.

Even so I have been able to ride some.  These have not been exciting rides since I have less energy since I started changing my medicines around, but…

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Ranger’s New Girlfriend

 

Ranger is a very temperamental horse.  He is in an end stall.  Years ago, my horse, Mingo was in the stall next to him.  They were great friends.  I had Mingo from birth, and Ranger helped raise him.  They always got along.  If Ranger was out on a ride, Mingo would stick his nose between the bars when Ranger came back.  Ranger…

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Cole Shows what Clicker Training can Do

 

A couple days ago, a friend of ours who is interested in taking clicker training up to the next level, came out to see a Cole performance.

 

Julie has a Haflinger mare that has done a little clicker training on the ground.  Her trainer, until recently, saw no need for clicker training.  The mare had some…

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Meet the Ruby in My Crown

As a trainer, I have to consider my mare Side FX to be my crowning glory, and what would be a better statement of a trainer’s talent than to bring up their own horse to be…

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Adjusting My Routine

 

The hardest part about this time of the year is the shorter daylight hours.  Since I have to go home and take care of my animals after work, I run out of time to ride in the park.  In the beginning of the month, I would rush out and take a quick ride with Kevin—just barely getting back before it was too dark to ride the guys home…

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A Historic Ride

On our second September long weekend, Ellen and I took Dante up to the showring trails. That isn’t historic at all, but we did have a few “firsts.”

As is typical on our vacations in the fall, we tend to run into park maintenance. Sometimes they are fixing our trail, sometimes trimming trees and then there is…

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If I were to measure the success of a 3-day weekend by the amount of cholesterol consumed, the amount of sunscreen spread, and amount of saddle oil transferred to my jeans, I would have to say the weekend was a success.



Saturday morning we had some errands to run and chores to do. We got to ride in the afternoon. Since it had been ten days or so since Jessie's "episode" we decided on a shakedown ride just to see how she was feeling. We did a fairly routine canal ride out to the… Continue

Last weekend, our May long weekend here in Canada, some friends and I drove 6 hours up into the interior of BC. We rented a cabin for 6 and we took 3 horses. It was a place called The Hills in 108th Mile House. The altitude is 12,000 feet, the air is clear and the trees are not as big and lush as our famous "wet coast". I loved the serenity, no people, traffic noise or cell phone towers! I took my new horse Bandit, who has spent years on the Hunter/Jumper circuit, and he has never done much…

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