Anna Blake's Blog (319)

Give Peace a Chance- Start in the Barn.

This is the time of year holiday greetings include Peace on Earth. We need it- there is so much conflict in the world…

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Added by Anna Blake on December 30, 2011 at 8:34am — No Comments

An Everyday Nativity Scene.

Infinity Farm is not located in the Holy Land, but we are a stable.

This isn’t really a manger. It’s a banana yellow pull-wagon.

And this isn’t Baby Jesus. It’s Hannah- she helps me with…

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Added by Anna Blake on December 23, 2011 at 8:24am — 1 Comment

All I Want for Christmas…(is Thanksgiving.)

I got an advertisement in the mail from a local tack store this week. It was printed to look like a Christmas wish list, personalized with my name at the top. Surprisingly, there was nothing on that alleged list that I actually wanted. Disbelief still hangs heavy in the air.

What would be on my Christmas wish list? Let me think…

The way lessons are canceling for weather this winter, I suppose I could ask Santa for an indoor arena. But really, does this countryside need…

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Added by Anna Blake on December 16, 2011 at 8:26am — No Comments

Gratitude for the Glorious Gift of Poop.

This is how you can tell there is a tourist in the barn: they keep their eyes on the ground and there’s lots of erratic tiptoeing. Some even squeal at the sight of manure. I call it Fecalphobia- an irrational fear of digestive waste. Thankfully, humans are the only species prone to the disease. (Nincompoops.) Everybody else is fine about bowel relief.

People who live with horses don’t get emotional about poop. It’s such a normal part of the day-to-day…

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Added by Anna Blake on December 9, 2011 at 8:30am — 5 Comments

Speed Dating Rescue Horses- and Slaughter.

“Hey, Little Red-haired Girl, I have your pony here!!!” Meet Bailey, my most recent date.

If you follow my blog, you know I work with Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue. (RRHR.org) Rescue horses come to Infinity…

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Added by Anna Blake on December 2, 2011 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

Acknowledgement Matters.



Acknowledgement:  Synonyms are  credit,  gratitude,  thanks,  appreciation, …

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Added by Anna Blake on November 25, 2011 at 7:43am — 3 Comments

Part Three: Thanksgiving Every Day.

Christmas is bearing down, getting closer every day, and I continue to defiantly…

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Added by Anna Blake on November 18, 2011 at 8:02am — No Comments

Part Two: Thanksgiving Every Day.

Last week I had a bit of a Christmas rant (read) and declared I would celebrate…

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Added by Anna Blake on November 11, 2011 at 8:36am — No Comments

Part One: Thanksgiving Every Day.

I saw the first holiday decorations come out a few days before Halloween. I did not burst into a rousing rendition of Here Comes Santa Claus. Christmas is not my holiday.

Thanksgiving is my holiday; low expectations and high reward factors. It is a holiday…

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Added by Anna Blake on November 4, 2011 at 9:30am — No Comments

My Barn is Haunted.

It starts innocently. Maybe when you were little, your dad watched John Wayne movies like mine did. We fell in love with a column of cavalry horses (instead of their riders.) We loved those horses until the cavalry met a band of Indians- Indian horses were always better.  Or it may have been a  movie like My Friend…

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Added by Anna Blake on October 28, 2011 at 8:00am — 1 Comment

Canadian Goose Quadrille.

My corner of Colorado is having a particularly colorful Autumn. The sun rise is later and later, but the dawn colors seem worth the wait. Tomatoes plants have wilted but the tree leaves are frosted and toasted to richness. I hear big weather is coming next…

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Added by Anna Blake on October 21, 2011 at 8:37am — 2 Comments

Let’s Dance.

 

The connection between horses and music is not abstract. It’s literal.

I was learned this fact years ago riding with a group of friends at a barn party. The sound system was cranked up and Bobby McFerrins’Don’t Worry was playing. I am sure…

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Added by Anna Blake on October 14, 2011 at 8:00am — 1 Comment

Love Poem

I fell in love with horses all over again this week. Yes, it was a pretty short fall and yes, it does happen every week. And no, it never gets old. Does my enthusiasm make me seem less professional?

It has been also been one of those weeks when most of my clients are having challenges with their horses. Some of the challenges are old ones and some are brand new but regardless of origin or cause- a challenge is an opportunity by another name.…

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Added by Anna Blake on October 7, 2011 at 8:31am — No Comments

And on My Farm I Had Some Ducks…

There was a small gaggle of ducks to begin with. The girls laid tasty eggs, usually dropped at a run without looking back. They were non-flyers, but fun to watch in their pool. I didn’t take them very seriously at first. One of the ducks had a deformed beak that curved to one side. I named him Duck Cheney.  See what I mean?

Years passed and there was slow attrition. Eventually only two ducks were left.

Fred and Ethel had lived so long that their pithy political names had fallen…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 30, 2011 at 8:00am — No Comments

Riding as an Art. Literally.

I am hooked on the writings of classical trainers. It isn’t that I am an elitist; they use an inspiring word that I like and don’t hear so much these days: ART.

“Theory instructs us that we should work from a foundation of sound principles, and these principles,…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 23, 2011 at 9:20am — 2 Comments

Under Saddle: Control and Freedom.



The equestrian world can seem kind of bi-polar. Some of us ride like headless (brainless) horsemen with little consciousness for our horse or surroundings.  Some of us are such control freaks that we slow every walk stride and micro-manage our horse’s nose into being afraid to take a breath. Most of us are working towards a middle ground.

Dressage seems to attract riders who like…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 16, 2011 at 8:12am — No Comments

A Harvest Moon Ignites the Fall Flu.



The calendar changed and so did the weather. These first September days have been undeniably Fall- shorter, crisper and with a bit more oxygen in the air. The moon rules the prairie and this weekend is the Harvest Moon, the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox. I won’t say the word- but tick, tick, tick.

The horses didn’t need a calendar to know. There has been a break out of the Fall…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 9, 2011 at 8:15am — No Comments

Boss Mare: Women and Honesty.

Lately, I am discovering I like mares more and more. They are so NOT like most of us humans.  They have a refreshing honesty. “If you aren’t going to drive the bus, get out of my way and I’ll do it.” Succinct, blunt and clean with her intention- a mare will get the job done.

Thank you. Bluntness is a gift after so much of passive aggressive chatter like, “Honey,…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 2, 2011 at 8:34am — 1 Comment

Ode to the Fly.



I admit it. I find mucking to be a near inspirational time; I simply do my best thinking while holding that fork. Today I was pondering a fairly gut-wrenching blog topic that has been haunting me, but it’s late August and there was an audible fly buzz that’s more than  distracting- it’s nearly…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 26, 2011 at 8:01am — 1 Comment

Everyday Dressage.

Dressage is an equine discipline of beauty, partnership and art. YouTube is full of spectacular videos of elite horses and riders. When Blue Hors Matinee’s freestyle was viral, a dozen non-horse friends sent me the link. I hear Moorlands Totilas has groupies like the rock star that he is, but my personal…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 19, 2011 at 8:22am — No Comments

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