The horse is a Connemara pony stallion, named Carraig Thunder.
Be bought him two years ago in Ireland and he's performing very well now in Holland.

grtz

Els

Thanks for the welcome!
Angel

Hi Barbara,

I'm very fortunate where I live. I'm on 200 acres and surrounded by farms of similar if not larger size, in an undulating area in between two lots of ranges so I'm only a couple of kilometres away from bush in any direction and have some beautiful views from my house. It was originally a volcanic area so its quite fertile and in a normal year has good rainfall.

Our seasons are really changing here. Our winters have become drier and milder, normal would be around 8 - 12 celcius and this November was our hottest on record. We had two weeks of around 35 degree days which was great for cutting hay but started really drying everything out. Then in December it has really cooled down, we've had some good rain and its been fairly mild. Its been around twenty degrees the last couple of days and will get a bit warmer next week. Everyone here is dreading January to March due to our fire seasons becoming so bad. We arent very far from where some of the Black Saturday fires were. We had a quite a few days last summer that were in the mid forties.

I had always assumed that Arizona was a hot place so found it interesting that you get blizzards. How cold does it get there and do you get snowed in?

My old guy is Russian?Polish from Canada. He's 16 hands. He was a real power house and very unusual for an Arab. He was Canadian National Champion about 17 years ago..... Gee time flies!
Do you cross any of your Arabs and Andalusians?

We just went through a blizzard....have you gotten it in Indiana?

Yes, it is a very unusual spelling, but I have met or seen several others. My other stallion is an Egyptian Arabian who does very good dressage although he is barely 14.2. He sires very nice cross and purebred foals many of whom we have in training for dressage and hunters. They are registered as Half-Arabian. Jo's full name is Alla Babba Jo, he is by Sonny's Black and out of Salilah Nazir. He has produced black, chestnut and bay foals all of which are taller than he is by a mile, most very close to 16 hands! He is a joy to have around.

Hi Barbara,
How interesting that we have so much in common besides the spelling of our name, Ellin. My name is my grandmother's first name. She was Ellin Laura Quinn before she married my grandfather: John Bresland McGurl.

I share your love of teaching and have been at it 25 years. Dressage, the riding in lightness kind, has been my specialty for 20 years.
Glad to make your acquaintance!

Hi, thanks for the invite. Sounds like you have an interesting and rewarding life. Are the photos shown on your page taken where you live and is that you jumping? I currently have a 1/4 clydesdale x 3/4 thoroughbred trained to Medium level dressage. We are currently working towards canter pirouettes and flying changes so its all very exciting and I also have a 3yo warmblood about to be broken in.

Hey Barbara! No my mare is a beautiful thoroughbred, I had never owned a TB before but I love her and she was bred to a very handsome Quarter Horse from Oregon. I am so lucky and so happy with the foal that the cross produced! I think many people try their whole lives to get one like I did on my first try!

Thanks! It's not perfect... Oh, Well!

thanx, it was pretty cold :)

Hi Barbara- keep me posted on the move- I'd love to do a clinic in the midwest. By the way, my oldest client is 83. As for yoga alternatives..yes, just pick stretches for your key areas, and simply spend about 3-5 minutes holding them: start where it's easy to do but you can feel it, wait til joints and muscles relax, then move a little further into it. That kind of deep stretching gets more into ligament ends of muscles, and is relieving for joints- moreso than simply a quick muscle stretch, or even massage.

Maybe you can get some friends to post questions...we seem to have a lack of comments on this blog, so there is little for me to respond to.

Thanks Barb- the before and after idea is a great one.

Hi Barbara,
I had a chance to look at your response and photos- way to go for you for posting photos, and I'm glad some things were helpful. I added a response to the blog. Have you been getting the fittips from my Equifitt email by the way?
Also, would you be ok with me using your photos in illustration in talks or articles? Is that a dressage saddle ?
Hm...it would be fun to do a clinic with you. Any chance there'd be interest among your students/others in your area?

Hi Barbara, It would be great if you posted your response actually, to the Ride Better blog (the latest one...just refer to the week I commented on you), and add your photos there.

If you wanted to go further than my blog response, then of course I do online coaching with Equifitt.
You have me totally curious about the photos!

Hi Barb, Did you have a chance to read the blog in response to your question? Did you have further comments? It's so hard to 'go blind', but I hope my response was helpful.

Sincerely, Heather

Hi Barb,

Just found where the comments were at. Sorry it took me so long. I will get the hang of it soon. Yes 60 is something else isn't it. I have lived in Wichita most of my life other than when I was married. We were in the Navy. Glad to meet you. If you ever get this way again we will have to get together for coffee or whatever.

Thanks for writing.

Jan

Hi Barb,
My blog for this week is posted commenting to your questions. I hope it's helpful. Just attach your feedback to the actual blogpost as comments.

Sincerely,
Heather

Hi Barbara,
You posted your questions to the blog in the correct space. I go over them and add my blog post beginning of the week. Just dropping a quick note to say- yes, got them. in the right spot. Enjoy your weekend!

Hi Barbara, thanks for saying 'hi' by adding me to your network. I notice you have Arabians too. My riding partner is a 15.2h Arabian. We've been working together about 6.5yrs. I really didn't intend to buy him, but it was one of those 30-second decision making processes that you're oh so glad you did. If you or some of your students want to post comments or questions to my Ride Better 1-2-3 blogs- I'm always hoping people will comment so I have a topic to respond to for the following week. Photos are a help, but not necessary.