PONY PARTY - come meet Parker!

Sunday September 28
after 2:00

Come out to the Old Homestead, say hi, and get to know our new pony.

No cake and balloons, just come out and pat horses!  Wear closed shoes and be ready to go home smelling like a horse.  Hope to see you there!

Looking back on summer 2014

 This summer wasn't as busy as last year, but there were many memorable moments.

First of all, in early June, we had a very special visitor come out for a ride. This is Lucy, from Kenya.  I don't think I'd ever met anybody from Kenya before!!  She is definitely the student who has travelled the farthest for a lesson!

Lucy had never ridden a horse, and decided this was something she wanted to accomplish while visiting Canada.  She had never even been near a horse in her life, but only seen the from a distance.  She lives in a big city and just hadn't had the opportunity.  Can you imagine??? 

She and Phoenix hit it off immediately.  Lucy caught on quickly and thoroughly enjoyed her time with my wonderful horse.  She was awestruck by the size and beauty and gentleness of these animals, and I was so impressed by her ease and comfort with them.  For me, having grown up with them, I can't imagine interacting with the for the first time as a young adult.  I hope Lucy has more chances in life to see more horses!

This was such an amazing experience for me.  What an honour to help fulfill somebody's dream!!!! 

Another special long distance student joined us in July.  Lucie, from British Columbia, was in Ontario visiting family.  We scheduled some lessons, and a Farm Day with Laura, one of my regular students.  These two girls made a great little team and we're already hoping our girl from BC can come back next summer!

By this time, Copper had come up lame, so the riders took turns with Phoenix while Copper stayed under the shade tree with me.  We invented a few games requiring one mounted rider and one person on foot, involving several barrels and buckets and things hiding in buckets.  Shenanigans and hijinks resulted, fun was had, and all the brushes and lead ropes and gloves eventually ended up where they came from!

In the afternoon, the girls tried sitting bareback (and we had a little photo shoot with my favourite photographer, Selina Bailey).

As summer went on, I realized that Phoenix was getting sore, and I set out to make it right.  After several chiropractic adjustments and saddle fitting sessions, I started on the process of finding a good saddle that would fit him comfortably. Here are just a few of the eight saddles I had for trial.

Hereford Tex Tan 16" show saddle.  I really liked it.  He did not.

Western Rawhide 16" trail saddle.  Too big, for both of us.  

Western Rawhide 15" barrel racer.  I really liked it. It was in consideration.  But it slid back after a short ride and sadly, it was not the right saddle for us.  

Circle Y 15" barrel saddle.  Much fancier than I was looking for, but it seems to fit better than any others.  Still slid back a little but not so much that it was uncomfortable.  Notice how short the skirt is.  I think that is the deal here.  Phoenix has very wide shoulders but a disproportionately short back.  (Other than that, he's perfect; at least that's what I keep telling him!)  So I bought a barrel racing saddle for my laid back easy going slow horse!  

Because of all this, my Farm Day program stalled. I didn't book as many as I would have liked to.  But the ones we had worked pretty well considering everything we had to deal with.  I have learned how to get creative and work with what I've got, even if what I've got happens to be a sore horse.  

In August, cousins Emma and Avey had a Farm Day.  They took turns riding Phoenix - notice the nice new saddle! - while the other would be leading Copper.  This way everybody had something to do, both girls got to ride, and Copper could get back into the routine.  This was Avey's first time here and I thought it was a great day for the girls to spend together!  Sometimes it's just good to hang around with a horse, however we can.  

The girls had a great morning riding and leading.  After lunch, most of the remaining time was spent visiting the chickens in the field and patting the horses.  There were a lot of "horse selfies" taken!

By the end of August, I cautiously put Copper back to work.  With her hind legs wrapped, there was no swelling, and best of all, she seemed very happy to be busy again.  The brother & sister team of "Rawhide" & "Butch" aka Maddy and Ryan, were the first and only to ride together on a Farm Day.

Here they show off their big smiles after a great morning ride.  

I felt so good to have these two kids back in the saddle again, especially with the two horses getting back in shape!

September came, the schedule changed as my young riders started school, and the air felt different in the mornings.  Summer was ending, and we could feel it.  But before summer came to a close, there was one more big change, and it was a change for the good.  Our new friend Parker joined us!

Don't you think next summer will be fun?  

ANNOUNCEMENT! Introducing, Parker!

This is our new addition to the herd.  His name is Parker, he's an 11 year old pony gelding, he's nicely broke to ride, and he's a sweet friendly little gentleman.

At just 11hh, he is smaller than what I was looking for.  But I guess I was wrong, because this just feels like the right choice.  He's so small that I won't be riding him much.  He can carry about 100 lbs, which makes me a slight bit too big for us to do any long rides.  He came from a family with some horse crazy kids, so he's good at handling lots of attention. 

We're getting to know each other, and I like him very, very much!

Bringing a new horse into the herd is always rough.  There are grunts and squeals and kicks as they all sniff each other out and figure out what the new hierarchy will be.  

This picture was taken on his second day here, first time out in the field with Copper and Phoenix. The herd assimilation went well and now, four days in, they all seem to be good friends.

For all these years I've kept the cart and harness I used when I was a kid, always with the hope that I'd have the right pony for the job someday.  Parker is about the same size as the two little mares I had in my childhood.  He's not in lessons yet, mostly because it turns out I no longer have the tiny cinch I used for my ponies way back when!  We'll get that sorted out soon.

 If you want to come out and meet him, feel free to contact me.  I'd love to show him off!

(Pictures by Selina Bailey)

What's coming up next?

I'm putting together a little report on our summer here, and there will be pictures, so check up to get a look at that.

Aaaaand…. there will be a very exciting announcement coming up very soon!  I mean, really exciting.  You're going to love it.

See you soon!

NEW HAMBURG FALL FAIR HORSE SHOW 2014

Saturday September 13 - New Hamburg fairgrounds --

CANCELLED

Due to rain and extremely wet ground.

(see you next year!)

Stay tuned for photos...

I've been having phone-gadget-camera-computer problems for quite awhile now, and hope to have that figured out so I can post pictures.  (There are reasons I'm in the horse business and not the I.T. business, y'know?)

Meanwhile, enjoy nice weather when we have it!

I've been getting the horses back to work.  I've discovered how much they are affected by a long time off.  After spending most of the summer hanging around side by side, grazing and swishing flies together, they are much more herd-bound than usual.  Normally one horse can be in the corral working while the other is tied in the shed, but after their little vacation, they're hollering at each other and concerned and anxious about being more than 5 feet apart!  It is definitely improving with time though, and now at least the horse being ridden can concentrate on the job.  I expect they'll be back to normal soon.

It's been a challenge to get the horses back in shape.  Copper hasn't had a problem with her leg -yay! - and I've been wrapping her hind legs with polo bandages to keep it that way.  So far, so good.  Her strong work ethic could be a problem but I've been inventing lessons that will keep her busy mind occupied without working her too hard physically yet.  Phoenix has been right back to basics, with lots of slow exercises to strengthen his back and get him flexible, as well as readjust his attitude.  It's amazing how a horse's attitude deteriorates when he's uncomfortable!  But he's such a sweet guy, and still loves all the affection and attention.  As much as I feel bad for not recognizing his discomfort sooner, I'm glad I finally started listening to the signals he was giving me.

Alright, I'm going to go mess with my computer now.  Wish me luck!!