Ready for Winter?

You'll notice a few changes here recently: We've started putting up snow fence, the water trough has been moved into the shed, and the hay feeder is set up in the corner.  Be prepared to deal with some mud for the next few weeks.  Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to the ground freezing solid and being covered with a few inches of soft lovely snow.  Well, except that snow never stays soft and lovely for long, especially in my barn yard!

I'm working on organizing a winter program for groups, so we have things to do over winter when the weather is too bad to ride.  I haven't decided on dates yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Stay warm!

It's Fall now - new things going on at the farm

So what's happening at the farm this fall? Two things: tack cleaning and getting ready for the weather. I like this time of year.  There aren't as many flies, we're not sweating as much as we did all summer, and the horses, just starting to get thicker coats, are soft and velvety.  Most mornings, when I let them into the pasture, there's a soft pink light from the sunrise and mist across the distance.  It's really beautiful.

TACK CLEANING DAY - alright kids, come on out to my place and let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.  I am pretty sure there will be a lot of giggling and talking, hopefully within all those girly noise we'll get some stuff cleaned nicely.  If you haven't had the tack cleaning lesson, we'll catch you up.  

DAY AND TIME - Saturday October 19 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm

COST - Nothing, zip, zero, no money changes hands.  We're all helping each other out, so we have clean safe tack to use for our rides and have a good little visit together while we're at it.

Give me a call or an email so I know how many buckets and sponges we'll need.  

SPECIAL FALL LESSONS

This seasons brings changes. Sometimes for the 5:00 lesson I'm wearing a Tshirt, but at my 7:00 lesson I'm in a hoodie and windbreaker.  And now we're riding under the floodlights.

It feels too early to start talking about winter clothes but some of us (me) will be needing something warm soon.  This year, rather than taking a few minutes here and there to discuss winter riding, I'd like to designate a few lessons specifically for that topic.  

Bring your warm outdoor clothing, everything you've got - gloves, boots, undershirts and long johns, hats.  If you've got actual riding clothes bring them.  If you've got something that isn't meant for riding, bring it and let's see if it's suitable.  Maybe you've got hockey gear that might work.  We'll take a look at what I have and recommend.  We'll see what works and what doesn't, and be ready for the cold when it hits!

WINTER CLOTHES LESSONS 

DAYS AND TIMES - Wednesday October 23  at   4:00 pm

                                   - Thursday October 24  at  6:00 pm

COST - special price of $20 each.  I expect to get enough riders to make it worth my time and yours.  

FOR WHO - all ages, boys and girls.  (Parents can squeeze in for free!)

Please contact me to let me know if you can join me.  (If you can't do either of those times we might arrange another one.)

FARM DAYS - as long as the weather is reasonably pleasant, I'm open to holding a few more Farm Days.  This could be a fun way to spend a PA day.  

Looking forward to seeing you! 

Summer 2013: wrapping it all up

Doesn't this happen every summer - we feel like it flew past in a flash!  We had a lot of fun this summer and I'm grateful to all my riders for coming to me for riding lessons.  Some of you have been regulars for awhile now, while others were here to try something new.  It's been energizing and challenging for me, and my horses look pretty happy too!

Some of you young people will be starting high school this year, and meeting new people.  There's a good chance you could meet somebody who shares your favourite horse!  As a few of my riders discovered, I know A LOT of people around here, so don't be surprised if the kid beside you in math class has a picture of a speckled horse in his or her locker!

I'm looking to hearing about your back to school adventures when you're here for your next ride.

Soon we'll be settling into a fall schedule, but in the meantime, keep in mind that the New Hamburg Fall Fair is holding four Western classes this year!  This will take place on Saturday 14th at about 1:00pm.  I won't be competing, but I will be there helping out.  Please come watch the show and come say hi to me!  The more spectators, the more likely to have a bigger better show next year.

Mackenzie at her first lesson

Our first Farm Day, relaxing in the tree house at the end of the day

Getting ready to ride

An all girls Farm Day

Selina practicing her one handed riding

Baby turkeys!

And baby chicks!

New saddle racks this summer - the barn improvements continue!

Copper dressed up for Farm Day

A Farm Day afternoon in the old camper, making prize ribbons

Barn swallows in the nest before they moved out

"Butch"

"Rawhide" and "Roadrash"

Laura with two well dressed horses

Mackenzie and friends after a lesson

If anybody has pictures you'd like to see here, you can email me the pictures and I'll put them up.  I'm working on a wall of pictures in the tack room too, so keep me in mind if you're getting prints done.

Fun at the Farm

We had our first "Farm Day" this week.  Four of my young riders joined me for a ride in the morning, then stuck around after lunch for some extra fun until their parents came to take them home.  

Our ride wasn't an ordinary riding lesson though.  First we painted the horses with happy faces, handprints, hearts, lightning bolts, racing stripes, and extra spots!  These horses loved the attention and stood calmly while they were transformed into equine works of art.  

These two sets of siblings made great teams.  We had a walk-and-ride scavenger hunt, in which the kids took turns being the riders and the searchers.  They really knocked me out with their excellent team work!  

You might be able to tell from the bright cloudless sky that it was extremely hot that day.  After unsaddling the horses, we gave each of them a nice cooling shower, complete with a proper shampoo to wash the decorations off.  

I'd planned on staying out all day, enjoying lunch at the picnic table under a big shade tree, but by noon, we were all ready to get out of the sun for awhile.  After cooling off in the house, we headed back outside.  First we put down some hay, then drew pictures under the shade tree, and got distracted by a few wandering hens who'd escaped the coop in the backyard.  (The chickens are being raised here by a friend of the family, and as you can see, are very friendly critters.)  

We also got to spend some time with our dog, Dobby the Pug.  (Yes he was named after Dobby the House Elf!)  It was rather hot for a Pug but he bravely panted his way though all the attention.  

The afternoon slipped by and soon it was home time.  As promised, I sent all the kids home dirty.  And happy.  

I'm looking forward to more of these days throughout the summer!

   

Winter Group Classes

I'd like to think that winter doesn't have to put a stop to our horse activities.  It can be difficult to brave the cold and snow and keep on riding, but for those of us who loooooove horses, it's still worth it!

But what do we do when the weather is just too harsh to saddle up?  I've given this a lot of thought over the last few months, because I really do want to keep this thing going all winter.  

I'll be trying something new as of this week.  

Wednesday at 5:00 pm will be a group class.  If you book this time, you'll have something to do regardless of what it's like outside.  If it's not riding weather, we will have a chosen topic to learn about inside the barn, because there's more to riding than just riding!  I'm getting creative about what we can do to keep these classes interesting and fun. If we luck out and get a nice day, we saddle up.

So you might be wondering how the riding part will go if I get more riders showing up than what I have horses.  I'm working on some horseback games that can be done with teams, such as relay races. We might be pleasantly surprised at what kind of horsemanship skills we can learn while having fun!  

Of course, if you've booked the lesson and decide you're not interested in doing the unmounted class, you can opt out.  Just let me know, and we can reschedule.  

I'm keeping the Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 5:00 pm time slot available for lessons all throughout winter, and if you want to book a lesson on those days, please contact me.  As always, I try to stay flexible, especially this time of year.  If it's a beautiful winter day and you want a lesson on short notice, just contact me in the afternoon and if the time's open, you are in.  You can book lessons as often or infrequently as you wish.  

Remember to dress warmly, whether we ride or not! 

The cost of these lessons is the same  -- $25 for a group lesson.  

I'll be posting each week's topic here and plan to set up a tab where you can see all the upcoming classes.  

And of course if you have any questions, feel free to contact me!