WINTER CLOTHES LESSONS

Join me this week in my Halloween decorated barn, to figure out the best way to not freeze this winter!

*will regular winter boots keep your feet warm, but still fit safely into your stirrups?
*what kind of hat fits under a riding helmet?  Or over it?
*are snow pants ok?

*probably not, let's try them on to find out, and depends how slippery they are.



I've got a couple lessons set up specifically to learn about what to wear for winter riding.

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

                                   - Thursday October 24  at  6:00 pm

COST - special price of $20 each.  Parents are free!!!

FOR WHO - all ages, boys and girls.

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!


Please contact me so I know I can find a place for everybody to sit.  Hope to see you there!

Are you ready for perfect riding weather?

As I write this, I've been enjoying a week of absolutely gorgeous weather.  The temperature has been in the 20s, with sunshine and a gentle breeze.  It's not too hot, the mud has been drying up, and I feel like it could stay like this forever (although I do love a dip in the pool after a ride on a hot summer day!)

The horses are beginning to look sleek and shiny, but there's still a lot of horse hair flying.  I encourage my young riders to learn how to run the washing machine and vacuum the car! It's part of being a horse person.

Looking forward to summer
If you got my newsletter at your last lesson, you'll know that I mentioned the possibility of summer camp and other programs.  If I run a summer camp, it will be all horse related but not specifically riding.    I will let you know when/if I get it figured out.  However I'm definitely going to do a "ride morning" a few days each week throughout summer holidays.

These will probably be two riders, starting at 9am and going until noon.  There will be time to tack up and the ride will be more than an hour, with time after to cool out the horses.  Again, I'll update when I get the details straightened out.

The funny farm
The three goats, Beatrice, Mildred, and Ivan Erlis, are still here for another couple weeks until their owners move them to their summer home.  I'll miss them!  They've been excellent guests (the goats and the people!) and I hope to see them again next winter.  The barn won't be empty though; the hens arrived last week, twenty Rhode Island Reds, and I'm really enjoying them.  They're quite comical.  The horses aren't so happy with them, but I do think it's good for horses to get used to different things.  They learned to like the goats and I'm optimistic that the chickens will grow on them too.

Time off
In mid-May, Copper will be taking a week off after eye surgery.  She has to have a part of her inner eyelid removed to prevent a tumour from growing.  Tumours are common in horses with pink skin, and being an Appaloosa with speckles, she has a lot of pink skin on her face.  We're expecting her to fully recover, and her eyesight won't be affected at all. The week off is just to be sure that she's all healed up.  If I know Copper (and I do, very well!) she will be happy to get busy again as soon as possible!

Schedule
Please let me know if you want a specific day of the week for your lesson, and I will try to accommodate that. I like to be flexible with scheduling because I know how busy life can get.  If you have to cancel, just try to let me know in enough time that I can contact somebody else to take that spot.

Contact
Do I have all your contact information?  Over the next few months I'll be attempting to get organized with this.



That's all for now... I am going to go saddle up a horse and enjoy this beautiful day!

Looking forward to Spring, the good and the bad.

Although the calendar says it's Spring, it very much looks and feels like Winter!  I can tell the season is changing though, because there's more daylight and the horses have been shedding for a few weeks. Apparently it's the lengthening of daylight that signals the winter coats to shed.  This would explain why they're losing hair despite the cold temperatures hanging on.  I've also noticed that they're not consuming quite as much hay as they were in the coldest months this winter, so there's proof that it has been a couple degrees warmer, despite me whining and complaining about being cold!

So here are a few things to keep in mind when you come out to ride with me:

- warm means thaw and that means MUD.  Only it's not just mud.  I strive to keep the corral clear of manure all summer, but over winter when the horses are confined to the corral, the manure does build up.  Until I can get in there with a tractor to do a big clean out, we'll have to step carefully and just accept that, well... manure happens.

- I've got a "boot brush" nailed to the fence post just beside the gate.  Give your boots a little scrub on your way out.

- Continue to wear layers - it's still cold, but you can always take off the outer layer if it gets warmer.

- HORSE HAIR.  This is going to be a thing for the next month at least!  Wear fabrics that hair slides off of, such as windbreaker jackets.  Anything made of polar fleece will be coated with hair in seconds and it does not come off easily!

- I'm encouraging young riders to learn how to use a washing machine.  Being a horse person means doing laundry.  This time of year really proves that!

- Hanging around in the barnyard can be hard on your car -- consider some newspapers on the floor mats and old sheets on the seats to keep your car from getting too dirty.

- Remember that rain doesn't have to mean cancelled lessons; you always have the option of indoor unmounted topics.  If you figure you've covered most of that and really want to get riding, we can reschedule.  My calendar still allows for plenty of flexibility.

I'm really proud of you hardy little souls who've stuck with it all winter!  This has been a harsh winter and honestly, I haven't ridden much.  By the time I've spent a few hours cleaning the barn, putting out hay and taking care of the horses, I don't feel like braving the cold wind to go ride. You guys are good stuff.  Thanks for not laughing at me in my layers of thermal coveralls and barn coats and hats and hoods!

I'm also looking forward to seeing all of you who've taken the winter off!  I can't wait to show off all the work we've done in the barn to make it a nicer place to work.

Here's hoping Spring 2013 is pleasant and until then, stay warm!

Weather Permitting!

It's almost Spring, or as we call it around here, Horse Hair Season!  

Riding lessons slowed quite a bit over winter, and now everybody's getting ready to ride.  I honestly believe even the horses are looking forward to having something fun to do.  

Riding in the great outdoors, without the protection of an arena, can present many challenges.  So what do we do when the weather isn't agreeable?  

There are a lot of learning opportunities, even if we can't ride.  

We can do "unmounted" lessons, in which we stay in the tack room, or under the shelter with the horses.  Learning about grooming, or all about Western tack, can easily fill an hour.  (The price is the same as a regular lesson.)

What if it's not raining anymore, but the horses are soaking wet and the ground is too muddy or slippery?  Bring your rubber boots, and learn about horse handling.  Leading a horse with a halter and lead rope is a great way to get to know the horse, how he moves, and how you can stay safe while handling him.

Of course, actually getting on the horse is the goal!  You might be surprised at how much weather can be tolerated when there's a horse involved.  But days that aren't so nice can be advantageous.  For example, cool cloudy overcast days seem gloomy but are great for riding.  It's not too hot, and nobody has to squint in the sun.  Days when the sky is white, and fluffy snowflakes are falling, are wonderful to ride.  In a few months, we'll be dealing with heat and sun, which are great but have their own set of challenges.  We can adapt.  We dress appropriately for the weather, and I can adjust the lesson plan to suit the weather and ground conditions.


But let's not fret about the weather.  When it comes to horses, there is always something to do, and something to learn.

Like I always say, any time with horses is quality time!