Welcome 2011!!!

New year and new RAC...so exciting!!! I have WAY more pictures than what I have uploaded but they are taking so long that this is it for now. Maybe Lynn will be able to put more up. So, to back pedal a bit. My husband, son and I traveled up to see Lynn and Brian Downer in Stirling, Ontario. For a quick recap, they are the breeders of my beloved curly, Linus. They are so much more than that now though. In no time at all we became fast friends! We spent New Year's Eve there and came back home this afternoon.

Yesterday, after the men got settled in with the hockey game and beer, Lynn and I headed out to play with the horses. We said hello to all of them and then got to play with the sire of Linus - Moon. What a treat that was! We cleaned him up and then fitted the first harness Linus used onto him. It was really neat to see Moon again and pick up on the conformation and character similarities between the two horses.

Today, despite the rainy weather, we worked with Misty and Sam. Misty was first up to bat. We groomed her, saddled her and went out for the round pen. Lynn showed me some very valuable ground tasks, tips and tricks. We made a change from saddle to bareback pad and up I went once Misty had joined up with us. It was not only my first time on Misty but first time using a bareback pad too. I loved it!! Misty could take care of ANY rider so it was a great intro for me.

Sam was next. I was super excited for this because I just love the big guys...and at 16.2hh, Sam is a big guy! Such a gentleman though. He too was cleaned up, saddled up and taken out to the round pen. The footing prevented us from going out on a trail or in the fields but it proved valuable in finding out which horse I clicked best with for future rides. And that was Sam! He is so sensitive in his ground manners that he really kept me on my toes, perfect! Makes it so easy to learn that way. Then up I went, which was funny, I got to the top of the mounting block and still had to step up into the stirrup!! Love it! We had a very pleasant ride...even though we were completely soaked by the end...so what!! It was so worth it and we believe we have created a new tradition for bringing in the New Year...and kicking off the RAC!!

So, my first post of the year and first hours logged do not even involve my own horse!!! But tomorrow I will have Linus out and we can do some exploring and think about some goals for this year. 2010 was unbelievable for us and we are looking forward to just as much fun in 2011.

Sam

Misty

Moon