Beautiful Easter Ride!

I was sitting at home working on a farm quilt for an upcoming Benefit and I really wasn't into it. I knew it was supposed to rain this afternoon so I put that aside and came over to the farm. After chores were done, Dad and I decided to take the horses out for a ride. It's been SO long since we were able to get out together. I ride a bit through the winter, Dad is more into doing the big rides. And that suits Allie too. But I like to keep on top of Linus (hee hee, no pun!) and that works for us. Today, he was pretty wound up so after Allie was out of the round pen I made him go round and blow off some steam. Ten minutes of bucking and farting and he was ready to listen.
We had to stay on the roads because the trails and fields are still too much a mix of mud and ice.
Wow! My big boy has a lot more gas in the tank this year. Last year we usually trailed behind a bit, except for on a trail. Not today, he had more stride in his walk and the trot left Allie almost having to canter to keep up! Linus has a very big, ground covering trot. But it is a very, very smooth trot to ride! I used to hate the trot because the horse I rode was so bouncy and sharp. I could trot all day on Linus. He wanted to canter but for our first big trip out this year we just kept it to a walk.
It was the first big ride in the new hackamore and I'm very happy to say that it worked great. Easy control and no discomfort for Linus. Our whole tack package seems to be meshing very well!
I wasn't able to get many pictures. Linus was actively looking for trails. We scared up several flocks of Canada geese and snow geese too. The horse looked at them good and then goofy Linus picked up his pace and ears forward - I think he wanted to chase them like the calves do!
I was so proud of my horse today. I cherish the partnership we have.
Happy Easter everyone!
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HaPpY BiRtHdaY JaNeEn!!!

WOW..all I can say is that Janeen ordered the picture perfect day for her Birthday!! What a blessing it was to have it land on a Saturday too! Thanks for organizing this, Janeen. It was great fun!

After doing a few things around the house, I headed out with Reese and Ruby to head across the road for a nice relaxing ride. It was fabulous....all except that my phone fritz-ed out on me just as I was mounting, so I didn't even attempt to take pictures. DANG! I only got one....

By all the hair you can see that our horses are indeed shedding....but I hate to work at it too much..there is still cold weather coming. 

We headed to the lake....the geese were honking and the sea gulls were squawking! It was HEAVEN. There is still alot of ice on the shore and a significant amount on the trail, but much easier going than it has been. Ruby stayed inside the woods mostly where it was easier to travel.

We are headed out to Utah tomorrow for Spring break and we are hoping that the snow is almost gone by the time we get back!

Hope your day was wonderful Janeen. And thank you for watching our doggies for us!!!! I miss them already!!

That moment, when get that connection makes you want to cry of happiness

Some of you will recognize that feeling...
Layla is a BLM mustang mare. We found her on a auction late at night true Facebook. She was bought by a kill buyer but he was willing to let her go. Long story I will not bother you with it LOL.

This is not a RIDE a curly but ground work, so it doesn't count but I was so proud of her today I wanted to share it.

Here we are walking the trails for the first time. She is still extremely insecure, but at the same time she is so calm. She is just such a pleasure to work with, big heart, big try.
Lots of demons needs to go out. She sweats easily but that's good. Let it all out, and go away.

 Discovering the area

See how she is with water....super

Going up the hill

We found a posted sigh...really scary thing. But an opportunity to work with. And in the end I even put it on her back.

Sweaty face, poor girl, she worked hard

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANEEN!!!!!

We rode but no pics

Marion Huurman, Hidden Cave Ranch KY

Happy birthday Janeen!

                                          Cinderella want's to wish you a happy birthday!!

Bucky's training part 3

The firts time without a lead rope........
Bucky is  a quick learner!

Happy Bithday Janeen!

Thanks for inviting us on your cyber ride!  It sure was a beauty day here in Eastern Ontario Canada. 
Snow is melting, Sun is starting to shine again.  Mud is back....
We had an eventful ride as my friends horse was doing the same as Corky... noticing EVERYTHING 'new' that is starting to peek out of the snow.  My friend did a good job working to keep him steady but it was a big task yesterday. 

Sunny was great.  He was on 'go' yesterday.  So, we had to work on 'discipline' at the walk because Marianne and Duke needed us to stay close.  Sunny wanted to move out but with some work on some relaxation exercises and they worked well.  We are also working on change of direction with no rein contact... working on it... lol!  I have started putting a bit in his mouth to get him used to it in his mouth before I start using it.  We are getting closer to more advanced moves in the saddle which added and more subtle communication with the bit will help.   For now though I will ride with just my rope halter still.  I want the majority of my communication through my body.  (I just have to make sure my body is saying the right thing! hahhaa)

Perhaps the relaxation exersises worked too well.. because as you can see... from the picture of Sunny by himself, the side of the saddle AND the side of his face! are muddy... Yep, he decided that a Happy Birthday to Janeen roll was needed.. while I was IN the saddle!  (Maybe I have been working on his lay down too much... hhehehee).  I thought he was bending down to scratch his face... I knew something was 'different' when my foot touched the ground!  I promptly hopped out of the saddle and then asked him to get up before he hurt his back by rolling on my saddle!  He did - phew!  What a guy.  Hot sun, muddly and itchy from sweat and shedding hair.... poor guy. 
I took the saddle off so he could have a good roll but he opted not to at that point. 

Thanks again for inviting us out on such a beautiful day for a Birthday Ride! 
Cyndi and Sunny from Bourget, Ontario, Canada (east of Ottawa)

Full on Spring!

Well, Spring is well and truly here - all the horses are dropping giant amounts of hair, I am obliging and eating my fair share of course LOL.
But the great part is that I have been taking every advantage to ride, ride, ride!  I am riding *Relic for my friend, I mentioned him before, he is the lovely bay son of *Sandman that I am lucky enough to be training and riding for my friend Cheryl Murphy.  Relic had some major issues with having his back severely out of alignment, but once we identified it and had the chiropractor look at him he is doing very well!  I am riding him 4 times a week and he is really making progress.  Relic will be available for sale once his saddle training is a bit further along - he is a really good one - someone is going to get a really super horse!
Today I also rode my wonderful mare *Tessa - gosh she is a great horse - I had just a superb ride on her, just in the ring - but I was really wishing we could be out on the trail - the weather is fantastic!  I have quite a number of horses, of course, but Tessa is "mine", she is my horse and I wish I had more time to ride her, she is amazing.

The big news though, is that last week I restated my young stallion *BCF Icon under saddle and oh wow is he being a GOOD boy - he is an amazing young horse, willing, soft, forward, full of try, non-spooky, athletic - gush, gush, you get the picture LOL. 
My picture taker Anastasia is away still at university, final two weeks before graduation, so I have no recent pictures to share, here is one of me and Icon from last fall, but this was only a couple of days under saddle, he is so much further along now - what a good boy!

 

 

Will try to get new pictures soon, so many horses and things to do - but will make time!

Shelly in Summerland, BC

Curly Standard Place

NIght before my birthday ride

This week has been all blue skies and sun, sun and sun, with the temps hovering in the 40's during the day, so the snow is slowly melting. Just fantastic weather! And, yup, I came up with a cold on Tuesday! I have been super bummed because I had all I could do to get through my work day, but today I gathered all my strength and saddled up Corky. It's so nice to sit in the saddle without three layers of clothes on! But I am going to miss the snow riding days and no bugs. I think Denise has converted me! Maybe I need to move to Alaska or some place with alot of snow! haha!



If you look hard, you'll see a barn to your right and a house to your left across the field. 



The last couple of rides Corky has been looking twice at things such as the dirt peeking out of the snow as it melts or a pile of snow that has changed shape.  Just cracks me up, but reminds me how important it is to ride year round and keep up with their training.  Today we scared up a bird of some sort and he spooked in place, but nothing more than that.  I also found a piece of trail today that I didn't ride the last time so it looked fresh like we just had a snowfall, but not this week.  But never fear, supposed to have lake effect on Monday and Tuesday I think they're predicting.



I've always wanted to take a picture like this.

 We did scare up a snowshoe rabbit too, but Corky didn't see it like I did. He was concentrating hard on staying on the trail. He came up with the idea today that we should go investigating off in the woods and the minute he stepped off the trail, he was up to his chest in snow. I think he's trying to tell me he's bored with the same trails! The road has melted off nicely, so I think we'll be trying that next.

I'm hoping to ride tomorrow morning before the rain they're predicting!

And I'm really excited about the ground work game, because now you get to meet Rocky!  Corky needs work too, but Rocky won't get broke out until later this year, so we'll just be having fun with him for now.

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Weekend Janeen!!!

It is finally starting to warm up a little bit!! After just over a week of taking it easy (an incident involving the wheelbarrow and an apparent shrunken barn door left me with a very badly bruised - but I don't think cracked, rib). I was more than ready to ride! I brought the hackamore out the other day but ended up not riding because I was too sore after chores.
Today worked though! I groomed...and groomed...and groomed Linus - he is actually not as plucky as I thought he was with 20lbs of hair off of him!!
The only good footing right now is in his round pen or the road so I just slapped the bareback pad and new hackamore on and did the round pen. He gave a trot when asked, backed beautifully for me and did his turns in both directions with only the slightest hint of boredom!
It wasn't a big ride but it was just right!
Hope you're having a fantastic Birthday weekend Janeen!!
Donna and Linus
Lunenburg. On
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wouw .....perfect trial ride part 5!!

For the second time me and cinderella went on a trial...not just a trial............A REAL BIG TRIAL RIDE OUTSIDE!!!!
We went with some other people for a 1 hour ride!
I was a little nervous and cinderella had also a hard time....she did a verry good job but whene we where back she get out of her mind in the field....she has a lot to think about (LOL)
my doughter is ryding the white small horse!

Second After Work Ride of the Week!

~Susan and Ah-D in Maine~
Yes, spring is on the way!  During my grooming session before my ride, I was admiring my Curly's very handsome three-tone curly fetlocks, so I took a picture to show all of you.

Aren't they so beautiful?
Too bad I dropped my camera right in a pile of spring manure as I lifted it up away from Ah-D's leg.  Really gross, got it on the lens and everything.  Needless to say, I left my camera behind as we went for our ride.
We cut across the road and headed into the woods.  I was ducking tree limbs to beat the band.  I'm going to have to go in their with a pair of brush cutters and make myself a path.  I took the usual route over a low spot in the stone wall, where I need to squeeze over to avoid a branch in the side and simultaneously hang on for the jump (I like this path because it offers its challenges), when I noticed - Hey, a big deer had used the same route!  I liked it.
We headed through the woods towards the Christmas tree farm.  I stopped to take a picture with my phone, but instead took a short video.  I figured my daily photo karma was terrible, so I quit even trying.  Ah-D was pretty frisky anyway, and I had no business messing around with camera phones and messaging; I needed to pay attention to where we were going.
We passed the big skating rink that will soon be a pond again, and turned down the trail, where we encountered some new big equipment.  Ah-D feebly attempted to convince me that he just might be frightened of the skidder, but I wasn't falling into that trap.  Mr. Sensitive enjoys playing the I'm Scared Game when he has excess energy.  Instead, I focused on the trail until we passed the skidder, and then took an uphill trail where we enjoyed a few canters.
Boy it sure feels good to be out on my Curly boy.  I am looking forward to the April challenge to review some of our de-spooking exercises and try some new ones!

start bomproofing my curly!part 1

Finally the weather is getting better, the last 2 weeks we had storm and snow and a lot off cold and bad weather.....

I enjoyed the nice weather so mutch that I kept on driving for a long time....
cinderella loves gallop so every time I let her trot she want's gallop...today I thought: 
You are normally trotting and don't jump over to galop all the time!! so we trot for a while ...
suddenly cinderella stopt and didn't want to walk anymore.....she was very tired!

I totally forgot that she is just a 4 year old and we didn't trained lot in the lost 4 to 6 weeks...

One's cinderella did a bloodtest or blood exame and the Vet told me te values off her muscles are verry high so she can get muscle problems (tying) verry soon, if you don't train her the right way and walk her a lot before and after training....

after the training she was so tired and I felt sorry for her so I toke the  cooldown with her....I get off and walked next to her...we walked the cool down together....
we went for a nice snack off grass. 
we also started to train a little for bomproofing my curly in april.

so now I hate myself  because I let her trot such a long time........
cinderella is now taking a  nap outside!

hair, Hair, HAIR and making lemonade

Wow...spring must be in the mind of Legacy, as she is shedding like a beast!  Driving gives you a whole new perspective on shedding hair. When riding, you are not bothered by shedding hair much, (other than the initial grooming prep) but driving...LOL...a whole 'nuther deal.  As you drive, and the breeching and reins touch your horse and work back and forth, it helps to rub off shedding hair....it is probably generally not a bad thing, until a puff of wind gathers all that loose hair and plants it right in your face!  As a driver, you are in the perfect location for a whole face full of hair....

Legacy and I have been working outdoors daily. Her gaits are consistent now, even on the uneven ground. Our next task is to take on hill work, furthering her conditioning for the upcoming show season.  Legacy and I are doing well, and enjoying every precious moment.

now...about that lemonade...

I posted just one time about my second driving prospect "Lady"......she spent 4 months at our harness trainer and to say things were complicated were an under statement.  She was just not advancing in her harness training..solid one day, then bothered and no cooperative the next....and  there was time off for teeth issues, then training issues again, that my trainer thought he had worked out. Around the middle of March, the trainer called and told me how well Lady was working in my cart. The next night he called back again, and I knew that phone call was not the one I was waiting to hear. Lady had blew up again in harness, and our trainer was done. I had a choice to make.....bring her home, or send her to a trainer that might have a war wagon that she could not hurt, or hurt herself with...so, the tough choice was made and I brought her home, I was done trying to fit her in a square hole, when she was a round peg. Lady is already broke to ride, and all of her harness training did nothing to harm that training. In fact, it was a quite expensive way to advance her ground manners..LOL.....so, Lady is back home, and I will be deciding on her future here. I was sooooooo hoping she would succeed at driving, she is a lovely, correct dressage  mover, simply stunning to watch, she literally floats and dances...but we will be watching her float and dance while under saddle, instead of in harness.....life happens!  The situation also makes me appreciate Legacy even MORE (if that is possible) because of her willingness to be such a great harness horse....I am going to go hug my horse now.

Routine

I think I have mentioned this before but Theo is a man who likes routine.  After every ride without fail he has to roll as soon as he is untacked and untied.  It's so hilarious to me because I've never had a horse have a "routine" before.  He has added on to this after ride routine by peeing as I untack him.  It's not 100% yet but he will either pee while I untack or after he rolls...

I caught him on video rolling in the stall seconds after I put him in there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLR_3Aid7Ls

I posted previously that I got a heart rate monitor for Theo's endurance training and of course the belt didn't fit (it's a human one) but I refused to spend money on the belt that is made for horses so I finally made it to the fabric store and bought some elastic and clips.  $11.00 and 5 minutes later I successfully had a long enough belt!  The premade ones are around $75!  Of course I went to try it out and my watch was dead so hopefully tonight the stars will align and I'll start getting some data on where we are at with fitness.

I recently bought a freeform classic treeless saddle and finally got the pad in the mail yesterday so I had to go try it out.  I have to say I had the best ride on Theo that I've ever had in my life.  I don't know if it was the saddle or just working him consistantly but man it was so wonderful.   I rode Abby in it as well and she was free in her strides and was gaiting very well.

All in all the horses are doing great.  Abby is up to 30 minute rides just intime to get her in better shape for horse fair.  Tomorrow the vet comes to see where she is at in her cycle so we know when we can breed her next month.  For the two years I've owned her she has never showed signs of being in heat....well this is the year.  On Friday there was a stallion in the barn for a clinic and he was going nuts over Abby.  Yesterday she was in raging heat driving all the boys wild that still think they are boys...  Hopefully this is a great sign of an easy breeding but you just never know.

23 more days until the Midwest Horse Fair!!!!  
That's it for now
Blaine - WI

Janeen's Maine Birthday Ride

Well, Ah-D and I made it out for a nice little ride last night right before dark to celebrate Janeen's birthday!  And, there is more cause for celebration because it was our very first after work ride of the year!!!

Grace celebrating with gleeful roll in the snow
 

I can't believe there is finally enough light (and I have enough energy) to have a nice ride after work.  The snow is fast disappearing, and the sap buckets are filling quickly.  Grace felt good enough to roll in the snow during a rest stop halfway through the ride. 
Ah-D was a peach.  I made sure to throw him some hay the minute I arrived home, so that by the time I was ready to saddle up that he wasn't starving for a snack and crabby about it.  I am hoping I will have enough time later in the week to take another After Work Ride to celebrate with Janeen!

Invitation to a Cyber Birthday Party Ride!

Hi all you RAC'ers! 



My birthday is the 30th of March and I want you all to ride or drive with me cyber style one day this week, if not all the days!  Then I want you to kindly blog about your ride on here so I can see where "we" went!  Are you all in?  That's what I thought I you would say!  Let's party!


Janeen Radtke, Corky and Rocky from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!

Cowgirl or Girl fool with her horse.. you decide ;-)

Oh yeah, just to be funny, I have been messing around with Sunny about laying down.  So, over the past month, he'll lay down after a ride.  Yesterday, in the windy conditions, as you can hear... Sunny isn't too worried about it and this is the second time I stayed on him while he got up.  I try not to do it too often so I don't break his trust about laying down near me... but as you can see... towards the end of the video.... he's pretty relaxed about the whole situation! lol... what a guy. 
After I hopped off, I took him back the paddock and he layed down two more times!  I didnt' get on him though.  Just patted him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oItxZQnVikE
If you see the trailer in the back of the video... that's our 'new' round pen!  Can't wait to starting messing around in there!  And... I played one of those 'game' of desensitizing / trust building and had him sniff, touch, paw and climb up with front feet on  the trailer!  Fun!

Love the new game!

We had wind here too in East Ottawa, Canada yesterday!  Wow.  Didn't stop us from going out either though!  We are the Irish Setter and Portuguese Water Dog gang!  hahaha 
My curly did great!  And didn't worry to much about the wind.  My girlfriends horse though, wasn't too happy with the conditions.  Getting a bit riled up a few times.  I think Sunny was a good influence since he just moved along without caring.
Bringing me to Aprils game! Yahoo!  Now you're talking my style!  I LOVE doing this stuff.  And with two small kids around, I can't ride too often so I do THIS stuff!  I swear I have more creativity than my kids!   Whatever I can dream up ... putting stuff on Sunny, over him, around him, have him jump, touch, paw, climb.  Because I do it all mostly from the ground.  But it transfers to the saddle.  He's only be saddle broke (by very unproffesional me) for less than 5 months but he went along a trail yesterday (only still using a rope halter with reins) totally loose rein, at a canter, saw something he didn't really like.... just loped along, drifting slightly (which I allow with no worries) and never broke gait!  I was so pleased with him.  Wind whipping, his buddy far behind us and cantering along.
I believe this de-spooking, desensitizing stuff is GOLD!  It not only helps the horse go 'left-brain' and calm but more importantly! it shows the owner / rider HOW the horse deals with his / her nerves and how to help them overcome it.  Because there is a good chance, if you ride a horse, they will spook or be weary of something!  How the rider deals with it can make or break the situation.  I have learned Sunny's 'cues' about when he is tense and not feeling confident and I know how to help him now BEFORE the blow up comes.  Because I've done so much of this ground work, desensitizing stuff.  It's made him more left brain confident and it's made me more confident and relaxed. 
Yey RAC for promotting such valuable training. 
Take the time it takes, don't push your horse through his thresholds, if you are patient, he will offer to break through his thresholds himself and he will thank you for understanding him ;-)
Cyndi Morin

Wild, Wild Wind!

~Susan and Ah-D and the Lab Gang in Maine~

Joyful wanderings

I woke up in a funk this morning and caught a chill doing chores in the freezing cold weather and biting wind, so I took a nap.  After my nap, I felt so much better, all energized and ready to clean the house and ...RIDE! It was warmer than the morning, but that wind was still WILD, and therefore, so was my Curly. My oldest Lab Grace failed rapidly last week, and I really wanted her to be able to go, so I made this ride short with lots of stops to smell the roses, which in this case was fresh snow, pine branches and clean air.  We crossed our pastures, and Ah-D was beside himself with freshness as the wind whipped through the fields.  We made our way across the power line and into the haven of the woods, where the wind was only whipping the tops of the trees.  I was quite warmly dressed in my parka and toasty lined gloves wasn't cold in the least.

We received about a foot of snow earlier in the week, so the stone walls were mostly hidden.

Ah-D was very forward, but very attuned to me.  I was so happy to be out and about with my beloved horse and dogs.  We stopped many times so I could admire the beauty of the scenery and watch my Labs run around sniffing in heady delight.

Cameo turns two years old tomorrow, but she is still a puppy at heart.

We didn't stay out too long or travel too far. Grace kept up just fine.  After the ride, I spent some time with Ah-D trimming his feet and just hanging out with he and Allie.  I took in that wonderful warm horse smell and gave him lots of scratches and rubs.  In return, he nuzzled me over and over and laid his head on me.

I am so blessed.

party is over!real training starts today!

Poor little Bucky....your life as a young party animal is over!
Today was your first real training day.....from now on...twice a week....you will get professional trainning.

Today we started first let you run around in circles, you where said and was calling to your friends the hole time...after that there was a strange person wanted to sit on your back....you didn't understand at all...so in the beginning you did't walked at all, but afther that you started walking...

small step for a man...hughe step for Bucky :)

Announcing our 1st RAC Game for April!

Good Morning RAC Team!

(With just a week or so before April 1st, I wanted to give you a heads up on your April Game! As you will see it might take a little pre-planning.)

In preparing our curlies for the big summer season, April's game is going to be "Bombproofing Your Curly."

Below are some links to give you some ideas of fun things you can do. You can actually do any of these things

throughout the year to further advance your horse's abilities.

Please keep in mind that SAFETY is number 1 for both you and your Curly, so be smart, 

take it slow and work from the ground first. 

Speaking of "Ground" for the month of APRIL only, you may count your time with your curly on the ground work doing these exercises. Feel free to start messing with your curlies now if you want, but you may not count points on the ground work until April 1st - April 30th. Please make a note on your form that this is for the April Games when you are tallying ground points.

http://www.flyingmtexas.com/trail_obstacles.html

http://curlyhorsecountry.com/CSBcourse.htm

http://www.kbrhorse.net/tra/bomb01.html

And don't forget to blog! We want to see all the things you are doing! Be creative and HAVE FUN!!!

training Bucky

I start the training of our new curly pony Dakota's Little Buccaneer.....

In his mind everything is funny.....everythink is like a joke....he is learning verry fast but doesn't understand why he has to (do it)....

next week we will work with a saddle on his back...

Trial ride part 4

Pfffff after a verry long time not ryding (because off work) I finally get back in the saddle!!!
The wetter was perfect, still snowing a little bit, not that could..not windy....can't wait till spring gets here......

Question to you all: do you also have a terrible winter??????...Just want to know how the wetter is in other country's...

Some days are...

a milestone. And, today was one of them.

Clooney, the grey stallion, has been in training with a Classical Dressage trainer. It's a first for him, as he was trained western. Clooney is taking to it really well, and the trainer was proud of him today. I showed up and we waited for the rain to stop, and when it finally did, we headed for the roundpen. Clooney on the longe line was excited today due to the wind and rain, but settled down. I got on board, and let myself be longed in the gallop. It was a milestone for us both, as I hadn't ridden him since my accident almost three years ago (not on Clooney mind you). It was like being at the Spanish Riding School, going round and round in a gallop with hardly a touch on the reins and rather sitting up high lifting the back straight and getting my butt into the saddle, deep and relaxed. What a great day. Here's Clooney today with a head band made by Marianne Olsen (she's a Curly owner). Doesn't he look great!

Impressive!

And Winter is out with a BANG!! I noticed many of our RAC group was covered in this storm! Heavy, wet snow and now it's desperately trying to freeze rain! Ugh! I didn't expect to do anything productive with Linus today but the afternoon weather wasn't too bad and my new hackamore came a week early!! So I just had to try it. I had some fellow RACers helping me with input (many thanks Caren and Marion). I had wanted to try the LG Zaum bitless. It was kind of pricey though and I wanted to try to get something from Canada to save on customs, shipping etc. Well my weeks of searching prevailed and I found a company who makes the pictured "Floatation Hackamore" right here in Canada. Their service was excellent and I am very pleased with the quality. Even though today was a short round pen trial I was exceptionally pleased!! I got nice tight circles in both directions from Linus, a great whoa and very quick backing. All on a pretty loose rein and with no stiff neck or head tossing from him. When I got off he didn't try to rub it off on me either!
Linus was very good today. I don't know if he got his first bout of "spring fever" out of him yetserday? I just used the bareback pad. I usually find it hard to get him going in the round pen. He gets bored in there so easy. Today he was a gem though. He went both directions very easy, trotted as soon as I asked and whoa'd by my voice! It was a superb little ride and made my day!
Doesn't he look more like a shaggy shetland?? (Ok maybe not a shetland! Lol)
Donna and Linus
Lunenburg, On
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Road to the Horse 2013 in Lexington, KY  Totally wonderful and amazing~4 terrific horsemen/women.  Demonstrations, shopping, training and the final test.  At first I thought Guy Mcleans method was too much, too strong and demanding of the horse too fast but it sure paid off on day 3. The 6666 Remuda horses were bred for intelligence & brought quite a challenge to the competitors. They were all just great~ Guy McLean, Dan James, Obie Schlom, & Sarah  Winters. The announcers were terrific, too.
And thanks to Ride-a-Curly I hooked up with a total stranger who trailered her Curlies up from South Kentucky along with her tack for us to ride over 5 hours in the Kentucky Horse Park! Marion Huurman of Hidden Cave Ranch quickly became a good friend and riding partner with her "Blue Eyed Jake" & "Warrior Freedom" ~ two gorgeous Curlies who grabbed the attention of everyone we passed and handled tons of unfamiliar stimuli like a Curlie should: in stride! And Jake~what a fluid canter!!!  Curlies rock and so did this year's RttH! Thank you so much Marion!!!

Calm Before The Storm?

Not quite for Linus anyway. He wasn't too calm today. Granted, I think it has been about a month since he was ridden. Weather, footing and timing have just kept clashing! We were at least able to put the horses in the front pasture for a much needed frolic on the weekend.
Linus was a bit wound up today when I first brought him out so I turned him around and put him right back in (it's set up as a 60' round pen for now) and we did some free lunging for about 10 minutes until he finally decided to settle in. He walked in to me and then he backed up and yielded his quarters nicely on both sides. So back out we went. I gave him a quick grooming. I'm really trying to not encourage shedding. We had some very mild weather and the last few nights have been back to double digits below zero. I had to lower my cinch on the billet side of the saddle - must be all that extra winter hair.....(Ha ha, ya right Lardo Linus!) Ah well, coming out of winter with a few extra pounds isn't the worst thing that could happen.
Linus was pretty tense at the start of our ride. He is itching to GO! So we did a fair amount of Whoa and back up. It didn't take him long to settle in to me because he knew at any second I could ask him to stop. Once he settled we had a nice, loose trot - I could trot for hours on this horse! We're limited to where we can go right now. There's so much mud but there are still some deep snow drifts too.
I was quite happy when we finished up at an easy walk on a long, loose rein. I hope it's not long before we can keep riding at least 3 or 4 days a week! I've got to get my butt in gear over the separation. I would ride so much more if I could get Linus happily away from Allie long enough to enjoy it!
Donna & Linus
Lunenburg, On
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Dressage Training Day

We had our first event this past weekend, a dressage training day - it was held right here at our farm. I rode *Shesa Magic Charm in Training One and Anastasia rode *CNC Joeseph King of Dreams in Walk/Trot D. Even though this was on familiar ground, it always seems to make a person nervous to know that they will be scored by someone else!

Both horses did a pretty good job - I have only been riding *Charm for about a month this year, but Anastasia has been riding *Joe all winter. Here are a couple of pictures. Happy Spring!
Shelly in Summerland, BC
Curly Standard Place