Winter Woes

I'm realllllly tired of winter and I still have another 2-3 months of this junk!  I don't have much to report form the horse side of things since I haven't been to the barn much!  Poor Dolly - I hope she is enjoying her winter vacation...

*sigh*

Winter storm warning in effect.
Today: Periods of freezing drizzle or flurries changing to snow at times heavy mixed with freezing rain and ice pellets this morning then to freezing rain this afternoon. Snow and ice pellet amount 10 to 15 cm. Wind becoming east 20 km/h early this afternoon. High zero.
 
Tonight: Freezing rain changing to flurries near midnight. Snowfall amount 2 cm. Wind east 20 km/h becoming west 40 gusting to 60 this evening. Low minus 12.

Wading in to the Real Estate Market

We had two great Christmas presents this year. One came from hubby's work in mid-December: news that his job was now permanent instead of contract. With that news in hand, we realized that one of the major hurdles to looking for a new house was no longer an obstacle. We arranged a meeting with our mortgage guy on Dec 23. He gave us the news that we could be pre-approved for a mortgage and could start looking for a new place whenever we were ready!

So what are we looking for? Well, a property in the country is on the top of our list. I honestly don’t know if we’ll be able to afford more than 20 acres on our budget and with some of our criteria – decent house, no swampy or rocky property and a decent commute to the city – but we are excited about looking. We are in no rush to move, so hopefully we can wait until something good comes up. I would love to be able to keep a couple of horses at home. Some days I think I enjoy watching and caring for horses more than I do riding.

We still need to do some final clean-up and minor repairs on our current house before we are ready to list it for sale. I’m planning to get a lot of the work done, or at least scheduled, this winter so that we can be ready to move quickly in the spring/summer if we find a nice property.

We aren’t looking too seriously at the moment, since everything is covered in a layer of snow. I would be a little hesitant about buying property and not being able to see the land. Is it wet, swampy, clay or is it a fine layer of sand over the hard bedrock of the Canadian shield? (any geologists out there?)

In typical Laura fashion, I am working on a very nerdy list of contractors, tasks and due dates to keep all of this stuff straight. I find my lists get all of the info swirling around in my brain out in one place so that I can sleep at night! Lol  Here's hoping that we can find a great place this year!

Bucket lists and Resolutions

I have been thinking about bucket lists and resolutions alot lately due to the arrival of the new year... I’m sure I’ve tried writing a bucket list before, but the list was probably scribbled on a scrap of paper and shoved in a desk drawer to be forgotten. I sometimes think that bucket lists are like New Year’s resolutions – stuff you dream of doing (and probably should do) - but don’t take the time and effort to make the things happen. And when things don’t happen, you get discouraged.


So, for fun, I’ve combined some resolutions, goals and bucket list items into three categories – Dreams, Do-able and Personal - and I’m going to try and break individual items down into smaller chunks so that my chances of achieving things are greater. (I’m a bit of a nerd, yes...) I’ve been having a hard time coming up with horse posts lately, so this blog might start covering some of my personal challenges as well.

Personal

• Take care of myself – make good whole food, continue exercise program, transition to using more natural products around the house and on my skin
• Continue de-cluttering the house (a work in progress) to get ready to put it up for sale in the spring/summer
• Organize list of tasks for home repairs/upgrades
• Minimize junk email
• Organize important papers and contact information
• Use all of the food that is in my freezer/pantry instead of just letting it sit unused
• Find some sources for pastured raised organic poultry and pork
• Read more books! I read 46 books in 2011 and I think I’m going to set a goal of 60 for 2012...kinda crazy, but why not? Go sign up at goodreads.com if you haven’t already!

Things that are do-able, but will take some time

• Volunteer at some endurance rides
• Work on photography skills
• Learn more about hooves
• Learn more about bandaging and first-aid
• Learn how to braid a mane
• Learn how to create a beaded browband and a ribbon browband
• Sell some used tack and de-clutter my horse life

Dream items that are harder to attain (ie – take some planning and budgeting)

• Attend the Royal Winter Fair Horse Show in Toronto
• Complete a 25 mile endurance or competitive trail ride
• Attend some NFR events in Vegas
• Rescue a TB/STB and provide a good home, or re-train one to do endurance
• Ride out west – Three Bars Ranch in Alberta looks great!
• Ride in England/Ireland
• Ride on a beach - DONE!
• Raise and train a foal

Here's to a fun and happy 2012!!  I wish everyone a happy, healthy, horse-y New Year!

Small pieces of the puzzle...

I've been slowly working on trying to fill in a few of the gaps Dolly and I have in our relationship/training.

Since I discovered that I was being aggressive with her and pushing her away, I've sort of had to start over in my approach.  We are already doing better - I think she can sense that I'm not putting out the agressive vibes anymore and is more willing to do things when I ask her.

I identified two problem areas that I wanted to address first: one was her bit and the other was her nervousness about being saddled.  Those two things have been issues for awhile and I figured that there had to be a fairly easy fix for both.

I started with the bridle/bit situation. I had been using an eggbut snaffle with her, but a couple of people that have been helping me have suggested that she seems to be really sensitive in the mouth and the single-jointed snaffle might be really bothering her.  I tried a few bits and the clear winner was an eggbutt waterford:

The multiple joints on this bit seem to be more gentle on her mouth. I think she has a fairly low palate, so it wouldn't take much for the snaffle to hit her and cause pain.  I rode her at the walk only in this bit and it seemed at first that she was waiting for the bit to hit her, but when it didn't, she slowly relaxed and dropped her head. I think the bit hitting her mouth when she did her spins on the trail might have been making the situation worse...we'll see if that theory holds when I try riding her outside the ring sometime in the near future. 

Out for a hand-walk to get used to the new bit

The second issue was standing still in the cross-ties while being saddled. Dolly has a tendency to swing away and back when you approach her with the saddle.  She is ok for the saddle pad, but the saddle is trickier.  She has been adjusted by the chiro and we've checked her back a few times, so I don't think it is pain, just avoidance.... I have tried just ignoring her behaviour and putting the saddle on regardless of how she behaves, but that seemed to make her tense. And when she got tense, I would get annoyed and the situation would quickly escalate.

I decided to take in my very ancient English saddle that weighs about 10lbs and use that at first instead of my heavy western saddle (that I'm sometimes worried I am going to drop on her back.)  I kept a handful of treats nearby and slowly approached and retreated holding the English saddle. After 10 minutes or so of work, praise and a few treats, she would stand quietly and I could tack her up from both sides. I think I just needed to communicate more clearly with her, instead of getting all annoyed and flustered. 

This saddle is at least 30yrs old!! And almost falling apart...

I then progressed to the western pad and saddle. It took another 10 minutes or so and I had her standing quietly while I took the saddle on and off. I made a point to flop the strirrups and cinch around and to tack up from both sides and she was fine.  I will probably need to keep working on this a bit over the winter, but I'm confident that it is a minor issue and it will soon be a thing of the past for us!

Winter Wonderland? Or just cold and miserable?

I haven't done much (if any) horse stuff in the past two weeks. I've just been busy with Christmas (thank goodness that is over and done with!) and trying to deal with the dark and cold weather that we get this time of year.

 I don't really like the snow, cold and ice - but I'm stuck here, so I try and make the best of it. In fact, I can deal with cold and snow without much trouble, but I really don't like ice, unless it is in my drink. :-) It makes the footing terrible for horses and humans alike, not to mention it makes driving difficult.

 I've been hand-walking Dolly a bit lately, just to get us out in a safe way. I usually try and take a few pictures along the way to help Dolly with patience and standing quietly while I do something. I managed to get a few shots before my hands froze!

 We are usually followed by V - a friend's horse - when we walk.  He is a young arab gelding and is always watching when there are things going on. 

He followed me as far as he could in his paddock and stopped to pose when I called his name...what a handsome guy...

I'm hoping to get a short ride in this weekend, probably just in the riding ring, but it will be better than nothing!

A little fun...

I had coffee with RuckusButt last week, just before Christmas. She gave me a little gift for work; to use if I was feeling stressed out or if I needed a mental break.

Turns out that I used it that afternoon!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...  :-)

2011 Wrap-up

I am drawing a blank on stuff to write about right now, so I thought I would try exercising my writing muscles by doing a wrap-up of my year. If I had to give 2011 a rating out of 10, it would probably score a 5.5, maybe a 6 if I was feeling generous.

January 2011 started out well – we had a nice 10 day vacation in Florida and the Caribbean. It is such a treat to have a few warm days away from our nasty winters. My Mom was kind enough to come and stay at our house and take care of the critters. 

St. Martin

Not much happened in February and March – in fact, I took a blogging break for a month. I was having some troubles with my legs and just wasn’t feeling like doing much. I did manage to attend a showmanship clinic, which was fun.

In April and May I did a lot of riding with my old pal Rusty, with one of our longer rides going up to about 8 miles. That was pretty much his upper limit though and it was at that point that I decided I might want another horse. I went back through my old posts and found this little anecdote about Rusty:

“Rusty walked right by two little girls squealing and jumping on a large trampoline as we rode by their house (while the other 2 horses panicked) and then proceeded to spook and snort at a regular orange pylon on the road - the kind that you use in riding rings all the time for pattern work!!! What a goof!"

In June, I tried a few rides on Handsome Hank, the Standardbred. Sadly, he was a bit too green for me, as well as too tall. At 16hh, I just felt too high up off the ground! I still have a bit of a horse crush on Hank – he is very handsome and I’m a bit of a sucker for the ex-racehorse types. Someday I’ll get myself a STB – it is now officially on my bucket list. :-)

I also started my new job in June and that reduced my daily commute drastically, which in turn made me much happier! 6 months in to the new job and things are ok – they could be better, but ok will do for me for now. I’m working in a field where it is tricky to advance (due to my technical limitations), so I need to start thinking about some options for the long term.

July led me to Dolly. I had pretty high hopes for her and I still think we have a chance if I can get my nerves and confidence issues sorted out. I’m hoping that taking things easy over the winter will help me there. I really like this little mare, so fingers crossed that we do ok next spring!

August. August is one of the two months that give 2011 such a low score. We lost our dog Max and we are still having a bit of a hard time about it. Both of us catch ourselves looking for him when we get home from work or in the mornings. I’m sure we’ll get another dog someday, but neither one of us is ready for that commitment yet.

Gypsy (on the left) and Max

September and October were pretty quiet as well. I was trying to ride as much as possible. I can’t think of anything exciting or eventful that happened in these two months... Oh wait – I just thought of something. In October, we had some minor renos done on the house and repainted the entire upstairs and main floor!

November. Ugh. November wasn’t a great horse month. Dolly and I started having our issues and that culminated in one very bad ride. The silver lining is that I figured out the problem and I learned a few things along the way. November is also cold, dark and rainy here and it is tricky to be motivated to do much.

And December – December has been good for us because we got the (very good) news that hubby’s job is now permanent! No more contract work for him – the company is in good shape and is growing, so I expect things should be ok for awhile there. And with that news, we are able to start making bigger financial plans. We are even considering looking for a new house next spring/summer!!! We have our mortgage guy coming over next week to discuss pre-approvals. We are going to look for a rural property, but I’m not sure if we will be able to find much in our price range. We are in no big rush, so I hope we can take our time and look for something that will meet our needs.
And that about wraps up the year.  We have a little over 2 weeks left in 2011 and I have to say that I am looking forward to 2012.  I'll have to sit down over the holidays and think of some goals and plans for this next year.

Confidence, part three

Read part one...

Read Part two…

I spent all day Sunday after that disastrous ride pondering my future with horses – at that point I was ready to sell Dolly and never ride again.  After talking the situation over with the barn owner and Endurance Lady, they told me to give it a few days before I made any big decisions.

It wasn’t until a couple of days later that I found the problem.  It is probably evident to you guys as you read the last two posts, but it took me a while to figure things out.  I had to start from the beginning of my time with Dolly to get to the solution. My thought process was that if she and I had had these problems when she was on trial, I would never have bought her in the first place.  I then tried to figure out what had changed since the summer.

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

The only significant change was in early October when I started working with that trainer!  When he told me I needed to be more confident and dominant, I took him quite literally.  I was using aggressive body language and aggressive thoughts to push her away, while at the same time expecting her to be close and trust me.  I was bullying her!

Dolly is a sensitive mare and this type of behaviour on my part just doesn’t work with her.  She needs a calm, assertive leader (thanks Cesar Milan), not a bully.  So, once I realized all of that, I ran the theory by my horse friends and they all thought it was the problem as well.  Phew!

I have to thank RuckusButt for the chat we had last week – we talked about our respective horse issues and she helped me confirm some things that I’ve been pondering… and that is that when people are riding and get nervous/scared/angry/anxious/ etc. etc., the physiological response stays with your body a lot longer than we think, allowing the horses to pick up on that long after the event is over.

She has a great line on her most recent post that I’m going to quote, as it really sums up what happened to me:  “I just began doubting myself but there was no reason to change my approach; all I had to do was incorporate my new realization into the mix. Instead, I felt like I needed other ideas but those led me astray for a couple weeks, I think.”  This struck such a chord with me – I doubted myself and let another training method led me astray. Now I don’t think this trainer is the problem, it was my interpretation of his ideas and methods that was causing the problem.  Instead of working on myself, I became someone else and that didn’t end up well!

I went out to this barn this past Friday because Dolly had a chiro appointment. I wasn’t sure if she would even look at me, but she met me at the gate with a tentative “I think something bad happened a few days ago – are you still mad at me? look”.  (yes, I am anthropomorphizing here…)  I had to chuckle at her expression and we went to the barn for the chiro session and just hung out for a while.  I think she can sense that I don’t have the same angry vibes oozing from every pore, so is willing to try again as well.

I feel like I led myself astray for the past 2 months. I just hope I can undo the damage I’ve caused with Dolly... Although the situation isn’t great, I feel like I’ve grown and progressed in my horse knowledge in some way.  Whether I can get over my nerves enough to ride a more sensitive horse or not remains to be seen, but I at least feel that I know how to try – if that makes any sense!

So, the plan for now is to take a step back and re-evaluate. I need to just be myself and hope that my confidence grows enough that Dolly and I can build some trust.  I’m going to work on just having her stand quietly to be tacked up and also do some hand walking around the farm. I may ride or not, I’m just going to tackle that when I feel ready. I’m going to try riding a few of the barn owners horses as well (as the weather permits) to see if that will help my confidence or not.  If I’m still having a hard time riding Dolly in the spring, I may still put her up for sale. I may need to work harder to find a horse that has some get up and go, but that isn’t super sensitive to an anxious rider.  

Confidence, part two

Read part one...

This trainer does a lot of round pen work, which I’m guessing is similar to some of the big name trainers and their “longeing for respect” type stuff.  Our first session was interesting – I learned a lot.  It turns out that I was letting Dolly move me around without me even realizing it. I would move out of her way if she was goofing around in the round pen and I would also let her push me with her head and body. We did some leading exercises and after an hour, I felt like I had a good grip on that part of things.  I’ve made a lot of progress on that front and I feel good about “getting it”…

The other thing this trainer noted was that I didn’t have a lot of confidence and that I needed to be really confident and dominant for Dolly to trust me.  That statement is the essence of our problem and while it sounds simple, it is much harder in practice for me.  I don’t think it is really possible to turn an emotion or feeling “on or off” just like that.    It’s like telling someone that is sad to just “be happy”. If it was that simple, everyone would be happy and confident and there wouldn’t be any problems!  (I’m oversimplifying, but you get the idea…)

After a few weeks, I felt like I was making progress in the round pen, but it just wasn’t transferring to our time under saddle.   Dolly’s evasive 180 spins become more and more frequent and at different spots around the farm instead of just the sticky spot on the laneway. Some times I could get her through it, others I would have to dismount and move to another location.  When this would happen, I would get very angry and annoyed and when the situation persisted, I would start to get a bit nervous that I was going to push her too far.   (I don’t ride her with a crop, so I never did anything physical to punish her – it was all just my voice and probably a lot of tension in my body.)

The situation came to a boiling point last weekend.  I went out to ride and work with Dolly to see what we could accomplish. I had worked with her on Saturday and we had a decent day, so I decided to push things a bit and try again on Sunday.  I decided to skip the round pen stuff, because I didn’t see the need to continue on with it.    She was very nervous and even pulled back a bit in the cross ties, which she has never done before.  It wasn’t too serious, so once she calmed down, I tacked up and just went to walk around in the riding ring.  She was ok for that, so I thought we would try a short hack as a reward.  I guess I was carrying a lot of tension and the two of us just couldn’t communicate.  I ended the ride because we were both getting very upset and anxious and I felt that if I continued, one or both of us was going to get hurt.

I was very sad and frustrated that my situation had come to this point. I’m no expert rider, but I felt that I was ready for a bit more horse than a 20yr old bombproof one.  I seriously doubted myself, my riding future and pretty much everything to do with horses.    At that time, I had no idea what was going on, except that most of the problem was with me.

To be continued...

(I'm not trying to be too dramatic here - the story is just too long for one post!)

Confidence and personality types – part one

I’ve been trying to come up with the words to explain the situation I’m in with Dolly, but it is hard to explain it all. I wanted to start by talking a bit about confidence and what it means to different people, because “confidence” as a concept is what I am trying to deal with.  Please bear with me as I ramble on about this...!  ;-)

Chuck Norris



The Cowardly Lion

I’m not the most confident person – not just while riding, but in my day-to-day life as well. I’m not a “cower in the corner” type either, but I don’t have endless confidence in my abilities. People close to me tell me that I am too hard on myself, which may be partly true... I have met people that are the thrill-seeking, fearless Type As (like Chuck Norris! lol) and then some that are afraid of their own shadows (<--like our friend the Cowardly Lion). I am no Chuck Norris (ha, ha!) , but I am also not completely lacking of confidence either. The basic fact here is that people have different personalities and different confidence levels, and so do horses. I also think that with good experiences and hard work it is possible to increase your confidence in different areas.

Obviously there are endless combinations of horse traits and human personalities and sometimes it is obvious about the horse’s traits – an alpha mare for example - but sometimes it takes more time to uncover what is driving the little horse pea brain that you are responsible for. And, as well all know, some human personality types just don’t work well with certain types of horses.

Dolly is much more horse than Rusty was – not that either horse has/had a problem, but Rusty was a very laid-back, calm sort of guy. Dolly is much more sensitive and requires a different approach. I was a bit nervous riding Dolly for the first few weeks when I first bought her in the summer. It wasn’t terrible fear, but just a nervous flutter in my stomach. I was able to work through that and we rode all over the farm and even over to the neighbouring stable. There were a few situations where she was hesitant – near the tacky, plastic flower covered pony jump field, for example – and we would be able to work through it without much trouble.

As the fall progressed, we started having a bit of trouble going down the long laneway. Dolly would do a little 180 pirouette and stop. I would be able to just one rein her around and keep going, or go around the trouble spot and take a different route. A couple of times, I had someone else get on Dolly and either she wouldn’t try a spin, or she would do one, the rider would correct her and they would keep going without any more troubles. I knew that 99% of the problem was with me – my nerves were getting in the way. My confidence had plummeted and I didn’t really know what to do.

It was right around that time that a new trainer started coming out to the barn once a month. I was frustrated with myself, so I thought that a few sessions with a trainer would do wonders for me.

To be continued...

Stuff I like - Etsy!!!!!!

I have some new posts coming soon about Dolly and I and our situation. I have been having a tough time with her, but I think I have figured some things out. The posts will have to wait a few days, so I can explain all that is floating around in my head.

In the mean time, I thought I would share some of my favourite horsey items from Etsy. There are so many great handmade items there that it is very fun to "window" shop and daydream about all of the things I might order if I had some extra cash...

**Note: all photos/images are from Etsy and copyrighted to the artists...


First off is our very own RanchGirl!  She makes beautiful western themed jewellry:

photo credit: RockInHeart Jewellry

Leather bracelet and silver horse pendant

photo credit: SilverWishes

Photo credit: SilverWishes

Beautiful necklaces from A Gift Horse:

photo credit: A Gift Horse

A fused glass pendant, maybe?  From Cynthia Valenzo:

photo credit: Cynthia Valenzo

Or, how about a non-traditional set of saddle/bridle tags? I think I might cave and order a set of these for myself for Christmas...

photo credit: SayWhatCreations

I don't have alot of horse-themed decor in my house, but I found two things on Etsy that I am hoping to get someday - a neat pillow and a cool piece of art for the wall:

photo credit Baconsquarefarm

photo credit JolieMarche

And this is just a very small sampling of the literally thousands of items that pop up when you type 'horse' into the search bar.

You can find almost anything you can think of:

• journals
• photos
• custom artwork of your horse
• housewares
• art
• kids toys
• vintage pieces
• key racks

And the list goes on and on and on!  In fact, I'm going to wrap up this post and keep searching!

A long overdue post

I have been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks ago and just kept forgetting...!

I won a giveaway from Diary of the Overanxious Horse Owner and I wanted to thank her for the awesome gift.

I received a bottle of Vetroline Shine, leather conditioner, spur straps and cool bumpers stickers!  I used the Vetroline Shine on Dolly and it worked really well - but I didn't get pictures, since I forgot my camera!  (bad blogger...lol)  The leather conditioner will get some good use soon, as I usually oil all of my tack over the winter when I'm not using it as much.

It was a very generous gift, especially since it had to be shipped to Canada, which always costs extra.

So, a big thank you to SillyPony for her generosity!

Stuff I like – Frequent Rider Programs

As someone that doesn’t show and probably won’t anytime in the near future, I wanted to find something fun that I could achieve with my horse. Combine that with my slightly obsessive love for statistics and charts and I found a winner – Frequent Rider Programs!


Most people that board at stables in Ontario (as well as show, teach, etc.) are required to have a membership with the Ontario Equestrian Federation. I have had a membership for years and besides insurance, I don’t really get alot out of it. A couple of years ago, someone told me about their Frequent Rider program. I had to pay a one-time fee to register and after that I was able to log hours riding any horse. When you reach certain levels, you submit your hours and receive small gifts. So far, in the OEF program I have reached level 2 and have a baseball cap. It isn’t much and it will take me awhile to get anywhere, but at least I can keep track of my riding hours.
I was happy to see that when I bought Dolly, she is registered with the Canadian Part-Arab registry (I finally got her papers back this week!). This registration allowed me to participate in any AHA programs that I was interested in. The nerd in me was happy to spend the reasonable fees to sign up for an AHA membership and their Frequent Rider program. I just signed up a month ago, so I don’t have many hours, but I should hit the first level (25 hours) by early December.
These programs aren’t that exciting, but I find it is enough to sometimes motivate me to get out and ride!

Preparing for Winter



Dolly getting a bit fuzzy



While I don’t like using the “W” word, the harsh reality is that it is fast approaching. We have had a few weeks of unseasonably warm weather (it is 14C/57F today) and it spoiled us all a bit, I think. Thanks to daylight savings, it is now noticeably darker and with the darkness, it just seems colder! The warm refreshing breezes of late summer have changed as well - the wind is now chilly and strips trees bare of their leaves and has people zipping up their jackets as they walk.

The horses are working hard at building up their winter coats and it is time for me to start switching over my gear. I don’t have a ton of room to store stuff at the barn – I’m sure they would give me more room if I asked nicely, but taking stuff home hasn’t really been a problem so far. This week I packed up my extra buckets, shampoo, scrapers, fly spray and fly masks and took it all home. I have to dig out a wool cooler out of my tack trunk for Dolly – she tends to get herself all hot and sweaty sometimes, so now that the temps have dropped, I need to have something to cover her with until she dries off and cools down.

I miss how easy things are in the summer – just hose down the horse, scrape and viola! Not this time of year though. I was thinking of clipping Dolly (I think horses look neat with hunter or trace clips!) but I just can't see myself riding enough to justify the effort. I also have to suck it up and buy her a winter blanket. I would try and get her through the winter without one, but the paddocks at my barn don't have shelters (which I could rant about if I so chose...but I won't), so the horses really need something to break the wind a bit and keep them dry.

I also have to dig out my various winter riding gloves, tights and warmer under layers. I always resist getting out my warmer clothes and jackets, because doing so means that colder weather is really here!

I have some new winter gear to try out this year as well - I bought a pair of Elation soft shell breeches and a pair of Mountain Horse Rimfrost paddock boots. These paddock boots have chunkier soles than my regular riding boots, but it shouldn't be a problem with my western or endurance stirrups...I hope! I'll report in later this winter on how I like this new gear. Cold feet are no fun and last year my Blundstones just weren't warm enough, even with big wool socks and warm insoles.

Annnd, because we all spend so much cash on gear etc. for us and our horses, I thought I would leave you with this most excellent cartoon:

Visiting an old friend

I took the time today to drive out to the other end of the city and visit an old friend...

Rusty!!  I had been delaying going out to see him because I was regretting my decision to sell him just a bit.  (I've been working hard with Dolly, but we still aren't close to being really comfortable out on the trails yet - I'm sure we'll get there eventually...)  I love riding in the fall and Rusty is the most reliable trail horse I've been on - although he is kinda pokey and slow.  :-)  I guess I can't have it all!  

He looked good to me - a bit chubby - I'd rather see that than too thin though.  I gave him a bunch of treats and brushed him, then hand-grazed him for a bit. They offered to let me ride, but I just didn't feel like it. I just enjoyed hanging out with him for an hour or so.  He is fitting in well in the little riding school program that this farm has and they even took him to a few shows this summer!  I guess he did some walk trot classes with their beginner kids that are too tall for ponies. 

One last picture on the way out - he looks kind of cute in his orange rain sheet.    He is in a nice big paddock that opens out on to several acres of grass pasture.  Nice to know that he has lots of room to move around.  It was a beautiful fall day and the area where the barn is located is very nice. Lots of rolling hills, farms, pastures and some forested areas.   

I was drooling over all of the nice hills - it would be so fun to ride these quiet country roads to condition a horse for endurance!

Beyond the cattails are a couple of horses from the farm out wandering their pasture.

A view of another riding school a few minutes away from Rusty's farm - I wanted to take the picture a bit earlier, as I was coming down a big hill on that road, but there was an impatient driver tailgating me, so this was the best I could get.  This place was nice and tidy, although the location beside a busy highway wasn't the greatest.  All of the scenery looked so nice in the bright fall sun - there are even a few leaves left on the trees.   I was also able to make a stop at our biggest tack shop on the way home, which was kind of convenient!  All in all, it was a nice way to spend a sunny Saturday morning!

Stuff I like – Two fun web sites

To keep myself interested in posting stuff to this blog, I decided to start a “Stuff I Like” post every week (or when I feel like posting something! Lol) I’ll try and keep most stuff horse related, to a certain degree.

Since fall is in full swing and the cold dark days of winter are approaching, I thought I would share two of my favourite web sites. I love to read and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on. I even like reading magazines, although sometimes they get repetitive if you read too many. I tend to read alot more in the winter, since our crappy, cold, dark winters tend to keep me inside more than normal.

The first site is Goodreads – I have to thank OregonSunshine and Stephanie for telling me about this site. Goodreads.com is a fun site (and they have an iphone/ipad app!) to keep track of all of the books you have read, books you want to read and your progress. I can’t tell you how handy this has been when I am out at book stores – I can never quite remember if I’ve read a certain book (unless it was really,really good) and this site/app makes it easy to keep tabs on what you have read so you don’t buy something you have already read! You can also write and share reviews with friends.

So far in 2011, I have read 32 books, three of which were horse books. It is kind of fun to keep track of the number of books you read – at least I find that fun. I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to stats and such. I have found the site extremely useful in finding new books to read – sometimes I get stuck reading the same type of stuff all the time and that gets a bit boring.

Anyone have any good book recommendations for me? I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.  If you are also using goodreads, let me know in the comments and I'll add you!

The other site (and app!!!) I use alot is zinio.com. This is an online magazine site/app where you can buy subscriptions or single issues of digital magazines. There are several popular horse magazines that are available through this site. I can’t tell you how handy this app was on my ipad while travelling last winter! I had purchased and downloaded a bunch of magazines ahead of time and was set for my whole vacation! You can download magazines on the fly if you have free wi-fi or use of a cell phone network while travelling as well.

I find I like digital magazines a lot – I don’t have that big stack of paper magazines that piles up all over my house. I have spent years reading magazines and then ripping out the articles I wanted to keep. I would then put all of those saved articles into binders. I was always busy “archiving” my magazines and seemed to have papers everywhere. Having all of the past issues accessible online is pretty handy (and it saves me a lot of time!)

The only problem with magazines is that I find (well, besides the ads!) if you subscribe for a long time, you start to see the same things over and over again.  Buying a few issues at a time online makes it a bit easier to avoid that problem...

Do you guys read magazines?  What are your favourites? Do tell...  :-)

New Saddle – heading down the endurance rabbit hole...

I am getting more and more optimistic that I might be able to try some endurance rides next year. When I get into a sport/hobby, I like having the right gear for whatever activity I am participating in (– it’s also a good excuse to buy stuff...lol)

I have actually had this new saddle for a couple of months and I’m just getting around to writing about it now... It is a semi-custom endurance saddle – the Specialized Trailmaster. My friend at the barn has another saddle from this company and loves it, so I decided to order one as well – seeing as how I was having saddle fit issues with Rusty and then Dolly. The Specialized saddles are a very interesting combination of the three traditional saddle styles – English, western and dressage. They end up looking a bit weird, I think, but they suit their purpose very well.

Just minutes after taking it out of the box!

Specialized saddles have three huge selling points for me:

• adjustable fit for the horse
• semi-custom – lots of options when ordering – style, colour, fit, etc.
•  light-weight

The fit of the saddle can be adjusted easily. There are several sizes of shims and wedges that can be velcroed in as needed. These saddles are quite affordable, compared to more expensive brands (Reactor Panel, Schleese, etc.). From what I have heard from my friend and another endurance rider that I know, the saddles are very durable as well. I also like the fact that they are hand-made in the US and not from some factory overseas.  I am quite impressed by the quality of the leather and the way it has been put together.

I only have one little beef with this saddle and it isn’t really the company’s fault. Since I am so short (my inseam is only 28”!!), I have a heck of a time with stirrup length on any saddle that doesn’t have English leathers. My western saddle has youth fenders and it is perfect for me. I was hoping that with some of the customizable options on this saddle, I could deal with the stumpy leg issue without too much trouble.

The fenders are shorter, but once the length is adjusted short enough, the extra material (with all of the holes punched in it...) hangs down near the actual stirrup. Due to the shape/size of the endurance stirrups, this extra leather/biothane acted like a trap for my foot. I was able to bunch up the extra length and use the hobbles to keep everything in place, but it doesn’t work 100%, since the underside is lined with biothane, it doesn’t bend that easily. I’m going to have to take the saddle in to my local saddle guy and have him cut the extra material and re-stitch it.


Dolly modelling the saddle and her hunter green attire

All in all, that is a minor problem and I’m really enjoying the few rides I’ve had in the saddle so far! Hopefully I will be using it as my primarly saddle as the months go on – it does need some breaking in still. And maybe a sheepskin cover for my delicate back side! Lol

(sorry to FB friends that have seen the pics already!)

Lost in Translation

I think I mentioned in my last post that I am working with a new coach/trainer. He lives in Quebec, but is originally from France. He speaks some English, but not a lot. I can speak French to a certain point, but I don’t know a lot of horse terms in French. We were actually able to communicate quite well and both of us learned some new words.

I love languages and studied a few different ones in university (Jack of all trades, master of none? Lol) I find it interesting how people can communicate with just a few words and hand gestures, or if the two people each speak a bit of the other language, everyone learns something.

One of the people at the barn commented after the lesson that she saw us laughing a lot while we were working with Dolly. It was mostly due to language issues – he would laugh at my pronunciation of a word in French and I would teach him a word in English that he couldn’t pronounce well.

The best was one word in English that he didn’t know and that happens to have a very funny meaning in French.

He was explaining that when he leads a horse, he wants the horse to stay behind his shoulder. The horse should stop when he stops (nothing too exciting there...) and then when he stops, he asks the horse to back up a couple of steps. He then sort of paused and looked up as if he was searching for the right English word to explain something.

He said in French “sorry, I don’t know the words in English for this - "je caresse le cheval”. He said, “is the right word in English ‘caress’?” I said, “Well, you could use that but it is a bit more intimate than you might want to use for a horse.” I smiled and he got my meaning.

He asked me “What is the good word, then?” I made a bit of a funny face and hesitated before answering.

“It’s...um... well, the word in English is ‘pet’.” “Pet? Really, Laura?”, he asked.  I nodded my head and the two of us burst out laughing.

The word ‘pet’ in French means ‘fart’. So every time he pet Dolly, he would say “I’m petting this horse” and would laugh like a loon.

I guess I could have used the word "pat" which is also correct, but "pet" and "pat" sound so similar, it probably wouldn't have mattered! 

My next goal is to find some French horse books and see if I can learn some vocabulary before his next visit in a couple of weeks.

Dolly update - cont'd

I guess I’ll keep this blog going for a bit longer yet – mostly because I have a bit of new material to write about!

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I’ve also discovered that while 90% of the time, Dolly is a fun little horse to ride, she has that last 10% that is a spoiled little kid hopped up on sugar that wants more toys and is PISSED OFF when she doesn’t get what she wants. She has had a couple of meltdowns on me – head tossing, little leaps, sidepassing, etc. She starts doing this as we get closer to the barn at the end of a bit longer (than normal) ride. (To this point, all of my rides have just been at the walk with a small bit of trotting.) She will get herself all worked up and sweaty but still walks on without speeding up.

The first two times that it happened, I have just ignored the behaviour and gently pushed her forward. I figure it is harder to act up while moving forward. I have also made sure to stay off her mouth while she is acting up. She hasn’t reared, but her front feet get a little light and I imagine that a sharp pull on the mouth at the wrong time could just aggravate the behaviour.

At first we couldn’t decide if her behaviour was attitude, fatigue, pain, or all three. She was completely out of shape (ie – not ridden regularly for at least 18 months, if not more) when I got her. I have been slowly increasing her work over the past two months. I feel pretty confident that we haven’t pushed too hard to fast. We are leaning towards attitude (with a capital “A”) and a little bit of barn/buddy sourness going on.

I was wondering if Dolly was just too much horse for me. I’ve been missing Rusty’s steadfast behaviour a bit, but I also know that I was a bit bored riding him. I find myself at a bit of a crossroads with my riding/horsemanship and I think Dolly is the horse that could push me forward quite a bit. Part of me is terrified to take that step forward, but the other part of me sure wants to give it a try.

I needed a bit of a strategy to figure out the best way to get through these attitude issues. The one month of riding that the other girl did for me didn’t really accomplish much, except for increasing Dolly’s fitness a bit. She is used to training hunters and Dolly’s quirks and her style of riding didn’t really mesh. Luckily, Endurance Lady offered to help me out when she had time, so knowing that I had that option helped me out a bit.

We have a new trainer/coach coming to our barn - he lives in Quebec and is now coming down once a month to work with a few horses/riders. I watched a couple of sessions he did with other horses over the summer and he seemed to know what he was doing. I thought working with him might help me, but I wasn’t sure. After another one of Dolly’s meltdowns last week, I bit the bullet and decided to try working with him. He does a lot of round pen work to establish respect and trust. I had sort of figured that was what Dolly and I were missing.

Turns out I was right – she isn’t a bossy, dominant or mean mare, but she doesn’t trust easily. We worked on leading for a bit and then moved to the round pen. We worked her (with breaks of course) for about 45 minutes at the walk/trot and she spent most of that time evading the trainer in various ways. Towards the end of the session, she did start to focus and start to get the hang of things. His techniques seem similar to most of the big trainers – lunging for respect, etc. but he has a nice quiet way of working with the horses. I have seen the progress he has made with another gelding at the barn, so I’m hopeful that he can help me get through to Dolly.

I had a good refresher on body language (both human and horse!) and I have a bunch of stuff to work on over the next month. I’ll try and elaborate more after the next lesson, if I can. I’m looking forward to getting out to the barn as much as I can this month and seeing how much progress we can make.

Update on Dolly (long overdue!)

I’ve been meaning to write an update on how Dolly and I have been doing, but I havebeen lacking the motivation to put it all in words that make sense. To be completely honest, I’ve been contemplating shutting down my blog, since I just don’t seem to write much – partly for lack of content, partly for lack of motivation.

It’s kinda one of those situations where it has been awhile since I’ve written anything and I just don’t know where to start So, that being said, I may just give you a list of what I’ve been up to horse-wise over the past two months.

• First of all, I can’t believe August and September blew by so quickly!
  
• Dolly started out being fairly tense all the time (in the cross-ties, on the trail, etc.), but never really did anything “bad”. She was holding her head a bit funny and got really upset when you put any contact on the bit. The solution? She was desperately in need of having her teeth done. She even had a wolf tooth that we had to have pulled! The vet was a little shocked that her previous owners had neglected this simple health care option. A few days after her dental work, her overall tension level dropped dramatically. She can still get a little tense, but I think it is just learned behaviour instead of true pain.
  
• I had a major case of nerves for the first few rides on Dolly – probably due to her tension… Once I realized that she wouldn’t act out even when tense, I quickly relaxed. Both of us have been making good progress in the “nerves” department.
  
• I have had a person at the barn riding Dolly 3x/week for September to help with consistency and get Dolly more regular work. It is going ok, but Dolly seems to take 2 steps forward and 1 step back. She is fairly resistant to bend and flex on the left lead, which leads us to…
  
• Chiro! I decided to call the only horse chiro (that I know of) in our region. I’ve heard good things about her, so I’m hoping she can either help Dolly or rule out any physical reasons for her tension/reluctance to the left. I’m looking forward to that appointment in a couple of weeks. I like to know that I have tried most of the options to rule out medical/pain issues before we up the training aspect, as her reluctance could just be evasion…

I actually have more to say – this writing business isn't so bad once I get started! Lol

I think I will end here and keep going with Dolly’s update later this week...