First Aid Clinic- and other news....

I am a little behind on my posts and for that i apologise i have been very busy and sick ugh the illnesses that are being passed around in my office are terrible but i have now gotten the 3rd out of 3 flu bugs so im assuming that should be the last of it... (i hope).

Anyways... On Saturday i had my Equine First Aid Clinic hosted by equi-healthcanada, Anyone who is in Canada that is following my blog i highly reccomend this course. I learned a lot about bandaging (which is fairly similar to human first aid) it was a great course and a lot of fun as well. G was used as one of the demo horses and he did AMAZING i was shocked!

G is still continueing to do amazing out on his hacks, even more so now that he has had his front feet shod. He loves having them done he seems much happier and picks his feet up easily and doesnt pull them away when i try to clean them. The down side now is he has started backing up.... i ask for forward and he backs up so we are working on that as well... and the bit of attitude that he has developed he has started to kick out during rides if he is not happy with what is going on... again not a big deal we can fix that.

BUT SOME BIG NEWS.... i have been in contact with a Dressage rider that has compted in the Pan-Am games helping qualify Canada for this years Olympics... well she has an opening in her barn... and im going to look on sunday.... its expensive but we have big dreams and i am willing to invest the money into our dreams and making them a reality... so looks like the second job will be staying for much much longer and i will be putting all my money into savings. Im hoping i can wait to move until September but if i have to jump on this opportunity i will. Did i mention the perks of boarding there....
Footing is comprised of washed sand and shavings with Calcium Chloride added to footing to control dust.
10x 12 stalls bedded on shavings cleaned daily.
Grooming /tack stall.
Wash rack with heat lamps.
Individual lockers.
Under floor heating in laundry facility, washroom and coffee room.
Large heated indoor arena harrowed daily and is bright and well ventilated.
Large post rail paddocks with wind shelters.

Im pretty sure i have died and gone to barn heaven, there are some BIG things in store for G and i thats for sure!!

(Names have been removed due to me posting my views on the facility, this blog is for my record and my pleasure only not intended to hurt anyones feelings or affect their business. Sorry everyone)

Stunning Trekahner for sale

No no not G lol but a fella out of his same herd, has the same mother. Goodwyn is a stunning mount with gorgeous color he has had a lot of training and is ready to take you any direction you want to go.

If i could afford this stunning gelding i would have 2 of them and not just 1. Posted below are a few links to his ads as well as the link to the youtube channel where you can watch videos of him. Hopefully we can find this beautiful boy a home please pass this post and ad on to everyone you know. The owner is open to offers on him as long as he is going to a good home that will take good care of him and treat him well.

Thanks so much in advance.

Yard And Groom
Horse On Sale
Warmbloods for Sale
Equimarket
Goodwyn on Youtube

Any questions feel free to contact the owner Deb Vertypora her number is listed on the ad.

This is all to true

Wish i had videos of every time i fell or was thrown it would make for a good movie night and would probably win me some money on Americans Funniest Home Videos.

Hack #3 Amazing! So amazing!

Sunday i went out to the barn with the boyfriend since he had to do feed for the military horses so i figured i would get in some riding in the arena since it was pretty windy. While G was eating his breakfast in his stall the El Presidente (sorry i just cant call him the saddle club president its just to boring) showed up and asked if i would like to go out for a hack with him. He knows a lot of the trails and the best places to go around the barn so i couldnt turn it up... plus his horse Jack is "seasoned" on the trails so i knew that if G struggled with something he would help to keep the situation calm.

I was to lazy to take G to the cross ties to tack him up so i figured i would do that in his stall while he was eating... thats when the first shock came.... he picked his feet up... there was no fighting nor was there moving and wiggling around while i was tacking up. Mounting outside was still an issue but im learning to be more patient and understanding so eventually he stopped prancing around and stood still long enough for me to safely get on (in all fairness he was prancing around because i was using a picnic table that was half under a tent)

We started out ride with G being pretty sensitive on the gravel but he was being much more responsive when i asked him to pick up the pace. Once we got out into the summer pastures we were working on our transitions from trot to walk because we kept on having to catch up to the El Presidente.
We did a big loop around the property and Trotted through a huge feild (which felt fantastic G was so forward and had such big beautiful movement). While on our way back to the main road i managed to get G to walk in a puddle after a few minutes of convincing.

We then headed towards the highway to cross over into a neighboring farmers feild. The highways always make me nervous because it is something new and i wasnt sure how to react but before we got to the highway one of the other club members was coming down the gravel road and stopped to talk to us, G was perfectly fine with the car so i was able to breath a little more while crossing the highway (its not a busy highway its more of a secondary highway). After we crossed the highway there was a VERY steep ditch that i was a little worried G might refuse to go down into it and come out at the other side. He hesitated a little bit but with a little bit of leg he went into and out of the ditch no issues, because it was steep i tried to keep myself in a possition that wouldnt make it more difficult for him to get up.

We carried on trotting through the feild, I only trotted because i was still a little nervous about G canter but i have a feeling that has all changed now. We got to a part of the ride were we had to go through some pretty thick trees so i gave G the reins i let him find HIS was through it, i gave everything to him and trusted him to take care of me and to get me through the trees. The last major challenge of our ride was a big sand hill, El Presidente was leading and his horse went over no problems, i was trying to see if there was any way around but with a little leg G went down into the ditch and right over the sand hill no questions asked no fighting no refusing.

I was so proud of him i was beaming the whole way home, hes a green horse and im a green rider and we went on a ride away from home and faced things that were difficult that in the past i would have just avoided but instead i trusted him. I gave control to G because i knew that he would not put me in danger that he would take care of me just like i take care of him every day.

He is teaching me so much about trust. I have always been very closed off and not very trusting of people especially ones that have hurt me in the past but G is helping me past that. I am a very lucky girl to have found such an amazing partner, this weekend i am going to let him canter through that feild for both of us. I know hes not going to hurt me im not scared any more i trust him.

Some more great news. I was standing by the outdoor arena and i saw the geese and some little balls of fluff jumping in and out of a puddle (the parents were teaching them to swim i wish i was close enough to get a video) then when we were leaving the barn the family was marching towards the stream to take them swimming in real water. ADORABLE the last one kept falling and was all covered in mud.

Spring has FINALLY come to Canada! <3

Hack #2

Last night i got to the barn right after work and brough in G and his new girlfriend Bella because N and i decided to go out for a Hack and if we had time possibly jump G in the arena as well. G was very feisty he even nipped my elbow while i was trying to do up his girth, he has developed quite the personality it seems the more we work the more he is becoming himself and trying to figure out what he can and cannot get away with.

I took him out into the round pen to let him get out some of his fizzies. I havnt been lunging him before every ride lately some rides i do and some rides i dont, there are going to be places and situations were i cannot lunge him so i dont want him getting used to relying on that time to calm down i need him to be nice and calm right from the get go. Tonight since it was going to be only our second outing i wanted to lunge him to make sure he didnt have any extra energy that he wanted to get out on the trail that could put myself or N in danger.... AND he bit me lol wtf so i figured we also needed to reestablish who it was that was in control.

As usual he was perfect on our outting, still having the same issues on the rocks with his front feet but that will be resolved on tuesday when he gets his shoes on the fronts. We went down a gravel road for a bit and came accross some puddles. Now Bella is in training for eventing so N was trying to get her to go through the puddles, i figured "hey, since the last time G was SOOO great going through the water let me show you how its done" yeah... i was wrong he was having NONE of THESE puddles they were completely different than the puddles LAST time so after a few minutes i got him to put a foot in the puddle and called it a win and we carried on.

We made it into a big feild right by my barn that was just gorgeous so we did a lot of trotting through the feild G did great he was a little distracted and excited about the new environment and the other horses he could see so we didnt do any canter, if the weather clears up and i can make it out there again today i will DEFINATLY  be cantering him through that feild.

There were lots of puddles and marshy spots still in the feild we continued to walk through the middles of the marshy spots and getting G used to some more water. One spot of the feild (next to trees) i figured we would go through the puddle... well G figured he would rather walk through the dense trees almost knocking me off in the process so he didnt have to get his feet wet.

Silly G... he did great though im so happy its summer and we can get in some more hacks. Fingers crossed the weather clears up so i can get back out into that feild tonight its so relaxing not riding in the arena!!

Happy tails everyone!

well i guess we are jumping......video

When i bought G i bought him to show in dressage but lately there has been jumps in the arena and it takes everything i have to keep him away from the jumps. So last night i figured that we would free jump him and with help from N (she's and Eventer) we set up a jump, now everytime i have free jumped a horse in the past it takes 3-4 people to get the horse going and get it to stay on course.... not G... he tends to follow me in the arena like a puppy so the first time i ran and jumped over the pole with him trotting over it behind me. After that he would round the arena and go over it himself with very little encouragement from us. The one time he didnt quite estimate the distance properly and hit the pole he didnt panic just kept going cool calm and collected. We finished free jumping him with the pole half way up the standard.... sorry as i have said before my "lingo" is attrocious lol.
Anyways here is a video of the last jump we had him do.

So tonight we are going to go out for a nice hack then N is going to start G over fences and teach me a thing or two so i can allow him to jump once a week to break up our dressage training. I definatly cannot ignore his love for jumping so he will get to have one night a week of something fun.

There are a few shows coming up (mostly eventing and hunters) but G and i are going to go to get him used to a show environment and expose him to crowds and the hectic environment of a horse show.

Change of Scenery- Mini + Mare #1

Yesterday my son and i went out to a friends place, she recently purchased a horse and a mini. Shes not an inexperienced horse person for a while her family owned a few horses but i believe she may have over estimated her ability. A few days after purchasing the 2 new animals she had the new Mare out of the feild and was petting her and giving her lots of love, upon trying to put her back inside the pasture the Mare bolted and almost trampled her 2 sons, it took them 45 minutes to catch her and get her back in the yard.

I went out there to work with both the horses because they are getting to the point that if they are not safe then they have to go which is understandable i mean the safety of her children come first. I started with the Mini first, he is a little stallion and she is not sure that she is going to get him gelded because she has not decided if she will use him for a stud or not.

The little Mini is fun, a little pushy when you take him away from "his" mare but once away he is a sweet little boy, he picks his feet up really well, is easy to catch and let the boys brush him out. He was very curious about all the toys in the yard but didnt spook or try to run away. He is in desperate need of a ferrier but that will come with time, i lunged him a little bit and he has the most ADORABLE movement i will take a video next time i am out there.

My son is really good around animals of all sizes he understands what is ok and what is not ok, and when mommy says MOVE IT he moves and gets out of the way. The little Mini was so cuddly and just wanted someone to pet and love him. My friend bought the Mini with hopes that her 2 little boys would soon be able to ride him (the mini is only 2) so i had Ethan get on(with me holding him of course) to see how Mini responded to stuff on his back, no i am not a bad mother i was on his back just before and he didnt offer to buck or anything but i didnt want to put my weight on him either because hes so little and i am so much bigger lol.

This is from a distance but Ethan is on Mini's back, Mini did great he hopped a little bit and circled me but nothing crazy and drastic so i dont think he will take to much work. One thing i did recommend after seeing how worked up Mini gets when around the Mare i said we should try putting Mini in with the 2 Alpacas and see how that affects the attitude of both horses. Mini is NOT happy today he does NOT like those yucky Alpacas.

The Mare on the other hand... she tried being very pushy with me but that is something that i do not tolerate and she was not a big fan of me pushing her back so she started to listen. I put her on a lunge line and she gets the concept and moves beautifully to the right but to the left she just stops dead and bolts the other way. She tried running off with me a few times on the lunge line as well thankfully i was wearing gloves my hands would have been raw after that experience. She was extremely sweaty after about 10 minutes on the lunge so its clear she hasnt been worked in a while, i tied her to a fence post while i grabbed a few other things from my car. She stood tied very well, and i was able to pick her feet and brush her out with her being a completely different horse she was not spooky or aggressive or pushy.

Im going to head out there again next week and see how she is and try to work with both of them a little more. With them seperated now i am hoping my friend will have a little more courage to take each of them out and work with them, brushing then out picking up there feet and asserting dominance. Im excited to start Mare under saddle she is a beautiful mover! But more on them later.

Mind = Blown

Sunday we managed to sneak in a ride before lessons started but unfortunatly not before they started setting up all the jumps. At first there was only a pile of rails in the middle of the arena, G was pretty sure they were going to jump out and attack him so i figured we should take a look so he is ok with them instead he decided to hop over them. As we continued our ride they started setting up more jumps in a specific patter (im not a jumper but i believe it was a "bounce? then a jump?" i have no clue.

Everytime i tried to get G to ignore the jumps stay on the rail and continue to work on out transitions he would get all pumped up and raise his head up like he was just going to give'er.... i was terrified lol so we cut the lesson short and worked on our halts so i could watch some of the jumping lesson. Im pretty sure G would have just hopped over those 3 foot fences with or without me on his back... i might have to start having 1 ride a week were we do some free jumping or cross rails of something to change things up.

Ps- i am just waiting on my registration papers to be mailed out to me. He is officially paid for and is being transfered over to my name. Last step will to become a member of the Canadian Trakehner Society so i can get him rebranded.