Miss Dolly

I have some new news. I've decided to put Miss Dolly up for sale. She's getting older and wont be able to handle as many beginners as she has in the past. I wanted to make sure I wrote a blog about it so that my students can read about it before they see a classified ad.

Dolly is a great sweet girl but she isn't going to be able to work the same because she is just getting older. I put a weight limit on her last year of 130, I currently weight 150 (I know I know). This year I dropped her limit down to 100 pounds so it just isn't fair for me to ride her. Typically most horses will need tune ups every once and a while. Dolly is no exception, last year I had to ride her twice (just for things like popping her shoulder around corners or sloppy transitions). This happens to almost every horse who is ridden consistently by beginners. They just need a refresher once and a while to remember what is what. This year I will not be able to ride her at all so if she does need this little refresher I will have to find someone else to do it.

I have thought long and hard about this but I think she'll be much happier with just one rider who can love her and ride her often. I am also going to be very selective and picky about who she is sold to. I do not want her to send up at an auction or sale so I will do everything in my power to find her the perfect owner. (in other words she may remain here for quite some time haha!)

I know everyone is going to miss her but I know she will have a much nicer retirement (or semi-retirement) elsewhere. I will be keeping my eyes open for another beginner horse so that Peanut isn't swamped this year. But we will have Akasha and Zeus in lessons shortly, and of course Eddy for the more advanced students.

If anyone has any concerns about Dolly please feel free to talk to me. I know what it's like when your instructor sells the horse you've learned to ride on, it can be really hard, so please don't feel shy, come talk to me. Dolly's been very good to us the past few years she's only had two students fall off during her entire stay! I wish Dolly a happy future, thanks girlie!

Nelson Bilyea

For those who aren't aware there was a tragic fire in the area at Nelson's barn. He lost many horses including his wonderful stud Ginnin Cowboy. My heart goes out to Nelson and also to Kathy his wife who lost her beautiful mare as well.
I sincerely hope that this wasn't a fire set by someone. Everyone is thinking it but no one wants to say anything, and I don't blame you, it's too awful to think of.

I used to work for Nelson, just mucking stalls when I was younger. Once I remember Ginnin Cowboy getting cast in his stall and being completely upside down. He thrashed around a bit then just stayed put and glared at me to go get help. I ran up to the house but no one was there so I called my father and waited for him. I was younger and was told strictly not to touch the stallions, insurance just doesn't cover that lol! Once my dad came (to spot me - he knows absolutely nothing about horses..no offence pa)I went into his stall and pulled his tail so he away from the wall enough to turn over and get up. The look on that horses face when he got up was so funny, if he had been a person he would have smacked me for taking so long to come to his rescue. This horse was a beautiful athletic horse who made for a great stud, hopefully he will live on through his foals.

Nelson and his family are great people and I just wanted to say that there is a silent auction, and dinner/dance coming up (I'll get the facts posted of when and where when I know) and if you'd like to support him and get him back on his way this would be a great way to do it.

Our pony club is doing great and I will be organizing a fire safety meeting for sometime next month, parents are welcome as well as friends and neighbours, as you are welcome to any other meeting. The fire safety meeting will help us to learn how to prevent fires, and to learn how easily they can be started. I'm currently in the process of getting a guest speaker from the fire station.

The unimaginable can happen, and I am deeply sorry that it happened to such great people and great horses.

This is April??

April means spring, warmth and sunshine.... It doesn't mean locking the old horse inside because she's shivering! Poor Dolly has shed out most of her winter coat already, which isn't a whole lot since she is a thoroughbred.
It's not too bad though she at least is keeping Zeus company while he's on stall rest for a few weeks.

Hopefully this cold weather doesn't last a few weeks though! I want summer now!!

Anyone want to move to Georgia with me?

Courage

I finally got enough courage up to ride bridleless.
The second I got on I had to convince myself that I really wanted to do it. I hopped on Peanut who has never gone bridleless. Peanut is generally a very hard horse to stop with a bridle and can be spooky when it's windy..and of course today was the most windy day we've had in a long time....

Peanut was amazing though he was very excited and a little bit confused about it at first but he caught on so fast within a few minutes we were walking and trotting both ways and doing circles and STOPPING!

He stopped without a fuss within a few strides.

I figured having worked for Tommie I would have gotten this courage up a bit sooner but it's funny how things work. I'm glad I finally did it and I think listening to one of Lizzy Traband's demos really sunk in with me. She was very certain that if the horse has done it's lateral work under saddle then going bridleless wont be a big deal, most of the audience didn't believe her and were very skeptical but she's very right. Thanks Lizzy!

The Can-Am

The Can-Am went super! I worked for Tommie for the last time (well for now anyways who knows what the future is going to be like I might end up going back to train with him again). The big show at the end of each night went very great we had great audiences and on Saturday the place was just packed!

I have so much more respect for Tommie then I ever did. He really is a truly amazing performer. When something goes wrong in his act the audience never has to know, he's so quick to change the act to make it look like everything is still on track. Most of the time when he improvises the act becomes even better! If I ever have the guts to put together an act like his I hope I'm at least half as good!

Back at home things are going really great we're working on getting Dolly back into lessons and so far Peanut has been taking on the work load. We'll have Eddy back in a week or so and Zeus and Akasha will join the lessons when their training is up to par and we have saddles to fit everyone (always the biggest challenge). Sometimes I wish I was western so I could just buy a general saddle and stuff a huge saddle pad under it and never have to worry about fit.

Another note..I've totally gotten into horse "bling" I never thought I'd say this but sparkles and diamonds really make my horses butt look bigger! I love it! Peanut has a brow band with metal squares all along it, very flashy. Akasha as one with little crystals in it. Zeus has a bridle with braided brow and nose band, with white padding underneath. It is going to look awesome on him. Next step is getting the gang out to some shows!

Zeus Is Here!!

My new horse has arrived!! Zeus has settled into the shed run in and seems to be very happy. Rudy realized there was someone new right away and barked at him for a good 5 minutes, no doubt to fill him in on the rules of how this place is run (ha!). The other horses didn't even notice him and were too busy waiting for their hay at the other end of the field. I'm sure they'll find him soon though! I just hope we don't find Akasha in his pen tomorrow morning, knowing her she will find a way through the electric and under the wooden posts and into the other pen. She's crafty!

I'm dying to ride him already but I think we'll have to wait for a saddle that fits, he's got a fairly broad back a lot like Little Kay's so maybe he'll fit into Eddy's saddle but for now we'll have to wait and see.

It's March!!

Which means warm weather may be on the way! I'm very excited for when we can actually ride and for when lessons can start up again. I'm very busy organizing horse camps and a horse club. There is a lot of planning to go into these two big projects, as well as cleaning up in the barn. I'm working on putting in a class room for the club meetings and for big theory lessons or discussions.

Today I had a driving lesson in preparation for tomorrow which is my final driving test, this is great. If I pass this my car insurance will start to go down and it will just feel good to have my full licence.

I still have my two saddles for sale if anyone is interested, one is a HDR and the other is a Lancer. Both are in good shape but the HDR is basically new. I know the industry is bad right now but these saddles are of good quality and should have been snatched up a long time ago!

Today I am going to work with the horses. I haven't decided what we'll do yet as the ring is still covered in ice. Today is warmer so hopefully some of it will melt but for today I might take Peanut around the race track, I think he'd behave for that but I'd have really liked to do a bit of ring work before hitting the wide open spaces. Akasha loves going on walks but would rather gallop the whole way so she'll have to just wait for the ring to be safe before she gets to go anywhere. Dolly is the same way only she is just barn sour, I don't worry about her though she's happy in the ring so that's where she can stay.

If anyone is looking to watch some cute videos check out panzita0 on youtube. I've got two very cute videos. One of Eddy being ridden a few weeks ago and another of the girls misbehaving on the lunge line because they are super hyper from lack of work!

Well I'm out for now.
Jenni