Hey, Joan's mom is on TV again! Part of a "Your City" thing and famous people's gravestones in Edmonton.

Well I don't think we have any H1N1 patients yet, but it does seem that there is something going around with lots of kids staying home sick. The horses are liking the break, and I am glad you are choosing to not share your germs, but I hope you all get better soon.

I am planning to get my H1N1 vaccination as soon as the wait times shorten...I think it is a good idea, but wow, is there ever a lot of misinformation out there regarding the vaccine!

On another note...it looks like Beamer will be hanging out with us for a little while longer...his owner is in Cuba enjoying the sun. At the rate he is learning he will be a 1rst level dressage horse by the time he leaves! He is such a clever little horse. I am not sure why arabs tend to have a bad reputation...I love them! Too bad they don't tend to come in 16+ hand versions so I actually fit them well enough to show them in dressage...

All the boarded horses have been dewormed as of today. I have to finish the last two Hillside horses tomorrow. THey aren't that happy with the taste of the Quest Plus...I can't blame them as I managed to taste some too...it is bitter!

Karen

Monthly reminder...

The end of the month is fast approaching, so that means board is due! October was a very expensive month for us, with new shelters needing to be built, as well as round bales being bought and prepaid, so timely payment is especially appreciated this month.

Karen

In my search for a potential lesson horse, I have found some interesting ads:

Luke is a very friendly 3 yr old palomino qh stud, blaze & 4 socks. Hes been saddled, longed, ties well, good for the farrier, and is a very calm horse. Would excel in any direction you take him. Very quiet and well mannered. For sale as an unregistered stud, he is from reg stock but no papers. Luke also has a belly nut so I would not recommend him for any breeding program. Thanks.

A belly nut?!? Took me a while to realize she meant that he has a retained testicle. Poor horse, sounds cute, but not many people are going to want a horse that needs an expensive surgery right off the bat. At least they knew how to spell longed. That has to be one of the most widely misspelled words in horse ads. It can also be "lunged", but people often write it "lounged" as in the horse knows how to lounge....yes, I am sure it does.

Of course if you want spelling errors, then buysell.com is the place to look:

BEAUTIFUL GREAT MOVING 6 YEAR OLD BAYRONE MAIR ROAD ENGLISGH AND WESTERN BY 6 AND 8 YEAR OLD GIRLS WAS SHOWN AS...

Maybe the ad was written by the 6 and 8 year old girls? Actually I think many of the ads are phoned in and typed out by someone who has no clue about horses...or spell check.

Pony Harness For A TeenComplete

I could think of a few teens that should have harnesses....

Horse shopping is so much fun.

Animal Cruelty!

I got a desperate call last night...all I could hear was frantic meows and barking. Thinking it was a crank call I ignored it...a decision that will haunt me and these sad creatures for a long time...

I will make sure to warn Bliss tonight lest there is a costume awaiting her too....

Karen

Surprise!

Anyone that came to the barn last night was in for a few surprises; #1 was the huge truck with the 40 round bales we had been eagerly awaiting. I was nervous buying sight unseen, but it is nice grass hay...just what we want to have for the horses to munch on to stay warm over the winter! #2 was Larry duck sitting at the entrance way acting liked he owned the place. I think his summer home is making him feel he is better than the rest of us. #3 was the new light in the tack room...it is so bright in there that I think it motivated Clare and Amanda to clean their tack!

karen

I have been blog lazy...

I will be deworming horses next week; Hillside horses as well as those of you who signed up for me to deworm your horses. It would be great if all the horses could be dewormed by the end of the month. Remember to use a product that addresses Tapeworms if you are deworming your own.

Amanda came up with a brilliant motivational saying today to cheer up someone whose school team keeps not winning (aka loosing). "Failing gives you the strength to succeed"

??? Huh...I thought failing meant you didn't have the strength to succeed...

But anyway, from this we got the idea of putting together a Hillside motivational calendar with candid photos of horses and students of Hillside...so we need more brilliant sayings; twelve in total.

Things along the lines of:
"Even when you compete against yourself, you can still loose" (we were thinking of a photo of Ri and his 3rd place in a class where he was the only entry...hey it was their first dressage show, give them a break!)

And this one Milo inspired when he went to jump through the opening in the deck door to get into the deck...only to find that Rob had replaced the glass...kitty went head first "thump!" so: "Using your head isn't always the best idea". Not sure of a picture for that though as I don't think throwing Milo at the door would be very ethical...maybe a photo of someone going head first into a jump? Anyone have a photo of that? If not I am sure Tango can help with that...I will just tell a new student to lean at a jump and grease the saddle...

Karen

Duck Wrangling 2009

With the cool weather appearing to be here to stay, it is time again...to bring Larry home. We have a few students, and more than a few horses that have yet to meet Larry, so that should be interesting. I wonder if Larry and Milo will get along better this year?

Remember to not let Larry outside unless you plan to watch him and herd him back into the barn; once caught we don't want him going back across the road until next year as he isn't easy to catch the second time!

Karen

I learned something new yesterday...

For a while now I have been wondering why the leaves on some of the trees have remained green despite the snow and time of year. I guess it is because we had a late spring and an early fall, so the trees didn't get enough "heat units"...or in other words they didn't get enough days of 5 degree or more temperatures. Hopefully this warm break in the weather will be enough to allow the trees to go into dormancy as well as give the horse's a second chance to grow a real winter coat!

Karen

Equine Massage Therapist

I think we are getting Cathy back out to do some body work on Diesel, so if anyone would like their horse assessed/massaged, let me know. I can't recall what the cost was last time...it isn't cheap, but she does good work and it is interesting to watch.

Her website: http://www.w4therapy.com/

Karen

Helping horses in need

An acquaintance of mine has a horse rescue down in Alabama. You can vote for her rescue (or one of your choosing!) at http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3

The votes help allocate available funds to the different rescues.

the rescue I am voting for is Dusty trails horse rescue.

If you look at the new arrivals page, scroll to the bottom...how sad is that little yearling, with the "bed sores" and bony protrusions. There are many sad stories on her page, and Monica looks after all the horses pretty much by herself.

It is a tough situation in the US with high hay prices in many regions, high unemployment, and no "buyer of last resort" with slaughter no longer available in the US, so it is good that there are people like this to help the horses.

I worry that we will see more skinny horses around Edmonton with hay prices what they are this year. I am slightly relieved that our neighbours seem to be feeding their horses hay this year, so hopefully hillside won't have to feed them again this year.

Karen

Arab Empowerment Secret

I don't care that it is only a few degrees below zero...it is freaking cold out! This morning was particularly bad as it was warm enough that the snow was melting on their backs , and then the wind picked up. Poor Beamer seemed cold even after finishing his morning hay so I decided to bring him in first for training. Once in the barn I dried him off and decided it was a good day to try him out in his arab practice costume; basically a cooler that hangs to his knees and has an angled sequined strap to go around his hindquarters...and his full name spelt out in glitter. I figured his outfit would help him to dry and be warmup up quickly.

It took me a bit to figure out if it should go over or under the saddle, so I opted for over the saddle pad and under the saddle.

He lunged well in, so I got on...and he was brilliant! Suddenly straight lines and 20 meter circles at trot were possible! And what a trot...he is a powerful mover. But then...he cantered! Right lead first, and it felt good so we tried for left and he managed to that too. Pretty good for his fifth ride.

Maybe if Michelle sends me tassels for his reins he can learn to stretch out his neck a bit and do lead changes...he just wanted to be recognized as the beautiful arabian he is.

By the time we were done riding, and he had eaten his krunchies, he was all nice and dry, so it seemed a shame to send him back out into the snow and wind, so I decided to put a rain sheet on him, so I looked for a sheet to fit...guess whose fit? Bugsy's old rain sheet...13.1 hand pony mare's rain sheet fit 15.1+ hand arab gelding. He is one compact horse.

Pilgrim is going to have to lope tomorrow to catch up to Beamer...he won't want to fall behind the young whippersnapper!

Karen

A tuesday Parable

I was told a Parable a long time ago, which had appreciable wisdom, and as I age I can see how that same wisdom can transfer to other aspects of being a decent human being. The original Parable is about anger:

"A young family move to the grandparent's farm so the kids can grow up in the clean country air. The grandfather notices the young grandson playing out back with his sister. The boy is making a toy fort, but makes a mistake and takes out his frustration on his younger sister. The grandfather notices the young boy doing this again and again; every time something frustrates the boy, he gets angry with his sister, mother, or father.

One day the grandfather sees the young boy getting mad, so he goes over to him with a bucket of nails and a hammer. He shows the boy a brand new post, and tells the boy that when he is angry, he is to vent his anger by hammering nails into the post. The first time the boy hammers many nails, but as time goes on he is finding he has to do less hammering to feel his anger dissipate, until one day he realizes he is able to control his anger and no longer needs to vent it at someone or by hammering nails in the post.

He excitedly tells his grandfather that it has been two weeks since he last put a nail in the post! Grandfather tells him he is proud of him, and to mark each day that he is not venting his anger, he can pull one nail out of the post to mark the occasion. The grandson finds that taking the nails out takes much longer than putting the nails in, and that it is many months later before the post is free of nails.

The young boy takes his grandfather over to show him how he has removed all the nails from the post as a symbol of being able to control his anger. He is quite proud of himself! The grandfather takes the boy by the shoulder and asks him to look at the post. "I am proud of you for learning to control your anger, but can you see how that even though you removed all the nails from the post it is still not the same post as it was before? It is full of nail holes and no longer is as strong as it was. The same is true of angry outbursts: despite apologies and good intentions you can never completely undo the damage that an angry outburst causes to another person."

This same parable applies also to lying. Even if you apologize for the lie, the damage to the relationship is done, and the level of trust or respect will never be the same. Of course there are different levels of lies; some are "little white lies", some are meant to protect the feelings of another, but most are more selfish. If you stick with my parable, you can think of the small lies as thumb tacks, and the big ones as fencing nails. Even the thumb tack will do damage just not as much.

Kids lie as part of their developmental process, and some people just don't seem to outgrow it. Teenagers are funny in that they often seem to use lying as a power struggle and then act shocked when the adults around them no longer trust them or extend to them the same privileges and respect. The truth is that most lies are found out, and most people can sense dishonesty without knowing the precise lie. Most kids/teenagers lack the ability to keep a lie straight anyway.

Plus, even if the lie is never found out, it will still damage the relationship as there will be this guilt between you and the person you lied to.

Occassionally you know someone is lying to you, but they don't know you know. In these cases it can be fun to run with the lie and torture them until they confess.

One of our boarders is having big trouble with a coworker who is regularly lying about work related matters...things easily found out. Makes no sense and jeopardizes the company and other employees as well as customers. Why she is lying is unclear...it seems like it is to make the lives of those around her difficult.

Some lies are meant to spare feelings, but usually tact is the better way to go in the long run.

Some lies are done so someone can get their own way despite what is in their (or others) best interests...such as lying so they can go to a party or so they can avoid studying for an exam their parents don't know about. These lies are stupid as they usually just end up hurting the liar as well as damaging the trust.

People lie to avoid awkwardness (grow up), or to avoid jail. Some people lie to avoid conflict or out of fear; this kind of lie reflects badly on both parties.

And people lie to show someone else up...kind of a power struggle. Bad kind of lie.

And that is my lesson in morality for the month... anyone have anything they think they should tell me?

Karen

Thanksgiving

Either I have been raking the arena in my sleep or Amanda once again did it for me...thanks Amanda!

Rob and I went for Turkey dinner last night at my parents house. Our traditional Thanksgiving dinner means Turkey with stuffing, gravy, cranberries, mashed potatoes, Yams with Apricots and Pecans (YUMMY), buns, green beans and the dreaded mini cabbage looking things whose name escapes me right now.

I like to coat half my turkey in the sauce from the Yams and the other half in cranberries.

Mike and Ginger came along and were very well behaved earning them some Turkey. I completely forgot to bring some home for the cats though!

Things to be Thankful for this year:
My Dad's health seems to be improving and hopefully the doctors have come up with a solution. Mom is still doing great. Robs parents are doing well too, and their health seems improved from last year. I am thankful for a great bunch of boarders, lesson students and friends. I am thankful for my horses and for having a warm place to ride them this winter. I am thankful for the outdoor arena and for how many days we were able to use it this year! I am thankful for having a husband who likes the horses and is skilled and motivated to build things like an indoor arena and to repair the shelters and fencing the wind (and the horses) seems determined to destroy.

Karen

If we are so smart...

It humans are the smarter half of the horse/rider partnership, why is it that we are so quick to get after and/or punish our horses for dropping a shoulder, or being slow with a transition, yet we seem so quick to forgive ourselves for a forgotten half halt, a dropped shoulder or a tipped pelvis?

Karen

Boaders are like Cockroaches

One goes, and five more are there to take their place!



Our good friend Sailor came back for the winter, and a gorgeous warmblood filly named Tia also arrived. Someone needs to tell Tia to grow a winter coat!



Still a couple more horses to come in the beginning of November and then we will be very much full, with one very nice sounding lady and her new horse on our waiting list...so you boarders better watch your step and scoop your poop...you are replaceable!



Just kidding...I love you all and would be sad to see any of you go!



And now on a lighter note:


I am not sure who made this, but it wasn't me, so don't give me the credit! Maybe I should come up with a dressage version though...

Karen

So how many of you woke up today and though "wow, this would be a great day to do some work outside! Perhaps some post pounding!" And then realized with profound regret that you had to go to work, and so couldn't enjoy the winter wonderland outside.

No one?

Just my husband?

I think about half the post pounding we have ever done has been in the snow...it sure brings back memories of when we built the place and we were working hard to get the fencing up for boarders to be able to come for December!

Today Rob put some new posts out back so horses can go out there in November, and in the geldings field so we can put in some gates between paddocks. Watch...as soon as we get the new fencing done, and the shelters built the weather will warm up again...

Karen

Boobies

Did you know that October is Breast Cancer awareness month? I thought all summer was breast cancer awareness month as it seems to be featured on so many campaigns and fundraisers and pink ribbons are everywhere. Why is it that breast cancer gets so much publicity? You would think that breast cancer was the leading cancer in Canada, yet it is number 3 for new cases, and number 2 for deaths (in Canada). Do you know what number one is for new cases and for deaths? Anyone? Anyone at all?

If you guessed lung cancer you would be half right; lung cancer is number two for new cases and by far number one for deaths...so smokers PAY attention! Lung cancer is by FAR the most likely cancer to KILL you, yet people aren't as keen to raise money for it...there is no yellow stained ribbon on sale for lung cancer.

Number one for new cases though is prostate cancer. A cancer that only affects men. A cancer that is hard to self diagnose, although a blood test (PSA test) may help with early diagnoses...but you have to pay for it....although I don't think it is expensive. You would think the number ONE cancer in Canada would get more publicity, research and testing.

Another serious cancer in Canada? Colorectal cancer; a cancer that is evenly spread between men and women, and that is estimated to have almost as many new cases as there will be breast cancer, and almost double the deaths...but no brown ribbons for colorectal cancer.

So why is it that breast cancer gets so many more fund raisers and so much more publicity?

Is it because it seems like one of the more treatable/hopeful cancers, with the possibility of curing patients more likely? Everyone likes to back a winner...

Or is it because everyone likes boobies?

Is it human nature to want to save the women over the men? (Breast Cancer is the number 2 killer of women in Canada after lung cancer)

Or is it that the people that have the other types of cancer would rather not talk about it? That I can get too.

I personally would rather have a colon and lungs than a boob....and I am sure Rob would prefer a prostate, lungs and a colon over boobs too (they estimate 50 men will die of breast cancer in 2009 in Canada). Plus boobs can be rebuilt...not sure if the other three organs can be.

Perhaps the colon and prostate people need to come up with a cute mascot for their cause...so people won't feel they need to think about the body part itself.

We can have Colin Colon and Prostate Pete! And they can have large chested girl friends! That will get attention...it always comes back to the boobs.

Karen

It may come as a suprise to you...

But the roads are a tad on the icey side...

The first snow fall of winter always seems to bring out the most accidents. I don't think it is only because we aren't used to driving in the snow, I think it is also because the roads are still so warm that the snow hits them and causes a layer of water and ice. On our way back home today we witnessed a truck pulling a small trailer fishtailing; its trailer got caught in the berm and spun the truck around before the two parted company. I was amazed the fellow kept as much control of his truck as he did. Fortunately the big trucks that were behind him were able to stop in time to avoid a casualty.

I imagine it will only get worse as the temperature drops for the night and the water on the road freezes under the still falling snow, so if anyone feels unsafe coming out tonight, make up lessons are available on Saturday or next Wednesday at 7....just let me know.

Also ....
This is my one hundreth blog post! go me!

Karen

New Freestyles!

So I am determined to do better at Freestyle next year, and Equine Canada is helping! They have new guidelines for what is allowed and not allowed that will be written right on the tests. I think Clare should also do a Freestyle with Sunny or with Whisper. These clearly set up rules and allowed movements would have been nice to know this year! I think I have my test planned for next year...I am going for a much higher difficulty so lots of work this winter.

karen