October 1!

So...the first of the month is upon us.

And with it the start of cold weather by the sounds of it!

Board is due today too.

Our last horse show of the year was this past weekend. It was interesting. Java was very good and was Open 2'9" champion with Lindsay. Warrior was very good on day one, but tired by day two. Justice owned the warm up ring...but had a bit of performance anxiety in the actual show ring. Mags warmed up great...but could not focus on his dressage between two jumping rings!

Also at the show was S'Argent! He looked great, and he sure went to the right home..his new owner is a very good rider. S'Argent is still a difficult horse, and in his first class he balked at the far end with a mini tantrum...but after that class his rider sent him in at a full out gallop for a lap...and then he was a very good boy who just needs to learn to at the jumps a bit more. It felt good to see him succeeding and I think he landed at the perfect home.

On a  saddish not, Spencer left yesterday :( He went back to his former home, so I am pretty confident he went to a good home which was important to all concerned as he was a good horse, just not the right horse.

I am planning to start moving the geldings around a bit into their "winter" pens. The paddock chart will be kept up to date in case you need help finding your horse ;) Lesson students also keep in mind Zander is on vacation for a while, so if you normally ride him check the board for your replacement horse!

Karen

TTeam Clinic anyone?

I am in the process of organizing a clinic with Sue Falkner-March for December 1-2, 2012.

Both Michelle and I have ridden under Sue at the Mane Event Expo in Red Deer and greatly benefited from the experience. Sue is a TTouch practitioner based out of Canmore, Alberta.

The clinic format is still under discussion, but will likely start with off horse exercises focusing on body awareness and skills that can be practiced off horse but that will translate to ridden work. We may then have some Connected or TTeam Ground work if there is interest in this, followed by ridden work in small groups (2-4 riders). Participants will ride both days. There may be some spots for non-riders to just take part in the off horse body awareness work and/or the ground work only.

Please talk to me if you have any questions or think you may be interested. I will be posting an information and sign up sheet in the barn soon.

The clinic will be limited to 10 riders, and I am not sure how many unmounted participants. Spectators will be welcome (encouraged!) Cost of spectating will be snacks, I will have other costs formulated once we have the schedule figured out.

Karen

Pictures from Heads-Up Horse show.

If you get a weird email from me...

Don't open any emails with links sent by my hotmail account unless the text sounds like me of course.

My email was hacked and a link with phishing sites sent out. Rob has resolved the issue.

I do try to only send emails with good subject lines, and post interesting links here on the blog rather than through email.

Karen

Zander's Sister!

Somebody should buy her...
Zander's Little Sister

When Autocorrect meets horse ads...

Posted on Kijiji:

"Saddle Bread"

"6 year old saddle bread , green broke . Has been to the mountains a. Purple times , ridden down hwy, easy to catch . Needs work on raining and likes to back up , no buck , no kick good boy needs someone with good training experience. Will be a really amazing guy with the right trainer . His name is zar "

Thankyou cup cake fairy...

I would like to thank the cupcake Fairy that arrived Saturday night. The cupcakes were yummy. Rob had the chocolate one and I had the cream cheese icing one.

Is it odd that I assume random food left in the barn is 1) meant  for me, and 2) safe?

I am just surprised the kitten didn't find them...

Speaking of the kitten, last week Clare and I were discussing how much she resembles the girl cat in the Pepe Le Pew cartoon...the black cat that gets a paint stripe down her back so Pepe thinks she is a girl skunk? Well, in a moment of real life imitating art, it seems that little black kitten HAS actually managed to get a stripe down her tail (albeit it is light green paint), and last night Rob found a SKUNK hanging around our deck...

This week in lessons we are working on building leg strength, and on keeping horses straight both on the flat and in between jumps.

A big area of concern for straightness is the corners; if you look at the track that gets worn into the ends, they are rounded, with very little straightness, which tells me that riders are letting the wall to the work of their legs and outside rein, and the horse is taking the easier way to corner rather than using its inside hind to create a tidy turn.

We want the horse straight, meaning its hind end follows the path of its shoulders, as this helps the horse stay evenly engaged allowing for more powerful and correct take off spots, lengthening, and transitions. As part of this we will also work on assessing rider straightness and even balance between left and right sides. Having a rider that is crooked or unbalanced will require the horse to compensate by being crooked themselves!

We are also going to do some work on lateral suppleness, as a horse cannot be straight if it has tension in its body and is not supple through its pole and back. Lateral suppleness means side to side suppleness, and should not be confused with bend; suppleness is much more simple and just means the horse gives to the side with whichever part of the body you are working to supple...bend requires the horse to be evenly supple from nose to tail.

The fall schedule is more or less final; I would like to ask that boarders/lease riders try to avoid the 6:30 on Tuesday time slot, as well as the 5:30 on Wednesday time. If you do ride during these times you MUST stay out of the way of the lessons and ride in an appropriate manner to not disrupt the lesson or intimidate the lesson students.

Please check the bulletin board for other updates and information as I will be posting a few things throughout the week. Also be sure to read the Health Warning that Laureen kindly brought to the barn!

Karen

New Lesson Schedule

The new lesson schedule is posted in the barn; hopefully boarders can try to avoid the busier times (6:30 on Tuesday and Thursday), as there are a lot of quiet/open times.

I am going to add a "Ladies" night lesson on Tuesday at 6:30. It will be open to anyone old enough to have paid rent, a mortgage or give birth. This lesson will vary; sometimes it will be a regular lesson, sometimes it will include some "theory" or ground work as well as riding.

There will be some Saturdays this month where we will be showing, so Saturday riders will have to find another day to lesson. The 8th, 22nd, and 29th are the days that will likely be cancelled...but if you think you may want to show next year, it is a great idea to try to go watch these shows so you get an idea of what they are about before you compete yourself.

Also planning on giving Zander the first two weeks of October off. If you regularly ride Zander be prepared to ride someone else...who knows, you may find a horse you prefer!

Lessons have moved to the indoor for the most part now; it gets too cold and dark later in the day and I am a wuss.

Karen