Update.

Sorry for the long absence for blogging, but I have been working on the NEW Hillside website. The new website is a little more simple, but I am hoping it will be more user friendly for people using smaller devices to search the web, and easier for me to update. I am still looking for photos to use, so if you have any you would like to share, email them to me at info@hillsidestable.ca

Let me know if you have trouble with the website, or have any suggestions. It is still a work in progress as I wanted to see how it would look "live" before putting on the finishing touches.

This new site will also be host to the blog (link on left side).

Also wanted to note that we will be having the Hillside Christmas party on Sunday December 14th, at 1pm. As usual it will be a potluck, with people encouraged to bring whatever they want. Hillside will provide cutlery, plates and beverages. It will also include a gift exchange thingy...where you pick a number and then pick a wrapped gift or pick something someone already unwrapped....you know what I am talking about right? $30 limit, does not have to be horse related, and friends/family can be involved. More details will be posted in the barn! Friends of Hillside welcome!

Karen

Kitten D Mitten and "Toothless" Spock (and a mouse...he was not eaten)

No...you aren't seeing things...

If you see what looks like a new Kitten, you aren't seeing things. In honour of Halloween month, we have adopted a new black kitty. His name is Spock and he is ADORABLE. He is currently spending most of his time in the house, but I think he is destined to share his time with the barn. He loves attention...and food...so keep any edibles safely out of his reach if you don't want them taken!

Spock was first seen by Janine when she was out back riding Duncan. Spock was following her and meowing. We assumed it was the neighbour's kitty. Then he followed Jessie and Amigo back to the barn...and he has been here ever since.  Originally he was staying with our neighbours, but once we brought him in to our house to hold on to him before his vet visit it became apparent that he belongs as a house cat (he loves youtube). He is now neutered and vaccinated, but still trying to fit in with the existing kitties. I had originally planned to find him a home, but I think he is here to stay.

Karen

Enjoying the last days of summer.

Such a lovely September so far! To enjoy it, and to have a maiden voyage for the new trailer, Laureen (Shawn), Janine (Duncan), Margie (Friday) and I (Izzy) took off to the Blackfoot nature reserve for some trail riding!

Our intrepid team covered 12 km, with Duncan in the lead for most of the ride (yes, we were all shocked). Izzy was a prancing, foaming mess for the first 30 minutes or so, but then was a pretty decent mount...as long as she wasn't out in front (OMG a LOG). Friday thought it was a timed event, and Shawn seemed to be happy to be included.

The weekend!

Had a great time on the weekend! What lovely weather for horse stuff: On Saturday, Rob and I went to the Delaney Vet Services open house. I really enjoyed watching the Mounted Troops do their musical ride...in particular I liked the "tent pegging" at the end! If I wasn't sure I would stab myself or the horse with the lance/sword while mounting or dismounting I would love to try it! It seems Rob and I both got door prizes too...ironically we both got the same prize: hay cubes! I am sure the horses won't complain though.

On Sunday I spent the day judging an Open show for the Colchester Ag Society. Great weather, albeit a little windy and my hat kept wanting to blow off. Thanks to Sara for coming last minute to be ring master and scribe for the western dressage. Lots of riders at the show: over 70! Made for some chaotic moments, but overall went very well and they always seem to run a smooth show.

This week in lessons we will likely be inside as the sun is setting so early. I still need to come up with a lesson plan though! I miss being outside already...

Karen

Delaney open house this Saturday!

Reminder that the Delaney Vet Services has an open house this Saturday from noon until 4 pm.

Schedule of events:

Delaney Veterinary Services Ltd.

If you are planning on attending our annual open house this Saturday, here is a schedule of events to help you plan what time to come. With door prize draws throughout the day and Taco in a bag as our feature food again because it was such a hit last year.

12:00 -Open house start time
12:30 -Myoplast information sessi...on by Boehringer
1:00 -1st Door prize draw
1:00 -Wagon rides by long riders begin (ends at 3:00)
1:30 -Equine insurance talk by Greg Knox of Taylor Made Insurance
2:00 - 2nd Door prize draw
2:00 Strathcona Mounted Troops musical ride
2:30 -Horse Legality talk by Lawyer Carol Robinson
3:00 -3rd Door prize draw
3:00 -Prascend & Cushings disease info session by Boehringer
3:30 -Mounted shooting demonstration
4:00 -Final door prize draw

 

Karen

MLM Horse show!

 

Thank you Rob for taking pictures! It was a weekend of firsts for Team Hillside! Dani and Friday had their first show experience, as did Margie and Roberta! All three horses came home with ribbons including a first for Shawn and Roberta! It was a great show, with more entries than I expected. The weather was lovely, and as usual, the group at Mapleleaf Meadows made sure we had a good experience.

 

Friday settled down pretty quickly, although he was a little extra springy for Margie's first two classes. The ribbon presentation was traumatic too! By their later classes he seemed more relaxed and was happy to nap by the edge of the ring.

 

Dani was scandalized by the ponies, and thought the little black and white pinto was an abomination that needed close watch. I am sure that is the most horses she has ever seen in one place!

 

Shawn seemed thrilled to be on display and was much perkier and responsive than his usual self.

 

It was lots of fun and a good experience all around. Thanks also to Janine for coming to cheer us on, and Laureen for bringing Shawn.

 

Karen

This week in lessons

Supposed to be a hot beginning to the week! Still planning to have jumping outside, but if it is too hot, we can warm up inside, and then come out just to jump. Either way, I recommend bringing a bottle of water to stay hydrated!

Going to work more on landing leads over jumps, and on canter to walk transitions.

Remember when trying to land a lead over a jump, you must have control of the horse's shoulder on the approach, so that they can push off squarely with both hinds and the jump. This makes it easier for them to switch leads in the air. Then, as they are taking off, the rider must look in the direction they wish to go on the land, open that rein, and put weight in the opposite stirrup.

Outside, I will have a jumper course set up so we can practice landing the lead with more obvious turns.

Karen

Wall of Shame

When we were at Maple Leaf Meadows I saw they had a "Wall of Shame" where they listed clients that had apparently broken the rule of not sweeping up after themselves.

If we had a "Wall of Shame" at Hillside, I would use it differently:

THE HILLSIDE WALL OF SHAME:
           - Java: for not wanting to be caught on the hottest day of the year.
           - Rocket: for ripping his expensive new fly sheet in the first week of wearing it.
           - Charlie: for leaving a mouse bum in the arena.
           - Phelps: for digging hoof trimmings out of the manure pile, eating them, and then throwing them up in the living room at 2 am.

What a lot of rain over the weekend! Over 2 inches of rain fell on Hillside over the weekend! The week is supposed to be sunny though, so hopefully the outdoor has a chance to dry.

Stephanie, Roman and I went to the Maple Leaf show on Saturday, and they too were hit by the heavy rains the night before. Fortunately they were able to move the classes to the indoor arena rather than cancel, and we had a good show with nice weather during the day. I look forward to returning there in August for their development show which I am hoping with be Dani's debut!

This week in lessons we are going to work some more on counter canter and also on lead changes. Being able to do a correct counter canter helps the horse learn to balance at the canter, so the horse can do its lead change in one piece rather than changing in front first like they tend to do.

For jumping we are going to work on finding the correct approach to diagonal fences. Turning too early remains an issue for many riders, and this nicely ties in to the lead changes: much easier to have a nice corner, or even get the change in the air, with a proper approach to the jump!

Karen

This week in lessons

It looks like an other annoying weather week meaning I have to have jumps set both inside and out....hopefully not though! Really enjoying the sun today and yesterday. For fun I decided to put Izzy over a few of the jumps...I have jumped her in the past over ankle high jumps, but this was her first time over something higher than her knees. She definitely has a unique jumping style: head down, body way up and over! Not sure what her knees where doing, but it didn't feel all that pretty. Still, likely good for her fitness and to help her work off her big belly.

This week in lessons we are going to work on diagonal jumps. How to find the proper approach in order to get the horse to the jump straight/perpendicular. We will also be doing a two stride combination if we are outside. Assessing which lead you are on will also continue to be a priority.

The easiest way I find to feel or even see the leads, is just to focus on the order of the footfalls. When a horse is on the left lead, they go right hind, diagonal pair, left front. So to know you are on the left lead, just feel the rhythm of the canter, and make sure it is the left front leg that is the last one to hit the ground. Usually on the left lead you will also feel your weight pushed more to your right leg, so your left leg will feel less steady.

Picture of Izzy from the last show

Linda Finstead from Sharper Images took some lovely photos of Izzy at the Arabian show in Ponoka! I ordered a few and will have to frame them and put at least one in the barn. This is the only one I bought the digital rights to though. This was our first dressage class (first level test: we are doing a 10 meter half circle at the start of the test).

 

 

This week in lessons

Well the Killerney show was fun with nice weather, but it was much bigger than I expected with over a hundred entrants on the Sunday! I was expecting to be home by 2pm, but we didn't roll home until after four!

Our next show is Maple Leaf the first weekend in July. Jumping on Saturday and dressage on Sunday. Let me know ASAP if you want to attend!

This week in lessons I am really hoping we can be outside! Janine helped me build a course today, and we will be working on adjusting strides and on getting in corners.

At the show they had some mud at the one end, so the jumps were all kind of squished at the top end so not a lot of room in the corners. The horses could see the approaching fence line and reacted by dropping a shoulder and turning early...which of course made getting on the correct lead and getting a good approach to the next jump difficult!

Karen

After last weekends somewhat demoralizing horse show, I wasn't all that sure I wanted to go to a show again so soon, but I am glad I did. I had a GREAT time at the Aurora Arabian show in Ponoka. People were so friendly and helpful when they realized I was new to the circuit.

Izzy wasn't so sure about the first day. We got there mid afternoon, with our class running after the supper break. I took her for lots of walks for grass to try to convince her that showing is fun...she is a great dandelion hunter. Then we warmed up in the main ring during the supper break. We were in there with western horses, saddleseat horses and other horses preparing for the sport horse classes....poor Izzy did NOT like that ring. She didn't like the people in the stands, the "play pen" they had set up in the middle, or the man sweeping the stands. There was threats of rearing and tantrums...but she eventually seemed reasonable, and by the time of our class she went pretty good...only falling apart when one horse in the class started to buck, setting off a second horse and then Izzy. The class was quite big with over 20 horses, but it was a fun experience.

Day two was the dressage classes, running in the afternoon. The class was kind of in a far corner of the show grounds in a made last minute show ring...and I think that worked well for us. Aside from bolting when the judge blew the start whistle, and spooking at the show photographer, she did SO much better than the last show, with both our tests scoring above 60% and a second and a fifth.

I am sure most of the improvement came because it was a more relaxed atmosphere, but I had also switched her from my super expensive KK Ultra snaffle, to a simple eggbutt snaffle I have owned for close to 30 years...ungrateful horse seems to vastly prefer this simple bit! Maybe she also liked being around her kin.

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It looks  like there is a lot of rain in the forecast, but hoping to start getting horses out on grass this week.

For lessons, not sure if we will be stuck in the indoor again or not...I hope not! Keen to be back outside. If inside we will do some more precision type courses, with jumps coming up quickly and poles to make sure you keep the horse balanced and attentive. We will also do a little more counter canter work, and trying to feel the lead we are on when jumping.

Karen

This week in lessons

Well we needed rain, but I was hoping it would be on non-lesson days and happen all at once rather than all week, but it looks like it is going to be a wet week and we will be stuck inside again. So for this week we are going to do some controlled work combining flat work and jumping.

I want to work on some bending exercises, and changing bend at the trot while maintaining the trot. We are going to do some leg yielding at the canter, and some mild counter canter loops. For jumping there will be some controlled bending lines to work on changing bend over fences, looking for the turns over fences, and keeping/getting the horses straight out of a bend. We will also be doing a fence on an angle which requires the rider to really hold the horse straight between leg and hand.

Remember, no lessons on Saturday!

Karen

this week in lessons

Today is the only day I think we might be stuck inside, but the rest of the week looks great! I don't really want to build a full course in both rings, so if we are inside tonight I will keep the lesson simple.

I think we will work on counting 3-2-1 to the jumps. Not just counting down to the jump, but also thinking about how our position changes as we approach the jump. We will also do some tighter turns, focusing on seeing our distance (counting down) as we approach on an arc as well as making sure we still meet the jump at a perpendicular angle.

There may also be some leg yielding, as making sure a horse is listening laterally to leg aids really helps be able to control the arc and keep the horse from collapsing in or bulging out.

See you soon!

Karen

this week in lessons

This week in lessons I am hoping to teach all classes outside! Thursday and Saturday seem iffy though, but fingers crossed. It has been nice so far, and the horses seem happy to be in the larger ring and fresh air!

I kept the course simple with no related distances as I expected more naughtiness, but the horses so far seem to be staying focused. We have a serpentine to trot and then jump, and a simple course. Keeping the horses and riders turning and bending was meant to help keep the horses from getting stiff and strong, and to keep their focus on the exercise rather than giving them time to look around the countryside.

Karen

More Adventures in horse shopping

Went to look at another horse yesterday. Sounded ideal in the ad: experience western & English. Trail ridden and jumped by a child. Cute, registered and a decent price. Useless pictures and no video, but close enough to be worth going to see.

So we pull up at the facility, and my first thought is that this place is way to chaotic for me to want to try out a horse! Children everywhere. On big horses in the dirt arena (gymkhana night apparently), running around playing, on horses in the pens....everywhere. It was like an after school care with horses program.

We manage to locate the horse and owner quickly, and it seemed odd, but the horse was already saddled, yet not really well groomed...still had little bits of "stuff" on its neck and back. Usually this is for a reason, and sure enough, when I felt under the saddle pad, she was thin. Not rack of bones thin like the one Rhiannon looked at, but definitely had no extra fat either. Seller's answer? "They all are". No idea what that means. Still, cute horse, albeit finer than I expected.

Seller led horse to the indoor which we hoped was quieter than the crazy outdoor, albeit very small. Unfortunately there were two more small children on big horses careening around what was pretty much large round pen, stirring up an insane amount of dust. You could literally hardly see the horses! Fortunately the children were willing to head outside so we could have the space to ourselves and the dust could settle a little.

Unfortunately, as those horses left and the seller started to pull down stirrups and such, the little mare leapt forward and spun around. She got a little better, but remained jumpy and spooky for the time the seller rode, and the seller couldn't really get her to canter. It hardly seemed like a horse that was being jumped by a young child! Still, the horse wasn't looking dangerous, and I kind of  wanted to see how Jessie would look on such a refined horse, so she went to get her helmet.

Meanwhile one of the young riders came back to the arena to see if we were done:
"Are you riding Princess now?"

                            "Princess is actually my horse."

" Keyanna used to ride Princess but just couldn't stay on her. I don't know why, but she just kept coming off."

                             "Oh" (subtitle would read "please just go away and shut up little kid!)

I said nothing.

At that point Jessie came back with her helmet, and went to get on Princess, but again she went nutty, so we opted to not bother. I then filled Jessie in with what the little girl had said...out of the mouths of babes comes the truth! To be fair I don't know if the owner knew the kid that was jumping her was coming off her regularly, but her single syllable response made me think yes.

Sad thing is I think this was actually a nice horse, who at one point was a kind horse, but just couldn't handle her current environment and lost it. While the seller had been riding I had been standing just outside the door to avoid the dust and was half watching the "lesson" in the outdoor. It made me cringe on so many levels. Kids with toes down just hanging on by the safety of the big western saddle, yanking their mount around by the curb bits in their mouths. Cantering around with only semi control, likely kept safe mostly by the small confines of the arena. I don't imagine the jumping lessons were much more safety orientated.

I can see why the place was popular with parents though: just kids having fun on horses or running around, but I don't think the horses were having much fun. None of the kids looked mean or anything, just cruel through ignorance.

Still, I have to wonder...where did they find all those saintly big horses?

On to the next one!

Karen

This week in lessons

I keep hoping that we will be able to move outside for lessons, but it looks like nature has other plans...hopefully soon though! Alberta weather is such a tease.

Meanwhile I am being tortured by a Robin that is attacking our house from 5:25am until nightfall. Thunk thunk thunk. This is the reason for the garbage bag décor in front of the house. Sadly it just finds a different window. At least the cats are entertained as indicated for the window screens pulled off the windows, however I am sleep deprived. Robin stew anyone?

For lessons this week we are going to do some work on leg position both on the flat and over fences. We want the heals stretched down, with the heel below the hip. The inside of the entire leg should drape along the horse's side. The leg should be secure regardless of what your body is doing.

We will do bounces and one strides to help work on this, and some of you may find your stirrups tied to the girth to help you feel where your leg should be. We may also play with stirrup length as I think some riders might be helped by a shorter stirrup over fences.

Karen

This week in lessons...

Sadly, but hopefully not surprisingly, it will likely be too muddy to lesson outside still, so we will remain indoors. It is still April, so keeping with my April theme there will be  a spooky jump or two in the ring so keep preparing horses and riders for dealing with the unexpected jumps!

For flat work, we are going to be doing canter and trot leg yields, but moving away from the rail. At the canter this will resemble a half pass, but with a straight neck. This will require a little more preparation by the rider, as you will need to (for the trot leg yield) get the horse flexed slightly to the outside before asking them to step over. You will also need to fight the magnetic pull of the wall! At the canter, you will not do a counter bend, but rather keep the neck straight, and ask them to move over with each jump between strides.

Being able to leg yield at the canter helps with straightening a horse in a line, or fixing a poor approach.

I think we will also work at jumping a fence at a specific point: picking to jump the center, the left, or the right side. This can be useful in the jumpers when a certain side of the jump offers and advantage for a turn or because of  how it is built.

We will also jump a combination as we haven't done one of those in a while! A combination is a series of 3-4 jumps ridden with usually only 1-3 strides in between. Very common in jumpers, but also sometimes seen in jumpers...MLM had a 3 to a 4 stride combination last year in their hunters.

Karen