Planning Ahead

I'm a planner. Not like a list maker, but a planner. I've found that I really like having events lined up to look forward to. This time of year is a bit ho-hum for me because I haven't got anything really exciting coming up to look forward to for several months. Yes, Christmas, time with the family and getting to slow down a bit is lovely, but I really enjoy going out and doing the activities with the horses (ponies/donkey) and my crew. The next thing on the list is Horse Expo in Red Deer in April, after the long-lining clinic. An excellent way to start the show season and I'm looking forward to it. But that's in April... it's December... Seasonal affect is a real thing! So what's the longer picture? Last year I had a goal of participating in Falcor's first combined driving event and we did that! He's come along so well and I'm more and more confident with him. Jasmine and Phillippe are just rockstars to have out as well. This year we'll drive again. With Ritchie home, we'll breed a couple of the mares. While Special's doing the mom thing, Ali can be driving - or may be too busy working by then. But after breeding season, it's time for me to get back in the tack. My health has improved greatly and stabilized. My horse is home. It's time to ride. I reached out to a friendly aquaintence last weekend, asked if I could come hang out at the barn with her, see if I could get the bug to ride. She's super cool, a Saskie, like me. And it was awesome to just hang out, talk horses, talk life (we're both 40-something) kids, etc. By the end of the visit, I felt like I wanted to go home, put my horse in the trailer, and bring him over to ride together. That's what I was wondering if I could find again, and it absolutely found me! So my game plan is to ride at home in between driving, get my body back into it, and then see what kind of fun we can get into in the fall next year. I'm not going to make a goal of showing FEI or what have you, I just want to have fun. Because isn't that the point anyways? With that, I wish you the merriest of merries, good health and all the joy you can handle. I wish you good fortune and welcome that same goodness to my own home and world. And, of course, happy horseing!

Nearly Christmas - Recap on the Year

It must have been a busy one, I haven't managed a single blog post since April. Here we are, nearly 8 months later. What happened this year? Let's see, April we hit up the Horse Expo in Red Deer. This was the first time I'd been down since Mane Event, so a few years - pre-COVID for sure. Ali and I took down Phillippe the donkey and her superstar Jasmine pony. We did daily demos for the Alberta Donkey and Mule Club as well as the Alberta Carriage Driving Association. It was a very busy few days running between the two organizations and I'm thrilled that a wonderful volunteer has stepped up to take over organizing the ACDA participation in 2025. Everything went really well and I developed a relationship with the new owners of Saddle Up Magazine! They were so smitten with Mr. Phillippe that they offered to publish a monthly feature: Adventures with Phillippe where we post a photo and talk about interesting things we got up to in the month. I understand they get great reviews on it! Horse Expo went so well that the ADMC was invited back to participate in Westerner Days so Jasmine and Phillippe came south again, this time my dear friend (and enabler) Jed took the lines of Jasmine for me for daily demos and parade walking.

Falcor had a brillint year of deveoopment. I started taking him with us in the spring. We started with Sparrowhawk Spring Fling in New Serepta where he stood at the trailer and ground drove the grounds on the practise day. I did not hitch him there, just got him to experience. He was a hot tamale but every time we went out, he felt better and better. At the ADMC/Northern Lights collaborative show, I showed him ground driving. He won some ribbons and, again, had a day of standing at the trailer experiencing everything in this new horse-show life. From there, we schooled Brown's property in Vimy, we schooled Minds Eye in Morinville, and we competed in our first derby! No ribbons there for him, but I was thrilled that he could handle all the elements - dressage, cones and a small derby course, and do it calmly and confidently! Regardless of ribbons, it was a huge win for us!

Phillippe competed in the ADMC/NL show weekend winning top driving long ears and overall champion longears (highest points from driving day and open show day) earning us 2 belt buckles! We'd also won top driving donkey from 2023 with the ADMC - a total of 3 belt buckles! Pretty impressive for a tiny beasty. Phillippe also competed in the Pace event and placed third! It was a format that we could be very successful in as he is not fast, but he is very consistent. We were only 20 seconds off our expected time. I was so impressed.

Jasmine and Ali didn't show a whole lot. They did show at the collaborative show in pleasure driving. There were enough juniors there that she did not win the junior high point! Although that pony did win the barrel race. Ali competed in the Harvest Moon derby with Jasmine too where they upped their game to preliminary level and won junior championship. That was enough for the pair of them to win ACDA junior high-point championship this year.

I drove enough that I earned my 100-hour pin! I think I'm actually half way to my 500-hour certificate! I got to teach some clinics with Jed, go on adventures, organize another show for Westlock, and made lots of new friends (read: enabled numerous more people into driving!) Ritchie also had a successful year with Tamara in para dressage. I got to visit him a few times in Red Deer as we were passing through. It was great to see him so loved. He has returned home now and will take a year off training. I'm going to do some preventative maintenance for him as there's an old injury that could potentially cuase some issues in the future. We will live cover him this summer and let him enjoy just being a horse. I'm not sure what it will look like following that, if I will have the ambition to climb back aboard and try showing dressage again, or if something else needs to be arranged... And last, but far from least, Uri has gone to North Carolina to pursue his show pony carrer as a sport horse. I sold him to a lovely lady there and she sends me regular updates. I'm confident it's an ideal match and I'm so excited for their future together. Ali did get to have the first "ride" on him about 2 weeks before he left (she sat on him in tack and walked about 6 steps forward - the most uneventful first ride ever!) I understand he grew on the road and now measured 16.1 hh. We've already paid for a re-breed.

And so, that's what it is! It was a great year and I'm looking forward to what 2025 is going to bring. Stay tuned and happy horseing!

Spring is Sprung

Spring is sprung and boy is it about to get busy! I've got so many things coming up this year, I must be living for adventures. First up, Hose Expo in Red Deer. There used to be an equine trade show, pre-COVID,called Mane Event Expo. Well, COVID happened and I guess it went belly up. A new group has taken over the dates and venue and rebranded to Hose Expo. This will be my first experience with these new organizers and I'm looking foward to a busy 3 days. Phillippe and I will be heading down to be part of the demo team with the Alberta Donkey and Mule Club where we will also spend some time manning the booth, I'm sure. Conveniently enough, right beside the booth is the Alberta Carriage Driving booth where I'll also be spending plenty of time when I'm not assisting in demos with that group. The ACDA is going to be doing some grass-roots demos on starting harness and long line training, a talk about carriages and putting the horse to the cart, and a third demo for putting the pieces together and starting a new driving program. I'm still working on securing volunteers to help with the booth and to provide instruction for 2/3 days. There's still time. Falcor and I have been out driving in the field several times already. He is a spicy little meatball. I appreciate that he's likely never had so much space to move in as out in our hay field so the beginning of the drives feels a bit like "hang on and pray" until he's gotten it out of his system. The field is not flat or smooth and jostles me around a lot despite really good suspension! We have not had a run away yet, but sometimes he feels like he'd like to go that direction. Recently he started experimenting with canter steps during our drives. That's pretty neat! I'm really looking forward to the arena getting dry so we can work in there. Hopefully a more cotnained space will help him to get a bit more focused on the program and not trotting like crazy all over the field. Right now it feels like CDE are a long way off for him but that tells me that I need to get some direction and coaching. I don't have enough tools in my toolbelt for him yet. I do feel confident that he is feeling better in his body. We found a friend with a Bemer horse system and have done a number of sessions for him. It really seems to be making a difference. I like watching him learn that he can relax and feel good.

The other fun that's happened lately was taking Jasmine and Phillippe to Kiss 91.7 FM's radio station for their morning show with Pepper and Dylan. It's a small world and a fun situation of someone knowing someone who could facilitate a visit with silly little animals safely. They were very good littles, and the radio persoanlities were just lovely as well. An early morning, but well worth it for something new and different.

Varity is the spice of life, so they say. Mine must be plenty well seasoned! Happy Horseing!

Winter Wonderland

What sort of exciting updates do I have for you today? Not much, really. Winter has been very slow to get underway this year. I understand it's another El-Ninio year so we've had a lot of spring-like temperatures and not much snow. There was a week of VERY cold and two decent dumps of snow, but it's certainly been dry and mild overall. Wheels were left on carts for a long time before putting on skis only to have the littles out only a few times before I put wheels back on again. Falcor, the hackney pony, got to do some real work recently in breaking trail in the field for the littles. We used a pallet with a couple of tires on top and dragged it around in the field. Falcor decided it might be a really good opportunity to pactice halting. That amused me. I realized this year that I likely won't be able to manage 3 driving animals myself. That's quite a lot to keep conditioned and in work. Two, two I stand a chance, but 3 is unreasonable. So I've offered an on-farm driving lease for someone interested in learning. Sure enough, it wasn't 24 hours after posting that I had a very interested lady contact me. Turns out we've met a couple of times over the years at various equestrian clinics. Really nice person and very enthusiastic to learn harness, hitching and driving. Jasmine took good care of her and they had a great time. I'm looking forward to her returning and driving with her this summer. Uri continues to grow and has nearly reached uncle Jose's size. I'll find a couple of shows to take him to this summer to continue his education before he goes for under-saddle training as a 3 year old. He's still just so keen to do and try. Although sometimes it's irritating, I really do enjoy him. Well, until things start moving again, that's about all I have to share. Stay warm and happy horseing!