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Saturday, January 30, 2010
A BRRRRR... BEGINNING OF 2010
I have to remind myself that this past summer I was thankful for the rain since it has cost me some riding time recently.
On the side of good news, all the riding students have braved this cold winter and are back to riding after our holiday break.
What a great group of very dedicated young riders we have! Their enthusiasm and joy at coming back to the barn no matter
the weather is contagious. Jon and I started the new century in our traditional way - with our great horses and great
friends in Round Oak. We enjoyed laughing with friends around the campfire and a wonderful (as always!) dance.
Jon even steamed oysters over the campfire to celebrate the new year. The cold and wind didn't dampen anyone's spirits,
but it was very COLD and windy. Bitterly cold. On Saturday's ride, if you didn't recognize your friends horse,
you just might not recognize them everyone was so bundled up. Even though the big topic of conversation was how very
cold it was, it was sunny and bright, and none of us would have been anywhere else. We blanketed the horses as much
as we could at night, but as ususal, they handled the cold better than we did. TIPS for camping with horses in the cold:
The biggest worry is water. Many horses will not drink enough when the water is frigid. Warm a pan of water over
the campfire and pour it in the horses bucket to make the water tepid before offering it to horses. Also, put a tablespoon
of salt on your horses grain to give them thirst when water is offered. One more thing, to make sure you get some water
in your horses gut, you can make them a soupy beet-pulp mash to go with their grain. Beet pulp shreds are sweet and
most horses love it - but never feed it dry. Dreaming of some warmer rides......
9:03 pm est
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Report on Memorial Day Wagon Ride
Wow! We have had lots of riders out and about.
Over the past month, I have had the pleasure of taking Gwen and Haley riding along the river and Andi and I went riding with
Mary W. at Equus Club. We had a big adventure and great fun over Memorial Day week-end at Ron & Adriane's Wagon
Ride in Round Oak, GA. It was a successful week-end for Ron and Adriane with about 15 wagons and 40-50 horseback riders.
Rebecca and I took Austin (only 6 years old) there for his first big ride. We thought that a wagon ride would
be the best first outing so that if he got tired of riding Sport, he could ride in a wagon for a while. Rebecca (who
loved riding Spook) ended up in Judge's wagon for the last hour of the ride (so I got on Spook and ponied Rocky the rest of
the way home), but Austin rode the entire 6 hours. For about the last hour, the horseback riders cut through the woods
on trails which were full of logs, ditches, creeks, etc. Sport and Austin handled them all like a champ. He had
a little coaching from me (Aunt Blaine) in the front and Ms. Adriane rode behind him to keep an eye on him as well, but he
didn't need any of it! Saturday evening, there was a deliceous pot-luck dinner at the pavillion and I think everyone
enjoyed the chance to eat and fellowship together. Saturday evening, DJ and "renegade" Daryl Jones DJ'ed the dance.
Sunday, they wagoned again, but Rebecca and I decided to sit that day out. (I spent the day in the pool!) Monday I joined
R&A again to do some woods riding, and had a wonderful day. Thanks R&A for hosting such a great event.
I hope to take more riders back to the next trail ride at Round Oak. If this sounds like fun to you, let me know!
Stay on the topside!
Blaine
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GROUP FUN LESSON!
JUNE 21st we held a summer GROUP FUN lesson and had a fantastic
day! In attendance was Haley, Gwen, Alyssa and Andi. Alyssa's Dad, Randy, was the assistant for the day.
Students first learned about how to measure horses using a hand-tape. Then we had a "Whatsit?" trivia game and
learned a little about everything from bit-donuts to boot pulls to teeth floats! Everyone then mounted up on their
assigned horses and we played games such as the Waterglass Game, Relay, Sock Toss and more. Lastly, we finished with
a group trail ride. Randy was a great helper and I think we had almost as good a time as the riders!
Everyone was all smiles and agreed that at the end of the lesson that they felt a lot more partnership with their horse and
that all the activities had really helped their horsemanship. And that's what its all about!
CATALOOCHEE NATIONAL FOREST TRIP
June 22 - 25, Jon and I, along with Randy, Mary and Gayle, headed up to North Carolina to the Cataloochee
National Forest for a ride. It was a spectacular week-end of riding in some gorgeous mountains with some gorgeous overlooks.
There were lots of creeks with moss covered stones and the forest looked like a wonderland. Most of the time the trail
was pretty narrow (and you were on the side of a mountain) so we had all taken our most trust-worthy horses. At
the end of the day headed back to camp, we saw elk in the fields which was nice. There were also many historical old
cabins and churches and a school to explore. We did get caught in a rainstorm one day, but even that didn't dampen
our spirits for the week-end. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back.
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