It was always my intent to volunteer at all the OCTRA events up until Bentley turns 4 and I can start riding him at these events.
Then Chrystal put me in touch with Bob, who was looking for someone to ride his alternate horse in some of the events coming up, and I had a mount for Spring Ride!
Yesterday, Sue Downing offered me the chance to ride Foxy in Aprilfest this weekend. I never turn down a good ride on a good horse! That does leave me scrambling to find all my paperwork and pack for both days however, but I am very excited to do so. This will be my first time meeting her, but I have only ever met one horse I didn't like... but that's another story.
Of course she loses a volunteer in the process, but wow! What a response from GEC. I am so thrilled to have 2 groups of great girls coming along with me this weekend.
Saturday, Lily and Adriana are coming along with me. Adriana is going to ride Marg Murray's horse and Lily is going to volunteer. We are both riding the 12 mile set speed that day, a nice late start of 9:30 to hit the road (well late for me... I'm still waking up on my "feed the horses" schedule, boy will it ever be strange to wake up tomorrow and not head over to Halton Place). The ride is in Dufferin Forest, which I am a little familiar with as I have ridden there a few times last year on Abby. Oh yes, and I will be able to ride with Carol which will be great! I haven't seen her since November and there is so much to chat about!
Not sure if Adriana will be riding with me, it will depend on if she has a sponsor lined up or if I will become that person! It would be nice, but the group might start getting a little large :)
Sunday, Foxy and I will do the 25 mile set speed again with Carol and Sue's husband Mike. Rachel and Janna from GEC are coming as volunteers, and Lee is coming along as my pit crew. So another full car! Very excited to share the sport with these girls and I am already SO impressed that they were not dissuaded by the 6am departure time.
Boy do I have a lot to do tonight. Poor Bentley is going to have to go without exercise again tonight!
I rode last night, but it was relatively short due to the framing place in the mall wasting my precious time. However, Bentley DID have a good 3 mile trot continuously, and other than being extremely bored from lapping the ring that many times, he was not tired or silly at all. We had gotten our silliness out early as I walked around the fields and a porcupine ran in front of us.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Busy busy busy
It has been a very busy week for me, and I apologize for not writing, and in advance for this probable novel I am about to write. I guess I should go back as far as last Thursday...
Thursday I took work off so I could get 2 horsey things accomplished: Riding with Bob Coleman on his horse Helfire, and shopping for my years worth of gear at the Greenhawk warehouse sale. I also threw in an early morning farrier appointment for Bentley (since my schedule still had a few spare moments in it). This was the first time I held him for a trim, and I was very impressed based on how I am told he acted on his first time.
Greenhawk, I blew my budget, but that was not a big surprise. The big thing I got was a new helmet, my small tipperary with extra padding was still proving to be too large, so I splurged and bought the T2 which is available in XS. How my head is so tiny, I don't know. I also got a lot of red "stuff" like food and water buckets, saddle pad and girth cover etc since that is going to be our theme colour. Also lost of fly gear first aid sort of stuff that I should just have on hand if needed. It adds up! Lots of things to buy when you have a new horse.
Then I hit the road up to Millbrook. Bob and i went for a nice ride in the forest, my Garmin told me we did 14.5 miles. Not bad! It was a beautiful day for a ride, sun was out, trails were dry. Only wish I had my saddle bag now... I was a little thirsty by the end of it! Helfire is a great horse, fabulously trained and quiet as anything. Hes an ex-racer so I only had slight problems when he decided to race Bob on Kashif, I wouldn't let him so I got a playful mini buck. I am going to take him in the two 25 mile rides for Spring Ride.
Friday, I was expecting I would have to take it easy, as I had not done a longer ride yet this year, but I was not sore at all (with the exception of a sun burn). So I moseyed over to GEC during the day (yes I took Friday off too, made more sense) and took Bentley out for a ride. We walked around in the ring for a little bit with Heather S, but she had to leave before I was quite ready to hang up the reins. Bentley and i started working on our trotting and cantering, trying to keep things sane. Since he was being good, I started taking him over some of the small x-2' jumps in the ring. He was an angel, coming back to the trot within only a few strides of the jump and jumping eagerly. Even the combination jump, which is new to him, was no big deal. I raised one jump to 2'6" and we flew over it. He refused it twice when I pointed at it again, but the 3rd time I wasn't going to let him off easy and we made it over. After that we lowered it back to 2' and did a 7 jump course at the canter. What a great boy he was!
After that, I took him for a walk around the fields. We stopped for a rest in the plateau and he happily nibbled on the fresh grass. We went back to work, and did lots of trotting around the plateau, practising the not cantering thing. He still has a tendency to get excited and try to break into the canter in some places, but doing lots of trot work and not asking him to canter I think helps him. I set the limit for the trail, and I think he is cluing into the idea that we never canter outside the ring. We did a nice 2 mile trot and he seemed to take it easily. He was quite calm and relaxed, but we were still getting a 9mph trot done, and I am very happy with that! Overall we did 10.5 mile ride, and I felt like he could go on forever. After we rode, I tried to cool him down with a wet sponge and learned that he is VERY afraid of wet sponges. Grrr... not so fun!
Saturday I began my final weekend at Halton Place. I am going to miss those animals! Of course, as my last weekend there, I ran into several snags. One being that almost all the horses had sore legs from the week before, and had managed to undo their wraps and hide them in their stalls. Also there was a lot of spring cleaning to be done, which made some long hours both Saturday and Sunday. So Saturday i took a break from riding, I had worked my body hard enough!
Sunday, I rode Bentley again after work. It was a lot cooler than Friday, so I tested him with a 2.5 mile trot. After I had finished counting the laps, I pull him up and try to get an idea of how tired he was. Well he wasn't puffing at all. I couldn't believe it! And he was so well behaved too, no rushing or anything, just having fun trotting around the ring. My sister Heather came as I finished up 5.5 miles total, and we went out for a walk around the back. We went up the cross country steps a few times since Bentley loves it so much and Heather wanted to try it. Ended up doing 8 miles! And when I got back, Bentley didn't have any sweat on him with the exception of both stifles. Which leads me to believe he is working much harder from his hind end than front, which is great!
Our total mileage since the mileage program started is now 41, and that's with a lot of days off!
Monday night was terrible, slushy snow coming down heavily, so we opted to go grocery shopping instead.
This brings us to yesterday, Bentley had his teeth done including a wolf tooth pulled, so no riding since he was still stoned when I got there. That's ok because I was there to go over the mileage program with the interested girls and their parents. It was great to see the girls getting excited for the program, and especially the idea of volunteering and possibly riding in the OCTRA events. Bentley got a mash and a snuggle and I came home relatively clean for once.
Thursday I took work off so I could get 2 horsey things accomplished: Riding with Bob Coleman on his horse Helfire, and shopping for my years worth of gear at the Greenhawk warehouse sale. I also threw in an early morning farrier appointment for Bentley (since my schedule still had a few spare moments in it). This was the first time I held him for a trim, and I was very impressed based on how I am told he acted on his first time.
Greenhawk, I blew my budget, but that was not a big surprise. The big thing I got was a new helmet, my small tipperary with extra padding was still proving to be too large, so I splurged and bought the T2 which is available in XS. How my head is so tiny, I don't know. I also got a lot of red "stuff" like food and water buckets, saddle pad and girth cover etc since that is going to be our theme colour. Also lost of fly gear first aid sort of stuff that I should just have on hand if needed. It adds up! Lots of things to buy when you have a new horse.
Then I hit the road up to Millbrook. Bob and i went for a nice ride in the forest, my Garmin told me we did 14.5 miles. Not bad! It was a beautiful day for a ride, sun was out, trails were dry. Only wish I had my saddle bag now... I was a little thirsty by the end of it! Helfire is a great horse, fabulously trained and quiet as anything. Hes an ex-racer so I only had slight problems when he decided to race Bob on Kashif, I wouldn't let him so I got a playful mini buck. I am going to take him in the two 25 mile rides for Spring Ride.
Friday, I was expecting I would have to take it easy, as I had not done a longer ride yet this year, but I was not sore at all (with the exception of a sun burn). So I moseyed over to GEC during the day (yes I took Friday off too, made more sense) and took Bentley out for a ride. We walked around in the ring for a little bit with Heather S, but she had to leave before I was quite ready to hang up the reins. Bentley and i started working on our trotting and cantering, trying to keep things sane. Since he was being good, I started taking him over some of the small x-2' jumps in the ring. He was an angel, coming back to the trot within only a few strides of the jump and jumping eagerly. Even the combination jump, which is new to him, was no big deal. I raised one jump to 2'6" and we flew over it. He refused it twice when I pointed at it again, but the 3rd time I wasn't going to let him off easy and we made it over. After that we lowered it back to 2' and did a 7 jump course at the canter. What a great boy he was!
After that, I took him for a walk around the fields. We stopped for a rest in the plateau and he happily nibbled on the fresh grass. We went back to work, and did lots of trotting around the plateau, practising the not cantering thing. He still has a tendency to get excited and try to break into the canter in some places, but doing lots of trot work and not asking him to canter I think helps him. I set the limit for the trail, and I think he is cluing into the idea that we never canter outside the ring. We did a nice 2 mile trot and he seemed to take it easily. He was quite calm and relaxed, but we were still getting a 9mph trot done, and I am very happy with that! Overall we did 10.5 mile ride, and I felt like he could go on forever. After we rode, I tried to cool him down with a wet sponge and learned that he is VERY afraid of wet sponges. Grrr... not so fun!
Saturday I began my final weekend at Halton Place. I am going to miss those animals! Of course, as my last weekend there, I ran into several snags. One being that almost all the horses had sore legs from the week before, and had managed to undo their wraps and hide them in their stalls. Also there was a lot of spring cleaning to be done, which made some long hours both Saturday and Sunday. So Saturday i took a break from riding, I had worked my body hard enough!
Sunday, I rode Bentley again after work. It was a lot cooler than Friday, so I tested him with a 2.5 mile trot. After I had finished counting the laps, I pull him up and try to get an idea of how tired he was. Well he wasn't puffing at all. I couldn't believe it! And he was so well behaved too, no rushing or anything, just having fun trotting around the ring. My sister Heather came as I finished up 5.5 miles total, and we went out for a walk around the back. We went up the cross country steps a few times since Bentley loves it so much and Heather wanted to try it. Ended up doing 8 miles! And when I got back, Bentley didn't have any sweat on him with the exception of both stifles. Which leads me to believe he is working much harder from his hind end than front, which is great!
Our total mileage since the mileage program started is now 41, and that's with a lot of days off!
Monday night was terrible, slushy snow coming down heavily, so we opted to go grocery shopping instead.
This brings us to yesterday, Bentley had his teeth done including a wolf tooth pulled, so no riding since he was still stoned when I got there. That's ok because I was there to go over the mileage program with the interested girls and their parents. It was great to see the girls getting excited for the program, and especially the idea of volunteering and possibly riding in the OCTRA events. Bentley got a mash and a snuggle and I came home relatively clean for once.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Cat Lovers
Dont have the time or dedication to write right now, so instead I will share with you an article about why cats are better than dogs. Quite interesting really!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-karen-becker/cats_b_1073988.html
And if you were looking for something funny, here you will find cats improving famous works of art. My pick: Anthony van Dyck, “Drunken Silenus” because I love the face.
http://www.themarysue.com/cats-improve-paintings/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-karen-becker/cats_b_1073988.html
And if you were looking for something funny, here you will find cats improving famous works of art. My pick: Anthony van Dyck, “Drunken Silenus” because I love the face.
http://www.themarysue.com/cats-improve-paintings/
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Hello there Mr. Trump!
The news was filled yesterday with the news of the 2 big names visiting Toronto. Oprah and Trump.
While I must have missed Oprah's plane, we did have one very obvious jet parked outside my office (and in good view for anyone driving down Derry Road)
While I must have missed Oprah's plane, we did have one very obvious jet parked outside my office (and in good view for anyone driving down Derry Road)
Had I been able to get the full plane in the frame, you would see the obvious "Trump" instead of "Tr", but then I would have never got that mop of blonde hair ascending the stairs. Huge aircraft for one very successful man, I can only imagine what the inside looks like!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Friday the 13th
I am not a superstitious woman, but when silly happens, it doesn't hurt to have something out of my control to blame it on.
Friday was due to be my last lesson at Myrddin. I always leave my helmet and boots in my tack box at GEC. So my first stop was there. Upon return to my car, funny thing... I was locked out. My car is not supposed to lock if the keys are inside (there is an RFID in it), and there they were, sitting right in plain sight on the passenger seat. And here I though those keys were supposed to be foolproof.
Fortunately, I was at the barn and not stranded anywhere. Yes I did have to forfeit my last lesson, but I still was able to have a great ride. We started in the ring, where I did half a mile of walking to warm up, and tested him with a full mile of trotting. He passes! Barely broke a sweat. He was behaving quite well too, speedy at first, but calmed down pretty quickly. We went out on a walk with Liz and Kahlua, circling the corn fields and plateau a few times before night started to settle in. Total for the day was 4 miles, mostly walking.
Saturday had a bit of 13th continuance in the fact that it was just a disgusting day at work. I found a dead, flattened mummified bird in Grace's paddock, a dead soggy mouse or mouse like critter in the wash stall (it got pretty beat up as i tried to shovel it away, so unsure) and pieces of a dead slobbery worm that trailed from one end of the barn to the other. Darn dogs! Oh and then when I went to eat my breakfast, the cat came within inches of vomiting in my oatmeal. It was really tough to eat that mush after that. I have to say, working at the barn has made me tougher... i don't think i could have ever picked up that stuff before.
Aside from the extra messes to clean up, I was able to get out of there for a lunch that was long enough to accommodate a good ride and actually had energy for it!
Bentley was being a pain in the rear for the first half of it. There was some light rain as we mounted up in the indoor, and made him anxious of the sound on the roof. Very difficult to mount indeed! We took right off to the trail since both the outdoor rings had lessons, something I have never done yet. We walked the first quarter mile, but he was so antsy, I let him trot up the gradual hill at the back end of the cornfields figuring it would help wear him out. Not at all, he busted into a canter and I had a terrible time trying to get him down the hill into the plateau. Once we got there, things weren't much more sane, we couldn't get the trot for quite a while. I ended up treating the plateau like an inflated dressage ring, and would figure 8 him at every "Letter" location, or do serpentines from one side to the other. This took us quite a long time. He is very good when he has to make all the turns, but as soon as I let him go straight, he wanted to run.
We slowed down to the walk and decided to go back to the corn fields for a walk to have a mental break. I was getting a little stressed from containing him and I don't think it was helping. We went back up via the stairs, which he LOVES for some reason. He actually jumped them from the walk this time instead of one leg at a time. Stairs are a cross country obstacle/jump ours are a set of 2 about 2' high each. They are set up a very steep hill, and unlike a regular jump, there is an up, but no down after it. So having 2 or more is like a very large staircase for horses. He was even starting to pull towards them later in our ride. Funny guy, love his spirit!
When we came back to the plateau again, he was much quieter. Still had a tendency to run when I would let him go straight, but would only get 2-3 strides in before he listened to my Whoa's . Eventually we were trotting consistently around the perimeter.
We also ran into Ernie and her dog as we came out of the plateau a second time. He took off at a gallop, but I circled him quickly and dismounted. After a few minutes, I had him beside the dog, and he was calmly eating grass. Not a bad recovery!
Went back to the barn and into the small sand ring to blow off some steam at the canter in a safe place. I cant seem to get him to pick up his right lead. Not sure if I am unbalanced when I am asking him (we were having some troubles in the corner) or if hes just not getting it yet. He usually picks up both leads correctly, but they could have been flukes. His head didn't seem all there, so I am guessing we just need more practise and that it isn't an unsoundness thing.
He was pretty sweaty by that time, so I decided to try and get him to cross the stream. Again I dismounted and tried to lead him over it. Boy, was it ever tough, he did NOT want anything to do with it. And it was only 1.5' wide, about an inch deep. Where was that brave horse from the stairs? About 15 minutes went by of tugging and spinning and him calling to his friends. Then a group of lesson students walked by on the far side of the field, across the raging rapids. It seemed to give him some extra motivation (or maybe he had just had it with me nagging... by that time I was in the stream myself showing him exactly how easy it was) and as they disappeared out of sight, he awkwardly hopped through the stream behind me. We caught up with the schoolies and finished our ride at 8.5 miles exactly. I think we had ridden for about an hour and 50 minutes. Not bad considering a lot of that was balking at water and dogs!
Friday was due to be my last lesson at Myrddin. I always leave my helmet and boots in my tack box at GEC. So my first stop was there. Upon return to my car, funny thing... I was locked out. My car is not supposed to lock if the keys are inside (there is an RFID in it), and there they were, sitting right in plain sight on the passenger seat. And here I though those keys were supposed to be foolproof.
Fortunately, I was at the barn and not stranded anywhere. Yes I did have to forfeit my last lesson, but I still was able to have a great ride. We started in the ring, where I did half a mile of walking to warm up, and tested him with a full mile of trotting. He passes! Barely broke a sweat. He was behaving quite well too, speedy at first, but calmed down pretty quickly. We went out on a walk with Liz and Kahlua, circling the corn fields and plateau a few times before night started to settle in. Total for the day was 4 miles, mostly walking.
Saturday had a bit of 13th continuance in the fact that it was just a disgusting day at work. I found a dead, flattened mummified bird in Grace's paddock, a dead soggy mouse or mouse like critter in the wash stall (it got pretty beat up as i tried to shovel it away, so unsure) and pieces of a dead slobbery worm that trailed from one end of the barn to the other. Darn dogs! Oh and then when I went to eat my breakfast, the cat came within inches of vomiting in my oatmeal. It was really tough to eat that mush after that. I have to say, working at the barn has made me tougher... i don't think i could have ever picked up that stuff before.
Aside from the extra messes to clean up, I was able to get out of there for a lunch that was long enough to accommodate a good ride and actually had energy for it!
Bentley was being a pain in the rear for the first half of it. There was some light rain as we mounted up in the indoor, and made him anxious of the sound on the roof. Very difficult to mount indeed! We took right off to the trail since both the outdoor rings had lessons, something I have never done yet. We walked the first quarter mile, but he was so antsy, I let him trot up the gradual hill at the back end of the cornfields figuring it would help wear him out. Not at all, he busted into a canter and I had a terrible time trying to get him down the hill into the plateau. Once we got there, things weren't much more sane, we couldn't get the trot for quite a while. I ended up treating the plateau like an inflated dressage ring, and would figure 8 him at every "Letter" location, or do serpentines from one side to the other. This took us quite a long time. He is very good when he has to make all the turns, but as soon as I let him go straight, he wanted to run.
We slowed down to the walk and decided to go back to the corn fields for a walk to have a mental break. I was getting a little stressed from containing him and I don't think it was helping. We went back up via the stairs, which he LOVES for some reason. He actually jumped them from the walk this time instead of one leg at a time. Stairs are a cross country obstacle/jump ours are a set of 2 about 2' high each. They are set up a very steep hill, and unlike a regular jump, there is an up, but no down after it. So having 2 or more is like a very large staircase for horses. He was even starting to pull towards them later in our ride. Funny guy, love his spirit!
When we came back to the plateau again, he was much quieter. Still had a tendency to run when I would let him go straight, but would only get 2-3 strides in before he listened to my Whoa's . Eventually we were trotting consistently around the perimeter.
We also ran into Ernie and her dog as we came out of the plateau a second time. He took off at a gallop, but I circled him quickly and dismounted. After a few minutes, I had him beside the dog, and he was calmly eating grass. Not a bad recovery!
Went back to the barn and into the small sand ring to blow off some steam at the canter in a safe place. I cant seem to get him to pick up his right lead. Not sure if I am unbalanced when I am asking him (we were having some troubles in the corner) or if hes just not getting it yet. He usually picks up both leads correctly, but they could have been flukes. His head didn't seem all there, so I am guessing we just need more practise and that it isn't an unsoundness thing.
He was pretty sweaty by that time, so I decided to try and get him to cross the stream. Again I dismounted and tried to lead him over it. Boy, was it ever tough, he did NOT want anything to do with it. And it was only 1.5' wide, about an inch deep. Where was that brave horse from the stairs? About 15 minutes went by of tugging and spinning and him calling to his friends. Then a group of lesson students walked by on the far side of the field, across the raging rapids. It seemed to give him some extra motivation (or maybe he had just had it with me nagging... by that time I was in the stream myself showing him exactly how easy it was) and as they disappeared out of sight, he awkwardly hopped through the stream behind me. We caught up with the schoolies and finished our ride at 8.5 miles exactly. I think we had ridden for about an hour and 50 minutes. Not bad considering a lot of that was balking at water and dogs!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Playing with Numbers - GEC Mileage program
I am a very calculating person, when I drive places, I take note of the exits and calculate my time to my destination. When I am sweeping the barn, I count my strokes. And when I have something on my mind, like training or budgeting, I like to calculate different circumstances to see how I can reach my goals.
So for those of you who have signed up for the mileage program, here are some scenarios.
# 1 - ride every day starting Apr 9th, ride 1 mile per day in April, 2 miles per day in May, 3 per day in June and so forth. Never missing a day and following this pattern lands you 675 miles at the end of the year, 737 points.
#2 - Ride one a week after your lesson to cool out for 1 mile, and once a week doing a 10 mile ride (which is realistic for an hour and a half to two hours of riding). 286 miles, and 259 points. Are you starting to see the value in the milestones yet?
#3 - 3 miles every other day. 270 miles, 256 points.
#4 - Starting the program in may, and doing the same thing as #1 (only starting with 1 mile per day in May, 2 in June and so on) 494 miles, 300 points. Wow what a difference from #1! enough to get your entries in asap right?
#5 - Starting the program tomorrow (Saturday the 14th) and riding a 2 mile ride twice a week, and a 10 mile ride once a week until June. Then up your weeklies to 3 and 15 until August, then up to 4 and 20 until the end of the season. Whoa not only must you be committed to distance riding, but you will have 563 miles, 714 points, and 4 days a week for you and your horse to relax!
That's a good point right there, its important for you to let your horse and you have a break. Give them a vacation here and there to recover from stiff muscles, sore backs and exhaustion. After a long ride, don't you like to sleep in the next day? Hence why #1 and #4 are purely statistical. Also, don't always work hard at your rides. Sometimes just go out for a nice walk so your horse doesn't look at hitting the trails to be work, but also a chance for fun!
Any other situations you want me to calculate out? I made up a great spreadsheet to track you all and I can run any situation oh so quickly ;)
So for those of you who have signed up for the mileage program, here are some scenarios.
# 1 - ride every day starting Apr 9th, ride 1 mile per day in April, 2 miles per day in May, 3 per day in June and so forth. Never missing a day and following this pattern lands you 675 miles at the end of the year, 737 points.
#2 - Ride one a week after your lesson to cool out for 1 mile, and once a week doing a 10 mile ride (which is realistic for an hour and a half to two hours of riding). 286 miles, and 259 points. Are you starting to see the value in the milestones yet?
#3 - 3 miles every other day. 270 miles, 256 points.
#4 - Starting the program in may, and doing the same thing as #1 (only starting with 1 mile per day in May, 2 in June and so on) 494 miles, 300 points. Wow what a difference from #1! enough to get your entries in asap right?
#5 - Starting the program tomorrow (Saturday the 14th) and riding a 2 mile ride twice a week, and a 10 mile ride once a week until June. Then up your weeklies to 3 and 15 until August, then up to 4 and 20 until the end of the season. Whoa not only must you be committed to distance riding, but you will have 563 miles, 714 points, and 4 days a week for you and your horse to relax!
That's a good point right there, its important for you to let your horse and you have a break. Give them a vacation here and there to recover from stiff muscles, sore backs and exhaustion. After a long ride, don't you like to sleep in the next day? Hence why #1 and #4 are purely statistical. Also, don't always work hard at your rides. Sometimes just go out for a nice walk so your horse doesn't look at hitting the trails to be work, but also a chance for fun!
Any other situations you want me to calculate out? I made up a great spreadsheet to track you all and I can run any situation oh so quickly ;)
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Mileage Program Rules
Ok, with my previous post, I had hoped to lure you into the program without revealing too much before the official start. Well... i guess it kind of backfired on me, because I had a whole lot of questions asked that I knew were answered in the package you get when you register.
Yes this is very new to most of you, so I shouldnt have been surprised that you would want to know EVERYTHING before you signed up. I guess I was a little bit lazy too, not wanting to write out everything twice.
So here is a copy and pasted rule list (straight from the package some of you may already have), read through it, and then I will explain some more underneath it all.
Mileage Program Rules
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, some FAQ's are:
Yes this is very new to most of you, so I shouldnt have been surprised that you would want to know EVERYTHING before you signed up. I guess I was a little bit lazy too, not wanting to write out everything twice.
So here is a copy and pasted rule list (straight from the package some of you may already have), read through it, and then I will explain some more underneath it all.
Mileage Program Rules
1. A team consists on one horse and one rider. If you wish to enter more than one horse in the mileage program, your mileage will be tracked separately. Horses can also have multiple riders, but will be tracked separate from each other.
2. Mileage only counts if you are doing it for the sake of mileage. Do not include your lessons or other activities as part of your mileage. You do not need to be mounted to do mileage, walking and trotting your horse in hand for the purpose of mileage will be counted towards your total.
3. If working on mileage outside of the ring, make sure to bring a friend and or adult, and tell someone at the barn where you are going and how long you expect to be gone for. Always wear your safety equipment!
4. Mileage logs should be handed in to Sarah or Linda 2 times a month (on the 15th and 30th of each month) in order for it to count towards your total for you to earn rewards.
5. Prize tickets will be awarded for every 5 miles you complete, as well as one time bonuses when you reach a milestone. Prize tickets can be used at the end of the season to bid on fun prizes in an auction style.
Milestone Bonus Prizes
20 Miles – 2 additional tickets
50 Miles – 10 additional tickets
100 Miles – 40 additional tickets
250 Miles – 150 additional tickets
500 Miles – 400 additional tickets
Examples:
35 Miles = 7 regular mileage tickets
2 tickets – 20 mile bonus
= 9 tickets total
125 miles = 25 regular mileage tickets
2 tickets – 20 mile bonus
10 tickets – 50 Mile bonus
40 tickets – 100 Mile bonus
= 77 tickets total
Other ways to earn tickets (amount will be assessed by Linda, Laura or Sarah):
· Volunteer at an OCTRA event
· Display knowledge of “parameters” including checking horse vitals, conditioning techniques, and long distance rules
· Attend GEC clinics
· “Other” category… get creative and show us your Distance Riding Spirit in any way you can think of.
6. Mileage will be tracked from April 9, 2012 to October 6th, 2012 and will end with the Annual Harvest Hack. Prizes will be awarded at the Harvest Hack.
- How do I sign up? There are forms in the Lounge, ask your instructor, or click here and print out a copy for yourself
- What day is this event? Or when can I qualify for mileage? Mileage is already starting to be accumulated. There is no particular day that you need to ride on, just ride whenever you usually do. Just make sure that you log your distances and hand in those forms. When you get your forms, you will get everything you need to start. The sooner you get your forms in, the sooner you can start tracking your mileage.
- How do I know how far I have ridden? Once you have signed up, you will get a package with maps of the property. The maps have common routes mapped out and their distances. Remember to stay to the edge of the routes to make sure you are doing the full distance!
- Where do I hand in my forms? For now, you can find me or give it to your instructor. Look for the lady on the dark gray horse :) I will hopefully in a few days have a drop box where you can leave your entry forms/fees AND your logged rides. Make sure you put your name on everything!
- Do I have to ride to complete mileage? Nope! In most distance riding competitions, you can run or walk alongside your horse to give it a break, so we chose those rules too. Its a great way to practise your groundwork.
- Can I do this if I only ride in lessons? Yes you can, but your lessons itself will not count. However, if you cool your horse out after your lesson by doing one lap around the cornfield, thats one mile closer to getting a ticket. And you can get extra tickets for other activities too. Join the facebook group for announcements about ways to get bonus tickets.
- How do I know how I rank? I will be putting up a distance board so we can see everyone's mileage. I will update this every 2 weeks or so. Please dont move your picture on your own, I will handle all of that! I will put Linda and I on there, but we arent eligible for prizes... so dont worry about that ;)
- What are the prizes? To this I answer.... what do you want? The program will hand out prizes at the end. All of your entry money will contribute to prizes, but we hope to have some donated too. So tell me what you want for prizes and I will do my best to get things everyone will want. There may be opportunities to cash in your tickets before the final prize auction too, so stay in the loop :)
Lost and Found
I have a terrible habit of losing my cell phone in the strangest or sometimes obvious places.
Once last year, I lost it while riding in 50 acres of waist high grass, and since it was on vibrate, I had no way of finding it until the alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning. I waited out in the field, hoping I would hear that alarm go off. Luckily my plan worked.
Later that year, around October, I lost my cell phone again. No clue where it was, but I had looked everywhere and assumed it was gone on the trail somewhere. It wasn't a big deal as my work provides me with a blackberry, so my personal phone was more of an emergency phone. I just waited the 5 months until I was due for a new phone.
Then on Monday, I went to the BlueJays game with Joe and Lee. At least 3 times, I rummaged through my purse in a panic thinking I had lost my phone. I literally would empty everything out of my purse in search of it. Every time, it turned out to be in my coat pocket. How embarrassing.
Well this morning I decided to snoop through my closet for a different jacket to wear and put on something suitable. But wait, why is the pocket heavy? Yes... there is the phone I lost in October.... in the pocket of a jacket. Figures.
Anyone want to buy a Bell phone?
Once last year, I lost it while riding in 50 acres of waist high grass, and since it was on vibrate, I had no way of finding it until the alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning. I waited out in the field, hoping I would hear that alarm go off. Luckily my plan worked.
Later that year, around October, I lost my cell phone again. No clue where it was, but I had looked everywhere and assumed it was gone on the trail somewhere. It wasn't a big deal as my work provides me with a blackberry, so my personal phone was more of an emergency phone. I just waited the 5 months until I was due for a new phone.
Then on Monday, I went to the BlueJays game with Joe and Lee. At least 3 times, I rummaged through my purse in a panic thinking I had lost my phone. I literally would empty everything out of my purse in search of it. Every time, it turned out to be in my coat pocket. How embarrassing.
Well this morning I decided to snoop through my closet for a different jacket to wear and put on something suitable. But wait, why is the pocket heavy? Yes... there is the phone I lost in October.... in the pocket of a jacket. Figures.
Anyone want to buy a Bell phone?
Scary Barn Creatures
With the cold wind last night, we decided it would be best to ride indoors. Its been a long time since we have been in the indoor, so it was not without challenges in the form of imaginary horse eating monsters.
Funny start to it, as I was grooming him, we had the music playing. I took a lot of the songs off youtube for the CD I currently have at the barn, and I guess in one of the videos, the first 30 seconds is a walk in the woods? This being sounds of footsteps and birds chirping. It was very convincing because as soon as Bentley heard the footsteps, he became very concerned about how he couldn't see the person walking towards him. Eyes popped out of his head and he moved as far away as the crossties would let him. He had the funniest expression on his face, priceless!
I put the bit on him for the 3rd time, it was difficult again, but it didn't take quite as long as the first time (2nd time must have been a fluke). When we rode however, he was shaking his head a LOT. After about 15 minutes of this, I tried trotting around on the buckle, and all the fussing magically stopped. In fact he was brilliant. I suspect he must be sore in the mouth from the first 2 times, most likely because he has not gotten his teeth done yet. We switched to the bitless bridle, our first time bridling him without the security of the narrow barn aisles (we did it in the arena). I guess its something he has to get used to anyway.
For a while, he was really frustrating to work with in the bitless... trying to run as much as possible and wouldn't stay straight along the one side. I had Lee clear out all the poles and pylons that were in the centre of the ring and started to do circles, figure 8s and serpentines, and voila, magically I had a different horse underneath me. I need to give him things to do, I think he was just bored of the track and frustrated because of our bit experience at the start. In fact, once I really put him to work, he performed the best he ever had in the bitless.
Woah... tangent time. A strange noise from above, i was thinking the air conditioning got turned on or something. I look outside and we got 60 seconds of small but intense hail. While the sun was still shining and no clouds were to be seen. Hm I guess the clouds are on the side of my office without windows. Very weird sight!
Back to my main post. About 15 minutes before I planned on stopping our ride. Someone came and dumped a bucket of water in one corner of the arena. I didn't mind as it was really dusty (hence why it was a short ride, we both were coughing and Lee couldn't see out of his glasses). Bentley sure minded however, he spooked severely at the different colour ground and wouldn't go anywhere near the corner. I spent that last 15 minutes trying to get him near the wet dirt. Eventually we got through it both ways, but not before several of the girls had to pass through the arena and had a good laugh at his antics. Ok those ghostly footsteps are scary, but wet dirt? Come on! Too funny and cute.
Funny start to it, as I was grooming him, we had the music playing. I took a lot of the songs off youtube for the CD I currently have at the barn, and I guess in one of the videos, the first 30 seconds is a walk in the woods? This being sounds of footsteps and birds chirping. It was very convincing because as soon as Bentley heard the footsteps, he became very concerned about how he couldn't see the person walking towards him. Eyes popped out of his head and he moved as far away as the crossties would let him. He had the funniest expression on his face, priceless!
I put the bit on him for the 3rd time, it was difficult again, but it didn't take quite as long as the first time (2nd time must have been a fluke). When we rode however, he was shaking his head a LOT. After about 15 minutes of this, I tried trotting around on the buckle, and all the fussing magically stopped. In fact he was brilliant. I suspect he must be sore in the mouth from the first 2 times, most likely because he has not gotten his teeth done yet. We switched to the bitless bridle, our first time bridling him without the security of the narrow barn aisles (we did it in the arena). I guess its something he has to get used to anyway.
For a while, he was really frustrating to work with in the bitless... trying to run as much as possible and wouldn't stay straight along the one side. I had Lee clear out all the poles and pylons that were in the centre of the ring and started to do circles, figure 8s and serpentines, and voila, magically I had a different horse underneath me. I need to give him things to do, I think he was just bored of the track and frustrated because of our bit experience at the start. In fact, once I really put him to work, he performed the best he ever had in the bitless.
Woah... tangent time. A strange noise from above, i was thinking the air conditioning got turned on or something. I look outside and we got 60 seconds of small but intense hail. While the sun was still shining and no clouds were to be seen. Hm I guess the clouds are on the side of my office without windows. Very weird sight!
Back to my main post. About 15 minutes before I planned on stopping our ride. Someone came and dumped a bucket of water in one corner of the arena. I didn't mind as it was really dusty (hence why it was a short ride, we both were coughing and Lee couldn't see out of his glasses). Bentley sure minded however, he spooked severely at the different colour ground and wouldn't go anywhere near the corner. I spent that last 15 minutes trying to get him near the wet dirt. Eventually we got through it both ways, but not before several of the girls had to pass through the arena and had a good laugh at his antics. Ok those ghostly footsteps are scary, but wet dirt? Come on! Too funny and cute.
Monday, April 9, 2012
On the Bit
Happy Easter, it was indeed :)
Friday, I had the day off for the holiday, but I certainly didn't take it easy. This was to be my first lesson with Margie on Bentley. I really wanted to try Bentley in a snaffle bit for our lesson. Historically, I have always done lessons in proper breeches, saddle and bridle, although for fun rides... i have even gone as far as riding in trackpants and sneakers. For me its a sign of respect to the coach. But this posed a problem, as Bentley has never had a bit in his mouth. We have been riding for 3 months in a Nurtural bitless bridle. He was very headshy when we got him, just getting the bitless on him was often a struggle. My plan was always to introduce the bit once he was comfortable with the bridling process.
But how do I go about introducing the bit? Typically I would search for articles online, but it was sort of a spur of the moment decision. I started by putting my fingers in his mouth, asking him to open for me. When he was comfortable with that, I put the bit up to his lips. He decided it was NOT going to happen, raised his head and avoided me like I was trying to put a cactus in his mouth. New plan. I earned his trust back by feeding him his favourite treats... mints. Then I put only the bit in my hand (so he couldn't see the bridle) and put a mint underneath it. He was interested and eventually worked the mint out around the bit. I did this a second time, but quickly pulled the bit into his mouth as he accepted the mint, holding the cheekpieces tight to the sides. Success! Oh wait no... the bridle was underneath his jaw (since i was hiding it from the bit and treats)... I had no way of getting it up over his ears. I tried twisting the bit around in his mouth to get it around, but it was still backwards, and eventually the bit dropped out... I think i needed extra hands. I thought I was doomed, considering he must now know my trick, but I was able to get the bit in again. Still, my bridle was underneath, inside out and upside down. So instead, I held the cheekpieces below his jaw with one hand (as he chomped and waggled his tongue) and dismantled the bridle with the other. I rebuilt the bridle around his head somehow... I honestly cant tell you how my fingers worked this magic, but after the entire 20 minute process, Bentley had a bit and was happily munching on his beet pulp reward.
On Saturday, I also chose to put him in a bit, expecting it would take again 20 minutes, but surprisingly, it only took a few seconds. We still used the mint, but he opened his mouth, I didn't hide the bridle, and just slipped it over his ears. I almost think he wanted the bit in his mouth, maybe it still tasted good from the day before. It was even easier than putting on the bitless. I was so surprised by this reaction!
As for riding in the bit, what a dream come true! I was very nervous at first, not sure if he would be afraid of it and toss his head, bolt, buck or whatever. None of the above happened, in fact he was so wonderfully behaved. I'm attributing it to a number of factors, one being the respect of the bit itself, two being I was extra soft with my hands gradually taking contact as I saw he was comfortable, and three, it was our lesson, so I had an extra voice reminding me of all the things I needed to change. Not far into our lesson, he was relaxed and slow in the trot, we were doing beautiful figure 8s, and he was even stretching out, seeking contact with my hands. He was being very dressagey, I guess that's the trakehner coming through, its nice to see his two sides!
He was doing well again on Saturday and we took video. It was not quite as good as our lesson, I didn't have a coach to impress at the time.
What I was very pleased with was how easily he took obstacles. Trot poles, trotting and cantering over raised pole, over a log, garbage blowing around his legs, and finishing the video walking up the "stairs" on the cross country course - didn't even hesitate, was so easy! Plus, hes just so darn pretty to watch.
Friday, I had the day off for the holiday, but I certainly didn't take it easy. This was to be my first lesson with Margie on Bentley. I really wanted to try Bentley in a snaffle bit for our lesson. Historically, I have always done lessons in proper breeches, saddle and bridle, although for fun rides... i have even gone as far as riding in trackpants and sneakers. For me its a sign of respect to the coach. But this posed a problem, as Bentley has never had a bit in his mouth. We have been riding for 3 months in a Nurtural bitless bridle. He was very headshy when we got him, just getting the bitless on him was often a struggle. My plan was always to introduce the bit once he was comfortable with the bridling process.
But how do I go about introducing the bit? Typically I would search for articles online, but it was sort of a spur of the moment decision. I started by putting my fingers in his mouth, asking him to open for me. When he was comfortable with that, I put the bit up to his lips. He decided it was NOT going to happen, raised his head and avoided me like I was trying to put a cactus in his mouth. New plan. I earned his trust back by feeding him his favourite treats... mints. Then I put only the bit in my hand (so he couldn't see the bridle) and put a mint underneath it. He was interested and eventually worked the mint out around the bit. I did this a second time, but quickly pulled the bit into his mouth as he accepted the mint, holding the cheekpieces tight to the sides. Success! Oh wait no... the bridle was underneath his jaw (since i was hiding it from the bit and treats)... I had no way of getting it up over his ears. I tried twisting the bit around in his mouth to get it around, but it was still backwards, and eventually the bit dropped out... I think i needed extra hands. I thought I was doomed, considering he must now know my trick, but I was able to get the bit in again. Still, my bridle was underneath, inside out and upside down. So instead, I held the cheekpieces below his jaw with one hand (as he chomped and waggled his tongue) and dismantled the bridle with the other. I rebuilt the bridle around his head somehow... I honestly cant tell you how my fingers worked this magic, but after the entire 20 minute process, Bentley had a bit and was happily munching on his beet pulp reward.
On Saturday, I also chose to put him in a bit, expecting it would take again 20 minutes, but surprisingly, it only took a few seconds. We still used the mint, but he opened his mouth, I didn't hide the bridle, and just slipped it over his ears. I almost think he wanted the bit in his mouth, maybe it still tasted good from the day before. It was even easier than putting on the bitless. I was so surprised by this reaction!
As for riding in the bit, what a dream come true! I was very nervous at first, not sure if he would be afraid of it and toss his head, bolt, buck or whatever. None of the above happened, in fact he was so wonderfully behaved. I'm attributing it to a number of factors, one being the respect of the bit itself, two being I was extra soft with my hands gradually taking contact as I saw he was comfortable, and three, it was our lesson, so I had an extra voice reminding me of all the things I needed to change. Not far into our lesson, he was relaxed and slow in the trot, we were doing beautiful figure 8s, and he was even stretching out, seeking contact with my hands. He was being very dressagey, I guess that's the trakehner coming through, its nice to see his two sides!
He was doing well again on Saturday and we took video. It was not quite as good as our lesson, I didn't have a coach to impress at the time.
What I was very pleased with was how easily he took obstacles. Trot poles, trotting and cantering over raised pole, over a log, garbage blowing around his legs, and finishing the video walking up the "stairs" on the cross country course - didn't even hesitate, was so easy! Plus, hes just so darn pretty to watch.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Well my birthday IS coming up
Well it is still pretty far away, but I keep finding things I want. Today I came across this and wanted to share:
Yes, I want my very own flying saucer. Just kidding, its an mp3 player/speaker combo.
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/genius-genius-magnetic-portable-music-player-speaker-sp-i400-met-silver-sp-i400-met/10187626.aspx?path=8c6b7d1f6abf77ecbe8b1df043afc16cen02
I came across this idea when writing about the mileage program... thinking how great it would be to toss speakers in my saddle bag and have music for my rides. I would be either the most loved or most hated girl on the trail haha.
Cool thing about this one, is you can put an SD card right in it. You don't have to plug in an MP3 player, meaning no cords, and less things to carry. There aren't any measurements online, but from the size of the slots in the picture, i cant imagine having any difficulty putting it in saddlebags.
Part of what got me so excited by this too was a bit of reminiscing. I look fondly back to highschool, when we were the genius girls who found a pair of battery operated speakers, and plugged them into our discmans. One would carry the discman, ever so careful so as not to make the CD skip, and another one or 2 would carry the speakers. We would bring them to concerts and play our best CDs in line, while wearing our favorite band shirt (of course, never who we were there to see, that's not ok until after you are in and have visited the merch stand) Everyone thought we were so cool, especially us.
Great memories!
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/genius-genius-magnetic-portable-music-player-speaker-sp-i400-met-silver-sp-i400-met/10187626.aspx?path=8c6b7d1f6abf77ecbe8b1df043afc16cen02
I came across this idea when writing about the mileage program... thinking how great it would be to toss speakers in my saddle bag and have music for my rides. I would be either the most loved or most hated girl on the trail haha.
Cool thing about this one, is you can put an SD card right in it. You don't have to plug in an MP3 player, meaning no cords, and less things to carry. There aren't any measurements online, but from the size of the slots in the picture, i cant imagine having any difficulty putting it in saddlebags.
Part of what got me so excited by this too was a bit of reminiscing. I look fondly back to highschool, when we were the genius girls who found a pair of battery operated speakers, and plugged them into our discmans. One would carry the discman, ever so careful so as not to make the CD skip, and another one or 2 would carry the speakers. We would bring them to concerts and play our best CDs in line, while wearing our favorite band shirt (of course, never who we were there to see, that's not ok until after you are in and have visited the merch stand) Everyone thought we were so cool, especially us.
Great memories!
Something to get excited about (If you ride at GEC)
WOW I have had a busy week working with Linda on a fun project for you all. For those of you who were at GEC last October, you will remember how much fun our Harvest Hack was. Chances are for a lot of you, this was your first introduction to trail and distance riding.
It was great to see you all taking an interest in the sport, and comparing heart rates, speeds etc. Many of you keep asking us when we will be doing it again. While we are not planning a specific ride until Thanksgiving of next year (as will now be tradition), we are preparing a mileage program to help guide you through doing it yourselves!
If you WERENT here last year, let me explain. Distance riding is like doing a marathon on horses, but you don't start by running a marathon... you start small, set goals, and track your progress. The point of this is to teach you how to condition you and your horse for long hours of work. This is great if you want to do any sport, not just distance riding! Or maybe you find your new calling?
I have had the pleasure this week of making up the materials... rules, tips, property maps, and starting to maybe look at some prizes? Oh ya, we will make sure there are some great ones again this year!
I don't want to give away all the rules yet, but I will drop some hints.
First off, get your form and fee in ASAP! We will start recording your mileage this coming Monday and the sooner you start, the sooner your miles count. There are quite a few incentives for riding mileage, we will have a tracker in the viewing lounge to see everbodys progress, there will be points that can be cashed in for prizes. There may even be an opportunity or two to attend a real distance event. Did I mention its all closing on the day of the Harvest Hack? So it is a great way to start practising, conditioning and getting to know the course and sports.
We are also planning on hosting an information session/clinic for all mileage riders. Date is still TBA, but it will likely be in May. This will include a walk or ride of the property's trails while discussing health, strategy, upcoming events, and really anything else you want to cover!
Anyone who goes to GEC is welcome to enter. All levels, all disciplines, all ages are welcome (only restriction is kids under 18 must not ride alone... but who wants to anyway when you can bring a friend along?!). You don't need to be mounted to earn miles. You can also earn mileage in the outdoor sand ring if you aren't comfortable on trails yet.
Fee is only $10 and it covers you for the whole season. All the money will be pooled for prizes.
If you want to enter yourself with more than one horse, you need more than one entry (2 horses = $20). If you part board someone, that's ok, both riders can enter, but they will be calculated separately and require separate entries.
Even if you just ride one lesson a week, and cool out with a lap around the cornfields, your mileage will be tracked. Chances are, you are already putting mileage on your horse... just not getting any credit for it!
So if I have sold this to you, hunt me down and get an entry form from me! Even if you have to glue your form to my horse's butt... ok maybe don't do that... hes pretty messy. Linda and Laura also have forms and can take your entry. Get your form and fee in over the weekend and you will be given your info package on Sunday... not a bad head start!
Good luck girls! I cant wait to start watching your progress.
It was great to see you all taking an interest in the sport, and comparing heart rates, speeds etc. Many of you keep asking us when we will be doing it again. While we are not planning a specific ride until Thanksgiving of next year (as will now be tradition), we are preparing a mileage program to help guide you through doing it yourselves!
If you WERENT here last year, let me explain. Distance riding is like doing a marathon on horses, but you don't start by running a marathon... you start small, set goals, and track your progress. The point of this is to teach you how to condition you and your horse for long hours of work. This is great if you want to do any sport, not just distance riding! Or maybe you find your new calling?
I have had the pleasure this week of making up the materials... rules, tips, property maps, and starting to maybe look at some prizes? Oh ya, we will make sure there are some great ones again this year!
I don't want to give away all the rules yet, but I will drop some hints.
First off, get your form and fee in ASAP! We will start recording your mileage this coming Monday and the sooner you start, the sooner your miles count. There are quite a few incentives for riding mileage, we will have a tracker in the viewing lounge to see everbodys progress, there will be points that can be cashed in for prizes. There may even be an opportunity or two to attend a real distance event. Did I mention its all closing on the day of the Harvest Hack? So it is a great way to start practising, conditioning and getting to know the course and sports.
We are also planning on hosting an information session/clinic for all mileage riders. Date is still TBA, but it will likely be in May. This will include a walk or ride of the property's trails while discussing health, strategy, upcoming events, and really anything else you want to cover!
Anyone who goes to GEC is welcome to enter. All levels, all disciplines, all ages are welcome (only restriction is kids under 18 must not ride alone... but who wants to anyway when you can bring a friend along?!). You don't need to be mounted to earn miles. You can also earn mileage in the outdoor sand ring if you aren't comfortable on trails yet.
Fee is only $10 and it covers you for the whole season. All the money will be pooled for prizes.
If you want to enter yourself with more than one horse, you need more than one entry (2 horses = $20). If you part board someone, that's ok, both riders can enter, but they will be calculated separately and require separate entries.
Even if you just ride one lesson a week, and cool out with a lap around the cornfields, your mileage will be tracked. Chances are, you are already putting mileage on your horse... just not getting any credit for it!
So if I have sold this to you, hunt me down and get an entry form from me! Even if you have to glue your form to my horse's butt... ok maybe don't do that... hes pretty messy. Linda and Laura also have forms and can take your entry. Get your form and fee in over the weekend and you will be given your info package on Sunday... not a bad head start!
Good luck girls! I cant wait to start watching your progress.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Resume Tips
Yesterday, my good friend Shazia asked me if she could see my resume as a basis for her own. This does not seem to be a common occurrence for me, many friends and family have sought my advice on resumes and cover letters. I have had a lot of employers and career councillors compliment it, and consider it one of the best they have seen. It seems to be one of my hidden talents, so I thought I would share some of my most commonly told tips.
Format - Skills or experience?
My preference is to go with the experience based resume. If you have a fair amount of work experience, and you have given yourself credit for everything you have done, your skills should shine through this. The difference is with the experience laid out right above it, it feels more professional and gives you suitable backup for the skills you claim to have without the employer having to go back and forth through your resume. They wont waste their time trying to find things. The only time I recommend a skills based resume is for someone who is entering the workforce for the first time (ie highschool student looking for a part time job)
Building the Resume
Build your resume as you go, you should be adding to it every time your situation changes. Even if that doesn't mean you have a new job, it could just be when you are given a new project or tasks at work. Don't worry about it being too long or putting in too much detail. Describe your duties in 2 ways, a general way, and an industry specific way. NEVER EVER DELETE INFORMATION. This will be your master copy, it doesn't matter if its 2 pages or 17. Each time you apply for a different job, copy your master and then delete anything irrelevant until you meet 1 or 2 pages. Don't expect yourself to remember all the details every time you need to make a new resume.
Give yourself credit
A lot of resumes I read miss half of the major accomplishments or skills these people have. I just know it because they are friends who I help, but an employer wont know everything hiding behind those lines. Really think about everything you do, even if it is not listed as a part of your job description. Use things you are proud of at the time. Even if you are just a cashier, you must have done something right. How many customers would you process in a given day? Did you know your customers names? Did they know YOUR name? What compliments do they give you. Employers don't just want your paper skills, they want someone with a personality to fit into their company, don't be afraid to prove you are a nice person! Keep asking yourself questions, and talk to friends about what they think you do. Often your coworkers notice nice things about your work that you wouldn't even think of!
What is relevant
I had told you to write specifics and general information. An example I like to use for this is when I worked for Customs. I will write something like "Reviewed commercial importation paperwork and assisted customers with documentation and fees" as a general description and "Reviewed commercial importation paperwork including B3, B15, EDI and yellow wrapper forms. Calculated appropriate duties and made decisions regarding validity of documents" as my specific. To most people, B3 is a vitamin or will mean nothing on a resume and i will use it on a job that isn't customs related, but its an important part of my experience, particularly if I wanted to apply as a customs broker or in the transportation industry. Depending on the job description, I will choose the most appropriate line. Do you really think I would remember the numbers of those forms if I tried to remake my resume each time? Not likely! On a higher level, many jobs can be eliminated from your resume all together if they are not relevant. Study the job description carefully. Only you know what will be best in that situation. Take the time to really think it through.
Design
Don't let me ever catch you using a template. Employers see so many resumes, that all the template ones blur together. This makes it tough to find "that one" that they want to go back to, but also shows a lack of initiative on your part. Invest some time and show them how much you care. Design your own to reflect your personality and your industry. Remember to keep it tasteful. I like to add coloured underlines to my headers, and choose a non standard but easy to read font. Other places you can get creative is in bullet points, horizontal rules, simple page borders, even a light background. Depending on what job or industry you are, you may have more flexibility to pull off wilder ideas. Research the company you are applying for and find out what culture they have and try to work it into your styling.
Saving
So important. Save your resume as a PDF file. If you save it as a word doc or other format, you run the risk of the employer not being able to open your resume. Also, you could lose all your design from specialty fonts, to even the layout. When I was in the hiring seat, I had one that clearly someone had spent a lot of time on, but the file opened incorrectly and there were a whole bunch of squares and random code mixed in, it was impossible to read and hello... can this person even use a computer? Sure don't want your interviewer thinking that!
Review
Have someone review it. One of my bosses here told me a great story about how he submitted a business proposal for Nassau Bahamas. Spell check went in and changed Nassau to nausea. Needless to say, he didn't get approved. Spell check helps, but it shouldn't have the final say.
Format - Skills or experience?
My preference is to go with the experience based resume. If you have a fair amount of work experience, and you have given yourself credit for everything you have done, your skills should shine through this. The difference is with the experience laid out right above it, it feels more professional and gives you suitable backup for the skills you claim to have without the employer having to go back and forth through your resume. They wont waste their time trying to find things. The only time I recommend a skills based resume is for someone who is entering the workforce for the first time (ie highschool student looking for a part time job)
Building the Resume
Build your resume as you go, you should be adding to it every time your situation changes. Even if that doesn't mean you have a new job, it could just be when you are given a new project or tasks at work. Don't worry about it being too long or putting in too much detail. Describe your duties in 2 ways, a general way, and an industry specific way. NEVER EVER DELETE INFORMATION. This will be your master copy, it doesn't matter if its 2 pages or 17. Each time you apply for a different job, copy your master and then delete anything irrelevant until you meet 1 or 2 pages. Don't expect yourself to remember all the details every time you need to make a new resume.
Give yourself credit
A lot of resumes I read miss half of the major accomplishments or skills these people have. I just know it because they are friends who I help, but an employer wont know everything hiding behind those lines. Really think about everything you do, even if it is not listed as a part of your job description. Use things you are proud of at the time. Even if you are just a cashier, you must have done something right. How many customers would you process in a given day? Did you know your customers names? Did they know YOUR name? What compliments do they give you. Employers don't just want your paper skills, they want someone with a personality to fit into their company, don't be afraid to prove you are a nice person! Keep asking yourself questions, and talk to friends about what they think you do. Often your coworkers notice nice things about your work that you wouldn't even think of!
What is relevant
I had told you to write specifics and general information. An example I like to use for this is when I worked for Customs. I will write something like "Reviewed commercial importation paperwork and assisted customers with documentation and fees" as a general description and "Reviewed commercial importation paperwork including B3, B15, EDI and yellow wrapper forms. Calculated appropriate duties and made decisions regarding validity of documents" as my specific. To most people, B3 is a vitamin or will mean nothing on a resume and i will use it on a job that isn't customs related, but its an important part of my experience, particularly if I wanted to apply as a customs broker or in the transportation industry. Depending on the job description, I will choose the most appropriate line. Do you really think I would remember the numbers of those forms if I tried to remake my resume each time? Not likely! On a higher level, many jobs can be eliminated from your resume all together if they are not relevant. Study the job description carefully. Only you know what will be best in that situation. Take the time to really think it through.
Design
Don't let me ever catch you using a template. Employers see so many resumes, that all the template ones blur together. This makes it tough to find "that one" that they want to go back to, but also shows a lack of initiative on your part. Invest some time and show them how much you care. Design your own to reflect your personality and your industry. Remember to keep it tasteful. I like to add coloured underlines to my headers, and choose a non standard but easy to read font. Other places you can get creative is in bullet points, horizontal rules, simple page borders, even a light background. Depending on what job or industry you are, you may have more flexibility to pull off wilder ideas. Research the company you are applying for and find out what culture they have and try to work it into your styling.
Saving
So important. Save your resume as a PDF file. If you save it as a word doc or other format, you run the risk of the employer not being able to open your resume. Also, you could lose all your design from specialty fonts, to even the layout. When I was in the hiring seat, I had one that clearly someone had spent a lot of time on, but the file opened incorrectly and there were a whole bunch of squares and random code mixed in, it was impossible to read and hello... can this person even use a computer? Sure don't want your interviewer thinking that!
Review
Have someone review it. One of my bosses here told me a great story about how he submitted a business proposal for Nassau Bahamas. Spell check went in and changed Nassau to nausea. Needless to say, he didn't get approved. Spell check helps, but it shouldn't have the final say.
Monday, April 2, 2012
As usual, a horsey weekend
This weekend had its high and low points with the horses.
Over at Halton Place, the sweet old mare Grace had sustained an injury to her hock during the week, which meant extra horses in the barn to muck. More importantly however, she was not acting like herself at all. I spent a good part of my morning doing everything I could to get her to ear and to come out of the back of her stall, but no such luck. I was so worried for her. Fortunately, when Sunday came around, she was happy to dive into the special mash I made her. She didn't eat too much of her grain after that though, I think she may have realized that we just want her to eat something, and if she keeps refusing to eat anything but tasty mash, she will always get that tasty mash. Shes one smart lady, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was true! Best of all, she was coming to greet me at her stall door and much more social. I even gave her a good grooming and got enough fur out of her to stuff a queen sized duvet.
My sister Heather came with me to do my afternoon chores and meet the horses. They were happy to have her fawning over them and get a good brushing.
Oh and a weird thing happened on the Saturday, I heard voices coming from outside and thought it was the usual suspects coming down for a visit... but when I looked out the door, 2 men I had never met were asking to see the horses. They didn't speak much English, and I am still very confused about how they ended up there. I assumed at first, they were wanting to see the horses that were for sale, but nobody had mentioned them to me. I asked if they knew the owner and they said "We are from bayview, looking for new courses" I figured I must have heard them wrong and they said "horses" But they didn't seem to be very horsey at all and took a quick peek in the stalls before leaving. My best guess was they saw the beautifully manicured property including show rings, and thought it was a golf course/ country club that also had horses... not a private farm. And once they got in, decided it would be a nice petting zoo type experience? Either that or they saw a farm and wanted to meet a real live horse. Most confusing is how they found their way to me, as you have to drive very far, make several turns, and pass many buildings in order to get to the barn area. I did a quick scan of the property and nothing seemed amiss, i guess it was just a bunch of yahoos out for a Saturday drive!
I rode in the sand ring both days after work. Saturday was Bentley's first ride since Tuesday, so of course he was full of beans. We galloped probably a good 15 laps around the outdoor sand ring before he was calm or tired enough to listen to my half halts and collect himself nicely. Long ago we determined the outdoor ring was 1/10 of a mile around. Did a lot of trotting serpentines and circles and then asked him to jump the little tiny orange crossrail. He jumped it with huge enthusiasm, and cantered away from it wildly, taking 3.5 laps of the ring to regain composure. We did several other smaller jumps, then jumped a few verticals that were between 2' and 2'6". He did them very well for his 3rd time ever jumping. Some of the girls had come back from their trail ride and were watching us. We came in and they told us how good he was, and when I said it was his third time, they thought I meant of the year... not ever. Boy did he ever impress them!
Sunday we had the same plan, only he was much quieter. He was immediately responding to my half halts at the trot and pretty much doing whatever I asked so we trotted over a few crossrails and only had 2-3 strides of canter before trotting again to the next fence. Heather was riding Rurik with us, and after jumping once, he refused to trot, kicking out and even did a little half rear. His one leg looked a bit sore. So I offered heather to trade horses and try Bentley. Well he didn't continue his angel act, and shortly after she asked him to trot, he took off at his wild canter again. She got nervous which didn't help because he is so sensitive to that. It took quite a long time to get him back under control, and Heather's hands were sore from the pulling, so we switched so I could school him. As soon as I was on, he was back to his regular self. I went through lots of trotting exercises again with lots of half halts so he didn't think it was ok to take off. He was puffing a lot so I let him cool off a bit, but once he had rested, I schooled him at the canter too, and he was actually very good for me! Heather said that she couldn't tell how energetic and difficult a ride he was when I was on him, a good compliment, but I don't want him to be a one rider horse!
Over at Halton Place, the sweet old mare Grace had sustained an injury to her hock during the week, which meant extra horses in the barn to muck. More importantly however, she was not acting like herself at all. I spent a good part of my morning doing everything I could to get her to ear and to come out of the back of her stall, but no such luck. I was so worried for her. Fortunately, when Sunday came around, she was happy to dive into the special mash I made her. She didn't eat too much of her grain after that though, I think she may have realized that we just want her to eat something, and if she keeps refusing to eat anything but tasty mash, she will always get that tasty mash. Shes one smart lady, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was true! Best of all, she was coming to greet me at her stall door and much more social. I even gave her a good grooming and got enough fur out of her to stuff a queen sized duvet.
My sister Heather came with me to do my afternoon chores and meet the horses. They were happy to have her fawning over them and get a good brushing.
Oh and a weird thing happened on the Saturday, I heard voices coming from outside and thought it was the usual suspects coming down for a visit... but when I looked out the door, 2 men I had never met were asking to see the horses. They didn't speak much English, and I am still very confused about how they ended up there. I assumed at first, they were wanting to see the horses that were for sale, but nobody had mentioned them to me. I asked if they knew the owner and they said "We are from bayview, looking for new courses" I figured I must have heard them wrong and they said "horses" But they didn't seem to be very horsey at all and took a quick peek in the stalls before leaving. My best guess was they saw the beautifully manicured property including show rings, and thought it was a golf course/ country club that also had horses... not a private farm. And once they got in, decided it would be a nice petting zoo type experience? Either that or they saw a farm and wanted to meet a real live horse. Most confusing is how they found their way to me, as you have to drive very far, make several turns, and pass many buildings in order to get to the barn area. I did a quick scan of the property and nothing seemed amiss, i guess it was just a bunch of yahoos out for a Saturday drive!
I rode in the sand ring both days after work. Saturday was Bentley's first ride since Tuesday, so of course he was full of beans. We galloped probably a good 15 laps around the outdoor sand ring before he was calm or tired enough to listen to my half halts and collect himself nicely. Long ago we determined the outdoor ring was 1/10 of a mile around. Did a lot of trotting serpentines and circles and then asked him to jump the little tiny orange crossrail. He jumped it with huge enthusiasm, and cantered away from it wildly, taking 3.5 laps of the ring to regain composure. We did several other smaller jumps, then jumped a few verticals that were between 2' and 2'6". He did them very well for his 3rd time ever jumping. Some of the girls had come back from their trail ride and were watching us. We came in and they told us how good he was, and when I said it was his third time, they thought I meant of the year... not ever. Boy did he ever impress them!
Sunday we had the same plan, only he was much quieter. He was immediately responding to my half halts at the trot and pretty much doing whatever I asked so we trotted over a few crossrails and only had 2-3 strides of canter before trotting again to the next fence. Heather was riding Rurik with us, and after jumping once, he refused to trot, kicking out and even did a little half rear. His one leg looked a bit sore. So I offered heather to trade horses and try Bentley. Well he didn't continue his angel act, and shortly after she asked him to trot, he took off at his wild canter again. She got nervous which didn't help because he is so sensitive to that. It took quite a long time to get him back under control, and Heather's hands were sore from the pulling, so we switched so I could school him. As soon as I was on, he was back to his regular self. I went through lots of trotting exercises again with lots of half halts so he didn't think it was ok to take off. He was puffing a lot so I let him cool off a bit, but once he had rested, I schooled him at the canter too, and he was actually very good for me! Heather said that she couldn't tell how energetic and difficult a ride he was when I was on him, a good compliment, but I don't want him to be a one rider horse!
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