Last night I went up to the barn without knowing the lesson schedule, knowing that I may or may not ride depending on how busy it is.
Well the lesson calendar was booked through to 9. I debated grooming and going home, but I really didnt want to go home! I know I was welcome to ride in the arena since there were only 3 in the lesson, but a very large part of me said "nope, go ride in the dark instead"
So we made our way up to the outdoor ring, and wow was Bentley ever perky! Well, he had been perky from the moment I fetched him from the stall. I dont know if it was because hes now living in the stall, or he was excited to ride in the dark. Either way, I had a horse that was very happy to see me and go for a ride!
As soon as I got to the ring, I asked for the trot and got that big giant speedy trot that just eats up trail. A few wiggles here and there to get a good look at things like bush shadows and the spooky judges box, but only on our first time around. After that, never a problem! He was abiding by my commands, but I could tell there was a LOT of energy coiled underneath me. So I let him have a good gallop around the ring on the happy left lead. We went round and round and round and round, and eventually I lost count, but for some variety, I threw in circles at random intervals, and he was listening despite the speed. Then I practiced pushing him down the long side, and collecting around the turns, brilliant! Then it became time to change direction and pick up the dreaded right lead canter. Instead of bringing him back, I decided to just change direction before bringing him back to the trot, shift the weight to my outside foot, and whats this? My horse has auto-leads? How did he learn that?
I brought him back to the trot and asked to pick up right lead again. Didn't get it, put even more weight outside and kept the tight contact (I suspect I may have lost rein contact) and there it is! Right lead!
I was so pleased with this, that after a few happy laps, I brought him back and left the ring. Intention was to walk and trot around the field. We got out to the hay field, and picked up the trot. Up to the top of the hill, good, but half-halting every stride. He was raring to go. I walked down the hill and stopped to let him eat. He wasnt puffing at all, not even a bit tired, even after all that work! Ok, lets keep troting. He offered me the canter, and I allowed it and then allowed a good gallop twice around the large field. I was so impressed with him. The footing is good there, but I wasnt sure how he would take it, since he often stumbles at the walk (however, this is because hes trying to grab food and doesnt watch his feet!) I was also worried he would buck, because he was VERY frisky and kept trying to get his head low. I think the reason he was lowering his head, was to get a better view of the ground, I slowly let him get a little lower while still staying out of bucking range and constantly reminding him "Hey im up here!" with halfhalts. No problems! Great gallop!
Now seems like a good time in my writing to take a break to describe how beautiful it was that night. The moon was bright and lit the fields, sometimes I got the odd stick in the face along the outskirts of the field, it WAS still dark enough that they could hide, but nothing too bad! And the light of the moon was just enough to know when to turn so as not to run into a fence. The stars were absolutely brilliant, they filled the sky and felt absolutely magical. Lastly, it was about 10C and all I needed was a jacket and gloves, it didnt feel cold or dreary at all. I hope there are still more of these nights. Time seemed to stand still.
We went back into the ring to do some more work. We started walking and working on bending and leg yielding. At the trot, he was trying to canter a lot, so we stayed walking for a while. He did settle down eventually and we were able to do lots of circles and yielding beautifully on both sides at the trot. Moved up to the canter, no more gallop there! I sat back and brought him under me and we had beautiful dressagey canter. He was still very energetic and happy to canter, so I took this time to work hard on getting him not to lean on circles, and getting my weight consciously in the outside stirrup, and focusing on keeping a good position. Its been a while since I really had the chance to work on that! Usually I am too busy worrying about him to worry about me. Lots of circles, and changing directions. Doing lots more of those auto changes we discovered he cuold do. I think he got them about 75% of the time (but it was dark, so sometimes I wasnt totally sure until we went around a corner, sometimes he had it and I had just missed feeling the hop!) We did a ton of these.
Note to self, practise downwards transitions and maintain impulsion!
We went for a long walk after to cool out and dry off a little. All around the fields, enjoying the night sky. He clearly wasn't tired, but he sure was wet! We really are going to have to clip him soon.
It was a very perfect ride!
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
My tips for saving on groceries
With all the unexpected and expected rise in costs recently, I have been getting creative about how to pinch pennies without compromising my horse spending. In the past few weeks, I have cut down a weekly grocery bill of about $150 to between $60-100. There are a few big things that contribute to that.
Coupons
I suggest you immediately subscribe to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ I have found them to be very useful, they send out EVERY online coupon you can use in Canada. Many of the sites they will link you to, will actually print out and mail the coupons to you FOR FREE. Some you must print yourself. But don't waste your time or energy, only print or request coupons for products you know you are going to use. Don't buy something with a coupon because you have the coupon, take the coupon because you buy the item! Coupon temptation is strong.
Free samples
Again, go to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ because they also send you lists of free samples. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE what I get in the mail these days. Sometimes I address them to Lee because its like Christmas for him, and he loves it was all free. Yesterday, I got 3 samples of different laundry soaps (theres our laundry done this week!) the week before I got a free Men's razor for Lee (not the cheapie one either, a fancy 5 blade replaceable head one) and 30 days free of wrinkle cream... not that I need it yet, but why not share! And on a regular basis, I get a box the size of a shoebox filled with free things like dusting cloths, granola bars, haircare, more laundry detergent etc. Find the box at http://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/. The most generous sample givers are cleaning and hygiene products.
Shop around without shopping around
It used to be that you would have to visit every store in town to get the best deals (a trick I learned from my father) but no need to waste gas or time anymore! Price match is perhaps where I have my deepest vault of tips. Where do I start?
This week we bought mouthwash. Lee reached for the Listerine at $6.99 and I reached for the knockoff at $2.49. We read the ingredients and %ages (medicinal ingredients) and of course, they were the exact same. Lee was in utter shock of this! Another example this week was vitamins. One had 500mg of active ingredient and said to take 2x day 100 capsules, the other at the same price was 1000mg once a day and 80 capsules. Do the math!
Rainy Days
Take advantage of rain checks if they offer it. If its a REALLY good deal, take more advantage of it. Usually there is a limit to how many they give you. We came up with this idea just in the last month when Lee got a rain check for 6 x1L chocolate milk at $0.88 each. Those 6L only lasted a few days with Lee (I had a whole 2 cups of milk!) I told him he should have gone in every day to get a rain check. Then every week we take a different one, we could fill our fridge with chocolate milk! If you are really lucky, the customer service agent may not even check to see they have run out, its like a free coupon you can use any time!
Being diligent is so worth it! Good luck shopping :)
Coupons
I suggest you immediately subscribe to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ I have found them to be very useful, they send out EVERY online coupon you can use in Canada. Many of the sites they will link you to, will actually print out and mail the coupons to you FOR FREE. Some you must print yourself. But don't waste your time or energy, only print or request coupons for products you know you are going to use. Don't buy something with a coupon because you have the coupon, take the coupon because you buy the item! Coupon temptation is strong.
Free samples
Again, go to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ because they also send you lists of free samples. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE what I get in the mail these days. Sometimes I address them to Lee because its like Christmas for him, and he loves it was all free. Yesterday, I got 3 samples of different laundry soaps (theres our laundry done this week!) the week before I got a free Men's razor for Lee (not the cheapie one either, a fancy 5 blade replaceable head one) and 30 days free of wrinkle cream... not that I need it yet, but why not share! And on a regular basis, I get a box the size of a shoebox filled with free things like dusting cloths, granola bars, haircare, more laundry detergent etc. Find the box at http://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/. The most generous sample givers are cleaning and hygiene products.
Shop around without shopping around
It used to be that you would have to visit every store in town to get the best deals (a trick I learned from my father) but no need to waste gas or time anymore! Price match is perhaps where I have my deepest vault of tips. Where do I start?
- Take the time to really read the flyer's. Half an hour out of your day could be 40% off your grocery bill. I actually worked it out by nit picking my receipt after the fact. I saved 40% by price matching. That's $60 off my regular bill. Does your work pay you $120 an hour? Your time is worth it.
- Go to the fanciest store that does price matching. I go to superstore. For one, its closest to my house, but that's not where the most value is. I find their produce is the best offered in our town, although it is more expensive. So what do I do? PRICE MATCH! Beautiful large head of lettuce = $1.99, nope, get that for $0.88 thank you very much food basics. Not only is the size doubled of those at food basics, but if its fresher, it will last longer and you wont be throwing your money to the rabbit with wilty lettuce. This is my most brilliant cheat. You can still do this with weighed produce also, while you don't benefit from the size difference, you still have better quality produce that lasts much longer (and often tastes better!).
- Don't stock up. Stocking up is almost completely unnecessary these days. So many of the items you use on a regular basis will be on sale somewhere almost every week. You will really start to notice this now that you spend that half hour going through the flyer's. Also, I know from my experience, you may stock up on something with all sorts of good intentions to eat it, then it hides in the back of the freezer until it gets freezerburned and you find it a year later.
- Make a list, then pick your price matching from the list. What do you need? Get only what you need, don't worry about the sales. Just take your list find the lowest price in the flyer's, and go! This keeps you out of trouble when you are in the store because you have a plan, you don't get as easily distracted by deceiving sale signs or junky food you don't need. Also, your plan will keep you making healthy choices and get out of the store faster! I even break my list up by flyer's so when I am putting it on the belt, its much faster and more organized.
- If you really want to go above and beyond, keep a spreadsheet of what you pricematch. That way, when you are going through flyer's again next week, you can decide what IS a good deal and what ISNT
This week we bought mouthwash. Lee reached for the Listerine at $6.99 and I reached for the knockoff at $2.49. We read the ingredients and %ages (medicinal ingredients) and of course, they were the exact same. Lee was in utter shock of this! Another example this week was vitamins. One had 500mg of active ingredient and said to take 2x day 100 capsules, the other at the same price was 1000mg once a day and 80 capsules. Do the math!
Rainy Days
Take advantage of rain checks if they offer it. If its a REALLY good deal, take more advantage of it. Usually there is a limit to how many they give you. We came up with this idea just in the last month when Lee got a rain check for 6 x1L chocolate milk at $0.88 each. Those 6L only lasted a few days with Lee (I had a whole 2 cups of milk!) I told him he should have gone in every day to get a rain check. Then every week we take a different one, we could fill our fridge with chocolate milk! If you are really lucky, the customer service agent may not even check to see they have run out, its like a free coupon you can use any time!
Being diligent is so worth it! Good luck shopping :)
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Yoga again.
I went for my second yoga class on Monday. All the women were complaining about how much they hurt after the last week, hm I didnt feel that bad! Same with this time, clearly the riding helps yoga as much as yoga helps riding! I felt that also on certain stretches we did, how I was able to do far more with my back muscles than the average person.
There was one stretch, where I must have really excited my teacher because she came over with loud compliments and proceeded to sit on my back to push me harder (in a good way, because I was already as far as I could get without pressure). Nobody else in the class had that response! Wooo! Of course, there were still stretches where I was barely competent. Would you believe I have never been able to touch my toes while flat footed? I can barely get my hands past my knees. Just cant keep that heel down. Even as a child I walked as though I was wearing invisible stilettos.
One thing I did notice however as I stretched towards my toes... "Oh no! My feet smell!" How embarassing! It made for a very long hour. Lesson learned! Its hard to stay focused and relaxed when smelly invades, its worse when you know you are the culprit!
There was one stretch, where I must have really excited my teacher because she came over with loud compliments and proceeded to sit on my back to push me harder (in a good way, because I was already as far as I could get without pressure). Nobody else in the class had that response! Wooo! Of course, there were still stretches where I was barely competent. Would you believe I have never been able to touch my toes while flat footed? I can barely get my hands past my knees. Just cant keep that heel down. Even as a child I walked as though I was wearing invisible stilettos.
One thing I did notice however as I stretched towards my toes... "Oh no! My feet smell!" How embarassing! It made for a very long hour. Lesson learned! Its hard to stay focused and relaxed when smelly invades, its worse when you know you are the culprit!
Second ride at Myrddin - XC!
I am starting to fall behind in my writing. Lets hope I remember all the details!
Sidetrack:
I had forgot to mention, how on Saturday, my big furry beast was a mess of sweat. Hes already so hairy, its as thick as my half Persian cat. I dread the thought of having to clip him, he didn't take too kindly to the idea of clippers last year. Hes a different horse than a year ago, but I am still worried it may never happen since still by the end of summer, his hatred for wet sponges had not yet disappeared. I can imagine clippers will be 10x worse. So I have a plan for this, I'm bringing my old electric toothbrush to the barn. I'm going to get him used to the buzzing and vibration without any blades or investment in a clipper. We will see how that works, because hes going to need it!
So with this in mind, I wanted to put more weight on the start of our ride, and keep it casual toward the end to try and dry him off more. We started in the ring. After the excitement the day before, I thought it necessary to give him a good schooling to get his head where I wanted it, and then go out and have fun in the fields.
We didn't try anything new, just worked on circles, serpentines and leg yielding in walk and trot. As usual, he was stiffer going clockwise (right bend) so we worked more on it. We didn't get it to be completely even, but enough improvement that I was happy with it. We immediately tried getting the right lead canter, and after a few tries and excited head to the left and nose to the sky jigging, I brought him back to walk. I could tell that I was putting barely any weight in my left stirrup. Not just when I was asking, but all the time. From that point on, I consciously tried to over exaggerate the weight in my left foot and kept tighter reins. After one more failed attempt, I exaggerated a bit more, and there we had it, right lead canter! This is going to take a lot of retraining for me! We went around the ring a few times, adding in some circles with me practicing my left stirrup weight.
Since we got that, we did an easy canter in the left lead, also doing a few nice circles, working on keeping him up straight, not leaning into the turn.
We came back to the walk and left the ring, just in time to meet Laura riding Fancy. Together we walked around the fields for a good half an hour, chatting and enjoying the day. Fancy was coming off an injury and couldn't do more than that. Just before she went to go in the barn, we came across Tara, the landlords daughter on her horse Charlotte. The two of us decided to pick up the pace a little and have some fun before I had to go back to work.
I asked "Are we allowed to jump the xc fences when not in a lesson" she said "oh ya!" and we were immediately off over a little log. Bentley bounded to it happily and over it like a superstar, Tara followed. We took turns choosing jumps to go over and who led. We even did 3 in a row that were about 8 strides apart, but around a curve and up gradual hill. The middle one was large (for us) but Bentley was happy to do it, just looking for the next one in a happy gallop. We also did the steps up and bank down, which was just another day on the job for him!
Our last jump, Tara picked was a tire jump. It was very inviting, had big wings on the side, but it was a little unexpected. We had just been walking for a while and she picked up the trot without word only a few metres out and popped over it. I was right beside her and hadn't expected it, so I did a small trot circle to warm up a bit and approached it. Well, I should have done a much larger circle and got a lot more impulsion because Bentley hesitated to look at the jump.
In all our experience together, if he hesitates, he wont jump and wants a reapproach. So in that fraction of a moment, I sat back, expecting the stop. Instead, he leaped over it like a deer. Boing!!! I went straight up toward the sky, a foot above my saddle, my feet staying in the stirrups, but instead at the top of my stirrups. He landed on all fours, and I came straight back down into the saddle. No falling, but ouch, the concussion of landing bothered my bad knee! It was a hard land. Bentley didn't even seem to notice it was a bad jump "Hey mum, look we got over!" No harm done, but I have learned my lesson: strong approach! In a way, it does make me happy too because he tried even though he wasn't sure (me too!) which must mean his confidence is really coming along.
I learned another thing too. Communicate with your riding buddies! Perhaps if I had set a precedent before of calling out my intentions, it would have been reciprocated and I would have had better notice of the jump. After all, I was the one who instigated the "lets tear across the xc field" thing.
Sidetrack:
I had forgot to mention, how on Saturday, my big furry beast was a mess of sweat. Hes already so hairy, its as thick as my half Persian cat. I dread the thought of having to clip him, he didn't take too kindly to the idea of clippers last year. Hes a different horse than a year ago, but I am still worried it may never happen since still by the end of summer, his hatred for wet sponges had not yet disappeared. I can imagine clippers will be 10x worse. So I have a plan for this, I'm bringing my old electric toothbrush to the barn. I'm going to get him used to the buzzing and vibration without any blades or investment in a clipper. We will see how that works, because hes going to need it!
So with this in mind, I wanted to put more weight on the start of our ride, and keep it casual toward the end to try and dry him off more. We started in the ring. After the excitement the day before, I thought it necessary to give him a good schooling to get his head where I wanted it, and then go out and have fun in the fields.
We didn't try anything new, just worked on circles, serpentines and leg yielding in walk and trot. As usual, he was stiffer going clockwise (right bend) so we worked more on it. We didn't get it to be completely even, but enough improvement that I was happy with it. We immediately tried getting the right lead canter, and after a few tries and excited head to the left and nose to the sky jigging, I brought him back to walk. I could tell that I was putting barely any weight in my left stirrup. Not just when I was asking, but all the time. From that point on, I consciously tried to over exaggerate the weight in my left foot and kept tighter reins. After one more failed attempt, I exaggerated a bit more, and there we had it, right lead canter! This is going to take a lot of retraining for me! We went around the ring a few times, adding in some circles with me practicing my left stirrup weight.
Since we got that, we did an easy canter in the left lead, also doing a few nice circles, working on keeping him up straight, not leaning into the turn.
We came back to the walk and left the ring, just in time to meet Laura riding Fancy. Together we walked around the fields for a good half an hour, chatting and enjoying the day. Fancy was coming off an injury and couldn't do more than that. Just before she went to go in the barn, we came across Tara, the landlords daughter on her horse Charlotte. The two of us decided to pick up the pace a little and have some fun before I had to go back to work.
I asked "Are we allowed to jump the xc fences when not in a lesson" she said "oh ya!" and we were immediately off over a little log. Bentley bounded to it happily and over it like a superstar, Tara followed. We took turns choosing jumps to go over and who led. We even did 3 in a row that were about 8 strides apart, but around a curve and up gradual hill. The middle one was large (for us) but Bentley was happy to do it, just looking for the next one in a happy gallop. We also did the steps up and bank down, which was just another day on the job for him!
Our last jump, Tara picked was a tire jump. It was very inviting, had big wings on the side, but it was a little unexpected. We had just been walking for a while and she picked up the trot without word only a few metres out and popped over it. I was right beside her and hadn't expected it, so I did a small trot circle to warm up a bit and approached it. Well, I should have done a much larger circle and got a lot more impulsion because Bentley hesitated to look at the jump.
In all our experience together, if he hesitates, he wont jump and wants a reapproach. So in that fraction of a moment, I sat back, expecting the stop. Instead, he leaped over it like a deer. Boing!!! I went straight up toward the sky, a foot above my saddle, my feet staying in the stirrups, but instead at the top of my stirrups. He landed on all fours, and I came straight back down into the saddle. No falling, but ouch, the concussion of landing bothered my bad knee! It was a hard land. Bentley didn't even seem to notice it was a bad jump "Hey mum, look we got over!" No harm done, but I have learned my lesson: strong approach! In a way, it does make me happy too because he tried even though he wasn't sure (me too!) which must mean his confidence is really coming along.
I learned another thing too. Communicate with your riding buddies! Perhaps if I had set a precedent before of calling out my intentions, it would have been reciprocated and I would have had better notice of the jump. After all, I was the one who instigated the "lets tear across the xc field" thing.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
First Ride at Myrddin
Despite the exciting news, I was still at Myrddin for a ride. I was able to connect with Barb before her lesson (She had been in my class wayyy back in the winter when I started doing lessons through the groupon promotion) and we played around in the field.
There are 3 medium sized fields filled with cross country jumps and the sand ring on the south side of the property, and there is one large field on the north side - that's where we started riding. Bentley and Bee hit it off (well they ARE stall neighbors now) and were particularly frisky. Lots of big trot with a few excited canters in there (although not always asked for!)
Barb then went for her lesson and I decided to explore the xc (cross country) fields. We had some more nice gallops, but Bentley typically had other plans and needed more convincing than usual when I tried to bring him back. My theory is he thought it was an OCTRA ride... trailer, sleep, then run through the forest!
I may have been a little hard on him, I don't mind if he wants to run, but when we do it, I like to practice lots of short runs to ingrain the idea of me being in charge. I wasn't too pleased after it took a few too many woahs and a harder sit and pull than usual. I kind of dwelled on this after our ride and complained a bit to Barb, who said I shouldn't be mad because hes a young fresh thing on a beautiful day, but still, I don't like when he challenges my decisions (by galloping down a steep albeit well footed hill). Both right, time to move on!
His punishment for this was ring work. We went into the ring and did some figures. By then, he figured it wasn't a race and settled into what I was asking of him although he was still hyper as anything. Barb finished her lesson and joined us for some more trotting and walking around the fields before it was time to head back.
Bentley still had a ton of energy, but nothing I could do about that! After all, we still don't exactly know his limit. Even after 2 Oktoberfest 12s he seemed to bounce back enough in a few hours that he was contemplating escape and didn't want to go home. Now that hes getting good food and spending nights in his stall, I may have to ride much more than before to keep him out of trouble. Good I guess, if only I had a time control device!
Oh and I didn't even mention about how happy he was when I went to fetch him from the paddocks for our ride. He had his own paddock with his OWN round bale. Hes not going to be skinny much longer!
There are 3 medium sized fields filled with cross country jumps and the sand ring on the south side of the property, and there is one large field on the north side - that's where we started riding. Bentley and Bee hit it off (well they ARE stall neighbors now) and were particularly frisky. Lots of big trot with a few excited canters in there (although not always asked for!)
Barb then went for her lesson and I decided to explore the xc (cross country) fields. We had some more nice gallops, but Bentley typically had other plans and needed more convincing than usual when I tried to bring him back. My theory is he thought it was an OCTRA ride... trailer, sleep, then run through the forest!
I may have been a little hard on him, I don't mind if he wants to run, but when we do it, I like to practice lots of short runs to ingrain the idea of me being in charge. I wasn't too pleased after it took a few too many woahs and a harder sit and pull than usual. I kind of dwelled on this after our ride and complained a bit to Barb, who said I shouldn't be mad because hes a young fresh thing on a beautiful day, but still, I don't like when he challenges my decisions (by galloping down a steep albeit well footed hill). Both right, time to move on!
His punishment for this was ring work. We went into the ring and did some figures. By then, he figured it wasn't a race and settled into what I was asking of him although he was still hyper as anything. Barb finished her lesson and joined us for some more trotting and walking around the fields before it was time to head back.
Bentley still had a ton of energy, but nothing I could do about that! After all, we still don't exactly know his limit. Even after 2 Oktoberfest 12s he seemed to bounce back enough in a few hours that he was contemplating escape and didn't want to go home. Now that hes getting good food and spending nights in his stall, I may have to ride much more than before to keep him out of trouble. Good I guess, if only I had a time control device!
Oh and I didn't even mention about how happy he was when I went to fetch him from the paddocks for our ride. He had his own paddock with his OWN round bale. Hes not going to be skinny much longer!
Monday, November 19, 2012
The (second) big move!
As I am sure you are curious from my previous title, I should explain.
But where to start? I suppose I should start by saying that the owner was away for the weekend, and I didn't have to stick around work all day. Saturday, I finished up in the morning as I usually do, went home for some lunch, and casually drove up to Myrddin to ride on what was truly a gorgeous day!
I will get to my ride in another post.
No word of a lie... the moment I went to put on Bentley's bridle, my phone rings. I fumble to find my phone, and see its Linda. Ok, I will answer that!
Here was our conversation
L "Hey are you at your barn?"
S "Yes I am at the barn, whats up?"
L "Where are you?"
S "Im at Myrddin"
L "Im at your barn"
S "You are at Myrddin?"
L"No your work barn"
S "Oh I am at Myrddin, why are you at my work?"
L "I'm going to move"
Yes it carried on in that confusing matter but the result was Linda decided to move to Hunter Green (at Halton Place!)
We agreed to meet at 4 when I came back to bring in the horses, and she showed up with Sable in the trailer! Yes, she works fast!
I am so very happy for them. Happy for me too! I was very disappointed that Linda was moving all the way to Caledon, this means that I will still get to see her and Sable every weekend. Hm. Maybe I should move here too? Nah, I made the right decision for me.
But still, very very happy for Linda. Lynne and Vicki have been awesome, the facilities were great and I know Linda will be happy there. Sable must think shes in horsey heaven (but that would have been a terrible title for this blog haha) I had to rub it in a little bit since I had been bugging her to check out the place since she first told me she was considering moving. I knew it was a good match!
Rick came in the following day to see it too, and was clearly impressed with the place (and the fact that I was dusting) He wasn't always a fan of Linda's plan to move, but I am sure the gorgeous place and happy horses were enough to convince him.
If you want to see what it looks like: http://www.huntergreenec.com/facilities.shtml
But where to start? I suppose I should start by saying that the owner was away for the weekend, and I didn't have to stick around work all day. Saturday, I finished up in the morning as I usually do, went home for some lunch, and casually drove up to Myrddin to ride on what was truly a gorgeous day!
I will get to my ride in another post.
No word of a lie... the moment I went to put on Bentley's bridle, my phone rings. I fumble to find my phone, and see its Linda. Ok, I will answer that!
Here was our conversation
L "Hey are you at your barn?"
S "Yes I am at the barn, whats up?"
L "Where are you?"
S "Im at Myrddin"
L "Im at your barn"
S "You are at Myrddin?"
L"No your work barn"
S "Oh I am at Myrddin, why are you at my work?"
L "I'm going to move"
Yes it carried on in that confusing matter but the result was Linda decided to move to Hunter Green (at Halton Place!)
We agreed to meet at 4 when I came back to bring in the horses, and she showed up with Sable in the trailer! Yes, she works fast!
I am so very happy for them. Happy for me too! I was very disappointed that Linda was moving all the way to Caledon, this means that I will still get to see her and Sable every weekend. Hm. Maybe I should move here too? Nah, I made the right decision for me.
But still, very very happy for Linda. Lynne and Vicki have been awesome, the facilities were great and I know Linda will be happy there. Sable must think shes in horsey heaven (but that would have been a terrible title for this blog haha) I had to rub it in a little bit since I had been bugging her to check out the place since she first told me she was considering moving. I knew it was a good match!
Rick came in the following day to see it too, and was clearly impressed with the place (and the fact that I was dusting) He wasn't always a fan of Linda's plan to move, but I am sure the gorgeous place and happy horses were enough to convince him.
If you want to see what it looks like: http://www.huntergreenec.com/facilities.shtml
The (first) big move!
I was able to get out of work a little early on Friday, explaining that trailers have the potential to turn into horse eating monsters after dark. So I rushed to the barn where Linda was waiting, her and Lee hooked up the trailer, while I gave Bentley a quick brush and slapped on his protective gear.
Led him out to the trailer, and wouldn't you know it... he walked right on! Ok... halfway on. Just stood with his front feet on the trailer and back feet on the ground a while, thinking "Hmmm, everyones looking at me and cheering for me!" So he invented the game, 2 feet on, then go back off. He stepped up and down many times, and seemed to enjoy the game. Eventually, we had enough of it and put the lead rope behind him. He popped right up and was ready to go.
Along the drive, Linda told me how happy she was for me, and how she had decided she will be moving too. She had settled on a place in Caledon, close to the Caledon trailways and was waiting on info as to whether a stall was available (as some horses were going to Florida etc). Sad she is going to go in the opposite direction :( wont be seeing her as much!
Bentley unloaded like a charm. Stepped right off like he had been doing it all the time. Brilliant! He had a good look around with that excited strength he gets, not dragging me or anything, but is much more difficult to convince. As soon as we entered into the barn, he was met with lots of "awww's" and "hes so cute!"
He immediately chilled as we put him in the crossties to figure out where he was going. Eventually, we determined he was to go in the stall labelled "Sally" - quick wipe off the whiteboard there! He was home! Immediately the nose was in the hay. Typical! Margie was in lessons, so we left him to settle in while we went home to make dinner and grab more stuff.
On our return, we filled in all the legal forms and set up a feeding plan with Margie. She commented on how skinny he was and that he looks wormy (it wasnt an insult, I had been thinking the same thing). Vet will be taking a sample and treating them all sometime soon. So that's good! Also found some rain rot (scabby skin infection from mud) on his hindquarters, but she seemed confident that it will disappear with better pasture/stall conditions and good food. We decided that since I was unsure how much hay he was actually getting at GEC (he isn't much of a fighter, and I was seeing signs before we left that he wasn't getting much or maybe even anything when it was being fed) and because I will be away next week, to just stick with good hay and see how much he bounces back before adding any grain. We will work him up as we determine he needs it. He IS however getting some roughage chunks so he doesn't feel left out when everyone else gets grain. Also, something to put his supplements and flax in. Flax was another recommendation from Margie to get his coat shining again.
Led him out to the trailer, and wouldn't you know it... he walked right on! Ok... halfway on. Just stood with his front feet on the trailer and back feet on the ground a while, thinking "Hmmm, everyones looking at me and cheering for me!" So he invented the game, 2 feet on, then go back off. He stepped up and down many times, and seemed to enjoy the game. Eventually, we had enough of it and put the lead rope behind him. He popped right up and was ready to go.
Along the drive, Linda told me how happy she was for me, and how she had decided she will be moving too. She had settled on a place in Caledon, close to the Caledon trailways and was waiting on info as to whether a stall was available (as some horses were going to Florida etc). Sad she is going to go in the opposite direction :( wont be seeing her as much!
Bentley unloaded like a charm. Stepped right off like he had been doing it all the time. Brilliant! He had a good look around with that excited strength he gets, not dragging me or anything, but is much more difficult to convince. As soon as we entered into the barn, he was met with lots of "awww's" and "hes so cute!"
He immediately chilled as we put him in the crossties to figure out where he was going. Eventually, we determined he was to go in the stall labelled "Sally" - quick wipe off the whiteboard there! He was home! Immediately the nose was in the hay. Typical! Margie was in lessons, so we left him to settle in while we went home to make dinner and grab more stuff.
On our return, we filled in all the legal forms and set up a feeding plan with Margie. She commented on how skinny he was and that he looks wormy (it wasnt an insult, I had been thinking the same thing). Vet will be taking a sample and treating them all sometime soon. So that's good! Also found some rain rot (scabby skin infection from mud) on his hindquarters, but she seemed confident that it will disappear with better pasture/stall conditions and good food. We decided that since I was unsure how much hay he was actually getting at GEC (he isn't much of a fighter, and I was seeing signs before we left that he wasn't getting much or maybe even anything when it was being fed) and because I will be away next week, to just stick with good hay and see how much he bounces back before adding any grain. We will work him up as we determine he needs it. He IS however getting some roughage chunks so he doesn't feel left out when everyone else gets grain. Also, something to put his supplements and flax in. Flax was another recommendation from Margie to get his coat shining again.
I couldn't get a good picture of him the night he moved in, it was too dark and he kept on coming to visit me.
The day after, he was poking his head out of his stall. Corner unit also with a view outside, hes going to see all the action!
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