Chinooks are a treat!

We are so lucky to have a weather phenomenon called a "Chinook" to break up our cold & long winters. Every so often (sometimes once a week) we get a pressure system that brings warm air from the coast over the mountains and brings our temperatures up as much as 20 degrees (celcius). This week we went from a freezing -25 (not including the wind chill) up to a lovely +6 yesterday and today. Through the week we got quite a bit of snow too... So nice weather + snow.... = sidesaddle in the snow!

Had a lovely ride out in the snow on Oliver. He's such an easy going gelding that I thought maybe I'd break out a sidesaddle and try him outside. Not a foot wrong and he was EXTRA springy in all that deep snow. His trot felt a lot like riding the piaffe on Robin's Owen. So much fun!! His canter was HUUUGE though and a bit tricky to ride, so we didn't do much of that. What a gentleman though, just having so much fun riding him. Here's a short video taken from before Christmas, we hauled over to a larger arena and had a bit of a sidesaddle play date. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EHdgi8oPfc I'd say he's pretty natural at this whole sidesaddle thing! :D

Cold nights = Tack cleaning time!

Last night the temperatures here were a frigid -25 celcius, not including the wind chill. I believe that was closer to -40-ish at times... yuck! It was definitely too cold for my lesson kids to ride so we went with a plan "B". We did vital signs, heights, weights and descriptions of all of the horses in the toasty warm barn instead of riding. I was having a look at my collection of saddles in the basement and determined that some looked a bit on the dry side. Mostly the ones that don't see a lot of use. I got the good leather conditioner out and went to work! My favorite product is this stuff, Belvoir leather balsam made by Carr & Day Martin. It's got beeswax and lanolin in it, actually smells quite nice and leaves your hands nice & soft too! Most leather seems to just inhale this stuff and it makes the leathe super supple.

Personally, I find using a cloth to clean tack to be a bit of a pain so one day I found an old holey sock and stuck that on my hand and used that for cleaning. Then one year I got some of these cotton "roping" gloves as we call them (prevents rope burn on your hands) and thought... hmm... those would be perfect for tack cleaning!

They work great for really getting your hands in & around the saddles to clean & condition. I find it really interesting to compare the english saddles (mostly made in the UK) to the western saddles (made here in N.America). The leather on the english saddles is just like butter, it seems to stay relatively supple and doesn't crack. Some of the saddles look well used but really, don't let on just how old they are. The westerns are a different story. The leather is a lot different and not quite as supple as the english leather. It seems to tend to get surface 'crazing' easier too. My poor old Great West Saddle seems to be a bit of a project to keep from going downhill. I gave it a really good cleaning & conditioning but I think it has deteriorated some since I first got it. I think it had seen a lot of riding & use in it's life, so it's understandable. I think the main reason the leather is so different between english & western saddles is how they tanned them. Must be. I really don't know much about tanning, other than the chemicals they used to use to tan english leather were quite toxic... and are now banned I believe. Perhaps that's why our modern day saddles don't seem to last as long as the old saddles of 100 years ago? I wonder if they maybe used different breeds of cattle to make saddle leather in England vs. N.America? Not sure if that would have much to do with things or not. Different climate too? I think on average, N. America is a lot drier than it is in the UK and perhaps that damp weather helped keep the leather nicer? Though I do hear a lot of people saying that they have trouble with mold & rot over there. We have dry rot here, everything may look fine and then you notice that stitching has just disintegrated. Aside from conditioning saddles regularly, I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm wondering if I should perhaps be using a different cleaning/conditioning product on the western saddles than the english saddles? Lexol instead perhaps? I'm leery to use oil and such as I've heard bad things about it rotting the stitching. Lots of tack cleaning food for thought when we're stuck inside in the winter!

Loooong winter....

Some days the winters here in Canada certainly do seem loooong.... I guess they are long considering it's usually cold & snowy starting from sometime in October all the way until April. It certainly is pretty though...

It's lots of fun to go for a ride out in the deep snow (good for the fat ponies too!) on the days that are nice enough. We are lucky to get chinooks here that bring in warmer temperatures and can take us from -20 to +5 overnight (Celcius). It can be a bit tricky trying to blanket the horses appropriately though - always adding layers, taking them off, adding a neck piece, taking it off... In the greenhouses at the college they've starting seeding the bedding out plants for the summer. It's always nice to see them start to grow and know that spring IS coming after all! I "spring" up the house by buying copious amounts of forced bulbs and enjoying those.

Some tips for surviving the cold Canadian winter... GOOD winter boots are a MUST! I've got several pairs and have finally found my favorites! I've tried the "Muck Boots" and they are good, until your feet get a little damp (they don't breathe) and then your feet get COLD! They are good to stand around in, as long as you have good thick socks on, they seem to have soles that insulate from the bottom well. Not a big fan of riding in these though as they have zero ankle support or grip on the calves. The Mountain Horse winter boots are nice, though bulky. I prefer them for riding as they have more grip and good ankle support. But for standing around they are AWFUL! My feet really freeze in them if I'm not actively doing something. My favorites so far are the boots I got for Christmas. They are the "Middleburg Fleeced Lined" boots from Dover Saddlery. They were quite tight on the calf when I first got them but I forced the zipper up and they've streched out well. They are warm for riding & standing around, not too heavy and GREAT to ride in! Highly recommend them! Gloves are super important! I love the SSG silk liners, they help draw moisture away from your skin. Overtop of those I put on the SSG winter mittens - the leather ones that have a thumb & a pinky finger separate from the rest of the fingers. SO warm & nice to ride in. A good toque (that's a winter hat for you non-Canadians! haha) to keep your head warm or a fleece headband that fits inside your helmet & over your ears when you are riding. Underbreeches (Mountain Horse) and fleece lined breeches (Kerritts) are also a staple for me! I have 3 pairs and I wear nothing BUT those to the barn all winter long, -20 and all. They keep you warm! For a nice extra layer I bought a pair of winter riding chaps, kinda like snow pants with a full seat breech on them. They're nicely fitted and not too heavy. Though I do feel like I should almost have a pair of suspenders on to help keep them up when I'm just walking around in them. I'm not the hugest fan of riding in them though as with the loose leg at the bottom, they do slide around a bit in the saddle. I won't complain about that though when it's -20! Lots of layers on the top or a down vest/coat will keep you toasty warm. And to finish it off, a silk scarf around your neck. Helps keep the cold air out and is surprisingly warm! Doesn't get all damp & frosty nor is it itchy or bulky like a lot of scarves. The ponies all get nicely blanketed, some have clips to keep them from getting too sweaty when worked and we all end up making do nicely!

A special gift!

I have to say I'm thoroughly spoiled by all of my lesson kids & their parents. Over Christmas I received lots of nice things & cookies! One of the families had told me that they had a special present ordered but it wouldn't be there in time for Christmas. Well it finally came last week and to say the least I was stunned! I think it looks absolutely perfect tucked in the little display alcove together with my ribbon jars and trophies! What a very thoughtful gift!

I'm back! I'm back! It's been way too long!

Sorry everyone, I'll try to get back to posting. The last few months have been insanely busy and blogging definitely got put on the back-burner. So not to worry, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Over Christmas we moved all of the horses to a wonderful new barn. I think it was almost as bad as moving to a new house! I can't believe just how much stuff we have accumulated but I guess that comes with the territory of teaching riding lessons and owning 6 horses. (Yup... we're up to 6 now... LOL). The horse trailer was absolutely JAMMED full of tack, jumps, blankets and various other equipment. I feel a bit like a tack hoarder... We had lots of help though so it went smoothly and we got everything set up nicely. We are just loving the people at the new barn and the arena is fantastic! Who knew an extra 10 feet in width and 20-30 feet in length would make SUCH a difference but it sure does! So nice to be able to set up a full course and not have to feel like you are doing rollback turns everywhere you go! lol Not to mention the lighting is excellent, no more "scary corners" or weird spooky shadows. The footing is great too, it's really amazing to see the difference that really good footing makes in the horses too. A lot of the issues that were coming up have all but disappeared. Horses are carrying themselves better, more spring in their step and really using themselves a lot better than they were. Horses are happy and so are the riders! We are especially excited for the fields & outdoor arena (HUGE outdoor arena!) that we can use when summer comes! We've already been enjoying the 160 acre hayfield when the days are warm enough. It's a good workout for the horses to go for a trot through the deep snow. It's also a nice treat to have lots more paddocks so we can separate horses according to personality and feed requirements (i.e. We have a diet pen for the fatties). All of the paddocks are a nice size open to pasture turnout in the summer and have big shelters so everyone can get out of the weather. So here's an update on the herd... So there's my main mare Brigit, my nearly 20 year old WB mare. She's having the winter off and has been living at a friend's place, enjoying a huge field and a free choice round bale with her new friend Rusty.

Enjoying her round bale. (Who knew 2 horses could make SUCH a mess out of a round bale in only 3 days! lol)

And Kodi, the slightly sassy 1/2 arab that loooves to be ridden sidesaddle and jump!

Then there's Copper, the little Appaloosa mare we have on loan for a lesson horse. For a pony she has a HUGE stride and LOVES to jump!

(as I'm typing this I have the Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer going through my head.... "you know dasher & dancer... donner & vixen....." One of our new lesson horses is Oscar (the grouch), a coming 7 year old TB gelding. He was left behind at our previous barn by his owners and hadn't been ridden in years. One of the other ladies at the barn started working with him and he just had such a great attitude we decided to try him as a lesson horse. Turns out he's a star! He badly needed his teeth floated and didn't have much topline to speak of when we started using him in September but he's starting to look great now! And he looooves to jump! But has enough patience to pack the walk/trot kids around too! Oscar when we first starting riding him.

And a few months later! Look at those cute knees!

And today, taken at his very first horse show! He certainly has some scope!

Then we've got my new guy (now named Oliver) a 4 year old Canadian Warmblood gelding! He's just an absolute pleasure to ride, such a great mind! And yes, we've tried him sidesaddle!

And last but certainly not least is our project pony Ricky or "Ricochet". He is a Connemara Welsh cross and THE most fun to ride! He was unstarted when we got him in September and is by far the easiest horse I've ever started. Within a few months he could walk/trot/canter around the arena with ease, picks up his leads and we've started him over fences. No pony attitude here! Just a perfect little gentleman.

So that's the herd (for now haha).

Tail tube or brain teaser?

I've been having a lot of fun with my new gelding, he's incredibly patient in the barn for a 4 year old and just oh so mellow under saddle. Such a treat to be around. I figured I should maybe go pick a few things up for him so I went on a bit of a shopping trip today. He's now got his very own fancy padded hunter bridle and matching martingale. Looks pretty swanky in it too! Now this horse has THE most amazing tail I think I've ever seen. Touches the ground when he's standing in the stall and is thick as can be. I figured I should maybe put it in a tail bag to keep it nice and see how long I get get it hehe. So I bought one of those "tail tubes" that has the 3 separate sections to put the tail in and then you braid it and "voila!". Well... I think that's easier said that done. Slippery tail + slippery fabric = how in the world does this work?!?! After a good while of fighting with it, I got it in and it looks pretty decent. Lets hope it stays in for awhile so I don't have to re-do it anytime soon! I think this winter might involve quite a bit of trailering out to other barns...with bigger arenas. Our arena is just so darned tiny. I'm grateful to have an arena but this guy is just SO big we seem to make it down the long wall in a few large canter strides. I kinda feel like I'm trying to drive a large yacht round a small duck pond on this guy! The one thing I've got to figure out for him is a new name. He came with the name "Cocoa" and I'm just not sure it suits him. He's a big, fancy boy and needs a name to suit him. His sire is "Beau Soleil" and his dam goes back to Northern Dancer. So far I haven't come up with anything good. Hopefully I will figure it out soon so I can quit calling him "the moose" or "Mr. Brown" or whatever else comes to mind at the moment lol!

A new sidesaddle mount?

Well since Rain didn't work out as a sidesaddle horse, I ended up listing her for sale and finding a great family for her. Couldn't let that money sit in my pocket for too long, so it promptly burned a hole in my pocket and I found an absolutely gorgeous Canadian Warmblood gelding. Meet "Cocoa" (yes we're going to change his name! lol) a 4 year old, 16HH gelding by a stallion called "Beau Soleil". Definitely love his attitude already, he's a pretty mellow guy and has a lovely floaty trot and an amazing canter. We just picked him up last night and I'm itching to go to the barn tonight to play with him. And yes, hopefully he will be my next sidesaddle mount!

1st Level - We did it!

Went to a dressage show on Saturday and figured I'd try riding a few 1st level tests. Plus I just really wanted a good excuse to get out and wear my new habit! After sewing & resewing buttons on to the apron to get it to fit just right and staying up till 1:00am the night before cleaning tack & making a new stock tie, I was tired but ready to go! Ok maybe not totally ready, for the life of me, I could not memorize the 1st level tests! I thought I had one but couldn't remember it at ALL! Good thing I had some friends there that could read for me as I rode. Our first test felt horrible. Brigit was really hot & feeling a bit spooky (scary dressage ring!) and pulled on me the entire time. We broke into a canter in the lengthened trot once (oops!). I figured the test was a write off, we got through it but it sure didn't feel nice at all. However I guess the judge disagreed! We won the class! Our second test felt a lot more relaxed and I thought we nailed it. Well except for one part. Brigit decided she liked the lengthened canter a bit too much and refused to come back to me, so instead we ripped around the corner like a motorcycle, broke gait, popped into the wrong lead and finally managed to get ourselves put back together again. I did have one point of contention with the judge on this test, on our score sheet it noted that we had picked up the wrong lead once, which I know for a fact we hadn't (we have other pics that show it! lol) but it's not a huge deal. For the amount of riding/practicing we did (or lack thereof.....), we did really well and we ended up the Open 1st Level Reserve Champion! Woo! Definitely pulled that out of the dark! lol Definitely have some things to learn & work on for next time. The leg yields are definitely a tough part, it's really interesting to get some feedback on things. For instance, our leg yield to the right felt great but as you can imagine, the leg yield to the left is a bit sticky. But again, the judge said our leg yield right was a bit rushed (we still got a 7). To me the leg yield left felt like we just barely got it. I think she was focused on everything else but listening to my cane lol. And now for a picture from yesterday! More to follow. (Thanks to my friend for taking pics!) I'm sure glad it wasn't any warmer, with a wool vest on and a wool habit, stock tie and gloves, I was cooking!

Cold Saturday Farm

Visiting Cold Saturday Farm was another one of those unforgettable parts of the trip. Robin's family used to own Cold Saturday and the now live next door to it. It's a beautiful old stone house built in the 1700's (I think 1760-something? Should have written it down! lol).

Robin says the little stone bridge is a lot of fun to drive across with a horse & cart. She used to practice her driving on the little lane-ways around the farm. Below the house is a little log cabin by the pond.

There are two stories on where the name comes from. The first one being that the property was surveyed on a very cold saturday during the winter and it was dubbed the "Cold Saturday" place. The other being that the wife of the original owner wasn't too keen on the place and told her husband "It will be a Cold Saturday before I live there!". I think I'd move there in a heartbeat....after I win the lottery that is lol.

We had a lot of fun exploring around the grounds of Cold Saturday, so much interesting history and picturesque little areas.

This is what used to be the carriage house. Robin's grandmother loved her horses.

She had this barn built (in the 20's I think?) for her horses. When she was a child, her family had a terrible fire in their barn and they lost most of the horses. So this barn was very state of the art for it's time; built out of stone with large metal fire doors separating the different sections. Each stall had a door leading to the outside, just in case they had to get the horses out. Robin was telling us that when her Grandmother was alive, there wasn't a cobweb to be found in the barn.

There's still a few equine inhabitants in the barn today.

This is the front of the "Orchard Barn", which they used to use as a shed for the broodmares.

The house even has a walled garden around it. Looks like the entrance to a secret garden.

What a treat to get to visit such a beautiful property. At home our history is a lot younger than out on the east coast, so it's really interesting to see buildings that are hundreds of years old still in such great shape and being used & enjoyed. Many of the "older" buildings here were built out of wood and have since burned down or been torn down. Stone buildings are few & far between. I really enjoyed hearing the history of the farm and seeing how the culture & history is valued.

Back to Maryland.... Getting to ride Owen!

Staying with Robin and getting to ride Owen was such a highlight of my trip. What an amazing feeling to have the opportunity to hop on a horse that does the upper level movements and get to play around a bit. First of all, I LOVE Robin's arena. It's just to die for.

Started off with some trot work. Working on some shoulder in & haunches in.

And then some leg yielding and half passes...

On to cantering and getting Owen to lengthen and shorten his gaits in preparation for some attempted canter pirouettes.

Some attempted walk pirouettes. I say attempted because Owen totally knew what he was doing, me not so much! But it was still a LOT of fun!

Our first attempts at canter pirouettes were pretty sad. They more more of a glorified (maybe not even glorified lol) tiny canter circle lol. I really wasn't asking him properly and Owen was saying "What the heck do you want lady?" lol

So Robin hopped on to show me how to do a few and then I tried again. I think by the end I was almost, kinda sorta getting it. What a neat feeling!

I definitely think my favorite was the passage and piaffe though! Just amazing to feel the horse come up underneath you like that and really, dance on the spot.

Definitely a treat to ride! Thanks again Robin! And Owen too!

A greenhouse!

Well we finally have a shed in our back yard and last weekend we finished building a little lean-to greenhouse on the side for all of my plants. Usually in the spring we play the "in & out" game with the planters and seedlings I've started. They go out in the morning and come into the dining room, turning it into a jungle, in the evening. To give you an idea of what our spring is like, the tulips, daffodils and May-Day trees are blooming now (seems like forever since I was in Virginia & Maryland enjoying spring flowers!), the cherry-trees and crab apples are just about to bloom. It's still a bit cool in the evenings (and some days) and there's the odd chance of frost but it's slowly warming up. I did manage to get a sunburn two weekends ago, so occasionally it gets really nice & warm! I've planted three types of onions, radishes, several types of lettuce and a few different carrots. The radish & lettuce has sprouted but no sign of the carrots or onions yet. The sweet peas are coming up now too. I started 7 heritage varieties of tomatoes - Ildi a small yellow grape tomato, Sweet Million a small red cherry, Black Krim a bigger dark purplish brown fruit, Hawaiian pineapple a tasty and HUGE yellowish orange tomato, Fried Green the name says it all, Beefsteak just to have something that matures a bit sooner and Striped Roma's. I found the heritage varities took forever and ever to produce fruit. This year I'm going to make a point of trimming them back so they work on putting more energy into the fruit instead of getting 8' tall. I'm really pleased with my flower beds, most of the perennials have come back with a vengance this year. Well, except for the tulips. I think a mole or vole got into the beds and had an all you can eat buffet over the winter. The one bed in particular looks rather pathetic! I know for a fact I planted at least 50 tulips in it when I separated them last fall and I've had a pathetic 10 come up and then wither away. No flowers at all. No good. I've got a whole bunch of annuals to plant once the fear of frost is gone but for now they're in the greenhouse looking pretty happy. Boy do I love having a greenhouse to keep everything in! I feel like a kid with a new playhouse!

Visit to Robin's

Robin (Sidesaddle Quest) invited me to stay with her while I was on my trip and she had enticed me by telling me I could go for a ride on the fabulous Owen! After arriving and meeting her sister & mother, we decided we had just enough time to go for a ride before dinner. So off we went for a tour.

The woods around Virginia & Maryland are so different from our dense forests at home. As we rode, Robin told me about the history of the farm and her family. I of course, opted to do the trail ride aside, why not?

Before untacking, Robin and I had some fun with Owen. She taught me how to do a piaffe & passage on him. What an incredible feeling! Such a treat to ride a horse like him. The next morning, we got up and went into Baltimore to see the National Aquarium. Definitely something you should see if you go to Baltimore. It was pretty amazing. I took a ton of photos but here are a few of the best ones (or I'll be here uploading pics all day! haha) The Aquarium is right on the waterfront in the inner harbor of Baltimore. The submarine out front is really interesting too.

There was also an old ship in the harbor that you could do tours of.

Inside the aquarium there is so much to see.

Inside you work your way up to the top of the building and then you get to this long spiral walkway that takes you down through this enormous tank. As you go lower the types of fish change and there are even some pretty good sized sharks. It was neat to see the divers in the tank feeding the fish. (not in the shark tank of course! lol)

This is an interesting photo of what baltimore used to look like and what it looks like now.

Lots has changed! As we enjoyed our lunch, we watched the little "dragon boats" out in the water. Unfortunately Robin didn't think much of my idea to rent one and paddle around the water lol. I think it's an interesting juxtaposition seeing those dragons touring around out in front of the old submarine.

After touring the aquarium and having lunch, we went back to Robin's farm. We took the scenic route home and saw some huge thoroughbred farms & lots of neat old houses along the way. We stopped at a beautiful old church where Robin was married. Her family has a long history in the area.

We had a bit of time to relax and then we had to turn back around and drive to the Baltimore Airport to pick up my friend Lee who was joining us for the ISSO Clinic weekend. Poor Lee! Her flight had come in early and she had arrived at a different terminal that we had expected, so we couldn't find her. We wandered around the airport for a good hour or so looking for her. Finally we found her and heard how the entire trip down had been a bit of an adventure. (Note to self, do not EVER fly though Toronto Airport or on Air Canada again....). For dinner we stopped at a neat old pub and chatted about sidesaddles and horses for at least a few hours. What could be better? Good company, good food and lots of good conversation!