I am leaving tonight

My time here in Dunster is already over. I really enjoyed the last few days, it was way too short. I will take the bus to Hinton tonight. Another sleepless night.. I will miss my friends, cats and horses from Dunster, I know I always can come for a visit during the summer. I am getting more and more nervous and I am a bit afraid of the new things which will come. People keep telling me not to be nervous, but I can't stop it.. as soon as I am there (Brule/Jasper) and settled in I feel better. First, I will have a good time in Edson again and Hinton at Krissie's place. I am suppost to be in Brule on May 4th.

days...

I am still in Dunster, BC. I am suppost to go to Alix tomorrow. It doesn't happen for some reason. Lynda can't pick me up at the bus station 'cause there is only one bus which is in Hinton at 4.45 am and she wanted to leave for Alix in the early morning. Oh well, that's not so bad. Yesterday, I went over to Reg's place so he can messure my belt. Krys invited me for supper. I spent the afternoon at Reg's place which was nice. We checked the horses and cows. There are 9 cute calves. Unfortunately, I can't take pic's of them 'cause my camera is still in Edson :( The weather wasn't so nice, it was raining sometimes. Today we went for a trail ride. It was the first one for the horses this year. I rode Miss Alberta. First she was impatient (like always...) but then when we hit the trail she was good. She loves to be in the front, there she is quiet and has no head-toss-fits. I love this horse ! Even when she is in a bad mood. In the afternoon the girls and I worked some more on the in-hand leading and I worked with Twister afterwards. I was pretty surprised how good he can move his shoulders and hips.... ! Birgit told me afterwards she had a huge discussion with Junior in January about moving shoulders and hips. I cooked supper today. It is more fun to cook for more then just one person. I still have problems sometimes to get the right amount of food so it's enough for everyone. I guess I need some more practice ;D

the time is flying again

I am already the second day here at the Falling Star Ranch in Dunster. I already did a lot. Today I rode and lunged Alberta, lunged Miho and worked with other horses. I showed the two girls how to lead a horse in-hand. Now, I am tired and need a bed so bad. I have my roommate, Shy again. She was pretty busy last night, kept bugging me (I had to pet her) and in the morning I had to let her get upstairs so she could have breakfast. I hope I can sleep better tonight.

McBride, here I am

At 2 am I took the bus from Edson to McBride. I couldn't sleep so that's why I am toast now. I went over to Reg's place 'cause I would like to have a real nice cowgirl belt for my dude outfit. I already bought the belt buckle in Red Deer. So it is at Reg's place now and waits for the belt. It has a picture of a haida thunderbird. Since I am so tired I decided to walk over to the saddleshop which took me an hour each way.... Oh well, I am lucky that I didn't take the bike 'cause it blew a strong wind. I visited all the horses at Reg's place, of course Seven, Colt, Sonny, Smokie and Dolly. Seven and Colt are a bit fat and out of shape, oh well.. a diet and a bit of a training on the trails and everything will be fine soon.

Soon, I will head for bed, this is not a funny situation. First, I will do a pasta salad. I hope I won't screw up..

part 2 of my holidays

I will take the bus at 2 am from Edson to McBride. I should be in McBride at 6 am. We came home at 10.30 pm and I had to pack my suitcase, I only take one with me for the few days. I didn't sleep at all this night... I hope to get some sleep when I am at Birgit's place. Soon, I have to get ready to hit the road !

Back from Red Deer

I am back from the Mane Event in Red Deer. It was intresting and a lot to see. There were the breed shows, clinics and the exhibition. It is a huge area were all the different things are. Three halls of exhibitions, a round pen, a small arena and a place where you can listen to speeches. There are so many booth from horse clubs, saddlerys and other stuff. Amazing ! In the evening we were so tired, only could fall into bed. I hanged around with Linda and took pic's of the Appaloosas during their performence in the arena. There were good clinicians and the not so good ones. Some of them were just horrible to watch, all they know are spurs and pull on the reins. Aweful ! On Saturday evening is the big show where all the breeds are showed and some other stuff like western-/dressage, working cow horse, trick rider, mounted games and natural horsemanship. Also here, good and not so good performance ! There was this guy with his Arabian stallion, he showed a nice western dressage, the bad thing was his horse behind the bit ! Or the other guy with his working cow horse which worked with an open mouth all the time 'cause the rider pulled on the reins all the time ! I mean, when you are on a such a high level like these guys are, stuff like a horse behind the bit or an open mouth should be !!! I am pretty disappointed ! Why would you wanna screw up a good performence with this stuff ? Is it because you are too lazy to learn it properly ? Or is it all a quick fix to get fast results ? I haven't figured it out yet... An event like this shows you the real truth about the real horsemen and -women out in the world. Sometimes I really feel sorry for this horses ! And, can't these people see what they do to their horses ? I know exactly what Iwant and what not ! Good thing I found Chris Irwin's method which can help me to become a better horsewoman.

get ready for Red Deer

I am already here since 1 1/2 weeks. And so it's time for the Mane Event in Red Deer, Alberta. We started the morning with feeding and watering horses. Linda had to do some office stuff to do. I ended up chatting with my sister and my mom. In the afternoon we went to town 'cause I needed a new pair of jeans and Linda went to the hairdresser's. Home again, I helped Lynn with rolling out 3 round bales. They were not the best quality. We rolled it out so the horses can pick out what they want and leave the rest.... The weather is cloudy and windy the whole day. We also got a few rain drops but not enough. It should rain some more... So I will be in Red Deer from tomorrow to Sunday. I hope I will see and learn a lot... ;D

a lot to do...

Since the last post a lot happend. Nothing bad, just stuff so I was too tired in the evening to write my blog. We went for a trail ride in the evening on Sunday. The neighbours called and asked if we would like to join them on the ride. I rode Kidd, he was a bit antsy. It was his first ride this year. He had a sole abscess and had the days off to let it heal. Kidd was only good with the position first in line. On one point we turned in a road through the bush and it was still icy on the ground. So my Goldie Boy had fun and started to trott and cro-hop over the icy ground ! Okay, this is crazy ! After he was done with his show he was good... he needed that I guess :) I decided to ride Kidd the next evening again this time in the arena. He wasn't so happy about this. All his friends had off... But we managed our session pretty good. We worked on getting true bend, do some leg yields, go long and low. For the first time in the arena again since last fall he did good. Joe and Kara invited us for a wiener roast. Linda had a lesson at 7 pm at the indoor riding arena. So we went to Joe's, dropped off the salads and Lynn (Linda's husband), ate a smoky with a bun and headed over to the arena. It was intresting to watch the student and her horse. The horse can't relax as long as the rider can't. And the rider can't relax as long as the horse can't... so this is a circle. After a while both of them relaxed after they got a 'job' to do. Circle around two barrels and stop as near as you can. Amber's legs kept to slide too much forward all the time and she had a hard time to let them stay in the right position. So I remembered I had the same problem with my legs. After the lesson I asked Linda if I could show Amber what Birgit showed me how to correct my legs. Amber was glad when I told her I used to have the same problem with my legs and this correction helped me a lot. I let her feel the difference between the old and the new feeling. She was so happy and is keen to practice this seat. I was happy too 'cause as soon as you have a good seat all the fun stuff can begin. You are able to feel the horse's movements.

first round pen sesson

A sunny day, a nice breeze, spring is here. I fixed the second fence on the other stud pen. When I was outside with the hammer and wire two geese and a crane flew over. My first crane this year. I had the chance to work with Little Spot (2 years old) in the round pen for a while. He did good for the first time. It was good to see him focus on me even there were other horses, stallions, birds, cats, dogs... around. I was the first person beside Linda who ever put a halter on him so he was not so sure about this whole action. After a while he was okay with me putting the halter on his head. I look forward to work with junior again. In the evening the coyotes were singing again and the dogs answering. It sounded so... free. I wonder how it will be to hear a wolf howl...

sun sun sun..

Today was another nice sunny day which started without wind. During the day the wind picked up some speed again. That sucks ! A nasty cough joined my stuffed nose and this makes a bit work even harder. I hope it's gone so fast like it came. After feeding in the morning I asked Linda if I could fix the electric fence in the left stud pen. I was in the mood for a bit work but not too stressful. It took me around 2 1/2 hours. No problem I enjoyed the sunny weather and the geldings which came for a visit. They were sure surprised when they got zapped when they touched the wire. :) Poor guy, but now they stay away from the fence especially Little Spot. He used to put his head right on the fence to stare at the girls on the other side of the fence. Oh, he sure can move, holy smokes ! I watched him a few times when he played with Spirit. After lunch we wanted to go for a trail ride. I told Linda I won't join them 'cause I was so tired and I still didn't eat lunch yet. Linda also didn't feel to go on a trail ride so we postponed it. Instead we cleaned out the round pen 'cause Oreo, the newest addition, moved in another pen. Oh by the way Oreo is an Appaloosa mare, Linda's birthday present. It was already feeding time again.. so off to feed the hungry guys....

first trail ride

The day started early for me when Cruiser came into my room around 5 am. He wanted to cuddle. After a while he left, and I tried to sleep some more. Soon, there were the sound of cat paws on a wooden floor... Oh Cruiser comes back... I opend my eyes to look where he is but there wasn't a black and white cat, there were two small paws with claws which reached up to my face. Oh god ! There were two blue eyes which looked at me : Bambam, the brat. He turned around and walked out of my room... The next visitor was Scraty. So much for sleeping... In the afternoon we went for a trail ride. I rode Dan, Krissie's horse. He is out of shape and so he was sweaty when we came home. Kidd has not a pulled tendon, it's a sole abscess. Poor guy ! I have a cold now, which sucks !

visitors

The day started grey and chilly. The wind wasn't too strong. We took it easy today 'cause of the weather. All we did in the morning was cleaning tack. Linda went to town 'cause she forgot to pick up the blinders yesterday. I was in the mood to go for a walk in the bush, so I suggested a walk to the lake. While Svenja, the farm stay girl from Germany, was talking on the phone with her mother I filled up the water troughs. Then we put the ponies out in the outdoor arena. Linda kept an eye on them so we could go for our walk. There were a lot of tracks : moose, dogs and WOLF ! We also saw a lot of poop: moose, porcupine, deer and one I don't know. Soon I will go for another walk, this time in the other direction. Maybe I will find some more tracks there ;D

cowgirl..

It's pretty windy today and chilly which is not much fun to work with the horses. So we decited to go to town. I had to apply for my social insurence number. Aaaand... I bought a cowboy hat :) it also has a string (real horse hair) attached to it so I won't loose it when I ride fast ;) I am so excited ! There is only one thing I still need : wrangler jeans. Then my outfit will be complete. Dudes, watch out here comes the cowgirl :D
I will check on Kidd later and see how his leg is. Maybe I will do the bloody acupuncture...

CANADA !

I am back in Canada ! It is great to be here again. I missed it more then I thought I do... There were no problems at the border. Immigration didn't give me any problems with the work permit. I got it even longer then I thought I would. Could be useful maybe :) Currently I am in Edson at Linda's place. We have a good time visiting all the animals, see old friends like Cruiser, Kidd... again. Unfortunatly Kidd injured himself. Poor guy, he is limping :( I suggested to do lymphatic drainage to support the healing which I will do soon. In the afternoon we will vaccinate the pregnant mares and will do some more stuff I guess. The chicken mafia is still pretty active. They went up a tree yesterday, must be more comfortable then be in the coop. Funny birds....

travel day

Tomorrow is the big day ! My journey begins at 7 am at Zurich Airport. The first flight goes to Frankfurt, from there to Toronto and finally to Edmonton. It will be a loooong day. 15 hours in total on the road ! Oh well, I could sleep in the plane if I am tired :) I hope there are good movies on the plane. I also have music with me and several books to read.
Today in the evening I will check in my two suitcases. Talk to you as soon as I am there and settled in...

Lesson with Birgit

I met Birgit yesterday at Geronimo's barn where she gave me a lesson in ground work (leading and lunging).
Everytime when I started to lunge Geronimo after a longer break he starts to act stupid and does all kind of things so he doesn't have to work on the lunge line. This time as well. So we got the full version of his avoid work-behavier which was good so Birgit got a good picture where our problem is. He already started acting stupid when I wanted to lead him around the arena on the right side. We ended up leading one person left and right. Still, he tried to kick, blow through the shoulder, run away or once the thought about rearing. So we were pretty busy ! Same deal, when I wanted to lunge him. Brat !! Well, we did the same here, two persons work with him, me on the outside leading him and Birgit in the lunging position. Geronimo tried his things to do, a few times he won but we won most of the time :) When he finally understood it didn't work anymore he gave in, chewed and stretched down. At this point we stopped and awarded him.
It was hard work but we could show him it's easier when he works with us not against us.
This was my last ground work session with Geronimo. We will go for our last trail ride today :(