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...