Horse Journey

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought I’d take some wintery pictures and send them as a Christmas card by email. My best picture is one that happened by chance;  it is always hard to take a perfect shot of Rollie who is in constant motion and always makes “faces” like a little boy! This time, the timing, light, and composition were perfect. Rollie and Link are looking through the barn door  while the afternoon sun highlights their manes and faces. You can even see their breath on this cool winter day.

Merry Christmas from Rollie and Link!  Have a wonderful season, and a Happy Healthy New Year.

 To see this pic up close, click on it.

It’s Thursday, and like every Thursday I head off to Arion Farm to volunteer with kids and horses. Arion Farm just happens to be in my neighbourhood and offers a wonderful therapeutic riding program for kids with disabilities.  I usually lead horses, sidewalk, and move horses from the paddock to the barn. I also occasionally lunge or train a horse, feed horses, brush, and check them over. It fills my heart to see these wonderful horses look after the kids. And the smiling faces of the kids make my day, even though I can work up a sweat when they shout in glee “run horsey, run!” and I lead the horse as fast as I can!

Due to the colder weather and snow, the Arion riding program has moved to a nearby indoor arena at Dr. Sheila MacDonald’s, our local veterinarian. Which is very generous of the vet clinic to allow us access. However, Arion Farm could really benefit from an indoor arena of their own. If you feel generous, please donate to this very good cause!  

Visit their website at: www.ArionFarm.org

I’m mulling around in my head of doing a ride with Rollie and get sponsored, to raise funds and donate to Arion Farms. If you have any great ideas, let us know!

 I’m leading the chestnut horse Dreamer, with one of our students outside in S.E.Kelowna. In front of us is Teddy the Belgium being ridden by another student. The students were having a wonderful ride on a sunny winter day.

I just have to share this! It’s so cute. My friend Lisa who lives next door to Link and Rollie with her horses and goats emailed me this cute story:

Hi Karin, I was standing at my kitchen window watching my goat Lily, standing at the corner where all the horse congregate. She is there by herself and your dark guy with the white on his forehead <Link>has his head over the fence licking and nibbling the top of her head. He then pulls back and Lily strains her head upwards so he comes again then your horse bows his head and nibbles and licks her again. Lily is loving it, she calls him back with her upright stride and head posture. Its very cute to see. Lily has found a boyfriend. Hope your having as good a day as Lily is!

Isn’t that sweet? We are the proud parents of an odd couple, Link the horse and Lily the goat!

Oh, I finally did it! After a lengthy and thorough search, I made my choice: I got the Dixieland Plantation saddle. It arrived in a box not even 2 weeks after ordering it directly from Dixieland saddles. The saddle was not in stock but was handmade by Amish people in a short time and shipped to me.  Their website is  DixielandGaitedSaddles.com “Dixieland Gaited  Saddles is the premiere gaited saddlemaker producing the finest western trail and pleasure saddlery available for the gaited horse.” 

The saddle is beautiful and fits well. I was so happy with it, I even wrote a very positive  review at horsetackreview.com 

My review went something like this: I have now been able to use my new Dixieland Plantation saddle a few times on my TWH. It seems to fit quite well. I did a 2 hour ride and my knee that usually hurts after an hour did not hurt. I find the saddle puts me in a more balanced position for my seat and back. I also find this saddle puts me in more contact with the horse than my Western saddle did, and I like the motion of feeling the horse’s movement. I’ve done some flat work with it too (which I normally use a Dressage saddle for), and my gelding gaits well, and we can even do dressage moves with it.
All in all I would say the Dixieland Plantation saddle has the precision of a Dressage saddle, the comfort of an Endurance saddle, and the safety and relaxed seat of a Western saddle.
I just came back from attending the Mane Event, our Canadian version of a horse expo. Looking at the many saddles there, I did not see one saddle that has the look, features, quality, -and-  good pricing like my Dixieland saddle. Wow! I think we need a Dixieland distributor here in Canada – if you’re looking for one, I’m interested!
Attached is a picture of me on TWH Rollie, riding in the new Dixieland saddle. The saddle also fits quite well on his half-brother, also a TWH but who is built taller, less stocky than Rollie. 

Both pictures are of Rollie with the new saddle.

So here it is, me and Rollie riding Dixieland-style!

Today I gave both Link and Rollie a nice massage and stretch after lunging/exercising them. They both really enjoyed it and yawned and licked their lips. Heads went low and relaxed and eyes softened as I worked on their shoulders, back, and leg muscles.  I wish I was a horse!   I find doing this kind of work really bonds us together. After the massages, both horses follow me around (even more than usual) sticking close to me and keep wanting to make contact. They will lay their head on my shoulder, waiting for another scratch, pat, or massage. For Rollie, the more reserved, shy horse, this is a big step. He is way more cuddly now than when we first got him. Building trust through this type of contact really works!

We attended a horse chiropractic clinic last Sunday. It was cold in the arena as we huddled on chairs around a clip board and listened to the presentation. The presenter was a chiropractor, Elizabeth (Liz) E. who works on horses, humans, dogs and cats.  She also did a live presentation of assessing horses.

It was interesting to us because we’ve found our horse Rollie to be a little higher on one side of the croup than the other side. Liz said this is a very common condition she can treat. The saddle also seems to constantly slip to one side at the walk. And my knee is giving me pain. I thought it was the saddle and switched to a new saddle. The new saddle slips less but still does nevertheless. (neither saddles slipped on Link, so we are pretty sure it’s Rollie’s build).

After watching Liz work on a horse I’m pretty convinced that I’d like to try horse chiropractic on Rollie to see if the problem can be fixed. I will update the blog when this happens. Right now, it’s pretty cold outside and the paddock and roadside are slippery. I want to make sure we can work on Rollie and ride him on safe footing to see if it’s making the difference.