The Mane Event 2014

The Mane Event at the Horse Expo was fun as usual.  We didn't have to witness the crazy cat lady presentation again, phew!  Below are some iPhone videos I took.  Not the best quality but it shows some of the diverse equine entertainment that was presented.  The Icelandic's usually just run around showing their gaits but they are so cute you just clap along.  They did some coordinated riding.  I think they are adorable!



Later there was a freestyle group.  I do love Haflingers and thought these guys did a great job.  I don't think I could do that with Dani, she'd run off to go roll in the sand!




The fiesta group was cool.  We had seen the little kid on his gorgeous Andalusian a few years ago.  He's grown but is still a tiny guy and still a great rider of these magnificent stallion.  They have a Friesian now who is gorgeous!



I enjoyed meeting my good friend Jessica and her hubby up there.  They've been in WY for several years and are finally able to move back home to MD.  I'll miss them.  It's been great reconnecting with her.  Jessica was my next door neighbor when I was in 4th grade.  We met while I was collecting rollie-pollies.  We played Breyer horses and took riding lessons at the same places.  She's my oldest horsie friend and I'll miss having her so nearby again.

What's Going On?

Well things have been busy.  As you've noticed I haven't been blogging in a while.  I hope to do some more soon but for now here is a quick "what's up".

My good friend from high school, the one who is in Wyoming, met me at the Rocky Mountain Expo for the "Mane Event".  We enjoyed seeing fun pony stuff for a couple hours.  She and her hubby are finally moving back to MD after the longer stay in WY for the Air force.  I'll miss having my childhood horse friend so close but we'll keep in touch.  She's the one I always played Breyers with, we just "get" each other when it comes to ponies!  I will miss her greatly.  I'll do a post on the Mane Event, promise.  At least this time there wasn't a crazy cat lady!

I've been busy with planning an event for my parents.  A surprise 40th Anniversary Party!!  We had a small turn out but had a great time and my brother, sister-in-law and nephew came out from VA to surprise them as well.  I'll post more on that soon since we utilized the KCRC clubhouse for the facility.

Lastly my water trough fiiter died.  A month ago the neighboring horse had destroyed the cord to the filter.  Steve had repaired it but perhaps not as well as we'd hoped.  So the water stopped moving and because of that the heater that is inside the filter didn't do a good job of heating the water and there was a small film of ice one morning.  Nothing else can make a horse owner feel worse than frozen water!!!

This filter never really filtered the water.  It kept it moving which I liked but never got the debris out.  I don't think the design was very good since the filter media was on the bottom.  I'mm gonna turn to the experts...fish pond people!

Anyways, I opened the filter to expose the heater...duh should have done that before, and then went shopping for a new heater.  I got the kind that fits in the drain.  It took a bit to figure out how to attach it since the threaded piece is thinner than the actual drain but the heater has a rubber washer that goes on the inside.....

and a weird "nut" that screws in on the outside.  The pressure from this makes a water tight seal.  Hmm.  Okay.  I have a pond filter on order since I still like the idea of having filtration.  I have a feeling this new filter will actually filter the water like it should.  The one specifically for the trough just didn't do a good job, I still had debris in the trough.  I'll post about the new filter when I get it installed and compare it to the previous one.  

So that's all been going on.  This weekend hopefully the hubby and I will attack some trailer work and I will get a ride in.  Hope all is well with everyone in their horsie worlds!

Poor Sweetie!!

I hope soon my life will calm down.  I crashed my car, Sweetie, last week.  It wasn't major I just spun on ice to avoid 2 other cars.   The spinning turned into me going backwards over a curb with river rocks.  Luckily it was just damage to my bumper and getting an alignment. So glad I didn't hit anyone of have worse damage.

Life has been pretty busy for other reasons but I can't state that just yet.  It's fun stuff though!  

At least my car is repaired and good to go now.   It's always something right?

Utilize what you have

I like to work with Dani on desensitizing when I can. Recent articles from Clinton Anderson recommend to just use whatever you have. You don't have to get fancy or go to a special horse park to work on things. He worked a horse in circles around chairs and other objects found around his area. Sometimes horses can spook at the most normal things so why not use buckets in a random place or a saddle on a railing?

I found a large branch on the grounds so decided to take a few minutes and play with it. I tied some twine to one end and started leading Dani around with the loud wiggling branch trailing behind us. She was pretty nervous at first but then all you could see was that she was listening to it intently. I made sure to do this on both sides.

I then took the branch and moved it around by her side and even moved it over her body and legs. Then I placed the branch in front of her and reeled it in. Any horse dislikes and loud object approaching them! She did good though. Maybe one step back but she just looked at it.

Next I worked on having her back and the branch suddenly being moved, trying to mimic if I was dragging an item from the saddle. She backed well and without fear and stopped when asked.

After the 10 minutes or so we stopped. If you don't have a lot of time you can still do something in small bites and work with objects or situations you have. Work on backing for 5 minutes, walk through an obstacle, work on sending the horse into and area and back out (like a stall or wash rack) Just be creative!

I may not have ridden much lately because of time, crashing my car (nothing major thank goodness, more to come) and weather but I try to engage Dani in little bits when I can.