Christmas Gift Idea

Christmas is right around the corner and Just Horsing Around has the perfect gift idea for that "horse crazy" person in your life - a personalized gift certificate. This is the perfect gift for the young at heart who may have thought their dream of being with horses had passed them by. The sessions are private and the focus is on what one needs to know prior to getting in the saddle. The program can be tailored for those looking for a recreational experience to those who may be contemplating horse ownership. Since all interaction with our well-mannered horses is on the ground, age and/or physical limitation are a non-issue.



We will help you make that special someone's Christmas wish come true!
Tovie

Happy participant...

I wanted to share a lovely message received today from a recent participant. Since starting Just Horsing Around, the feedback has been wonderful and this beautifully written note expresses the joy I strive to share.

I've been tied up a bit as of late and haven't had time to write since my last lesson, but that certainly doesn't mean it hasn't been on my mind to send you a very big thank you!

As you know, having had some background from growing up with horses, I was a bit concerned at first that I might not get to learn anything new, or worse yet, end up taking a lesson that was completely against my beliefs and experience on how horses should be treated (i.e. with understanding, not force). You, however, put these concerns to rest, right from the start as your approach, experience, passion, compassion and the knowledge that you shared were wonderful. You not only reassured me about the things I had learned from my past experience, but also went above and beyond in teaching me theory and hands on techniques that I had not even realized existed or understood very well before. I was looking for a practical and solid, all-around background in working with horses and you definitely gave me this.

Thank you also for your patience and understanding while I learned new concepts. I have been around horse people who are incredibly knowledgeable, but have not known how to pass this skill and information on to others. You, however had no problem doing this and at the same time shared so many pointers and tips along the way (e.g. hoof care, training options, clinics, and horse health). You also impressed me with being able to answer all of my questions, either directly or by finding out the answer and getting back to me. You are a really great teacher and I'm so happy to have taken lessons from you.

I have already recommended you to a couple of my friends and if anyone asks for a reference from one of your past students, I will be happy to give them one. Also, I hope that in the Spring I might be able to bring my husband by for a couple of lessons too.

Thank you so very much!

Take care,
Shauna

PS. Please pass on a nice petting to each of your horses for me as a very special thank you to them! They were each, with their own individual personalities, such great examples and guinea pigs for me to work with. It made everything that much easier. You can tell by their good behaviour and comfort around people that they've had great owners taking care of them. That too says a lot.


A big thanks to Shauna for sharing these lovely thoughts. I look forward to sharing the experience with more Horse Crazy folks.
Tovie

Where Did Summer Go?

It is hard to believe September is already here. This past weekend a few of us ladies took our horses out to the Lazy M Ranch and participated in Lane Moore's natural horsemanship clinic. As every horse person knows, there are nearly as many training methods as there are horse people and not everyone will agree as to the best method. What I tell my students is that you will learn something from every teacher and it is up to you to decide what feels right for you and your horse. As long as basic manners and mutual respect are a priority, I believe there are different ways to achieve your training goals. Once again, Lane and his wife Margie were the ultimate hosts and we all came away feeling more knowledgeable about handling our horses. I also discovered that Lane will be demonstrating barefoot trimming at the Health, Harmony & Horses Conference at the Okotoks Agriplex. For more details about the Conference, including registration, please click on the title and it will take you to their web-site.

Wishing you a beautiful Indian Summer,
Tovie

Article in June Issue of Pacific & Prairie Horse Journal

Wendy Dudley submitted a well-written article that appeared in the June issue of Pacific & Prairie Horse Journal. Wendy captured the essence of what we are teaching and I am grateful for her interest in what we are doing. In fact during our interview, Wendy admitted that she could have used a program like this prior to acquiring her first equine friend. Wendy bought her acreage and with very little experience and knowledge, she purchased the wrong horse and was badly hurt. I have heard so many stories like that over the years. Unfortunately folks don't know what they don't know. Just Horsing Around has been designed to give folks enough information to make safe and knowledgeable decisions with regard to horse ownership. That could also mean that they decide horse ownership isn't for them and that is OK too. Better they are making an informed decision rather than jumping into something blindly and ending up injured or with another neglected horse in the pasture.

Many thanks to Wendy,
Tovie

Meet Clover - our new barn buddy...

Yesterday a new barn buddy showed up quite unexpectedly. My neighbour called to say her son had found a kitten wandering in downtown Calgary. They already have two cats and she knew I had recently lost my sweet little Mojo and thought I might consider taking this kitten. Naturally, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to help a kitten in need so I said, "sure bring him over". Now I didn't say it without reservation and really wasn't sure if this new addition would be welcome by my very possessive barn kitty, Brutus. Brutus can be very hard on other animals which makes it difficult to juggle them in and out of the barn without Brutus attacking them - he has even terrorized our huge Sheperd, Shilo. In fact the minute the kitten arrived, Brutus assumed the attack position and growled quite viciously so he had to stay out of the barn. All evening and early morning I wondered how this could work without Brutus scaring the kitten away so I called a friend of mine who specializes in Reiki (energy healing) who has had tremendous success working with animals. I asked Ellen to intervene with Brutus to see if she could create harmony between Brutus and the kitten. Whether you believe in energy healing or not, I'm here to say that for the first time ever, I saw Brutus actually play with another cat. To see Brutus, Clover, and Shilo together made my heart sing.

Anyway, the kitten's story didn't end here. He was so friendly, I thought perhaps somebody was missing him and so early this morning I went on-line to see if there had been a "lost" ad placed. Turns out I found an ad about him but it was someone looking for a home for him by June 28th because the were leaving the province and couldn't take him. There were photos and his name - Clover, and his age - 8 months. There was no doubt these folks couldn't find a home so just kicked him out to fend for himself and left town. I responded to their message saying I was appalled they would dump him in downtown Calgary and that he now has a loving home despite their neglectful treatment of him. It makes me sad that loving pets like Clover can be discarded like the trash when they no longer suit someone's agenda.

If you click on the title of this blog entry, you will find a link to the Kijiji site where I found out about Clover and his photo.



Clover has now been officially adopted into the "Horsing Around" family.

If you follow this blog site, then I know you love your pets as much as they love you.

Big hug,
Tovie

Barefoot Clinic @ Lazy M Ranch

Last weekend Gord and I attended a barefoot clinic out at the Lazy M Ranch, NW of Sundre. For the past two years I have been studying and practicing barefoot trimming on my own. While the improvements to our horses' feet were significant, I still felt there was more to learn. There are very few certified barefoot practitioners around the Calgary area so I arranged to bring in a clinician from BC to host a clinic. The response was disappointing and the clinic was ultimately cancelled but I wasn't ready to give up my quest to keep learning. That is when I discovered Lane Moore out at the Lazy M Ranch. Lane is not only an extremely talented horseman and barefoot trimmer, he is also a tremendously patient teacher with a terrific sense of humour. His clinic will go down as one of my favourite clinics ever, and I have attended many. He and his wife Margie were gracious hosts for the entire weekend. We stayed at their beautiful lodge along a spring-fed creek, ate fabulous food, shared tons of horse stories and laughter, and discovered a key element I had been missing about barefoot trimming - confidence. For anyone wanting to learn more about barefoot trimming, I highly recommend attending one of Lane's clinics. Click on the title of this blog post to check out their web-site. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Happy Canada Day!
Tovie

Muskat's Epitaph...

It has been a while since the last entry but it was important to write today to talk about Muskat. He passed on today from a sudden and severe bout of colic. It is still hard to believe that he won't be running in with the "Boys" for oatie-oats ever again. Muskat came to live with us in 1999 when I saw a little ad in the Bargain Finder, that read "free" horse. His owner, Gladys, explained that her circumstances had changed and she was looking for a good home for him and that yes, he was free but that I couldn't ever sell him. Gladys had raised him from birth and didn't want to loose track of him but she was very particular about who she was giving him to. She interviewed interested parties and watched how they handled him and how he reacted to them and then she also checked out where he was going to live. It seems like only yesterday when she called to say she had chosen us to have him.

Over the years he has given so much joy to me and more recently, the Horsing Around students. Upon learning of Muskat's death, Sheila, a Horsing Around student, wrote these words to me:

What I learned from Muskat (and you Tovie):

• that touching and caring for another creature reduces fear and brings unexpected closeness
• that it's possible to completely forget yourself when you are learning about how to do something new
• that no matter who (or what) we are, thoughtful attention to our needs is a wonderful thing

We are so sorry to hear about Muskat. Yes - we can't help but agree with you that it would have been dreadful to see him suffer. We are thinking about you.

Muskat was not only beautiful, his manners were impecable and he had the sweetest disposition. Although he wasn't very big, he was fiesty and second in command, after Peppy San, in the pecking order. We used to tease that he had small-man syndrome because he would boss even the biggest of the "Boys". As a testament to his sweet, considerate nature, he even chose a convenient day to say goodbye. I had already booked off work for the day to have the vet come for the annual teeth and vaccinations. When I saw him down this morning, I called the vet who rearranged his schedule to come here early. Once it was apparent that it would be impossible to save him, the decision was made that it was best to put him down rather than have him suffer. I will be forever grateful that he chose today so he didn't suffer very long and I could be with him.

Good-bye sweet little horse,
Love from me and your "Boys"

4H Clicker Demonstration

Many thanks to the High River 4H Club for inviting me out today to present a clicker training demonstration. We had a whole lot of fun despite all the snow that fell last night. Clicker training is something I think the kids and parents can have a lot of fun with. For those of you unfamiliar with clicker training (operant conditioning); it is similar to the work they do with dolphins at Sea World only they use a whistle and fish. Clicker training has also been a popular training method in the canine world for many years and now we are finding wonderful ways to interact with our horses using clicker training. Recently I discovered that the Calgary Zoo also relys on clicker training methods when working with large mammals (i.e. giraffe, elephant, hippo and gorilla).

I personally have had tremendous success using clicker training to fix problem horses. A few examples are; hard to catch, difficult to bridle (from head tossing to rearing back), biting, pawing, not accepting de-worming, and not standing still to mount.

The best thing about clicker training is that you only focus on the positive behaviour and virtually ignore undesirable behaviour. This leads to improved communication with your horse and a more trusting partnership.

While the results are phenomenal, you really do feel like you are playing with your horse and I don't know of any other training method that is so much fun.

Thanks again High River 4H Club for the opportunity to share this wonderful training tool with you.

Tovie

Let the fun continue...

2008 is well underway and we’ve got a new group of folks Horsing Around. This group is a little more diverse and that is very exciting. Previous students have been 40+ with little to no previous horse experience. As you can imagine, it is easy to teach people who know very little because they really have no way to judge if what you are teaching is good or not. This time around I have two ladies who are already hanging out with horses and they are very excited about what they are learning from my program. These ladies are doing all the right things to gather as much information and practice their skills with well-mannered horses for their “tool box” as they call it. They attend seminars and most recently attended the Horse Breeders and Owners Conference in Red Deer. The positive feedback I am receiving from these ladies is most reassuring that I am sharing practical and valuable information that will make their horse experience safer and ultimately more fun. In the world of horses there are conflicting ideas and I remember being a “Newbie” and often wondering which was the “correct” way. I encourage all my students to be open minded to whatever the book, coach, or trainer is saying, give it a try, and choose what feels right and makes sense to them.

Another exciting new student in January, has been a 9 year old girl. Her mother contacted me about purchasing a gift certificate for Christmas to give her horse crazy daughter. Since my program was developed for adults, I was concerned there might be too much detail and might bore a child. We decided to arrange one session to see how it went. Hardly bored, this well read, horse crazy girl lapped it all up and couldn’t wait to sign up for more. She reminds me very much of myself at that age and how I yearned to just be near a horse – lucky girl.

Look forward to sharing the wonderful world of horses with you.
Tovie