The Extreme Cowboy Race Lives On

Last night Angie Benson invited a few of her friends over for an evening of learning and fun with our horses. Angie put together a wonderful course of obstacles that was challenging for both horse and rider, and was based on the concept of the Extreme Cowboy Race. Some of the obstacles were pretty scary and required an enormous amount of patience and trust to manouvre through the course. Ron Ellard and his wife Michael-Anne took Skeeter and Jack and Gord and I took Magic and Nugget. It was terrific to see all the horses gain confidence as the evening progressed.

Thanks to Jan for the use of her beautiful arena and to Angie for her creativity and the enourmous effort and that went into setting up the course.

We're already looking forward to next week's course - well maybe not Skeeter.

If Michael-Anne and Ron are game again, I'm going to suggest we switch horses to make it even more interesting.

Tovie, Gord and the "Boys"

Better Care for Our Pleasure/Pasture Horses

Since the introduction of motorized vehicles, the usefulness of horses for work and transportation has virtually come to an end. The role of horses became a recreational pastime for entertainment - mostly for children and young adults. In recent years, mature adults have taken up their long simmering passion for horses. As their children grew up, they found themselves in good health, with an abundance of time, and financially secure. All of which are minimum requirements for horse ownership. The only ingredient missing is knowledge and skill.

While horses are still considered livestock by some, many horse owners will tell you they consider their horse to be a member of the family - a pet no less loved than the family cat or dog. As with all our pets, horse owners want the best care for their horses. This has led to a push for more research with regard to equine digestion, dentistry, and hoof care.

What the surge in research is finding is that we are doing more harm than good by what are often considered "standard" care practices. Overfeeding and shoeing horses being two of the more serious assaults on our horses' health.

Horses are foraging animals that were designed to move 20-30 miles per day on rough terrain, foraging for small amounts of food throughout the day.

It is no wonder that digestive upset (colic) and chronic hoof problems (laminitis/founder), are two of the most common reasons horses die an early, often excruciating, death. I also believe serious behavioural issues are associated with overfed and under utilized horses.

There is a huge difference in feed requirements for a horse who is not ridden often versus a horse used for competitive purposes. No different than the person with a desk job versus a professional athlete. Athletes can consume copious amounts of carbohydrates without ill effects to their health because they utilize the energy. Someone with a desk job could not expect to eat the same type of food or quantity without ill effects to their health.

Pasture horses standing in grass up to their bellies are literally eating themselves to death. We can significantly minimize that risk by using a grazing muzzle to restrict their intake and reduce or stop all together, supplementing their diet with rich feeds (i.e. alfalfa and molasses based feeds). If you click on the title of this blog, the link takes you to SafeGrass.org. This web-site is devoted to educating horse owners about the dangers of overfeeding our horses.

We need to learn how to keep them healthy and happy!

Tovie and the "Boys"

Horses have so much to teach us...

Today we had a group out to discover what horses can teach us about being effective leaders, learners, communicators, and managers. CentrePoint Non-Profit Management have developed a six month mentorship program for Executive Directors in the non-profit sector who have been in their roles for less than 18 months. We have found that folks can learn a lot about their roles by understanding how effective horse trainers interact with different horses. Akin to people, horses have different personalities and aptitudes. Effective horse trainers will identify these traits in the individual horse, and adjust themselves in order to bring out the brilliance in every horse. They are constantly observing the horse, looking for resistance, and then rating how much to ask of a horse and how much pressure can be applied in order to push past the resistance to promote learning and cooperative interaction.

Never stop learning!
Tovie and the "Boys"

Wild Horse Rescue

My friends, Tim and Linda, had a beautiful experience over the summer that I thought worth sharing with you. They were out for a quad ride near their property in Sundre, when they came across a very young wild foal that had been abandoned by its mother and its herd. It was badly injured and near death. If you click here, you can read their incredible story, along with the very happy ending.

Here is a photo of Lucky & Linda enjoying one of the few days of sunshine we had this summer.

You may remember Tim and Linda's painful experience last summer when they acquired their first horse and it unexpectedly died the day they got it home. Since then, Tim and Linda have purchased two beautiful mares, Miakoda, Barbie, and now their herd is complete with their little wildy, Lucky.

Miakoda and Barbie.

Linda and Tim are enjoying their beautiful herd more than they ever could have imagined.

Let's hope for a warm Indian Summer!
Tovie

Summer Camp 2010

My friend Lisa and I took Skeeter and Nugget to Jonathan Field's ranch in Merrit, BC to participate in a week long horsemanship camp. It has been a privelege to learn from Jonathan Field. He is an inspiring horseman but also a terrific teacher and that is not always easy to find. He and his family, and staff are gracious hosts and welcome everyone. Everything about the week was fantastic, including the other participants. One of the participants, Jim, summed it up beautifully when he said there wasn't one person attending that you wouldn't want to be friends with. I think it is simply the type of people Jonathan attracts to his life. Jonathan treats each participant and their horse with the utmost respect, no matter what level they are at. He really brings out the best in both the horse person and their horse with delightful humility.

This clinic primarily focused on achieving path, speed, bend and balance; and always in that order. There is no point working on the speed of your horse if you are not maintaining the correct path, and certainly no point in working on bend and balance if you don't have path and speed mastered. I can't tell you how much Jonathan's method of teaching has improved my overall riding experience.

I used to think that I would be a happy person if all I ever did was ground work because that is where I feel confident and competent. For the first time since I started riding, I am truly excited about riding. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed trail riding in the mountains but arena work never appealed much to me. I now realize that was because I didn't really know what to do in an arena. My newfound joy of riding has come from knowledge and will only increase through practice.

What this year has taught me, is how important it is to find the right coaches to fully appreciate the equestrian experience.

I can't wait to practice our newly acquired skills and will hopefully have another opportunity to attend Summer Camp 2011.

Enjoy your summer,
Tovie and Lisa and Nugget and Skeeter

Fun in Las Vegas

You may recall our trip to Redmond, OR to see Clinton Anderson back in April; we enjoyed him so much that we decided to catch his Walkabout Tour in Las Vegas this past weekend. Yes Las Vegas in June is hot. We went down with friends Lisa & Dave, and Sherri & Mark - all very easy folks to travel with as they were game for anything. Lisa had some luck at blackjack and Sherri was lucky at the slots.We all did some pre-Stampede shopping and found some things we haven't seen up here so that was fun.

Originally, Clinton Anderson invited his two mentors from Australia, Ian Francis and Gordon McKinlay to join him in Vegas but only Ian Francis was able to attend. We Canadians had the pleasure of sitting with Ian during the VIP event Saturday evening. He shared some training tips and stories from down under - a real highlight for us all. We Canadians even received an honourable mention the next day. Clinton isn't as well known in Canada because his popularity grew through his series on RFDTV, a satellite station which isn't as commonly received in Canada.

Clinton's message is simple - get two eyes and keep the feet moving front back, left and right. Basically, if you don't have two eyes, your horse isn't paying attention to you. This opens you up to potential injury as he may react to whatever is distracting him with no regard for your personal space. Without having your horse's full attention, he is also unlikely to retain whatever lesson you may be trying to cover that day. By directing your horse's feet in various patterns, you are establishing confident leadership of your horse, thus earning his respect.

One of our excursions took us to Eldorado Canyon, a long abandonded gold mining town that has been purchased by a local family and is now being recreated. It is a short drive from Las Vegas and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. As you already know, any interaction with horses makes my day, and our visit to Eldorado Canyon provided just that. Along with tours of the resurected gold mine, they also offer horseback tours. While we weren't dressed appropriately for riding, Billy the wrangler, took us up to the corrals to meet the dude string horses. Billy obviously does a terrific job of caring for these horses. They were all in terrific condition and very friendly. Unfortunately that is not always the case with dude string horses and when it isn't, I am amazed that they tolerate "dudes" at all. I have always felt that dude string horses are worth their weight in gold. It was refreshing to see this dude string healthy and happy.

Now we are busy preparing for the next great adventure. Lisa and I are taking Skeeter and Nugget to the Jonathan Field camp in Merrit, BC next week.

Happy June!
Tovie & Gord

May Long Weekend Adventure

Well I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful long weekend. Considering the forecast was calling for snow, we were lucky to not see a drop of rain. Gord and I took Magic and Nugget to Water Valley to help our friends with their annual branding. It is a terrific opportunity to catch up with folks we typically see only a few times a year; after the work is done.

This year there were 4 ropers catching calves and 3 teams of wrestlers, so it went very quickly and best of all, nobody got hurt for a change. One of the ropers was 14 year old Candace - pretty impressive to watch her focus and success. Candace has been competing at various roping competitions and is doing very well.

Nugget did a great job of helping round up the cattle to prepare for sorting considering his limited experience with cattle. Sunday, we went bushwack riding with Jimmy, Sherry and Lyle and their daughter Candace. The trails, in some areas, were nearly non-existent but Nugget didn't miss a beat. He bulldozed his way through the bush and bog as good as any seasoned trail horse.

Monday, I got to help cut a couple of cows that are going to be sold. Sherry let me ride her mare, Wages. It was quite an experience riding a seasoned cow horse - very exciting. There really is nothing like riding a responsive, willing horse.

Needless to say, it was another amazing horse experience - they just keep coming!

Bye for now,
Tovie & Nugget