Busy Day Ahead...

It's that time of year again...Chelsey and I will be bringing home the yearlings,(Willow & Winnie)along with Jeanne and foal(Xade)from the summer pasture. The farrier is coming on Tuesday to give everyone a trim and pull shoes off of Rose and Jewel. In the meantime the herd is going to get dewormed and we have some major grooming ahead of us. Bridlepaths to be clipped etc. and get the tangles out of mane and tails,good thing they all enjoy a good grooming. Bring on the Show Sheen!

If you are contemplating coming to look at my herd, this coming weekend would be a good time to come as everyone will still be home and the weather is "supposed" to be nice. Xade will be getting weaned the end of the week as well and Jeanne will be heading back to pasture after that.

Happy Trails....

Xena's Big Day

Xena is a big girl now and is officially weaned as of today! She is not overly concerned about it at all and enjoyed the extra attention lavished upon her. She is such a sweet girl and so quiet. She is going to be spending her nights' in the barn with Rose as company(Rose will love being back in the barn). Mystique is not really missing her baby either, so I guess it was time.
Chelsey and I were finally able to go riding today on Jewel and Rose. A beautiful fall day, we wound our way thru the swathed fields of barley and enjoyed a great ride. The mares were happy to be out and feeling good, worked up a pretty good sweat too. Best part of riding this time of year...no bugs!
The photo is of Xena in her pretty purple halter.

Wow, What A Battle Team!

We've been home for a week already from Spruce Meadows and I finally have time to blog and tell you all how it went...fantastic. For the first time ever the Canadian Horse placed in the top 5 over-all. Quite an accomplishment for our 3 horse team, I am so proud of my teammates and our horses. Jewel and I competed in Jumping, Trail and Barrels. Jumping we did not to bad, Jewel didn't have her best day, but we still did alright. With our combined score with teammate Julie, we finished just out of the ribbons in seventh place. Not bad, now on to Barrel Racing the next day. Now Canadians are not noted for their speed, and Jewel is a big girl...boy did we have some jaws dropping,lol. She had tight turns on her barrels and revved it up inbetween! The Canadians made it back in for the second round(only the top fastest 6teams come back for a second run). When it was over, we received a fifth place ribbon! Unbelievably we beat the Quarter horses, shocking I know! The next morning was Trail and the final event of the competition. Going in to this event the Canadian Team was siiting 6th over-all. Jewel was a perfect ambassador for the breed, she did each obstacle calmly and even though we ran out of time, we did get a pretty good score. Combined with Julie and her horse, we came out with fifth place ribbons and good enough for a top five finish to end the Battle.
What a great time we all had together enjoying our horses and showing the world what a Canadian Horse can do.
Photo is Jewel showing off her 5th place ribbon from Barrel Racing.

Off to Spruce Meadows

Hello All..... Just time for a quick note to keep you updated. Jewel and I are off to Spruce Meadows today to take part in the Teleus Battle of the Breeds. Hope to see you there and hear you cheering on the Canadian team.Looking forward to it! The photo is from our last jumper show.

Fun and Sucess at our first Jumper Show!

Jewel in the 3' class

Last Sunday I went to compete in our first ever Jumper Show, with Rose in the 2' Division and Jewel in the 3' and 3'3" Divisions. With Chelsey along as my loyal groom and cheering section, we enjoyed a wonderful day.

Rose after her class

In each division there are 2 seperate classes, Rose did wonderful and jumped scary looking stadium jumps with no hesitation. That in itself I thought was very good for our first time out, plus she picked up a third place in the Power and Speed class.

Jewel had a bit more of a look at the jumps , but once she got going she did quite well. We jumped our first ever triple combination, clear every time thru! They were some of the biggest jumps we have ever jumped, one oxer in particular, was giving us grief. But in our 3'3" Power and Speed class Jewel prevailed and we cleared them all giving us a win! I am utterly thrilled with my mares and their performances. Can't wait for the next show!

Fun Times at Eventing Clinic

Just home from a 3 day eventing clinic with my 5 yr.old mare Rose. She was very impressive, for being very green to jumping, she did exceptionally well. Over a 2 day clinic, she is now stadium jumping 2'6 verticals and oxers. And for her very first time even seeing cross country obstacles, she is in and out of the water hazard at a trot , jumping up the bank out of the water, jumping ditches without hesitation, coops that were 2'6" to 2'8" and logs. She was INCREDIBLE and thoroughly impressed me along with some non believers. My cross country instructor who has said she has never been much impressed with Canadians has said after seeing Rose she will have to revise her opinion of Canadians. Thats what we need to do, prove our breed can do all of these things and do them well. I am looking forward to taking Rose next year and going to some eventing competitions. We have a year to train! In the meantime, August is a busy month. Charity trail ride coming up next weekend, jumping show the following weekend and an open show the weekend after that. Going to keep us busy.
Happy Trails...and don't forget the bug spray!

Horse Show, Battle Team, Having Fun!

Okay, I know its been forever since I have blogged and I could probably write a book on all the things that have been going on since I last wrote, but I will try not to bore you!

In June the annual Canadian Horse show was held, this year it was in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. We took 3 horses to compete, Winnie, Rose and Jewel. Winnie won her Yearling Halter class, Rose won Grand Champion Halter Mare along with various other ribbons in other classes. She jumped her first full course and handled herself amazingly well. Pretty good for only just jumping a couple of jumps at home. Jewel, after having not been ridden since November of 2008 and raising a foal last year, and about 10 rides before she went to the show was incredible. Chelsey won a ribbon in showmanship class with her and rode her in a couple of riding classes, she had a ton of fun. Then it was my turn on her. Pointed her at the jumps and boy did she perform. She was flying around the ring having the time of her life! In barrel racing we even won it! My big tank of a mare who hasn't raced barrels since we were on the Battle team and I just turned and said "lets go"and off she went. It was so much fun.
Jewel and I were asked to be a part of the "Battle Team" so we are heading to Spruce Meadows in September to compete in the Battle of the Breeds. I hope we do the breed proud. To that end we are doing lots of riding and heading to some shows this summer to prepare.

Jewel, dressed as a dinosaur and myself as a cavewoman , took part in our town's July 1st parade. Will post a photo!

The horses are all doing well, the yearlings;Willow and Winnie, along with Jeanne and her foal Xade are out in the big pasture.With grass up to their bellies and mosquitoes by the millions, they are happy to see us everynight when we visit and give them some relief with bug spray.

Duc was put to work with his studly duties and has bred back Jeanne and Mystique for 2011 foals. Duc also had one outside mare come to visit. So hopefully next year there will be 3 Duc foals arriving.

I have been putting lots of training on Rose and she is coming along nicley. She goes well under both western and english tack now, and we are going to a 3 day eventing clinic the end of the month, where we will both benefit from some instruction. I will keep you updated on our progress. She is a very nice little mare who just keeps getting better. She is entered into a couple of shows in August to gain some experience.

Jewel and I went to a driving clinic, which was wonderful. We both learned alot and I can't wait to continue our training. I had hoped to get her driving this summer, but it seems to be flying by, so for now I am going to concentrate on the long line training and hopefully this fall after Spruce we can get hitched!

I will try to be better about writing more often...in the meantime,
Happy Trails.