Awarded!

Thanks to Callie at Midwest Horse Blog for this award. But I really don't live as far north as the tundra; just in central Alberta! Callie, your blog is always interesting, entertaining, and often informative.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the Logo on your blog

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you

3. Nominate 7 fellow bloggers for this award

4. Add Links to the recipients

5. Leave a comment to recipients or email them to let them know they have an award.

I'm passing it forward to:

Cheryl at Desert Horses for sharing her mustangs with us;

Fran Jurga at Fran Jurga's Hoofblog for a truly brilliant and infomative blog;

Tracy at Mustang Diaries, KWD at Blackjack Land and Cattle both of whom already have this award but I love their blogs so they're getting a double whammy!

and Janice at Own a Morgan to encourage her to blog more!

New sidebar feature

I have added our Sale Barn horses on my sidebar. Some of them have a link to a webpage with pedigrees and other information. Please contact us for sale prices, shipping information etc. at diamondlazyh641@hotmail.com.

Riding in the horse pasture

Riding a mare in pasture with other horses loose around you poses it's own set of problems. The first time I did this with Gussie, the other horses got quite excited and raced around like little hooligans, doing fly-by kicks and getting in the way when we were trotting circles. I like my long split reins; I can use the end of them on little horse bums to encourage them to move away.

They finally settled down and ignored us and let me get on with schooling Gussie. The last few times I rode in the pasture, they kept their distance, and I am now able to work Gussie without interference. She has a really nice stop and a very willing (sometimes too willing) back-up. She tends to use the back-up as an evasion, so I really focus on forward impulsion with her, especially when working on spins, so that it is always a forward movement for her. When I ask Gussie to turn, I find I have to be careful to release the aids quickly- timing is important with her as she gives more than you want if you don't release quickly enough-a quarter turn can become a roll-back. So it's good for me because she is keeping me aware of just how little pressure I really need to apply, and my riding is improving as my mare improves. Win-win!

Sunday Silence- The Racehorse

Quotes from Al Grandchamp

( Al Grandchamp, May, 1998)

A few years ago, Al Grandchamp gave me a little Syllabus that he wrote, entitled "Syllabus for the Advanced Horsemanship Class". There are excercises described in a step by step fashion, and diagrams to follow as well. At the end, he has a number of quotes; some from other famous horsemen and some from himself. Let me share some of them with you:


Jean Froissard-(French horseman)-To judge a situation rapidly, one must learn to observe, and to be able to observe one must not talk a great deal.

Ed Connell-(California reinsman)- The main point for any rider to remember is for him to come alive on the horse while he is up there working him. Go with him!

General L'Haute-Calm, forward, straight. This triad is the catechism of riding which every rider must keep constantly in mind.

Henry D. Chamberlain-(U.S. Army)- Sensitiveness of the hand is cultivated by conscious effort.

Wilhelm Meuseler- (Germany)- In a quarrel with a horse the more intelligent man is always wrong, or else he would not let it come to a quarrel.

Alois Podhajsky-(Spanish Riding School)- When anyone thinks he has found out something new, he may be sure that some old riding master has had the same experience and that it has been temporarily forgotten.

Henry Wynmalen-(England)- Nothing shakes a horse's confidence more than being held tightly.

And from Al Grandchamp, the following quotes:

The 5 Bs: Be ready. Be relaxed. Be alert. Be poised. Be confidant.

Expect the unexpected and be prepared for it.

Teach one thing at a time and put the components together.

Adapt to fit the horse and the condition.

A basic rule: It is wise not to rush a horse into something he is not ready or willing to try.

The 3 Ps: Prepare. Position. Propulsion.

Preposition the horse for the desired maneuver before asking him to do it.

It is better not to fight old habits. Just start new ones.

Skill is mastered by repeated effort and attention to results.

Always be willing to learn by accepting suggestions and criticisms.

No matter how difficult the training problem, never become discouraged. There is always a solution.

Peppy gets a bath

I've been riding Gussie, working on her lateral moves and just reminding her of all the things she did before she had time off to raise a foal. Today was a very hot day, so after I rode Gussie I took her and Peppy up to the barn and gave them baths. You can see in this picture how the sweat was running down her sides. Gussie loves the water, and was quite content to get hosed down and get her mane and tail shampooed. I decided to give Peppy his first bath, too.
He did quite well, only jumped around a little bit- he takes after Beamer in that he hates getting his face wet. His colour looks great wet!

This was taken before his bath. I'm liking the Blueboy Quincy/Mr. San Peppy cross in him! It's going to be hard to part with these two horses; if I didn't have Beamer, I'd be keeping Peppy.

Sunday Silence-Blue Flax and Canola

Choctaw Peppy

I registered Peppy online a couple of days ago, and yes, we did get the name I wanted. I waited this long because I wanted to make sure his blue roan colour was undisputable. As you can see from this photo, he only has a little bit of baby fuzz left- this was taken 4 days ago, and he has even less now. I did a preliminary measure on his legs, and it looks like he will mature a 15 hands, or maybe a little over that. I do this by measuring the length from the hairline on a front leg to the top of the bone which sits on the cannon bone- commonly called the break in the knee.You can feel the indent there between that bone and the one above it, these are called the small bones of the knee; anyway measure to that spot between the small bones of the knee and whatever you get in inches is what they will be in hands. Ideally you should wait til they are about 5 months old to get a true measurement. Peppy measures just over 15 inches there so he will mature at just over 15 hands. Gussie measures just under 15 and a half inches and she stands just under 15 .2 hands. Try it on your horses just for fun! So if your horse measures 14 and 1/4 inches, it should stand 14.1 hands; or 14 and 1/2 inches will be 14.2 hands; 14 and 3/4 inches would be 14.3 hands etc.

Horses for Sale

It's that time of year again when I start advertising my horses for sale. This year, Peppy, Gussie, and Sassy are for sale. Gussie (Bar Dawn Sabre) is 5 years old, broke to ride, 15.2 hh. She sells in foal to Beamer.

Sassy (Smooth Sailing Peppy) is one year old, ground work is in progress. She is reining bred on the top and speed bred on the bottom.Anyone who is seriously interested in these horses can email me at diamondlazyh641@hotmail.com

Orange Sky in the Morning

I woke up at 5:30 to this beautiful sky, and also this rainbow:

There was rolling thunder to go along with it, and of course, my border collies were in a hurry to get in the house and hide.

Equine Massage

During breeding season, Beamer aquired a few bumps and bruises, including a splint on his left front leg, and a big knot in the muscle at the top of his hip. I have been massaging the knot and it is slowly going away. I found some useful videos on You Tube, but unfortunately couldn't download them to this blog. If my back wasn't so bad, I would do stretches and more thorough massage on him- he loves it! I do as much as I can. Do you massage your horses?

Sunday Silence- The beauty of flowers

Finished Project

As promised, here is the picture of the completed fencing project. On the left is the large paddock where the mares will winter. In the middle is a pen that has access to the box stalls. Then there is a 17 ft. alley that leads to summer pasture, and at the top, behind the barn, is Beamer's winter pen. To the left of the barn will be an extension of the building that will serve as shelter for the mares. I think the guys did a great job!

More Horse Photos Part 2

They really were belly deep in grass!

Peppy is almost invisible.

This picture is taken a week later, you can see how much they have beat down the grass; they have eaten a lot of it, but mostly it's laying over.

More Horse Photos

I've been very busy this week, painting the interior of our church, so I haven't had much time for blogging. The mares are doing a mutual grooming session in this photo; Peppy tried to get in on it but he wasn't tall enough.

Remember that little brown fuzzball? Not much brown left on him now!

I took this picture of Beamer a couple of months ago; it reminds me of those old photos you see in the stories of the old Quarter Horse legends.

Okay, I know, this isn't a horse photo, but Reba and Tess were so cute with their little faces peering out of the long grass; I took this the day I moved the girls into their new paddock. The grass was so deep you couldn't see the dogs in it!

The new stud pen

The new pen that Beamer will winter in is finished, so he got to try it out yesterday.

It passed the test for being big enough to gallop around in;

Big enough to play in, with high sides that I put a hot wire on to discourage chewing.

Yup, it passed the Beamer approval test!

Sunday Silence: Pasture Flowers

Projects, dogs, 'n' mares

We have been taking it easy the last few days after last weekend's workout building fence. We only have the gates to finish and are waiting for some custom built hinges- I'll show you all pictures when we have the finished product. The last two days, the new waterer was installed and I put electric wire around the top rail of Beamer's new pen today.

Reba and Tess are in heat right now, so are kept confined. They are kept in this stall while I am at the barnyard, and under close supervision at home. Don't want any puppies! Maybe next year, girls.

The mares and Peppy were moved to another paddock 4 days ago, belly deep in grass and lovin' it. I only let them in for a couple of hours at a time for the first few days, but tonight they get to stay. Peppy is changing colour more and more every day and his black points are really starting to show. He is going to be a striking looking horse when he's all growed up! The horse flies have been making them crazy, so I've been using Muskol (for humans) on them. It works really well and is more affordable than the Absorbine fly spray that the local feed store carries. What do you use?