OMG Kentucky is this week! - See what I did to get ready

Oh my gosh I go to Kentucky on Thursday! I can’t believe it’s here. I am so excited and yet so nervous – will all my preparation be enough? Are my horses ready? What will it be like when we get down there?

The journey to Kentucky has been a long one with a lot of preparation, training and offsite experiences to help set my two horses up for success.

Here's a look at my journey leading up to Kentucky –

• February 1^st – bought Kahleesi (Soar) and drove home through a snow storm
• February 8^th – bought Cupid (Lion of Wallstreet) and drove home from Ohio through a snow storm
• March 2^nd – both horses had their teeth done and were dewormed
• March 18^th – Cupid started antibiotics because of an injury to his leg
• April 18^th – Cupid & Kahleesi’s first offsite experience at the Natural Horsemanship Trade Show 2015. Cupid did a ground work demo with Lindsey, and Kahleesi was used by Tom Shields in a ground work demo. Cupid was pretty nervous an upset, couldn't stand still and it took the entire demo to get him to relax.
• April 29^th – Cupid started a new treatment to get rid of his mud fever and other sores on his legs
• May 9^th – Cupid and Kahleesi took part in a clinic with Cindy from Brookston Horse Park at Partridge Horse Hill, our first glimpse at showing in Mountain Trail.
• May 17-18^th – Cupid and Kahleesi went to the Horseman’s Word Ranch for Don Halladay’s Cowboy dressage clinic. Kahleesi was just starting to do canter under saddle and was still struggling with her right canter leads at this clinic. Cupid was new to canter under saddle too and was struggling picking up canter. Kahleesi found the sound speaker very scary.
• May 24^th – Kahleesi’s first show at Oak Ridges Equestrian Centre where she competed in hunter cross rails and still struggled with her right canter leads, but did get it a few times, she placed well.
• May 30^th – Kahleesi and Cupid did their first obstacle show at the Natural Horsemanship Association’s Horse Agility & Obstacle Show. This was their first time doing liberty and it actually worked out pretty well but I left the halters on just in case. My horses were the only ones to do the most advanced classes and I was proud of them for completed the obstacles. 
• June – started regular lessons with Centered Riding Coach Esther Johnson to get the horses ready for Kentucky and get me looking the part too.
• June 14^th – Kahleesi’s first Jumper show at the Pickering Horse Centre riding in 0.6m. We ended up trotting the courses with little bits of canter because she was nervous. We had clear rides except time faults so I was proud. 
• June 24^th – went to an obstacle play night at the Bonehill’s and exposed both Cupid and Kahleesi to more obstacles. I started to think I might want to show trail instead of jumping because of my horse’s natural talents. 
• June 27^th/28^th – Took Kahleesi and Cupid to the Parelli 7 Games in the Saddle with Parelli Professional Todd Owens. Both horses made great progress and Kahleesi started to get used to the speaker system.
• July 11^th – Natural Horsemanship Association Horse Agility & Obstacle Show where Kahleesi & Cupid competed in the hardest classes and still placed on top. I was super proud.
• July 18^th – Clinic in Mt. Albert with Susan Caldwell on Extreme Cowboy racing, my first taste of this extreme sport. Cupid & Kahleesi were super awesome and great at the obstacles.
• August 1^st- The only ACTHA Trail show I completed this year because they are only in the states. I did one in New York and had so much fun. This was the trip that made me decide that 100% for sure I am competing in Trail at the Makeover. Cupid and Kahleesi were awesome and placed very well, including our first blue ribbon 1^st.
• August 9^th: Cupid and Kahleesi’s first Extreme Cowboy race. We discovered that Cupid is terrified of horses pulling carriages (that was happening in the ring beside us) and that Kahleesi has huge potential for this sport. Cupid was eliminated because I didn’t realize that during a ground tie you have 60 seconds to get back on your horse so we took too long. Kahleesi was great and got 4^th though.
• August 13-16: Parelli Super Camp at the Horseman’s Word Ranch with Kathy & John Baar, Maureen & Todd Owens, and Randee & Don Halladay – wow what a week of intense learning and progress for both Cupid & Kahleesi. It was a great relaxed atmosphere to work on finessing some skills.
• August 22: Lessons from Margreet Boumeester from the Netherlands at Partridge Horse Hill to work on collection and relaxation. She also performed Cranial Sacral work on both horses.
• August 29^th – Natural Horsemanship Association Horse Agility & Obstacle Show at Partridge Horse Hill, the biggest show of the season and Kahleesi & Cupid still placed in the top ribbons of the hardest classes including liberty.They finished champion and reserve champion of the year and 1st overall in Liberty and Advanced Horse Agility. 
• September 5^th – Cupid provided an obstacle demonstration at the Partridge Horse Hill show.
• September 6^th – Cupid & Kahleesi competed at Marmora Extreme Cowboy Race. Cupid improved so much and did great with the obstacles but was still very slow and placed 11^thwhile Kahleesi was doing great and placed 6^th.
• September 12^th: Obstacle show at Glenuara where Cupid & Kahleesi placed in the top marks for liberty, riding, and online. We discovered Cupid doesn’t like ditches and that Kahleesi had an abscess brewing.
• September 13^th – Cupid competes in the Uxbridge Fall Fair in the Obstacle challenge and gets a very respectable 5^th place finish against some awesome horses and riders. Kahleesi stayed at home with her abscess.
• September 19^th – Obstacle Challenge at Turkey Run Ranch where Cupid was super steller and placed 5^th out of a large group with challenging obstacles. Here he really showed the progress he has made as he went through the baby pools, puddle, jumps and bridges with confidence. Kahleesi stayed home with her abscess.
• Week of Sept 19th - I worked closely with the vet & farrier to get Kahleesi's abscess to get the heck out of there.
• September 26^th – Extreme Cowboy Race at the Ancaster Fair, Cupid improved and placed 10^th! Kahleesi came for the trailer ride and played on the obstacles after the show because she was mildly ouchy still from the abscess.
• October 4^th – Cupid competed at Markham Fair and placed 15^th – he was super awesome with the obstacles, just really slow and not with the western head carriage. I am still very proud of him. Kahleesi came for the trailer ride but was still a bit ouchy from the abscess.
• October 8^th – Kahleesi had an obstacle lesson with David Cowley and was finally starting to look 100%, but then she decided to stay a little ouchy so she could skip the Norwood Provincial Extreme Cowboy finals - although its super awesome she qualified.
• October 13^th – Kevin Alcock came out to get rid of Kahleesi’s abscess for good and she went on stall rest for 3 days to make sure the infection was killed and gone. She was not a happy camper.
• October 16^th – Obstacle clinic with David Cowley aboard Cupid while Kahleesi stayed on stall rest.
• October 17^th – Kevin Alcock put acrylic shoes on Kahleesi to keep her hoof safe for the trip to Kentucky
• October 18^th – Kahleesi is finally back to normal and we had 2 hrs of lessons with Todd Owens and practicing for Kentucky
• October 19^th – I did some shopping for Kentucky and got some jeans, boots, etc to be all snazzy. 
• October 20th - my last full day at work before Kentucky... tomorrow I leave early so I can pack and prepare.... my mind is racing with all the things I want to remember. 

What the future holds - 

• October 22^nd- we leave at 4am and then we’ll see you in Kentucky!!
• October 23^rd – all my training gets tested on the Trail course
• October 24^th – we get to see if my freestyle routines are as amazing as I think they are – make sure you watch to see what cool obstacles we’re bringing!!
• October 25^th- The final ceremony
• October 26^th – We drive home from Kentucky
• October 27^th – I turn 30! Then I can take a deep breath and realize that this has been one hell of a year and I left my twenties with a bang.

So as you can see there were a lot of activities that I planned into the progress of my horses – there were also numerous training sessions, riding my horses as demos in lessons I was teaching, or weekend trail rides. I also had to change my schedule because originally I had a lot of hunter/jumper shows planned but then switched gears and made it all about the obstacles.

I was committed to the task and the goal, driven to succeed, but put my horse’s success and happiness first – I let them choose their journey, and let them show me what they excel at.
 

For anyone that wants to do something like this in future, here are my tips:

• Know yourself (what are your strengths, and what are you capable of – emotionally, physically, financially, and what is your skill level)
• Set a goal
• Make a plan
• Write it down and follow it
• Get your horses healthy first – their minds and their bodies
• Be ready for plan B (you might have to create plan B with short notice, so be solution focused)
• Get support from people you trust
• Seek out opportunities that will be supportive
• Take criticism and feedback, and use it to make positive change
• Ask for help
• Try hard – make it a priority
• Use shows as training opportunities and don’t feel the pressure to win. Make it about setting the horse up better for tomorrow. If you win in the process, then awesome.
• Let go of any fears of what others think or how you will do.
• Give it your best shot – winning isn’t the end game… its just the icing on the cake… but the most delicious part is the journey to get there, knowing you gave it all you’ve got, and that you truly have improved and created a special relationship with your horse. 

Please remember to vote Lindsey Partridge for the Trainer Award  at 

https://www.retiredracehorseproject.org/2015-ambassador-award

It's easy - click the link, click my name, and click vote - its that quick

Remember you can watch Cupid's Story at https://youtu.be/WjsohpR-YnQ

2 Competitions with an Unexpected Twist

This past weekend I went to two different horse shows. On Saturday September 12th I went to Glenaura Horse Farm for the Obstacle show, and Sunday I went to the Uxbridge Fall Fair Gambler's Choice Horse Show.

Obstacle Show
On Saturday morning it was pouring rain, dark, and cold when we headed out with the horses at 6am so we could arrive on time to Honeywood. By the time we got there the skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, but it was still pretty crisp in temperature.

We unloaded Cupid and Khaleesi and discovered Kahleesi was ouchy on her front right. Not horrible but not perfect. I walked her around a bit, assessed her legs/hooves, and determined it is either an abscess brewing or she stepped on a stone and bruised her foot. There was no heat in her leg, but seemed to be a little heat near her coronet band.

We tried wrapping her and putting hoof boots on and that helped. She was walking nicely and willingly but occasionally would take ouchy steps. I decided to keep Kahleesi walking because walking is good if it's an abscess, as well she seemed comfortable.

The competition started with an online obstacle class. I decided to keep Kahleesi in the class because it was going to be all walk and the exposure to new obstacles would be good for her. I competed in the Intermediate (they had two levels: Beginner & Intermediate).

The obstacles were fun and included:

• Tarp
• Barrels to circle around
• Pool noodle car wash
• Tunnel made out of a tarp
• Pushing a ball off a tire
• Pool noodle standards
• A swivel obstacle where you had to get the horse to push a piece of wood (watch the video because I don't really know how to describe it)
• Narrow bridge
• Pedestal (giant one)
• Caveletti jump (on a low height that you can walk over)
• Kiddie pool with water and an inner tube around it
• Teeter tauter

Cupid and Kahleesi were awesome. They did everything pretty easy except they had a good sniff at the pool. 

Kahleesi finished 1st and Cupid was 3rd out of a lot of people (they placed ribbons to 10th and there were more people than placings). 

After that we competed in Liberty, which was the same course but no rope. The horses were awesome and Kahleesi was 1st with Cupid 4th. There was a lot of impressive liberty work from the competitors. Kahleesi got top marks because I could send her through many obstacles from a distance. 

Next we had riding obstacles. This was walking (trot was optional, but with all the obstacles there wasn't room for a lot of trotting). This time Cupid came 1st and Kahleesi was 3rd. 

After that I decided to scratch Kahleesi from the Trail challenge because that would involve some jumps, trotting, and cantering. I didn't want to push her out of her comfort, and at the trot she was more ouchy. 

Cupid competed in the trail class which was outdoors and in a big back field. 

The obstacles included:

• Logs to cross over
• Flag that you had to move from one round bale to another
• A squeeze to ride through (hay feeders lined up in parallel rows)
• Brush jump with brush on the sides (similar to pool noodle standards but with brush)
• Jump with a car wash over top
• Brush jump with brush facing up towards the horse's belly
• Pick up a water bucket and move it
• A pole drage
• Water crossing
• Ditch
• A tunnel made out of tarp for a floor, round bales for sides, and a tarp for a roof
• A gate
• Bank jump
• Giant tires filled with sand to cross over
• Gate

It was a lot of fun - Cupid wasn't super relaxed so we need to work on finding relaxation at the obstacles so he can stand still better at them. He thought the ditch was scary and took about 5-10 minutes to cross it the first time. I was just patient and insisted he look/try but wasn't forceful. Our gate wasn't super pretty either because he was a bit anxious to stand beside it calmly. 

He placed 4th in the trail class and then when it was all done I spent an hour with Cupid at the gate building his confidence to stand calmly at the gate. Eventually he relaxed and did the gate beautifully so I hopped off and loved on him. It was important to give him so much comfort in the right moment because it was such a big challenge. 

Watch our show:

Gamblers Choice on Sunday

On Sunday I went to the Uxbridge Fall Fair for the Gamblers Choice. It was a bit of a drizzly cold day but Kathy and Larry Bonehill did an awesome job setting such a fun obstacle course. 

Because Kahleesi was still looking ouchy, I made a last minute swap and brought Dreamer (one of our lesson horses) instead. This meant I had Dreamer, Cupid, and Thetis. I brought Thetis because last year I competed with her and didn't place, so I wanted to do better this year. Cupid and Kahleesi were entered because they needed more exposure to obstacles before Kentucky.... so I had 3 horses to show. 

My round one was on Thetis. I carefully planned my route and executed it pretty well except our first obstacle she didn't want to let me get off onto the mounting block, and I dropped the ball on an obstacle soon after that (literally). After that we found our groove and aced all of the obstacles we attempted. 

Cupid was ride two. He entered the ring calmly but then the Merry Go Round started going and he had a bit of a melt down. I had to change my plan and avoid that corner of the ring because it was too big of a distraction that he was actually starting to go catatonic. We continued to other parts of the ring and he did awesome, once we were out of that corner he aced all of the obstacles we attempted. 

Lastly I rode Dreamer, final horse of the day. By now I had a strategy worked out and I rode a pretty efficient pattern. Dreamer was super awesome and aced everything except one water box he jumped over instead of stepped through. 

I was super happy and very thrilled with our progress. 

I was even more delighted when Cupid was announced as 8th place, Thetis as 2nd place and Dreamer as 1st place. Dreamer did pretty awesome as a back up horse and I definitely did better than last year!

Some tips I learnt from the weekend:

• Be ready to have a plan B, and C
• When plan B and C don't work, take a deep breathe and focus on what you can do
• Practice relaxation at the obstacles so your horse can approach with confidence
• The show ring is a place to show what you excel at, not what you are working on. If you don't think you can do an obstacle, don't try it during gamblers choice - do that during warm up, or after the course, or try it at home
• Make a plan and ride your plan
• In gamblers choice think about riding the obstacles that are close together rather than wasting time going all over the ring. For example do the 1 point jump that is just slightly out of the way between two bigger point obstacles. 

Watch the gamblers choice:

I had a super amount of fun and can't wait to do it again!

NHA horse show finale weekend with Tips for success!

Last weekend was all about the Natural Horsemanship Association (NHA)- well except for Friday evening when I spent a couple hours with my centered riding coach Esther Johnson to start work on my freestyle routine for Kentucky. That was a lot of fun getting things figured out – we still have a lot of work to do, but we are putting together a nice routine for Kahleesi – Cupid you are next!

I was lucky to have a couple volunteers to help me set up for the NHA obstacle show – our gamblers choice had over 40 options so it was a lot to set up. We were blessed with good weather for the show and the best turnout for classes yet.

The horse agility classes seemed to be popular with 12 in the novice! The liberty classes still only had 3 entries, so perhaps this will condense to be just one class next year. Our judge, Shelley, gave some tips for scoring well in the class.

Tips for Scoring well in Horse Agility:

• -        Find a way to get your horse motivated, even if that means using a treat as a reward after some obstacles so that your horse looks keen, interested, and has a little spring in their step.
• -        Be careful to set your horse up nicely and straight to the obstacles so that they can complete them accurately.

We moved into the riding classes and there was a lot of fun to be had. We received a lot of great feedback about enjoying the Finesse, Speed, and Gamblers Choice classes because of the variety. 

Having prize money for the gamblers choice seemed to go over really well too - I guess everyone likes money? A lot of people stayed to enter the money class at the end of the day with 100% of the class entries going into prizes. We were happy with 14 people in that class, a good turnout for it's first time.

It was fascinating to watch the different ways everyone completed their gamblers choice, with more than 40 options there was a lot of variation to how you could do it. It was also interesting to see who dared master the big bridge for 15 points, and who was able to do the gamblers choice obstacle of the splash box worth 20 points.

The splash box is a box filled with water, with a floating piece of wood with holes in it. It looks solid to the horse but when they step on the floating wood, it sinks with water gushing up through the holes. You can imagine that a lot of horses find it intimidating at first.

The Unexpected Obstacle

What we didn’t expect, is that as everyone was splashing through the box, there was more and more mud created around the box which actually became more of an obstacle to some horses.

Being Impressed

I was super impressed with the riders and horses at the competition – I was also happy to have competition for the first time in the extreme division… the last two shows it had just been my horses and I, but this time there were 7 entries. It was great to see talented riders and horses competing at that level.

In particular a few things that impressed me –

• -        Andrea and her ability to ride a gate in a few seconds. She made it look so easy and inspired me to practice the gate to master this skill better… I am still not as good as her at it, but now I can ride the gate with Kahleesi!
• -        Dave with his horse that would walk on water if he ask or jump to the moon. He’s raised such a willing partner.
• -        Cody with his young horse that he did just the right amount to progress his young horse without pushing him too hard.

Everyone really did a great job and I was super thrilled with everyone’s horsemanship and sportsmanship at the show.

From watching & riding gambler’s choice, here’s some tips I picked up:

• -        Ride the high point obstacles first to make sure you get the big points
• -        Only attempt the obstacles you are sure you can do pretty easily/quickly because the seconds count down fast
• -        Have fun and smile! The horse can feel your tension, so if you smile and have fun your horse will do better.

All in all it was a great show day! 

We want to know what you like to see in the shows!

We are taking feedback for next year and would really appreciate you take the NHA Horse Show survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BNSS3SJ 

– or email us any feedback (good or bad) you are willing to share to nhassociation@gmail.com because want to do this again next year, and want to make it better for you.

Sunday Wrap Up

The day after the horse show we had a fun trail ride out to the pond – it was a nice day to take a quick dip with horses – thank you for everyone that came out!

Also a big congratulations to the PHH riders that showed at Oak Ridges Equestrian Centre, we had a few riders come home with champion and reserve champion ribbons. Well done girls and thank you Caileigh-Anne for being our show team coach!

What's up Next?

Tomorrow the fun continues with our Partridge Horse Hill Show – we have hunter, jumper, obstacle, and speed event classes. We hope to see you there! More information at http://partridgehorsehill.com/HorseShowClinic.html

Keep in the know at https://www.facebook.com/PartridgeHorseHill 

Learnings from my Super Experience at Super Camp

I had the fantastic opportunity to ride at Parelli Super Camp at the beautiful Horseman's Word Ranch from August 12-16... 5 days full of learning. Let me share with you some of the highlights and learnings that I walked away with.

We had some really interesting discussion over the 5 days about natural horsemanship, progress, and the different savvys.

About Natural Horsemanship

• Natural horsemanship is about understanding the human and horse's nature, and not making it right or wrong. 
• Problems are nothing but surprises you don't want
• Think: What's missing in the relationship if you can't do something?
• Trust is when you share mutual interests
• Respect is when somebody brings something new and unique to the relationship. 
• When in Rome do as Romans do, when in horseville do as horses do. 
• We don't hit each other in our society as humans, but horses do kick & bite each other so that means we might need to be firm with them too. 

 About Progress

• Think about having an underlying focus for you ride/play session. For example will you be always rewarding exuberance, the correct bend, stopping with no reins, etc. This way you are more aware when your horse makes the change. 
• Best way to learn something is to teach it. 
• Be open minded to learn. 
• What is the litter ingredient today that will set me up for tomorrow?

About Liberty

• Start with games that get your horse connected to you like 'stick to me'. Don't start with a lot of circles because that is sending your horse away from you. 
• Try playing different games with your horse that you have practiced really well. 
• If you aren't sure if your horse is ready for liberty, try playing the games with your rope in your belt... so you aren't using your rope but you have it ready if you need it. 

We had some chances to play at liberty using the many round pens at the ranch. I tried Cupid & Kahleesi for the first time at liberty and it went really well. I learnt how to send horses in circles of opposite direction and how to get better with two horses at liberty. 

Some fun exercises

• Dressage pattern to give ourselves a purpose and goal
• Driving our horses with 2 long lines to improve our communication from behind our horses
• Riding with a bucket on a line to help build our horse's confidence
• Riding over poles to practice counting our steps between them to see if we were keeping out same pace, and then to see if we can change our pace. 
• Riding with our bodies and using the carrot sticks instead of reins to reinforce our aids 
• Simulations (no horses) so that we can figure out our movements and positions without confusing our horse! Even better is that when you practice the exercises with people, they can speak English and tell you how they are feeling and what is confusing them. 

 There was so much to learn and so many wonderful people to meet.

I had a lot of fun, and a lot of amazing moments where things just seemed to click. One of the key things for me was reminding myself of my vision for the day so that I knew when I was making progress and when to reward my horse. 

"In every moment make clarity of communication the top priority." 

We did so much more than the things I have listed here, but this gives you a taste of the buckets full of learning we explored at Super Camp - what an amazing experience with so many masters of horsemanship in one place! I feel incredibly fortunate to have such an opportunity so close to home. 

Thank you Don & Randee Halladay, Toddy & Maureen Owens, and John & Kathy Baar!

Looking forward to it again next year!

The Path to Kentucky Starts with New York

I was super excited heading into this past weekend – my first ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Association - https://www.actha.us/) competition. This is the same type of competition being offered in Kentucky when we travel down in October for the Thoroughbred Makeover Competition – which is what I am planning to show Cupid & Kahleesi in.

The Planning

This all started with a long weekend trip to our family cabin in New York – a typical venture for James & I over the Civic long weekend. It became slightly more complicated when we realized that not all our Corgi puppies would be picked up by their owners yet, so two of them would be coming with us to New York along with our 3 dogs.

Then I was doing some reading about the trail competition that will be part of the Thoroughbred Makeover Contest – I have been preparing with Extreme Cowboy and Mountain Trail Clinics because we don't have ACTHA events here. Then I realized there was one in New York the same weekend we would be down there. I googled the address and it was only about 2.5hrs away from our cabin.

I okayed the idea with James, booked the appointment with the vet for the horse’s paperwork and then signed myself up for the competition. Then we confirmed our farm sitter and helpers (thank you so much!) and made the rest of our plans.

I didn’t stop there… days before we were set to leave, I found this adorable fluffy Corgi female that was available in Illinois. We’ve been looking for a fluffy female for a very long time, so I okayed the idea with James and put a deposit. The plan included a side trip for me to drive to Illinois for the puppy.

The Trip

We packed everything up Friday – our things and the things for the 2 horses, 3 dogs, and 2 puppies. We strolled into the Cracker Box Palace at around 10pm. I put Cupid & Kahleesi into a round pen with food and water, we let the dogs have a potty break, and slept in our trailer for the night. It’s so nice to have a trailer with a bed!

The Show

The Obstacle Class

I was so excited I woke up extra early. The first part of the show was the obstacle course in the outdoor ring. It looked very similar to obstacles we’ve had at the NHA horse shows – a tarp, pool noodle standard, a low bridge, mail box, and a few very similar things to what we’ve been practicing. 

The biggest difference with this type of competition was we had to stop and wait for the judge to be ready at each obstacle – also the idea was to keep the same pace for the course/obstacle. So when I trotted the pole/barrel pivot obstacle I actually lost marks because I changed my cadence.

I loved how it was similar to the NHA shows – a focus on calm horsemanship and riding the obstacles on a loose rein. People were English or Western just like at the NHA shows and I met a couple Parelli people there who were working on their Level 3!

There were 7 competitors at different levels, and I was the only person in my level (Pleasure Competitive), so I decided to bump up to the hardest level (Open) so that we wouldn’t be competing against ourselves.

We got to do the course twice – the second time was the ‘gamblers choice’ because if you chose to do the second round it would replace your first score… so you had to decide if you would do better the first or second time.

I did the course the second time with both horses because despite the obstacles being similar to home my horses hesitated at a few of them and I thought we’d do better the second time.

  

One of the obstacles was a real chicken we had to side pass to the chicken and then away from the chicken! Good thing we have lots of them roaming free on the farm at home!

We placed 2^nd and 3^rd in this class – 1^st place went to an awesome cowboy with a beautiful relationship with his horse. He told me they’d been doing these competitions for years and they definitely looked the part!

Tip for success: before you compete remember to read all the rules and ask the judge any questions before your pattern – make sure you know what you will gain points or lose points for

The Obstacle Trail Ride

This was the most fun competition ever!! There were 13 competitors on the ride and we left in groups of 3 or 4. My group was the first to go in a group of 3. I led my group onto the trail for the first mile. There were 6 obstacles on the trail. Each obstacle was a mile apart.

The obstacles we did at each mile were:

1.      A labyrinth of poles – we have to navigate through the poles, zigzagging our way through without hitting the poles.

2.      A natural water crossing of about 60ft long with a steep bank on the opposite site.

3.      Backing through an L shape of poles.

4.      Taking a camera off of a stand and taking a selfie with a goat

5.      Riding through fake vines and halting right after them

6.      Riding around a scary pool noodle and balloon obstacle

I rode the course with Cupid and when we reached the water crossing he looked around and hesitated. I took a deep breath with him and then asked him to try - he walked right across and I was so proud.

The horse behind me was having trouble with the water so the judge told us to ride on ahead to the next obstacle without my group. This was my first solo trail ride ever with Cupid (I actually never ride solo on trail rides because its always safer in a group). I gave Cupid the cue and he marched on.

What an incredible high I was on – it was so rewarding for my horse to trust me and go. We rode walk, trot, and canter on a relaxed rein through the forest, apple orchards, peach fields (or is it a peach orchard?), open fields and across the road. It was amazing… knowing that all the time and effort I put into training my horse from the ground up… putting the right amount of love, language, and leadership in so that we could get to this moment and succeed. It felt amazing.

After I got back with Cupid I went out with Kahleesi to ride the trail course au concours. I had the same incredible experience of my trusting equine partner to carry me through the trail completely solo for the first time. It was so exciting and rewarding. She was super awesome with the obstacles and the scariest part of our ride was the mud which she figured out confidently by the end of the ride.

Cupid was super awesome and aced all the obstacles finishing with 1^st place in our level…. But it was only us in our level. I was still super proud because we did everything really well and at the more advanced level.

The Big Surprise

The best part of the competition was at the end when they were awarding the Judge’s Pick. This is where you actually get a hoof pick and it’s to represent the judge’s pick. The judge gets to pick their favourite horse & rider team that represents a great partnership. Cupid and I were chosen.

I was super thrilled that our partnership that we have been working so hard on was showing through to people who had never met us before. 

It was a fantastic experience and now I know what we have to work on for Kentucky, but also what we are doing well and that we are on the right track. 

Tip for Success: When you make a goal for yourself (and your horse), try making a plan to help you succeed. In your plan include when you are going to practice, what skills you need to accomplish and the steps needed to get there. Then you can budget your time wisely and work towards your goal. 

Whatever your goal, make a plan, write it down, and check off the steps along the way to measure your progress.

Tip for Success: Goals can be as simple as learning to master walk to halt transitions, or as complex as planning to compete at the Kentucky Makeover Competition.Pick a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and has a time line.  

Tip for Success: Remember that horses need Love, Language and Leadership to be trusting willing partners. Too much love without leadership will lead to a fearful horse that doesn't believe in you, too little appropriate language will lead to a confused horse, and no love will create a sour horse. The perfect combination creates the perfect partner. 

At the Cabin

After the show we went to our cabin in New York and settled in for the night just at dark. The next morning we woke up and went for a quick hour trail ride before I headed off to pick up our new fluffy puppy from Illinois while James took care of all the animals. 

Picking up Puppy

What an incredible drive - just over 1100km. After I got back I realized the GPS was set to no toll roads... so I probably didn't need to drive through Kentucky lol, but one look on our new little fluffy face and I knew it was worth the drive!

I stayed the night in Indiana at a hotel with puppy (now named Eevee) and headed back the next morning. The drive seemed faster on the way home. I got back around 7pm and we headed out for another trail ride.

Check out this hilarious video of when we introduced our new puppy to the other ones: https://youtu.be/pk7469ReOkc

Finally a Day of No Long Driving

On Tuesday we decided to call our bosses to ask for one more day of vacation - luckily they were okay with that. This meant I could have one day without any long driving trips... the only driving I did was into town for food. We were able to relax and do a lot of trail riding, playing with the dogs and a swim in the pond. 

We took turns riding Cupid and Kahleesi and explored some trails - there are thousands and thousands of acres of trails in the mountains at our cabin so we had lots of fun exploring :)

Heading Home

On our last day we went for another quick trail and then packed up the gang... which took a bit longer than I thought - I guess 3 puppies, 3 dogs, and 2 horses come with a lot of things! We headed home around noonish and didn't have trouble at the border... but we did hit Toronto traffic so we decided to stop at Pet Smart and got Eevee a new dog tag. Then made it back by 9ish. It feels nice to be home but it sure was a fun long weekend!!

Some Fun for You

If you're interested in trying out obstacles for yourself, be sure to come to our Saturday August 29th NHA Horse Agility and Obstacle show - there will be A LOT of obstacles (and some new ones!) - learn more here http://nhassociation.ca/horseagility.html

We also have our PHH schooling show that has some obstacle classes as well as hunter, jumper and western speed events classes . Learn more about the PHH show here http://partridgehorsehill.com/HorseShowClinic.html 

Video

Watch some fun from the weekend

https://youtu.be/ei1pUMBWYX4

Ellie's Journey Home - Saved from the Slaughter House, Literally

Every so often the stars align and mysterious things happen, as if it were fate falling into place. This past weekend was one of those moments when I felt the stars align for Ellie and I.

It was only a few weeks ago when someone commented on my youtube video of Elegance, aka 'Ellie' and I had responded saying if she was ever not wanted I would gladly take her back. Little did I know what would happen in the weeks to follow.

Ellie was born March 28, 2003 as a Thoroughbred intended for the race track. She had some training before they realized that Ellie really isn't a fast horse and didn't have a heart for racing. She retired from racing, with no starts, and sound. I purchased her from a horse trader that had a connection at the track and helped to sell ex-race horses.

I brought her to the placed where I boarded, Reidall Farms. There I retrained her using natural horsemanship and we could do canter pirouettes and ride bridleless and play at liberty. From there we moved around a bit as I tried to find a farm that had everything I wanted... with a reasonable price. We boarded at Equine Oasis and Bellewood Equestrian Centre. It was along this journey that I also purchased Thetis. Thetis and Ellie became best friends.

Thetis and Ellie showed together and trained together. They were very similar, but Ellie was easier to ride because I'd had her longer so she was better trained, and also Ellie is naturally more of a pokey/slow horse which makes her easier.

I made the decision to sell Ellie because I needed to sell one of my horses to help keep paying the bills.... if you didn't know this already, horses are expensive! One of the ways I would both help cover my horsey expenses and help horses was to own a couple horses at a time, one of which would be a project to train, and when they could be safely sold I would sell... and then repeat the process.

I sold Elegance to Larissa, who wanted a calm show horse to gain her confidence on. Larissa enjoyed her for a year, and then contacted me when she wanted to sell Elegance and move on to a different horse. I was boarding at West Ridge Farm at the time, and already owned a few horses so I couldn’t take her back - instead I helped Larissa sell Elegance and find her a new home.

She was sold to a lady named Melanie, who with her coach Diane seemed to really know their stuff. I was convinced Elegance would have a happy life.

It wasn't until Friday January 18th first thing in the morning, when a former student and part boarder of Elegance saw her photo posted on Need You Now Equine (NYNE). NYNE is headed up by Tracey.

Basically Tracey takes pictures of some of the horses that come to the Ottawa Sales Barn for slaughter in the hopes of finding them new homes – if they aren’t rescued then they do go for slaughter.

Tracey posts the pictures to facebook with as much information as she can find out – some of these horses literally have days before they go for slaughter, so if you see a horse on NYNE you have to act fast if you want to save them. Tracey helps coordinate the sale of the horse - she helps you buy the horse from the 'kill buyer'. He charges the 'meat price'. All of the horses I have seen on NYNE are priced fairly cheap, with Elegance being the most expensive at $800.

When I saw Elegance posted on NYNE I acted fast. I restrained myself from texting Tracey every minute, but that was difficult... I wanted answers and I wanted to save Ellie immediately. I knew time was of the essence.

The picture and description mentioned Ellie was injured with a puncture wound to her hip and that she wasn’t sound right now.

Between texting, and emailing I was able to find out the information I needed. Tracey also told me about another person, Marina, looking to save a horse she knew, Moro Moo. I got in touch with Marina and we worked it out that we would drive down to the feed lot together to save our horses. I emailed the $800 money transfer to Tracey to pay for Elegance, and our plans were set.

Sunday, January 20th was windy and frigid cold. I was lucky to have my assistant coach Marcie to cover my lessons for the day so I could leave first thing in the morning (although bad weather meant they were canceled anyway). Marina arrived bright and early with Thoroughbred racing trainer, Marko.

We hitched up and rolled out of the driveway at 8:30am. The roads were actually pretty good until we got near Ottawa, then there were some ice patches and I literally was driving about 20km/hr. Surprisingly we only saw one truck in the ditch! 

On the long journey I heard the story of Moro Moo - Marko really is a caring trainer, and Marina a loving former groom of 'Moo'. Marko had trained Moo and Moo had won many races, despite being a little crooked in the legs. Marko said he had given her away to be a broodmare, and was very shocked to find out she was headed for slaughter. Marko loves all of the horses he trains, and he is committed to finding good homes for them when they are done their racing career.

Marina was the former groom of Moo, and similar to me it was someone else that had shared the facebook photo of Moo with her. As soon as Marina recognized Moo she started contacting friends, family, and Marko to get Moo rescued and coordinated the whole effort.

We had a long journey with many stories shared, but as we approached closer to our destination the butterflies started turning in my stomach, and many questions filled my head: - What would this place look like? How injured would Ellie be? Would Ellie be able to load on the trailer because of her injury? What would we see?

As we pulled up the road, it was easy to see the right address despite no number visible at the end of the drive. Massive steel buildings with giant lettering spelling out 'live stock'. As we pulled in it was horrific to see just how many loading and unloading docks there were -just how many animals are at death's doorstep at this place?

Literally chute after loading chute, and barn after barn. Marko said 'this is a scary place I tell you,' and he was right.

It makes you think – the average person goes into the grocery store and buys meat, but doesn’t actually think about what that animal had to go through to get onto the dinner plate.

Tracey greeted us at the side of the building, which warmed the atmosphere a bit. We got the trailer ready and grabbed our lead ropes and blankets and headed into the barn. To my surprise our 2 horses were at a holding cell right at the entrance we came through - so we didn't venture through the depths of the labyrinth of barns and holding cells.

From what I could see, there were no other animals in sight, and when I asked Tracey about the other horses she said they were in the back barn. The space we were in was dark, but with clean shavings – but who knows what it’s like in the 'back.'

Ellie looked so defeated, injured, and so weak. Moo was the opposite - she seemed to know where she was and wasn't having any part of it - as soon as she saw the daylight of the entrance open she tried to dart through. Marina and Marko tried keeping her steady as they haltered her and blanketed her.

Ellie seemed dead inside and stood there. She still had her auction number “2589” glued to her side, a rack of ribs, her pelvis, hip bones and spine outline completely visible, and yet all 4 of her shoes still on. Her back legs so stocked up, and her injured leg so swollen with the puncture wound oozing a yucky yellowish pus.

I had to rip Ellie's auction number off of her body - it was glued so hard to her body that I couldn't take the number off her body without ripping off some of her fur. Ellie was so dead she didn't even move. I tossed her blanket on her - the same cooler I used for her when I owned her a few years ago.

I had a chance to ask Tracey some of the questions I had been dying to know. She explained that every Tuesday there are auctions at OLEX, an auction place in Waterloo. This past Tuesday there were 54 horses that went through auction. Of those, 17 were bought by the kill buyer she knows (another 25 were bought by another kill buyer and direct shipped to the meat plant. Of the 17 horses that went to ‘Tracey’s Kill buyer’ there were 7 that seemed sound/sane and had a reasonable chance of having a second chance so she took their pictures and posted them to facebook.

Of those 7, Ellie and Moo were rescued, and another Standardbred was to be picked up Monday. Tracey said she's been doing this for a year. She has a respectful relationship with the kill buyer - she doesn't cause problems for him, she just posts the pictures and if someone wants the horse they pay the meat price.

Out of respect for the relationship that Tracey has with the kill buyer, I won't disclose the address of the kill buyer's feed lot.... because if he feels that people are coming uninvited or causing more trouble than they are worth, then Tracey won't be able to take pictures of these animals and save the few she can.

Tracey explains that this particular kill buyer does care about the horses – so unlike most kill buyers, he allows Tracey to try and sell them first, but if they don’t sell they go for meat.

Tracey then said that Ellie got injured on the way from auction to the feed lot - which isn't surprising based on the loading and unloading methods I've seen from auction houses.

As we went to lead the horses out of the loading chute to our trailer, a stock trailer with cattle was starting to back up to unload. We had to ask the driver to wait a couple minutes so we could take the horses out.

We led the horses out to the trailer - Ellie barely could walk and nearly fell, and Moo was so desperate to get out of there that Marko had to hold her tight.

As we loaded our horses onto the trailer they positioned the stock trailer to the chute for unloading.

Moo walked right onto the trailer, and settled - as if saying "phew, this looks like a real horse trailer, I must be going somewhere safe now." Ellie struggled with the trailer - she was trying but her back legs were very weak, sore, and stocked up. 

Just beside us they started unloading the cattle by beating them with a cane and zapping them with an electric shock stick. There was no patience or respect for the animals - and this was all with unfamiliar and public eyes watching.

I could see Ellie give a huge effort and she forced herself up into the trailer - luckily she loaded.

Both horses were attacking their hay bags - who knows if they were being fed or what sort of conditions they were in for the last few weeks.

As we went to pull out of the driveway another stock trailer was pulling in - that place really is busy and deals with a lot of animals.

The experience was a big eye opener for me – I never really thought about what my hamburger had to go through… but perhaps I should.

The drive home was slow, but filled with more excitement of our success and rescue mission. We didn't arrive back to Partridge Horse Hill until 10:30pm. We unloaded carefully and Ellie struggled her way into the barn. We put the girls into stalls where they started eating hay right away.

We took a few photos, exchanged some hugs and best wishes. Moo will be picked up later by a new loving home that promises to keep her forever and treat her like a princess.

Tracey also gave me Ellie's passport. From the passport I can see that Ellie was passed around a couple times and was owned by Joseph, a coach/trainer, and then ended up with one of Joseph’s students. I was able to get in touch with Kylie, Ellie’s last listed owner on her passport.

Kylie told me that she bought Ellie to show the hunters, but fairly soon after she purchased her, Ellie kept going lame after jumping. Kylie said it was really inconsistent, they could ride her and jump her and she’d be fine, but then after a couple times she would stop, not want to go, and then be lame. They tried giving her a couple months off, x-rays, and injecting Ellie’s hocks thinking it could be arthritic but the vet couldn’t diagnose Ellie.

Kylie ended up giving Ellie to her trainer, who gave Ellie to a rehabilitation centre at the end of November, 2012. It is unclear what exactly happened after that, because the rehab centre didn’t keep in touch about Ellie, and Kylie was just as shocked as I was to see Ellie posted on NYNE just 2 months after Kylie gave Ellie away. What’s worse is that Kylie says Ellie was in good health when she was given way – she even went with her winter blanket and rain sheet, but now Ellie is severely under weight.

Kylie said her trainer followed up with the rehab centre after seeing Ellie posted on NYNE – she didn’t speak to the rehab centre directly, but seems to think that they did do some tests and found something with Ellie that couldn’t be cured so they sent her to auction…. Apparently the rehab centre said they had a high reserve bid of $1000 to ensure she wouldn’t go to a kill buyer…. But I guess that didn’t happen since I bought her for $800 from the kill buyer, and the kill buyer definitely wouldn’t sell at a loss.

I am still in the process of finding out more from Kylie to see if I can get in touch with the rehab centre to find out what tests they did and what they found out – I will keep you posted!

These girls have no idea how close they came to death's doorstep... or maybe they do.

Stay tuned for an update on Ellie's recovery – check Ellie’s page at http://www.partridgehorsehill.com/Elegance.html

Thank you Tracey, Marina (former student who spotted Ellie), Marina (Moo's former groom), and Marko!

See pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628811786377/