Sunday Stills "HORSES"

My friend, Tammy, from Horsetrailriders.com has been following the Sunday Stills blog. I really like the shots that Tammy got this week for the Sunday Stills Horses challenge.

Each week, Ed, of Sunday Stills, issues a new photo challenge. I like that he says that it doesn’t matter what type of camera you have. Post your pictures and see the pictures that other people are sharing. Work on improving your own skills.



This year has been the beginning of a lot of journeys for me. I’m just as excited to begin my journey into horse photography. I had a camera as a kid and could only take pictures when I could save up enough money to buy film. Later, after college, I got a Yashica 35 mm and I learned to focus manually. Now, with the digital world, taking lots of pictures isn’t a problem. Editing the pictures



Ed thinks this week is a challenge, but to all of us who own and love horses, this is exciting. I decided to try a few different shots this week. I would like to learn to take better pictures. I have always loved taking pictures, but I really want to learn to take “unique” shots.



I’m starting these challenges by taking pictures of my stud, Grand Duke of Asset, “Duke”. In the shadows of an outside pen, I thought the close-ups of his face were interesting. He was in a quiet mood today, relaxed, and I loved how his face looked.



Come along on this journey with me!

HT Photo Challenge "MOVE"

Finny's Trot



Our weekly challenge for our Horsetales Photo Challenge for this past week was to photograph our equine friends in the theme of “Move”. Photos are suppose to be ready by Wed. The last 2 weeks have been crazy around here, so today, I decided to work on last week’s and this week’s challenge. I’m 4 days late for the “Move” challenge, but I’ll be 3 days early for this week’s challenge of “Free”.

I decided to go into my archive of photos. I just didn’t get the horses running today. We had a warmer day, the sun was shining for a few minutes, so they just wanted to stand and doze.



One of my favorite moments this year was riding my horse, Finny, at a Centered Riding Clinic. We were doing a lot of long trotting, so I was practicing 2 -pointing. At this clinic, I realized that with the Centered Riding exercise, “Dancing Knees”, my body moved more freely. I allowed my leg joints to relax. I learned to let my body move as the horse moved. Even though I have always ridden like this, the realization of “letting go” was amazing. Light bulbs lit brightly in my brain, my body, and in my soul, and I knew that I was on a wonderful journey with my horse. This moment started my Centered Riding journey.



These pictures may not be clear as I would like as I was in an indoor arena. I had a clinic participant take pictures of me. I am so glad that she snapped a million pictures of Finny and I. These are wonderful memories that I will always hold dearly in my heart, as I lost Finny to colic a month ago.

These photos of trotting and 2 pointing on Finny will always bring back wonderful memories of the two of us conditioning for our last CTR. We had many moments like this in the field. Ears perked. A long strided extended trot. Feeling his muscles beneath me as we effortlessly covered ground. Feeling the fresh, cool air of fall.



I loved Finny’s long trot. Finny will always be special as I started him as a young horse, after he was orphaned at a month of age. I taught him many of the maneuvers that we needed to know for our trail competition. He was a lesson horse for some of my advanced students. I started my Centered Riding journey with him. I loved his willingness to learn. I loved how he would pick up the speed a little and “move” on out.

Come along on this amazing journey with me.

It has been a Week

Where has the last week gone? The past week has been extremely busy and I think it has caught up with me. I have been tired all day today. And feeling a little sad and overwhelmed.

First, my parents came into town for a week’s visit. They were so excited to be here as they have only seen Sara and Jacob’s babies once. Sara, Jake and Makenzie were coming home for the weekend. We were having our Thanksgiving meal while they were here. Jacob, Amber and Caden came up both days over the weekend. And Micah and his girlfriend, Amy, were here on Saturday also. Micah came back up on Sunday to go hunting in the morning.

In the meantime, I had made arrangements to rent a bobcat and get my lots cleaned. I was lucky enough to get a local business to haul my manure away! And he was able to bring me 2 loads of sand. And he brought a load of dirt to replace muck with solid packed ground!

Busy people are great, but they are busy. I had the sand delivered last week, and 2 loads of manure were hauled away. A day later, 2 more loads. Another day, 1 load. This week is going better. I spread the sand in the arena. 3 loads were taken on Tuesday and 3 loads on Wednesday. 1 lot is clean. The big lot is almost clean. We thought we would get it done on Wed, but a broken spring on the dump truck caused a 2 day delay. Wednesday, I continued to move the manure to a large pile. I spent from 8 am to 5 pm outside, with only a break at lunch time and an afternoon break. I was exhausted last night, falling asleep at 9 with a glass of wine in my hands.

My parents were leaving today. Dad decided to have his muffler checked yesterday. It wasn’t the muffler making the loud noise. His engine had a part that was almost breaking. Repairs will be done by Friday, maybe Saturday.

Mom has slight dementia. It is good that they are still able to visit. The visits are hard though. Mom repeats her self often. We need to watch what she does, all the time. She forgets what she has done, or what she has taken. My dad must be tired. He enjoys these visits, as it gives both him and my mom a distraction.

Today, the tiredness and lack of sunlight was hard on me. I sent a thank you to be published in the NECTRA newsletter, thanking everyone who helped me at the Indian Caves CTR when Finny colicked. I was in tears again. I miss him so much.

I need to enjoy the time that I spend with my parents. I am glad that they are here to see their 2 newest great-grandchildren. I am glad that they are still able to visit.

I think if I slept better, I would feel better. Hormones and menopause are playing havoc on my body. I wake up at least 3 - 4 times a night. First hot, then cold.

Changing career plans again. Closing the store. Finding a horse for CTR. Parent’s health. Holidays and family. A lot is going on. I’m tired.

I need a down day. I need free time. I doubt I’ll even ride that day. I just want to sit and re-group. Ever have a day like that?

HT Photo Challenge "HAIR"

Mane and Forelocks

A group, from Tammy's chat group, Horsetales, has decided to take a picture each week and post them. Since we are all horsey, then we need to look for a horsey influence. We would have a word a week and snap a picture that suits the word. We started last week and the word was "hair".



I love Honey's 2 tone mane!

At first, I thought of forelocks. I had visited a friend yesterday and I wished I would have had my camera. Her youngest horse has the most beautiful mane! So as I thought of her, I noticed that my young yearling that I sold has a gorgeous mane. The summer sun has given her natural highlights. It looks so much silkier in person though!

I would have taken pictures of all manes, but not all of the horses have been worked, or groomed. Most of the manes are a mess! So I snapped pictures of all of the horses forelocks.

Some of the horses have forelocks,

Shaggy


Buster


and some don't!

Starlet


Goldie


Some forelocks are long,

Honey


and some are short.

Bob


Some forelocks are stringy,

Chick


and some are out of control!

Duster


I wonder if different types of forelocks go hand-in-hand with any personality types???

Enjoy!

Confidence

My friend, Tammy, has written about Fear on her blog, Horsetrailriders. I thought I would talk about why there is fear. But after thinking about this for a few days, and answering her blog, I realized that what I told her is true for a lot of people who have some fear. As you build confidence, your fear diminishes.

What I have learned recently is that you can’t go throughout life without living. You can’t refuse to do something you love just to prevent something bad from happening. What if something bad never happens because you don’t experience anything that you want to do, and that causes you to sit at home, inside, and do nothing. Someone told me, after Finny died, that I was conditioning him and riding him to the best of my ability. I was using him for the reason that I wanted to ride and that is what we both loved to do. So I shouldn’t fear riding because a health issue may arise in my horse or that I may have an accident.

And that would be the same reason for a person not to fear riding in case a riding accident should arise. We can’t go through life afraid of something happening. We can’t go through life - afraid of life. But what we can do is to prevent accidents from happening. Education is marvelous.

So how does a person build confidence? How does someone with fear build confidence? How do you find confidence in something if you never had the experience in the first place? How do you build confidence with horses?

Maybe ignorance is bliss, as sometimes beginners do just fine. I think they don’t realize what could go wrong. People who have been in the horse business for any length of time have either seen, heard of, or experience problems or accidents that could give someone fear. Maybe beginners are so relaxed that the horses stay relaxed. Maybe people who have seen the accidents take precautions to prevent the accidents from happening to them. Maybe when an accident happens, some people who don’t show fear realize that is what it is, just an accident. And, once again, education is a marvelous thing!

We can prevent accidents through learning from experience. We can prevent accidents by doing things safely. We can prevent accidents through educating ourselves about horses, and about safety. We can think before acting. We can act slowly. We can always do things the same way all the time, as horses are creatures of habit. We can have as safe of an environment around us as we can. And when something bad happens, an accident happens, then we need to call that living. That is life.

Maybe through experiences, people learn. I once was told that we learn more when we have problems. I never forgot that statement. When a horse has been sick, I learned more about that disease. When a horse was difficult to train, I learned more about how to train that problem. When a family member got hurt, I learned more about what caused that accident, what could have gone wrong, and how to prevent the problem again.

Nothing that I have experienced in the last 20 years, or 30 years , or even 40 years when I was a youth, have caused me fear. I think it has caused me some agony, some sadness, some sore muscles and body parts, but never fear. I don’t know why, except that I knew that everything that happened wasn’t because the horse was trying to hurt me. Now, there are horses out there that would kick and bite a person if they could, and if that horse was mine, it would be sold if it didn’t bond with me. That horse would HAVE to become submissive/ bond with me/ whatever, but it would have to give up the dominant actions, or the horse would be down the road in a heartbeat, no questions asked. I wouldn’t have a horse around that would hurt me or one of my family!

Fear will diminish with riding, and understanding how horses work, and with experience. If the fear remains, then go back to the beginning. Do some lessons with a really trained, quiet horse. Take your horse for training, and take lessons with that horse. If the fear remains, I would be the first person to suggest that maybe the horse that you have isn’t the horse for you. It isn’t that you are giving up on a horse. Some horses don’t get along with some people, and vice versa. Move on. Find a horse that works for you. Find a horse that is WILLING to bond with you, and be your buddy. There are so many horses out there to not find that special horse. Don’t keep a horse for the reason, “just because you will feel bad to give up on a horse“. If the horse isn’t for you, find the best home that you can for the horse, and move on. Maybe you are not the person that the horse needs. Think about that!

What do you need? You need a horse that you can trust. You need a horse that you can ride. You need a horse that is at the training ability for you to learn.

Don’t think about having fear. Instead, think about how you can ride to learn more about your horse. Think about lessons and/or training for your horse. But definitely think about having a horse that matches your personality, your skills, and your desire.

When you find that special horse, it is wonderful. Replace fear with caution, be safe, and ride with the confidence of knowing that your horse is your friend.

I would love to ride with you whenever you want to. If you need a friend, a trainer, or someone to inspire you, ride with me anytime! Even if it has to be through the internet because of distance. Stay safe and learn as much as you can. Remember, have your horse as your friend, and you will enjoy riding so much more!

Come along on the ride with me!