Training stuff

It has been quite some time since I had the opportunity to sit down and blog about what the horses are doing training-wise! Life on the farm is much different from the whole Florida experience - and I'm not just talking about the weather! ;)

To begin with - there are a lot more horses to work each day on my list! I have several "greener" horses in the 1st-4th level training system, instead of an FEI horse and a 4th level horse, so I've had to scale back my expectations and timing a bit! No complaints - just a statement of fact - babies (or horses that aren't quite fully fit) can not be expected to perform with the same precision as uber-fit and schooled beasties! Baby steps and microbursts of comprehension must be rewarded and reinforced at every opportunity...and that is part of what is making the journey so fresh and fun all over again! But the talent - oh my goodness...these are the future stars of the stable and it is going to be a fun, exciting and rewarding decade or two of adventures for us all! The tools and information that I gathered at Catherine's can not be properly documented - too much detail to just squash into a few words or paragraphs!

 Another change in the overall schedule and flow of each day is that we are still without a full time working student - so the mountain of tack to be cleaned at the end of each day is immense! Throw in all the laundry, bandages to roll and other details and, well, it's a challenge that is fun to meet head on each and every day! The weather is getting closer to "Florida" - which is making the process easier and more fun without so many constricting layers!

We also have 6 new sparkly faces in training! Louie, Dru, Wilson, Izzy, Bailey and Lynnie are all getting rolling in the program and making big progress! They are all super talented and looking for new homes with one exception - Dru will be staying with us for a bit longer as he is in need of the most time to develop and grow into his lanky frame. So if he was The One you have been keeping an eye on to purchase - check back in a year or so as we'll update his status at that point. :) The others...well...you need to check our You Tube Channel and Facebook page for updated images and videos! They are special!

Wendolyn WF

Wyatt says hi to Wilson & Louie

Waverleigh WF

One of the biggest challenges is to find enough time and energy at the end of the day to tackle all the PR stuff - the website updates, the blog, loading videos to YouTube after they're edited...it eats away at the time which is supposed to be "free" to do other things. One part of the "education" in FL was to take a chunk of the day (an hour or two) to focus on something, anything, that is refresher for both the mind and body. It can be something simple like meditation or reading a book or complicated like learning a new skill or sport...anything that stimulates the mind and body into a different pattern of relaxation and joy - that is the important part of keeping things fresh and happy for both the horses and myself.


 So on that note, it is time to head out to the barns and get rolling on another super day! There are some new videos up on YouTube, so check them out!