Creekside Curlies -Bashkir Curly Sport Horses

Snow day, snow play

2012-01-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

We had a nice snowfall of 10" earlier this week, and I also had our Grandson out for a visit..so, when I headed outdoors to take photos of AJ, the horses also made their presence known.

Legacy is making snow angels here, she made sure she made an angel as good as she could.

Another try at it......

Here Legacy gives me the "Bev Dolittle" effect...you may have seen Bev's style of work, it usually involves horses and background that the horses disappear into....here is Legacy's best effort at camo....

The girls spent a whole lot of time racing each other, bucking and general well...HORSE PLAY !!!
AJ thought watching the girls was a whole lot of fun!!!!

Ready to Move on

2012-01-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I knew this day would come ;-) Legacy has informed me that driving inside our tiny (for driving a full sized horse) arena is much too boring and no longer a challenge, so, we are ready to move on. Our next venture will be driving at a friend's place. Virgil not only has a larger indoor arena, but he also has several acres of FLAT, something we know nothing about here on our place. So, next week, after my bronchitis has left me, Legacy and I will venture over to Virgil's and drive with a little more room. This is a great spot to practice our trust and togetherness. Virgil's fenced pasture, is beside a busy county road, we will practice learning to drive with traffic, all in the safe confines of a fenced area, but with the same feel as being out on the road. The pasture also has a "exercise track" from the days when Virgil had racehorses and breezed them at home, so, we can drive the track too.....the possibilities are limitless, a couple acres of large, flat space, a good training spot for traffic and all fenced for safety, and an added bonus, a guy who LOVES taking photos as much as I do, in fact he has been my mentor for years, horses and photography are what Virgil does best. After Legacy and I get comfortable in this situation, we will take the drive we have waited for, down a quiet country lane, different location again, and all part of "our" education.

My Christmas card for you!

2011-12-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all and a Very Happy New Year....may all your holiday wishes come true, and may you have quality time with your friends, family and herd members through the Holiday season....MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!

"Driving Miss Legsy"

2011-12-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

Trainer Roy takes Legacy out on the trails

Well, it is official, Legs and I are a driving team ;-) We wrapped up lessons and training last week and we headed home to find our future as a driving team. I did have the opportunity last week ( the weather was spectacular! ) to take a few photos....I also had the added bonus of having Liz Mattke come and watch my lesson and take a short drive with Roy and Legacy on the trails behind his house, Liz looks a bit cold, it was barely 20 degrees! and..now those photos!

A couple days later, Legacy, Roy and Liz take a trip around the trail loop

Legacy and I take a lesson in the indoor arena

Liz was kind enough to take a few photos of Legacy and me! Driving outdoors is a WHOLE lot of fun......can not wait to try it at home!

*Tekara's sire wins big!

2011-11-17T17:00:00.001-08:00

Congrats to *DCC Traveler and Liz Mattke on their 2011 CSI "HOY" win !!!! Our filly *Tekara is a Traveler daughter, and we expect great things from her too......congrats on a job well done!!!

another pinto in the pasture

2011-11-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it just happens....a small ad seen, a photo that you suspect the equine is better than represented...and an inquiry.....That is how another pinto arrived in the pasture here at Creekside Curlies! We are proud to introduce you to *Tekara. When I saw the ad for this mare, it got my wheels turning....Perhaps this would make a good frozen semen candidate for our stash of "HeartBreaker" semen...perhaps this mare would make a nice riding horse...perhaps......

But.....it was love at first sight...the mare was not the height stated in the ad, but every single thing about her screamed "take me home" her temperament is one of the best I have ever encountered...she is gently broke to ride and she handles like a dream. Mike is smitten, he already has big plans for her, learning to pack and camp ( he swore he would NEVER horse camp again...LOL ) he is just sure that *Tekara will be a gentle mount for August James in the future, and he is probably right..he generally is!

I find it very ironic that this mare, a true medicine hat marked mare, very well may be a Native American's mount...August is 1/2 Native American....seems Mr. August will start with what the Native American's considered to be a highly prized equine.
My camera has been in the shop, and I took most of these photos with my older camera....but, I had battery trouble and only got a couple shots in, before the end of the daylight, and now we are into a wet/muddy weather pattern...oh well! no more photos until spring I guess.
Gotta love this photo...it shows just how comfortable they are with each other, and *Tekara has only been here a couple days....this is going to be a relationship made in heaven ;-)

Here we are!

2011-11-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

After two years of studying, asking questions, searching for a trainer, and lots of lots of driving lessons, I am actually driving my very own horse. Legacy had our first "real" lesson, walk, trot and lots of change of reins/direction.......and she was WONDERFUL !!! a gem beyond words this mare is. There is some "getting to know each other" to be done, she is softer and requires less rein pressure (for the lack of the proper term) than the lesson horse, and she steadied me when I felt a bit of apprehension in our lesson.... Legacy will stay with her trainer for another month, so she can work outside, and on the trails, and so I can take several more lessons with her, before bringing her home. Truly a "team" stayed tuned for more on "Team Creekside" .....

Living the dream!

2011-11-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

Living the Dream, Legacy and I are now driving together.....this is our first lesson together!

After my driving lesson with Legacy, our trainer hitched her to our own harness and cart....the next photos are, our trainer's first drive with her and him, in our own harness and cart...my cart is a little heavier, and certainly noisier than the training carts..but Legacy accepted it well, worked hard and was so willing.....Working outside the cart gave our trainer a good look at how Legacy would react, without putting himself in danger.....what a good girl she was!

Next week this will be me!!! I can hardly wait !

*C-C Hells Canyon Packer

2011-10-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

Our youngsters grow up...and we appreciate SO much their owners sharing photos and news. This is a colt we bred and was born here....*C-C Hells Canyon Packer ......WOWZERS !!!!!! Packer is a 3 year old, approved for breeding and will be started under saddle this fall.

Leacy goes for a drive

2011-09-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

Trainer Roy and Legacy went for their first drive late last week. Shown here at the walk and the trot, Legacy handled the mental pressure with ease.

I have also been taking lessons, using a retired Grand Champion Morgan schoolmaster, that is amazing to drive...

Driving him is like floating on a cloud. Last week in my lesson, we did not kill ANY cones !!! Driving is more fun, than even my great expectations...and I had great expectations......a sport truly meant for me and my curly.

Keen Green transforms to "My Beamer"

2011-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

What a journey my dream of having my very own driving curly has been! I spent a year studying driving "book learning" and then started my search for a cart. I found this cart, somewhat local, it was a bit wrong for my purpose..BUT..it had good bones. I have the luxury of having a cart builder near, and last fall, he took the cart, measured my horses and went to work to make it fit.

Among other changes we made, was the addition of a "cheater step"...we both thought, with my upcoming surgeries, the addition of this step would be a great help.

Once the height of the cart, the step added and the shafts narrowed to fit my potential driving horses I got my cart home and I started the rest of the transformation A good paint job helps clean things up.

Although I like the color green, it was not my goal to drive a green cart. So, I bought black paint, and spent a week of the hottest summer weather transforming Keen Green.

The next thing that needed to be changed was the wheels. Some folks use motorcycle ( or even bicycle ) wheels, but my limited knowledge was both types were unsafe, out on the open road..they are also not legal for competition at certain levels. So, I spent another year searching for first motorcycle wheels with out the spokes, and then when I hit a dead end with that...searching for steel wheels! and...after weeks of searching, I found my dream steel wheels at www.carriagedrivingessentials.com and they had the wheels in stock! so...my dream cart is complete...and WHY do I call it "My Beamer" ???cause, when I am sitting in my cart..I AM beaming ;-)

Coming along nicely

2011-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the pleasure of checking on how Legacy was coming along with her harness trainer. She has advanced to pulling a cart, and in a few days, Roy will be in the cart driving her. As you can see here, she is comfortable, happy and relaxed...woohooo!!!!!!!!! my "gal" coming along .....

Corners are always a challenge with a green horse and cart...but Legacy takes it all in stride.And...another shot of her showing how accepting she is of the whole process....soon, we will be in that cart!

While I was there, I jumped at the opportunity to take a lesson.

Roy gave me alot of guidance.....my lesson horse was a gentle guy, with LOTS of get up and go, if you wanted it. I actually thought I would not break out of the walk, while I was watching Roy warm up "Ray Man" but...after I settled into driving, we did indeed up the speed! I felt like I was flying on a cloud!!!!!!!!! wow..what a rush ;-)

Here we are all "alone" LOL.....while it may be somewhat easy for an instructor to run up and catch or hold a saddled horse, it is not that easy to catch and hold a horse that is hitched...so, we had to "fly" on our own....what a great feeling ;-)

Flashlights in the Night

2011-09-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

On my FB page, I wrote about spending yesterday, preparing food for the family of a dear neighbor. Gordon was truly a member of the "greatest generation" he was 88 when he passed away late last week, and a one of the happiest, most content people I have ever met. Here is one great story about Gordon.

One winter night, Mike and I noticed flashlights on the hill across from the house...Now..it had been dark for hours. and our we wondered who on earth would be on the hill, muddy and slick from recent rains, at this time of the night...esp with just a flashlight.

We watched the flashlight's beam...all over the hill it seemed to go, searching perhaps? a lost hunter perhaps? or .......wait a minute...it is Gordon! Yes, Gordon was on the hill, walking the area looking for a lost calf, in the late night, in the mud, on the steep hillside that is so slick when muddy, most of us don't ever attempt such a feat....But...Gordon was out, looking, searching for one of his precious calves...we found out later, he did indeed find the calf.

This was one of the first experiences we would have watching Gordon on the hills around our home. The man could walk...that is a simple statement, but there was nothing simple about this man's ability to walk.

When Gordon was 79 years old, he was convinced by family members to quit his bi annual trek of cattle driving his cows to summer pasture...it was well over 30 miles, and Gordon did not ride a horse, Gordon walked...every speck of the way ;-) I don't know many people that can walk 30+ miles in a few days, Gordon never seemed to be bothered by the task at all...It was great fun for the Grandkids, but Gordon was finally gave in to family members, perhaps the cows should be trucked to summer pasture.

Cattle drives are a common thing on our country road. Gordon, his son Clark and his 2 Grandsons move their cows often. From here to there, there to beyond there and back....many afternoons were spent watching as the "guys" moved their cows....always done by foot, never by horse or other "machines."

In the last few years, Gordon had taken the role of "lookout" instead of actually walking, but he was very fit, never the less. If you saw Gordon on the top of our place, coming from pasture they have above our pasture, he would beat you to the back to the house, and that is if we were using the 4 wheeler!

The day before Gordon passed away, we saw him in his garden..he no longer planted the garden, the kids did it for him, but he love to tend the garden, we honked, and he waved and smiled....he died during the night.

That smile will always remain in my mind.....rest in peace Gordon, and keep moving those cows!

My first CT photography event ..cheering on Liz and Traveler

2011-08-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I attended the CT - 3 day event where Liz Mattke of www.travelingmoonranch.com and her Curly Stallion *DCC Traveler were competing. Stanton Farms is a "short" drive, about 45 min from my home.

Here are Liz and Traveler early on the Cross Country course....

Bringing it HOME !!!
Sunday was Stadium Jumping......here they are on course....................
Liz and Traveler on the show jumping course.
The combo jump in process.
Great results! being in the ribbons in this crowd is an accomplishment on its own..but doing it with a curly stallion, who took up eventing after years of not much handling, shows he has a great mind, and a capable body........CURLIES ROCK !!!

A wonderful surprise! The Northwest Carriage Museum

2011-08-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, Hubby and I took a little business trip....I was surprised and delighted to find a rare treasure in the area we went too. Located in Raymond, WA on the shores of Willapa Bay we found the Northwest Carriage museum. 27 antique carriages, all restored to the top condition they were in their heyday are in this museum..it is quite a sight to behold.

The carriages, all owned by the Dennis family were gathered thoughout the USA. They were then painstakingly restored to their original luster.

This wicker Phaeton, is the carriage type that was used in the movie, "Holiday Inn" in the segment where the actors sing "Easter Parade"....

I loved these trace carriers! This was on the pair that were pulling the Landau.

This Landau is an early 1900's version..it is the same style carriage made famous by the Royal Family...Prince Charles and Princess Diana left the wedding ceremony in this type of carriage, as did The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge...more commonly known as Prince William and Princess Kate. The carriage seat is supported by large "C" springs, that have leather straps holding the carriage body...the seat simply "floats" in air as the people ride....simply STUNNING !!!

The museum did an excellent in labeling the carriages, and letting folks know their uses....summer, winter, ladies or gentleman, there were different carriages for different needs! Oh the life that must have been ;-)
The Top Buggy is what folks commonly refer to as a "Doctor's Buggy" it is amazing how lightweight the wood is, and how fragile all the carriages seem to be...how they held up to muddy rutty roads is amazing.

I LOVED the sleighs! the Russian sleigh was small, cozy and I imagine very fast.....just think of covering the miles of the great land of Russia in such a vehicle.
The museum was well supplied with carriages...what fun it must have been to search for all these carriages, watch them be restored and then put them in a museum for all to see. THANK YOU Dennis family.....this truly was a treasure for me to find. You can see more at
www.nwcarriagemuseum.org ..it is WELL WORTH the trip.

Something new to share!

2011-08-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

I feel so lucky to have some of the cream of the crop from my breeding program in my barn. My mare "Legacy" is one of those cream horses. We are progressing in our driving training. Legacy and I have been working in our arena, long reining....yesterday, we worked outside!

This mare has a lovely frame, her dressage training makes her so confident on the bit, and relaxed too. I am getting in shape too! We do well at the walk, and the transitions at the trot are getting better on my part. Course, it is easy enough for Legacy...

Here we go up the driveway pulling the tire! Much more tire work is needed, but we have a good start...probably I will hook up to two tires soon, for a little more of a workload. AND...while we are busy training, our cart "Keen Green" is getting a makeover ;-) stay tuned !!!

The 4H horse show

2011-07-10T15:31:00.001-07:00

I attended the Nez Perce County 4H horse show yesterday, and found it to be a whole lot of fun, and a great place to try out a new lens I recently purchased. The kids all seemed to have a good time. I was also there to help out my friend "Darryl" as she changed tack for different classes and to her her harness and hitch for the driving class. At least "keen green" is getting some work. The youngsters and their miniatures were just so adorable! The weather was great, a little on the warm side for me, but I am kind of a wimp when it comes to anything about 80 degrees. The photo opts were numerous and I had a blast, watching the kids, helping out and taking some shots for the memory book.

A tale of a tail

2011-07-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, wouldn't you know it...I have been trying to encourage Princess' tail to grow nice and long, I love the look..

The other evening, when I went to check on my herd at sunset, I discovered that Princess was wearing an extra piece of tail attached to her normal tail...you have probably seen such a thing, when the family dog comes in with a piece of brush attached to his tail, trailing behind him. Princess had somehow managed to snag a piece of wire on her tail, and the wire ( about 2 ft long ) was twisted so tight in her tail hairs, there was nothing I could do, but cut it free :( all that work of trying to keep her tail nice and poof, gone! so, now we have a "shorter" version of Princess' tail...and that piece of wire is long gone.

Attending a clinic with Legacy

2011-06-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

Last month I attended a clinic with Terri Jones an ADS top ranking whip, at the Teddy Bear Fjord farm. I learned volumes and the hospitality of Warren and Sylvia Ridder was unsurpassed. Instead of eating a soggy sandwich on the trip home, I found a place set at the table for me to enjoy lunch before I left....Legacy and I got a good starting point to advance from long linning...and since that clinic, Legacy and I have been doing well here at home.

Time for a bit of a change

2011-06-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

In 2010, when we decided to downsize and retire from an active breeding business, I realized I did not want to be away from the "pulse" of the curly industry. Fast forward a bit, and I now find myself as the Current Director of Curly Sporthorse International ! I have been an avid supporter of "CSI" in the past, and am honored to take the reins from Elaine E. and I hope I can fill her shoes.

Elaine set up a wonderful registry in CSI, CSI is "Dedicated to the training, recognition, improvement and promotion of the Curly SportHorse. CSI contains talented folks, who are tried and true horsepeople above all else...we know horses, and we know how to compete our horses, and welcome all that are interested in this endeavor, no matter your experience.

I plan on continuing CSI as it stands, its wonderful programs, HOY awards( Horse of the Year), RPM(Rider Performance Medal) for the rider, registration of horses and promotion of the Curly Sport Horse.

In the world of fast pace social media, a Face Book page has been created for CSI, also a member blog has been created to share our journeys with our wonderful curly horses...check us out!

www.curlysporthorse.org

http://curlysportnews.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Curly-Sporthorse-International/178351712219497#!/pages/Curly-Sporthorse-International/178351712219497

Vote for the Peoples Choice

2011-03-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.equinephotocontest.com/peopleschoice.asp

Public voting now open for the EPN winter photo contest...I have 3 photos that qualify, they have to be in the top ten of their division...they are "Tandem Drive" "Sea of Wheat" and "Henri"....

This contest is huge, literally worldwide and I am honored and humbled to have top ten photos this year.....woooohooooo !!!!!!!!!!

Travel tips

2011-03-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

Before we know it, it will be spring and summer and time to get out there and travel with your horse! Being stuck inside is a bit tough for a tried and true horsewoman, but I am using my time to advance my learning, and to give things like travel some serious thought.

I recently watched one of the episodes of "Best of American by Horseback" on RFDTV...and thought I would share some tips about travel from that show...there are some things I had never thought of, so, here we go.

1. Do an early check of your truck, trailer and horse paperwork. You may think your Coggins is still valid, but time does fly, and if you check the date, you will know for sure. Truck and trailer checks should include the standard stuff, tire pressure ( check your spare too ) lights, brakes, etc. MANY people have a checklist of these chores...make one, and keep it in your truck.
2. The day before your trip, fuel your truck, hook up your trailer, pack your trailer, and you will be ready to hit the road early. Giving yourself a "night to sleep on it" may in fact make you realize something you had forgotten...and hooking up in the dark is just plain difficult.
3. Make sure you have plenty of feed and water for your horses. Horses often do not like strange water, and you also never know how long you could be stuck with a breakdown or behind a wreck or traffic issue, so bring water. Make sure you have your Vet Clinic's phone # in case of emergency.
4. Plan on getting to your overnight stopping point in 8 hours...you will drive mostly in the daylight that way, and if you plan to arrive by 3pm, you will have plenty of time to settle your horses in, grab some dinner for yourself and get some rest before the next day. Vets tend to agree that horses should not travel over 12 hours a day, shipping fever odds go way up if the horses travel over 12 hours. Plan out your trip well. DO NOT unload your horses in a strange plan, unless you must do so for an emergency, a loose horse in a strange plan is a recipe for disaster. No matter how nice the place looks to you, your horse has no idea where he is at.
5.Vets also agree, that several days in a row is OK. Just be sure to give your horses adequate rest at night.
6. Carry enough cash to get you home, keep your tank at least 1/2 full. Today's gas stations rely on power to work, so if you limp into a town with no electricity, and 1/8 th of a tank of gas, you may not make it to the next stop. Power outages can happen anytime, anywhere, bad weather and bad drivers can easily cause power outages. If you have cash, you won't be left with no method to pay, if your credit card is denied for any reason. Credit card companies may pull your credit card, if they think there is fraud, and you will be left with no way to pay for your fuel.
7. Use truck stops for fuel, truck stops are a haulers dream. They have ample room, plenty of hot grub for you and a good safe place to rest for a bit. Easy fuel pumps make an easy in and out for you and your trailer. Truck stops also have a few parts, and perhaps you can even get a new tire, plus suggestions for a mechanic if needed. IF you have a flat out on the highway, sacrifice the flat, rather than sacrifice your safety. Drive to the next exit, find that truck stop or tire store and get your repair made. Be sure and replace the spare though...don't figure you won't have 2 flats...( been there done that!) it does happen.
8. Keep a list of Purina dealers or Tractor Supply stores on hand. They are very helpful and direct you to area events and things of interest, or repair shops if needed.
9. NEVER trust the GPS. Call ahead to find the best route give to you by the locals. GPS does not account for small areas, difficult for a trailer to work their way through, road construction with possible closed roads, call ahead and find out....
10. Call your planned destination and find out details...are there stalls with water and electric? Are the stalls shaded/covered? are there trails there? how difficult are the trails? is there adequate parking? what are some points of interest for the humans to see? and if you go off sightseeing, do they care for your horses?
11. Don't forget to stock the "human food" hubby and I recently took a trip to Boise, I packed WAY more food than I thought I needed, and by the time we returned home, every crumb was gone. We hit terrible weather, and arrived in towns when the eateries were all closed up. We could not have bought dinner if we wanted too! Pack a good variety of food and drinks and water too, you won't be sorry!

Get out on the road and just plain enjoy yourself ! Keep safety in mind and be prepared, the rest will fall into place.

Herd Boss vs Herd Leader

2011-02-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

Krinkles and her colt "Tiger" our in front of the herd...

I have to admit, having a "herd" of horses that live on pasture and interact pretty much like nature intended them too, has certainly enlightened me over the years. We all know about the "herd boss" and how that horse can move horses out of its way, usually is the first one to eat and just is generally bossy...and many people try to emulate that behavior in training...

But...the more successful way, is to emulate the "herd leader." Sometimes the herd boss and the herd leader are the same horse. But more often than not...they do not hold both titles. The herd boss, rules with an iron fist..the herd leader, takes no flack off any member, yet rules with a more passive and kinder nature. The herd leader moves the herd. All herd members must have respect for the herd leader, or they will get left behind ( a sad truth that some herd bosses found out the hard way here...LOL ) the herd leader decides where the herd will graze, when they move to water, when they rest and sleep ( and often stands watch ) and when they head to the barn for dinner! The herd leader has the ability to earn the other herd members respect, often with just an ear movement or some other subtle body language. We have had ONE single herd leader since the day we moved here....our herd matriarch, Krinkle Clown. There have been several mares that tried to take her position, often keeping a few horses rounded up for their own little herd, but none have been successful for more than a few days. Eventually, they all return to the herd, and accept that just one, wise mare really knows how to run things. Kudos to you, Krinkle Clown for years of keeping our herd safe. I have even seen this mare return up the hill, to rescue a youngster that took the wrong path and got lost from the herd. She always had a bit of a "I can not believe I have to do this" look on her face, but never the less, she returned to help the youngster out. The fact she has a whinny you can hear for 3 counties helps her out.

Now...how does this relate to the training of horses and our horse/human relationship. Most folks don't have a herd leader to observe, but if you did, you would learn that body language is of the utmost importance. and...consistency, though hard for some humans, seems to come easy for these herd leader horses. Learn the body language of horses, and be consistent and your herd leadership skills will rise to the top of the herd.....consider it, and put it into practice!

Something new to read

2011-02-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

While recovering from surgery this winter, I ordered a couple new books to read...after all, I DO have the time for it ;-)

I purchased the book "Better than Bombproof" from Amazon.com and it arrived last week. This book is amazing. There are not very many training books, that I would plug, but this one is so different, and if you take the time to actually read it, and to then apply what he tells you, to your own horse, you can reach goals you never thought possible.

For several winters, I took adult group lessons at a local riding center. We worked on many things, most of them dressage oriented, EVEN though we were all western riders ( at that time ) and had no desire to compete in dressage. What I learned though, is.....you need to know this stuff to be a competent rider...and your horse needs to know this stuff to become really 'well broke" which is what most of us strive for.

The author Sgt. Rick Pelicano puts the theory into practice, and guides you one gentle step at a time to boost your riding ability and your horse's ability. What I REALLY like about this book is, he does most all the exercises in hand, then in long lines, long before he wants you on the back of the horse. Imagine if you long line your horse past the scary mailbox. If you horse spooks or bolts, you have control with out the added problem of being scared while on your horse's back. Once you and your horse have conquered the scary mailbox, think how easy it will then be, when you are on his back, to know what reaction he will have!

I also am quite pleased this book shows the training to aid horses that will be driven..that was, my main goal in getting this book, I "thought" it would be helpful, turns out, it is MUCH more helpful that I could even have imagined! so..pick up a copy and happy reading, you could be ready to ride bomb proof by summer if you start now. Also...most of these exercises can be done with a horse of ANY age, so get out your youngsters and do all of this in hand......what a great way to make an exceptional horse! I plan to take each and every horse of mine through the whole book...one step at a time...my summer goal I suppose.

Being a leader - the secret of horsemanship

2011-01-30T14:28:00.001-08:00

What if I told you that the real secret to horsemanship is a tiny fact. Could it really be a simple thing, after all, there is a whole industry trying to help you develop your horsemanship....is there something they are leaving out?

To those words, I would reply..yes, horsemanship is a simple thing, so simple in fact, you probably have never really thought about it.

All of us want a great bond with our horses, but many times, we fail to communicate on a horse's level of understanding. We often hear how we want to have our horse, be our partner. Well, that is in error, we don't want a partnership, a partnership would imply that our horse has a 50% part of our relationship. The wisest horsemen/women, instead refer to this relationship as a "team" A team has something a partnership does not. A team has a clear leader. A partnership implies that each member has an equal share in the matter...look at it this way. When you come to a fork in the road, do you let your horse decide which way to go? If he is a partner, then he should have a say in deciding which path to take...but if you are a team, the team leader would decide which path to take....am I making sense yet?

So, My horse and I are a team. How can we advance our relationship? One of my favorite things to help my horse see me as the team leader is to let my horse hand graze. Simple enough, I take them out of their pasture, pen, stall, whatever, and let them eat grass....very simple indeed! but did you know there is a proper way to hand graze, and doing it the wrong way can make your horse think he is in charge of your whole relationship?

Hand grazing is done alot here on our farm. We seem to have lots of spots with good grass, and no access to those spots for the horses..I just enjoy hand grazing my horse, and I like to start my youngsters in this exercise as early as they are weaned. To be a leader and to correctly hand graze, you must lead the team. You must move the horse to you, not let him eat and wander wiley niley all over the place dragging you behind. IF you set the rules for hand grazing ( you must follow me horse, I make the plans here ) hand grazing becomes a bonding tool. If you let the horse decide which area to move to next, with no regard for you, you will find out quickly that all other commands you ask of your horse, will be ignored, or at least argued with.

Hand grazing is a tool we can all use, any horse, any age, any place ( as long as there is grass ;-) Next time you take out your horse, let him/her hand graze and practice being in the team captain role...you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your horsemanship!

Deilvering Darkie

2011-01-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

Darkie and his Dam....DKH Black Sage

Earlier this week, we delivered *C-C Handsome Dark Knight to his new owner. "Darkie" is a long yearling gelding, sired by our former ranch stallion "*Shadow's Hawk Spirit" aka "HeartBreaker" ...( he stands in Canada now ) .....out of DKH Black Sage, a mare we lost to colic when Darkie was just a week old. Darkie joins a mare we sold these folks a while back, and will grow up to be a stellar trail horse. He is pictured with his Dam, the black mare, and his adopted Mom, the white pony, and a head shot from last winter....

Darkie and his Nursemare Adopted Dam ..."Addy"

Here at Creekside, we have often delivered horses to their new owners. If it is a reasonable mileage trip, we often do our own hauling, it saves the buyer a heap of money, and is VERY good customer service. We planned this haul for a weather break, and felt comfortable with our trip plans.....the only thing I can say is....Don't trust the weatherman !!!

We left home before daylight, and a few miles into our trip it was apparent it would not be an easy haul. 60+ MPH winds beat on us the first 100 miles...the 2 nd 100 miles we had icy roads and snow, snow and MORE snow.....

We actually arrived just a couple hours late to our destination....Darkie hauled well, and was anxious to see other equines at his new home. His owner put him in with a 3 month old orphan BLM filly...with a real attitude..she marched right up to Darkie, stomped a foot, turn and kicked at him and did all sorts of funny dance moves to show her dominance....Darkie just smiled ;-) he is used to "little" bossy girls....LOL...when we lost his Dam, we were fortunate to find a nurse mare for him..an 11 hand pony! He has also been exposed to all the 2010 babies since they were born, and Darkie is a very gentle soul, not a mean bone in his body...I can not wait to find out how long it takes for the two of them to be roughhousing and grooming each other.

So, there is yet another curly in an awesome home, that will be used and well loved ;-) The gentleman that bought him considers Darkie his "own" and is looking forward to the journey of youngsterhood, to finished horse.
Darkie in his winter coat......handsome boy!

The trip home made the trip there look easy...boy, semi trucks look alot bigger when they are on their side......we made an unplanned stop for the night...after 14 hours of driving, we were just worn out. We arrived home the next day, that drive as about as impressive as the rest of the trip had been. We later found out, the road closed behind us ....and traffic stood still for hours...I often hum to ease the stress of winter driving...everything I can think of, "Blue Skies", "White Christmas" such things...after we passed the semi wreck and the stalled, jackknifed semis, I turned my humming to hymns, something along the line of "To God be the Glory" my moto for our safe trip in a world of really bad weather.

But...all in all, a successful, though stressful trip, and a curly in a home that will cherish and grow him up...nothing better for a curly horse breeder!
Linda

A New approach for a New Year!

2010-12-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

2011 brings change for Creekside Curlies. Our decision to retire from our breeding business, due to my health issues has been a journey for us. Our quest for quality, however, has always remained at the top of our goals, and we have several youngsters still here. Some are offered for sale, and as horses sell, others may be removed from our sales list.

I am very excited to pursue a life long dream and move into the world of carriage driving. In addition to driving for pleasure, I discovered, that CDE's ( combined driving events ) offer dressage tests in a driven form. Putting driving together with my past goal of producing top notch dressage horses suddenly came into focus....I have landed in my own dream world! All the years work spent breeding quality horses will now benefit me in the world of driving. Watch us as we get started in the world of driving, we hope to have 2 horses going nicely in harness in 2011. We also have retained frozen semen from our superb stallion "Shadow's Hawk Spirit" aka"HeartBreaker" and will be looking for trades, so we can raise one more foal, this time from a HeartBreaker filly.

Stay with us as we pursue our goals, summer looks very promising around here, but I have a bit of medical work to do before then.....so, stay tuned!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-18T11:09:00.000-08:00

We wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and all of our dear friends....Creekside horses span the world and we hope that all are toast in their beds and a true blessing for their owners.

Raising horses has been a God give gift to me, the joy of a newborn foal, the pride of seeing a youngster learn and grow, the thrill of a Champion, it all is a treasure I will cherish.

What a better place for baby Jesus to be born, than in a stable manger...all the animals, along with the humans celebrated this new life.

Merry Christmas to all!

Pretty in Pink

2010-12-13T16:17:00.001-08:00

Here is my filly "Kallie" !!! Pretty in Pink! Kallie wears pink...Legacy wears purple and the rest of the herd...well, they have to earn their colors so to speak!

I have been having a blast training Kallie...she is one of those horses that just connect in a way that only folks dream about. She is smart, capable, eager and willing..and oh so talented...Trainer Mike says she moves every bit as nice as her Sire "HeartBreaker" or even perhaps a bit better!

Kallie and I are aiming to be a team, a driving team....she has made great progress, and has never made a miss step in her training. Soon, I will be hitching her up, we have just a few things to tweak before we head out driving. I will say, this has been one of the MOST enjoyable journeys in horse training I have even been on...and I hope the same for when Legacy and I become a driving team also.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T12:35:00.001-07:00

A whole lot of Halloween fun happened on Sunday evening! AJ, his Mommy and Myself went out for a little trick or treating....( just showing off, no candy involved ) ....what fun! I have to say that the "Cat in the Hat" costume was the absolutely cutest thing I have ever seen! AJ, of course, enjoyed all the attention..course, he always does !

My Grandson

2010-11-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

To date I have not been one of those obnoxious Grandmas...You know the type...always sticking new pics of the Grandbaby in your face...always bragging about the new Grandbaby...yadda, yadda....well, I can certainly see where that can happen! but...I will try and control myself and share a pic every now and then.....and to make this "horse related" AJ told me he wanted a pony! so, without further ado...my Grandson Mr. August James VavRosky....2 1/2 months old..and absolutely as cute as they come. This young man holds the keys to many of our hearts...!

Fall videos in the can

2010-10-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

*C-C Heartfires Spark

*C-C Henri

*C-C Hanalei

As our days turn shorter and nights longer, we have had some spectacular fall days. The last two weeks have been our most enjoyable weather of 2010!

I took the opportunity, even with my old painful body, to do some new photos and video of some of our youngsters. I had not watched Hanalei too closely at the trot, she really prefers to canter alot of the time. I was very thrilled to catch this shot, which shows proper DAP. DAP is when the hind foot, lands before the front foot hits the ground at the trot. Good DAP is essential to a dressage prospect, as the more natural it is, the less you have to train for it. It shows that a horse is indeed using his/her hind end to propel themselves forward, not drag behind being heavy on the forehand.

Henri was a whole lot of fun to video and photograph. He is so kind and willing. He is going to make someone a wonderful riding buddy. He too, has a wonderful forward trot with good DAP.

My best surprise of the day was "Spark".....I know she is a wonderful mover, powerful and forward, excellent DAP! but the pics really show her ability off. Spark is also a willing gal, she tries very hard to please, even if she is hesitant about something, perhaps thinking us humans are plumb crazy wanting to 'wash her face" as seen on the video. Here I caught her with all four feet off the ground in a moment of suspension.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d1ShqDp-pE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63GhTfF4zn0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LowHHIOzVyE

I had to spread my work load over several days, just too much for me to them all at once right now...and then 4 hours of creating, editing and posting video, and now I can rest a bit...perhaps? and perhaps get BACK to blogging on a regular basis.

Fair Bounty

2010-10-03T15:18:00.001-07:00

AHHH !!! Time again for the Nez Perce County Fair! This year our photo entries were limited to 4...down from the usual 8 allowed...sure makes it tough to chose, but it seems I chose pretty well. My beloved pic of Hattie ( foal ) and Darryl ( young lady ) got 1 st place, and Best of Class in the Human Interest category. My silhouette pic of Nicole accomplished the same thing in the PEOPLE category...a widely entered category...I also entered my album I had made of my Dad's WWII pictures...doing the best I could without names of place or dates....I compiled the few facts I did know, along with the pics and some letters to home he had written and we took home Blue, best of Class and a judges award..the "Award of Merit"......so, I feel really honored with my winnings this year..the competition is always very tough, and I love to compete :-) Thank you judges at the Nez Perce County Fair.

Interview day

2010-09-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Interview day.....when the phone rang yesterday, I was completely surprised to find on the other end..the weekend style reporter from the Moscow/Pullman Daily News...."Christina" ask a few questions about our horse breeding operations, then asked if she might in fact, come and visit and potentially do an article on our farm......yahoooo !!! my answer, of course, was YES !

I am all about details, and I never let the opportunity for a first impression to be less than top notch...
So, at the crack of dawn I was up...first the house had to be cleaned up a bit....then out to the barn to do chores, straighten the barn, tack room and the area close to our arena up a bit....Next was a bath for HeartBreaker....he is always a bit less than receptive on the whole bathing issue, but he takes it never the less ;-) scrub, scrub...out with the dust and in with the clean! I put HB in the stall to dry, rushed up for lunch and showered just in time to see Christina pull up the driveway.

Christina came inside and we did a bit of an interview....she then wanted to see the horses, so off we went....HeartBreaker was more than happy to be a perfect gentleman for the interview, and frankly, he looked just dang handsome. When I was putting him away in his paddock, another car drove in, the photographer...so, I caught HeartBreaker again, and we took him out for a few pictures.

Next we visited our weanling foals..who are being supervised by Kallie. I took out Kallie for a few pics, and we then moved on for a bit more conversation. Hanalei and Henri were right in the mix of things too...curious minds you know

It was a wonderful visit...Christina is new to horses, and I am afraid I have spoiled her a bit..she now thinks all stallions are as mannerly and as kind as HeartBreaker...perhaps someday in the future, when she interviews another horse breeder, she will find her first exposure to a stallion was an exceptional moment.

The thinking horse vs the listening horse

2010-09-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

The thinking horse vs the listening horse. Quite a few posts have been floating around some of the groups about how folks love their "thinking" horses. Sure we want our horses to think, but what I want, is my horse to listen. A fine example I can share happened yesterday. I have been training Kallie to drive...each step has gone well and she is now pulling my custom made travers with ease. while I drive her. Yesterday, when I went to unhitch her, the travers move a bit and startled her. I could see her mind working...she really wanted to escape, and escape fast...BUT....my whoa command, was met with just that...a WHOA ! I was actually a bit surprised she responded to my whoa command as quick as she did..I was actually planing an escape route so I would not get plowed over by the travers. Kallie whoa "d" and she relaxed and we went on to unhitch with no problems. Hitching and unhitching is a bit of a challenge alone, and a real recipe for disaster if you have a horse that will not listen..... For me that is a true relationship .....a willing partner that follows the lead of the herd mare (me) yet does it willingly and without question. Thank you Kallie! you just added a feather in your cap ;-)

The wrong Turn

2010-09-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

When you live with a large acreage a herd that plays together, stays together is a thing of beauty. Every one knows the rules..you can wander off grazing, but you best be ready to move, when your herd leader says MOVE!

As a horse owner when you do not have complete access to your horse's pasture within a sight line, a lost horse, away from the herd, can only mean one thing....trouble!

After being gone to town, when I returned home today, my mare herd contained 5 horses, not 6. This is NOT good news...it generally means one thing...someone is hurt and can not travel with the herd....other things come to mind, none of them pleasant....SO, I fed the mares/youngsters and rushed to the house for a quick change of clothes and a 4 wheeler ride to find my lost soul ....Flame.

Lots of things went through my head....where was he ? was he stuck in a fenceline somewhere? had someone shot accidently shot him?( we have an elk season going on ) was he on the other side of the perimeter fence and I would need a miracle , with fence pliers to get him back through the fence?

I was TOTALLY relived to find out that Flame had simply taken a wrong turn...LOL...he was with the herd, and followed one of their "horse trails" but the herd took the other trail instead...and there was Flame, really only 50ft from the trail that would lead him to the herd, but since he is a youngster, and could not see it, and did not know it was there close, from years of experience, there he stood, waiting for help ;-) He was perfectly fine, and downright happy to see me ;-)

WHEW !!! I put my heart and soul into my herd, and never want to see one injured in any manner...this time we got lucky!

Kallie at work

2010-09-04T08:54:00.001-07:00

Kallie has been working! I am starting Kallie in harness, soon to be put to a cart....and I finally found a suitable cart for us...a heavy duty training cart with thick, nobby motorcycle wheels...Kallie has shown a stellar attitude in all her lessons, I attribute this to her early training with Trainer Mike ( Mike Kincella- Deer Park, WA well respected dressage trainer ) He found Kallie's work ethic for us, and she has not failed to step up to any challenge I give her.

My process of cart training has been as follows....there was not a whole lot of ground work I still needed to do with Kallie..she even ground ties! so, intro to harness, wearing her harness while lunging, long linning, ground driving, into to blinkers, working with blinkers while long linning, with me out of sight, into to the travers, dragging the travers beside her, travers work with 2 helpers ( Kallie in travers, but not hitched to it ) hitching to travers....

NOW..we start, travers and long linning, travers and blinkers, more long linning, travers and driving OUTSIDE the arena....up, down, over gravel, on the road edge ( I have a huge advantage, we live on a noisy county road, BUT I have a safe place to work a driving horse along side of the road, including room for a travers, and esp using blinkers.

and soon...I will hitch Kallie to our cart...the "keen green" LOL...it screamed NAME ME !!! and we start the whole process all over again ;-)

stay tuned!

Tiny Bundle...HUGE miracle

2010-08-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Our tiny miracle

James and his Son...."AJ"

For those who say miracles do not happen in this day and age, I say to them...you are most certainly wrong!

Last January, my Son James informed me I would be a Grandma. He and his fiance' were surprised with this news themselves. "Elissa" the Mom to be suffers from Rhuemotoid arthritis, for one...and has not been in good health the last couple years. The chances of her carrying this baby to full term were slim...and that was before the problems started.

Elissa spent the majority of her pregnancy in the hospital...she could not take her RA meds, putting her body in severe pain. Seizures resulted from that pain, and meds, meds and MORE meds were given her....seizure meds are NOT what you want to be taking during a pregnancy, the risk of birth defects or the loss of the baby were very real. Many, many times through out her pregnancy she would start having contractions. First we hung on to hope she would make it to 32 weeks, the point of which the local hospital could handle the baby if he came at that point...then we hung on to hope she would make it to 33 weeks, 34, well, you get the picture. We were indeed waiting for August...her due date was August 21st.

After much of Feb. most of April, all of May, June, and 3 weeks of July, Elissa was released from the hospital....she headed home and took things easy. We rushed in a baby shower, and I spent a day organizing the nursery......we soon would see a real life baby arrive...several questions still remained though...could she delivery him ? or would there have to be a C section ? and the big question...would he be alright?

Last Tuesday, I was to meet up with the kids and drop off some more baby stuff at their house..when I got to their house, there was a note on the door....Elissa's water had broke during the early morning hours and they were at the hospital....I headed there.

I really had not intended to be there for the birth of my first Grandbaby...but once I got there, I just could not bear to leave, and frankly, no one asked me too ;-) It was Wednesday afternoon before the baby arrived, but I treasured every moment....My Son was "going" to video the whole thing, haha! but in the last hour he panicked and got way too nervous and scared....I don't blame him at all!

Elissa had a tough last hour, the baby lodged on her bad hip and she could not get him moved for quite a while...but then, almost before the doctor could get in the room, our first Grandbaby arrived.... I cried, James cried !!! Elissa beamed !!!

and...our baby was not only healthy, but handsome too! his name is "August James" he weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20 " long....he is perfect in so many ways...his name was chosen in honor of his two Great Grandpas....and August means "determined" that would certainly describe what he went through to get here...and you see...after all that...we really WERE waiting for "August"

The best news is...his Mom is feeling REALLY good, and is taking excellent care of him...his parents beam when ever they see him ;-) course, his Grandma probably does too. Hours and hours of prayer were spent..and we appreciate everyone who prayed, stressed and cared along with us. THANK YOU !!!

Happy Birthday Krinkle Clown !!!

2010-08-16T14:39:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv1_qYwn06Y
This month Krinkles celebrates her 25 th birthday ! It is a great milestone in a horses life...Krinkles calendar may say "25" but according to our vet, her body and her teeth say "I'm really only 10" Krinkles came to live with us in 1997 when I was searching for a broke horse for my 11 year old son Matthew to ride. I went to look at a farm not too far from our place, with the intention of buying a gelding. The geldings I saw, were either not for sale, or way too green for a young man to enjoy...so, I took the chance and bought a mare.

Krinkles was nicely started under saddle, but she had her own opinion about how you rode. She insisted on kind, soft hands, and legs that stayed quiet unless she was being cued. I swear her and Matthew went backwards more than forwards that first year...but he eventually got the hang of riding her and him and I and our horses spent many peaceful hours out trail riding together. I do not think there was ever a moment when Matthew felt he could not handle her, she was gracious and forgiving, strict and loving all at the same time. They frequently spent time waiting for me and my gelding to catch up...Krinkles walks out faster than any horse I have ridden...big, swinging stride, that really covers the ground. There is no where on the trail she won't go, if you point her in that direction. There were moments where I thought she was going to blow up with Matthew...but over miles and miles of riding, she never did..she thought better of it, and kept him as safe as she could.

A couple years passed and we decided to raise a foal from Krinkles. We were blow away by what this mare has produced, quality every time, no matter the stallion....As we enlarged our herd, added in more broodmares, she was deemed the herd leader. Over the years there were times she was NOT boss mare, other mares got to eat first, but even those mares fell into line when Krinkles headed out. At 25 years old, she is still leading our herd, and has the current luxury of being boss mare too ;-) I think she deserves it, the luxury of being fed first!

Krinkles is a fairly opinionated horse. She has riders she likes and some she dislikes...and if she dislikes you as a rider, you will know it! She has a way of making her opinion known..without violence or bad manners...just a special way of telling you. I have spent quite a bit of time riding her in the last few years, and found we communicate quite well. She sometimes "needs" to know the reason, but if she understands what is being asked, she willingly obliges.

We have had a variety of foals out of Krinles...but one thing remains the same. No matter how much or how little they are handled at the start of their life, when time comes for weaning, halter breaking, saddle training they are kind and willing students. I can not say this of all the mares we have owned...but I can honestly say this of each and every one of her foals.

I dug through a stack of old pictures and found some of her and Matthew together, and also her and some of her foals...enjoy the slideshow/video.....

My neighbor recently asked...."What is going on when I hear the horses in the middle of the night?" oh...an easy reply..Krinkles is gathering her herd, to move grazing locations or to go to water...and believe you me...if you are ANYWHERE close, you will hear this mare..she has a rather exhuberant whinny!

I suppose our farm, someday will not be the same...but I have learned so much for this mare I will always treasure the moments and miles we have shared..enjoy the video !!!

Kallie

2010-08-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

as promised...LOL...my blog updates are starting....this might be old news to those who surf my website often, but I will add a bit of an update too, so it can be new news!

A couple weeks ago, we brought *C-C Hotel Kalifornia "Kallie" home from the trainers. Kallie had been in training for several weeks with Mike Kincella, a well know dressage trainer. Her training went well. Mike does an excellent job with my horses, and Kallie was no exception. Here is a link to the videos I prepared when we picked her up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVS8a7NB2Wo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAyqSkFNJGg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAjzj99gAQo

Since Kallie has been home, I have started her in the process of training her to harness. She has learned to accept the harness, lunge and work in harness and we will start long reining and ground driving soon.

The more I work with this filly the MORE I love her ;-) She is highly intelligent, very athletic and is very, very lovely to look at! Keep checking as we will soon start our journey in harness and hitching to a cart.....

catching up!

2010-08-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

My oh My ! Technology is great when it works....! not so great when it does not though...for the last month, I have been on limited bandwidth, and unable to access and up date my blog! and there has been SO much going on.....so, over the next few days, I will be chattier than usual..and get all our latest news and pictures posted...stay tuned!

Taking a drive

2010-06-28T13:11:00.001-07:00

Leah and Daisy .... ready to drive

Last Saturday I ventured out to be part of the INDS ( Inland Northwest Driving Society ) Pleasure drive at Farragut State Park, near Athol, ID. Since I do not have my own horse and carriage going yet, I was kind enough to be offered a chance to ride with Linda and Greg S. on their surrey....the surrey was pulled by their team, Leah and Dixie. I happily rode in the back seat, snapping a few pics along the way ( not so easy in the bumpy back of a surrey )...it was a lovely drive...the carriage trail at Farragut is 10 miles long..The trail winds through open areas, lovely cool forest and then back to the horse camping/staging area.

When we were fairly close to the end...My hosts for the trip, let me take the reins and do a little driving myself. WOWZERS !!!! Chances to drive a reliable team, in a lovely setting put me on the top of the world : ) .....towards the end of the drive, we got a little lost...the grass was very high, due to our very wet spring, and the signs on this trail are a little thin....we were following the cart in front of us..and I really had no clue of direction in this case....BUT...we soon broke out onto a main road in the park, and had a nice little drive the rest of the way back, albeit down the paved road....Actually, the "paved" road, with its chuck holes, gave me a great opportunity to practice my driving skills...

Other members of the INDS participate, as did members of the Selkirk Driving Society.....There were also horse back riders that tagged along too.what a wonderful day...horses, carriages, a chance to learn more and more for me....and good conversation and food back at camp......

Clinic day

2010-05-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

Clinic day at Teddy Bear Fjords in Mead, WA

Me !!! driving the cones at Teddy Bear Fjord farm in Mead, WA...... the host of the clinicians....

The story.....

A couple weeks ago, when I emailed Warren Riddle of Teddy Bear Fjords, and asked if I could audit the upcoming clinic, I had NO idea what a day I would have. I figured I would get there early, watch folks prepare, watch and audit and learn...but I had NO idea that my day would in fact be much, much more.....

Saturday morning I headed out...it would be an hours drive to the clinic location at Teddy Bear farms, and I wanted to be on time...OK...for me, "on time" is usually a bit early.
When I arrived, I saw no one around.. but I quickly met up with Warren and he took me over to the dressage ring, dropped me at the feet of Brian Jensen the clinician, and set me to learning..right there and then!

Brain and Ursula Jensen had come to the clinic from BC where they live on their Fjord farm. They both hold judges cards for here and abroad. They raise and train a few high quality Fjords a year and compete also. These folks are well rounded in the sport of CDEs that is for sure. Brain has driven a variety of hitches, and now prefers the "four in hand" while Ursula often drives a single. As I spent the day with them, watching and learning, I do not think I have ever seen such helpful, kind clinicians....they have no "movie star" attitude about them, and the beginner is just as important to them and the advance student..lucky for me!

I got to sit next to Brain, and tabulate his markings during the dressage test....in quiet moments I got to ask my own questions, of which there were many. After the dressage test, and his comments to the drivers, we headed to the cones. I intently listed to his direction to whips for the cones, since it is something I have never seen done! After the cones, the whips and horses usually did part of the marathon course.
Here is Sylvia Riddle going through the water hazard with her Fjord team.

Part of the reason I went to the clinic was for photography...I was NOT disappointed. There were ample opportunities through out the day, and I was wishing I had planned to stay Sunday too. Many of the teams were Fjords, but there were also single horses and whips. Often there were a different breed, certainly a different color!
One of my favorite shots from the day...I call this "Fjord Faces"

Around mid morning I heard talk that there may be empty time slots that needed to be filled with students...seems one gal that booked several time slots and could not come due to a sick horse....I jumped right in and volunteered to fill one of those time slots...oh HELP !!! I have no horse or cart! Warren and Sylvia Riddle, clinic hosts were kind enough to loan me a single horse and a cart for my very own lesson with a world class whip .....WOW !!!! talk about my lucky day.
Here I am !!! with Brain Jensen, clinician......whoo hooo !!! and below..going through the cones !
WOW...I learned so much, and I found that my hands were not quite as clumsy as when I drove for the very first time a couple months ago....yeah ! and also found..cones are ALOT easier at the trot....LOL....

Don't "judge" me just yet,.I know I am a bit out of position..but dang, this is hard! Brian wants me to drive the horses head, stay in good position, have good contact, and he expects me to breath too?

At noon we had a potluck lunch, hosted by Sylvia and Warren Riddle in their lovely home. We had a few rain showers in the morning, and Warren had a roaring fire to warm us all up. Lovely homes, gracious host....what more could you ask for? I met many of the INDS ( Inland Northwest Driving Society ) members, and found them to be a fun, helpful, kind bunch of folks...all with that interest in driving...

After lunch, we headed back to the dressage arena and I watch and learned more. One of the highlights on the day was Michael and Susie and their team of tandem Fjords. I used my skills to take some of the loveliest photographs of Michael, Susie and their team, the lighting, the weather, the scenery, you would probably think they were in Norway!
As Michael drove down the centerline of the dressage arena..all you could see was one horse! That was truly an awesome sight....and very, very correct...I think many of us can appreciate the training that goes into doing this...most people find it hard with one horse, much less two.

To say I leaned alot would be an understatement....I learned about so many things, from carts, to horses, harness, what things are strictly personal preference, tradition, oh so many things, and to take the lines in MY VERY OWN HANDS.....well, lets just say that though I was already hooked on driving...I am obsessed now ;-)

My most heartfelt THANK YOU to all the INDS members that were at the clinic, to Warren and Sylvia Riddle, "Ridder" my patient driving partner, wonderful, gracious, host farm, and to Brain and Ursula Jensen....I started at the top, learning from the best..and I hope to learn under you again...THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!

BSB pictures

2010-05-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

"Black shadow background" pics are a type of picture taken where you see the subject ( with me, usually a horse! ) standing at the edge of a "black hole"...this black hole can be as simple as an open door, or as big as the doorway for an indoor arena..it also works doing it outside as shadows fall on the ground....the result of doing this shot correct, is good lighting on your horse, and a solid black background that needs no touch up...some arenas are better than others...some have unique benefits.

Last week I had the chance to do some BSB pics of our beloved stallion "HeartBreaker" doing these shots always takes a handler, so I stopped by my friend's place for a little practice and some help in handling...I took a class on BSB last year, and found that my friend's arena was an awesome spot for this type of photo...his arena is very dark inside, and has a door facing south, giving us good sunlight to work with...so, we worked a few minutes, got the shots I wanted and here are the results...HB was being silly, and insisted on smiling for us! enjoy !!!

cleaning up my act

2010-05-15T17:54:00.001-07:00

There is just something about a sunny warm day that reminds me....all those dirty brushes and winter crusted halters need a bath !!! I have to admit..most folks probably do not enjoy scrubbing horse brushes, washing halters or other such menial jobs...but I do ;-)

Nylon halters have a way of getting dirty around here..and a quick soak in some soapy water goes a long ways to getting them clean.

Next comes the horse brushes, curry combs, both rubber and metal, hoof picks, assorted other tools, and shampoo bottles that have been used, but are not empty need a little clean up too.

and....after a good soak, a dash of fabric softener in the rinse for the halter and leads ropes ( to keep them soft and pliable ) they all get hung out to dry on my trusty clothes line....
AHHHHH !!!! Life is indeed good ;-)

Dreams coming true

2010-05-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

*C-C HOTEL KALIFORNIA

"Kallie"

3 years ago, on my son Matthew's 21st birthday...a curly coated black filly arrived on our farm....I knew when she arrived, she would be here awhile....LOL..usually that comment is reserved for a foal that did not quite live up to expectations...homely, poor conformation, or something for me to know that foal would be a tough sell....BUT in this case, it was just the opposite! Named "C-C Hotel Kalifornia" and quickly barn named "Kallie" I have been watching this filly grow since that wonderful day....Kallie has grown up nicely! This spring, we took Kallie to our dressage trainer, to see how she would progress in training....and finally after weeks and weeks of rain, we got a break and I got a chance to see how Kallie is coming along under saddle with Trainer Mike.

Trainer Mike graciously rode Kalie outside for me..so I could do a few pics of her...she is coming along really nice! Kallie is a very capable horse, she has a wonderful kind and willing to work under saddle attitude. Trainer Mike has just started her canter work. I was mighty pleased to see her large expressive trot at liberty, was the same trot under saddle.
Trainer Mike is doing an excellent job with her, and I am mighty pleased at her progress...she will be a wonderful and capable dressage mount. I am really impressed with her ability to "go long and low" this is not always easy for horses of the curly breed....this indicates a proper length of neck, and good physical ability.... As usual, I like to capture head shots, they say a horses eye is the window to his/her soul....here are a couple of my captures on Kallie's face and kind, willing attitude..enjoy! I certainly AM.
We shall see where your talent takes you, the world has lots of possibilities .

Whaaattaaaaa Wedding !!!

2010-05-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Some events in life, just stand out more than others...a child's wedding has to qualify as of one those really special events. I can hardly believe it has been two weeks already! Two weeks since my youngest son, "Matthew" tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend/fiance' "Lauren".....
Wedding day was just spectacular !! We have one rain shower in the morning, then the rest of the day the outside lighting was just "soft box" ( light clouds/awesome lighting ) ....a photographers dream!
Our extended family started arriving on Friday, the day before the big event, we had a family dinner Friday night, and the groom-to-be made an appearance....Dinner at O'Shays..nothing better!

Saturday was busy...esp for me....Since the wedding was held at an event center, there was no Friday night rehearsal dinner..instead the kinks were worked out early Saturday and I held the rehearsal dinner as a rehearsal brunch instead....my friend Dawn Q. ended up being my right hand..there was not much time for the wedding part to eat and then get dressed for a couple hours of photos. Dawn even helped me put on my makeup....poor me....hard to put on makeup when you can not see your face without your glasses.....
When my Sister "Sally" called and asked us if they should come early to help...I said YES.....lucky thing too, she seemed to be the only one who could help us correctly put on boutineers and corsages...geeeeee. has it really been THAT long ago...? well...yes, it probably has.....I had certainly lost my touch. We also had a few cases of mistaken identity...James and Matthew look a whole lot alike...and at one point, James was banned from the dressing room, because he was thought to be the GROOM !!! even Lauren could not convince the door guard...
Here is James and his fiance' Elissa....
The ceremony was simple elegance.....vases of single flowers lined the aisle....white chairs were our seating and more vases of flowers were at the alter. Hardly a dry eye in the place as Lauren walked down the aisle....her Dad had been killed in a logging accident about 7 years ago...she gave a flower to each sibling of her Dad's family, and her Grandma too....like I said...not a dry eye....esp me...... The minister ( a family member, who has many wedding ceremonies under his belt ) wore a kilt and quoted Scottish blessings..he did such a fantastic job...and after hours of practicing "VavRosky" he introduced "Mr and Mrs VavRosky....I now have 2 sons, and a daughter ;-)

Dinner followed the wedding, lots of time for good conversation and a chance to visit with the Bride and Groom...we left the event center around 9:30pm , when we left the Bride and Groom were still busy enjoying friends. Matthew had friends from elementary school, high school , college and work attend in his honor...plus, of course all the family that could make the trip.
Pictured here was the other best gal at the wedding...our Great Niece "Edie" ...she made a lasting impression on us all...what a sweetheart she is!

Saturday night I slept very little.....a slideshow of the whole even kept running through my brain....everything about this was so perfect!

Sunday I had the honor of bringing Matthew's Jeep home...the Bride and Groom took their other vehicle on their short honeymoon, and I took the extra one home.....Got a few horns honked at me....the wedding part had decorated BOTH vehicles, not know for sure which one the Bride and Groom would be traveling in...better to be safe, than sorry. I also took a few moments to stop along the way and do some fun "wedding" pictures of my own.....
Guess I got carried away on the Jeep pics ;-) since I had no time at all, to take pics of my own..this was my way of satisfying my need for pics.

Whaaattaaaaa wedding this way...and we wish the Lovely Bride, the Handsome Groom all the best for years to come .....we were all surprised to see a photo album already made up..the Bride and Groom looking at pics of the Bride and Groom and ceremony ! What a clever idea...the photographer's wife was in another room, process and editing photos as the night went on...gotta love technology...

and...the proud parents.....looking a bit older than in our own wedding ....oh well !

Pudgy's bad day

2010-04-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

A good barn cat is a necessity on a farm.....mice would run amuck around here, if it were not for our 2 barns cats, that are extremely skilled hunters.

Our barn cats are a little different than average though ( according to visitors to our farm ) they actually act more like a couple of good dogs....course, they are well cared for, and very well loved. I named them lovely names when I brought them home as kittens...Clarissa and Marissa...Their names quickly morphed into "Pudgy {the larger of the two } and Fuzzy { the runt of the litter }" they look a whole lot alike, but their personalities separate them more than anything. Clarissa ( Pudge ) is a lap cat...no doubt about it! if you are setting down, she will come for miles ( in cat measurement ) to hop up into your lap..there is none of that sneaking around, pretending you are not interested, with Pudge, she makes a straight line to you, and hops up whether you want her or not! Marissa (Fuzzy) is the horse lover in the family...if there is a horse stalled or in our arena, she stays there. She even has slept right in the stall with an injured horse before...esp when the boys are gelded, she spent 2 days in the stall with Dark Knight when we gelded him last year.

We feed the cats each morning....Pudge is often in our garage, Fuzz comes to the barn from the arena, or...if there is no one to babysit, she will join her sister in the garage...

Two weeks ago Sunday, I headed down to feed the cats....only Fuzzy showed up, certainly not uncommon for them to be away from the barn, out on a hunt..so, I thought nothing of it.
When I fed Monday morning, and still no Pudge...I gave it some thought, but not much. Either one of the cats has had a span of a few days when they have been AWOL, only to return to a seeming normal cat schedule.

Monday evening Mike and I hopped in our spa.....we use our spa every evening..often at dusk, to watch the stars come out...A good share of the time, the cats appear at this hour....sitting on the rail above us, they seem to enjoy the ritual as much as we do.

While in the spa....we could hear a "meow" certainly nothing unusual...Fuzzy usually meows alot and often comes to the spa from a distance, meowing all the way...so, we waited...we could hear the meow again...hmmmmm ? The wind was just howling that night...and we were actually NOT even sure we heard a meow...so, we waited and listened...again..."meow"......I peered over the edge of the spa, thinking a cat had to be close...but no cat....hmmmm ?

and...suddenly Mike said "Do you think one of the cats is under the house? the wind had blown the cover off, and I put it back on....on Saturday afternoon?" so, we busted out of the spa, headed to the back yard, removed the cover, and out came Pudgy......no worse for wear physically....but a little out of sorts mentally....she would NOT leave the porch the rest of the night...she even ran in the house door, which she never does normally...they are not allowed in the house...

By the next day Pudgy seemed back to normal....she had a big adventure...we are certainly glad she said something...otherwise she might still be under there looking for mice ;-)

The HB 5

2010-04-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

OK, early spring foals have all arrived.....In Europe 2 new foals arrived...a buckskin filly out of "Mary's Half Moon" who we sold as a bred mare....a chocolate filly out of "Stag Creek's Flitty Wren" who we sold as a bred mare..and the three that arrived here....here are pic of them all! HB has 2 more foals due in early summer via outside mares/AI and then one fall foal due here...yahooo !!!

To date....2 colts, 3 fillies.....lovely foals!

guess blogger will not let me add pics right now..I will come back and try to edit later !

Henri in the sunshine

2010-04-08T18:31:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we had about 2 hours of sunshine and I could just NOT resist getting Henri outside for a little playtime ;-) We are rehabbing the pasture here by the house this spring...shhh! don't tell....don't tell that I turned Henri and Krinkles out for a little sunshine and fresh grass ;-) Henri found out he does not have total control of those long legs yet....LOL

...but he sure enjoyed airing it out..and getting those legs in better shape. It is fun to watch the foals, who have only been on flat ground, to see their first realization that the world is indeed NOT flat....Henri zipped around the pasture as his Dam Krinkles had herself some fresh grass...

Henri found lots of things to be curious about..he would stray a ways..then zip back to his Dam...

He played alot longer than I thought he would, and only when he was completely tuckered out did he stop for nap time....oh the sunshine and the green grass felt sooooo good! After his nap, ( a rather lengthy one I must admit ) I took the pair back to the arena for a snack of grain and a good supply of hay. The weather was quickly changing for the worse, and I wanted them in out of the mud...In a few days ( when I have done enough spoiling on Henri ) I will turn them out with herd on our big pasture, and he can play the days away with his siblings....I am sure enjoying him right now though...
All tuckered out , what a SWEET BABY BOY !!!!

Oh BABY !!!

2010-04-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday evening we welcomed *C-C Henri" to the ranch! I have been waiting several years to use the name "Henri" I needed just the right personality, and of course, a boy to hang this name on. This guy was it! Henri is somewhat of a plain name, but the personality of this colt will make a big impression. Krinkles foaled at the lovely hour of 7pm..right between when I looked out the window to check on her, to when I returned a couple minutes later....she was already up and ready to be a Mom....I could see long white legs from my view, and I headed out to put the rest of the pieces together....Mom and Son were doing well, I patiently watched as Henri made his attempts to stand, and kept an eye on Krinkles. She had not "cleaned out" as quickly as she usually does.....so, at 10 pm, I called the vet( I figured better 10pm to do this, than 3 am ..LOL ) and we worked to remove the placenta. Henri was a mere 3 hours old, but he was SO interested in all the vet equipment, and what was going on..and then he was busy bucking and playing around....MR personality !!! It was so cold out, I blanketed him . We finished our "job" about midnight and I climbed into bed at , I think it took me an hour to unthaw..but it was well worth it! Once again our vet comment on Krinkles and how her body condition does not seem to match her age....the last teeth float we had done on her, the vet commented on how her teeth looked like she was 10, not in her 20's ..apparently her repro track is the same.....so, another successful foaling here at Creekside, and time for some sleep!

Krinkle Clown and her 2010 curly coated, chestnut, pinto + a few appy spots colt *C-C Henri !!!

New arrivals in 2010

2010-03-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, it has been so busy around here I have barely had time to catch my breath! We now have two of our three expected spring babies here! Ally foaled a curly bay colt on March 22nd...a day before I was going to bring her off pasture, so they have enjoyed romping the hills and playing in this wonder spring weather. Sadly, picture time has been limited, to a week of horrible ( probably much needed ) wet weather....so, I will post action shots when I can get them done. We named this colt....*C-C Heartfires Flame....a name to match his sisters in a manner. Since they are almost a physical match, perhaps someday they can be paired together driving.

I did manage to get Legacy in, prior to foaling..she was in just a few days before presenting us early Sunday morning with a stunning, tall, self aware, self important chestnut curly coated pinto filly. We have spent along time in anticipation of this day. Legacy's Dam was growing older and we wanted a foal from this lineage to keep ...a "Legacy"...this was part of the old time curly breeder Norm Dills favorite lineage....we found it our favorite too, and wanted to continue it on.....Legacy herself was born here on Mother's Day, 2007, and we knew instantly this filly was a keeper. So, through growing, playing, learning porcupines are NOT your friend, and then a summer of light training last year, we helped Legacy grow up and become the fine mare she is today. Because this foal of Legacy's is so special, I knew she needed a VERY special name. I invited our neighbors Alice and Larry over, and with them, Alice's Mom and Step Dad, Al. Al is a native Hawaiian, and I thought of asking him about an "H" since I am still enamored with Hawaii.....We were going through names..and the name "Hanalei" came up in conversation....how perfect is that? and...I have actually BEEN there!!! Hanalei was the setting for the song..."Puff the magic dragon" and...talk about a magical place. So, the arrival of Legacy and HeartBreaker is named *C-C Hanalei .

This filly has alot of spunk....a whole lot of friendlyness, and "what are YOU doing?" to her..she is going to be a blast to watch grow up....and
So, we are off and running for 2010...I imagine both these foals will be offered for sale...some really great bloodlines...both these foals are ABC, CSI and ICHO eligible. enjoy! LOL...we sure are.

update....please be patient...hopefully for the last time!

2010-03-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

OK, another update.....my site is back up, and may have a have some temporary down time next week, so hang in there.....for now, we are up and running! .I am switching host and it is time consuming. SOOOO...please be patient, and there will be lots of new stuff to investigate when the site is back up and running for good!

We are BACK !!!

2010-03-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

OK, my website has reappeared ;-) I let go of my previous host, for what is hoped to be a more reliable source...and did I mention it was more cost effective ? so...we are back up and running and I have much to tell, this has been a very, very, busy week ;-)

techno troubles..please be patient!

2010-03-24T08:48:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone... earlier in the week my website was hacked into and corrupting files were loaded...so, PLEASE be patient while this mess is being cleaned up...as you might suspect, we are working on it as hard and as quickly as we can. For now...my website is off line, but we are hoping by the end of the week we will be up and running again..thank you for your patience!!!

IF these hackers really need something to do, rather than play havoc in the computer world with innocent websites...I have SEVERAL stalls they could clean for me!

New arrival...in Europe !!!

2010-03-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

HB X Mary's Half Moon
"Shakira"

I got word that last week our bred mare that we sent to Europe had foaled!!! "Emmy" presented her owners with a stunning curly coated filly, almost a clone of her Dam...

The filly's name is "Shakira" taken from the singer, as this little gal can really MOVE her hips...LOL....well, another quality HeartBreaker foal has hit the ground! We are still waiting, here in Idaho, but each day brings up closer to foaling time...! congrats to HeartBreaker and Emmy !!! and welcome to Shakira...and I can tell she has a great dose of curly temperament running through those bloodlines.

ABC Photo Contest results are IN !!!

2010-03-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

"First Love" *C-C Hells Canyon Packer and Darryl K.

Well, after waiting what seemed like forever...I finally got some ribbons in the mail ! The ABC photo contest 2009 has been judged and the awards are out. I have really enjoyed this contest, it helps promote our curlies in a very positive way, with good quality photography, and attention to detail. For some reason many folks in the curly world have no desire to photograph their horses at the top of their game...nice clean horses, shots that have interest and show our horses at their very, very best. As you probably know....LOL....I have never been that type of person. Many folks first impressions of my curly horses are of photos of my herd members. MORE than once, I have been told after having folks visit, that the horse they were considering had already drawn them in, with a exceptional photo. So, to be rewarded in the ABC registry photo contest means alot to me. Knowing that I am doing a stellar job in representing my horses and the breed, is ammunition to keep me out there, doing even more photos...haha! so..here are the results! This year we had 2 double winner.....double winners are photos that the judge chose as the number 1 photo...and the people chose as number 1...! thank you ABC for the chance for a really good competition...and look out 2010 !!!

*C-C High Sox Tyler trots his way to a double victory in the foals category. 1st place judged photo and 1st place viewers choice !!!

*C-C Hells Canyon Packer in yet another winning photo !

and...the Daddy of them all, ( literally ) does a run by......took a lot of guts to stay put on this shot...let me tell you !!!

My Kauai Photo tour - photographing Hawaii

2010-03-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Photographing Hawaii

Ok, this is my last post about my trip...I promise ;-) I wanted to share an interesting and unique activity that I did while in the state of Hawaii, on the Island of Kauai. On the island, there is a Photo tour company. The company has several different types of photo tours, the basis is, to take you to spectacular/scenic locations and let you have the opportunity to take photographs. It is a great concept, it is like having the best local photographer, take you to the prime sites. They do the driving and you just sit back and enjoy! I found this company to be professional and offer great expertise. Tips on shooting methods, settings are offered if you ask, and they will also grab your camera for a shot of you at the location. *** Please remember ALL these photographs are copyrighted.

http://www.hawaiianphotos.net/Kauaitours.htm is where you can find information on this photo tour.

Our day started out a bit cloudy, but our tour guide "Scott" assured us the sun would shine! After our first stop, an over look at a beach, the sun did indeed come out and shine for us the rest of the day. What a HUGE difference that makes in the water color.

During the day we visited several beaches. Each had their own unique scenery to offer and photograph. I can honestly say..no two locations were the least bit alike, certainly something that is a benefit when paying for such a tour. Scott showed me this method of photographing a tree...for a unique perspective. You lay the camera on the trunk, with the lenses up, and let the camera autofocus and shoot! pretty cool IMO!!! I hope that remember that trick, and find a cool tree to try it out on here at home.

I call this one, the "path to paradise".....trees over a path to the sea make an inviting path call to you! As you might suspect..this is NOT what everyone else in the group was focusing on...LOL...guess you have to see, I see things a little different ;-)

On the island of Kauai, there are chickens...chickens everywhere! They are protected, as they are thought to be decended from ancient native birds....what makes a better shot than a rooster crowing in a lovely back drop of green grass and leaves that match the chicken!
One of the beaches we went too, was at the town of Hanalei....you all know the song..."Puff the Magic Dragon"...you remember the lines..."Lived at the sea..and frolicked in the autumn mist on the land of Hanalei" well..this is it! and...no, I did not see Puff the magic dragon....What Hanalei is well know for though, it is gentle waves and beginning surfers...they were SO much fun to watch, and even funner to photograph, because of their expressions when they did, after try after try, finally catch a wave and succeed !!!

We then headed out to a beach that has massive rocks, and violent waves. Talk about fun practice !!! Scott said that many lives have been lost on this beach, tourist getting WAY too close and then getting swept out to sea. So, we all stayed back, but found the violent waves quite a draw, and certainly a challenge to photograph. This location was on a blind corner, with just an unmarked dirt trail to the beach, it is truly a location I never would have found on my own....in fact, they probably ALL were.
One more shot from that beach with the violent waves.....it crashed onto the rocks, and then make a little waterfall. COOL !!!

One would have to include a light house on such a trip..and we certainly DID !! but not just lighthouse view location..we had two locations....although the first location was closer, there were many people around, and being a bit of a purist..I like my scenery most of the time with out human subjects...so, this became my favorite lighthouse shot of the trip.

It was quite a day. Sharing photography with folks that are experts, and fellow tour members that are interested in photography. The owner also said, some folks take the tour to see the scenery, I certainly can see where that would be a good idea. There was a medical emergency on our tour, it made us somewhat time delayed , but the tour staff handled everything with professionalism and expertise. All turned out OK in the end...and it certainly did not damper our quest for great photography! Thank you Kauai Photo tours...owner Michelle and tour guide Scott !!!

ALOHA !!!!!

2010-02-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago, my Mom approached my Sister and I with her idea...she wanted to take all of us to Hawaii !!! We kind of put the idea of such a trip into the future, as her health was not that great, and on such a trip, my Sister and I would have to face some major fears, and overcome some issues.....but...early last winter, Mom told us not only were we booked on a flight to Hawaii, BUT we would also then be getting on a cruise ship to cruise the Hawaiian Islands....

For a couple of well known seasick daughters..that was a bit of an issue....one we would have to face in a hurry! So, facing all our fears, and carrying with us prescription seasick patches to use...we headed on a vacation trip of a lifetime.

Since we did not really know what our own schedule would entail, and how Mom would feel physically, I spent some time finding out about some activities we could do on the Islands....I made us a potential itinerary for each day, hoping we would be able to do things....travel time, location, costs all came into factor, as there were days we had to be back on the cruise ship fairly early in the day...we would not want to miss the boat ;-)

Our first stop was Maui.......the first day of our cruise, we made plans and headed to LaHaina on Maui...We found us a nice little beach and one of my favorite pics from our trip was taken there.

As were walking to that beach, we passed a Church.....the congregation was rehearsing ....the music coming from the open doors of the church was just beautiful.....we could not understand the words, but the effect of the words and the music was both stunning and surreal. We played at the beach, boarded the bus for the long trip back to our ship...

Monday was a special day....I had booked Sally and I a horseback ride on Maui.....some folks think this was an odd thing, as I can ride any old time here at home...but...riding on Maui with your Sister just seemed pretty dang special to me ;-)

Sally and I spent many hours riding together as kids and this just seemed like a way to make this trip extra special...so, off we went...Sally got the "good horse" a mare named Billy..and I got the nameless horse..who I promptly named "Poke"...he only had one speed, and it was a snails pace...but we completed the ride never the less...and made memories riding into the rainforest and overlooking Eki Crater...we also rode down to the beach where I took this pic, another one of my favorites.

Tuesday was our day to go to the Hawaiian Botanical Gardens.....this place was AMAZING !!!
This is a pic of Mom standing near one of the trees....I think this pic says 1000 words !!! I have yet to edit many of my flower pics from here, but the whole garden was like being in a rainforest movie...the size of the plants/trees were just way beyond words.

Wednesday was Kona day...Sally and I prowled the streets Kona...we took the shuttle to "Hilo Hatties" a Hawaiian store....at each port they have a free shuttle to the local Hilo Hattie store....what a great marketing tool ! We shopped and found some treasures to take home. We later dipped our toes in the water, we had forgot our swimsuits, so we could not swim, but we cooled off with a good toe dip.

Thursday was my day. I had booked a Photography tour . This tour was a 5 hour tour of the Island of Kauai. They took you to the best spots to take pictures. It was like having a best friend that lived on the Island and would take you from spot to spot to see the scenery and take pics. Most of those pics, however, reside on my laptop, due to a computer glitch....so....I will have to share those at a later date. We visited several beaches, a light house, had a plate lunch at a local food truck, and had a very good time. Nice to spend time with folks interested in photography.

Friday morning early, we headed out to see more of Kauai...we visited another botanical garden at the Marriott Hotel, and played on their beach..( all beaches as public ) we got that one photo we were after...all of us in the waters of the warm Pacific....standing in Hawaiian waters.

Friday our ship left port early in the afternoon...we then cruised past the Na Pali coastline..it is only accessible by boat or plane, there are no roads in this area.....It is an amazingly rugged coastline....and...much to our delight, there were many whales and dolphins playing around...the dolphins loved having the ship there and played close at hand....this is one shot of the Na Pali coastline.

Sally and I did many of the activities on the cruise ship also....we made leis, we made good use of the hot tubs, we listened to piano music, we shopped....we had a really good time...and last but not least...a pic of the three of us taken on the ship....aloha !!!
As we left Honolulu, I managed to snap this shot...just to prove I really WAS in the air and OK with it....a long flight home ( 6 hours ) but a happy husband met me at the gate and we made our journey on home......our trip was very memorable and a great accomplishment for the three of us.

eye candy for your mares!

2010-02-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

For all of you out there that own mares....curly mares or any other breed mares..here is a little inspiration for them ;-) We have painstakingly raise this stallion to be the best he can be...and believe you me...he IS good...LOL...just ask him! We will be taking a very limited number of outside mares via AI only, either fresh or frozen...HeartBreaker will be back in the show ring from May through the summer! Exciting times here, several quality foals due in March, and the chance to get this spectacular stallion out in the public again!

Thank you RAC !!!!

2010-02-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

Thank you Denise, thank you Curly Horse Country ......www.curlyhorsecountry.com for another awesome year of "Ride a Curly" competition! 2009 found me with a whole lot of opportunity to RAC up ground training time, so I put my time and skills to good use. I was totally jazzed when I discovered that my time and effort in competing in the 2009 RAC Ground training division of the RAC competition had brought me a VICTORY !! and to the victor go a pile of really nice spoils...a lovely ribbon, and a wonderful jacket. At first I thought the logo on the back was all there was on my jacket...but when I put it on, I saw my OWN name on the front, along with more RAC info....

Denise does such a splendid job of inspiring us to learn, make goals and compete in RAC. Her efforts do get noticed, and now, when ever I head out with my jacket on, others will notice too...I suppose I can not pack my ribbon everywhere I go, that might be considered tacky...LOL...

Thanks to all the curly horse lovers out there that compete and make winning this RAC contest a very coveted thing..and thanks again to Denise, for her energy and inspiration for all of us!

Vet day work

2010-02-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

Twice a year we have a "vet day" here...Spring and Fall

In the spring we do EVA testing for our stallion, give him his vaccinations and have his teeth checked. Then comes the mares...all mares due to foal in the spring get all their vaccinations ( except WNV - which I still resist on..due to data ) and a Selenium shot. Yesterday was Legacy, Ally and Krinkles....Krinkles did us proud by being the best patient out of the three, just routine for her I guess.

Kallie had a full dental exam. She had her wolf teeth removed, in prep for her going into training this spring, she had WNV, regular vaccinations, and had 4 caps pulled off during her float procedure. All our horses are given stangles vaccine also..... so, spring work is done for now...

In the fall, we go through the same process, except the horses are then the new weanlings.....we keep all our herd on a reliable schedule, it helps alot with keeping them all healthy and feeling like a million bucks....

Kallie is not feeling like a million today...poor girl..those wolf teeth were miserable...it will take a few days for her to heal up... The caps came off fairly easy..but those wolf teeth were no near so cooperative..and the right side one was HUGE!

The end of and era and the beginning of a dream

2010-01-26T18:51:00.000-08:00

"Izzy"

*C-C Hattie

On Sunday Jan 24 th an era ended for us...Our curly mare "Izzy" was delivered to her new home, a wonderful home where she can be enjoyed as a riding horse. The "era" I speak of, was the attempt and failure to make this mare one of our treasured broodmares...Her 2009 foal *C-C Hattie, who she orphaned and I raised, had left our place to her new home in December, and now Izzy has also left. Did you know that a mere 68% of mares make successful broodmares? this ratio is considerably lower than cattle. The benefit over cattle, however, is...mares have a much higher rate of successful live births...a trade off I guess.

So, both of these wonderful gals have left our place, but they left with a piece of our hearts too. Congrats to Jill, and may you have many, many happy miles with Izzy...and Hattie.....we will be watching to see how you grow up and mature....

The begginning of the dream is for Jill, and her hypoallergenic mount Izzy, and the wonderful years they can spend together. Raising horses can be the highest high, and the lowest low..but, we are totally happy for Jill and her chance to own her very own dream horse.

a Saturday drive

2010-01-17T10:28:00.001-08:00

When Mike mentioned we should go for a Saturday drive...to check on fishing on the Grand Rhonde, I jumped at the chance! Grabbing my camera we headed out..the Grand Rhonde fishing spot he wanted to investigate is about 2 hours here from the house, near Troy, Oregon.

We headed out and my first stop was above Asotin, WA on the prairie..the windmill and scenery just seemed to make such a quiet, scenic picture.

As we traveled, I remembered seeing Big Horn Sheep in the area, I hoped I could find some sheep and perhaps even get a long shot...maybe a nice shot with my long camera lenses.
We first happened across some mule deer. Some were grazing on the hillside, this doe was resting in tall grass..she thought she was hid. As I approached for a better shot, she got nervous and stood up, and gave me this amazing shot.

We talked again as we went down the road, about possibly seeing Big Horn Sheep...and THEN...there they were....and hardly off the road! I got out and manuevered for a shot..they seemed totally uninterested in us....and since there is very limited hunting on these grand critters, they were unfazed by human companionship. We watched the sheep as they fed on the hillside...the "big guy" kept his herd under check, pushing and shoving to keep them together and with him. amazing! He gave me a couple shots of looking directly at me....it was an incredible moment!

We also saw a herd of elk, but they were bedded down a long ways from the road, with no way to reach them..I took a shot, but it was a long ways away, and I was not impressed with how it turned out.

and..as we left the area, I asked Mike if he thought there were bald eagles in the area....and...just like he was on cue...an eagle flew in, landed on an old snag across the river, and sat there.....this was the only eagle we saw all day, and he stayed on his perch, watching the river for fish...I did not have a very close shot, but the shot I got has lots of interest, as it has a lovely background...thank you Mr/Mrs Eagle...that could not have been better!

I do not know if I will ever have another day filled with so much wildlife...even the grey skies could not lessen the impact of these pics..we, as photographers , always hope for a bit of sun, but the grey skies just imitated the quiet, peaceful mood of the critters and the day.....

Happy New Year !

2010-01-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from Creekside ! 2009 was a challenging year, some really great moments and some really challenging ones. 2010 has arrived and it is an exciting time for us. We have 3 foals due in mid March. One of those due to foal, is our first homebred filly that we have had the luxury of keeping and raising, "Legacy"......talk about exciting...we have watched this filly grow and mature and can only be curious about what kind of a Momma she will be ;-) My son Matthew, got me a wireless camera set up for our barn, so I should be able to watch this foal born from the luxury of my living room...LOL...

We all wish you a Happy New Year and hope you have a healthy, properous, stressless 2010!

Hattie heads out

2009-12-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

Last evening a bit after dark, Hattie hopped into a large gooseneck horse trailer headed east...she is off to her new home. I know for a fact, that her new owner will love her, and care for her with the highest standards, but I have to say, a piece of my heart goes with that filly. Hattie taught me a whole lot about myself this summer, how much grit and determination I have buried inside and how rewarding caring for these creatures that God put on this earth for us can be. I have SO many great memories of raising this filly. It was certainly tough on my nerves, but all my worries were pushed aside one by one.....her horse social skills soared as she first shared spaces with her sister "Heather" then the rest of her 2009 siblings, and finally the rest of the herd. This is one very special filly, in many, many ways. I truly appreciate that her new owner will cherish her as much as I have.

Merry Christmas everyone !

2009-12-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

This is the week of Christmas! My, how fast this year has gone....here is our Christmas greeting for you, our family, our friends. I imagine this week will be a little hectic around here, so I am sending greetings off to you for you to enjoy all week! Merry Christmas from Creekside, the humans who handle the ops and the herd members who bless our lives ;-) and very Happy New Year to all of you too!

that lovely snowfall

2009-12-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

What a week we have had for weather....we got about 6" of snow...then the next two days a good steady rain...lucky my horse work involves using our arena....as they say the outside footing is "not fit for man nor beast" !

While we still had some snow on the ground, I was able to catch a couple of really cute shots of Hattie and Mike. We needed some updated pics, now that Hattie has grown up a bit...and she always is in the mood for attention.

Loving my job

2009-12-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

I sometimes forget HOW much I enjoy working with horses...sure it is always there, in my mind..but when I really get concentrating on what I am doing, using newly learned methods, I realize how rewarding it is for me.

I have been working with our mare "Izzy" she has been gently started under saddle, and ridden a few times after her initial training. BUT...in order to progress her through my 5 star Trail Horse Deluxe program...I must fill in the holes in her training that may have been skipped...One of those holes was clipper training. I also wanted to take her through the progressive training of the "101 Lunge and Long linning lessons" from the book by Cherry Hill.

In a segment of Julie Goodnight's training session, viewed on RFDTV I learned some very advanced lunging methods...this session was a young lady with an unruly and unattentive horse.....often I have a bit of "I am not paying attention" in several of my horses, esp just after being taken away from their buddies..so, I put the learned info to task..and it worked SO well.....

Izzy continued her crosstie training, I added clipper training, and we did some very successful lunge work, with her learning voice commands and also learning to read my body language. I can only imagine how far I can take this mare.....and I will soon start the same training regiment on my own keeper filly..."Kallie"...my first keeper foal from our ranch stallion....

More often than not I have limited time training on a particular horse...breeding season interupts HeartBreaker's training ( mostly due to my time limits and duties ) preg mares need time off for foaling and raising a foal, so...this is a Luxury for me....and I am excited about how well this is working.

A very small start

2009-12-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

well, I have gone and done it....after years of having "learn to drive" on my list of 100 things to do in my life...I have stated learning to drive! Now...it is a very small start ( pun intended ) a miniature donkey named "Tango" is my kind and gentle teacher.....My friend "Diana" of Red Moon Acres has graciously helped my make my first venture into the world of driving. You can see Diana's donkey herd at www.redmoonacres.com.....frankly they are all terribly adorable..lucky I already have a pasture full of equines ;-)

Some of you might wonder just exactly what my goal is here...after all, we have a highly successful dressage program, and also raise Trail horses deluxe...
Driving is something I have always wanted to do...and did you know, you can compete in Driven Dressage????? I think I have a few horses that might be very suitable for that. So, I will learn to drive, and then learn to teach driven dressage to one of my very own equines...Diana is teaching me driving basics, and Tango allows me to learn from my mistakes...there is a whole lot more to learning to drive, than one might think, and I am ready for the challenge!

Izzy is back to work

2009-12-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

Izzy is back to work...after just a couple weeks out on pasture ( our farm green grass rule, "if you don't have to feed hay...you don't" ) I just could not take it any longer, and am breaking my own farm rule...but, I just needed a horse to work! LOL.....so, I brought Izzy off pasture, and put her back to work....I am working on all the little things that have not been done in her ground work, like learning to crosstie....Izzy ties well, but I like to work with my horses in cross ties, and it needs to be taught to them to handle it safely. I am also doing some advanced lunge work with Izzy, and will start riding her again next week...I just wanted a chance to really instill some of the advanced ground work skills I require of my higher trained horses.

After our work session, I noticed how lovely Izzy looked in her winter coat, and the sun here was just spectacular..The sun this time of year has such a lovely quality to it...so, I headed out to our outdoor arena, and let Izzy play and bit while I took some shots. I also had the chance to use our outdoor time as a schooling tool too, as a different location resulted in a chance to help her learn, "same rules under any circumstances"
There is just something about the color of a chestnut and this winter sunlight...Izzy's coat is just coming in, and I really love the look of her curls at this time of year.

I really enjoy working with Izzy, she learns quickly and has a pretty unflappable attitude...and did I mention she is for sale? Give us a call or drop us a line..this could be your next riding horse!

Visitors....it never gets old

2009-12-01T08:00:00.001-08:00

Sharing a hug

We had visitors to our farm over the weekend....a Mom and daughter team....came to see our horses and to test the hypoallergenic qualities of our herd....as you can see from this picture...our horses were completely hugable and hypo for these gals.

We spent the afternoon playing with the horses, all the horses got attention, and our weanlings especially loved the attention...Legacy also claimed the Mom for her human of the day, and kindly shared her soft curls and showed her stellar people friendly attitude to our guest...

These gals also raise curly coated dogs for guide dog service..of a hypoallergenic type....They associate with www.genesisservicedogscom a wonderful organization that helps provide hypoallergenic service dogs to the needy.

It was truly a wonderful afternoon, I always enjoy sharing my horses with folks, and as we talked we found many similarities between training and personalities of the dogs they raise, and the horse we raise.

New Traditions on Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-27T13:13:00.000-08:00

Linda Elisa Lauren
We started a new tradition this Thanksgiving day of 2009....after all the partying was complete, my future daughter in laws...Lauren and Elisa, and I spent the rest of the afternoon putting Christmas wreaths together to adorne our homes....

Elisa working on her wreath

Linda and Lauren making something lovely out of some tree boughs

I am thrilled with my idea for a new tradition...Thanksgiving day for the guys ( after dinner ) is always about football and relaxing...so, this gives us gals something fun and creative to do...and since the Holidays often get so busy with activities, we have a opportune time to make our wreaths, we do not have to try and schedule it into one of those jam packed weekends between now and Christmas ;-) and gives us even more time spent with our family members.....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

Today is pie day....in preparation for our family version of Thanksgiving Day dinner....Pumpkin, Pecan, and.....hmmmm??? or it is mmmmm? So, I best get my self in gear and get my pies made early, because the SUN is out and it will be a beautiful day....and....my camera and my herd are calling me ;-)

I am starting a new tradition here...Thanksgiving Day is truly a football day for my men, and this year, I am going to make wreaths with my future daughter in laws...and create another Thanksgiving tradition.....while the men watch football, us girls, are putting greenery together to decorate our homes ;-)

I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving Day to all, we, as a family, certainly have alot to be thankful for...sure, everything is not perfect, there is some health issues among our extended family, but generally speaking we really are all OK, and have a HUGE amount to be Thankful for...

So, Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy and appreciate your family and friends...and for us horse owners, you herd! They are all something to be very thankful for.

Cleaning up my act

2009-11-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, what a gorgeous day here!

Late November, and we are getting plenty of sun today, so, I grabbed some cleaning supplies and headed outdoors. Once a year ( if not more often ) I give all my nylon farm halters a good scrubbing....for me, this entails washing them in the washing machine ( I only do up to three at a time ) and then dipping them in a bath of water and fabric softener, a gentle rinse and they are all hung up on the clothesline to drip dry ;-) Dipping the halters in fabric softener/water mixture ( I use quite a bit of softener ) helps the halters to stay pliable, and easy to use...we have all seen those nylon halters, left outside a bit too long, that are stiff as a board....my special recipe prevents that..

This wash job also works well on lunge lines, side reins, anything that is nylon and needs washed! If we still have nice weather tomorrow...it will be dubbed..."clean leather day"....my tack room is in a lot better order than it has been in a long time, and soon I will sort out my bridles, and probably have some nice bridles for sale...it just seems I have too many ....how could that possibly happen..LOL

Everybody out!

2009-11-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

For the first time since March....we have, once again, all our herd out on pasture...oh, that is a good feeling! My main concern was for Hattie, she has been doing well in a herd here by the house, but I wanted all those babies out with the mare herd, to take advantage of our nice fall green up...and save a bit of the hay pile for later in the winter...

I turned out the herd of 5, Marbles, Princess, Hattie, Spark and Dark Knight.... in the big pasture, and after 3 days of them running alone, they met up with the mare herd, Krinkles, Ally, Kallie, Legacy and Izzy. Things went rather smoothly...not much in the way of fussing or bad attitudes, and Izzy does not seem to think of Hattie as any different as an of the other youngsters....

So, for a few days we have all the herd out on pasture.....they all get a break! Soon, Izzy will be in for more training, but hey, I am taking a break...it has been quite a while since I had one ;-)

Catching up

2009-11-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

There has been a whole lot of things to catch up on........vet work, training, etc...We preg checked Marbles...( yeah! a lovely little foal on the way ) we gelded Dark Knight, vaccinations for all, and a bit of a "nose job" for Ally, a repair from her camping trip injury. After our vet work was done, I strolled though my tack room, and ARGH !!! WHAT A MESSSSSSSS!!! so, the next couple days I spent getting things back in order. I have just a few chores to do there, some saddle cleaning, and returning my freshly washed brushes to their grooming totes. It always makes me feel good to get cleaned up....and a freshly cleaned tack room makes life a whole lot easier..easier to find what I need, and easier to get around...LOL...yeah for clean

Conquered by the Canyon

2009-11-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

There could be lots of titles for this post....."When Hell ( Hells Canyon ) freezes over" would be a good one...or perhaps"I should have stayed in bed".....Here is my account of our horse camping/hunting trip.

The morning started out wrong...when we went to load our mares to head out on our trip we found the mares were already out and needed rounded up! Ally was at the barn waiting for Mike, Izzy was giving HeartBreaker google eyes over the fence....silly girls! someone managed to disconnect the gate from its hanging posts....silly mares!

When we arrived at camp, Darren and Jeff were already there...the weather was spectacular and Mike and I hobbled Izzy and Ally, left them to graze while we set up our tent and got things arranged. This is a stunning place, at 7000 ft elevation you can see forever! The Seven Devil mountains rise in the background of this pic, they are to the NE of where we camp.

The next day the guys scouted a bit....we turned the hobbled mares out to graze and things seemed to be going well enough....The noise level at night was a problem though, the mares played in their corral, banging off the panels and thumping the ground. Hmmm, I will have to think of a way to remedy that. Ally and Izzy found a quiet spot to relaxe as the fog/clouds came in that day.

Saturday, the rest of the hunters arrived...there will be 7 hunters, and me...the horse wrangler I guess? More camp set up, and some scouting for the guys..we also noticed that there are way more pack trains going down into Deep Creek than usual. We had spotted a large herd of over 100 elk on the hill side above Deep Creek, but the constant stream of pack trains would be sending those elk into no mans land....an area where there are cliffs, no roads and no way to get to them. In the night, I heard the corral panels again, this time though, it was a different sound, and I knew right away what it was....Ally had laid down close to the panels, when she went to get up....she had her front feet under the panel....so, @ 3am, I slipped on my shoes, and went out to get her out of her predicament.....she seemed a little sleepy..had to slap her on the fanny to get her up once she was free...

Sunday the season opened...Mike is 52 today! The guys hunted all day long. The weather was so/so...no sun left anymore...it was quite cool, 20 degrees when the guys left camp this am. Duane and I hand grazed the mares awhile, then hobbled them and turned them out. Imagine my shock when we checked on them and they were no where to be found! We started searching, and found them at a neighboring camp...a camp which had mules....we called the mares with a grain bucket and they came as fast as they could. Our mares also found out they can canter while in hobbles....not so good at first, but after a few trys...pretty darn good! They made one nice canter through camp...that kind of ended a whole lot of time in hobbles.

The week went on....the weather got a little tougher each day..then by Wednesday, the temp just stayed at 15 degrees, night and day..the wind picked up too, and from then on, blew 30PMH steady, with some 60 MPH gusts....talk about cold! Luckily Duane and my job was to keep the wood stoves burning and warm.....one in the main sleeping tent and one in the cookshack. At one point we were all sitting in the cookshack when a huge gust of wind came along..it tore the 14 X 30 tarp, which we used for a rain fly right off the tent.....within moments the guys were outside trying to catch the tarp, but it had already spooked the mares who were relaxing in their corral....Ally was nearest to the fence, and on her way out she skinned her nose...pulling a flap of skin right down the bone....Mike and I went after the escaped mares, and Duane helped me doctor Ally's nose....the best thing I could think of was to lay the skin back down and hope it would graft back on....I had a bandaid out of guaze and duct tape. It worked too! By morning the skin flap was laid down and had started the healing process.
Then..it started to snow.....each day we got more snow and more wind....I kept the blankets on the mares 24/7, they needed the extra warmth....the next few days were cold and the guys had nearly no visibility..elk hunting here you count on your eyes....with fog/clouds at our heads/snow/blowing snow...the conditions were tough...in fact, we know of NO elk being harvested after opening day....we were not the only ones the weather was conquering.

More snow..more wind...I calculated the temp + wind factor...it was -5 degrees most of the week, according to the wind chill chart! We kept the fires toasty warm and kept the mares fed and happy..no hobbles now...everything was buried in snow. I highlined the mares, I really wanted to see how they would do, and they handled it just fine....

It was apparent by the end of the week, we just were not going to get a weather break before our season ended. Here are a few more pics from our week, Mike hauling wood to the main sleeping tent.....Ally staying warm in her blanket.....a few icicles on the tent ;-)
A couple days before we headed home we found out we were sharing the cookshack with a chipmunk...."Chip" spent 2 days with us....snacking on carmel popcorn, and a few other snacks we thought he would like...he was very undaunted by my camera and I have fun trying to get the perfect shot of Chip....
We headed for home on Saturday..it had been a wonderful and memorable week. Even though I had no opportunity for some spectacular packing pics, I saw my mares grow up a whole bunch and that is always of value. The training that I did over the last month will pay off in the end for these girls, and they will know the routine if they go camping again. If not for good equipment, plenty of planning and experience we might have been short on supplies or equipment...but we lacked nothing....a good time and a memorable time...that is what life is all about ;-) It took us 2 1/2 hours to break camp...each of the 7 of us working on a task.....and I snuck away to take a pic of the sunrise..in the back of my head I remembered...."red in the morning, sailors warning" I can only imagine what it would have been like on the edge of Hells Canyon that very night!

Training trail horses

2009-10-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Over the last month I have been busy training. We have all our foals weaned and enjoying life in a small herd, guided by our yearling filly "Princess"....so, it was time to change focus and start making some progress on our trail horses. Summer show season is over and we can now concentrate all my efforts on our Creekside Trail Horse Deluxe training. I will be offering our mare "Izzy" a 2005 curly mare as my first "5 star Creekside Trail Horse Deluxe" in the spring of 2010. She is currently offered for sale, and is getting lots of daily training. We will be taking Izzy and Ally on our 2009 Hells Canyon hunting/camping trip. We will spend 10 days on the rim of Hells Canyon and our mares Izzy and Ally will be used to pack elk that we harvest on this trip. Izzy has been through a regimented training schedule learning to hobble, stand tied quietly for hours on end, pack items and fresh game ( meat ) ...in our pics here, Mike is using Izzy to pack almost full water cans + fresh meat...the cans make lots and lots of noise, sloshing back and forth, he also threw in a few rocks to add to the noise factor. Izzy has handled all this training in stride. Many horses are better with one rider/handler, but Izzy handled reliably the same no matter who is at the end of the lead rope, or who is in the saddle. I have been taking a few lessons on Ally, and since my instructor does not like to teach from the ground, he has been riding Izzy. This is a real benefit to me, as I can see how Izzy does under saddle and also get more professional time on her under saddle....did I mention she is for sale? I will be keeping Izzy in training all winter...there are a couple local schooling shows, we will plan on attending those too.

Replacing the old with the new

2009-10-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

I was sorting through some old "Country Living" magazine, when I came across some inspiration about replacing some old with some new...now you might think, lovely pictures inspired me..but no..it was the editorial, written about cleaning the editors office....she made the point that replacing the old, will make room for new and interesting things....I got to thinking about this...and it really is profound....it could be as simple as tossing out some old magazines, and replacing them with new issues...but what if...we apply it further....replacing old habits with new healthier ones, replacing old taxing relationships with new healthier ones....replacing old ideas with new more inspiring ones.....the author certainly opened up some opportunities to see ourselves in a different light ;-) Each day is a new day, and we should enjoy every single moment as well as strive to be a better self.

Dad's Birthday October 9, 1919

2009-10-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

On October 9, 1919 my Dad, R.A. Meiling was born in Vernal, UT.....on September 20, 1958 I arrived and was introduced to my Dad.....My Dad was a quiet man, a builder with standards totally beyond what most folks would consider, a teacher, an animal lover, esp dogs..and an avid reader. He passed away on May 5th 2007. I miss my Dad dearly, esp during the time of year that we always celebrated his birthday.

A couple weeks ago, my Mom held an estate sale of my Dad's tools and stuff. As I prepared for the sale, I came across a sheet of quotes that he had thought enough of to write down...In honor of my Dad, I will share some of those quotes here. I do not know of their origin so I can only say they are quotes from my Dad..that I know for sure.

"He who is silent is strong"
"A fool speaks often and without thought" hey...this was before the internet..how appropriate is this now?
"The less people think, the more they talk"
"He who knows nothing, is confident of everything"
"Better unfed than untaught"

I really appreciate Dad dropping these quotes in my lap so to speak....and how appropriate for these quotes now...some were copied from a book that listed quotes from people that lived in the 1600's.....ironic isn't it...these quotes still apply today....
thank you Dad ;-)

WOW...that was fun!

2009-09-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today, I had the pleasure of introducing my curly herd to a couple of professional photographers from the Seattle area. I had met Gretchen Thompson of Gretchen Thompson Photography ( see her work at www.flickr.com/gretchent) earlier this year at the Colfax Threshing Bee on Labor Day. Gretchen also brought along a friend, Bobbie Clime of www.bobbiecphotography.com Bobby is a Portrait specialist, and we asked her to do a few horse/human portraits for me.

The girls arrived at 7:30am as planned, and we began shooting and playing with the horse shortly after their arrival. The sun was just peaking the hill and the light on those early photos ought to be quite lovely. After a round of playing with the babies...our 3 weanlings and their counterpart, Princess who is a yearling...we put them up and brought out the big gun! HeartBreaker danced his way all over the pasture, showing off his love for life and open spaces. After he got the "wiggles" out, we worked on portrait shots of HB and Me......it got warm fast, and by the time we got done I was pretty sweaty.....!

We came on back inside and had some discussion, looked at a few of my photographs and Bobbie helped me with a sizing issue I have been having regarding printing 8 X 10's.....Bobbie is a Photoshop expert and her help was GREATLY appreciated ;-)

What a wonderful time we had......working on composing shots and thinking of new creative ways to pose and portray.....working with these two gals was truly an honor for me....

THANK YOU GRETCHEN AND BOBBIE !!!

A Renewal of preserving food?

2009-09-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

Cute little jars of Blackberry syrup sit atop cute really little jars of Blackberry jelly

Recently I read an article about the renewed interest in home preservation of food ( canning ) HA ! That is something I never need renewal for, it happens here on a yearly basis and has happened here, every single year of my adult life. This year I was making a list of things I had preserved..it goes something like this....Asparagus, Cherries, Apricots, Salmon, Tuna, Tomatoes, Salsa, Soup Veggies, Peaches, Blackberry jelly, Blackberry Pancake Syrup, next in line is Pears, homemade and preserved Chili, Apples, pumpkin, squash....and we also dried a few items too, Cherries, Apricots, Tomatoes, Pears, Apples, Jerky and Pepperoni.....so, my cupboards are stuffed full, and I suddenly realize why I have been a bit strapped for time ;-) I love the knowledge I learned from "the chore of canning" when I was a kid...makes me a perfectly capable adult food preservation specialist!

It's my birthday .....more from Hattie!

2009-09-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary, I am 3 months old today...My Mom says I am doing well. I enjoy my days with my brother Dark Knight, and my sister, Heartfires Spark...Mom calls her Spark. I rule the roost. DK is second in line, and poor Spark has to be in the bottom spot. Mom gives us grain everyday. I also am still getting milk, as Mom thought the recommended time frame of weaning off milk, was a bit too early for me...she did grumble something about the price though. DK likes milk too, but I make sure he only gets a slurpe after I get my belly full. Ahhhh! the life of a horse at Creekside....plenty of food ( we have our own really big bale of hay ) lots of clean water, some great attention from the humans, and my milk and grain snacks....Mom also has Darryl come over and spoil me too...she likes to read to me..is that spoiled or what ???? Life IS good!

pickin berries

2009-09-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

Last evening I picked 3 gallons of blackberries at a spot across the road. This morning, after doing a few conformation shots of DK ( Handsome Dark Knight ) the mares came strolling by on their way to the barn....that is, all except Legacy. I walked up the draw to investigate what she was up too, and found her happily picking herself some blackberries. Normally the horses don't pick berries here...they have a good assortment of wild plums and pears from some really old pear trees, they don't waste their time on picking a hard to pick berry. When you consider that horses have a blind spot in front, and they are usually just heading for a general direction, and the fact that blackberries are a prickly thing to pick, they just leave them alone....but this year, Legacy has decided that those oh so sweet berries are worth the effort. So, I guess that spot along the road in the pasture won't be producing many berries for me now...at least not with Legacy on guard.

Lucky Horse shoe #112

2009-08-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

When we bought our current farm and acreage we had to have some foresight. Old buildings in terrible condition, an old farm house, and lots and lots of junk covered this property. As we started clean up, I started finding horse shoes...since this place had folks on it since the early 1900's, I found we not only had horse shoes all around, but LOTS of horse shoes...so, I started collecting and counting. The first few years here with the most productive. In the areas around the barns, produced the most horse shoes. And the funny thing was, they were all shoes that had been sucked off in the mud, lost by the wearer probably unknowingly. I found various types of shoes, a good amount of draft horse shoes, many, many mule shoes, and the rest just general horse shoes. Draft horses were used here years ago, to farm the ground, from a wheat crop to a hay crop which they brought to the barn on wooden sleds. Mules were later used by the owner here , as he was an outfitter. He took folks into the back country for hunting trips...and then of course, throw in alot of misc horses all needing shoes.

It has been several years since I had found any shoes. I was stuck on the total of 111. I saved most of them, and put them in our barn in various spots, used a few to make tack hangers with and saved the rest....but, yesterday as I headed down to feed in the evening...I heard that recognizable klink...a sound that one hears when they hit a part of a horse shoe...so, I looked down and saw an edge right at ground level. I took my hands and dug around it a bit, and my work revealed horse shoe #112! I wonder how many more years until I find the next one ;-)

Welcome Marbles

2009-08-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

We are proud to introduce to you and give a big welcome to our ranch "CVC Marvelous Story" aka..."Marbles"....Marbles is a product of Laura Kinne's program, she has been breeding quality horses for a number of years. Marbles loaded quickly at Laura's, and settle in nicely for a long ride home. She seemed content and perfectly happy on our journey and has settled in nicely here at the ranch. Marbles' pedigree traces back to *Peter J, ABC -1 (f) literally the first curly horse registered in the ABC. On the bottom of her pedigree it is a fine blend of curly lines, and TB lines. Marbles is a smooth coat and is 3/4 curly 1/4 TB. She is a lovely mover, supple, elastic, with good suspension and extension. We are quite pleased to have her in our mare herd. She will be started under saddle, and there will be a fall breeding to our stallion. Welcome to the new girl !

A great Honor

2009-08-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

As most of you know or suspect...I have a love of "horse photography"...presenting our horses in the most accurate and incredible light as possible. I also have a great love of competition...whether it be in my horses competing or myself competing my own photos.
Well...I have my very first "BEST OF SHOW" winning...for one of my pics ;-) I enter a few great contest each year, the CSI Equine photo contest is one of them. and......this year, I took top honors for amateur photographer, a BEST OF SHOW win! Not only did I get a really great prize, but I am stunned, honored and totally jazzed about the win. Photos are the history records of life. This photo was taken 2 years ago, when Kallie was just a baby foal, and has always been one of my very favorite photos ever! Thank you CSI for hosting this contest..and thank you to God for my talent and my herd.

Hattie's diary...happy birthday to me!

2009-08-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

Yeah !!! Tomorrow I am two months old...a real mark in an orphaned foal's life, at least that is what they say.....;-) All my recent visitors have commented on how well I am growing, and some muttered something about being able to eat dinner off my back? I thought a flat back was a good thing? I spend my days with my 1/2 sister "C-C Heather" she knows I am really the boss, and acts accordingly. Mom takes us out for long strolls, some grass to eat, and good exercise...Heather and I like romping in the arena ALOT !! We get to play with the brother..."Dark Knight" some and sometimes Legacy our "auntie" watches over us. All in all, it is a very good life. I have cut my milk consumption down some, but Mom decided to keep giving me milk, to make sure I keep growing so nicely. Usually at 2 months, they cut your milk off, but I guess I am going to be waaaaaay spoiled and get some for another month. Mom says it is expensive..but she says I am worth all her effort and love. I guess soon there will be other weanling to greet, I have not offically met my other sisters, they stroll by my pen twice a day, once in the am for breakfast, and they again in the evening on their way back out to pasture with their Moms....life is certainly good around here ;-)

The ups and downs of AI

2009-08-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

We offer *AI* as a service here on our farm, so that mare owners across the country can get some of the genetics of our wonderful, successful competition stallion....*Shadow's Hawk Spirit...aka..."HeartBreaker......

Every year we have inquiries about the complex business of AI, and ask how they can best be successful, as it is a costly venture. We have several tried and true rules about what we want in a possible date for HeartBreaker, but the most important one of these rules, is DETERMINATION....
it takes alot of determination on the part of the mare owner, one to find a suitable equine reproductive vet ( believe you me, they are not all suitable ) to get the appropriate "prep" work done for the mare ( culture, proper weight, good health, etc ) and patience too. Not all mares will settle on the first round. Live cover stats for mare is at 70% success rate, and AI rates are a bit lower than that. Maiden mares are sometimes stressed by all the vet work that must be done, and until they are used to it, and in a better frame of mind, they may not settle.
This year we had another factor in the mix ( this is where determination comes into play ) We received word that Fed Ex had damaged the shipment, and the vet requested another shipment of semen. It was doable from here, so we went ahead. Timing should have been just right, BUT...Fed Ex was again the culprit....The Shipment was on a plane that was delayed for repairs in TN, the shipment never made it to its destination, but instead landed there a day late...in repro work, a day late is most often a disaster, as it proved to be in this case....So, our mare owner was out yet another cycle, and had to file an insurance claim against FedEx to cover expenses.
Thankfully, on the next cycle, the mare settled and is happily into her pregnancy now.
For those considering AI, just remember, a good dose of determination can go a very long ways.

Makin Noodles

2009-07-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

Makin Noodles...I always am interested in things that happen where folks live...here we live on the edge of the "Great Palouse" ...this is an area of farming, and though folks frequently ask, we do not grow potatoes here ;-) Our farmland in the area is not flat...as you can see from this photo, the combines have levelers on them, so they can work the side hills.......The area is covered in wheat, barely, lentils and garbanzo beans. There are some areas of Canola too, which, in bloom is a spectacular yellow color.

We have a wheat field directly out the back door of our house. The farmers call it the "Peanut field" seems it is shaped liked a peanut. It took the guys a little less than an hour to harvest the field of 35 acres. This soft white wheat that they grow here, is headed for the orient. Almost all the grain grown in this area is headed to Japan, China, Hong Kong, and the rest of Asia for use in making those lovely soft noodles used in their cuisine. So, the wheat is off the field now, and will take a slow journey to its final destination. The wheat will most likely be loaded on a barge, and barged down the Columbia river. Lewiston is the US's most inland port, a mere 400+ miles from the Pacific Ocean.....Through a series of locks the barges make the long trip to the Columbia river bar at Astoria, OR, and then they head out to sea.

We are always a little relived to have the ripe/heavy wheat removed. The removal of this will cut our fire danger down a whole lot. An unharvested wheat field has a whole lot of fuel in it, and we are glad to see it lessen a bit. And...to think that our little kernels of wheat will someday be someone in China's lunch or dinner.....yep, makin noodles ;- )

Bringing home a winner

2009-07-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

All my horses are at home now....for a bit at least, as we hopefully will be taking HeartBreaker up to Trainer Mike for a late summer/fall training and showing season. We gathered up the foals that were out away from the ranch,Hattie had been staying with a babysitter, while I took a few days off, and I also brought Legacy home from Trainer Mike after our show last Saturday. Trainer Mike rode her in an Intro A test, and then we switched to the next step up and rode her in a Training Level 1 test..... That second ride of the day produced BLUE for Legacy and Mike, winning the TL 1 test class....Trainer Mike had been working on Legacy's canter, they handled it just fine for a young horse. The judge also had time to add a few pointers and Mike had the option of riding the test again. He opted for schooling the canter instead, and with the judge encouraging him to let her open up, they rode the canter much better....Trainer Mike tends to be a bit conservative, we both realize that our young horses have years and years to develope, we don't not want to push too hard..... but the judge really encouraged him to let her go more forward , accept contact, as she totally trusts him, and it was lovely. I brought Legacy home after the show, and put her to babysitting youngsters. We also confirmed yesterday that she is in foal to HeartBreaker for a spring 2010 foal. That is exciting news, both the parents of this foal are dressage winners! Proving their potential out in the public, in open shows against all sorts of other breeds.....We are very excited about this young filly's talent, our very first homebred to hit the show ring, and a huge future in the world of dressage. Legacy also has a whole lot of growing left to do, at 15.2HH as a 3 year old, we are excited about what she can do for our program. The judge also commented on her gaits, her MIND and her potential, when she grows into her gangly body as she matures.....This is one very awesome curly filly.

Tales of skunks and ponies.....

2009-07-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

In early July we had some very special visitors to the ranch....My niece from Missouri came with her family, ages 3 weeks ( yes, weeks!) to 12 years...her three oldest kids are bonus kids, and she has 2 youngins aged 2 1/2 and 3 weeks.....Cassie, came with a plan in mind...find something to love and ride ;-) We made use again, of our nurse mare, pony mare, "Addy" tacked her up in a halter and lead rope and sent Cassie off riding...they stand at the fence, wondering what adventures could happen outside that wall......Cassie had a blast, trotting around on Addy, finding her own legs sored pretty easy, and dreaming of cantering down the trail in the future. We had a wonderful time with all our family members, the older kids are gracious and kind and love their new siblings.....!
While the boys were exploring in the hay barn, they came across some of the local young skunks....we had been having trouble with skunks in our barn, dinning on our cat food...so, this trip for the family was filled with tales of skunks and ponies...you can not get any truer to farm life than that!

Happy 4 th of July.....our independance day !!!

2009-07-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

Ralph August Meiling....somewhere in Europe....1943

woohooo !!! It is the 4 th of July...a time that America celebrates and remembers our past.....and a time that we are so very thankful of our military troops that help to keep us free. My Dad was a WWII vet...he spent 4 years overseas, first in Africa, then in Italy......after he passed away in 2007, I found his war picture album...all those places in pics.....he looked so young, he must have been amazingly brave to travel the world and defend our freedom. His pic album is a real treasure, he had told me of those pics often, but could not remember where he had put the album, so we never got to look through it together....and sadly, not ONE single pic, had a place or date on it....some pics are obvious....Africa is pretty easy to spot, as is Rome.....but I surely wish I knew where some of the other photos were taken....

Photos are a legacy that we leave behind for our heirs and the next generations.....a treasure to share for certain....

Enjoy your day, remember that because of soldiers of wars past...we are all free !!! and Happy 4th of July !!!

Hey, hey, HAY !

2009-07-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Anyone out there remember "Fat Albert?" ....I do not suppose it is even politically correct to say that title anymore.....Fat Albert was a cartoon about a rather plump, but cheery kid...who always said...."hey,hey,hey!" so, I am just quoting him on this topic.

Monday and Tuesday, we hauled in our hay....18 ton of round bales this year...we use round bales late in the summer, and then early in the spring, when we have mare in for foaling and breeding season. We still have a good supply of alfalfa left for our broodmares in the winter....our weanlings will come off pasture in the late summer, and they will spend their days in our pasture here by the house, with a round bale, and supplemental grain....

It is always a chess game here, seems no matter how many pastures or stalls I have, I could use more....but...hey, hey, hay....that is life!

Hattie's diary

2009-06-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to write from one of my horse's perspective...so, here it goes!

Hi, My name is Hattie...here is an excerpt from my diary.

Dear Diary....

I am 3 weeks old now....Mom says it has been a long 3 weeks, I think it has gone rather fast. I would like to share some of the things I have learned in my 3 weeks.

1. The Mom who gave birth to you, may or may not be the Mom caring for you. I think my brother, learned this too.
2. Mom's love comes in all sizes and smells...My Mom is not so tall, and a little round, and probably does not smell like me, but she is my Mom, and loves me dearly.
3. Some Moms have to work....my Mom can not be with me 24/7 like some Moms, but I am well cared for, lack for nothing and am happy....just goes to show a working Mom can have it all.
4. A halter and a lead rope will take you wonderful places! Just be sure and walk by your Mom, instead of out front and behind...it is a whole lot easier on her, and the proper way to go for a walk.
5. The world is NOT flat....when my Mom expected me to cross a ditch and walk up a small hill, I was so scared my legs got like jello....but...she promised I would be OK, and I was! and I understand now, the world is not flat.
6. Moms worry when you cough....OK, I had a little cough and you would have thought I was dying on the spot....Mom got out the antibiotics, made sure I had plenty of rest ( no problem! ) and a sunny place to play in. She really got worried when I slowed down my milk intake, it is almost back to normal now.
7. Moms insist on manners every day of the week..OK, it seems like a little overkill to me..but I guess walking nice beside my Mom, not bucking at her while I play, and not scratching my fanny on her is probably a good idea...at least she thinks so!
8. Moms are a wonderful thing, and I am thankful to have mine...no matter her size/smell or insistence on manners.

Thank you Hattie !!!

a note from MOM
Hattie continues to do well, though she has had an upper respitory issue this week. We have her on antibiotics and she is feeling better and eating better. Hattie gets to spend part of each day on grass, she is curious about that odd looking stuff....She picks at her grain and hay, but is most interested in her milk bucket....another week ought to be helpful in her eating ability and desire.

Legacy's first show

2009-06-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the 13th of June, our homebred keeper filly "Legacy" stepped into the show ring for the very first time. Legacy is under the training guidance of Mike Kincella, a well known trainer, who has a special love for the Spanish horses and horses of this style.....Mike and Legacy trotted their way to placings in both their test rides. I knew that the classes were large, but we were mighty pleased with a second placing in the Intro B test.....there were a few horse eating monster objects in Legacy's mind...a couple of trash cans, and even the judge! but she is a youngster, and each and every time out and about will help mature her mind. I also suspect that the breeding to our ranch stallion "Shadow's Hawk Spirit....aka..HeartBreaker" did indeed take...I don't know of many horses in training that keep increasing their girth size...we will have her preg checked later in the summer, but I suspect I know the answer anyway. Way to go Trainer Mike and Legacy, you both deserve a pat on the back!

*C-C Hattie arrives!

2009-06-14T16:24:00.001-07:00

On June 5th at 5am, our last mare due "Izzy" foaled...what seemed like a very normal and easy foaling was soon to present a real challenge...Izzy foaled, never looked back and walked off leaving her newborn alone and hungry. I made attempts to get Izzy to acknowledge her foal, but the mare acted as if the foal did not even exist...only when I led Izzy close, did she then react, and it was in a violent/non mothering way...I was afraid we were in for a very long haul.

I have know folks that had mares that did not let their newborns nurse..I suppose it is not all that uncommon, though we ourselves, have never had this happen in our herd. We did help some friends once, and it was a fairly easy operation. You simply restrain the mare so she can not kick, and once the foal nurses, the mare understands that the foal is her way to relief from a very full milk bag. Problem solved..once that happens, the mare accepts the foal, and you are off and running.

I had an odd feeling though, this was not to be the case....I quickly called my horseman friend, and mentor "Virgil" and had him help restrain Izzy so that the foal could nurse. After several nursings in this manner, it was apparent that Izzy was not going to accept her foal....we stalled the two horses next to each other, and I made my plans...we would give Izzy some time. Izzy certainly deserved some time to figure this out, I have even heard of this taking several days...

For the next 4 days, and 3 nights, 24 hours a day, I restrained Izzy while the foal could nurse. It was not a pretty situation..Izzy nearly bit the foals ear off at one point, once she kicked and caught her foot in the foals blanket, and slammed the baby to the ground. On day 4, I gave up....tired and hopeless, I headed to plan 2...find a nurse mare for this darling little foal. By this time, the new foal was not looking the best, she was guant and thin...we loaded up the foal, and headed to the vet clinic...it took several times of tubing milk down the baby, but we finally got her strength up. We tried a couple of potential nurse mares, but alas, this time, no luck....so, we were headed to plan 3.....I brought the foal home, and attempted to teach her to suck out of a bottle, or drink from a bucket...after 12 hours of trying, she took her first milk out of a syringe that I held for her..at least we were getting some nutrituion in her....we kept at that for another day, and she finally, after what has seemed like an eternity, took her first sip out of a bucket....

Now, we were headed in the right direction....2 more nights at the barn, the new foal waking me when she got hungry, but preparing milk and putting it in a bucket, is alot easier than loading syringes to have her suck out of....

We got more good news when we talked to that mentor of mine, Virgil. One of his lesson folks has used the method of preparing some milk, freezing it as huge ice cubes and then during the night, putting out the milk, with the ice cubes...this method works well. The foal can drink at will, but you don't have to be there for constant refills. We even took it a step further, and now freeze one serving of milk in the bottom of a small bucket. We give our foal her dinner, and then hang the partially frozen bucket beside the dinner bucket....we find that in the morning, almost every drop is gone! OK, I cheated and had to check in the middle of the night to make sure it was working....twice..LOL...

A couple weeks ago, my oldest son James was out here..he told me he did not like my choice of names this year...so, I asked...what would YOU name the next foal? When I told him it had to be an "H" name...he came up with "Hattie"....now, if you look at her picture, and see that obvious hat, do you wonder how things like this happen? so, Hattie it is...Micro curly/pinto/filly named *C-C Hattie !!!

Hattie is doing well, today I added "Krinkle Clown" in with her, I am hoping she will buddy up and Krinkles can teach her all about how to be a horse. Hattie continues to gain weight, she has LOADS of energy, she loves making laps around our indoor arena that is her home for the time being. She runs and bucks and plays and thinks this old world is an alright place to be...even without a biological mom...

Bye Bye Ty!

2009-05-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were treated to a visit from a lovely couple from British Columbia, Canada. They had an eye on Tyler and came to see him in person, before making a final decision about taking him. We toured the ranch, first visited HeartBreaker who impressed them with his size, build and manners...even though he was being a bit silly wanting to hold his lead rope in his mouth..as if he was a puppy dog carrying his lease begging for a walk ;-) We visited Tyler a few minutes, then headed up the hill to see the mare herd. The mares were not visible and it took some searching to find them. The luxury for our mares is being able to roam free on 150 acres of grass to their knees, the disadvantage is having to look for them, when I want to find them. They have several areas they like best, at different times of the year...they were down low on our place, in some really good grass. After our visit with our mares, we revisited Tyler and checked out Addy and Handsome Dark Knight....well, after the visit, Tyler headed to his new home in Canada. He traveled well, and had a little case of "sea legs" when he stepped off the truck in Canada, but he recovered quickly. I was quite impressed with Ray's knowledge of horses, conformation and potential...I wish all buyers had his kind of knowledge! We will keep track of Tyler as he grows and matures, and have the joy of seeing him started under saddle and being a great rep for the curly breed.