2015 Creekside Curlies

My oh my how time flies!  My blog has been neglected...very neglected since the popularity of FB has taken over.  2015 will see some fun things for Creekside. I now have 2 driving equines, Legacy my 15.3HH homebred curly mare, and Lady a 13.2HH curly pony from Top of the Hill farms that joined our herd last summer.  Both the mares are going nicely in harness, Legacy has much more training, I am hoping to get Lady to that level of skill. Here is a photo of me and my curly girls.

This is the first public presentation of this photo...you can see we need a little practice for portrait shots, but we can work on that.  I hope to keep my blog more active in 2015. Creekside will be celebrating our 20th anniversary of being in the curly world....more news on that later!

Catching up

Oh MY!  how does time fly?  After a couple of very educational clinics, and some minor equine injuries, human caused no less, Legacy and I are back to driving.  I made changes in her harness saddle, and her bit. Shoes that were too small and nails that caused issues have been removed allowing her hooves and legs to heal.  I spent today long lining. Legacy likes her new bit (she should for the price!) and as long as I remember to keep my hands up, she remembers to follow my direction.  Today, Legacy had the smoothest "rein back" I have ever seen her do....I think much of the success was bit related.  Since our competition year was totally shot because of injuries, we will spend alot of time long lining, in addition to driving.  I hope to find a dressage trainer to work with by fall, so we can improve MY skills along with Legacy's.  

Good bye sweet Lady!

Last week Lady started her journey to Finland.....She arrived in Colorado on the first leg of her journey. Lady will soon travel to Paul's Valley, OK, where she will stay in quarantine until her flight to Finland. As usual, shipping was a nightmare. The shippers gave us a call and told us they would arrive between 8pm and Midnight....I decided to stay up...(bad idea) but when I had not seen nor heard from them by 2am I headed for bed. The shipper arrived around noon ......and after a bit of complications (truck issues) not related to Lady, she was on her way to Colorado.  I hope someday, a shipper will care enough about their reputation to make things easier on the farm shipping the horse out. I have not an "easy" ship in years.
Lady is one of the best broke curlies I have ever been around. She is so responsive off your legs,  she listens, but not "squirt" out from underneath you.  Her Finnish home waiting has a young man, with horse allergies waiting for her....she will be well loved and well cared for....congrats Lady on finding such a great home. Lady will be missed here at Creekside.

Snow time drive

Winter time is a good time for a snow drive here....using the wheat field by the house, I took the opportunity to go for a drive!  Hubby was kind enough to take some pics for me....and what a superb job he did. After my solo drive, I added on my "gator"  we went for a short drive.....my carriage has a way to correct the balance, and gator Alice and I need to practice some, and get the balance for 2 people correct..that will help Legacy alot...she will only have the chore of pulling the carriage, instead of pulling and trying to balance the carriage off her back.

My new driving rug

 Well, its almost Christmas and I took a little time to make my horse a gift ;-)  I sewed up a new driving rug, designed to keep her back warm on the cold winter days we drive.  It took a bit of  "experimenting" since I did not have a pattern,  just had a copy of one driving rug version in a catalog.  I used comfy no fray fleece, that you can find at awesome prices this time of year, and also a wide variety of colors or even colorful patterns.  The rug pictured below is what we in our family call the "gopher"  ... a cute story stands behind that. Years ago, when Mike's Mom was married to Harry Graf she wanted Harry to cut out of wood, a couple of bears....having no pattern (just a photo in a magazine) the first attempt Harry proudly brought in from his workshop for Frances to see....she simply exclaimed "Harry, that is NOT a bear, it just like a "gopher" .....and the term stuck...so, here is my "gopher"  what some folks would call a prototype, a first attempt or...LOL...a gopher.

 The concept worked well, and this rug in a whole lot like the rugs you see in catalogs...but I wanted the back half of the rug to lie closer to my horse's loins to keep her warm...so, after driving in the rug a few days, I modified the rug to be cut out above the first section of shafts, and then to lie flat behind the breeching strap where it connects to the shafts.

 Another practice round of driving...to make sure it works fine and dandy.

And....drum roll please...the finished product....I will be adding velcro straps that connect the rug to the saddle of the harness, so it won't pull back as the horse moves...but I needed my horse holding groom for that task....and...the rug is simple enough to sew up in a matter of minutes...Legacy already has 3 now, all in different colors...I had better stay out of the fabric store for awhile.!  haha!  I bet they put fleece on sale REALLY good sales, in January...and....I will be making some matching harness pads, and matching polo wraps too, I already have the fabric. Who would have thought a gal that could barely pass home ech in school could be so creative?  Merry Christmas !!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Creekside Curlies!  This has been a year of amazing blessings, and life changes for our family....In October we brought home Mike's Mom to live with us, and on the First Day of November, our 2nd Grandson arrived....Both Grandma and new baby are doing nicely!  Time to drive has been limited,  but I always have much more time for such things in the winter months of January and Feb.  Legacy is in the "handy" pasture and I can literally go drive anytime I have a half hour or more...it is good for my soul!  We wish you the best Holiday season, and a VERY Merry Christmas!

New arrival

A new arrival in our world ;-) Mr. Nickla VavRosky.... One mighty handsome Grandson arrived November 1st at 8:56pm....making his birthday the same day of the month as Great Aunt Robbie !!!  congrats to the really proud parents, and to our other Grandson...."big brother" August James.  What a sweet baby,  he loves to be held and cuddle.He is yet another miracle baby from our Momma with RA. This pregnancy went well, but shortly after Nickla's birth, his Mom had problems..we are praying she is stable now and will continue to be the wonderful Mom that she is.