Winnie's Blog
"What were we thinking?!!!!" That’s the question my husband, Bill, and I asked ourselves when we brought home Zelador and Zeloso, two weanling Lusitano colts, at the end of December in 2004. Our combined ages exceed 112 years and our other two horses were eight-years-old and seven when we bought them. We had never worked with youngsters, didn’t know how to work with youngsters and there we were...
To say that we are having the time of our lives would be an understatement. The two Z's led us to liberty training, Working Equitation, tricks (including the bow, the smile, mounting pedestals, pushing large balls) and with any luck, carriage driving. They will begin their jumping education this month and for the past two years have explored classical horsemanship (work in-hand, long reining and work under saddle).
Their adventures and misadventures are chronicled in this blog. I hope you enjoy watching how quickly these two are training us!
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The Sound of Music
December 25, 2009 | No CommentsI remember saying to Allen Pogue (www.imagineahorse.com) that he has entirely too much time on his hands. I said this because I could not believe the incredible things he dreamed up to teach his horses. Perhaps his “malady” is contagious… I got a bee in my bonnet a few weeks ago. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be NEAT if I could teach the horses to Read more »
Canter Pirouette
December 24, 2009 | No CommentsAbout a year ago Zelador almost did a small canter circle at liberty. He was fooling around and I thought, “That’s approaching a canter pirouette!” Time passed and we worked on many other things. However, earlier this week the “almost a canter pirouette” idea crept into my mind. Zelador was full of beans so I asked him to “turn” 360 degrees in a small Read more »
New Tricks
December 21, 2009 | No CommentsA farm fence builder came to give us quotes on one of the paddocks and, of course, we dragged him up to the arena to show him “the boys”. He loved it! A few days later he emailed and said, “It’s pretty amazing what you are able to do with them. Do you generally stick with the same routine for a while or do they Read more »
Pax The Wonder Horse
December 10, 2009 | No CommentsPax continues to astound me. Ron was riding him and I set up many of the Working Equitation obstacles. Up to that point Pax had only seen the bridge. The obstacles Pax did: - the tambourine hangs on the south wall at just the right height for the rider to reach up and touch. We learned to place the object HIGH because Read more »
Bareback and Bitless
December 1, 2009 | No CommentsDuring the Get-Together, Bill rode 19 year-old Kye bareback and bitless. The bareback pad is something to die for. It’s soft, plush, cushy, luxuriant sheepskin. Both the rider and the horse LOVE it. Ever since we got our first Bitless bridle in 2000, Kye has let us know that he doesn’t like it. However, dozens of other horses love it. It wasn’t until we Read more »
A Series of Days with Pax.
November 21, 2009 | No CommentsPax is getting to the point where he’s so interesting. I looked at my watch as we headed from the arena to his paddock and was surprised to see we’d been playing for 18 minutes. In the old days (earlier this week) ten minutes seemed like a long time. I decided to see what he thought about picking up things. Read more »
Ghostwood Farm
November 16, 2009 | No CommentsToday we went for a trail ride at Betsy and Torchy Millar’s Ghostwood Farm in Hockley Valley. Ron Marino rode Kye, Bill was on Zeloso and I was on Zelador. Bill was putting t-bars next to fence posts to support them and sledge-hammered his little finger. Five stitches put things back together. This happened Monday. Luckily Zeloso didn’t require any “pinkie” maneuvers to keep him Read more »
You Have But To Ask
November 9, 2009 | No CommentsBrenda Marino was our MC for the Get-Together. She put hundreds of hours into all the details that create a successful gathering of people and horses. I asked her if there were any way I could repay her. She smiled. Her eyes twinkled. She said, “I’d love to ride your boys.” Well, no sooner said, than done. We saddled both horses yesterday and Read more »
