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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Pax, Mary and Ron
November 3, 2009 | No CommentsOver fifty people came to our farm Sunday October 25th for our Autumn Get-Together. Five of the horses performing had never been in front of an audience and none of them spooked, shied or ran away! Throughout the performances we had a person stationed at each end of the seating area, ready to protect the onlookers. Out of the ten horses Zelador was the Read more »
Pax
October 19, 2009 | No CommentsPax is a five-year-old Canadian owned by Ron. Ron’s the one who used to start and ride racing Thoroughbreds. Ron is doing a ground driving demonstration for our Get-Together next Sunday. The music is sung by Chubby Checker. It’s “The Stroll”. Strolling perfectly describes how Pax moves. I do tricks and pedestals with him several times a week for about ten minutes. A Read more »
Practices
October 13, 2009 | No CommentsWe’ve been practicing for the October 25th Get-Together. We’ve placed a radio/CD/tape player on a chair, just across our barrier that will separate the audience from the horse. This allows easy access to the machine so we can start, stop and rewind the tapes quicky. (Yep, we’re using tapes to practice each act. In the show the music is on CDs and they are being Read more »
and more…
October 5, 2009 | No CommentsWe began with Z and Z’s liberty routine. Within seconds of the music starting we realized that Zeloso needed his halter and a lead line on. Having him at liberty was a train wreck. It took a while to catch Zeloso and get the halter on him. Once we accomplished that, things improved. Zelador was brilliant with the ball and the tricks. Occasionally I’d Read more »
More Practice…
October 3, 2009 | No CommentsBill and I practiced the liberty routine with Z and Z this morning. We started with the big balls. One of them is red and green, the other one is solid green. We discussed our pattern before we took the boys to the arena. I would work with the red and green ball with Zelador and Bill would work with the green ball and Zeloso. Read more »
Oct. 25th Get-Together practice
October 2, 2009 | No CommentsHere’s a photo of Bill and me practicing for the October 25th Get-Together. The general theme of the event is: there are so many things you can do with your horse AND have fun doing them. The hula hoop tossing idea came from the Wind Rider obstacle course. One of the obstacles is a hula hoop placed on the ground and the rider has Read more »
Get-Together Practice
September 21, 2009 | No CommentsYesterday Bill and I saddled up Zelador and Zeloso to practice our act for the October 25th Get-Together. Yep, we’re actually having a “show” during a month that is not traditionally COLD. We’ll still have our annual mid-February Get-Together. It’s an excellent motivator for those winter months. For the first time we’re charging a small fee to come and watch. Every penny will go Read more »
Pax Report #2
September 17, 2009 | 1 CommentYep, Pax is a cone crusher. Need more of those rubber cones… the plastic ones smash really well. He tried to get up on the tall pedestal at least three times. Can’t believe that I actually dissuaded him! Pax is very adept at turning on the low platforms and ALMOST pushed the big ball today! He is wary of it at first. I’m Read more »
Pax Report #1
September 17, 2009 | No CommentsI took the Canadian, Pax, up to the arena today for his “mid-week excursion”. If we could find the music “The Stroll” it would be perfect for him!!! We strolled up to the arena with a stop or two… He walked up on the low pedestals. His approach is: place both front feet on, then paw the top of the Read more »
Travelling Show
September 10, 2009 | No CommentsOne question that’s been floating through my mind is: will the boys do liberty and tricks at some other location? Well, Saturday we put this to the test and shipped Zelador and Zeloso to Christi’s farm. Zelador was at one end of Mike Charter’s trailer and Zeloso at the other. In the middle we placed the new low platform, the rotating top pedestal, the ball, Read more »
