Equine Massage Therapy - UWO

Thanks to the girls from the UWO Equestrain team who came out for the Massage Therapy Clinic on Sunday!

We were able to get through several of the major muscles, 2 basic strokes and try a little bit of each on two VERY different horses.

J. lo enjoyed every bit of her massage - you can see the dreamy look on her face having her neck massaged.

Peanut was very animated during the majority if her massage. She leaned right in to the Effleurage the girls performed. She stretched her legs out like Inspector Gadget for the leg stretches and was very expressive with her face for her hind end. She was an excellent example of a horse with some tension through her back. The girls got to see what I call "butterflies fluttering" just under her skin.

Great job ladies and on behalf of the horses THANK YOU!

Rules of the Barn

I borrowed these from another blog I read (http://risingrainbow.blogspot.com/), they were too funny not to share. I have added my own at the bottom, feel free to comment and add your own.



1. I am human. You are horse. What I say goes. Please take that into consideration when you are standing on my foot.



2. Spilled grain is not "fair game", especially when it is spilled in another horse's stall. It still belongs to that particular horse. You have no reason to go in and eat it.



3. Poop does not need to be hidden. I clean your stall every day. I will Find it. Do not hide it.



4. I do not need your help when I clean the barn, nor do I need your supervision, or even your presence. I have been cleaning the barn and stalls ever since you lived here. I know what I am doing. Standing at the door staring at me, will not make me clean faster.



5. There is no need to go into the barn and help yourself to the feed. Meals Are given at specific times of the day -am and pm. There is a feed schedule. You know the schedule. I know you know the schedule. You know that I know that you know the schedule. There is no need to help yourself.



6. Water buckets are not toys. Neither is the gate, pitchfork, wheel barrow, whatever is in the wheel barrow, fence,or the occasional dog.



7. The wheel barrow is there for a reason. Please do not try to move it while I am cleaning your stall.



8. Just because I go into the Barn doesn't mean you automatically get food. There is other stuff in the barn. Stuff you don't want. Like de wormer and fly spray , shots, medicine.



9. Sheath cleaning will NOT be enjoyed...by anyone.



10. Water travels through the hose. If you are thirsty, do not stand on the hose. The water buckets will fill much faster.



11. Not everything has to be high drama. None of the following things will kill you: fly spray, plastic bags, balloons, hoses, chipmunks and other small rodents, or bright blue tarps.



12. Although I understand the need for you to go to the bathroom, it is not necessary to hold it in all day until the moment I finish cleaning you r stall and put away the wheel barrow.



13. Accidents happen. However, I'm not altogether sure you're not trying to kill yourself. Next time you decide to impale yourself on some sort of object, please try to do it when it's not hailing, midnight, the weekend, or Christmas.



14. While I appreciate your need to be clean, pooping in your water bucket does not make my job easier, and it deprives you of water. Please find a new spot.



15. Whinnying as loudly as you can in my face does not make me feed you any faster.



16. I have to wait patiently too while you are having your shoes tacked on. There is no need to bite me.



I added:



17. Stallions: there is no need to call out to EVERY horse that walks by your stall. If you must, please limit it to only horses of the opposite sex, not during lesson time, not when I am leading a horse by (or any students, boarders, owners, etc.), not during feed time, not when the mare is in heat, not to Blondie (she's already pregnant), and not Promise (your mom). OR, just don't do it. Ever.



18. Your consideration is appreciated during farm tours for prospective students, boarders, and training clients. Do not feel the need to run away from me when I try to catch you, pin your ears, or swish your tail at me. Bucking and broncing during this time should be kept to a minimum.



19. Going bananas in your stall doesn't impress me.



20. I don't know how you manage to escape from your stall, but it seems that once a year there is an episode. Should you escape from your stall, please remain calm. There is no need to rip blankets down from their hanging places and poop on them, or to help free your friends.

I toldja it had begun...

Horse show season is slowly starting up and we've got some really exciting news. The Western part of the UWO Equestrian team (for which I am the official coach) is going to have an opportunity to show!
The English part of the team belong to an association with a number of shows hosted by various Universities each year. Unfortunately there are very few (if any) opportunities for the Western girls. The Western division of the team is very young in comparison to it's English counterparts, but even more determined to run a great show!

We're starting small:
Since the Western part of the team is run almost solely by Daina Robinson (VP of Western), I have offerred my help and resources to put together a show for UWO vs. Guelph. We are starting from nothing here, and are looking for all the help we can get!

The Challenges:
0$ Funding. The university doesn't give any funding to the team, and since the western division is so new, we don't have any previous funds to look to.

A facility: we are currently in the process of viewing some of the fantastic facilities that some of our contacts have suggested or volunteered. Again, without funding it's a difficult duty. We need somewhere close to London, with a big enough arena to support 6 to 8 horses at a time for group classes, and a warm-up area/ rest stop for the remaining horses in between individual classes. Restroom facilities, viewing areas, HEAT, lighting, parking etc. are all some of our criteria.

Neiiiiiiiggggggghhh! Horses! We can't have a show without horses to ride! Fortunately I am blessed with some fantastic lesson horses that I would love to share for the show (thanks Jessie). Thanks to Don Pletch for offerring some of his horses as well, and to Cathy Cofell for offerring use of her horses ad 6 saddles and bridles! Thanks to Greg Crispin for offering his services as a Judge.

Volunteers. No horse show can run smoothly without the helping hands of eager volunteers. Any students, parents, friends who want to be a part of the show we will be needing everything from people to direct parking, to holding horses between classes, to arena clean up, gait openers and closers, to loping horses the morning of the show, to grooming and saddling, to photographers!

Have a skill or some supplies you would be willing to lend us? Let me know!

Interested in coming out to support Western and watch some of the events? Tentative dates are March 7th or March 28th. I will keep you posted!

Baby time!

Ok, ok so I'm jumping the gun maybe just a little with the warmer temperatures, but it's ALMOST here.

Before we get used to these temperatures, have a look at these chilly pictures from the day we went to pick up the new lesson horse: J-lo (and yes, she was named for her curvaceous hind end).

The truck was stuck.

The tractor was stuck.

The roads were....not great.

BRRRRRRRR!!!

So what was J-lo doing before we went to pick her up? She has an AQHA and NRHA show record, and has been out on lease for the past year and a half. Before that, she was a baby-maker! And here are some of the pictures I got my hands on for everyone anxious to see baby pictures!

J-lo has been working out really well so far for everyone who has been riding her. She's just being "phased-in" right now so if you haven't had a chance to ride her yet, you will in the next few weeks!

More baby pictures to come soon!

Flashback for just a second to holiday/musical rides. Here's a picture of Victoria and Nic with her antlers on. Just a sneak peak of things to come, I'm hoping to get more pictures and even a video to put up for everyone who's been asking.

And so the show season begins....

So we packed up the trailer, loaded the horses and took off for the first horse show of the season this past weekend. It was my second show ever on a reining horse and showing in the Open division (against other equine professionals) and my horses first show ever! Jessie brought along the dun colt up at the front of the barn named Hollywood, and another training horse - the cute roan mare for their first and second shows ever.

The drive was smooth sailing and the facility was great. It was hosted at the Michigan State University Pavilion and it was HEATED!!!

We rode into the night so the horses could have a chance to see and be in the arena with few other horses around.

Friday we watched a number of classes including western pleasure, english and western horsemanship, and hunter under saddle. We were the last class of the day and ran pattern 10.

I was very pleased with Peanut's performance even though we had a few -1/2 points here and there. We ended up placing 7th out of 14.

We competed again on Saturday and had some good points in those patterns as well. We came home with a couple classes under our belts and some more things to work on!

Horsey Quotes

"A boy is a long time before he knows his alphabet, longer before he has learned to spell, and perhaps several years before he can read distinctly; and yet there are some people who, as soon a they get on a young horse, entirely undressed and untaught, fancy that by beating and spurring they will make him a dressed horse in one morning only. I would fain ask such stupid people whether by beating a boy they would teach him to read without first showing him the alphabet? Sure they would beat him to death before they would make him read."
- Reproduced from The Man Who Listens to Horses - Original source unknown.

So it looks like I'm not the only one who uses this exact same comparison......although my version is maybe a little less articulate.

Winter Scenes

Weekly Forecast

Long Term Forecast Updated: Monday, January 12, 2009, 8:00 EST

	Tuesday Jan. 13	Wednesday Jan. 14	Thursday Jan. 15	Friday Jan. 16	Saturday Jan. 17	Sunday Jan. 18
	Light snow	A few flurries	Isolated flurries	Cloudy periods	Light snow	Light snow
P.O.P.	90%	40%	40%	10%	80%	80%
High	-2°C	-13°C	-17°C	-14°C	-9°C	-7°C
Low	-13°C	-18°C	-22°C	-22°C	-19°C	-15°C
Wind	NW 25 km/h	E 10 km/h	N 25 km/h	W 25 km/h	SW 30 km/h	SW 30 km/h
24-Hr Snow	close to 5 cm	5-10 cm	less than 1 cm	-	close to 5 cm	close to 5 cm

1

YUCK!

Rumours of the coldest week in 18 years.

A HIGH of minus seventeen?!?

Better have a look at these pictures to remind ourselves of why we love Canada and snow: