St. Andrews Stables

Dolly- update

Cec — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:16:32 +0000

Dolly has a new home. She hopped right into that little on horse trailer without backward glance or a nicker good-bye. She is off to a place near Gimli to have some one on one time with her new owner and then will be doing some trail riding.

Beau , our token Arabian, has been retired to a kid filled home, where he will give leisurely pony rides and be fussed over.

Barni , the brat, has gone on to a jumping career at one of the big barns in the south end of the city

In case you haven’t noticed there are many new faces around the barn, equine and human.

New boarder Luna is hanging out with Teyha in paddock 6.

Max is trying to make friends with Harley and his posse in paddock 4.

Three new ponies in the front paddocks are here for some training so they can become useful participants in the equine world too.

Reba the rescue mare is in the round paddock. She too is here for some training.

And the summer gets busier!! There is still some room in our camps.

Could these have been our grandmas and great aunties?

Cec — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/eve-horsewoman

Camp News

Cec — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:46:39 +0000

The Latest in Hay Moving Technology

mctavish — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:22:03 +0000

My owner is always thinking about better ways to do things, making less work for everyone. So they finally invested in some Quads around here to move their latest acquisition , a hay sleigh, wahoo, modern technology.

On a good day when it is not piled too high, they can pull it with 2 quads,

But when it is piled high, they gotta work together and pull it with all four quads, and when it gets really heavy or they hit a pile of frozen poo they gotta use all quads, quadruped and quadrumanous!

Oh does that make it an octo-ped!?

Gotta munch my hay and think on that.

Megan’s Gaited Horse

Cec — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:05:24 +0000

I can’ remeber what this gait was called – the vibro-something!

Team work is what we aim for

Cec — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:43:09 +0000

Gaited Horses

Cec — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:14:52 +0000

I know there are several breeders of gaited horses in Manitoba, the folowwing are samples of extra gaits that some horses may exhibit.

Extra Gaits of the Horse

By Susan Harris

Senior Level IV Centered Riding Clinician

From Cortland, New York

–The Boink: one-beat gait with suspension, often exhibited by horses ridden into a field of white-tailed deer.

–The Lateral Swoop: a sudden sideways leap with shoulder horizontal to the ground, leaving the rider hovering briefly over where the saddle used to be before descending to the ground. Can be precipitated by a tractor starting up outside the arena, snow sliding off the arena roof, a white rock that magically turns into a dog or a green plastic garbage bag.

–The Whirling Dervish: Advanced version of the Lateral Swoop in which the horse spins like a top, frequently launching the hapless rider a long distance by centrifugal force. Specialty of certain Arabians, often caused by viewing a 4-wheeler approaching on the trail ahead.

–The Yahooey: one of the natural Airs Above the Ground, a highly suspended movement exhibited when turned out or during the first canter in an open field. A variation is the Jet-Assisted Buck & F@rt, in which the horse achieves maximum height and momentum aided by the loud expulsion of exhaust gas. Occurs on cold, windy days when the wind goes up the horse’s tail and blows his brains out his ears.

–The Omigod: sudden backwards movement accompanied by loud, rolling snorts, ears stiffly forward and eyes bugging out, exhibited by a horse that has spotted a monster (invisible to the human eye) advancing on him from the front. Can be precipitated in visible form by riding up to a large blue tarp, which the wind then moves slightly.

–The Hot Wheels: speed gait in which all 4 legs rotate at high speed, often leaving rubber strips on the ground. Frequently exhibited by runaway ponies, rushing jumpers and horses returning to the barn.

–The 2 Footed Lean: gait exhibited at speed around turns, in which the horse proceeds only on the inside legs with the outside feet airborne, while the rider’s inside boot & stirrup scrape a furrow in the arena surface. Often used in conjunction with the next:

–The Shark Circling the Rowboat: characteristic movement of lesson horse in ever-decreasing concentric circles around the instructor, until the horse is in the center standing on the instructor’s left foot and further progress is impossible. (Old school horses tell new school horses how to do this.)

–The Sloth: typical gait of school horse who has perfected the art of laziness. No perceptible forward movement, in spite of encouraging kicks, clucks, flapping reins, ineffective crop swats, shouts and jumping up and down. (Note: the Sloth can be transformed into Hot Wheels by the sight of the instructor advancing with lunge whip in hand.)

–The Flapper: movement in which the horse shakes like a wet dog, totally terrifying the beginner rider. Horse then grins an evil grin and eats grass.

–The Wallow: rotational movement performed on the ground, especially in mud, sand or water. Always performed when the instructor is at the other end of the trail ride or not looking.

–Followed by the Upsie Daisy, which always occurs before the arrival of the instructor.

CHA Clinic Scheduled for May

Carole — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:01:04 +0000

We will be hosting a Certified Horsemanship Association All Discipline Standard Instructor Certification clinic May 14 – 18, 2012.

Cost for the clinic is $750.

Accommodations available onsite for $100.

For more information about the clinic, please contact us.

For more information about CHA, visit their website.

Where not to give a lesson

Cec — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:24:23 +0000

Dad what were you thinking?

I know what pony was thinking -”Holy F*&^%- – I am outta here!

Happenings at the Barn

Cec — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:01:11 +0000

Isto went home, his little holiday of staying in the barn and being the king pin in gate 1 is over. Angela’s crazy schedual of work was not allowing her to accomplish her riding goals and she was not spending the time she wanted with her horse so she took him home and will be taking lessons on one of our horses now. He did not want to go, I don’t think he is boss at home.

Molly (aka Tank) has a beautiful new purple coat. I do believe the horse thinks it went to heaven. She has a new blanket, she has a pretty new halter and reins, she has a new herd of horses she can boss around, and she works like 2 hours a week and gets brushed for about 5 hours a week! Great job if you can get it!!

We are getting a new border by the end of the month, so gate 4 will have a new gelding buddy.

And we have a new staff member, Cathy. She will be barn staff on Saturday, when Tia will be helping her, and Thursday morn and be in the Barn on Monday nights helping with horses during private lesson night. We also have a couple of new volunteers that come out sporadically during the week to clean the barn and feed the horses in the morning. So if you see some new faces in the barn , stop and say hello.