St. Andrews Stables

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.

LESSONS CANCELLED for January 18th

Carole — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:43:18 +0000

Due to the very cold weather, we are opting to cancel lessons for this Wednesday, January 18th. Stay warm and see you next week!

How to take a lesson

Cec — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:24:16 +0000

Congratulations, you have intelligently chosen a qualified instructor, and you are ready to take an official riding lesson. Good for you. If you own your own horse, or if you are using one of the trainer’s lesson horses, please arrive at least ten minutes early. If you own your own horse ask the trainer ahead of time if you will be riding first or doing ground work. Sometimes trainers want to work with students on the ground first to see how competent and confident he or she is. Insist on learning to groom the horse yourself. Do not tie the horse on your own however. Let the trainer show you how, and where, to tie the horse. If you are riding, learn how to saddle and bridle and groom yourself. If it takes an entire lesson or two to learn these skills, so be it.

During the lesson, keep your ears open , be quiet and mindful, but give the instructor feedback . If you are not understanding how to do something, ask about it until you get it. Do not forget to breathe! So many students begin to breathe very shallow, or stop breathing altogether as soon as the horse takes its first step. If you have taken lessons before, from another instructor, do not say “Well my last instructor told me to do this exercise …blah…blah”. If you are going to doubt your instructor/trainer, then TEACH YOURSELF! Listen and breathe, listen and breathe. Do what you are instructed to do. Enjoy.

When the lesson is over, ask questions that you want to ask. Then learn how to unsaddle and once again groom the horse yourself. If another question pops up during the week be sure and ask it at your next lesson. Go over in your head what you learned during the week. Visualize what you learned. Or if you took the lesson on your own horse, practice, visualize, practice, practice, practice, visualize and practice.

More Fun than we can ride

Megan — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:35:44 +0000

We had a photo shoot at the stables to get new photos of all the horses. After grooming, tacking and riding, we all needed a bit of a laugh.

and this is what happens when Beautiful Barni is in the arena with a bunch of his fans. we can’t decide who looks the best.. you decide!