horse shows and trail rides

Which would you rather do, horse shows or trail rides? It is hard to decide, but seems like I never get enough time to do all I want of either. My Dad has said, always leave when you want more....actually that was his advise when we were on a drill team together (which was a lot of fun too), and his words were "always leave when the audience is still wanting to see more." But, I think it will work both ways. I am always glad to see the end of show season and all I can think about is my other favorite past times, cooking, setting by the fire and reading. We just returned from the Ladies Auxiliary Horse Show in Prestonsburg, KY and it was a very nice show. Of course it was made better because I was able to take home two blue ribbons from the show with my mare Autumn Strider. She is such a wonderful ride in the show ring, but she will give you just as much fun on the trails. That is the beauty about the Rocky Mountain Horses, they are great doing both. That is the motto of our farm...the very best of both worlds.

My Dad and I always wanted to have the opportunity to ride long distances for several days. Nobody else was really into doing the camping thing along the way, so we have never really gotten into that yet. However, since he and my Mom are now in their 70's they don't stray too far from home, but they put several miles a week on a horse. I have attached a picture their friend took of them on one of the rides they took last week. My Mom is sporting a black eye from one of the other rides they were on. It is not a wise thing to go along with riders that you normally do not ride with. My Dad said it was one of the worst rides as far as danger was concerned that he had been on, but once they got into the dangerous part there was no turning back. Mom's horse fell down on a very steep hill and some where along the way down she got a very black eye, but things could have been a lot worse. Whoever said you are never too old to learn a few of life's lessons was correct here.

Babies, Babies, and More Babies

We have really had a great time this year with the foals we have here on the farm. They are all growing so fast. We allow our mares to foal outside, so it is like hunting Easter eggs in the morning.:o) This year however, has been a little different. I don't know if it was the cool spring, the rain we are having now or what, but we are having a lot of our foals being born in the day. Lucky for us, because today was the first time in all the years I have been around horses to see a mare foal from beginning to the end result. We always try to give them their space, so we don't stay up and wait for them, and loose much needed sleep. I was able to capture the whole thing on video, so hopefully tomorrow I will be able to edit it and get it on youtube for everyone to see. I have put together a small slide show of a few of our weanlings, I don't seem to be able to upload it onto the blog. But, you can go to our website, www.vanbertfarms.com go to the weanling page and you can view it from there. Some people are telling me the music is a little strange on their computers, mine is fine, but I will look into that. Enjoy!

The Good and Bad of Signals

Practicing things the same way will pay big dividends. This is the reason that when you ride a horse and he performs well for you, but when your friend rides he will not. I have had to say more than once, " this is the first time I have ever seen him act this way." When you get on a strange horse your signals are not going to be exactly like the horses trainer's therefore, he will not respond in the same way. Always try to duplicate the signals the trainers tell you to do so that the horse will respond the same way. Have you ever seen children act differently with their mothers than they do to their father? This is because they know the difference in the signals and what is expected or required of them. Horses are smarter than most people give them credit for. They pick up real quick what is required of them. Most horses are like people, they will only do what is required, not always what is asked. If you let them, they will pick out certain spots to stop or certain people (mostly children) that they will not respond to. You have to be the boss! You are all trainers... some good some bad. There are some teachers in school that keep complete control of their class. Others with the same students have no control, but both are teachers. A horse that has been permitted to get by with things will over a short period get worse. Have you ever heard people say, "this horse was not like this when I bought him," and wonder why? I recommend when you buy a horse from me or any other trainer, you take a few lessons from them before you take the horse home.