Horse Camp

This week was full and a blast. We started the week with 11 young girls wanting to spend time with their horses (whether they owned the horse or had borrowed one for the week didn’t seem to matter).


Each day we started with the girls learning to groom their horses. The horses made it challenging for some by rolling in fox tails, or wood chips. We also found several ticks on horses (according to our vet, tick season is suppose to be over. Someone should have told the ticks.).



We then spent some time riding in the arena learning to walk, stop, back and turn. Some were more advanced than others but many had ridden fewer than 5 times before this week. To make it a little more challenging we worked wtih some to learn side passing (where the horse crosses their feet to walk sideways and slightly forward).

To keep things interesting we also had a trail course area where the girls could learn to maneuver obstacles.

The cowboy curtain can be a challenge especially on windy days like this one. The curtain becomes a horse eating monster in the eyes of some horses.

Another challenge on this windy day was the pin-wheel flowers on the tires. These brave horses and riders figured out that the "flowers" posed no real threat.

The water box (aka mud pit) has been rumored among the horses to swallow them in just one step. That is why they cross as quickly as possible or not at all. The girls learned how to be confident and lead their horses through anyway.

Then there is the one show off in every crowd. This horse wanted to show everyone that she could stand on the mounting block. We didn't have any girls willing to give her a ride though.

Around lunch time each day the girls took off the saddles and put their horses away for the day, making sure to brush them first. Then they learned to care for the horses’ stalls and runs. (yep you guessed it, they had to poop-scoop. Surprisingly very few complained and most helped each other to make the jobs go faster.)



After lunch we would walk down to the river and the girls went tubing and swimming. One young lady made herself a “hot tub” by blocking off the river with the large rocks around. The river itself is very cold but once it was allowed to stand still the sun warmed it up quite nicely.

The day always ended with a nice cool treat and good-byes to the girls’ horses.

We sure had a great week with these ladies.

More Horse Dreams

Okay, so we have two horses already. One is the pretty boy that you see on the place about me. He is a bay thoroughbred that I adore. My daughters have a chestnut quarter horse. My oldest is totally into showing. ( I thought I would slow her down by telling her that she needed to pay for her open shows. She is now riding horses for other people and making money, and paying for the shows. So much for that plan.) Now my husband wants in on the act. He has been studying horse training (books, videos, clinics everything). He is voracious. Here is the picture of the boy he wants. This boy is 2 years old and halter broke only.



Okay, so I have to admit that he is very pretty. He is a registered quarter horse and can be cross registered paint as well. We have only seen him one other time before I took these pictures. He is owned by an acquaintance and when I mentioned last week we wanted to see him; she said to go on out and have a look. She would try to meet us there. She didn't make it so we went into the field on our own (not usually recommended). However this 2 year old with two pasture mates met us part way and was very polite.

Hubby is feeling his back and checking to see if he will be a good bareback horse. My husband loves riding bareback, but doesn't want a horse like my high withered thoroughbred. I can't imagine why not. Ha Ha.

While checking out the back, he also had him side passing and leading by the fly mask. Now if I didn't know the person selling him very well, I would have thought someone slipped the horse something. He was very compliant, willing and followed us around the field. Is this really a two year old?

And as if to prove to me just how good a boy he is, the horse came up very gently to my youngest daughter. She pet him and moved all around and he just stood; even followed her at a respectful distance.

Okay, alright I am sold. I LOVE the boy too. However can we really afford to board (yes I am one of those poor unfortunate souls that doesn't get to keep her boys close by) yet another horse. Boarding also means that our horses are dry-lotted so we have to feed year round and with hay soaring to over $200 a ton I am not sure we can do it. Yes I am aware that many people have been paying that much for a while now. However in just over three years we have doubled the price. I was only paying $100 a ton delivered three years ago. Now it is $200 if I pick it up.

So those are my thoughts up to earlier tonight. What has changed, you ask? Well, today was the first day of beginners camp. A friend of mine and I hold summer riding camps at her place. We had eleven girls ages 7 to 13 out. It was so much fun to watch them ride and help those that have not ridden very often. It just refreshed my "horse dreams".

Then tonight we had another guest for our Equine Outreach Program. This was the girls third visit and her mom shared with me just how much this is helping her. Now the horse she rode last time was not available to ride; he has injured his leg somehow. So we brought him out and I thought some walking in the round pen would be good for him. He decided to get pushy and when I pushed back he spun and tried to kick me. Now mind you, I have stayed between the horse and the girl so she was safe. I sent her out and had a little corrective experience for the horse. I let him buck all he wanted on the other side away from me. When he came toward me it had to be when I invited and with two eyes, not two feet. When he finally decided that two eyes and beside me was nicer than moving away, I took him out and she hosed his leg. He stood beautifully for that. I took time to explain that he is allowed to get angry that I wouldn't let him do what he wanted but he can not try to hurt me or anyone else. And that once the correction was over I was still going to love him and do what he needed which was hose his leg.

When the mom came back to pick up her child, I explained what had happened (didn't want the girl to go home talking about the bucking horse without the whole story). Turns out that the daughter is having to learn the same lesson. It is ok to get angry but hurting others or threatening to hurt others is not ok. It is amazing how God uses these horses to teach lessons. Before the mom left she wanted to know how much she should pay for the sessions. The outreach program is dedicated to providing these services free of charge. She still wanted to be supportive and gave us our first monetary donation.

So all of this brings me to the thought "maybe I really am suppose to do this ministry even though I am not at all sure how we are going to afford it". Stay tuned for how God is going to supply all our needs in spite of my fears.

So yesterday was a very busy day. We had another family out to experience our Equine Outreach. The youngest girl was 5 and the older daughter is in the 7th grade. Sweet family and great kids. The youngest ran around with my youngest. They are the two walking together into the barn.



We did some rock picking in our arena (I know not original since we did that with the girl from the night before but the arena really needs the work.) Then our guest got to pick which horse she wanted to ride and we learned some basic riding tools. (go, stop, left and right) It took awhile for her to get over being scared. The wind was blowing softly and I could just imagine how it felt on horseback. I asked her if she felt like she was flying. She put one arm out and then switched arms. After a few more times around, she put both arm out and said she really felt like she was flying. What an awesome feeling.



Last night was a 4-H ride night. One of our girls painted her horse's hooves with sparkles. That was fun. It was quite hot so after a while the girls took off their saddles and went bareback. Then it was time for snacks. Drumsticks on bareback. It was an awesome summer night.

I also finally got the picture taken of my blog spot at home. My family calls it my nest. I have everything I need close at hand. Our 4-H scrapbook is on the hearth so I can look at it for inspiration, one shelf on the book case has my horse books. Hope Rising, Bridge Called Hope (both by Kim Meeder) Chicken Soup for the horse lovers soul, She flies without wings, Natural Horsemanship (Pat Parelli), Horse Follow Closely, The Tao of Equus,the Farway Horses and my most recent purchase Downunder Horsemanship.

Any how, I wind up sitting on the floor with my laptop or on the couch with my feet on the table and computer balanced on my lap. It is not fancy but it works for me. I only wish I was totally wireless but I am still with (phone) cord.

Summer is G-O-O-D

So today starts the first full week of summer vacation. I am so excited! We have a young lady scheduled to come out to visit this evening and then another tomorrow morning. I have also scheduled another girl for next week and have two phone calls out for two others. We don’t have all the paper work in place yet but I refuse to wait any longer. There are children out there that need to know they are loved and to have a place to feel connected. I am going to do what I can where I can with what I have regardless of paper work. I figure Jesus didn’t have any papers, but of course He was the son of God so I don’t think he needed any papers.

I do have someone ready to put together our web site and it will cost less than I had originally anticipated. I will put a link here as soon as it is up and running. It will probably be another month. Got to get the money, time for the design and the wonderful woman who said she would do it for us is gone for the next 2 - 3 weeks. Ah patience isn’t it grand. J

One thing that we do need is a name. I need some help here. We have the following options.

Pastures of Peace Youth Ranch - -
Pros: I believe that at the ranch one can find peace from all the hardships in life. It is the one place that nothing bad can follow me, and maybe it can give that to others. Also, the name kinda came to me while I was
Crystal Peaks and it seemed as though it was meant to be the name (felt right at the time).

Cons: The more I think about it, the name just doesn’t seem to fit. I want people to not have a preconceived notion of what the ranch is before they come. I don’t want the scope to be limited by a name. Also, it now sounds like a cemetery or retirement community. I don’t want that.

Three Hawks Youth Ranch - -
Pros: Three is a great number. It is strong, it represents the three of us that
are working together to build this outreach. It also represents the trinity.
Hawks are very present in our area and we could have the tag line “ . . . where spirits soar . . . It also would not immediately let people know that we are Christian based and therefore not turn anyone off. All would be welcome and feel comfortable coming no matter their beliefs. It would also have the same initials as our 4-H club which would be nice if we shared resources that are personalized.

Cons: I am not sure if it is a strong name. I can’t quickly think of an interesting brand that could be made from the name. It is ambiguous. Also, there is a Three Rivers Winery in our valley as well as many resident subdivisions that have the work hawk in them. I don’t want it to be derivative.

So what do you think? Is one of these the right name or are there other suggestions that would be better. Come on comment and let me know what you think.

Well, I started writing this, this morning. I have since had the young lady out and am including a picture of her. God’s timing is PERFECT. She came out and helped pick rocks out of the arena. While she picked with my two daughters I had a chance to talk with the girl’s mom. They had come out once before in the fall and had not been back since. I called in April and let them know that they were welcome to come again, just to call and let me know. I ran into them at church on Sunday (I haven’t seen them at church in months). It was as if the stars aligned. They came to church, we had the time and all that we have to offer are meeting a need for this young girl. She was all smiles and felt so good when she was able to get the horse to do what she wanted. Oh, did I mention that the girl speaks very little English. She moved to America less than a year ago and I believe that it was nice for her to be able to communicate with the horse without using words. Although I did tell her that the horse needs to learn the word “ho” to mean stop. She seemed to like that she could teach the horse “English” even though hers is limited.

The girls quickly figured out it was much easier to work together to carry the large pail of rocks than to let one person do it alone. Team work what a great learning and sharing experience.

After rock picking our special guest got to pick which horse she wanted to ride and she chose Andy. She was ALL smiles as you can see.

I should probably also mention that while I was finishing with our guest my two girls had to leave to go to the 4-H office where they had the distinct pleasure of examining their horses poo for parasites. I know it doesn't sound glamorous and it wasn't but it helped them meet a requirement to be in 4-H. Fortunately both our horses came up CLEAN! We are doing a good job of worming them which means they are healthy.

Here the girls got to look for worm eggs. Both their horses got the all clear. As a matter of fact all our club members' horses were clear of all parasites.

Anyway, I am so very excited about all that summer is bringing already. We have another young girl coming tomorrow morning. So until then . . .

Learning never ends

Shane, the girls and I attended a horse clinic this weekend and had a blast. We rode up with another 4-Her and her mom on Saturday and met up with several other people we knew while there. Today the four us returned and brought the other 4-Her back with us. Her mom stayed home and completed necessary chores instead of having fun with us.
The clinician was Clinton Anderson and we all took something away from the experience. The girls learned lessons, Shane gained excitement to begin working with horses more and I left with a much higher credit card balance. I bought a few training tools, and safety tie rings for our Outreach Program.

After today’s lessons I asked the girls what the liked the best and if they would be willing to share their favorite parts on Tuesday for our 4-H meeting. They each came up with several things. 1- Ground work is very important (working with the horse while the would be rider is on the ground). 2- Flexion is a fantastic key to unlocking many problems. Clinton talked about and demonstrated flexion on the ground, under saddle at the stand still and under saddle while in motion. We are all looking forward to trying these exercises with our horses. 3- Using the flexion exercise to practice one rein stops. 4- Setting your cruise control as Clinton calls it. This is where he asks the horse to move at a certain speed (walk, trot or canter) and the horse must continue at that pace until asked to do something different. During this exercise he doesn’t worry about steering, the horse may go wherever desired so long as it is at the correct gait. 5- Trouble free trailer loading. This is accomplished with the approach-retreat method to get the horse to be ok with going near and in the trailer. This is then followed up with exercises that makes the horse work outside the trailer and rest when inside the trailer such that the horse “begs” to go in the trailer.

These were the pieces that stuck with the girls the most (well besides the tricks of telling the horse to lay down, and sit and have the horse do it). At the girls request we will practice the first 3 at our 4-H ride night on Tuesday. I will let you know how that goes.
I so enjoy spending time with these girls and the horses. There ought to be a way that I can do only this forever.

Oh yeah, the Equine Outreach Program! I have several meetings this week to share this vision with members from my church, with those I worked with previously on a similar project and anyone else that will give me a few minutes and listen. Please continue to send your good wishes as we continue to move forward in this adventure. I spoke with a lawyer last week and she shared that there is a need for such a program in our area and that there is plenty of financial support if it is done “right”. Well I don’t know if I can do it “right” but I will sure give it my all. She also said that I have to dream big. She should have been talking with my accomplice about that part. I tend to be the realist and the one that doesn’t want to dream too big in case I’m told no. I don’t want to be crushed. Kinda childish huh?

So here is the BIG dream. 10 – 15 acres for the main part of the program. This would include at least one residence, and most likely two. It would have a covered round pen, small outdoor arena and a large covered arena with indoor stalls, meeting room, office area, kitchen, bathrooms and staff tack room. We would have a trail course area, covered hay storage, a shop, and program tack room fully supplied. We would need a tractor for working the arenas, and the fields, a trailer and truck. There would also be at least one field and preferably 3 fields for the horses to be turned out. Ideally there would also be another 90 acres where we could raise our own hay, and have trail rides. We would serve children, families and others in need year round, weather permitting. This would become a place where people found peace, hope, love and themselves. They will gain skills, learn they are loved and find confidence in their own abilities. How’s that for the dream?

What we need right now is lots of prayer, $1600 to cover the costs of our CPA to file our Articles of Incorporation, and our 501 c 3 status, a few dedicated die-hards willing to be on our board, a tractor for working the area where we currently are operating and money to cover our liability insurance costs. We are also praying for the 10 – 15 acres with the possibility of more to become available for what we can afford. Unfortunately in our area wine is becoming a HUGE deal and the land prices are soaring. Please pray with us that God will open doors, hearts and land to us.

Shamelessly, if you are visiting and wouldn’t mind; please let me know you were here by leaving comments. I would sure welcome any encouraging words you may have.