AUGUST 2007
Ride-A-Curly (RAC) Adventures
Month #4 - August
It's a new month and 1/2 way thru the Ride-A-Curly Contest!!!
| Note from Sophie: I made some funny thingswith my faithfull Tony but i'm sorry i have no pictures. We had a "curly day" in june with others breeders and friends, a nice trail with 100 riders in the end of june too, and horse games at a country show in july. The Tony's first big trail was perfect. He was crossing a river perfectly and it was funny ! Tony works for now with me at the riding-school, he wants everything, jumping or arena. He is a special and good horse, just a little lazy but so willing to please, a true boy. Best wishes, I love to go at your website, always full of news and interesting things ! |
Note from Brie: So...this past weekend, Sage and I gave pony rides to 3 little kids. My barn owner's 5 yr old twins, and my neighbor's 8 yr old daughter.
The 8 yr old is a city kid, living a few houses down from me in a very urban environment. The first time I took her to the barn, she panicked and ran out of the barn crying! So I was pretty proud of her last weekend when she got on Sage and let me lead her around at a walk.
But I was even more proud of Sage. When she first got on, she was breathing really quickly and was so close to tears. But she said she wanted to ride so I tried to make Sage walk. His neck got longer and longer but he refused to move. After a few unsuccessful tries, I had a brilliant thought. I turned to her and told her to pet Sage on the neck, and tell him she was really really scared, but she wanted to ride him and she knew he would keep her safe. So she did, and as soon as she said that to him her whole body relaxed, and then I had her tell Sage to walk on and Sage moved forward instantly. He is such a wonderful horse...I'm so glad he's smart enough to not move until his young rider is no longer panicking. That's a really good character trait to have in a horse. :-)
He was really good with the twins too. One twin was a little scared, and Sage stopped every time she was panicking too. Little kids are so funny because they BEGGED me to let them ride Sage, and REFUSED to get off even when they were scared. Little kids can be so scared and happy all at the same time! They were all SO PROUD of themselves. one of them kept yelling "I rode Sagey up a hill!" to the other two.
Even funnier than that was when all 3 of them were attacking Sage with sponges after their rides. I have this photo of Sage with this irritated look on his face while all 3 of them sponge him with much gusto. But he stood so still while they groomed him and sponged him off. He was a very very good boy (and rewarded heartily with apple treats).
It was such a touching experience to see my horse be so tuned in to his little riders, and see all 3 kids sooo happy and proud of themselves...it really made me daydream about being a riding instructor, or helping out at a therapeutic riding program. |
| |
| Note from Cindi: just a little note on another awesome ride that chester and i had......... this time we took a different road..........very pretty and relatively quiet as far as traffic...... chester crossed his first "bridge" that had running water under it..............he did great....although his riding buddy was apprehensive about the venture.......... chester always continues to amaze me with his calmness and willingness.........he also really loves checking out people's mailboxes......even the ones that are swinging on a chain......:) hope everyone is enjoying their summer............ cindi and chester in kingston, nh |
| Note from Bretta:Just a few notes from the hot/sunshine state. It's been too blinking hot to ride lately. Erin and JJ had a barrel race on the 11th of August - The events were at/after dark with little relief from the heat. Erin "attempted" to run two events, JJ running through the bit both times. I told Erin that he did not want to play. The heat index that day was well over 110, Erin ran two events with him and then she decided that it was time to go home. We have another event this weekend in PK (Pensacola) and we will see how they do. Well gotta run, the page was looking bare I guess we are not the only ones that feel it's to hot to run. Bretta, Erin and John |
Note from Sophie: Tony works well, he's starting the canter from walk, begining to cross his legs, having a nice trot and jumping 1.10m, he made quick progress in tree month... And he's starting long reins too, i would love to drive him for allergic people...! A so good boy. (photo below) |
.jpg) |
Sophie &Tony (FRANCE) |
Note from Sophie: Some news for the RAC... I didn't ride Tony very much saturday but show him at an agricultural festival. He was a star ! Everybody was happy to caress this "strange" curly-haired horse and discover a new bred... Tony was very patient and sweet with children. And not too much impressed by cows, pigs, noise and crowd. He was with Percherons horses, ponies, draft horses from French Britanny, Standardbred... He was staying calm and quiet, just trying to please to people with treats ! |
.jpg) |
Sophie &Tony (FRANCE)
AGRICULTURAL FESTIVAL |
|
| Note from Bretta about JJ & Erin: We had a 4H open show this weekend and JJ did ok. Erin needs to learn she has to be more stubborn than the horse. She DQ on Poles and got 5th in Barrels and the arena race. |
|
|
