Contesting

Went and competed in my first contesting events last week. Really had a lot of fun. I will definately keep up with it. I beat my daughter Corinne in two events and she beat me in one. I have been riding Cody again. Ended up he had a sheared heel on his right front which was causing his lameness. Had an egg bar shoe put on and it has really stabilized his heel. Looking forward to getting better and having a lot of fun. Danielle did great on Redman and Matea, got a 2nd and 6th in Flag. Let you know how it goes the rest of the summer.

B & O Trail Fundraise

Had a pretty good crowd for the trail ride last weekend। We have been doing this fundraiser for a few years now। The money goes to the Rails to Trails Org। in Hendricks County to help purchase land and upgrade the old B&O rail line in to a linear park। The park is going to bisect part of my property and we hope to be a private hub for access in the future। We used to get a lot more people that bring their own horses and ride, but it is difficult to schedule the ride for a weekend when nothing else is going on। There are so many events any more I think it is very difficult for people to choose what to do। We were happy with the number of riders we had on our horses though and everyone, including the horses, did very well।

We have some people that are intersted in lessons and maybe leasing as well, so that is good। Our next big event is the 4th of July parade। We are hoping to have all of the horses ready for that and mabe have Cece able to ride the mini by then।

Chuck

New Additions

Picked up a couple mini horses the other day from a neighbor. They are really cute but honery. One is broke to ride but hasn't been in a couple of years. My six year old daughter has taken it upon herself to get Chewbacha trained again. We also got a cart and all of the leathers to pull, so hopefully we will be able to do that as well.

Talked to my hay guy this week and he will be cutting hay pretty soon, hopefully real soon as we are almost out. I have made an agreement with Jeff Starkey to buy all of my round bales from him and JD Love to buy all of my square bales. I could have gotten all of both from either but I like to spread it out so not to put all of my eggs in one basket. Hopefully we will be able to get mostly first cut this year as the second cuts are so woody and stemy I really don't like them. I don't know how the horses can eat them as they even hurt my hands to pick them up.

We will post some pictures of the new animals when they become available.

chuck

Contesting

Sunday 05/05 was the first time contesting for two of my kids. Corinne and Cece went to the Golden Spur Club Show at Circle T. We didn't get there until late in the day, but it still was a long afternoon. Cece was the first to compete in the ball race. You have to take a ball on horseback to the end of the arena and drop it in a bucket, then get back as fast as possible. Her horse Cody was very uncooperative so we had to halter lead him. Corinne was up next in the Texas Keyhole. She was very nervous but did well for her first time. She also rode Cody. He didn't want to turn for her and she was disqualified, but got the first time jitters out. She is very excited to go back and do it again. Corinne also did the flag race and was also disqualified for missing a barrel, but again, I am very proud of her for her first time.

Danielle our trainer also competed in flags on both Cody and Redman. Much to our surprise Redman did very well. We ended up with a 2nd and 3rd for those two in flags. We plan on competing all summer so I am sure everyone is going to get much better.

cd

Lessons

We have been getting a lot of inquiries lately about lessons. I am really excited about this as I feel we are developing a really strong lesson program. Danielle and Cassie do a great job with the kids. Cassie unfortunately is leaving us in August to go to college. She is going to be hard to replace.

I had a conversation with a mom yesterday that was really frustrated about the level of instruction her daughter had been receiving. It's funny because I just had this conversation with Danielle about a month ago and it pushed her to develop the lesson plan we have now. The mom was saying her daughter had been riding at this barn for 2.5 years and was basically doing the same things the entire time. Many barns want to put the kids on a horse with about 10 others in a line and have them walk in circles.

I believe if you are paying 25-30 dollars an hour you and your child deserve more than that. I am wanting to establish a policy not to have more than 3 and preferably 1 or 2 in a lesson at a time. We need to give the kids the attention that they are paying for and deserve. We have 6 children and I know how difficult it is for people to pay for these types of things and we are not going to be the kind of place that sacrifices quality for profit. I would rather charge a little more and be able to give more than charge less and be wasting every one's time.

We have had too many kids that come out to trail ride that have been taking lessons for 6 months to a year and do not know anything about riding. Trust me you take lessons from us, I don't care how young or old you are you will learn how to ride or we will die trying.

CD