Natural Valley Ranch

Front Cover Hendricks County Flyer

2009-03-29T07:45:00.001-07:00

Here is the link to our story in the Flyer. They did a nice job and hopefully will get us some business.

http://www.flyergroup.com/archivesearch/local_story_085133537.html

First Lady Daniels Visit

2009-03-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of excitement at the Ranch yesterday as Hank FM 97.1 and First Lady Daniels paid us a visit. Lori, one of our volunteers called in to the radio station a few weeks ago to suggest Mrs. Daniels come out as part of a promotion the radio station was doing. She picked our job to do for the day and came out to ride.

It was a lot of fun. She really surprised me with how real and genuine she is. She was a good sport and went through all the activities of grooming, saddling and even riding. I could tell she was a little nervous but once we got going she did a great job. She even asked about coming back out and taking some lessons. That would be very exciting for us.

Dave and Ed the host of the morning show on Hank FM, were a lot of fun as well. I think they really enjoyed being out there and are going to bring their kids out to ride. Corinne and Carissa were down there and got to meet everyone, very exciting for them I am sure. I think they were most impressed with the fact that Dave and Ed get to meet in person all the country music stars.

We also had the Hendricks County Flyer out and made the front page of the paper today 3/26. Hopefully the publicity will be good and we will see some new riders coming out. I will post links to the HankFM web site next week after they post the video they shot yesterday. They will be have the First Lady on the show at 7:35 on April 3rd to talk about her experience and debut the video. The video will then be posted on their website.

cd

Too Soon for Me

2009-02-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

Well here we go again. Marie is really getting much better at moving the animals ahead of the flood. Lucikly Joe and Ande came by to help her this morning. I was stuck at work and couldn't get home. She started moving the goats and miniature horses and llama late morning and got everyone situated for now. We closed the gates for the front pastures and put 20 horses in the barn. We left 10 others outside in the high area behind the main barn. Water is not too bad right now but will probably get much worse tonight as water continues to work its way south from the top of the county. Looks like we are going to get some dry weather for a couple of days which will help to move some of the water out. Not going to say dry things out because I know we are a while for that.

Already getting people calling and wanting to ride. That is a good sign for this season I hope. Lots of scout troops booking dates etc. We are looking forward to a real good year. Hope to see you out here this year.

Thats all for now.

Winter

2009-01-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

Lots of snow today. Got the drive way cleared and some other areas. We are still working on the cabin for Marie's parents. Right now just waiting on the logs from the log smith. He said he wants to get it up by the end of February, so we will see. Pretty much have everything done that we can until then. Hopefully it will be soon as we would like to have them in by the end of summer.

All the horses seem to be holding up well in the weather. Hay is plentiful and the price is right.

I have been thinking about trying to save an old barn that a friend of mine has. The barn is around 100+ years old and will be torn down and burned if not taken down. I would like to take it down and use it for the garage for the new house. We will see what the barn taking down guy says when he gets me a price.

Thats all for now.

time for a change

2008-12-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

With the change in season comes changes in pace for us at the barn. With the start of cold, wet snowy weather our riding is pretty much non existent. Everyone says that they can't wait to ride in the snow, but as soon as it gets here that is a different story. I am a little leary of letting people ride in the snow anyway, especially if they don't have a lot of good experience. It is so easy to lose control and fall if your horse slips I don't really want to take that chance in this sue happy culture.

CJ and Cece have been riding a lot lately. CJ is taking riding lessons with Ron, one of our instructors right now. It is amazing how he has progressed. Last night he was cantering bareback. This is a big change from last year, when he said he would never ride a horse, had no interest in horses. I think he is going to be one of the better riders in the family.

My father in law and I have been working on our house for ite seems like forever. We are probably 8-10 weeks away from getting the logs delivered. I am sure it will be late summer early fall until we are finished now. About a year over schedule. But when everything is custom I guess you have to go with the flow.

Family Fun Night

2008-09-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

We had our third monthly Family Fun Night last night. Marie had the idea a few months ago to give parents with younger kids a chance to come and ride and enjoy our facility for a lower price than we usually charge. We have had good turnouts the last couple of times but had about 30 families here last night. The weather was good and we had a lot of fun. The kids were playing with the animals, especially the kittens. Playing in the mulch pile was a big attraction for many. We had lots of riders on the ponies and horses as well as many families cooking around the camp fire. There was a row of about 15 kids fishing at the lake and all were having pretty good luck catching stuff.

We will continue for another couple of months until the weather turns and then start up again in the spring.

Can we talk?

2008-08-05T15:07:00.001-07:00

We had a nice article in the paper the other day about our ranch and our Family Fun Night on August 16 th. We had decided with rising fuel prices and declining trail riding to allow families to come out and enjoy a night out for only $25. That would include pony rides in the arena, fishing, hiking, bonfire and hay ride. We thought it would be something nice for the community and increase awareness of our facility and services that we offer.

The problem arose when the reporter took a picture. As soon as I saw it I knew that we would get calls about our skinny horse. Not skinny, just healthy. Probably 75% of all pleasure horses in my opinion are probably overweight. Well the article came out on Saturday and no calls over the weekend, but first thing Monday morning here comes animal control. Now they have been out to our place before. They have gotten many complaints about us such as; we leave our horses out in the rain, snow, wind etc., we make our horses eat off the ground, our horses are laying down and must be dead, they look sad, hungry, depressed, they are rolling in the dirt, I could go on and on. Every time AC comes out everything is fine. My problem with all of this is that all of the questions, comments etc, I would be glad to answer if the person would call me directly. Why do we feel as a society now that we can not communicate directly. Anytime we have a problem we have to call the police, fire department, county govt etc. What happened to our ability to talk and work things out as a society amongst our selves. When did we change to a society that feels we have to get the govt involved in everything we do. Then what happens, we complain about how much we pay in taxes and how big govt is and how the govt sticks their noses in everything we do.

When we first started out with NVR we didn't know that you can't raise horses in Hendricks County unless you are raising them for food (that's another story), address those questions and comments to the head of Planning for Hendricks County. Anyway, one day we received a letter from the county saying we were in violation of HC zoning. We needed to change our zoning to Ag Business, ( ended up costing about 30k and a few years off my life, but again that's a story for another day). So I go and start trying to gather information about why we have to change our zoning and so forth. I ask the planning dept for a copy of the letter and they give it to me with a picture of me waving to someone from our driveway.

So it all comes back to me, one Sunday morning I am at the barn early and see someone taking pictures, I go down and wave to them and he takes a picture and then jumps in their car and speeds off. Well ends up it was one of my neighbors, whose son in law is a longtime friend of mine. It would have been real easy for him to come up introduce himself, ask what I was doing, if we was familiar with the zoning point out what I needed to do etc. Does he do any of that, no he writes a letter to zoning, saying a horse trader has moved in to town and then points out how I am in violation of zoning. What a jerk. I hope he reads this too so he knows how I feel. Am I still friends with his kids and their spouses, yes, no animosity towards them but him not so much.

We have become a society afraid to hurt any ones feelings, afraid of confrontation, everyone is worried about how someone else is going to "feel" about what we are saying. That is what we are supposed to do as a society, talk, communicate, look out for each other. Not get govt involved every time the wind blows.

I am a Libertarian ( a political philosophy that stresses personal liberty. Libertarians believe that individuals should have complete freedom of action, provided their actions do not infringe on the freedom of others. Libertarianism's distrust of government is rooted in 19 th-century anarchism. Typical libertarians oppose not only the income tax and other government impositions but also programs seen by many as beneficial, such as social security and the postal service. In the U.S. their views often crosscut traditional party boundaries (e.g., libertarians oppose gun control, as do most Republicans, but support the legalization of prohibited drugs, as do some liberal Democrats). Among the thinkers embraced by libertarians are Henry David Thoreau and Ayn Rand ) If what I am doing has no effect on your personal freedoms than keep the govt the hell out of my business. You have a problem with the way I am keeping my animals then come and talk to me about it personally. (I could go on about anonymous phone calls as well)

If you do not feel strongly enough about your opinion to do that than you should my your own business. Don't hide behind the curtain of govt and expect me to have any respect for you, your opinion or your beliefs. You want lower taxes, less govt? Than stop using it to voice your comments, opinions and beliefs. Get up and do it yourself.

Changes are coming

2008-07-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather has started to cooperate we are starting to feel the effects of high fuel prices. Horseback riding is not necessity such as food, shelter or clothing. So far this year we have done half the sales in July that we did last year. I really think that when someone has to make a decision between filling up their gas tank so they can get to work or taking their family trail riding, it is an easy decision to make. I wish we hadn't had to raise our trail riding prices this year, but we have been in the same boat as everyone else. Hay prices were up 300% last year, grain prices have gone up probably 20%, it has not been easy for anyone.

So what do we do, well, we try and find other ways to make money. We increased our hay storage capacity so we could buy more hay now while the price is cheaper and store it. We have about 250 large bales and 500 small bales in storage. We need to get another 100-150 large bales and 500 small bales before winter to get us through. We don't want to have to pay 250 per ton like we were last year.
We also did horse camp this year for the first time. We worked with the JCC in Indianapolis and had 13 kids the first session and 14 kids the second. We have had a lot of fun with them. It has been a learning experience for us as well as them. They are only here about 4 hours each day so we try and cram as much in as possible. I think they have learned quite a bit this year, I know we have.
Marie had the idea of doing a "Family Fun Night". We are charging families $25 per person which allows them to come out and ride horses in the arena, fish at the lake or hike. We also have a bonfire that they can cook their dinner around and we do a couple of hay rides as it gets dark. We had about 9 families for the first one and as word gets around we hope to see those numbers go up. A staff writer from the Hendricks County Flyer is coming out today to do a story about us and the idea, so hopefully that will spark some interest.

My two youngest kids have started riding more. Cece has always been interested, but CJ who said he would never ride is now showing some interest and becoming quite the rider. Corinne and Carissa have been riding more and they are both great riders. During JCC camp yesterday we were letting the kids ride bareback and Carissa came in to ride with the other kids. They told her to canter bareback on Redman and she said OK, no problem. Off she went, flying around the arena, I couldn't believe it, no problem at all it was amazing to see her. When Corinne came back from the trail ride with Marie, she saw Carissa riding and wanted to try it. She trotted some and then when I walked away she cantered as well, unfortunately I didn't get to see her. When I asked her about it later she had to act like it was not a big deal, of course. Corinne is a really good rider as well, I wish both of them would get more involved in it, I know they could both be great.

We are trying to start on the caretakers cabin that we are building by the lake. Of course county zoning has to be a pain in my a**. They are saying that because we have the trailer already there we can't have two residences. My point is that the trailer is not a residence, we use it for parties and meetings etc. They say if it has a bathroom and a kitchen it is a residence, well that is bullsh**. A gas station has a bathroom and a kitchen, that doesn't make it a residence. I am so tired of these punk gov officials, with a little bit of power and no back bone, pushing people around just because they can. What difference does it make to the health, safety or welfare of the county if I have two residences on 75 acres. I plan on talking to a lawyer on Monday that specializes in zoning matters and see what happens. I guess you are wondering how I really feel about our County Officials.

Water Water everywhere

2008-06-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a wild week. First the B&O fundraiser was rained out, we had about two feet of water over all the trails and pastures, that was a week ago Saturday. Then Wednesday we had about 4 feet of water over everywhere and about 25% of our fencing was knocked down and we started fixing it. Then three days after that, we had another flood and had about 2 feet of water over everything again. Our 100 year flood plain is up to about 300 years worth of flooding now.

The main problem where we are is not just that we are in a flood plain, it is the water that gets dumped into the creek from up North. When they did all of the building North of town they did not factor in where all the water would go when everything got paved over. Unfortunately it goes into White Lick Creek that runs through the middle of my property. New development now they try to have a zero water emission policy. All the storm water from the developments is kept in catch basins that either evaporate or absorb the water. A much better policy then what they had before.

Last year we had a drought that caused high hay prices, farmers now don't want to lower their prices because they are used to getting good money for their hay. Now we have had so much rain, locals have not been able to cut what has been growing like crazy. The problem now is a lot of the hay has gone to seed which lowers the nutrient density of they grass. The first cutting is going to be pretty bad, but hopefully we will have better as the season goes on.

Trail rides have been pretty much non existent over the last month as we have been rained out for the last three weekends in a row. We have been discussing alternative business plans if hay prices don't come down, and trail rides don't pick up. Let us know if you have any great ideas to share, we would love to hear them.

Cows have finally been moved. We used the belt and suspenders method of fencing. We first put up hi-tensile wire, but they kept walking through it, (thanks Jeff S.) We then put 48"farm fence over top of that. Seems to be keeping them in so far. The steer is going to slaughter probably the middle of July, he needs to put on a couple hundred pounds first, so we will see how that goes. Probably have to feed him up on some grain to get him there. They have plenty of grass where they are so ?

cd

Spring

2008-04-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

It is turning out to be a great spring so far. We have already had lots of riders as well as many new groups coming out. I love the Girl Scout Troops. The comments from the parents about the information we provide and the girls learn so much is great to hear.

We have added Hay Ride/Bonfires to our list of things we can do. Haven't had any so far but have had a lot of interest. We are hoping it will really pick up in the summer. The only problemis that we will need to expand some of the trails. We should be able to do that at the same time we add another trail to our route. We usually try and add one in the early Spring, we are a little behind right now, but should have it done by the end of May.

I was down at the lake yesterday, coming back from looking for morels, and was really happy with the way it is shaping up. We have cleared most of the over growth from around the lake and are going to continue through the summer. We will have it completely cleared by fall. Then I want to make another trail that goes around the back side and around the lake.

We always have big plans, will see how it all works out.

What's Next?

2008-02-17T05:58:00.001-08:00

As summer fast approaches I find myself wondering what the next step for us will be. We have done so much in the last couple of years, but I know that if this is really going to work, we are going to have to do much more. The trail riding aspect of the business continues to grow but unfortunately we are not in Southern California. There is only so many months that we can ride. So we are either going to have to do a lot more in the warmer months or find other sources of revenue for the winter months. I think we can dfinately find other sources of revenue for the warmer months. Campfire dinners, hay-rides, youth camps, girl and boy scout troops will all be growth areas.

The other we have considered in working with found horses. These would either be horses that we take from someone because they can not take care of them anymore, or that we can pick up on the cheap at auction. Because we have the room to trail these horses and work with them to become calm trail horses. The market for calm trail horse seems to be very strong. Most people that ride only want to trail ride. Unfortunately they do not have the time or the space to work with them as trail horses. So the few times they go out on a trail each year, they have trouble with their horses. If we can get these horses bomb proof before we sell them, I think this could be a good option for us.

We picked up a used hay wagon the other day. We are looking forward to having lots of hayrides and cookouts this summer fall. We need to get some new spots ready for bonfires. We have an old building over by the creek that I think we can fix up and use for large groups. I would also like to get the bridge over the creek repaired and maybe have a couple of bonfire spots over there as well. We will see how this Spring/Summer goes if we are able to get that done.

Marie's leg/shoulder and my back are healing well. We should be back to full strength in another few weeks. I will be nice not to have back pain anymore.

The real Holiday Break

2008-02-10T07:31:00.000-08:00

Well it finally happened. I tell people all the time if you 've never fallen off a horse you haven't been riding long enough. I had been bring horses up from the front pasture and decided to ride them up bareback with rope halters. Rode a few up and didn't have any problems. Finally was bringing in the last one, jumped on her, over her slick blanket, first mistake. As we started walking something spooked her and she started bucking hard and running back to the barn. We were on a tight trail with lots of trees and I thought there is no way I am getting thrown off into one of those trees. The blanket was too slick to get any grip so I decided to bail out. As I was hanging off the side of her I had just let go to get on the ground and she bucked again, I went flying and landed on my back on a branch frozen in the ground. Of course the horse ran back to the barn, where my wife and daughter caught her and put her in. As I lay there I knew I was hurt but didn't think it was that bad. I walked, sort of, back to the barn, up the hill to the house and laid down. The next day some things didn't seem right so I went to the hospital and found out I broke 5 bones in my back. 6k dollars later the doctor tells me to take it easy. So I have been taking it relatively easy. 6-8 weeks and I should be back to normal. I was very lucky that it wasn't more serious and even more lucky to have a wife that cares so much about me and has stepped up to do almost all of the heavy work. This is spite of the fact that she recently had surgery on her knee. I can not say enough about her and what she has done for myself and our family.

Of course right before this happened Marie had another surgery on her knee and found out she has sever arthritis in her shoulder. What a month.

Lots of new horses at the ranch. With the hay shortages getting more severe, our phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting us to take their horses off their hands. We have taken 5 and I think that is all we are going to be able to do. We plan on sorting through them and making some decisions on who to keep and who to sell over the next couple of months. I think that some will make some really good trail horses.

This injury and the cold weather have slowed us down some getting a lot of our work done. But we have had lots of help and hope to be caught up before we get too busy. Everyone is anxious for the spring weather as am I.

Holiday Break

2007-12-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well we have had quite an interesting fall/winter. With the weather and all of the activity. We have had lots of new additions to our herds, which has been very difficult with the terrible weather we have had. It has made it hard to keep the dry lots clean and smooth and move hay out for the horses. We finally found a hay supplier in Illinois and have been going through about 22 tons per month. But even that is getting in short supply. Hopefully we will have enough to make it until April/May.

We finally found a home for Levi, our foal with locking stifle/bilateral patella fixation. We gave him to a lady down in Seymour that seemed really nice and I think will do a good job with him.

Marie is going in for surgery on Friday, second repair on her knee. Hopefully this will be the last time. It is frustrating for both of us. But at least it is during a time that we have slowed down some. We have lots of help both with the house and the barn. Christen is home from school until the 14th, so she should be able to take care of Marie during the day. A friend of mine moved in to the trailer during a divorce. He will be staying as long as he needs to and is helping out with the barn and other projects .

Hopefully we will get a good freeze soon to dry up the lots and make it easier for everyone to move around and allow us to do some more riding. We still have people coming out to ride and look forward to a great 2008.

chuck

Christen at College

2007-10-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't know why now, but it has finally hit me that my first child has left. As I sit here tonight, looking at the empty chair at the dinner table. Thinking how the chairs will empty one by one until, everyone is gone. Have I done my job. Have I prepared my children physically, mentally, spiritually for what will come at them. It's a different world than what I grew up in. I think about what we got away with and how we talk about how our parents didn't know what was going on, but do we.

We think we are smarter, but so are our children. We think we have all the answers but do we, for the right questions. We can always second guess ourselves. I have tried to prepare all of my children to be strong, not to feel like they need to rely on anyone else. Especially the girls. I don't want them to feel like they need a man, have to have someone to take care of them. Was it the right move. Should I have let them have the experiences to know first hand how to deal with that situation. I guess only time will tell.

Ok, now to the ranch. Happily but surprisingly we are still really busy. We have had so many trail rides, bonfires, scout troops etc. As well as lots of new boarders, leassors etc. Not doing us any good for getting fencing up but good for the pocket book.

Purdue Rodeo Club and Danielle Bryan had a great even last weekend. They raised a good sum for their club and seems like all the riders had a great time.

Hopefully as things slow down a little over the next few weeks, I will have time to update the web site and get new pictures etc on.

chuck

Long Summer

2007-08-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

What a great summer we have had. Business has been great. We have made lots of new friends and lots of new riders. Our leasing program is doing really well. The more people we talk to about it the more the interest has grown. I wish I could get horseowners to better understand the benefits of our trail club. Somehow I have not been able to use the right words to convince people of the benefits that our facility could provide by bringing there horse out and riding our trails. Some day maybe it will work.

Marie had surgery on her knee the other day. Had torn miniscus and cartilage damage. She is out from riding for about 4-6 weeks. Has really put a lot of pressure of me but so far so good. I really have to thank all of our friends and family who have really stepped up to help out. We could not have done it with out everyone. People like Lucinda and her boys, Trilby and Jodie, Becky and everyone else who has pitched in, we thank you very much.

Had our first annual barn party a few weeks ago. The weather was really hot and sticky but I think everyone had a lot of fun. We had tons of great food, thanks to everyone that contributed. The kids were able to swim in the lake, thanks to my neighbor for draining his and filling mine. We also played some games with the horses and had fun doing that.

I plan on posting lots of pictures over the coming months. We have been to busy to work on the web site much, but we will definately keep it up to date as we can.

Lots of new projects going on as the weather cools as well. Hope to get some sand in both the indoor and outdoor arenas. Work on more trails and fencing. Planning on putting a 30 foot lean-to on the back of the barn for the outdoor horses this winter. Plus we have some new trainers giving lessons as well. Alissa, Kate and Sarah have all started working with Danielle and giving lessons. We are excited about that and will continue to develop our lesson program as we add more kids.

Keep watching our website for upcoming events and announcements.

chuck

Truth? You can't handle the truth

2007-07-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

It struck me recently how sugar coated the world has become. People are so worried about offending, insulting, being sued for words used, that no one can wants to or can speak honestly about anything. I have had a number of situtation come up over the last 30 days where I was asked a question and gave an honest cogent answer and the person asking was deeply offended. They were not looking for a real truthful answer, they wanted reassurance to make themselves feel better. It seems in the horse world people have become so accustomed to treating there horses like big pets that they refuse understand that deep down they are wild animals. Yes we have domesticated them to a certain extent but when left alone in a herd they will act like wild animals. I was having a conversation last night with a new horse owner and could tell she was deeply upset when I told her that her horse would get bit and kicked when introduced in to the new herd. I have a feeling that I will probably lose a boarder because of it but should I have lied like most facilities would do. Or maybe we should keep our horses locked in solitary for 24 hours a day so we can keep them pretty and make us feel better about our selves.

I am sorry I refuse to put my horse in to an unnatural, physically and psychologically harmful environment to make myself feel better. Yes, horses will kick, bite, stomp each other and sometimes even us. Yes, horses sometimes want to be left alone with the herd. They are not people, they are horses, let them act like it and not humanize their actions. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes the truth isn't what we really want to hear. But, you had better believe that if someone asks me my opinion or what I think, they better be prepared to hear the truth because that is what they are going to get.

July 4th Parade

2007-07-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

What a great time we had at the Independence Day Parade. We get such a great reaction from everyone as we march along. Cece led the way on the miniature followed by myself, Carissa and Madison. Danielle and Corinne were right behind us, showing off their skill by trotting their horses to the front of the line. One little problem we had, a camera crew had placed some mats across the road to protect their cords and the horses spooked at this supposed long black trench. Everyone eventually made it across except Cody and me. I had to get off his back and walk him around the edge. We saw a lot of people we knew and hopefully got some good publicity from it. I would like to do the North Vernon Old Fashioned Days Parade this year as well. Thank you to everyone that came out and helped, you made the day not only successful but enjoyable as well.

Chuck

Autumn

2007-06-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

Bad news today. A mare that we purchased about 18 months ago was diagnoses with malignant melanoma. She is about 25 years old and is not in the best of health. The treatment was going to cost about $900 and had a 98% chance of curing the tumor. The only problem was that if it had already spread it would do nothing for it. We had a tough decision to make but we are not going to do the treatment. It just does not make financial or moral sense. In light of what is going on in the equine community with the number of horses on the market right now, I can not justify spending that much money when there are younger horses that need a good home. I am not being a penny pincher about this, I just can not justify it. We can not help every animal. We will do all that we can to make her comfortable in the coming months or even years to come. It will be a tough decision if we have to put her down. She has been a good horse for us and hopefully will live out the next couple of years comfortably.

chuck

busy-busy-busy

2007-06-13T18:12:00.001-07:00

What a difference a change in weather and school being out makes. We have been swamped with trail rides and surprisingly lessons. A month a go we had no lessons and now we are looking to add our third instructor to the program. We have at least 2 dozen students, 6 years old to 50+ years old. I am really excited about this part of our program. Trail riding has really picked up as well. It is always nice to see familiar faces returning. Downside to all of this, not able to get any maintenance done. Marie hurt her knee a couple of weeks ago, had a Bakers Cyst rupture so she has been out of commission. What a difference it makes when we are down to one adult. The kids have been great picking up some of the extra work. Corinne has been cleaning stalls for me everyday. Good lesson for her as I have alreay threatened to fire her a couple of times (NOTE TO IRS --SHE IS WORKING FOR FREE--INSERTED ON ADVICE OF MY ACCOUNTANT). Thanks to everyone that has lent a hand recently.

Chuck

Contesting

2007-05-30T07:44:00.005-07:00

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

2007-05-23T06:47:00.010-07:00

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

2007-05-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-08T03:55:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

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

Great Weekend

2007-04-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

Wow! What great weather this weekend. Lots of riders, a girl scout troop just had a fantastic time. Finally started working on my new sign. Got the footers dug and the concrete poured. Now, we just need to build the concrete block supports and cover them with stone. We are pulling rocks out of White Lick Creek to use as the veneer on the posts, it should look great. Finally was able to pick up a horse that Danielle is training for the next 30 days. The owners had been having trouble loading it so we went to pick it up. I had Danielle use some of the techniques that Marie learned at the Equine Affaire. The horse loaded right up, no problem. It's nice when you are able to use a technique that we learned from someone and have it actually work. There are so many trainers out there that act like they are experts and really are not.

I had an incident relayed to me over the weekend. One of my boarders took a friend to see a horse for sale. The expert horse trainer was riding her prized Stallion while we were looking at the horse for sale. The Stallion started acting up, how did this expert trainer respond? She beat the horse with one of the reigns, kicked him in the balls and hit him with a board. Now I am no expert but I do know enough to know that is no way to train a horse. That is why it is so important to spend time at the location where you are buying a horse, see how they treat all of there animals, look at the condition of the barn. Then you will have a good idea what kind of horse you are going to get.

cd