I miss foxhunting. Very badly. It is a thrill like no other I can even begin to describe. I grew up foxhunting with my mom and my first hunts were with the Ft. Leavenworth Hunt in Kansas. So much fun on a naughty, naughty (but very game) pony.
I was hoping to be able to hunt Gabe this season, but that hasn't quite panned out the way I'd hoped.
Natalie at Retired Racehorse Today posted this video (along with a few others) and I watched it a couple of times with goose bumps of thrills breaking out on my skin, my heart racing and my legs aching to be on a horse riding with that pack! I admit, I am a bit of a horseback adrenalin junkie...and this is my drug of choice. I need a fix!
This is video of the Scarteen Hunters in Ireland...ooohhh...FUN!! They say if you want a truly thrilling hunt, find an Irish pack. No fear.
I spent way too much time watching YouTube videos of foxhunts and all it managed to do was make me want to go hunting even more badly! Most of the videos I watched are of hunts in Ireland and England. One was of a pack of bloodhounds that track human "quarry" instead of fox, since that country outlawed hunting an actual fox. Still, too much fun! I totally live in the wrong country.
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, April 19, 2010
This It Be Right
Warning: This just might make you cry. You've been warned.
Special Horses.
P.S. Yes. I cried. Made me miss all the horses I've lost and be even more thankful for the time I get with the ones I have.
Special Horses.
P.S. Yes. I cried. Made me miss all the horses I've lost and be even more thankful for the time I get with the ones I have.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Got itches?
We all know what shedding season is like. Horses get SUPER ITCHY!
This is Gabe's favorite itching tree. He can stand out there for half and hour or more just itching his whole body. The bark on that little tree is worn smooth.
Gabe's Itching Tree
The birds were quite loud! The video isn't as clear as I'd hoped...I taped it from our deck at 30X magnification.
This is Gabe's favorite itching tree. He can stand out there for half and hour or more just itching his whole body. The bark on that little tree is worn smooth.
Gabe's Itching Tree
The birds were quite loud! The video isn't as clear as I'd hoped...I taped it from our deck at 30X magnification.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Helmet Cam!
(No, not mine!) What a gorgeous course and a happy, forward horse. I love the way he talks to him through the entire ride. Enjoy!
Red Hills Horse Trials 2010 - Three Star World Cup - Peter Atkins
Red Hills Horse Trials 2010 - Three Star World Cup - Peter Atkins
Monday, January 25, 2010
Horse world news
Very sad news. What an amazing horse. If you haven't seen her 2006 WEG Freestyle video, watch it. I understand she was in foal at the time she was euthanized.
Dressage Star Blue Hors Matine Euthanized
by: Erin Ryder, TheHorse.com News Editor
January 25 2010, Article # 15696
Dressage mare Blue Hors Matine, whose dressage freestyle at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen became an Internet video sensation, was euthanized today after breaking a leg in a paddock accident, Horse and Hound reported.
The 13-year-old Dutch mare was ridden by Andreas Helgstrand. She was retired from competition following a tendon injury at the Las Vegas World Cup in 2007.
Blue Hors Stud Director Esben Moller told Horse and Hound Matine broke her right forelimb at the knee while out in her pasture.
The YouTube video of her 2006 WEG freestyle has received nearly 10 million views.
Dressage Star Blue Hors Matine Euthanized
by: Erin Ryder, TheHorse.com News Editor
January 25 2010, Article # 15696
Dressage mare Blue Hors Matine, whose dressage freestyle at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen became an Internet video sensation, was euthanized today after breaking a leg in a paddock accident, Horse and Hound reported.
The 13-year-old Dutch mare was ridden by Andreas Helgstrand. She was retired from competition following a tendon injury at the Las Vegas World Cup in 2007.
Blue Hors Stud Director Esben Moller told Horse and Hound Matine broke her right forelimb at the knee while out in her pasture.
The YouTube video of her 2006 WEG freestyle has received nearly 10 million views.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Where has summer gone? I've ridden it away!
Time flies, doesn't it? I've been so busy riding and playing with my ponies that I put the blog on the back burner.
Our weather has been spectacularly amazing in every sense of the word. Cool and sunny and PERFECT for riding and you betcha I've taken advantage of every beautiful daylight moment as I can. All too soon I'll be complaining about the short days and icy conditions that keep my butt out of the saddle.
My husband, daughter and myself also started a fitness program at the beginning of August. We are walking/jogging two miles four days a week. This week we are bumping it up to five days a week and 2.5 miles. I need to lose weight and get into better shape if I am going to do Gabe any justice at all. He's a big, powerful ride and I need the fitness and strength to ride him to his fullest.
I took Gabe on his first "long" trail ride last weekend with my husband on Calypso acting as the "guard pony." We wandered up through the woods and into the neighbor's field where we startled a man sitting on a motorcycle hidden in the weeds. I think we startled him more than he startled the horses! I was pretty surprised to see him there and may have even squealed a bit before I said "OH MY GOD! You scared the crap out of me!" Gabe just glanced at him and kept on marching. He takes everything in stride. He marches along wonderfully on the trail, nice and forward but relaxed. His ears are flicking around and he's really paying attention to his surroundings, but he's not reacting at all, just watching. Excellent! We came across a part of the trail where a tree had partially fallen across the path. It's upper length was wedged in the high crook of a tree a good 12 feet up. There was no going around it or over it. We'd have to go under it. Calypso walked right under it without a second thought. Gabe, on the other hand, wasn't quite so sure about going beneath it. There was plenty of room, but it freaked him out. My wonderful husband jumped off Calypso and led Gabe under the tree...and he went right under. Good boy! We had one snort and startle when a rabbit dashed out of the tall grasses right in front of him, but definitely not any kind of spook to speak of. He's on his way to becoming an excellent trail horse...and hopefully and equally excellent fox hunter and eventer.
I think I may have fixed the head flinging issue simply by working him and ignoring it. I truly do think it was exuberance and youth more than anything else. He did it mostly at the beginning of the ride and always threw a bit of a hop in with the fling and squeal, very similar to what I've seen him do when he's trying to convince Chief or Calypso to play with him in the field.
Last night's ride involved two very, very half-hearted attempts at the fling and squeal in the first five minutes of the ride. I could feel him think about flinging and instead, he dropped his neck and gave a little squeal. As soon as he did it I turned him in a small circle and sent him forward. It was our best ride yet. As soon as he indulged his half-hearted head flings and one little obligatory teleportation spook at nothing in particular, I had his full attention for the rest of the half hour ride.
We now have turns that are closer to power steering than driving a train. I discovered less rein is best with getting a good turn and bend from him. I changed up his bit AGAIN and I think I found a good match. He's now in a Myler wide barrel loose ring comfort snaffle and he LOVES it. The overly exaggerated playing with the bit, grinding and chewing is gone. He still chews and reaches, but softly, with plenty of drool and foam to go along with it. And the turns are so much better in this bit.
We have transitions (up and down) that are immediate and mostly hot off my leg. We do have the occasional "I don't WANT to and you can't make me," tantrum, but those are over pretty quickly because I continue to insist, quietly and consistently, that he give me just ONE step of the requested action. Our downward transitions require NO rein! Yay! This was one of my ultimate goals...to have a horse respond entirely off my seat and legs. We'll see if that transfers to longer, faster trail rides and cross country gallops. :D
We now have so-so leg yields, pretty good turns on the forehand and are learning, step by step, turns on the haunches. Once the turn on the haunches tightens up as he gains the muscle and the understanding for it, we'll move to walk pirouettes. The rein backs are getting better. I really have to think about those because I've always ridden horses that required a bit of backward movement with the hands to get a reverse so I automatically pull backwards. I'm fighting that tendency in myself every single time! I don't want that in Gabe. He needs to respond just to the shift in my weight, a tap with my legs and unmoving hands. So far, he's getting it. Slowly. But getting it, and that's all that matters!
That's the summer in a nutshell!
And for your viewing pleasure, my 8-year-old daughter, Kayleigh, in her lesson this week: Cantering is the BOMB!
Our weather has been spectacularly amazing in every sense of the word. Cool and sunny and PERFECT for riding and you betcha I've taken advantage of every beautiful daylight moment as I can. All too soon I'll be complaining about the short days and icy conditions that keep my butt out of the saddle.
My husband, daughter and myself also started a fitness program at the beginning of August. We are walking/jogging two miles four days a week. This week we are bumping it up to five days a week and 2.5 miles. I need to lose weight and get into better shape if I am going to do Gabe any justice at all. He's a big, powerful ride and I need the fitness and strength to ride him to his fullest.
I took Gabe on his first "long" trail ride last weekend with my husband on Calypso acting as the "guard pony." We wandered up through the woods and into the neighbor's field where we startled a man sitting on a motorcycle hidden in the weeds. I think we startled him more than he startled the horses! I was pretty surprised to see him there and may have even squealed a bit before I said "OH MY GOD! You scared the crap out of me!" Gabe just glanced at him and kept on marching. He takes everything in stride. He marches along wonderfully on the trail, nice and forward but relaxed. His ears are flicking around and he's really paying attention to his surroundings, but he's not reacting at all, just watching. Excellent! We came across a part of the trail where a tree had partially fallen across the path. It's upper length was wedged in the high crook of a tree a good 12 feet up. There was no going around it or over it. We'd have to go under it. Calypso walked right under it without a second thought. Gabe, on the other hand, wasn't quite so sure about going beneath it. There was plenty of room, but it freaked him out. My wonderful husband jumped off Calypso and led Gabe under the tree...and he went right under. Good boy! We had one snort and startle when a rabbit dashed out of the tall grasses right in front of him, but definitely not any kind of spook to speak of. He's on his way to becoming an excellent trail horse...and hopefully and equally excellent fox hunter and eventer.
I think I may have fixed the head flinging issue simply by working him and ignoring it. I truly do think it was exuberance and youth more than anything else. He did it mostly at the beginning of the ride and always threw a bit of a hop in with the fling and squeal, very similar to what I've seen him do when he's trying to convince Chief or Calypso to play with him in the field.
Last night's ride involved two very, very half-hearted attempts at the fling and squeal in the first five minutes of the ride. I could feel him think about flinging and instead, he dropped his neck and gave a little squeal. As soon as he did it I turned him in a small circle and sent him forward. It was our best ride yet. As soon as he indulged his half-hearted head flings and one little obligatory teleportation spook at nothing in particular, I had his full attention for the rest of the half hour ride.
We now have turns that are closer to power steering than driving a train. I discovered less rein is best with getting a good turn and bend from him. I changed up his bit AGAIN and I think I found a good match. He's now in a Myler wide barrel loose ring comfort snaffle and he LOVES it. The overly exaggerated playing with the bit, grinding and chewing is gone. He still chews and reaches, but softly, with plenty of drool and foam to go along with it. And the turns are so much better in this bit.
We have transitions (up and down) that are immediate and mostly hot off my leg. We do have the occasional "I don't WANT to and you can't make me," tantrum, but those are over pretty quickly because I continue to insist, quietly and consistently, that he give me just ONE step of the requested action. Our downward transitions require NO rein! Yay! This was one of my ultimate goals...to have a horse respond entirely off my seat and legs. We'll see if that transfers to longer, faster trail rides and cross country gallops. :D
We now have so-so leg yields, pretty good turns on the forehand and are learning, step by step, turns on the haunches. Once the turn on the haunches tightens up as he gains the muscle and the understanding for it, we'll move to walk pirouettes. The rein backs are getting better. I really have to think about those because I've always ridden horses that required a bit of backward movement with the hands to get a reverse so I automatically pull backwards. I'm fighting that tendency in myself every single time! I don't want that in Gabe. He needs to respond just to the shift in my weight, a tap with my legs and unmoving hands. So far, he's getting it. Slowly. But getting it, and that's all that matters!
That's the summer in a nutshell!
And for your viewing pleasure, my 8-year-old daughter, Kayleigh, in her lesson this week: Cantering is the BOMB!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Horses in the snow
Some vids of my horses livin' it up in the snow. I so need a new camera. And Gabe really needs to better learn the definition of my "personal space!"
The first one is almost two minutes. The tiny human you hear is my daughter, Kayleigh. If you listen closely you can hear the horses snorting and blowing at each other. Yes, you heard right. Kayleigh said Chief sounds like a Velociraptor when he blows. He kinda does!
The second one is a bit shorter. Yee haw! I wouldn't want to ride THOSE bucks! Do ya think my kid loves horses as much as I do? hehe!
The first one is almost two minutes. The tiny human you hear is my daughter, Kayleigh. If you listen closely you can hear the horses snorting and blowing at each other. Yes, you heard right. Kayleigh said Chief sounds like a Velociraptor when he blows. He kinda does!
The second one is a bit shorter. Yee haw! I wouldn't want to ride THOSE bucks! Do ya think my kid loves horses as much as I do? hehe!
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