Evolving Ideas

Ok. So admittedly I am not the best blogger. My posts are sporatic at best. My spelling is not perfect and neither is my grammar. But I vow to change all that in this new year (well, maybe not the spelling and grammar - it's not THAT bad). Its part of my New Years Resolution - Re-dedication! Re-dedication to riding, my career, my relationships and myself. This year, I will quit one of my non-horse-y related jobs. This will do two things: make me less money (yikes!), and hopefully push me to do more of what I love - which is play with horses. There is one caveate however. I must make more money with the horses.
This year I will have more training jobs and less indoor jobs. I will not turn away clients because I need to be stuck inside some dingy lab in the middle of a beautiful day (Big Love to my bosses at U of G though!). I will be grateful for the client and train his/her horse to the best of my ability. This also means I will have more horses for sale; so if you're looking, stay tuned. I've already got 2 really nice up and comers ready to go in the spring.
So what else have I been doing lately? Well, most of my time is usually being spent either working, sleeping, or breaking ice this time of year. It really hasn't been too exciting. Lessons are done for the season, my Barn Manager, Cassandra has moved to an indoor arena for the winter (who could blame her!), and everything has a sleepy air about it.
But I have been doing a lot of thinking/planning and organizing. Our mare: Inca, is going to Milton Ontario in mid-March to be bred by Strut The Stage of Sam-Son Farm; so I've been pampering and prepping her for that excursion. I may be a little over eager, but this is my first home bred and I guess I'm a little excited. :) There is actually a lot of prep work involved. You have to make sure to get your mare cycling (ready to breed) for the proper time. She'll be swabbed for any infections/problems with her reproductive tract; she'll have blood pulled for a coggins test; get another flu vaccine; and I'd still like to get a few more pounds on her to round her out. She's under lights, shes blanketed, and she even has a radio and our goat  Thomas to keep her company when she goes into her stall. We don't want her getting stressed or bored! In a nutshell, this horse is being pampered 24/7. She has never been bred before and we want everything to go perfectly.

Joe and Strut The Stage at Sam-Son Farm in Milton

Now you'd think with all the attention I pay to this horse she and I would have a great relationship right? Wrong! Apparently Inca only likes men (weird!). When I walk up to her she looks over my shoulder to see if I brought anyone more interesting with me. I give her grain, go to pet her neck, and she moves away - total disinterest! I am not used to this! I'm hoping for a better connection with her offspring. Oh well, at least she loves Joe. He's the one with the money, so I guess shes got the right idea.
Some more thinking/planning I've been doing is regarding my up coming career as a Race Horse Trainer. While I have trained horses for many years for disciplines such as English and Western Equitation, Endurance, Jumping and Gaming, I have yet to condition and train a race horse. The track and it's numbers and fractions are all somewhat new to me. Also, I'm finding it impossible to balance home and family with spending 8 months out of the year at the track. I love working with babies though, and have come to the conclusion that I don't need to be the track trainer. At least not right away. If we have babies coming up as well as horses on the track there is no way I could do both! And since I'm the one living on home base (and I love the babies), I can be satisfied bringing up the up and comers - for now! Besides, I'm not ready to give up endurance riding just yet. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be at the track and riding my horses as much as time and Hubby will allow; I just can't make the full time commitment to the backstretch at the moment.

This puts me on the fast track to find and purchase a better facility. Preferably one with at least 50 acres so I can grow some hay, put in a 5/8 mile track, and have lots of pasture to keep the horses OUTSIDE! After all, horses are meant to move. Not be stuck in some stall all day.

Sooooo! What do I need to do to get where I want to be? First remain focused. This is something I often have difficulty with. I need to set my path and stay on it. Discipline. Hard Work. I'm buckling down and getting going on this new journey!
I need to: 1) Get everything organized and finalized for Inca's foal;
               2) Clean up the farm and finish improvements in order to sell and move to a bigger better facility;
               3) Get my exercise rider's license so I can jump on my horses while at the track;
               4) Research, network and make friends with industry heavy weights (and not so heavy weights);
               4) Ride, Ride, Ride!
Simple enough right? We'll see!

One very positive thing I've discovered is that I can train my TB's (Thoroughbreds) right alongside my endurance horses! This keeps things somewhat simplified, as the first 90 days of training for both types of horses is the same; and indeed the first year is almost identical. That really helps, as I love training endurance horses, and I'm kind of good at it too if I do say so myself!

And so, I've set the intent. I've set the new direction - just a slight shift from the previous one - as usual; and I'm ready and raring to go!
I don't mind a lot of hard work - as long as it pays off some day; so BRING IT! :)

Thank you all once again for patronizing my self centered ramblings. I do promise to write again soon; and just to add a little guarantee to that I'll give you my next topic: Why pay a Trainer; and why do they charge what they charge?
Until next time, keep dreaming your dreams! :D

Busy Summer and New Ventures.

Well once again it's been a really long time since I've had a chance to get some thoughts typed in. Summer time has brought me more than I expected! I have old clients calling, wanting to bring their horses in for boarding - and I have to keep turning them away due to lack of space. I have people calling for lessons - and not enough lesson days to accommodate them all the way they deserve. I have people wanting some training put on their horses - and not enough free time to take on more.

These are all admittedly happy problems when you think of what real problems we've had in the past. It's nice to have too many clients as your main concern instead of: How am I going to feed these guys come winter? or Uh oh, Tequilla's laminitic again so we need to find yet another way to manage her feet. These are the kind of problems that one would usually find on a horse farm. Not here at the moment - knock on wood. :)

We just need some more room! And to make enough moolah to allow me to quit at least one of my jobs to focus more on the horses and clients. Wouldn't that be nice!

And so once again as demand dictates, my priorities for the summer have shifted. If I am going to be successful in the horse business, I have found out that (unfortunately) I need to focus a little more on making money, than spending it riding in too many races. I need to keep my lesson horses in shape and sharp instead of being able to keep my racers in peak condition. This bothers me, but they have no problems with a little less work, so why should I right?

I must remember to keep my border-line A.D.D in check and FOCUS on what I want to achieve. This is harder than one might think! I want to race my horse, run a successful race and training barn, give lessons......all while maintaining and renovating this farm for a quick-ish sale.

And just to add to my To Do list, I recently became partner in a racing stable and bought into a broodmare!

Her name is "Inca Is Calling", and she arrived at the farm on June 9th; 2 weeks after her last race. She immediately captivated everyone who looked at her. Now Inca may be done racing, but she has more than enough to offer us in her pedigree. My partner - Joe Lefevre - is the race bloodline expert, but I can tell you that she is related to "Citation" and "Count Fleet" - both triple crown winners - within 5 generations. That's not something you see anymore. Some other names in her pedigree include "Northern Dancer", "Mr. Prospector" (her Grand Sire), Fly Till Dawn (Grand Dam), and a gelding who is tearing through the racing world right now: "Inca King".She is also very closely related to the great "Man O War"! I don't know about you, but I find that extremely impressive - and so do some of the bigger stud farms in Canada!

We have been talking to them as we have been checking out stallions, and so far Sam-Son Farm (one of the biggest in Canada) likes her so much that they are willing to offer us a discount to breed her to their stud, "Strut The Stage"! Somehow we did something right, 'cause we got really lucky to have found a horse of such caliber. She's tough too. She ran 50 races and earned over $160 000.00 in her career. Had she been managed better, I believe she could have won more, but that is neither here nor there. The point is, her babies will be managed in a way that optimizes their chances for a rich racing career.

And we'll be breaking all the rules! No performance enhancing drugs - just smart, consciencious training and conditioning. No pain killers before a race - if the horse is off, the horse does not race. None of my horses are going to fall victim to the pitfalls of those raced by careless owners. And I hope this gives them a better chance at longer, healthier careers. If that works, the money should follow, right? Man I hope so.

Our stable's name is "Peace 'N' Love Racing", and I am a 40% owner. It's kind of exciting and scary at the same time - and I hope it's an investment that pays off - especially since I've effectively put the long distance competition riding on partial hold for the moment.

All in all, things are going pretty well here on the farm. We're really cleaning it up and it's starting to look quite pretty! These things please me to no end. Sometimes I sit outside on quiet mornings and just watch the horses lazing in their paddocks. This gives me a peaceful feeling that stays with me all day.

I don't know how I inherited this great love of animals - horses in particular - but I'm glad for it. I wouldn't know what to do without it.

And now to get back at it.

Peace!  :)

Spring Comes to Life!

Well it's been a while since I've updated this. I know, I'm bad. But we've been quite busy here on the farm, to be fair. :)

It's been so beautiful to watch the trees burst with leaves and blossoms this spring. The grass is growing, the birds are singing, and the farm is starting to look pretty good!

Since last I wrote I celebrated a big birthday - 30. That one was tough. Until I saw all my old friends and realized: They're all in the same club, and we don't look a day older than we did 10 years ago! I'd actually go so far as to say we look better! Yay!

For this momentous occasion, I was given a pygmy goat. His name is Thomas, and after an eventful couple of weeks he's finally starting to settle in. He's also decided that we are not fire breathing monsters, so that's nice too.

Meet Thomas!

I haven't had as much time to ride as I would have liked - getting ready for lessons to start and such - but I do have my first ride this weekend. It's nothing major. 6 miles in Finch. I'm going to take it easy due to lack of training and of course my darned back.

We'll just have to see how things go! I'm itchin to get my feet wet and see what I'm up against in competition.

As for lessons, our first weekend passed with great success! We had four lessons. Thanks for coming out Courtney, Stacey, Madison and Olivia! You all did great!

My lesson field. I set up different obstacle courses for the kids to maneuver around.

I am also starting Yoga this week. I'm really excited about this new adventure! I'm also hoping it will help with my fitness and strengthen my core to decrease my back issues. At the very least it will be a nice time to relax and enjoy life with my two good friends Lorrah and Mel. :)

As you can see, things are picking up for me with the warm weather. All I need to worry about is taking care of my brood, enjoying the sunshine, being healthy, and taking time to RIDE!

I'll let you know how this weekend goes!

Ciao for now!

To Good Friends and Great People

Today is a day for shout outs! We are all working very hard here on the farm to get everything ready for this riding season. This is where the shout outs come in.

A big THANK YOU to Mel and Cam , who helped yesterday with cleaning up the farm and building a stud wall so I can finally get that giant barn door open by myself (curse the back for limiting my abilities).

Matt and Cam building me a wall. Good boys!

When you don't have any money to hire labourers, good friends who are into construction are worth their weight in gold. Because of this, we had the BEST dinner of steak tornados and some veggie pasta salad thing to keep our labourer friends fed. I helped (this doesn't happen often - I'm about as domestic as a Hippo when it comes to the kitchen.)!

Fire Marshal Mel hard at work!

So the girls burned while the boys built. If we keep this up, the place should look pretty snazzy by the time riding lessons start. I hope so. Building a good reputation in the horse industry depends so much on the appearance of your place of business. People associate horses with money, and with grand stables and fancy ...... stuff everywhere.

But cleanliness, pretty landscaping, and obviously healthy and happy horses will hopefully go a long way.

Another shout out goes to my friends out at Pine Ridge Ranch for the great hay! The horses are not only lovin it; but are doing very well on it. We hope to do business with you again in the near future. :)
These guys are a boarding stable out Mountain way and have a great little place if you're looking to board your horse.

My next two shout outs go to my Dad - who has been out here pretty much every time I call to help with the renos - and my Hubby Matt; who is bar none the best fiance a horse crazy girl like me could have. He feeds my horses in extreme weather when I'm at work; builds my shelters, paddocks, what have you any time he can; and he feeds me so I can keep "playing". What a guy :) Beam

My last shout out goes to anyone reading this blog. By doing so, you're encouraging me to keep working hard at my lofty goals.

And so, to anyone who has helped us - whether mentioned or not - we are eternally grateful for helping me to get one step closer to my dream. You have my undying gratitude! :)

Thanks guys!

Have a great day!

Easy Training Day

What a beautiful day! Finally the weather is sort of starting to cooperate with my plans. Worked Reflexion today. It's beautiful and sunny, so we decided to road hack it. It's a little cold and a lot windy, but what am I gonna do? I can't wait around. There will be race days that I may not want to ride in, but I'll have to, right?

I've been worried that Reef has lost a lot of conditioning this winter (I turn into a hermit when it's cold), but turns out I was over reacting. He has lost condition, but we did a fast 7k today, and he was still good to go! It may have had something to do with the wind, but I'll take what I can get. We trotted most of the ride, with a few canter/gallop stretches in between to get a little of the buck out. Reef likes to buck when he feels good. Not to be a jerk, but just 'cause he's havin fun. I know I shouldn't encourage this - and I don't - but since he only does it with me I'll let it slide. He knows I can handle it. Maybe he likes the way I laugh when he does it?

Anyway, seeing as he still had some gas left in the tank at the end of the 7k, we did some jumping, and boy was he a star! I swear, since we started jumping, he's wanted to jump everything - including a few puddles I wasn't quite ready for today!

This is good news, considering our first race is the Queens Bush Training Ride May 9th (Sorry Mom, raincheck I promise!). We're just gonna do an easy 15 miles to get our feet wet for the season.

In the mean time, I have to try and get that horse out for a 15-20k ride at least once a week, with a fast 5-10k twice a week until then. Unless I do some more ring work, then maybe I can cut the miles down a bit. Then again, we probably won't. We love our job!

While doing all this, I need to get my lesson ponies ready for this season's lesson schedule (Sundays folks). They have had some time off and need to get back into shape just like the rest of us!

I've already started working Tequilla - my Paso Fino mare. I had planned to take it slow with her at first to ensure she has no discomfort in her feet, but she was having none of it. She blew my mind! Lunged like a pro, then I turned her out. I don't want to push my luck with her.

Now I just have to get going on Tuffy, Sierra, and Cool. I'm tired just thinking about it!

No rest for the wicked I guess........ ;)

Hello Folks!

Just in case you aren't getting enough of me, my farm, and my critters, I have decided to further pimp myself out by starting a blog. I think I have hit a new high in the realm of self indulgience, but whatever. My cousin did it, and it looks like fun!

In my business (the horse industry); and especially when you are looking for sponsorship like I am - you need to promote yourself shamelessly. Thus the blog.

You've seen the website (I hope; if not, please do! www.youngdalefarms.webs.com) and gotten a little bit of history on our humble little farm. Now, on this less formal page I will give you a little more background on a little farm that is trying to make it big in an industry that anyone will tell you, does not grant you success without a whole lot of cash, moolah, green, dough......money folks.

But let me start at the beginning (brace yourselves). I got my first real introduction to horses at the age of four when I met Allison. It was the first day of kindergarten, and I will never forget - she came up to me all bouncy and happy and exclaimed: "Hi! My name's Allison. What's yours?" From then until high school we were inseperable. She taught me all about horses, how to muck their stalls, make a wicked Bran Mash (her parents would only let her have horses if she took care of them herself); and how to ride. We'd ride together pulling stunts that would give most parents nowadays a heart attack; and I would follow her to her riding lessons and watch from the sidelines. Allie was an amazing rider even back then, and I wanted to be just as good as her.
Like I said, we rode every chance we got, and Allie taught me a lot. Some of her methods though, were a little risky - like the kind of things that would get someone sued today. She'd loosen my girth, spook my pony, anything to get a laugh. Of course it did. It also taught me a hell of a lot about keeping my seat. And of course, I would get my revenge.... eventually.

As I grew up, I tramped around the Ottawa area working in different barns mucking, excercising, managing etc. I also worked for people of means as a show groom. And I got to train with some pretty good riders.

I eventually switched from English riding to Western, but now I do my best to maintain both disciplines in my program. I am currently re-learning Jumping and Dressage, in the hopes of producing some good Eventers in the future.
That being said, my main riding passion right now is Endurance Racing. I have always loved Arabs, and the way they can carry me across a feild at a full gallop. It feels like I'm flying!

But I digress. Back to the background. After an ill-fated partnership a few years back, I moved from my big, beautifull and fully funded 125 acre farm to a small peice of land just outside of Winchester. We bought the place as a project, and that's exactly what it has become! In the words of my Dad, we're taking it from "run-down to rustic" - straightening barns; tearing down and putting up new fencing; building stalls etc.
Someone important once said (and I'll look it up after this): It is not fine stables that make fine horses. It is their care." We at YoungDale believe that whole-heartedly and strive to keep our horses happy and healthy. And the proof is in the pudding. You can see it in our horse's bodies, willing attitude, and the sparkel in their eyes!

And so, this summer my plans are to a) run a small riding school for kids on Sundays (which will hopefully bring in some money for more farm improvements); b)compete my Arab gelding Reflexion in some long distance races; c)take care of my horses, and d)improve my farm.

Wish me luck!