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!