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.
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
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
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
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