Horse yoga, part one

Every summer, my friend Trisha hosts several horse camps at her farm in Wellington, Colorado. Originally these camps were aimed towards children, but after some of the campers' mothers expressed an interest in learning to ride, she decided to offer a week of adult camp, too.  

This year's adult camp featured a new event: Horse Yoga.

Trisha is woman of many accomplishments. In addition to training horses and managing an equestrian facility, she is a high school teacher and the author of two mystery novels. She is not, however, a yoga instructor.

So, instead of trying to teach horse yoga herself, she found a local yoga instructor with a horsey background.  

Heather had never taught horse yoga either, but she immediately saw the possibilities.

In the end, horse yoga was such a resounding success...

 that she and Trisha have continued to offer it on a weekly basis.

Every Friday since then, my Facebook feed has been filled with pictures like this... 

and this... 

 and this...

And every Friday since then I've been thinking the same two thoughts. The first is: That would be a great Other Performance idea for a standing model. The second is: I need to do that myself.

Now I have!

Life after Mystyc

A lot of people have asked if I'm looking for another lease horse. The truth is I'm not, or at least not yet. Eventually, I may want to commit to another long term relationship, but for now, I'm looking forward to playing the field.

With that in mind, I decided to head out to Wellington, Colorado to spend a day with my friend, Trisha.

Upon my arrival, the first question Trisha asked me was, "Do you want to ride my Fjord?" 

Yes, please. 

 A little while later, she asked if I'd like to ride her Lipizzaner.

Seriously? Who wouldn't want to ride a Lipizzaner? 

In between rides, I watched Trish work some of her other horses, both in...  

and out of the saddle.

I also watched her teach several lessons, both on the ground... 

and from the top of a horse. 

Of course I took a million photos,

 but my favorite picture of the day just might be a photo Trish took of me!

They day ended with a horse yoga session... 

and a sunset walk down a country road.

What a wonderful day! I think life after Mystyc is going to suit me just fine.

Keeping current

One of the hobby's most familiar yet dreaded personalities is the performance "expert" whose knowledge is at least thirty years out of date. You know who I'm talking about. She's there in nearly every online forum, pronouncing entries "wrong" because they don't match her own narrow and antiquated experience.

I really do not want to be that person.

Still, it's hard to keep up with all the changes in all the divisions. I couldn't do it on my own, but fortunately, I have friends who help. Just the other day, Margaret Balch sent me a note regarding the use of fly bonnets at dressage shows.

She writes: This is something I didn't realize until this past weekend, but according to USEF rules - DR 121.7, 121.8 (as of April 1st 2013)  fly bonnets are allowed in outdoor dressage competitions. Here's the copy/paste of the rule: "Fly hoods (ear covers) made of a thin (single, unpadded) layer of material, are permitted for competitions held in open-sided covered rings or outdoor rings in order to protect horses from insects. The fly hoods should be discreet and should not cover the horse’s eyes. After completion of the test, the rider or his representative is responsible for removing the fly hood to present to the designated ring steward for inspection to ensure that nothing prohibited has been added to (for example, special material) or is covered by the fly hoods to protect
from sound."

I know I'm not the only performance shower with a couple fly bonnets stashed away in my tack box. 

I am pleased to learn that they can now do double duty in both the dressage and jumper rings.

Thanks for sharing helping me stay current, Margaret!

More trash talk

It's been a busy week in the studio.  So busy, in fact, my trash can is almost full.

Those rowdy Massachusetts dolls have done their best to compact the skiver debris... 

 but despite their efforts, it's almost time to take out the trash.

Hurray for getting stuff done!

Almost wordless Wednesday

My camera is home, and this time I have reason to believe it's really, truly fixed. To celebrate, today's "almost wordless" post is filled with pictures by... someone other than me! Shana Bobbitt took these photos at the Pioneer Posse Labor Day Barrel Race in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. Enjoy!

Mystyc

My mother used to tell people: "Jennifer hasn't met a horse she doesn't love."  

I suppose that's true in a general sense, but in all my years of riding, I've only been truly, deeply, passionately in love with a small handful of horses.

Mystyc is not on that list.

Don't get me wrong.  There's a lot to love about Mystyc.  She's a good girl, a sweet girl and a really pretty girl.

She hasn't been an easy horse for me...

 but from our first ride...

to our last...

it's been a mostly good eight months. 

As it turns out, eight months is all it's going to be.

At this time last year, Mystyc was for sale.  Her owner took her off the market after I started leasing her, but I always knew that she could be for sale again if the right home happened to come around.  

Now it has.  As of yesterday, Mystyc belongs to a teenage girl who is already truly, deeply, passionately in love with her.  I wish them both the best.