SADDLE FITTING CLINIC

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Ten miracles happened today at Pine Dell farm in freezing weather. Why did 10 people venture out of their warm houses to attend a 3 hour clinic with the temperature around 15 degrees?  Because most of us are just nuts! Our 3 hour Savvy Day lesson was about saddle positioning with shims. First we rode our horses and evaluated how they were going. Then we trooped inside to the warm lounge. We looked at a couple of saddles inside the heated lounge sitting on a barrel. Jenny told us how…

Nova’s Notebook – Young Years

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For years my horses were just a little too much to trust them to my son to ride.  I did have him take horse back riding lessons for about 3 months in the early years of his life.  In his adult life, he told me that the people tied his legs to the stirrups and once the saddle turned and he rode underneath the horse.  Who Knew these things!  You just can't trust just anyone with with your child. The past two years I've been afraid to have him ride…

JR’s Journal – Show Horse in the Making!

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Missouri Fox Trotter Starts Show Horse Career after "Kicking" the PaceA magical thing happened in March. We found the secret to life and JR started fox trotting consistently. At the time we were at the point where I could keep him in a fox trot about half way the long wall of the arena, but he would speed up to a hard trot, pace or slow down to a flat foot walk. He also started that popup gait. We would be fox trotting along with three legs and one front…

Luke – Level 2 Wannabee Horse

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Here's an amazing story of the L2 wannabee horse. His name is Luke and he's a National Show horse about as tall as the Empire State building. When he was first in training with Jenny and Tony, Anything would make him leap high in the air and land on the other side of the arena. He would give Tony (who can ride anything with hair) a run for his seat. Thinking about Luke being rode outside was an impossible thought. Things progressed and Luke started using his brain to think.…

CRAZY NEBRASKA PEOPLE!

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Those normal people of us from the Midwest know better than to have anything to do with Nebraska in the winter. Why the whole place gets cold and snow and closes down for the winter. When I heard that a Nebraska person wanted to have a clinic in the winter, I said, "A clinic in Nebraska in the winter? Why that's crazy!"   So, a winter clinic was scheduled. Of course it's my job to go to all clinics with Jenny so that she can have someone carry stuff around, get…

A Christmas Miracle Story

Posted inMiscellaneous
A woman approached me during a natural horsemanship clinic.  She told me that she was looking for a fox trotter to purchase.  Lynne said that she was a "green rider", and had taken 6 lessons.  She had an appointment to visit a gaited horse of a lot more excitable bloodlines (Paso Fino).  I grimaced inside and hoped she would live thru it.  She called me with the news that she barely lived thru it.  Thank goodness she didn't ride the horse.  So in over a period of time, I showed Lynne…