Twin Tiers Horse Activities, March 31-April 1, 2012

Lots to do this last weekend in March!  

The Twin Tiers Trail riders get going on their first ride of the season.  The fine Carol Kozlowski gives her jumping clinic up north, at one end of our area, while in the south at the other end, Birchtown Stables holds one of the last shows in their winter series.

I hope you all enjoy your horses this weekend!

March 31 and rain/snow date April 1: Twin Tiers Trail Riders: PA Grand Canyon Ride, Ansonia, PA Trail Head, this ride will be through the bottom of the canyon down the old converted RR bed. Very level and easy riding, see directions for parking – Contact Beth Weaver, bwea@epix.net or 570-724-4955. This ride will be a benefit ride in honor of Candy Coupe. Candy died of bone cancer in 2011. Donations will be collected at the ride or you can mail them direct to JoAnn Schwab, 225 Burch Hill Road, Horseheads, N.Y. 14845. Please be sure to mark the donations in honor or Candy Coupe. All donations will be given to The Reins of Hope.

March 31-April 1: Gymnastic Jumping Clinic with Carol Kozlowski at Mothersfield, Hogmire Road, Avon, NY. Contact Carol at (585) 226-6287 or mothersfield@aol.com

April 1: Birchtown Stables, Birchtown PA April Fools Slots * Best “Non-English Horse Show Attire” Costume Prize; Horse and Rider Costumes can be worn while showing; Series End Show– High Point Awards Judge: tba; http://birchtownstables.com/shows.html

Guest Rider

Yuki on the ground and Sumi on Hudson.

My niece’s five years of weekly dressage lessons definitely showed as she rode Hudson these last two days. 

I’m so happy she can ride!

You just never know.  Sumi is a Japanese teenager whom I see only every few years, so her experience level has been communicated to me, mostly through email, from my non-horsey brother.

She has been taught everything in Japanese.  She speaks English, but I imagine it’s hard for her to explain what she knows to him in a way that he can then explain it to me.   Sum it up to say, until I saw her on Hudson, I wasn’t exactly sure what she would be able to do.

Big sister Yuki also got a short ride.

And, Hudson’s not a packer by any means.  It takes some know-how to maneuver her.  My fear was that Sumi would not be able to control her and/or that Hudson would be particularly difficult.  Well, Hudson has been difficult only in that she has been a total brute about dropping her head to graze on the ride, yanking my niece forward each time.  It’s a hard trick to combat, considering Hudson’s huge and powerful neck and the lack of a bit.  I might have to get on her tomorrow to do some fine-tuning on this point.  But otherwise, we have had two successful rides.

OK, OK, there was that moment when we asked for a gentle canter across a field and got a horse race, with both horses careening at high speed, basically out of control, until we hit the edge of the woods and stopped.  But we stayed on board and didn’t crash into anything, so I’m calling that success.   Otherwise, our rides have been pretty and fun, scaring up deer, crossing creeks and tromping up and down wooded trails and grassy fields.

Sumi on Hudson, I on Starlight, before the ride.

We’ll have a couple more days of riding ahead of us before meeting up with the rest of the family in my hometown, so happy trails to us and, if you’re riding, happy trails to you.

Sweaty ponies.

Sleeping in the Sun

Nevermind the 30 mph wind gusts, these ponies were sleeping soundly with Dee standing guard. 

DeCato, the chestnut, always alert, heard me coming and put her head up, but the other three were zonked.

Zzzzzzzzzz.             Zzzzzzzzz.              Zzzzzzzzz.

It really IS greener

I haven't put the horses out on the main pasture yet.  I'm waiting for the ground to be a little dryer and the grass a little higher.  

I keep telling the mares, "It is MARCH.  Last year you weren't out until MAY."

It's true that last year was unusually wet through April, and this year has been unusually dry and warm in March (even though it's snowing in sheets as I write -- Yup, first day of vacation, so, naturally).  The grass is up and green.

Yesterday, after good rides on Hudson and Starlight, I noticed DeCato, the pretty red mustang, standing in the paddock by herself with her face as close to the electric tape as she dared, just gazing down at the pasture full of green, green grass.

She was so quiet and yet so obvious in what she was thinking, and her pathos earned her a trip out on the lead line to the grass and an answer to that craving.  

...and it was SOOOOO good!

Preparing for a Guest

This weekend finds me slogging around on Hudson in the cold, misty rain.

A wholesale change of weather, from unseasonably warm and sunny to very seasonably cold and rainy would normally be enough to keep me out of the saddle until the front passes through.

But I have a VIV, a Very Important Visitor, coming in a couple days.  She’s my Japanese niece, and she has been taking English riding lessons every week since she was young, after meeting my horses way back when, and she wants nothing more than to go on a real trail ride.  So I have been riding Hudson and Starlight, to get the black-and-white dynamic duo ready for this important ride.

Hooooooo-hooooooo!  I hear the train a'comin.

Unfortunately, during last week’s fine weather, I was working every evening at my money-making job (as opposed to my personal horse job, which is my money-sucking job), so the two ponies had a week off to get all fresh and silly again.  

Yesterday’s ride on Hudson was the typical freight-train-on-amphetamines trip that her first outing after a while off always is, so I’m about to go back out to what I’m expecting will be a much more mellow mount – still Hudson, just a different Hudson. 

Then Starlight will get to travel the trail-ride route that my niece and I will take this week.  I’ll do this pattern with the both of them for the next couple days, so every mare has her head in the game by the time said niece arrives. 

Wish I'd bought that riding rain suit when it was on sale...

Twin Tiers Horse Activities, March 23-24, 2012

I found just one activity for this weekend, Twin Tiers horse folks, but it looks interesting. 

Walter Zettle will give a dressage clinic at Houghton College, and this gives you a chance to go watch a former Olympic eventing coach and a distinguished rider and trainer.  It also gives you an opportunity to check out the Houghton College Equestrian Center, something I have not done, but I have been curious about it. 

I'll be updating the BIG calendar again soon, so stay tuned, and have a great time with your horses this weekend!

March 23 & 24th: WYNDA Walter Zettl Dressage Clinic Houghton College Equestrian Center, Houghton NY. Contact Joanne Young 585-567-4374 or joanne.young@houghton.edu

I borrowed the photo on the right from Walter Zettl's web page.  

This is not George Morris' jumping clinic, but wow!  Look at that leg and that auto-release.  George Morris wouldn't have much to pick on, except the horse's loose mane. OK, he is looking down, but he looks like he could balance up there all day.

I wonder what kind of event this was, with another horse and rider right behind him. 

Just Gotta Ride

Twin Tiers horse folks, you just can't blame the weather if you haven't been riding the last few days.

There is nothing better to do in fine weather than to ride a fine horse.   It's so good! 

Here are the steeds that have toted me around:

Hudson modestly displays one of her characteristics the make it tough for her to bend -- her massive neck.

Starlight and I after our ride this afternoon.

I hope you get in lots of horseback time while the weather is so bugless, yet so warm. Happy trails to you!