I'll email her. :)

Hi Laura,
Pls. get me a video. He sounds interesting!

Laura, P.S.: Your garden is beautiful, and I am really jealous! I'm away too much to even keep my watered, so they are shrinking exponentially....

Hi, Laura:

It's definitely hard to give myself down time. I got the best break so far this spring at last weekend's show in Vancouver. The weather was fantastic, and I only had to ride one test per day and coach 3 people. I had a great hotel, good restaurant, and time to sit down with friends and enjoy them! We do, I think, have to sit back and evaluate our work experiences from time to time, to ensure that we are not being consumed by them. I have a real tendency to become a workaholic, and I have to guard against that. My plan for today is to ride my two mares, and not do much of anything else!

I think I've heard most weird excuses for not following through on horse purchases. I guess it would depend on the purchase price, the degree of the deviation, and the intended job for the horse, along with a clean flexion test for the horse. I've seen many horses with strange gait abnormalities, and/or mechanics, who performed well and stayed sound, and I've certainly seen horses with pretty much perfect conformation and mechanics and good training become unsound, so I mostly go with my own gut instinct now. This situation wounds more like an uneducated and unsophisticated buyer who's read too many books and not yet ridden enough horses...

I'm off to have another cup of coffee, and enjoy the morning sun! What's your plan?

Hi, Laura! Great pictures! I love them!

There's no doubt that it's a serious addiction - just ask my husband!

I'm so glad to hear such good things about Dee! Lots of good horses are tough at the beginning, but when they decide to really give themselves to you it's a wholehearted and incredibly amazing experience. Someone once asked me why I find riding so addictive, and after some thought I told him that I think it's the closest thing to telepathic communication we get, and that is such an altering experience that you just have to have it again and again.

Our show season started this past weekend. It was a good show, about 2 hours' drive from home. The weather was tough, but hte horses were good: V pulled a 69+ and a 72+ in her Fourth Level tests (with an FEI judge) and Christa and Nuke got a 66 in the Inter II and a 62 in the GP, so we were very happy. We both rode the clinic yesterday with the FEI judge, and had a ball. I'm home until Friday, when I fly to Calgary to teach a clinic, then KC flies into Calgary Sunday night to join me as the Chancellor of the University there has invited us to an awards reception in order to deliver KC's monster scholarship. We'll get home about noon on Tuesday, which gives me time to do laundry and pack the trailer so we can leave at 6 a.m. on Thursday for Southlands (6 hour haul each way) for a 3 day show there. Last weekend I had 21 clients to coach, as well as my own mare to ride, but at Southlands I'll only have 2 riders to coach, so that will be a treat!

I can't tell you what a thrill it is to hear about Dee, and how he's developing. I am SO happy for you, and for him!

Hi, Laura!

Great to hear from you, and such good news about Dee! He will learn to accept your hand - the older and more confirmed they are when you introduce it the harder it is, but remember that he also has the option of answering your seat before you use your hand...he will figure it out, and you will use your hand less and less.

Your experience at the dressage barn is awful. That is very unprofessional behaviour, and your response is reasonable, rational, and quite normal! This woman clearly has some personal issues, and they will get in the way of her conducting a successful business, not to mention causing difficulties with forming quality interpersonal relationships! Just as in your professional we in the equine industry need to encourage clients to take th lead, particularly with disclosures. It is not our place to force our personal opinions on the clients of other professional. I am stunned that this person thinks her behaviour is in any way appropriate!

Hi, Laura:

Francois Rabelais said "nature abhors a vacuum", and in my experience he's been proven right. He's also credited with having said "all things come to those who wait", among other insightful things...

Horses are like children and dogs - they do best with very clear and reasonably enforced limits, so a "vacuum" in training or approach is a frightening state for them. They don't like having to guess right answers, they much prefer the right answer to be clear.

I hope this helps!

Hi, Laura!

I know what you mean about time! I'm heading out to longe V and Mercedes, and other than that I'm trying to catch up from the weekend's absence. The clinic was really fun - some wonderful new people and horses, and some old favourites. Gorgeous facility!

I'm glad you found the information helpful! Try highlighting it and copying the texts to a Word document, and printing from there. I sometimes do that in order to share a blog or part of a discussion, as my e-mail editor won't let me export addresses to Barnmice.

I'll keep the horse is mind - are there pictures or video on YouTube? I might have a client for whom the horse would be the right thing...Thanks!