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Life on a Farm


Thursday, October 29, 2009
 
Excuses, excuses








I haven't blogged at all in more than 2 weeks. In that time we've continued to welcome new riders, new boarders and new horses. Almost too much to catch up on. We are running programs every day of the week now and in addition to Linda's full time instruction, Karrie and Jeannie are each offering lessons several days a week. Chuck has two outdoor run-in sheds built in the two main paddocks as we have more horses than stalls.





Ginger has been doing so well at Jeannie's that she is coming back to see if she can get back in the school horse rotation! Her many fans will love that.



Prime is going to take her 'job' as a pasture pet/companion at Jeannie's. Kind of bittersweet for the Hunt family as Prime was the first horse we welcomed as ours on the farm almost 10 years ago. Mr. Tee is also getting a break with a sore back. Luckily, Reno and Ben have arrived and Boo is doing great in lessons. Also, Zeus is coming along really well and even though he is still only ridden by Lizzie in lessons, I am told that Annie took him on a trail ride and he was quite good.





For all of you who are Cobble Hill-ers you know that alot of my distraction has been my mom's bi-lateral knee replacements last week. I am happy to report that she will be released early next week from rehab and will be coming to the farm for a while to continue her recovery. One of her goals with those 'shiny new knees' is to be able to start riding .... with her remarkable recovery so far, that is probably not too far off. Thanks to everyone for their good wishes and for helping Chuck around the farm during my many absences of late. (And this picture of Ginger was taken by my mom who was a huge help this summer)

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Friday, October 2, 2009
 
Rain Rain Stay Away (at least till afternoon)

Quite a few CHF riders have been preparing for events this weekend. Annie and Junie (above with Linda's birthday cake in the barn earlier this summer) are doing their first Hunter/Pace along with Karrie and Linda. There is a dressage show in Shelburne Falls (Biscuit Hill).


The rain will definitely postpone or wipe out the hunter/pace. Hopefully, the rain will wait till the afternoon and the riders will have a great time.

Also, the farmer's wife is in New Orleans earning some hay money and I really want to get home tonight!

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Saturday, July 18, 2009
 
Clean horses
Came home to some really pretty, clean horses. Annie was here helping Chuck today and had this great purple soap to make the white on the horses really look white. Dixie looks fabulous!

Visitor horses leaving tomorrow but two new boarders coming in this week. One permanent the other for a few months.

Hopefully Krissy will have pictures tomorrow!

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Sunday, July 5, 2009
 
Project GARDEN


Annie, Ally and a few of the other girls took on the project of beautifying the front of the barn while they were here on their full lease this week. Here is Annie working on it and with the final results, of which she is rightfully proud!

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Saturday, June 13, 2009
 
Finding a great horse
Glad to report Ginger still seems sound and on the mend. But we've realized we probably still need another horse -- for two unmet needs: a bigger/stronger horse for adult riders and, if possible, another horse to use with all the new riders and beginners we are attracting!

When Matt, our farrier, was here last week he told Chuck and Linda about one of his wife's horses that they were thinking about selling. Sam is a Quarter horse gelding -- "bomb proof" and only 9 years old. Chuck and Linda both thought it was interesting enough to make a road trip.

The best way to judge a horse is to see how our riders do with her. Annie's mom was willing to let her spend the weekend here and come to see the horse. Also, if Sam turned out to be all that we hoped, we knew Elizabeth would be another good test rider.

So, with five girls (Annie brought her non-riding friend Kiki), Buddy (our Boston Terrier), Chuck, me, cold drinks and tack (saddle, girth, helmets) off we went. Of course, with this load, a 75-80 minute trip took two hours with our multiple snack and bathroom stops. It was a little tricky to find the barn -- Chuck had sketchy directions and the barn wasn't actually near their house. At one hysterical point we pulled into a driveway toward a barn that we thought was our destination and began pouring out of the Suburban like a clown car. A horrified woman came flying out of her house saying "you must be in the wrong place! I think you are at the wrong house!" It was as if she thought we were the kid equivalent of people who drop stray kittens off at welcoming-looking homes (very often, farms).

When we finally arrived, Sam was big and beautiful and seemingly calm. We tacked him up and Annie was the first on. She was definitely not a scary, spooky horse. And not at all 'forward.' After getting her warmed up and moving along, Elizabeth rode.

Sam definitely passed that first test. Annie and Elizabeth both agreed: very 'measured' pace (some might say pokey), very smooth canter. The biggest issue is that Sam has been trained to ride Western and she neck rains so our English riders had trouble 'steering' her!

So far, so good. Sam showed great progress for our identified needs, and might be really good for our growing one-time riding experiences for adults (who often feel more secure in a Western Saddle). A three-fer!

The next step is that Matt is bring him to the barn for a short stay on Tuesday night. We will have our vet check him all out and of course Linda needs to evaluate him.

If you are a rider, see if you can pick Sam out when you come up later this week.

Also, we added our 'horses' page to the site and a short "vote for your favorite horse" survey. I will post results as they roll in!

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