Clinic with Karen Rohlf

This past weekend I spent 4 days at Boone Run Farm in Embro, ON taking the Upward Spiral of Success clinic with trainer, Karen Rohlf.   Interesting clinic with a full range of levels of riders and horses.   Everyone had successes in one way or another to take away a learning from the weekend.
I had a 'perfect' flying change without asking for the change of direction!  It was super!   Clean, forward, back to front and not croup high.   It was the perfect proof that the changes are because of the aid not because of change of direction.   <insert happy dance here!>
Karen has a very positive and upbeat attitude about everything she teaches.   She promotes the idea of the happy athlete and has a great system for breaking down the conversations we have with our horses so that we can determine the ingredients that are working or maybe not working.   Once we know what ingredients are OK or need a bit more clarity we then can develop a plan to help the horse better create the overall "picture" we are trying to create...one of relaxation and harmony.

This is our riding group.  L to R - Elaine, Joanne, Barb, Ann, Dawn, Brenda, Sandy, Karen and Me. 

This is the group of riders and dedicated auditors.

Few pics of Izzy and I.

Brenda

Elaine

Sandy

Barb

Ann

Joanne

Karen

Dana - Videographer and Marketing guru!

Victoria Day Weekend

Life on the farm has brought lots of changes this past several weeks.   We have been busying ourselves putting fencing up, levelling the lawns, turning over the flower beds and creating new flower beds, weed whacking weeds, replacing the back door, splitting and stacking wood, hosting ladies night, taking Molly to the vet to be spayed and enjoying a ride with Heather.

Our darling Molly was spayed this past week.   She was pretty wiped out the first day but even one day later she had bounced right back.   The hard part is that for 7 days she is not to run, jump, play fight or do anything that might tear her stitches.   Needless to say…that has been next to impossible!!  She had to meet all the ladies at ladies night this week and then Dora came over and then BIll and Carol paid us a visit, so there was just far too many people to say hello to, to be calm and sleep!  Luckily her vet, Dr Borland from the Cayuga Vet Service in our local town did a fantastic job.   Her incision is so tight and clean it, it's a clear demonstration of her skill as a surgeon and love of her job taking care of our precious pets.

Here she is when we first brought her home.   She never left her bed.

 Here she is the next day keeping cool with her shaved belly on the barn breezeway.

This her by Monday...a bit more life in there!

 Here we are splitting and stacking fire wood for seasoning.   This wood will be ready to go for the 2014 winter season.   8 cord stacked so far and way more still on the ground.  

My mom Chill-laxing in the shade with Dora.

 DH fixed the back door.   We had quite the surprise at the first snow storm when we had a small snow drift in the mudroom!  At that point it was too cold to change the door...all fixed up now and looking great.  We opted for a venting window over the original 9 pane design.  Opening windows are a big plus in an old house with now shades!

Start

Finished!

My absolutely favourite labour job...weed whacking!

AND the best part of the long weekend was riding!   Here is a pic of Heather on Sieger and Izzy and I heading to the bush.

A Tribute to My Mom on Mother's Day

When I was a small girl I told my mother, “When I grow up I want to be a farmer’s wife.”   

This coming from the daughter who’s mother went back to work 8 weeks after she was born.    I was saying this to a woman who worked in a male dominated workplace until she retired.   My mother never deterred me from this plan; even tho I am sure she had to have thought that maybe I should be aiming for a modern day “career”.  (Side bar for all the farmer’s wives reading this…I am not saying being a farmers wife is a bad career choice!   It just wasn’t one I believe my mother thought was going to work out for me).    I look back on this as I think of all the women before me that have fought so bloody hard to get the rights in place that I now enjoy.   My mother had set an unspoken example…I too am a woman in a male dominated workforce.   It’s not strange to find myself at meetings with 30 people and be the only one with no Y chromosome in the room.   (Women still have a long way to go when it comes to equality…but more on that another day).   This farmer’s wife idea wasn’t so farfetched in my 10 year old head.   We lived on a small farm, we raised animals, we lived in an old farm house.  At 10 years old how could staying on a farm with horses and critters ever be less than fun?   Time passed, I grew up, made my way into post secondary education and found my place in the workforce.   I think my mother never deterring me from that dream of being a farmer’s wife really had an effect on my future…I’m now the farmer…not just the wife!  

I look back on the example my mother had set for me as caregiver, wife, mother, friend, driver, creator, gardener, painter…I could really go on here…I don’t think she realized how much of a profound influence she provided to me growing up.   Maybe I never even realized it until now as an adult when I can reflect back on those bygone days.  But she shaped me with her love of the arts, her endless will to provide us with a better life by working shifts and making ends meet with overtime whenever it was available.    She set an example of how to work hard, save for what you wanted to buy and be kind to all living things.    I will not follow my parents example on everything in life but my mother is a woman of her generation that set up their daughters to be more than what history had already revealed for woman.   

As I look back over time from when I told my mom I wanted to be a farmer’s wife and to where I am now; I realize she was just setting me up to run the farm, not just be the wife.   She set me up to be confident, determined and hard working.   She also tried her hardest to instill patience, love and kindness in me.   I don’t think this dream would have been realized if this farmer's wife dream had been squished at that tender age of 10.   Not to down play the 30 years in between here…There has been a lot of life lived and a lot of guidance provided from a number of sources since.   I am not foolish enough believe that I could do this on my own either.   Without DH and his endless support of me, my love of horses and a vision of something more than working at a steel mill till the end of our time…HP Haven wouldn’t even be reality.   But this is a tribute to my mom…for letting this little girl dream and then showing her that dreams can be big.

Thank you mom for being such a positive life influence.   For being an listening ear, my cheering squad and my kick in the pants when I needed that to.   In part, it's because of you that I am the woman I am today.

Love you and thank you everyday.

Always Your Little Girl...

Girls 40th Weekend

This post is not really going to have much to do with the farm.  
Other than the fact that the one half of the farm ownership (Moi!) turned 40 this past week and then spent the weekend in Collingwood with 5 of my best girl friends from grade school and high school celebrating the entry into a new decade.
Two of these amazing women I have known for 35 years of my life, one other for 33 years and then I met the 2 others in high school, so I have known them for nearly 25 years.  These kind of friendships I truly treasure because not everyone gets to experience the joy and gratitude of long lasting friends with one person but I am so fortunate to have that with 5 exceptional women.

There is something to be said about old friendships that last the test of time.   The history that we share doesn't need explaining.   My past is intertwined with theirs and knowing the details of ones life at so many levels that you have such pure trust and loyal love for one another because we have shared so much over the years.   We share our pasts both good and bad, for what they are.   No judgement of each other for what has come to pass and just support and love as we move through this life together learning as we go and becoming a group of women that will have some of the most interesting and exciting stories to tell at the nursing home we all want to get into together!!
We have been through deaths, births, marriage, divorce and all the milestones that life has sent our way since those beginning days at school together.  
The conversations that we have had have brought us to tears of laughter, they have brought us to tears of hard realizations and still we share our stories with openness and compassion for one another. Knowing in our hearts that these women are in our lives for the long haul because we have chosen each other and we have made the connections with each other that are timeless.  
I am so proud to have you all as my friends and to be sharing my journey in this short time on this earth with you all.   I am also so proud to be part of your journey, giving to you all I have to offer as a friend forever.

I love you girls!   This was an experience of my life that I will never forget.   AND since you all know me as well as you do...you will also know that I am bawling my eyes out just typing this post.
Thanks for the memories and cheers to a new decade together!   It will be mucho fun!

Getting the Birthday Celebrations started.

Our Full Group!

The beautiful house we stayed at!

Zip Lining!

The Birthday Party!   How about another Birthday Cake Shooter?

Lisa - The 'Baby' of our group and our Life Coach in training!

Sheri - The one who is always smiling! 

Judy - The Voice of Reason!  Not!

Janet - The one who hates having her picture taken!

Kathy - The one who's always on time!  LOL!

Josh Nichol Clinic & Spring Has Sprung

The weather has turned fabulous here in SW Ontario.   Today was one of those days we have been dreaming about all winter.   Beautiful sunshine, light southwesterly breeze and temperatures hovering at +20C.   Really it couldn't have been much closer to perfect!

I realize it have been a long time between posts.   I apologize readers...I just have no viable excuses!  

So lets see what's happened since the last post...

#1 - I had another amazing clinic with the ever so talented Josh Nichol from Athabasca, Alberta.   This young horseman is one of the most talent individuals I have been lucky enough to train with.   I will never be able to give Josh the accolades he deserves for his work...the best way I can explain it is...He makes horsemanship part of his everyday life.   In a way that makes him a better husband, a better friend...a better human.   His principles can be applied anywhere in a persons life and by giving ourselves confidence and courage to make mistakes, to learn from those mistakes and take the judgment  and emotion out of our actions.    We must always know that we are what we get back and our horses hold up a mirror at times that makes us at times painfully aware of our own need to change.   Thank you Josh for being such a compassionate, thorough and dedicated facilitator.    You have given me more than I will ever be able repay you for.   This reminds me of the line...Angels...they walk among us.

The Cowboy himself...

Izzy and I during a session.

The JN Sassy Chicks

The spring weather has been hit or miss for the past 2 weeks.   Last Saturday we had a snow storm with -2C temps and this Saturday it's +20C!  All the odd jobs are starting to surface and become jobs that NEED to get done as time waits for no one!

I have taken down all the old fencing and insulators in pastures 4, 5 & 6.   The new insulators have been installed in 4 & 5 and the new fencing plan is starting to take shape in my mind so that I will be able to put pen to paper and draft up the new chuting system to make pasture management simplified.   My objective is to make a larger scale pasture access system similar to our old place.   I believe that access to the fields should be centralized to limit the amount of time required to do turnout and to decrease the long runs of water lines for automatic or bucket watering.   I don't believe in turnout in winter with no water so it's also important that all the watering areas have accessibility to power for heated troughs.   The new layout has 5 of the 6 pastures opening from one main holding area.   Pasture 6 will be gated as an alternate to 5 so the access chute will serve either of those 2 fields.   This will require moving some fence lines but for the pain we will have to endure to move them it will save a lot of walking and a lot of bucketing of water!

The lay of the land.   This is Pasture 3, 4 and 5 and the chute to 4.

We have made the decision to move our round pen to be part of pasture 6.   This area will be elevated, levelled and fenced and then Pasture 6 will be surrounding it and the outdoor sand ring.  

Speaking of which, DH has put all the sand in the outdoor and the footing is fantastic!!   After all the rain we have been able to ride in the ring the entire time.  Drainage is excellent and the loft is nearly perfect!    The sand needs another grooming with the leveller and harrows but when I rode on Friday after work I was filled with so much gratitude for all that I have had bestowed upon me.   Lovely horses, like minded friendships, an amazing husband, family/friends that have good health and all of it situated here...on our own little piece of land that we call Heaven on Earth!   Really I have so much...it's remarkable.

My Happy Places!

DH has been busy again.   Last weekend he cut all the pastures.   We ran out of good weather to cut the VERY long grass that was left from the fall. This weekend he is on the tractor over seeding the pastures he cut last weekend.   So far 2 down and 4 more to go.   We have decided to use a plug over seeder.   This weekend is working out to be perfect timing...if we have time to get them all finished before the rain on Monday!  

My Dad and Mom have been out on several occasions the last several days.   They have been delivering wood for next winter and the following winter.   Some local people to my Dad have had trees trimmed and the county has been trimming trees along the road; so my Dad has been cutting it up and bringing it to us.   Feeling very fortunate for this help as the wood is a needed part of our heating source and we just have not been able to get that to the top of the priority list.   I started stacking the wood today and by my estimate we have about 6-8 cord already piled here ready to be split and stacked for aging.   This makes me a happy and warm resident!   Thanks Dad for taking care of us in this way...it's sincerely appreciated!

Lastly, from the creative arts side of my life...my friend Lana who own's Quilt Junction in Waterford, ON has launched the commercialization of my 5th pattern in the mini series at the show exhibiting at the Royal Botanical Gardens.  You can see this mini work at my blog post last month...Here.   As of blog posting time she has nearly sold out of my patterns!   Thank you Lana for being such a great friend and supporter of my creative endeavours!

Wanda's First Ride and Josh Has Arrived

This weekend has been a busy one!
I played with Wanda in the arena and she seemed sensible and mentally connected, so I decided it was the right day to through a leg over and see if I could keep that same connection while mounted.   She is one big girl!  It felt great!   Reminded me of Emma in the glory days.   Same sort of personality but better movement.   We never ended up getting past the walk as I let her find her balance without interfering with her to create any additional worry.   It only took about 5 minutes before her walk started to be less hurried and her neck relaxed and her head dropped.   I could feel the back start to loosen and at that moment I knew riding her is going to be a journey filled with love and learning.

Emma had a chance to give my cousins young children a first ride on a big horse!   She was of course a perfect lady and just walked quietly around the arena as if she knew she had some delicate cargo abroad.   I love this horse with all my heart...even tho she has all kinds of flaws and issues, mostly stuff created by my lack of knowledge over the years developing her but some relationships are so valuable, even with all their imperfections.  Thank you Kerry, James and Alan, as well as little Hailey and Jack for spending the day with us on Sunday!

DH was busy (as usual) spreading the sand in the outdoor.   He got half done on Sunday late in the day and then the other half he finished last night.   Of course I was itching to get home from work tonight to give it a test ride!    We had some decent rain today and the ring was wet but it rode beautifully.    Izzy was a super star and I am so blessed to have this creature teaching me how to be a better horsewoman!

In process

 First Test Ride

Josh Nichol arrived yesterday for our Spring clinic.  Yeah!  He gave a very poignant and heartfelt lecture last night to kick of our week.   There was a good turnout and I hope that some of my friends that made the drive to support the clinic enjoyed hearing Josh's philosophy.   He's a brilliant horseman that has the horses best interest at the forefront of his style and helping humans understand the language of the horse as his goal for his teaching.   I feel so fortunate to be taking part and absorbing the flow of wisdom and love that Josh passes through in everything he does.   For me he's a living example of being the change you want to see.