Horse Agility comes to Horses In Motion!

Horse Agility Event
Saturday, March 31st, 2012
Location: Horses in Motion Arena, Edwin, MB (just west of Portage La Prairie)
Presenter/Trainer – Barb Fenwick
Demonstration, lessons and mini-competition
Participant fee – 35.00, Spectator fee 10.00

Horse Agility is a new equine sport that is catching on in Canada like a prairie fire.
All you need is an equine, a halter and a lead rope! All work with the horse is done in hand.
The purpose is to build relationship, communication and have fun. Play with it…or compete.

Barb Fenwick is the first HAAT (Horse Agility Accredited Trainer) is one of the only 2 Trainers
in Canada certified to present and train for Horse Agility in Canada.

Come join in the fun. To learn more about the sport and club visit: http://www.thehorseagilityclub.com
Contact Barb to book your spot in the event. 204-466-2776, bfenwick
Contact Crystal of you need to book an overnight stall or pen http://www.horsesinmotion.ca/
neu, 204-252-2179

Hoofcare training, Horse Agility, Natural Riding Barb Fenwick, Carberry, Manitoba www.barbfenwick.net barbfenwick.wordpress.com

Here are a few of the “happenings” of 2011 at Seasons Ranch.

Come be part of the fun for summer, 2012.  Plan to join us for some horse agility, trail rides, lessons, or just relaxing on the deck of THE VIEW cabin.  The cabin will be available for the rest of January, then closed until April 1st, when it opens until closing for the season at the end of October.

Events planned so far for summer, 2012  - Helping Hooves 4 day Trail Ride event – August 24-27.  Enjoy the slideshow!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A true leader

One of my favorite mentors is Carolyn Resnick. She defines leadership and bond with horses in such a harmonious way…I offer you this post from her website. Happy New Year to all creatures, may we learn to live in true harmony.

http://www.carolynresnickblog.com/valuable-life-lessons-from-training-horses-that-contribute-to-your-well-being/

Horses for adoption in Manitoba

This is a link to a group of horses that have been rescued from auction located near Gruntal, Manitoba.
Some great looking horses…saved from slaughter, many registered. Have a look!!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150441202004416.424644.596604415&type=

in the moonlight

I fed horses tonight when I got home from a trip after work to Brandon. It’s Monday & was a cool one at -19 when I woke up and a meager high of -14. It was quiet & crisp as I fed the horses this evening. Serena came back for extra attention and feed as Zoie stole some of her feed a few minutes earlier. I spent a good amount of time grooming them all yesterday evening. I put them in the barn for a couple hrs to warm it up in there, then it’s lovely to go hang out with them in there in relative comfort. I love them all so much, they bring me contentment.

All is peaceful, all is bright,
The moon is shining…all is right.

Serena and the barn

The saga continues….

Serena (visit her page to learn more about her) presented me with a new/old challenge in the last while.  I will back up and explain a little for those not up to speed on her progress. She has always been “iffy” about going into the barn.

She will go in…

IF she feels like it.

IF there is no one pressuring her.

IF there is food to be had.

IF the others are ALL in there.

IF no one tries to walk out the barn door past her to close the gate to the adjoining corral.

She will leave the barn:

WHEN she feels like it.

WHEN she feels anyone wants to catch her near the doorway.

WHEN she thinks you are going to close the corral gate.

WHEN she reads your mind and knows you have “plans” for her.  ie…need to trim feet, groom or any other “maintenance”.

I have ways and means of getting her to stay in the barn, or getting her in there when I need to do things with her…but she has ways and means of knowing what your game plans are almost before you think it.  She is very crafty, has incredible instincts and self-preservation, even after being here at my ranch for over 2 years.

Now, she has come an incredible distance in her training and trust building, but you can bet that if you “do” something to/with her one day in the barn, the next day she is much more wary and will watch you like a hawk to see what your devious moves are.

I don’t mind these maneuvers so much in the summer months when I have time to diddle around and work out new strategies or methods to get her past this issue. But now it’s cold and I don’t want to spend my waning daylight playing the corral me game so I can get her into the barn.  I bet you have a lot of suggestions and obvious ideas…be assured I have likely used them and much more…but heck I am always open to suggestions too!

Anyway, I was at a high frustration level when the problem of getting her in for her feed nightly actually solved itself.  Or…I should say Spirit helped solve it .  Let me explain. With the ground being so hard lately with the snowing, freezing, melting scenario, he (chronic foundered horse) was not happy about walking on that hard, slippery ground to get into the barn for his feed.  So, since he is my # 1 horse and deserves all the consideration I can give him…I started to give him his nightly feed of timothy cubes in his bucket in the feeding corral and not the barn.

Serena wanted her nightly feed and would not go into the barn without him being in there AT ALL.  OK, I can feed 2 this way and placed her bucket just outside the door of the barn so she didn’t have to go in. With Spirit in sight and the other girls ( ugly step-sister mares in her mind) safely tied in the barn, she thought this was a good deal. She happily ate like this for several nights.  Having that pattern established, now Spirit was feeling left out and wanted to eat in the barn again. He was now tied in along with the mares and Serena’s bucket was placed in the doorway so she could see them all.  In the meantime she had gotten used to me walking out the gateway with their nightly hay feed on a toboggan and didn’t move from her spot by the door.  Next I put it slightly inside the barn, then a bit further after a couple of nights and before I could say Walters waterproof  webbed walkers wobbled while winging westward 20 times…or about 3 days…she was staying put when I walked around or past her in that spot.  I could close the corral gate, walk out of the corral, walk up to her and groom her and whatever else and her feet were cemented to the cement floor of the barn.  PROGRESS…and this is a biggie…and only took me 2 years…piece of cake right! LOL

I have purposely done NOTHING with her but let her eat in the barn to give her complete comfort there, but of course I will up my game at some point to be able to just direct her into her stall. Oh…yes she has a nice bedded stall..SHE is the only one that has a nice bedded stall (to keep the meanies away from her if I have them all in overnight).

Hmmm…just occured to me that I have spent more time teaching her fundamentals than I am sure I have spent training Spirit to do all the amazing things he does, including lie down for me.  Maybe in another say…8 or 10 years she will do that for me too…who knows:)

In the meantime, patience is my middle name, persistence (like a MAN – from article in horse country about trainer who thinks only MEN can be persistent) and good old common sense and a dash of humor maketh a trainer into someone a horse can trust and admire.

Serena contemplating leaving the barn

New look, new website

Welcome to my Blog-website. I have decided to go this route to make my website more interactive, easier to update and a fresh new look.

For 2012 there will be many changes “around the ranch”.  I will continue to teach some riding & hoof care lessons, but my focus will be more on Agility training and events. I became a certified trainer in this discipline this summer and am very excited to develop this sport within our province and beyond. There are only 2 qualified instructors in this sport in Canada at this time, besides myself there in one in BC.  So, it will thrilling to spread the word and the fun around!

Otherwise I continue to work full-time as an education assistant for language at Carberry High school, a job I thoroughly enjoy, which gives me my summers off to play with the horses!

All our horses are doing well, including our star boarder – Foxie, who has helped many beginner riders this year in her role as prime lesson horse.  Zoie became my “pink princess” in the Pink Yonder ride I did this fall, what a blast..and for such a good cause! Spirit is doing fine, still the king of the herd here! Serena “the wild one” continues to develop into a calmer, more trusting horse. Her story is this blog in archives. We will see if she develops into a riding horse some day, still has a ways to go. In the meantime she is in agility training and may shine in that arena some day!

Drop a line, leave a comment, just say hi!  Seasons Ranch will be open for horse camping next spring, but likely won’t be offering any cabins next year due to some changing plans.  Look forward to playing or riding with many of my friends ..old and new…in the amazing year of 2012 to come!

Oh…and meet our new dog – Tucker – a Norwegian Elkhound male that is 4 months old now.(chewing on a string)

Our dear dog Patsy had to be put down after suffering with bladder cancer that had spread, this last July. She is still missed.

Just being with Serena

I had set myself a goal to start Serena under saddle this summer. It became more and more evident that she is still not ready to accept a rider. She still has trust issues, nervousness issues and issues with a rope dangling down around her or on the ground hanging from her halter. To me, this isn’t a safe situation and until this particular problem is worked through I wouldn’t even dream of riding her. Imagine if a rope or rein dropped from a rider..this would be a dangerous situation as she tries to get away from the rope.
So instead I decided to just continue with small things and building trust. It was just the other day when I finally reintroduced a saddling situation to her. I put a bareback pad on her back and cinched it up just tight enough so it wouldn’t move or turn. Then I turned her out into the corral. She bucked a bit and tore around some, then stood still afraid to move. After a few more minutes she was doing better, moving, but afraid to put her head down and it with it on. I caught her up and lead her around some with it on and patted it etc. Then took it off. That was a bit tricky as she worried about the cinch strap fluttering in the breeze. Slowly she became ok with it and I was able to take it off. I put it on the ground and asked her head down to sniff it. She did. Then I just laid it back on her back, making sure the straps were not going to be dangling. She was a bit nervous but accepted that ok.
The thing is…she had been saddled, led around etc with an english saddle and bb pad before “IN THE BARN” but not outside where she could move on her own. With Serena a new environment is a whole new experience. Makes me again realize I can’t take anything for granted with her.
Will I ever ride her? I hope so, but now I haven’t set a time frame for us. We will know when it is time. In the meantime I am just enjoying her. She is awesome.
My sisters Liz & Anne were over yesterday & hadn’t seen her for a few months. They were totally amazed how quiet and approachable she has become. In fact, when she was in the barn they couldn’t believe it was her. It made me smile and realize that we do continue to make progress, even when I don’t really notice it myself.

Welcome to the new look!

WordPress is going to be my web presence now. You can get to this site by typing barbfenwick.wordpress.com OR barbfenwick.net
I am excited about having this fresh start to my web pages and being able to be interactive on all of the pages as well. Welcome & Enjoy! Let me know what you think…suggestions or problems with the site.

Horse Agility at Seasons

I have put the finishing touches on our Horse Agility playground. It’s going to be great fun for the guests that come for the Girls Weekend Aug 27/28 as that will be the first time we will officially use it to teach and offer a mini-competition.  All you need for this sport is a lead rope 10 ft long or longer, a halter (any kind) and your equine – horse, pony, donkey, henny.  I am looking forward to teaching the new dog we are getting next month to do it as well once he is big enough. We are getting a Norwegian Elkhound puppy.  It will be a great dog & pony show time…maybe include that in competitions in the future! Have a great summer day! I will post pictures of the playground soon.