We had a successful weekend at the Lamoille County Field Days. Since it's held in Johnson, the same town where The Center is, we met a lot of our rural neighbors. I am always suprised when someone says, "Oh, yes, I've heard you and your horses are in Johnson now." Also heard from a few people that they've been following our progress. Sounds like the word is continuing to get out.

Gave out over 150 brochures, more than any other year we've attended. I think this was the best year at the Field Days as far as contacts that I made. Our painted pony kids activity was a huge hit as always.

I can't say enough good things about Maya and Oscar and how they greeted everyone. This was Maya's first time at something like this. She couldn't have been any better. What a great ambassador she's become in a short time. The girls rode the horses back home after the fair. Maya bonded with Oscar over the weekend and was whinnying for him when she went back into the pasture.

I bonded with Maya over the weekend, too. I've found that sitting with the horses in their stalls during events like this really make a difference. People tend to feel more like asking questions about the horses. Maya and I spent a total of about 16 hours together in her stall. When she was tired she would put her head behind me and press her face against my back as I sat in the chair. I just love this horse!

The next two weeks are going to be super busy getting the place ready for the open house. I've got more fields to get brush hogged and fencing to get up soon. The day that I don't have to put up any more fencing will be a day to celebrate!

It was really really busy at Field Days Saturday. We did our Painted Pony thing with the kids coming by and we counted almost 100 hand prints on Maya!! She's been a gem and is so gentle with everyone. The Caledonia Fair organizer came by to see our activities and invited us to their event late August. They will PAY us for our appearance!

These events are exhausting with 12 hour days, the heat, all the people to talk to. But you never know who you're going to meet and how they can help. Or who you may help along the way.

It's worth it.

Going to the Fair.

Friday through Sunday we're taking two horses to the Lamoille County Field Days. A small town county fair that we've attended the last number of years. Just about everyone in town will be there, a good place to hand out information on The Center, see old friends and meet new ones.

We are going to take Oscar (crowd favorite!) and Maya who will be new to this type of thing. She's such a lovely mare and we think she'll enjoy all the attention.

Being that I'm still with out a trailer Tory and Eliza are going to ride the horses there. It's only about 2 miles down the dirt road from The Center. How lucky!

Starting to get organized for our OPEN HOUSE August 14th. Hope the message is spreading, would love to have a big turnout of course. We're putting a lot of work into getting things spiffed up around the property. Spiffed up means some mowing, more fencing, and maybe even some transplanting of bushes and perennials to make things real purty!

Rode Summer on her first little outing today. Through the field, around the property, across a big puddle. She was great. Quite bold and not worried about too much. Oscar came along to keep her company but I don't think she needed him.

It's already practically Wednesday. So much seems to happen everyday I can't keep it all straight. Good thing I'm blogging!

Minko is settling in well. He's living in the small corral getting used to be being talked to and petted and oohed and ahhhed at. I've spent some time getting him "de-bratted" as Eliza and I call it! He was a brat the first time I asked him to anything other than what he wanted. But that didn't last long. He's still a little shy but walks up to me and is getting more snuggly. Priority for a kids pony!

Summer, the mare in training, is coming along really well. So great to see the transition happening. Her owner has been so committed to coming when I work with her and is learning more about her horse. She's been riding her and all is going really well. Glad to have her until mid August. She'll be a pretty solid citizen for a four year old by the time she leaves The Center.

Shy Shy continues to be a gem! I just love her delicateness and I'm finding she has sense of humor. Yesterday I took her out for a walk in the field with a friend of mine and her horse. We stood and just chatted for a while and Shy was nibbling on the back of my coat, tugging at it like she was a little kid trying to get my attention. Then she'd put the leadrope in her mouth and carry it, like a dog. This is the first time I've seen her be silly, like I would totally expect from my horses. She and Thunder are really cute together too. He's thrilled to have a girl!

This weekend we have the Lamoille County Field Days to attend with two horses. It's a real local event so it'll be good exposure for us.

Friday I have a group of teenagers coming from Johnson State College to do volunteer work. I'm grateful for their help and hope to get a lot done.

Stay tuned and check back in a few days. I should have some good news to share!!!

When Plans Change

Things have a funny way of working out for me!

Ended up that I did not bring back the 4 year old Choctaw gelding. En route to picking up the borrowed trailer I recieved a phone call that they had a buyer for the horse. Uh, hmmm, uh....okay...mmm, uh. Was a little caught off guard there, and dissapointed.

But....there's a silver lining to this story...

They offered me the same deal for Minko, one of the offspring that we bred and raised during the Choctaw Program at Red Road Farm! So essentially, Minko has come back to me and I couldn't be happier.

When the girls and I went to visit HRBF about 6 weeks ago I was wondering if there was a way Minko could come back. When they offered the other horse I was okay with that so let go of the Minko idea, sort of.

It's great to see the little fella again! He's just adorable. He is very petite, not in the girth size though (over fed) but only stands 12.3 ish. Eliza will help me post pics on Facebook tonight. He hasn't had much handling since he left me in 2008, but he hopped right in the trailer and rode quietly. I'm sure he'll warm up quickly to us. Tonight he was getting acquainted with new buddies over the fence. Can't wait to see him tomorrow and comb out his wind knots in his mane. He's got a pretty tail too! Oh, and his face is beautiful.

"Can we keep him?"

If you have kids, you know how it goes. "Why can't we keep him? He's so cute! I promise I'll walk him and feed him and pick up his poop. I promise!!!!!!

No, not a puppy, or a kitten. It's a Choctaw Indian pony. Yes, he's cute. All 650 lbs of him. Tomorrow I'll be driving to the Woodstock, Vermont area to pick up a gelding from Hamilton Rare Breeds Farm. This 4 year old tri-colored tobiano gelding is a half brother to Little Creek. Iktinike is the sire. HRBF is giving him to me in trade for a breeding to Little Creek next year. They purchased two Choctaw youngsters when John Fusco and I were doing the Choctaw preservation program, and they have two other mares that they've been breeding for a while. So I know where the horse has come from and he's a beauty. I'll have to post pics on Facebook. I can't post here since I'm on dial up.

He'll be an immediate sales project. He's had handling since birth, well taken care of (overfed by the looks of him) and was saddled I think last year, but I'll start from scratch with him. I've learned never to make assumptions about a horses training. He doesn't have a name that I want to use so we'll be renaming him as soon as we get to know him.

"So CAN we keep him?"

"Well, we'll see. For a little while at least!"

Summer is coming along really well. Yesterday I rode her on my own, walk and trot in the arena. She's actually feeling alot softer than I thought she would. She settled right into wearing a bit and she's following the feel of the rein nicely now. Worked on her one rein stop and yeilding to pressure of my leg, her whoa and go are getting more equal.

Looks like her owner has decided to leave her with me for one more month which I'm really happy about. The extra time will allow us to all work together so Summer continues to progress, or at least coast for a while when she goes home. There's nothing wrong with coasting. Summer is just four years old so she doesn't need to know everything this year. The foundation she'll have when she leaves me with be with her for ever.

On another note, The Center has a young friend from Bermuda who is turning 5 years old on Saturday. In lieu of gifts, his guests (over 40 of them!) will be making a contribution to The Center. We have sent him a token of our appreciation, a Breyer horse model of Rain from "Spirit", and each guest is recieving an autographed photo of Oscar!

By the time of our OPEN HOUSE August 14th, the property is going to be looking incredible. Lots of volunteers on board in the coming week. It's just amazing to me how many people are willing to step in and sweat and labor for our project.

Raise your hand if you're tired of hot and sticky, bug infested days? The deer flies are brutal. Relentless little creatures that are driving me crazy. If it's not the bugs, it's the snow. I don't want to sound whiny.

The newly mowed field is great! I can see the lay of the land a little better and it's going to make a fantastic pasture when we can get it plowed and seeded. There's a VT ag program that may be able to help us with funding to get our fields reclaimed. Wouldn't that be great!?

Starting to get the word out now about our August 14th open house. We are taking part in the Lamoille Valley Chamber Route 15 Summer Festival. Opening our doors to visitors from 10-4. Planning on a BBQ, demos, kids activities, meeting our herd and showing people the facility and our plans for the future. We joined the Chamber of Commerce in the spring, this is the 2nd year for the Route 15 festival. Last year we had about a hundred people stop by, so lets hope for more this year now that we are settling into our new location.

Truck working out well, hauled my first load of hay in it today. Feels good to close the door on the situation where the guy owed me a hundred bales since last October. Can't believe he came through really. I was going to just give up a few months ago but was too angry about it and persevered. Glad I did. Giving up doesn't come easy for me. In certain situations maybe it would do me good, but not when it comes to my horses.

This is Summer's last week with me. Her owner is planning on coming daily to work with her. We want to make the transition to going home a positive one and they can continue to progress at their own rate. I feel like I've just been able to get through Summer's wall. We've made more progress over the last week than the first two combined. If I could keep her one more month, I think she'd be a completely different horse to work with by the end. She's a good horse now but still has some ways to go until her opposition reflex doesn't exist anymore. Fortunately, Summer lives a short drive away (from Vermont standards) so I can go over and help if needed.

Progress

Oh yea, oh yea, doin' the happy dance!!! Big field on the left of the driveway getting brush hogged first thing tomorrow morning!!! Can't wait to see what it looks like. Thanks to Eric Boozan from Waterville, owner of Three Mountains landscaping and site work, he gave me a great deal on this big job.

For those of you reading this who haven't been to The Center, there's a 5-6 acre rectangle shaped field that hasn't been attended to in quite a few years. Up to 2 inch saplings growing like crazy. I've found out from farming neighbors it was a corn field, a hay field and prime hunting ground at one point. Brush hogging isn't going to bring this field back to grazing though, but it's a step in the right direction. Ideally, it will be plowed, fertilized and reseeded by next year.

So one thing at a time it's coming together up there. I love to see the progress.

Out with the old...In with the new

I'm tired of talking about my truck saga. I think I have a few friends tired of listening to it, too. It's over though, folks. I've severed the relationship with my F-250 diesel. This evening I drove home in a 2005 F150 Lariat. Had to downsize due to finances but am confident it'll tow fine. I'm not all excited about a new vehicle. Maybe tomorrow when the shock of it all wears off. I couldn't continue the pattern though with my black truck. I get nauseous thinking about the $$$ I've put into repairs in the short time I've owned it. So it's over...moving on to a happier and more trustworthy relationship with new burgundy truck.

It's a nice color and fits into the scheme of The Center. Our colors are burgundy, white and black. A sign reading THE CENTER FOR AMERICA'S FIRST HORSE will look nice on the door. It has a sun roof. That's sort of cool. It has a Tonneau cover on the bed. That's cool too, but I'll have to remove it to haul stuff. It has four doors so I don't have to hear the girls complain as much when one has to ride in the back. Really cool.

It's not cool in Vermont this week though--92 degrees and high humidity. Good for hay farmers. Lots of biting flies out. No fun. Horse time is early morning, late evening and at a minimum.

Cool shower, fans on, open windows, going to bed.

For Pete's Sake!

Pete left yesterday morning with a friend who is taking him for the summer to put miles on him. Not only did he load like a champ after a session with him the day before, but she put a long ride on him yesterday. She said he was, "awesome". Willing, forward thinking, didn't care about the rought terrain, traffic, water, etc. So this is good news for Pete as I'm hoping this friend will decide he'll be a perfect addition to her family.

Pete and Summer must have been talking over the fence because she had a breakthrough yesterday as well. No more 4 hour trailer loading issues. Within 10 minutes Summer was self-loading. I can sit on the fender of the trailer with a 22' rope and send her in. Even at a trot! She's hard to keep out of the trailer now!!!!

The issue hasn't been with the trailer itself as I may have mentioned in an earlier blog post. This issue was her lack of respect and a lack of confidence. All of her same tricks of resistance were seen with many of the new obstacles or idea I presented to her. The barging, pushing her shoulder into you, looking away, not watching where she put her feet, all signs that point in the same direction. Summer now has accepted some leadership from me so we are making progress more quickly now. She put her feet on the pedestal yesterday, too which was a big deal for her. It's not about the pedestal either. It's not about anything except respect, trust and leadership. Once those things are in place, they'll try to please you.

Shy loves the pedestal! She feels very glamorous up there. Shy has let me pick up her hind feet. I laid over her back yesterday. My intention is not to ride her soon, but only help her have a positive reaction to pressure. Pressure comes in all forms. While standing next to her I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her tightly, then released, hugged, held, released, hugged, released. It took a few minutes for her to relax into it. I wrapped my arms around her back and did the same thing. She thought that was odd but softened and relaxed into that as well. She can be jumpy about things around her rear end and hind legs so we continue with success to work back there. I saw the other day that stick had gotten caught in her tail while she was in the pasture. She was frightened as it dragged behind her. It finally let go and she looked relieved.

I love my facility because I can use the natural environment to help the horses. I walked her through a field of saplings and tall grass which helped her get used to things on her belly, in her tail, and between her hind legs. I think she's over self about that now!

"You were Born to Blog." That's what my friend Jo said to me! I've enjoyed sharing my adventures with readers. I'm not sure how many people read this, but I do have friends who've mentioned they do. It's a good way for me to journal what happens in my days. I wasn't sure if anyone was actually reading it, so thanks for letting me know you stop by here occasionally.

Between 4 new horses at the barn in the last month, I've been able to keep the plates juggling! Shy, Summer, Pete and now Maya are all getting played with almost daily. Eliza has been a big help and has ridden Augustine two or three days now, his first rides. She's been riding Maya too and taking care of her. Pete has come to an understanding about things, and today we revisited trailer loading with much success. I don't need to go into what day 1 looked like! It wasn't pretty. He'll be leaving this weekend to go to a friends nearby so she can put miles on him. Lots of nice sweaty miles hopefully as he needs to shed a few pounds. (Understatement). He's a joint sales project and by winter I hope he will be finding his partner for life. He's on the road to becoming a great horse.

Summer has been coming along nicely. Her owner got on her and I led her around for the first time. I'm glad she was able to be the first one to "ride" her. It wasn't much of a ride, just a slow walk around the arena. Summer has definitely pushed me to some interesting places in my head about horse psychology. I've had to approach her in a much more mental way than physical since she just didn't seem to be getting it for a few days.

The biggest breakthrough was when I realized the majority of the issues were around her lack of yielding to physical pressure. Once I caused her to lower her head by applying pressure to areas of her face, it all changed. So I've learned alot. I knew this stuff, though, but it wasn't until Summer came I realized just HOW IMPORTANT it is, especially with a horse like her. So here comes Pushy Pete and the first place we visited was his head and causing him to yield to pressure. Things changed.

Pete and I had another visit with the trailer today. Glad to say he's a champ now getting in and out. Was able to stand by the fender and send him in from about 12 feet away. Walks in, turns around and stands. He gave me a little bit of drama in the beginning, but saw I wasn't impressed so moved on to getting in the trailer when asked. Good boy, Pete.

Maya is just an amazing horse and we've all decided that she will be staying with us!!!!!! Her "sponsor" and I both feel that Maya needs to be at The Center with people that love, honor and appreciate her on a daily basis. I'm not sure if it was Morado or Maya who decided they would pasture together, but the morning after we got her, I found Morado had gone under the fence to get in with her. It's a great match and he really has helped Maya acclimate I think.

Before this gets too much longer, I 'll close with saying that the former house site rubble and pile of junk has been removed! It looks great! Big thanks to Gilbert, the Benoits, and John for gettin' er done! We also chose the site for the future barn/arena and am starting to move forward with those plans, contingent on creative financing.

Headed to Ford dealer tomorrow to see about trading my broken truck in. After 3 tows in the last 4 weeks, I'M DONE. This last breakdown could cost me more than the one before. May the black truck find happiness with another owner.