What's been going on at Kalimbah this week ...
25/02/10
Gosh where did that 3 weeks go! I am really struggling to keep up with it all at the moment and am hoping things will start to settle down in March.
Best thing of the past few weeks has been in incredible amount of rain we have had! Last week alone we had over 6 inches in 4 days. This has set us up for a good winter, probably the best in 10 years or so. Unfortunately this has also set back my training timetable but I can live with that :)
The parade of ridden Standardbreds at the Canberra Cup was a great night and all the horses where a credit to their breed and to thier owners. It still amazes me that they can come back to such a high stress enviroment and behave so well. We had 10 horses and were all looking very flash in our new club polos. Have a look at the photos from the night
HERE.
So since our last news we have had one new "graduate" and a few new arrivals. Cooper finished his training with a wonderful ride on the river with Trina, her husband and myself. Everything was easy for this boy - he is smart enough to pick up any new training quickly, balanced enough to be able to perform and confident enough to be a real working partner in the process. It was also nice to offer Ray and Trina the chance to ride out together - something they had not done for many years.
Joining the Kalimbah "herd" are
VELVET,
CHARLIE and CHELSEA. Take look at their pages for more details.
Last weekend was the ATHRA NSW AGM and Camp - an event we were looking forward to with plans of taking 4 horses for Craig, Tom, Justin and I and camping from Friday night. Like all good plans it started to come apart at the seems with our childcare for Georgia and Caitlin being cancelled, then Craig having to work all day Saturday. The kids and I did have a great day up there though and saw lots and lots of Brumbies. There was even a mob that came right down near the camping grounds and Tom followed them back up into the bush to get these great photos.
This week we are looking forward to our first Standies Unharnessed trail ride for the year around Mount Ainslie in Canberra. I did the reccy ride this week and there are some amazing views looking back to Parliment House over Canberra. This is a friend who came with me on Boston...BTW can any body tell me why this horse is stil for sale? *scratches head* it is a strange market at the moment.
01/02/10
A very productive week with the kids returning to school meaning that I can really start my work year.
Tuesday saw the arrival of Adam and George, who was immediately renamed Hunter. I don't ususally rename my horses but he is far too good looking to be called "George"!
Wednesday I went to a NPWS meeting with other interested horse group reps regarding developements at Wares Yards near Tantangara Dam in the KNP. I hae to say that in all my dealings and contact with the NPWS rangers from the Tumut office have shown them to be friendly, sensible and supportive of everyone being able to use the park in a sustainable way.
Thursday I had Cooper's owner here to watch his training session and I did some initial assesments on Adam and Hunter. There are updates on their pages. I have also been happy with Steve's progress and Bling and Sally are ready to move onto saddle work once they see the Chiro next week.
Sunday Bling's new family came for a training session on Sunday and spent time working on their ground skills with Bling and the girls having a riding lesson on Haylee pony. Sunday afternoon was the AGM and ride plan meeting for Standies Unharnessed and as well as a great catch up with all the members we sorted out the details for the parade next week at the Canberra Cup and set our ride calendar. It is going to be a great year for the Standies in Canberra. The ride calendar can be viewed HERE
Boston was due to go off to a new home this weekend but his new owner found out she was pregnant this week and,with much regret, decided it was only sensible to wait till next year. So - this great horse is still for sale. Lots of interest in him so hopefully he will find his new spot soon.
Busy this week with visits from the Chiro and Farrier. I have to bring Harry down to our place so that he and Kenzie can ride at the Canberra Cup with us. Cooper and Sally will be ridden this week while Bling does her last prep before riding. I have Indie (who I broke in 3 years ago) coming back to Kalimbah as her owner is going to live overseas and she wanted to be sure this lovely mare goes on to just the right home. Looking forward to "making her aquaintance" again.
CONGRATULATIONS
ALLY AND MARTY (Kalimbah Smart Tempo)
2nd Place Open Led Gelding at Morrisett Ag Show
a great win in a well attended class of 10 horses where he was the only Standie
25/01/10
Busy, busy week but I have a suspicion I might as well get used to it this year!
Moved all the horses for training down into the working paddocks last weekend and set them all up. Irish, Sally and Bling together make a paddock of beautiful girls! The boys are split in 2 groups on the railway with Haylee and Nina in the showground paddock that is about to be refenced and have the weeds removed (Tom's project).
Monday saw Cooper score himself a great home with Trina and Ray - his switched on attitude impressed even myself. He is now down in training while our other new comer Jimmy has gone out for a few months to bulk up and let done. He is also a nice type but is in very fine racing condition so will benifit from getting back to a more natural, bulky, grass based diet.
I always have a number of horses in the spelling paddock that are not yet on the website as some of them I like to give a bit more time before I start work with them. It is worth remembering this as if you are after a particular type of horse I may not have it on the website but might have one stashed in the paddock!
So the week was busy with Sally, Bling, Cooper and Steve all starting their groundwork. I've put updates on all their pages - no photos as because of the heat and the kids being on holidays I have been doing most of my work in the late evening. I will try and get some this week and add them as I do.
Lots of enquiries about Boston this week - he is such a nice horse to handle and ride I would have kept him myself except for the 10 or so I have to break!
I was supposed to have 2 new geldings arriving last Tuesday but a truck breakdown delayed it to this week. They both sound very nice so I am looking forward to meeting them.
The highlight of my week has been a fantastic ride with Craig today along the Murrumbidgee and Bredbo River trails. We had a great time hooning along, riding through the river and generally behaving like teenagers! It is really good to remember what it is all about sometimes. I have been "tuning up" Max lately and today he did well to keep up with Nick's fast walking pace (although he and Craig pretty much creamed us at the canter). Amazing too how quickly he can remember his leg aids when the rider is wearing spurs! LOL. Here is Craig and Nick on the river - this is officially my new favourite picture of them!
Craig and Nick sharing a (ginger) beer at the end of the ride
Although I think Nick prefered the bread >
We also gave both the boys baths and haircuts plus rugged them in preparation for the Canberra Cup in 2 weeks. I think they look very smart in their crewcuts
We are really excited about being a part of the Canberra Cup meeting once again this year. This time it will be Standardbreds Unharnessed Inc putting on a display of horses throughout the night as well as a parade of ridden Standardbreds right before the Canberra Cup. It will be a great night if you are nearby and we will be easy to pick out in our flash new Standies Unharnessed club polos.
PS: *sniff* only one entry in my guest book *sniff*
14/01/10
2010 Here we come!
What a great Xmas break! - can you believe I did not ride for 3 weeks? And loved every boot free minute of it!
Craig, Tom and Justin did get some riding in though - I always love seeing all my 2 legged and 4 legged boys out together.
Tom has improved in leaps and bounds on Buster. He is working on his rein skills and balance and is trotting confidently now. Not bad for a kid who only 6 months ago would squeal if the horse shook it's head :) I will be eternally grateful to this wonderful horse for letting me share my great passion with my son.
Our first rider training session was held the 9th Jan and was a great sucess. I really enjoyed the mornings training and riding, I think Heleena and Margaret did to. I already have bookings for these session up to March so am looking forward to this new service becoming an integral part of Kalimbah.
Developing on from designing these training sessions has been the idea of KISS Horsemanship. You know the old adage - Keep It Simple Stupid! Well it did start out as a bit of a joke with Craig and I but somehow it stuck and I came up with Keep It Safe and Simple. This really is the basis of all my training and the tag KISS just sums it all up. As Craig said though - some people might think it is the newest thing from the US, come along expecting to see some flash person in all the "right" gear and get...MOI! LOL
Sad news for so many of you will be that Bling is sold. Yes, the lovely girl was snapped up before Xmas by a very nice family who already have one Standie and want another for them all to enjoy. We will be doing lots of work together to make sure they all have the skills they need for a great life together and I am sure they are going to have a wonderful time. They tell me they are "not really into that showing stuff" but with 2 daughters and such a pretty mare I am sure they will be able to be persuded. Bling's trainer actually told me to warn them that they have not so much bought another horse as aquired another daughter! She has just started training with some simple ground work and lots of "personal space" training (yes, she does think she should be in your pocket all the time!)Also just starting training is Steve and Sally. I am treading water a bit while the kids are still on holidays but once they are back at school I can get my training program going full speed.
Keeping me busy at the moment is planning 2010 for our local riding club Standardbreds Unharnessed. Most exciting is that we will once again be taking part in the Carnival of Cups Canberra Cup Race Meeting. This year we are planning a display as well as a parade with all of us in our new club polos. Very flash!
You may have noticed the Quest Equine Network logo on the front page. Quest has been set up by Bec who was instrumental in saving Dawn and the other Bridgewater mares from starving to death (have a look at our RETIREES page for Dawn's story). I am really interested in the idea behind Quest as it is networking people across Australia who share a common concern for the welfare of all horses. We all can't take in rescue horses but this network allows you to connect with those around you to help a horse in need or to just discuss and educate on welfare issues. They have also started the 1000 Voices campaign which is a great way for all horse owners to voice their commitment to proper horse care. Take a look and pass it on :) PS - I have added a Guest Book to the website so please make use of it! If you have a Kalimbah horse it would be a great place to give us some up dates on how they are going, if you have been to a Kalimbah training session let us know what you thought. I'd also love any general feedback about the site and to hear about your Standies and what makes them special :)
