BigBlog

First off, welcome to my blog.

Let me introduce myself, my family and our horses. As you can see from my profile, I'm finalising my C III as Horse Riding Instructor. My husband, Ron ( ron.oldenbeuving@bigpond. com) is a farrier. Whilst he was in training, an incident occurred that got me to thinking that I should consider Instructing as a career. A young lass's mother had leased a quiet 14.2 hh horse for her to learn on. After having had its' shoes removed and hooves trimmed, the girl led the horse back to its yard, and simply let it go by undoing its halter and letting it run past her. As happens with a few horses, once they've had their hooves trimmed, thay can feel quite frisky, and this boy was no exception. As it was released, it ran past her, bucking and kicking up its heels. Unfortunately for her, one of the kicks got the girl in the face, and earned her a 3 day stay in hospital with a broken cheek-bone.

 This got me to thinking. This incident occurred simply because of the girl's ignorance. Had she let the horse go properly, she more than likely would not have been in a position to get kicked. A few friends I related this story to suggested I should take up instructing, as I have a fairly good manner with horses. To this end, I now have acquired a 17 y.o. 12 hh Welsh 'B' gelding, named Chester, who is ideal for teaching children on, as he is an ex-riding school horse. Chester enjoys games and jumping, and is very quiet when ridden on the roads. My husbands 6 y.o. 15.1 hh appaloosa/quarterhorse gelding, Baron, is also well suited as a schooling horse, but mainly for older riders. He will generally only respond to the correct cues, so asking him the right way is important, and he is also an outstanding road horse, despite his relative youth.

Aside from these 2, we also own 3 other horses. Buccaneer is my own 8 y.o. 15.3 hh Paint gelding. Extremely intelligent, but kind, he is a one person horse. Emily is a 6 y.o. 16.2 hh Clydesdale mare, who we are currently breaking to harness and saddle, with the hope of successfully showing in the coming years. Last, but not least, is Isis, our 22 month old Appaloosa filly, who was born here. She is a quiet little miss, but can be a bit protective of her mum (Me). She is well advanced in her education, having learnt to tie up, float, have her hooves done, be saddled up and been long-reined. She' just hasn't physically matuerd enough to be ridden. Emily and her seem to believe they are twins.

And that is the equine side to our menagerie. More soon