Oberon and the Cooler Horsemanship "Intro to Cows" clinic

Two weekends in a row we have had a blast with Cooler Horsemanship and their clinic "Intro to Cows".    There are quite a few photos on Facebook - perhaps you might  enjoy following them on FB. They also have a website "Cooler Natural Horsemanship"  -  my girls and I have found it a valuable tool in our horse education.

I believe Oberon loved driving the cattle and he looked like he was having fun.  My girls look forward to continuing this activity.  Oberon has a bit of a hay belly and he needs to muscle up - and we are on to that.  I have even notched up his cinch a couple of notches in the last month.  Wish I could say the same for myself.

New York Carriage Horses

HERE is an article I liked.  It is my personal preference to have the carriage horses and workers remain in NYC.  

Mystic & Mary - Read all about it in EQUUS or the full un-edited article right here

Above is Mystic, a gelding featured in an article in EQUUS Magazine.

Please, read the amazing story of Mystic and Mary.  The article is condensed in Equus magazine, but the whole unedited article can be found HERE.

I have personally witnessed a part of this journey and it is all true.  

After about a year apart, Mystic and my Oberon are pasture buddies once again.  I hope everyone who swings by to read this is braving through this winter.  I know I 'm looking forward to the spring!

Cutest Dressage Test EVER!

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A little "trail ride" anyone?

Fall is in the Air!

Fall is in the air!  

My daughters have been improving their riding and we have been working on "Freedom" with Oberon. I hope to get a video of that this weekend.  Here he is responding to my inability to learn as quickly as he!  James Cooler (of Cooler Horsemanship) tried for quite a while to make me understand a rather simple que... and Oberon would run off as he just didn't know what I wanted.  BUT... when I finally got it, Oberon was as sweet as pie.  

It was also windy and one of the first cooler days - and secretly, I enjoyed watching him prance around a bit.  At the end of this short video, he came back.  

Below is my daughter's very first bareback jump - and she also recently learned how much fun it is to canter UP a hill.   Not many lazy days ahead anymore for Oberon :)

As you can see below, he has a bit of a belly, but his neck is fine and the vet rated him a "6".  Traditionally he has been a "5" and tends to loose weight in winter, so I am fine with this.   The grass is slowly fading and this year we had so much rain - well, I consider myself lucky he didn't get fatter.  Not to mention, he had no hoof issues whatsoever.  

"A Blue Ribbon Kind of Day" a poem

Oberon - Full of tests, tricks and a heart of Gold

A Blue Ribbon Day

It was a summing up

kind of day,

of hours spent

collecting, posting,

diagonals, leads,

shoulders back,

thumbs up, heels down,

look, leg, lead

(don't forget... smile!)

September is a time

to celebrate achievements,

wrap up a season's progress,

teamwork, companionship.

Our Oberon, full of fun,

tricks, and a heart of gold...

or is that blue?

by Margaret Bednar, September 21, 2013

A Blue Ribbon Day

Warming up... Oberon not wanting to "collect",
my daughter light of hands and patient.  We don't collect for long
as we are building up his strength.

 It was an overcast day, but that kept things a bit cooler.  It is still rather warm here in North Carolina and very green - trees don't show any hint of color yet - and it misted for part of the day - didn't rain until after we were done with our classes.   My daughter has come a long way in her riding, and Oberon is a pony with a wonderful mind - doesn't do anything dangerous, but will test her to see if she knows what she is doing.  Being a pony, he is always looking for an easy way out of work ;)

They were in 6 classes.  Placements: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and two 5ths. (one was 5th out of a class of 15!) Classes were all good sizes, but she did place 5th of 5th in her first pattern class - and he took the wrong lead cantering - but we can work on that for next year.  All in all, a great day.