Horses enjoying the beautiful December weather

Crisp sunny days and cold clear nights mean no mud and plenty of time for sunbathing in the turnout.

From left to right: Salsa, Parker, Wesley, Dave, Hermoso

If you’d like to schedule lessons over the holidays, please call as soon as possible so we can coordinate around travel schedules. You can reach me at (530) 559-1602 between 8am and 5pm.

 

Yawns are contagious, even in horses

Centella can’t stop herself…and then neither can Finn.

Move over, Boys of Summer: here come the Fillies of Fall

River, Centella, and Persia are all being started this fall/winter season. We took advantage of the nice weather to take a field trip around the ranch.

All three were interested in the pigs, so we paused outside the pen for a while to get used to them. The female pig, Smuckers, actually came charging up to her gate when she heard me coming, which made for an excellent opportunity to practice the friendly game and thresholds.

All three of the fillies relaxed as they realized that pigs are actually boring. Here we are looking to our left.

Persia posing for a close-up.

The back view, as we moved on. You can see how relaxed they are: tails loose, heads low, no anxiety tension in their muscles.

We walked by the pigs in the other direction going home. It is always important to let horses experience things from both eyes.  In this direction, the girls weren’t interested in the pigs at all and barely glanced at Smuckers as we walked by. The mini donkeys fell in behind us and Persia greeted our dog Whidbey as he headed up toward the barn with us.

Earn credit for lessons or horse development

The EPI Working Student program has an opening for the Fall/Winter season. If you like to be outside and around horses, this program offers an opportunity to trade ranch work for horsemanship lessons or horse development.

Click here for more information.

The new footing is here

Around this time of year I order new gravel for the driveways and new footing for the horse pens. The covered arena is getting a makeover as well, to ensure a good surface and drainage for lessons throughout the winter.

This load of crusher dust is going into the Silo Pen:

Stu getting ready to play king of the hill before I spread it out:

Rociada, Stu, and Rio in the arena while I work in their pens. You can see the arena work in progress as well.

Whidbey helping:

 

Playtime with Lakota

This video of Lakota’s progress illustrates the importance of playing with horses on the ground in addition to riding them. Can you see how the relationship at liberty has a direct connection to the relationship under saddle?

Working student position available

Ready to accelerate your horsemanship journey? The EPI Working Student program exposes you to more than a dozen equine personalities, providing an opportunity to learn and practice a wide variety of skills and strategies as you participate in the day-to-day operations of a working horse ranch.

Our working students learn horse-keeping from a natural perspective that respects equine psychology and priorities and results in happy, confident, contented horses. The standard to-do list includes feeding, watering, and cleaning pens. Other duties vary to give students a chance to be involved in all aspects of professional ranch management. The working student program includes a morning shift and an evening shift, two days per week. Each shift takes about three hours.

Preference is given to Parelli students of any level. A “job share” with a morning shift person and an evening person is possible. Please email me at equinepartnersinc@gmail.com or call (530) 559-1602 for more information.

If you’re wondering how a natural horsemanship ranch differs from other ranches, here’s an example of the kinds of things we do at EPI:

Creativity with a cart

Natural horsemanship provides a foundation of mutual trust, communication, and respect, supporting just about any activity or sport you want to do with your horse. This video shows some of the fun I had with Dave, my Quarter Horse/Welsh pony cross, and two of the horses here for development, Devon (Fresian) and Hermoso (Peruvian Paso).

Preparing for the Trail

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks preparing the horses — and the humans — for trail rides. My trail tune-up program includes playing with ditches, jumps, brush piles, trailers, bicycles, pedestrians, plastic milk bottles, and all kinds of other fun things in the arenas and around the ranch. You never know what you’ll run into on the trail and the more confident you and your horse can become before you go, the more fun both of you will have when you get there.

Trail Practice: Lakota, Tammy, Parker, Maddie, Rociada, and Barbara

Horses benefit from trails in a number of ways. Trail riding gives horses a sense of purpose: there’s a job to do and a destination to reach. Trails provide variety that even the most interesting arena in the world cannot. Trails often have long straight stretches where horses can stride out and go forward without hitting up against a corner.

I start horses on trails by ponying them from an experienced horse. When they’re ready, I’ll have them carry a passenger so they can get used to having a rider but still have the connection to the experienced horse and me. When they’ve got that down, the training wheels are off and I’ll ride them on the trails.

Barbara and Maddie practice ponying

If you are interested in trail lessons or training, or in learning in how to pony a horse safely, call me at 530-599-1602 for more information and to get on the schedule.

Breakfast: It’s the most important meal of the day

Horses in residence at EPI receive their supplements with their breakfasts. Their supplements range from a daily scoop of Platinum to specialized formulas for joint care, skin and coat condition, and hoof support. Any medications are also given at this time.

To ensure that the right breakfast gets to the right horse, our ranch manager Leslie prepares the supplement rations a week at a time.

In the mornings, the horses are tied to the various tie rings around the ranch and given their breakfasts in individual buckets. This prevents the horses from attempting to eat each other’s meals while also helping them practice relaxation while tied.

It also helps us keep an eye on each horse’s health as well as their manners while haltering and leading.