Category Archives: Uncategorized

Horse updates

April 30, 2016 Rob Leave a comment

Last weekend was family trail riding. Amanda rode Huey for 6 miles, including about 3 miles of it by herself, off the lead line.

This morning, Alex and Vicki had a jumping lesson with Pony Club. It was a nice cool morning and they both did great. Both pairs, Alex/Nike and Vicki/Devil are very well matched and we hope they will have a lot of fun together this summer.

There are no photos, but King went back into work this week. He has recovered better than we expected from his EPM. He has definitely lost a lot of fitness over the winter, so it will be a long, slow conditioning program. We are cautiously optimistic that he will be in the 60-70% that are able to make a complete recovery from EPM and resume full activity.

Today we said farewell to Echo. While we loved his personality and got along great with him, he just wasn’t quite the right match for what we are looking for. So, our search for the next horse resumes.

endurance, horse, kids, Uncategorized

Riding weather!

March 10, 2016 Rob Leave a comment

This year has been one of the mildest winters we have ever experienced in CT. The nice weather means more time in the saddle on the trails. On Sunday, Anna, Alex, and I went out for a ride with some new friends (including Echo’s owner). We rode about 8 miles and the temps were in the upper 50s.

Our long time friends, Jeremiah and Tracy Minner have been in the area for a few weeks while Jeremiah is in school in Newport. Anna and Tracy have been getting together with the kids for activities a couple of times each week. Today, Anna took the kids to Newport where she and Tracy took them to The Breakers and spent time walking along the cliffs and shore. Then they headed back to the resort where the Minners are staying for some time in the pool.

When I got home from work and it was 70F outside! Anna and the kids were still in Newport, so I saddled up Echo for some solitude on the trails. This was my first time taking Echo out alone and it went great. We headed out without a specific agenda. I put some Gloves on him for the first time before we went out. It is quite rocky on the forest roads and I see it as cheap insurance. Echo has been ridden in Renegades in the past, but I prefer Gloves for jumping and wanted to see how he did in them. We didn’t have any issues with interference or boots coming off. It was a short sleeves day when I headed out, but I put a lightweight wind breaker in my pack just in case. By the time it was getting dark, temps had dropped to around 60 and there were a few drops of rain hitting me, so I put on the jacket. Echo kept on moving while I flapped a jacket around and got it on – it didn’t phase him in the least. The last mile and a half was a good 30 minutes after sunset. Echo didn’t have any problems continuing to trot down the trails in the dark. It was nice to do a ride on a horse that moves forward and isn’t afraid of every shadow. I a really enjoying his pace and I think we will be a good team. When it was all done, we had covered 9.5 miles – not bad for a weeknight.

I’m looking forward to more riding in the early spring weather!

endurance, horse, Uncategorized

20 training miles

September 6, 2015 Rob Leave a comment

As the endurance training continues, the rides get longer. Today, Anna (on Dakota) and I (on Mistique) knocked out 20 miles in Pachaug. There were no amazing discoveries or insights. No real challenges (other than a couple of new trails we tried that went to nowhere). Because it was the longest ride any of us had ever done, we didn’t push the pace. We planned our route ahead of time and made sure the horses had chances to stop and drink. It was about 56F when we got up this morning, but warmed up to low 80s by the time we finished. We stopped to let the horses drink and munch some grass at 5, 10, and 15 miles.

Our total mileage was 20.75 miles and it took 4:10 for an average speed of 5.0 mph. Once the rests breaks are removed, our average moving speed was 5.3 mph. Anna and I each probably burned about 1400 calories, so overall, a good training day.

Walking in a creek for the horses to get a drink

Mistique rocking her blue biothane tack from The Distance Depot

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WGHA hunter pace #3

August 17, 2015 Anna 1 Comment

Today we rode in the last of the West Greenwich Horsemen’s Association hunter paces. It was 11 miles long and the hunter division ideal time was 1:49:50. IT WAS HOT!!! The temperature was in the upper 80s breaking 90 after lunch. These hunter paces are held at Arcadia in Rhode Island and are a convenient 20 minutes from home.
We rode in the Hilltopper division and the ideal time was 2:09:50. We rode 2:06:23 which was good for 6th place.

Alexis and Vicki rode with us and that time was good for 1st place in the junior division.

Vicki fell off in one of the fields when Devil spooked sideways at the canter, but got right back on. Rob had a hand full of horse today, but stayed on through rearing, bucking and other excitability issues. At the 5-6 mile point she settled down. Apparently i should not feed her electrolytes. Dakota was a trail rock star as always.

We had a good time and enjoyed lunch afterwards, tacos, salad and desserts.

Alex went with us to the ride and hung out reading while we rode, then had lunch.

kids, Uncategorized

How did we end up in August already?

August 4, 2015 Rob Leave a comment

Every summer, July seems to be our busiest month. This year was no exception. Keeping up with blog posts seems to fall on the back burner as the days get long and filled with activities. Evenings are spent riding horses and we come in from the barn around 8:30 to eat some dinner and get kids in bed.

So what have we been up to? Early July included a week of Pony Club camp for the kids. Vicki got cleared by the doctor to resume riding after her broken arm, just in time for the last 2 lessons at camp.

Towards the end of the month, we had a short trip down to Washington DC. It was a down Sunday, back Wednesday trip. But while we were there, we did take the kids to the National Archives, outside the White House, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and Mount Vernon. We camped in our travel trailer at the campground on Joint Base Andrews. Here are a bunch of photos from that trip.

Amanda in an exhibit at the Air and Space Museum

16 sided barn at Mount Vernon – used for thrashing wheat with horses

Getting ready to watch the horses trot on the wheat to thrash it. Any surprise this was the girls’ favorite part of the trip?

Learning about separating the wheat from the chaff

Kids separating the wheat from the chaff

Right after we got back, it was a quick turnaround and the New London County 4-H fair started on Friday evening. Since we sold the goats, it we only had 2 rabbits and 1 dog to take with us, in addition to a lot of exhibit hall entries. We camped in the trailer on the fairgrounds and it was a good weekend. I set up an amateur radio station to run a demo, but also to have something fun for me to do.

Barnyard Buddies kids waiting to show rabbits

Barnyard Buddies kids from the Jr Division – places 1-4 from our club!

Amanda and her “friend”. She’s going to be trouble.

Sunday afternoon, Alex and Vicki left directly from the fair to 4-H Camp for the week. Unfortunately, Alex managed to slide playing kickball and broke his wrist in 2 places on Sunday night. He still finished the time at camp after getting a cast, but he’s off horses for 2 months. Amanda was the big farm helper while the others were gone.

Amanda carrying around a chicken while Turbo stands guard. The swimsuit made it easier to take breaks in the sprinkler.

kids, Uncategorized

Father’s Day 2015

June 21, 2015 Rob Leave a comment

Yesterday was Alex’s 12th birthday. On Friday evening, he got to have a few friends spend the night. For that age group, it basically means lots of time playing video games and watching a movie. The boys stayed up late and got up early. On Saturday evening, he requested pizza for his birthday dinner, so we went to California Pizza Kitchen at Foxwoods. Alex almost fell asleep in the back seat on the way home.

Alex deep in thought over a Dr. Pepper. Or just really tired.

Amanda posing with her stramberry lemonade

This morning, it was pouring rain. After morning chores were done, I spent some quality time in the garage organizing and cleaning. Then, later in the afternoon as the showers cleared, Alex and I went to the range to do some shooting. We had the place to ourselves for the 2 hours we were there and we had a great time. He really enjoys shooting his rifle.

Alex shooting his Ruger 10/22 with Archangle stock

Once we got home, I groomed Mystique and snapped a few new pictures. It was hot and humid, and I was tired. We can ride tomorrow after work.

Overall, it was a good day.

horse, Uncategorized

2015 WGHA Hunter Pace #1

June 7, 2015 Rob 1 Comment

Today was the first hunter pace of the year. It was 9.4 miles and we finished in 1:38. This year we moved up 1 division to the Hilltoppers, which is supposed to be mostly trotting, with some canter and some walking. We did that, but apparently our horses trot too fast or too much because we were more than 16 minutes too fast. In fact, we were only 3 minutes and change off the pace for the hunter division. I think we will move up again next ride.
Last month, Ace joined our farm as a boarded horse. Alexis, who used to lease Huey, got to do her first hunter pace and Ace did great. In fact, all the horses did great. Alex and Alexis got 5th in the Jr division.

horse, kids, Uncategorized

Non-stop fun

May 25, 2015 Rob 2 Comments

It’s been 2 weeks since I posted. It’s not that there hasn’t been anything going on, but rather, we have been so busy I’ve been too tired to sit down and write.

On May 16th, we had the CT State 4-H Horse Show. 6 kids from our club, the Barnyard Buddies, attended and had a great time. Vicki managed to win the walk-trot division and the 18″ hunter division. On the 17th, our club participated in PetTopia in Jewitt City.

Monday, the 18th was Amanda’s fifth birthday. We had a small family party Sunday evening before my parents (who had been in town for the previous 2 days), left with all 3 kids and our travel trailer Monday morning. They took a trip to Steamtown, PA and had a great time. I don’t have any pictures because I stayed home with Anna.

A friend who knits made Amanda a “big pink stocking” in accordance with her repeated requests.

Of course, while they were gone we got some good trail riding in on Dakota and Mysti. We have found a nice 6 mile loop for conditioning the horses. We also have a 4 mile loop and occasionally even ride in the arena.

This weekend, the weather was amazing. Since I had both Friday and Monday off work, we did a family trail ride on Friday (6 mile loop) with everyone geared up for the first hunter pace which is 2 weeks away. Never try something new on race day! The plan this year is Vicki and Anna will ride in the slower division and Alex and I will ride in the middle division. So, today, Alex and I went out and ratcheted up the speed. Dakota and Mysti are an amazing team on the trails. Dakota is a rock star in the lead! Mysti has found her confidence and is very sure-footed. She isn’t ready to be a leader, but we will work on that later in the summer. We logged about 20 miles in the past 8 days, so her conditioning is progressing nicely! When we got back today, Vicki hopped on to cool her off in the arena.

Sunday was Amanda’s “A Very Hungry Caterpillar” birthday party.

This afternoon, Anna and I worked on planting more in garden – this will be our biggest garden yet. Anna also spent about 4 hours teaching lessons in the arena today. After dinner tonight, Amanda insisted that we have a Memorial Day party, so Vicki and Amanda did an impromptu performance of dog tricks with Turbo and Mack.

Luckily, I go back to work in the morning so I can rest up for next weekend!

kids, Uncategorized

Sewing Breyer blankets…

February 25, 2015 Anna 2 Comments

After Vicki finished her home work this morning she begged me to help her make some blankets for her Breyer model horses. So we used some left over fabric from the pillow case project and some bias tape and sew on velcro to make some fabulous blankets. Vicki did ALL the sewing. I helped with some of the pinning and taught her how to make a pattern. She’s really happy with the outcome.

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Fun in the Snow

February 1, 2015 Anna Leave a comment

Today we spent some time enjoying the snow instead of shoveling it. The sun was shining and the kids rode the ponies bareback in the snow. Then I got King out and drug the kids around on a sled for a while. He is such a good boy!!
Tomorrow we will be back to shoveling as there is another storm approaching.