Saturday, January 28, 2012

Play Day!!!

We had the most rediculously fun play day today!  Dear friends of mine (see http://www.shantyarabians.com/) hosted a pony play day today.  Norton and I headed out to enjoy some change of scenery, great company, and great exposure!  I was so very pleased with the little feller.  I had wanted to get him up on a pedistle this year and had my heart set on getting a picture of him up on the pedistle waving.  Well....
What a good kid!  And yes, I told you, I love that toque! 

In addition to having a very successful introduction to a pedistle, Norton also got to work with Alana and myself with yoga balls (omg) and tarps (OMG!!)  and is now quite calm and accepting of both! 
Alana and Norton on the right, myself on her boy Willy, Kat on Sonny and Katelyn on Firefly (pintabian stallion).  What else do girls do on the weekend?


I would've liked to have put on a face for this pic, maybe a hat too, but I really do love this picture.  Norton's truly such a good boy!  I'm so very proud of how far he's come and how he continues to grow.  Next up, lesson next weekend with Wendy!!! Woo hoo!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Weekend out!

Just got back from a fantastic long weekend with two of my favorite equine ladies.  We attended the Horse Owner's and Breeder's Conference held in Red Deer, AB. 

Weather heading down was quite cooperative; we left early on Friday and were checked into the hotel by noon.  We had some time to relax and find our way to the Sheraton Hotel - Capri Centre.  I had won an eaerly-bird door prize kindly donated by the Alberta Veterinary Association.  I was presented with my prize at their opening activities Friday evening.  Lovely facility, nice, small trade show (would be nice if it were about 3 x the size) but the "Open" bar was quite expensive, in my opinion, costing $16.25 for three flutes of wine. 

Anyways, a jacuzzi big enough to fit 3 is always welcome, as are bottles of wine and good  company - so Friday was a hit all the way around.  Another of my favorite people (my sidesaddle enabler) came up to spend some time and visit, what a treat! 

Saturday morning found us out at the conference bright and early (10 am, we missed the first lectures as we weren't horribly interested in the early topics) and I attended Dr. "Andy" Anderson's lecture on trailering.  What a fantastic character!  Dr. Anderson is from Oklahoma and it sure is evident from his accent and vocabulary.  But what was equally amusing, were his stories!  I went back the following morning (8:30 this time) for his second speach on ground manners, something I feel is HUGELY important!  Picked up a couple of new things I'm looking forward to trying in the future too. 
My comrades took in various lectures as well, and came back with raving reviews!  The one I found most interesting was on breeding.  I think that a lot of the information would've gone right over the average horse person's head, but, since I have a biology background, I was able to follow along.  The gentleman who spoke was a self-proclaimed advocate for the stallion.  At one time I had to ask if he was a father... he was not... 
Also got to meet up with some friends and favored people I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing for a while.  Got to love big horse-related events for that! 

By Sunday, the weather had turned so we headed out early and missed the SPCA's talk.  It was cold cooold and I was sure glad for heated leather seats on the drive home.

The attendance did seem fairly low, unfortunately, but I would highly recommend anyone involved (to any degree) in the horse industry go next year!  I am planning on it!