Oooo faux-pas!!

I like blogs.  I'm not very good at it, but I sure enjoy other people's.  I have a couple of very good friends who do blogs here on blogspot.com, and some I've never met but sure enjoy the read.  Then there's the big one, fuglyblog!  It's recently gone through 3 sets of hands and all have been unique in style and opinion.  The ladies who currently have it are doing a great job and I can relate to their point of view much better as they have H/J and dressage background.  Today's topic: Confirmation messes in WARMBLOODS!  (dun dun duuuun!)  And not only are they picking on (and apart) WARMBLOODS, specifically American and CANADIAN WARMBLOODS!!! 

Now, I had researched warmblood registries quite a bit before I took Ritchie out and had him inspected and registered with a specific verband.  I had thought long and hard about simply going Canadian Warmblood with him, but something in the back of my head kept saying "look elsewhere" and I'm really glad I did.  Now, I have a LOT of respect for Chris Gould and the other executives who have worked tirelessly to make the CWB grow and flourish but my feeling is also that they let a bunch of junk in that really won't "benefit the breed".  That's just my opinion.  There is also quite a feel of Eliteism that seems to follow the CWB (again, my opinion).  I had decided finally to go with the Rheinland Pfalz Saar International (Zweibrucker) for my own animals.  They are under direct management of their parent organization the PRPS in Germany.  My horse is inspected by the same inspector as in Germany, and is branded, as in Germany, and has German registration papers.  Since things from Germany seem, for some reason, to have better international standing in the dressage/equine sport world, that's what I wanted to do for my horses.  And not just for the German line, but the organization has always made me feel like a welcome member, even just being on the ground level.  No question was silly, they have time to answer my questions and explain how things work and, most importantly, they really like my colt!  They also offer annual tours for members to go to Germany to be a part of the German stallion inspection and gala evening with auction.  Imagine that, offering to give a chance for your members to be further EDUCATED!  For me, I really think it was the best choice.  And following that, I will get back to my origional point. 

In my own opinion, a lot of CWB horses that have been turned out are CRAP.  It talked a lot about T-bred influince on fuglyblog's post today, but I won't agree with that totally.  I've seen some lovely T-bred mares, likewise I've seen some FANTASTIC Standardbred mares (but Standardbred mares are poo-pooed by the CWB - although not by the RPSI!) but truly you need a balance of nice horses on both sides to produce more nice and nicer horses!  Blood lines alone just don't do it!  

Fuglyblog today got really close to home.  They posted pictures of a couple of local horses, one of whom I believe to be bred by one of the CWB executives, a prize horse.  The girls called a spade a spade and I do applaude them!  I never understood how people could have a whole field of 2 or 3 year old colts and point to any one of those NOT halter-broke, nearly untouchable horses and tell you no less than $15,000!  I don't care who its parents are, or what it COULD do, I buy a horse on what it looks like and what it CAN do right now.  If I can't walk up and put a halter on it, it's worth as much as what old Ives at the auction mart will pick it up for.   

Anyways, that just me and my opinions...  Have a great new year! 

Merry Christmas

Well good day!  And welcome to my Christmas blog. 

It was certainly a beautiful one today!  We started a brand new Christmas tradition, one I hope to continue in the future, as long as we have the weather for it.  We had a Christmas lunch time hot dog roast!  It was sure a treat to be able to sit out by a little fire and watch the horses and munch on some open-fire cookin!  Even Grif (our resident confused dog) enjoyed the food! 

Got the COOLEST gifts from my dearest friends!  They gave myself and Al matching horsey toques, no not toques with horse print on them, like horse TOQUES!!! 

Like this, but in bay and on me and Al, not some model who looks a little less than happy to be wearing such a cool hat.  I've been wearing mine all over for a week, Al's been so jelous, she wanted it.  When she got hers today, she came RUNNING to show me that she had one too!  Best gift! (and the ears on the hat flop when your head moves hehehe!)

My big win for giving gifts this year was for my mom.  I found her a lawn and garden Mule from Home Hardware.  The girls in Morinville are awesome!  They had it located and me in and out of the store and loaded in the car in a total of 5 minutes!  Mom LOVED the Mule, she forgot she'd asked for one.  I'm looking forward to borrowing it for the Mane Event in April!  Bet it's going to help a lot! 

All in all a lovely day for my family, hope it was the same for yours!  Another week and we start the new year and the new show season kicks off at Amberlea in February!  I think I might go out for a training test or two then.  We'll see what ol' Norton has to say about that.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Why Not a Standardbred??

I just made some super yummy shortbread and I'm trying not to eat it, so I will type instead :)

Why not a Standardbred?  Have you ever played with one? 

My dearly departed and much beloved Sam was out of a Standardbred mare, Chris Dundee.  She had the BIGGEST heart of any horse I'd ever met in my life.  Old pin-fired-up hocks, she'd hobble around with a disabled kid on her back while her young son was screaming in the stall, Chrissy was amazing.  It was because of her that I wanted Sam (Smirnoff).  I thought if he had half his mom's heart, I'd have one hell of a partner.  He did and I did <3 I miss him so much still.

So, when it came that Ritchie's very bestestest friend Spud relocated to Ft. McMurray, it quickly became obvious that he needed a new play buddy and FAST!!  The bred mares were not very happy about his play antics.  I looked at a friend's dad's 2-year-old stud colt who was going to be just a pasture pet, had an injury on a leg quite early.  He wasn't handled and he wasn't free... I wasn't interested. 
I went to the auction in Westlock and thought I'd maybe save one from the meat man.  Again, not gelded colts, not handled, not vaccinated or dewormed and exposed to everything that an auction's horses brings into it... Hmmmmm what else could work??
Then the word came around about a 3-year-old gelding, Standardbred, who wouldn't pace and needed to be relocated before the end of the month when the rest of the stock headed to BC.  Hmmmm, a nice colt who's already gelded, been in a barn, handled, farriered, dewormed regularly, vaccinated and HANDLED?!?!  Gotta check this out! 
He ate cookies right away and learned how to smile in about 2 minutes....

His registration was not completed, no need to for a horse who won't race, but his name would've been Vegas Black Jack.  That's all well and good but Jack isn't quite the Spanish compliment for Ricardo (Ritchie as in Valens) so his name is now José Jalapeno (on a stick!) and he came home this afternoon. 

Richie was SOOOO HAPPY to have a friend to play with again!!  I think this was likely the best Christmas present I could've provided :) 

So what's the plan for José?  Well, like everything else out here, if it's sound and can be broke to ride, it gets broke to ride.  He's already been in a full racing harness and pulled the "bike", been in a barn, etc, etc, so I don't think it's going to be a huge streach to have him become a riding horse.  I'll just work on some trick training and some basic in-hand stuff and see where the summer takes us.  I believe this guy's going to top 16+ hh and he's got quite a big TROTTTTT already!  I personally love these horses and would really like to see him go and do something one day, whether with me or one of the PC kids, or whomever.  I will give him an education to be a success in life regardless :)  Welcome home José Jalapeno.

What's In a Name

Let's be honest, it is a pretty bad name. 

There are LOTS of really bad names for successful barns out there so I don't feel very bad about it, but here's the reason why Shimmer-E Equestrian is Shimmer-E Equestrian.

For us ladies, mid to late 20's, maybe early to mid 30's, you will likely remember a set of books from when you were younger, the Serindipity books.  A whole series of story books done in the late 70's and early 80's for children.  I bet your favorite was the same as mine, same as many of my friends, and I bet you forgot...

Uh huh!  You've seen it haven't you?  Shimmeree lived in the crystal land with her crystal friends and found some dirt and a seed and it changed everything colour!  Everyone wanted to destroy it because it was different and skeery but Shimmeree hid it and then it turned into a beautiful rose.  Moral or story: Don't be afraid of something different. 

And so when it came time to name the business, my darling mother offered me the suggestion of taking my favorite childhood book (and yours too, you know it!!!) and modifying it a little.  Being un-wed at the time of naming, my maiden name was Enmark and thus Shimmer-E made sence.  Now with the breeding program, we give all of our offspring the suffex SE, of course short for Shimmer-E, but it's also a nice tribute to my mom, who's been my biggest supporter, Sonya Enmark (yaya see, her initials, on every horse...)

My sister is pretty darn artisitic, she's the designer in the family.  I asked her to help me design the logo kind of inkeeping with the whimsical theme of Shimmeree book, but something simple as well.  So we came up with our current logo, 5 simple lines, a horse in piaffe.

So there you go, it's not a great name, I'll totally agree with that, but it's me and it works and I kinda like it :)

Best Wishes!

My family's been down with the flu for the last few days.  It's been an ugly one for sure, Al's had it the worst.  Today my good friend Heather came to pick up her gelding she recently bought from us, Encore Performance SE (Spud).  Spud is the only half Arab by Eastern Ruler.  I bred our mare Bardo Bay Barb to him because I thought it would be a really neat compliment and I'd end up with a tall and talented half-Arab sport horse.  Well I did!  And people liked him so much that I thought the smartest thing to do would be to sell him, and Heather liked that idea too.  At just 2 years of age, he stands approximately 15.2 in the front and 16 hh + in the rear.  When he levels out he's going to be GINORMOUS in the show ring, I can't wait to see them there! 
I felt bad because I kept trying to stay away from Heather as I was sick, but I just couldn't help myself.  Heather is due to deliver her first baby in 4 weeks and I just HAD to rub that baby bump!!!  It's just so beautiful <3 

Anyways, to Heather and Brent and soon to be baby Nev, all the best wishes for your future together with that beautiful new horse of yours! 

Thoughts on a Young Horse

Not just a young horse but, specifically, a young stallion...

By now you know who LaBamba SE (Ritchie) is.  My yearling Zweibrucker stallion, my dream, the nicest horse I've ever owned, possibly ever laid hands on, my boy. 

So why keep him a stallion, Amanda?  That's a darn good question.  I really don't NEED a stallion and, with the increasing access to high-quality studs internationally, why on earth should I try to raise a warmblood stallion myself?  I'm not a professional trainer/rider.  I don't have aspirations to show Grand Prix dressage internationally (I do have aspirations to show it, just not internationally), I have no desires to have a big broodmare band and breeding farm.  So what on earth is in my head?

Well, here's what is in my brain:

He's not my first stallion.  Surprisingly my first stud colt came about about 7 years ago.  A lovely pinto arab named Bacardi Breezer LA (Beau).  He introduced me to the MIND of a stallion.  I learned more from that little horse than I ever would've expected from the beginning.  He was beautiful (2 x national champion stallion), he was willing to learn although I had to learn how to teach him.  He definitely had a different mind than other horses I'd worked with.  He taught me to be a strong and clear leader and that things needed to be so consistent, he needed to always be very clear about what I wanted and where he was safe.  Unfortunately I had him before we had the farm and I couldn't afford to keep him at a facility that would give him a life as a stallion.  And so I sold him, he bred once and was gelded. 

The next year came a yearling Pintabian stallion, BG Northstar.  He too took home a National Champion Stallion title as a yearling, reserve as a 2 year old.  Northstar helped me really reinforce my understsanding of stallion brain.  Unfortunately Northstar also educated me that not all stallions (no matter how much consistency and training they get as a young horse) make happy mature stallions.  Northstar was gelded as a 3 year old and is now affectionately Norton <3  A wonderful gelding and becoming a talented trick horse as well as dressage athlete. 

During the time I had Northstar as a young stallion, I bought a purebred Arab colt named Pyralis.  A sporty and lovely purebred colt, Pyralis, he had the MIND to stay a stallion.  He was lovely, willing, calm, obediant, social, etc.  What he was not was exceptional.  He was athletic certainly.  There was nothing wrong with him but he was not special enough to stay a stallion.  He did sire one offspring, a lovely buckskin arab x QH filly we named Pyrotecnix.  Pyralis taught me another lesson.  He taught me that, once in a while, there's a curve ball and a horse has a better mind as a stallion than a gelding.  Nothing is ever guaranteed! 

So with all that, when Ritchie came out a lovely colt with 4 even socks and a star and a snip, level as the day is long and MOVEMENT, I thought it wouldn't hurt to give him a chance.  If he has the mind to keep all his parts intact, then I have a good chance of having a super-stellar partner, a little bit MORE than as a gelding.  Nevermind his powerhouse breeding, he, himself, is exceptional enough (in my opinion) to give it a shot. 

So with the mystery resolved, now what?  Well, that's why I'm so glad for the lessons I've gotten with the three previous young stallions.  I've definitely learned that they get a much better chance by having a lot of regular handling and starting training (not necessarily under saddle now) early and keeping it really consistent.  That is his future.  This summer Ritchie will continue in training and will start learning some tricks in addition to working on a lunge line, tacking, accepting the bit, etc, etc.  He needs to accept early that humans will ask him to do things, push him around, change things, and it's ok. 

I sure hope he gets the best of the boys before him.  I'll continue to do the best I am able to for him until he tells me he wants things otherwise. 

By the way, all the pics of the stallions were taken when they were 2 years old, except Ritchie.  He's still just a yearling. 

Impending Move...

When I married my husband, I naievely thought we'd live on the farm in Alberta forever, maybe a 1-year hiatus at some point.  Well, silly Amanda, that is goin gto change next year!

We are expecting to be transferred to another base in 2012.  Possibilities are Suffield, Wainwright (neither is too bad as we'll still be in Alberta) but there is another possibility - Gagetown, NB!  Yep, all the way across this biddy country to a place I've never laid eyes on (except on a map).  I guess there's no time like the present for an adventure!

Orders should come down between February and May to tell us where we're going and when we're going to be there.  We shouldn't be leaving until summer sometime. 

AMANDA, AMANDA WHAT ABOUT THE HORSES?!?!  Yeah, I've been mulling that one over myself.  Well, come spring BG Khorina will brush up on her tricks and go back on the market and her full sister AK Sheeba will go and have a date with the Exotic ES California Dreamin and then be offered for sale in foal.  Depending on how far we go, we will take Buck, maybe Norton and I think Ritchie for sure.  If we're going all the way across the country, the only horse I'll take is Ritchie but I'm going to need to locate a good barn who is willing to take a young stallion where I can afford him to be and also allow him to have a life! 

That also means that I'm going to be downsizing the tack room come spring too!

Anyways, in the mean time, this is what Norton and I have been doing:

Four-letter "S" word - SNOW!!! >:(

Ooooh boy, it's that time of year again... that time when you HAVE to have the studded snow and ice tires on the rear-wheel-drive truck, and the shovel in the back - just in case.  Extra bags of beet pulp and oats sit above the rear tires for extra traction and suddenly you need an extra 20 - 30 minutes to get anywhere.  Yes, winter is here. 

As much of a damper as the snow and cold is, there is some good to it.  It has to happen before we get spring and show season again, so it's got to start before it can end right?  Being rural and running off a well, the snow means a higher water table meaning crops will grow better and we won't have to worry about water running low and needing to conserve and not wash clothes or shower so the horses will be able to drink their fill.  That would just be bad for all parties involved. Plus hay prices are much more reasonable when we don't have drought!

Snow and winter mean Christmas and my birthday, then Al's birthday.  We're not a Christian family, but we feel the holidays are still an important time for family.  I enjoy the music and getting together with my sister's family and our parents.  In a couple more years I'll be enjoying Al's first Christmas concert and, like my mom, I will be watching through blurry eyes I'm sure! 

There is something beautiful about a snow fall though.  Today, while Al was napping, it was so blissfully quiet!  The heavy snow fall dampens sound so that everything becomes just peaceful and beautiful.  And the horses look so beautiful covered in snow and frost.  They all have such thick coats now and a good layer of fat that they are quite comfortable. 

As beautiful as it is, it can hurry up and go away already!  I want to get back out and SHOW!!!  ;-)

Tricks!!

I have had the pleasure of working (off and of for the last 4 years) with a very talented pinto colt.  As a yearling, this little guy went national pinto champion, reserve as a 2 year old.  Now he's 5 and we're working together in dressage.  I have enjoyed him immeasurably since I've had him.  Norton told me one day that he was a little tired of just going to the arena and working on riding and circles and rail work and silly, boring things like that.  So, like my last very special boy Sam, I thought it would be time for Norton to learn some tricks.  He has really enjoyed this new stuff!!  We do our tricks in the arena before we tack up for our ride.  On the first day, we learned how to wave (he paws with his left forefoot when I wave and click to him) and lay down!  He was so so very willing to try for me, didn't fight it at all!  He is the first horse I've taught to lay down.  Now, about 3 weeks later, he has mastered that wave and often offers it for free, lays down pretty well, lays down flat and is working towards a sit (we've had it twice!)  He now also does a deep bow and we're still trying to masture the concept of a smile.  I have even had him lay down, then I sat on him, and he stood up with me on him!  OMG I was sooo nervous but it was super cool and he was perfect about it.  I even had an audience for that one (I know at least one person was there just to make sure I didn't die!) 

Isn't it amazing what a horse will do for a cookie and a pat?

Good Feelings :)

I'm not sure whyyy but today I woke up (with some help from a 2-and-a-half-year-old girly) with a really good feeling!  I'm not expecting anything special - going to judge a fun show tomorrow at Spoons Arabians, and then have my favorite equine girly friends over for a spagetti supper (how fun!) but nothing really big enough to warrant the feeling of glee I have in me right now.  I'll take it though.  It's sure a much better feeling than the worry that normally comes with raising a child and horses. 


Speaking of Bucky McOldpants (as my husband now calls him).  My 22-year-old anglo-arab gelding is now gently back into training. (Thanks very much to Jaime for sending him back to me when a move caused her to be unable to keep him any longer.)  He will be my husband's mount and take me around sidesaddle on occasion as well.  It's been just a blast getting him back into training as he is soooo schooled!  I hope Anthony has as much fun with him as I have through the years. 

Ah the old days... <3

Fall Classic Sale Overview

Well if I ever needed a weekend out, it was last weekend and boooy did I ever have a good time of it! 
I'm very fortunate to have some very good friends (some of whom live in very convenient locations, with very convenient hot tubs, and some of whom have very fuel-efficient little cars that make travel very inexpensive!)  My dear friend Renate and I decided to head down to Olds for the Fall Classic Canadian Warmblood Breeder's Sale.  (I think they need to cut that name down a little...)  We went down early on Saturday and watched some free jumping, had some visiting with the fantastic Michelle who was kind enough to put us up for the night, and then went back for the "Gala Event" Saturday evening.  It was a very good time including a small combined driving competition (the hackney and halflinger were AWESOME!!) and a 3-bar high jump competition.  I have to say I was a little petrified to watch the lady on her 17+ hh gelding who somehow managed to make it over the 5 ft 3" verticle to a second place finish.  The first place horse was a darling chestnut, the smallest of the bunch, who had all the try in the world to make it over a jump bigger than himself.  He certainly deserved the prize money, so did his rider!  Kudos also to the birthday boy Lyle who retired his horse appropriately.  A bottle of wine and a hot tub were a very fitting end to a great day!

The sale on Sunday brought much more visiting with old friends and quite a bit of excitement from my own little three-some.  Michelle has been considering a new mount as her mare is getting up there in years.  We found the IDEAL little gelding for her, lot 56, Castiel.  We thought he had the ideal temperment, confirmation, height, movement, for Michelle (and she agreed!!)  We were pretty excited when she went to bid on him but unfortunately her bank just wasn't quite deep enough to bring him home.  He sold to Victoria, BC, and I do hope his new home enjoys him as much as the 3 of us would have! 

Isn't he lovely??  His personality reminded me a lot of my Sam.  Made me miss him just a little bit more...

Anyways, prices were really all over the board and horses I expected to go for a good doller were taken back home because there was no action on them.  High selling horse went for $24,000. 

Next year we crazy sidesaddle riders would like to do a sidesaddle demo for the Gala evening.  I hope they're interested in having us :)

I'm so far behind I don't know if I lost my horse or found a rope...

My appologies for the delay!!
The RHPSI inspection went very very well! Ritchie (LaBamba SE) is officially fully registered Zweibrucker and will be recieving his German registration papers in the spring. For some reason the RHPSI's branding irons were not permitted across the border, customs decided they were "dangerous", so he will be recieving his branding next year.
The trip went quite well. Ritchie rode all the way down to Okotokes like a champ. We stopped for water and fuel in Red Deer and then went right along. Poor fella had to ride alone through Calgary in rush-hour all alone! I was so proud of him.

On arrival at Bri-Mel Farm, Brian (owner) showed us to our grass paddock (lovely!) and gave us the low-down on the detals for the following day's events. Can't say enough good things about Brian and Michelle (and their clients) at Bri-Mel Farm. They were so welcoming, helpful and friendly! I highly recommend them to anyone on the south side of Calgary.
The inspection went quite well. Ritchie was the only yearling there, the rest were broodmares with foals at their side. Some LOVELY foals there. Ritchie recieved very good comments from the inspector Otto. I am so proud of him!!!

On our way home we stopped in Ponoka to pick up an old friend of mine. My old FEI Anglo-Arab gelding Celebrity Ruler (Buck) was given back to me by the lady I'd sold him to years ago. She and her family were moving to a small property that was not set up for horses. Buck is 22 years young this year so she was concerned primarily for a good home for him. I'm so glad to have him back. He's fat and happy and has gone for a couple of nice rides with me since coming home (yep, even sidesaddle!)

All in all it's been a great month - a wonderful end to the summer.&nbsp; I hope it keeps going like this!!

Since Ritchie has to be branded next year (back to the inspection we go) we are looking at having an inspection/branding in the NORTHERN part of Alberta.  The RHPSI is all for adding another date to their inspection tour for us, all we need is a minimum of 10 horses to inspect.  If you are interested in having your horses inspected, registered and branded with a German Verband, please contact me at shimmere@live.ca 

Progress!

Haha!  Thanks to a lack of sleep this morning, I got Ritchie's stuff all packed, buckets, grain, braiding stuff, all but one hay bale which I will load after tomorrow.  I even got my own bag half packed!! 

Looking forward to tomorrow morning.  We are getting a new boarder at Shimmer-E, a Cleveland Bay x T-bred mare.  Should be very neat.  I got to meet her owner a few evenings ago, a sweet girl who is going to university this fall and needs a safe home for her horse.  I think they will both fit in very well with our group of "country bumkins".  Hope the horse likes my trailer as much as mine do though.

Getting Anxious!

I like to be an organized person and it does kind of drive me crazy when obligations in life get in the way of my accomplishing said organization, ESPECIALLY when something very important is coming up.  This time specifically it's my "normal person" work schedule getting in the way of packing up and practising sufficiently for the RPSI inspection in Okotokes on Tuesday. 

I hope tomorrow morning I will get some time in to get everything packed that I need.  Thank goodness it's just one young horse and he's only being inspected in hand.  I have his special leather halter, new cotton lead, slinky and over-night sheet packed but I haven't gotten his braiding supplies or bathing/grooming supplies packed and I haven't reclipped his bridle path yet either!  Feel like such a slacker.  Oh and FEED!!  The "little" fella likes to eat.  He's only 15.2 hh at 15 months old...

Once I have him packed, then I get to turn my attentions to his handler (yours truly) and the little missus!!  My mom and daughter, Al, will be joining me on this adventure and I am glad for the company.  Al is 2.5 years old now and we're working on potty training (and doing very well I might add!)  But it's kind of nerve wracking having to remember not only for the horse and myself, but for a potty training 2 year old as well! 

The RPSI (Rheinland Pfal Saar International) is a German-based international warmblood registration that's touring north america doing inspections. They are coming to Okotokes and that's where we're meeting up with them.  Ritchie (LaBamba SE) will be inspected, registered and FULLY BRANDED!!  I am really excited about this.  If you haven't checked out my website to find out who Ritchie is, he's by international Grand Prix dressage stallion Lacado, who is a sire-side half-brother to Flemmingh, Krack-C's sire.  Lacado is a beautiful expressive Holsteiner I fell in LOVE with online.  I hope to one day meet him in person. 
Ritchie is out of my favourite broodmare, 16.1 hh Canadian Warmblood Fronta De Line (Frontenac x C U Soon).  Frontenac (Westphalen) was a successful FEI mount with is partner Pat Oxby until his very untimely passing from a fractured pelvis.  He certainly stamped his offspring with an expressive trot and cadence.  Breeding these two horses together has provided me with my dream baby who I aspire to train and compete to Grand Prix dressage.  Since we're a little off the wall out here, he will also show sidesaddle (one of my passions) and will learn some tricks as well.  The plan is to keep him a stallion, but the final say will be his. 

I like the country

I've decided, now that I've gone back to regular work in the city, that I really like being out in the country.  Our farm is 52 acres of mostly field, paddocks and ponies <3.  We do have neighbours but they're just far enough away that my husband and his friends can go out and play with their firearms without worry.  It's been very convenient for desensitizing the horses, just wish I'd get desensitized to it too!

I do like living out in the country, the quiet, the freedom, the space, but don't get me wrong, I DESPISE country music and the only place a cowboy hat belongs is in a western class at a horse show or nailed onto my tack room wall.  Yeah, I'll put them there if they show up at home.  One of my most detested things in the world is cowboys.  Now, that is NOT to say I have the same disgust for farm boys.  Growing up they were lots of fun, have much respect for them cause at least they KNOW how to ride a horse and which way a saddle goes on and didn't run away from hard work like throwing and stacking bales.  Cowboys are just in it for the look, the trucks and the sterios.  Not sure how that goes along with the real thing, but alas, I digress....

Welcome to the long weekend!  I will be working, I guess there is truly no rest for the wicked haha. 

I'm hoping to get out into the city to check out some suiting material, hoping to get a new sidesaddle habit built.  A real victorian/gothic one.  Wanting a nice pearl grey colour, heavy enough for the apron that it will hang really well without rows and rows of drapery cord in the hem.  But the other part of that is the jacket's going to be ungodly heavy at the same time.... Ah, just can't win! 

Hope you have a great long weekend!
Ramen!

Initial Blog, Welcome to me!!

Good day!
I have decided, after following a friend's blog, that it is something I should participate in as well.

Here's about me:
Hi!  I'm Amanda.  I'm early 30's, married, mother of one fantastic little girl, who is very much a toddler.  We have a farm north-west od Edmonton where we breed a small amount of amature-friendly warmbloods and sport-horse crosses.  My passion is dressage.  I have trained to the FEI levels, shown to 4th and love all of it!  Currently I have a 5 year old pinto gelding named Norton and a yearling warmblood colt who will be heading down to Okotokes with me for an inspection with the RHPSI (Rheinland Pfal-Saar International) for full registration and branding.  He will then be referred to as a "Zwekenberg".  Ain't that fancy?  I'm all sorts of excited about him as he is a grand prix dressage (I'm sure jumping too, but I just don't go there...) and stud prospect.  His name is LaBamba SE, we call him Ritchie.  <3