BARB FENWICK

This is a link to a group of horses that have been rescued from auction located near Gruntal, Manitoba.
Some great looking horses…saved from slaughter, many registered. Have a look!!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150441202004416.424644.596604415&type=

I fed horses tonight when I got home from a trip after work to Brandon. It’s Monday & was a cool one at -19 when I woke up and a meager high of -14. It was quiet & crisp as I fed the horses this evening. Serena came back for extra attention and feed as Zoie stole some of her feed a few minutes earlier. I spent a good amount of time grooming them all yesterday evening. I put them in the barn for a couple hrs to warm it up in there, then it’s lovely to go hang out with them in there in relative comfort. I love them all so much, they bring me contentment.

All is peaceful, all is bright,
The moon is shining…all is right.

Welcome to my Blog-website. I have decided to go this route to make my website more interactive, easier to update and a fresh new look.

For 2012 there will be many changes “around the ranch”.  I will continue to teach some riding & hoof care lessons, but my focus will be more on Agility training and events. I became a certified trainer in this discipline this summer and am very excited to develop this sport within our province and beyond. There are only 2 qualified instructors in this sport in Canada at this time, besides myself there in one in BC.  So, it will thrilling to spread the word and the fun around!

Otherwise I continue to work full-time as an education assistant for language at Carberry High school, a job I thoroughly enjoy, which gives me my summers off to play with the horses!

All our horses are doing well, including our star boarder – Foxie, who has helped many beginner riders this year in her role as prime lesson horse.  Zoie became my “pink princess” in the Pink Yonder ride I did this fall, what a blast..and for such a good cause! Spirit is doing fine, still the king of the herd here! Serena “the wild one” continues to develop into a calmer, more trusting horse. Her story is this blog in archives. We will see if she develops into a riding horse some day, still has a ways to go. In the meantime she is in agility training and may shine in that arena some day!

Drop a line, leave a comment, just say hi!  Seasons Ranch will be open for horse camping next spring, but likely won’t be offering any cabins next year due to some changing plans.  Look forward to playing or riding with many of my friends ..old and new…in the amazing year of 2012 to come!

Oh…and meet our new dog – Tucker – a Norwegian Elkhound male that is 4 months old now.(chewing on a string)

Our dear dog Patsy had to be put down after suffering with bladder cancer that had spread, this last July. She is still missed.

I had set myself a goal to start Serena under saddle this summer. It became more and more evident that she is still not ready to accept a rider. She still has trust issues, nervousness issues and issues with a rope dangling down around her or on the ground hanging from her halter. To me, this isn’t a safe situation and until this particular problem is worked through I wouldn’t even dream of riding her. Imagine if a rope or rein dropped from a rider..this would be a dangerous situation as she tries to get away from the rope.
So instead I decided to just continue with small things and building trust. It was just the other day when I finally reintroduced a saddling situation to her. I put a bareback pad on her back and cinched it up just tight enough so it wouldn’t move or turn. Then I turned her out into the corral. She bucked a bit and tore around some, then stood still afraid to move. After a few more minutes she was doing better, moving, but afraid to put her head down and it with it on. I caught her up and lead her around some with it on and patted it etc. Then took it off. That was a bit tricky as she worried about the cinch strap fluttering in the breeze. Slowly she became ok with it and I was able to take it off. I put it on the ground and asked her head down to sniff it. She did. Then I just laid it back on her back, making sure the straps were not going to be dangling. She was a bit nervous but accepted that ok.
The thing is…she had been saddled, led around etc with an english saddle and bb pad before “IN THE BARN” but not outside where she could move on her own. With Serena a new environment is a whole new experience. Makes me again realize I can’t take anything for granted with her.
Will I ever ride her? I hope so, but now I haven’t set a time frame for us. We will know when it is time. In the meantime I am just enjoying her. She is awesome.
My sisters Liz & Anne were over yesterday & hadn’t seen her for a few months. They were totally amazed how quiet and approachable she has become. In fact, when she was in the barn they couldn’t believe it was her. It made me smile and realize that we do continue to make progress, even when I don’t really notice it myself.

WordPress is going to be my web presence now. You can get to this site by typing barbfenwick.wordpress.com OR barbfenwick.net
I am excited about having this fresh start to my web pages and being able to be interactive on all of the pages as well. Welcome & Enjoy! Let me know what you think…suggestions or problems with the site.

I have put the finishing touches on our Horse Agility playground. It’s going to be great fun for the guests that come for the Girls Weekend Aug 27/28 as that will be the first time we will officially use it to teach and offer a mini-competition.  All you need for this sport is a lead rope 10 ft long or longer, a halter (any kind) and your equine – horse, pony, donkey, henny.  I am looking forward to teaching the new dog we are getting next month to do it as well once he is big enough. We are getting a Norwegian Elkhound puppy.  It will be a great dog & pony show time…maybe include that in competitions in the future! Have a great summer day! I will post pictures of the playground soon.

Here is the direct link to my videos on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UOpOkSOaJY

Check out some of my videos on Youtube. Spirit helps me spoof PNH, agility work & laying Spirit down.

It was a hot muggy day so I decided to bath the horses. I did Spirit, Foxie, then Zoie, while Serena watched from her stall. I expected her to be quite reactive and nervous about the bath, since it is the first time I have bathed her since she came to my farm July 1st in 2009. Her 2 years here have been about gaining trust, confidence and bonding. She has come so far and another step was to be able to bath her. I couldn’t even imagine this a year ago, she would have freaked out totally and just put more terror into her heart. I thought it finally was time to train her to accept having a bath. I turned the tap on half, so the flow would not be too strong. I started wetting her feet and she moved around a bit, but seemed to accept the water amazing well. Once soaked everywhere except upper neck and head of course, then I soaped her down with a pail of warm soap water. She really seemed to enjoy that. Then I rinsed her with a bit more pressure on the hose and she worried a bit, moving around more, but then settled after a minute or so and stood well. She was even good about my sponge washing & rinsing her upper neck and her forelock and face. Better than a couple of my other horses actually! LOL Next the condition for mane & tail & comb out, taking away the excess water on her body & voila…a lovely clean Paso Fino mare! She got treats in between rinses and overall I was truly amazed at her behavior. I guess I shouldn’t have been, she is becoming so much more trusting. She has come to know over the last 2 years that everything I do for her is to help her understand or be healthier. I am so proud of her!
Next challenge – using my power tools on her feet…stay tuned..THAT could get exciting!
Now that I am finished teaching for this summer, I will be spending more time on her training. Last week I started introducing her to line driving in our open barn area. She took awhile to get the concept of just going forward, like an horse, but eventually got it. Now to move this outside to a small square pen this coming week. Her story continues!
Barb

I forgot to attach the website addy for the laminitis info…here it is:
http://www.nolaminitis.org/Recognizing-Laminitis