Christmas has passed – all that is left is tail lights and trail dust (or tracks in the snow)! Time to wave goodbye to 2012 and turn your thoughts towards 2013. Endless possibilities of enjoying time with your equine friends are ahead.
I find that this time of year is a good time to sit down and think about your goals and plans for equine activities in the coming year. For those of you who compete, now is the time to think about which competitions you want to participate in, then plan the fitness program for you and your horse so you can reach your peak fitness levels for those competitions.
If your past performance wasn’t all you had hoped for, you might consider seeking out a coach who could help you through the winter and spring to improve your skills so you can achieve your goals in the competitive activities.
Now is also a good time to do a little research on expanding your recreational activities — maybe sourcing out some new trails for trail riding, exploring some new activities that you might want to try with your horse.
One of my personal goals is to improve my trail skills with my riding horse. There is an organization in the US called the American Competitive Trail Horse Association — this group puts on trail horse competitions all across the United States.
They have published information on all kinds of different trail obstacles and skills that they use in their competitions — this is a great resource to use to build your own trail obstacle course and have some fun.
I have so much fun doing these obstacles that I am actually going to go share these skills in a clinic in B.C. for a keen riding group who wants to do the same thing — should be great fun.
These skills really prepare you and your horse for the trendy “Cowboy Challenge” competitions that seem to be springing up everywhere. When properly done, those cowboy challenge competitions really demand some outstanding horsemanship skills — a worthy goal to work towards. I will be spending some of the cold, wintery days planning my new obstacles and challenges in the trail horse world.
If you have a thirst for knowledge on all things “horsey”, this is a good time of the year to curl up by the fireplace and read a good “horsey” book.
I just received an outstanding book The Majesty of the Horse, An Illustrated History by Tamsin Pickeral.
What a “horsey” treasure!
The photographs are spectacular and the text is fascinating. I have just started reading it and find it hard to put down. It traces the history of the horse and development of the various breeds — really interesting to learn more about the origins of our breeds of today. I have a stack of “horsey” books on a wide variety of topics that I can hardly wait to read – just need more hours in the day. My book topics include trick training, driven dressage, history of horses in the military and horse health just to name a few.
On nice days, I will be out either driving my miniature horses put to a sleigh or riding my trail horse if the footing is safe. We have some lovely trails through the trees so I am looking forward to getting out and seeing what is happening in the forest. The local wildlife also enjoy those trails so I have to either jingle the bells or burst into song to move the wildlife (deer, elk, moose) as it is bad news to come around the corner with miniature horses and a sleigh only to encounter a wild critter that we could almost drive under.
Happy New Year to all my readers!
