This is where we,  here at Baymount Farm,  can help you with trail and obstacle training.  Periodically throughout the year we will be having Obstacle Training Clinics.  Our first is January 28, 2012.   Following is a quick run-down of what we are offering and will be teaching.

1. 9 am    Introduction and explanation of the days activities.
2. 10 am  Demonstration on safely leading and moving your horse around an obstacle and how to calm them down to keep from being trampled.
3. 10:20 am – 12:30 pm  Demonstration on the obstacles.  We will take this one obstacle at a time and answer any questions you may have.  There are no more than 10 obstacles.   Each person will have the opportunity to practice these with help from the staff if needed.
4. 12:30 – 1:30 pm  Lunch!   Grilled hamburgers, chili, slaw, southern potatoes, dessert, drinks.
5. 1:30 – until dark thirty pm.  Demonstration on obstacles, practice trail, practice obstacles and afternoon snacks.
6. 7:30 pm  Seminar by the bonfire on Bach Flower Remedies for horses health given by local pharmacist.  This will wow you on how simple homeopathics can change your horses demeanor and calm them down.   A brief demonstration will accompany talk.
7. Sunday  Saying good-bye and heading out to ride or for home.  Take your time on this, no scheduled time to be out.  I will be up and around by 6:30 to feed our crew, so just let me know if you need anything that morning.
8. For information on cost and directions visit Baymount Acres Training.

   This is one of my students learning to cross a bridge safely.  This is also one of the obstacles we will be practicing crossing.

Here is Jake taking a student over poles.  These are moveable by the horses so they learn to walk through limbs on the trail and not spook if they should shift.

Here is Jake taking a student through simulated vines.  This little girl was a trooper learning to do this.

We will also be opening and closing gates, crossing creeks safely, going through tunnels, going over catwalks, trotting poles and much more.  You will leave feeling like you have accomplished a lot and be more confident on the trail.    Please register by emailing me at Sherry@BaymountAcres.com  or calling 704-902-7345.

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I spend lots of time just walking horses through trail obstacles and exposing them to things they could come up against while working.  But this year I am going to be more creative and put out Halloween costumes and displays to get them ready for the season trails.   Things we take for granted can be a big scary ‘horse-easting’ beast to our horses.  You can do this at home.  Here are a few tips.

1.    Make a stick scare crow.  It’s easy just using a broom and duct tape a small branch across it for the arms.  Put old clothes on it and stick it in the ground.  Put an old hat on the broom part of it and don’t worry about it having a face.  Then hand walk your horse by it.  If your horse doesn’t spook, great!

2.  Get out an old sheet and hang it from a tree.  A slight breeze is all you need for this scary, ghostly object.  Be sure to hand walk your horse by it just in case.

3.  Take large black trash bags and drape them across bushes.  For more fun, turn your large trash can over and cover it with the bag, then put a pumpkin on top of it so that it looks more like a living object to the horse.   Be safe and once again hand walk  your horse by it first.

4.  I strongly suggest that you put these in an enclosed arena first before sticking them in your yard.  This keeps you and your horse safer in case he spooks and takes off running.

Your goal is to teach your horse to trust you and depend on you for guidance regardless of what he comes in contact with on the trail.  Go slowly, use lots of affirmation for your horse (pats, scratching withers and a kind voice works wonders).

For more on safe training for the perfect trail horse  go to www.baymountacres.com or contact me at sherry@baymountacres.com   704-902-7345.

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Training for Scary Objects

You can have a “no worries” trail ride by teaching your horse to be calm around unknown objects.  Just how do you do this?  Here are a few good tips to help you have a safe and happy horse.

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1.  Dress in layers.   Lots of layers, long thermal underwear, several long sleeve T-shirts, a vest, keep your head and ears covered, and wear sock and glove liners.  Also, give up those riding tights or jodpurs, if you can for stretchy jeans. Jeans are generally thicker.  Buy them a size roomier so you can layer underneath.

2.  Invest in a pair of winter riding boots.  I like the kind with velcro fasteners.  It is easier to get them on and off.  Make sure they are insulated to help keep your toes toasty.

3.  Invest in a riding blanket that covers your horse and wraps around you and your saddle to block the wind and hold in heat.

Once everything is in place for you to stay warm, think about your horse.

1.  Keep him in condition for winter weather.  Bump up his grain a little in the fall and put on a few pounds or keep him blanketed.

2.  Be deligent about keeping him shod properly.  In icy, snowy and muddy footing, it doesn’t hurt to invest in shoes with studs or specialized boots for proper footing.  These can be purchased through several sites found on the internet.  It is easy enough to measure for them.  But be sure to have a new trim on him before you do measure.

3.  Wrap your horses legs to help prevent tendon damage.  Walking, trotting, gaiting or cantering on sloppy footing puts more stress on the legs.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Most importantly, plan accordingly, give yourself plenty of time and enjoy your ride.

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I personally trained this little mare spending many, many hours in the saddle riding all over North Carolina and Virginia.  She has been on several day long trail rides and three competitive trail rides sponsored by ACTHA.  Confetti is 14.2 hands and has excellent and tough hooves.  She can go barefoot most of the time.  I prefer shoes on the rocky trails.  She is easy to handle and gets along well with other horses.  Anyone can ride her, but she is hot to the cues, so preferrably a rider with quiet hands and legs would be best for her.  She has a very sensitive mouth and it doesn’t take but a small touch to cue her.  I also ride Confetti with a hackamore, which I prefer except for cantering in the open.  Confetti loves to gallop and can cover a lot of ground in very little time.  She is a little running machine and her small compact body makes her perfect for endurance rides. 

I would love to keep Confetti, but I have too, way too many horses.  I want her to have a good, loving home, preferrably a woman owner.  She loves attention and grooming.  She also loves the trails.

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It took us a few hours to get there through some of the prettiest country one could hope to see.  The fact that we went late in October didn’t hurt any either.  The trees were beautiful, the mountains were clear and the rolling hills in the valley with their picturesque  farms and towns made me want to move there.  I think some of the nicest people you could ever meet live in the Shenandoah Valley.   I did get a little worried when we started up the mountain to the ranch pulling a long stock trailer with horses on a steep, winding and narrow road that had posted signs,  ”Not Recommended for Tractor Trailers”.   But we made it safely and pulled into a very convenient and well run facility.

Two days of riding were all we had time for, but to tell the truth, our horses weren’t quite up to more than two days.  We took our two most conditioned horses.  However, we weren’t prepared for the rocks on the trail.  Most of the trails were actually ‘easy’ trails, but one of our mares did not have shoes and the other only had front shoes.  I am talking about them walking over boulder size rocks that really took some accomodating.  This old gal actually got off her mare to make walking easier.  Thankfully, those sections of the trails were few and far between and only a short distance of maybe 30 feet.  But I loved every minute of it and would certainly do it again.  Next time I will be better prepared.   Shoes all the way around.

One of the best trails we rode took us up to the top of the mountain where we could see for miles and miles and overlooked the Shenandoah River.  This was a winding and steep trail, but so well layed out,  that it did not seem steep at all.  It took us about three hours of walking up and around the valleys to get there, then about two – three hours to get back.  The views were spectacular.  The only thing I regret is that I forgot to take my camera.  The most intimidating part of that particular trail was the rocky, narrow and steep area that I would have named ‘Goat Only Crossing”.  That is one area where I felt more comfortable leading my horse rather than riding.  But my mare went through it like she had been doing it her whole life. 

We were certainly tired when we got back, mostly from not being used to riding all day and partly from being up so high in the mountains.  After taking care of the horses and relaxing with our favorite beverage, I was ready to go again.  But, being fall, the daylight was decreasing and it was getting cooler and we were hungry.  Typically we would have started a fire in the pit and grilled steaks, but we opted for the cook stove in the trailer where it was warm and we had a shower and TV. 

Next morning I could not wait to get started.  We had the camp pretty much to ourselves that weekend.  It was very quiet and peaceful.  The trees were in their rich yellows and reds.  We took a shorter ride this day thinking that our horses feet would probably be a little sore.  However, with the addition of easy boots they picked right up and didn’t have any problems at all.  We did ride up on some people on dirt bikes, but they were wonderfully understanding and accomodating when they saw the horses.  Our mares didn’t seem to mind at all and just kept going like troopers. 

There is no way to describe the beauty and serenity of the Shenandoah Valley.  It is one of the most relaxing places I have ridden and would go again in a heartbeat.  I highly recommend it.

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We are pleased to announce two new opportunities for horse lovers who have limited time and funds, but would love the opportunity to become involved in riding and various equestrian activities.  Baymount Farm has created and is offering a new Intro to Horsemanship class at Mitchell Community College this fall.   This class starts September 9, 2010 on Thursdays from 6:30 – 8:30 pm for six weeks.  The class will cover briefly many aspects of the equestrian industry, including various disciplines; hunt seat, dressage, equitation, western and gaited riding.  Also covered will be the different equestrian businesses, equine contracts and laws, grooming and demonstrations at local barns.  More information can be found at http://www.mitchellcc.edu/cec/forms/MCC_CE_Schedule_Fall10.pdf    on page 14 of the Continuing Education Booklet online. 

Also beginning in September will be special classes just for Mom’s.  These will cover learning to care for, tack and ride horses with trail riding for groups of 4.  Classes will be scheduled Monday, Wednesday and Fridays in the mornings.   This gives Mom’s an opportunity to treat themselves special while their children are in school and take a break from the humdrum of cleaning, shopping, planning and all the daily activities of managing a family.  Visit the LESSON page on www.baymountacres.com for pricing and more information.

All in all, I am expecting this to be an exciting fall for 2010.  Hope to see you soon.

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Confetti acted as if she did not know how to be ridden.  If I had not known better I would have thought she was green, but given time to calm down I could tell she had training.  I spend a lot of time working with Confetti on a full cheek snaffle to get her responsive again.  I spent most of the time just walking beside her suppling one side of the bit then the other to see just how responsive she could be.  What I found was, she knew how to ‘give to the bit’ but didn’t know for ‘how long’ or in other words, how to stay on the bit.  So we kept walking and giving until she had it down.  That was basically all it took to teach her to rein properly.  After that, it was saddle up and practice in the ring.

I know she had been ridden before because she picked up on turning on the forehand, haunches, backing, side passing and half passing very quickly.  She was just rusty and protested to being back in work.    My daughter and I took her out on the trails and she loved that!  Oh my gosh, she was wonderful.

Ok, it was time to sell her.  We had way to many horses, my daughter was going to college and wouldn’t be home to ride her, so we found a home for her.  A wonderful family bought her, took her home for their 14 year old daughter.  But,  they have walking horses and Confetti had a hard time keeping up.  They decided to stick with walking horses and have offered Confetti up for sale again.

Now Confetti is back with us and continuing her training.  I have been working her on the obstacles for competitive trail riding and she has been doing quite well.  She is now ready for another home.  Confetti is being offered for $2,000.  I have a 14 year old student who has been riding her to keep her in shape.  This particular student just recently learned to ride and has been having a wonderful experience on Confetti.  Here is her recent video Red Confetti on You Tube

Confetti would make a wonderful trail riding competition horse or just a pleasure trial horse.  She is sound, easy to work with, stands for the farrier, hauls easily, has no dental issues, stays outside year round, has a very thick coat in winter and sheds out smoothly in the summer.  I don’t normally grain her except a small amount for extra nutrition in the winter.  She can go barefoot or wear shoes for the rocky trails.

Confetti loves people and gets along well with other horses.  I would love to keep her myself, but have too many now.  So, if you are interested or need more information you can reach me through my contact page.

Happy Riding.

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I had a wonderful client who brought his TWH to me to be trained as a trail horse.  This horse was a little spooky to ride, but boy did we have fun together.  She taught me a thing or two, like how to get over my fear of losing my seat when horse gets excited on the trail and wants to take off running and bucking.  She went back home at the end of her session at Baymount Farm and has become a favorite of my client.  Jazzy Plays Soccer  This same client has asked me to come to his farm and hold a two day clinic for his family.   I am happy to comply and very excited about this opportunity.  I plan to hold many more clinics in the future. 

This particular clinic will be customized to my client’s needs.  I will be teaching harnessing and driving TWH’s, giving riding lessons to his family, giving trail lessons and teaching how to handle horses properly.  The wonderful thing about clinics is that they can be tailor made to fit the needs of the individual.  Not all clinics need to be so organized that they become boring or a show of trick training skills.  I won’t be starting out by round penning, then moving onto sacking out, tacking up, etc.  I will be using their horses that they are already familiar with to teach them how to become better riders and drivers.  How fun is that! 

When I finish I am hoping the whole family will be confident enough that individually they can go out saddle up, or harness up and take off for a wonderful time with their horse.   Watch for the video of this clinic.  I think you will find it interesting. 

Happy Riding!

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I have decided that ex-race horses really don’t like staying in the stall, which is quite alright with me.   My other one, Sera, a thoroughbred stresses and walks the stall if I try to keep her in.  Sir Alex just chooses to try to crib.  There isn’t a place in the stall he can sink his teeth into except the buckets, so out he goes.  I don’t need my buckets torn up.  Also, one less mess to clean up, you know.  As long as he is happy outside, so be it.  His coat is thick enough and he is heavy enough that I doubt he will even notice the cold.  He is also barefoot, which I like during winter.  Ice, snow and mud doesn’t get so clogged up on his soles and I don’t have to worry so much about him getting hurt cavorting out in the pasture. 

My daughter rode him two days after he arrived and he was wonderful.  Sir Alex raced his second year and won a fair amount, but started to get sore so his conscientious owners decided to retire him rather then risk his getting hurt.    After that he went on to being a lesson horse.  He trots and paces which makes him perfect since he is so versatile.  I finally rode him a few days ago and decided that I needed to work with him on the snaffle bit to see what he would do.  In the video he was wearing an eggbut snaffle.  I put a full cheek snaffle on him which is my choice in bits when I get a new horse to try out.   I have been suppling him and asking him to walk straight without all the chewing.   Alex does like to chew, so I think I will try a snaffle with a french link and see how that works for him.  Today we had a great day!   Obviously  he has been very well trained by his previous owners and is a pleasure to ride. 

Sir Alex has quite a smooth trot, doesn’t canter, but that is ok, he does pace and is very smooth.  That’s all I need anyway.  He was a nut today when I was riding him in the ring.  My dachshund, Izzy, came out to say hello to me and Sir Alex thought he was going to get attacked.  I never dreamed he would be frightened by such a small, unassuming dog, but by golly if he didn’t spin around and try to run.   Thankfully, he is very, very well behaved and trusting of humans.  He settled down easily and we just kept going.  That is a good training technique with a spooky horse.  If you can stay on, just ride it out all the time trying to gain control and give the horse something to do that he does well to get his mind back on work and off whatever scared him.  They have a one track mind, so stay calm, regain control and keep going.

Anyway, to me Sir Alex is special and I really look forward to giving lessons on him.  I think my students will love him too.

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