Royal Equine!

YAY! Royal Equine is officially mine! Royal Equine Training business cards are coming out soon!
Royal Equine is named after Orion, Orions Crown Royal (who'd of guessed). He was the inspiration for this wonderful business idea! Royal Equine is in business! I am really excited! The business cards are personalized pictures of Lenanna with the barn cat, Fluffy, on her back. All horses will be accepted into training after a quick assessment in which I ride the horse for a quick session am make sure they are safe. Horses can be kept at your place, mine or the Tutt's after getting the okay from Beth.
Also available are lesson which anyone can take. We can use my horse or yours. I teach both Western or English beginner through intermediate. Once again horses must be previously assessed. I teach using a lot of natural horsemanship and expect my students to have intrest or a background in this type of training itself.

Orion to the States

One thing that I have to prepare myself for is moving Orion to the lower 48s. He will have to be hauled by strangers at least until Washington where he may have to be turned over to another horsey trasportation company. From there he will go to Montana where we will meet. All the while, I will be having to scout out the local stables and find the best deal for him. Hopefully everything will go smoothly, but I cannot find very much horsey transportation to the states. Mostly it is unprofessonal people who are making a random trip down to the states with horses.
Once I get Orion down there I have to buy a truck and trailer for school. It is a requirement. I must have a horse, and transportation to and from the school. Now how redneck is that?

States

I know I have been writing a lot about going down to the states for a summer job, but it would be a dream come true if I am actually able to go to the states to train horses! I have narrowed it down to two states, Maine or Colorado. I have heard back from two of seven or eight places. 1 has said maybe and the other one said no. The stable that said yes is called Andersen Stables in CO. It is a high class stable that shows paint horses. Maine is always available to me, but I really want to take O'Man. I don't think he would do well if I left him alone for three months, and he really doesn't like others riding him so I feel that I can't lease him out. What do I do?

Riding!

YAY! I rode for the first time in over a month yesterday! It was awesome! I rode both horses, Lenanna and Orion, And even though I stuck to a walk it still made my day. Sadly enough, I am already going stirr crazy from the cold. To make matters worse, I am not able to do ANYTHING physical because of surgery! The only difference I feel is that I sleep alot and get a rare pain in my stomach when I work to hard. I guess I shouldn't be complaning. Enerything went smoothly and I am alive! I really just want everything to go back to normal.

Yeasterday I got both horses out for the first time in a VEEERRRRYYYY long time. I took them down to the arena where they galloped around. Lenanna was very happy to get out and raced and bucked! It was pretty fun to watch and even Orion had fun! Snow was flying for a half and hour or so before i took them out and let them dig for some grass! It was a fun day!

Thanksgiving

I was Thankful this year. I was thankful that I had just gotten out of surgery and everything went well... and also that I couldn't load up on a ton of food in those 2 days. It wasn't very fun but I was able to go wish the horses happy Thanksgiving. Orion was happy to see me, Lenanna was just happy to see the treat I brought her. I now know who's loading up on the feed!

Website... blog thingy!

I have made a website strictly dedicated to promoting my horse training business, Royal Equine.
My website address is: www.homeralaskahorses.webs.com It is not finished so pages may be empty.
So far I have a good group of horses coming in for training next spring. I currently have three plus my two. I have Buzz, Fleet and Justice coming in. Buzz and Fleet will hopefully go to the Tutt's and Justice will come here to my place for training now that I have my large roundpen finished. Justice is a 10 year old Arab gelding who acts nothing like the breed. He is study and faithful on tyhe trail, yet a little reluctant in the arena. He is currently for sale. He would make a great mount for an advanced beginner or an advanced rider.

Orion

YAY! He's grown! He is on the tall side of 14.3 now! I know he will make 15 hands! HE'S ALMOST THERE!!!!! I was able to go see him again and visit while he ate dinner. He was pretty happy to see me and followed me around like a puppy. He even got in trouble with Annie, another horse, because he followed me into her stall. I'm really happy to see he's doing well. Maybe he'll be able to hold his own against the pony this year!

Orion

I was finally able to see Orion for the first time in two weeks today! He was so happy to see me and followed me into the barn from the pasture. I spent twenty minutes grooming him while he ate a snack before the herd came in an tried to get his hay. After that i have to spend more time defending him than brushing him. Finally i threw everyone hay and they were content long enough to finish brushing him. With the surgery happening just 1 week ago i have another 5 where i cannot do much and another few after that when I can start riding lightly and getting back in the groove. I can't wait!

Out of commission for a while! :-(

Monday night I went into the hospital feeling pains in my abdomen. All day I had been feeling the pain, but it got worse after I almost hit a pheasant while driving to the Bay Club to work. The pain worsened after that, and I ended leaving work early and going to the hospital. The doctors though it to be acute appendicitis but after opening me up they found a pool of and discovered that I had a an ovarian cyst that had burst. They fixed me up and finally sent me home late Wednesday with the instruction of staying home for the next few days, no lifting anything, and not much movement besides a little walking! Bummer!

Brandt and Traven

Last Saturday some friends, Brandt and Traven came over to ride the horses. Traven rode Orion while Brandt rode Lenanna. They spend three hourse running around. It was snowy out and I froze to the bone for the most part... until they decided that it would be fun to run me over. It was pretty cute to watch the brothers attempt to ride my horses, and my horses did really well, taking the abuse. Hopefully next spring they'll will be back!

Snow!

The horses enjoyed a run through the new snow on Saturday. Lenanna and Sirrocco where galloping everywhere kicking up their heels while Orion enjoyed the first of his new food source, hay! After a while the wind picked up and most of the snow was blown away. But hopefully it will warm up soon enough and we will be able to ride without freezing!

Jobs, anyone?

Right now I have begun to look for horse jobs outside of Alaska for next summer. After riding and training at Meadowview I have decided that working at a stable would not only be a fun job and good pay, but it would also be great experience and help me to be better qualified for college in Dillon, Montana. I have been looking at several states and have found a few places that have offered to take me in. It would be really fun to go but my big delema is where should I go and what do I do with MY horses?

MY HORSES AREN'T FAT!

There is no such thing as feeding too much hay in the late fall! Lately i have had a few comments about how obease my horses are, but judging by how fit and strong they are going to come out in the spring, i would say they're perfect! Lenanna weighs about 1,070 lbs right now which if she were in mid-summer i would say she was huge, but intead she comes out at about 960-985lbs and the last 2-3 ribs can barely be felt. Many horse owners try to keep a horse that weighs 1000 lbs in mid summer at 1000 lbs throughout the year, but they have to pump so much food into that animal, and they still come out skinnier.

Letting a horse beef up before winter really helps with their system as well. That what they do in the wild and i think that it would be wrong to mess up the natural way completely.

Homer Horses!

So I finally finished my applications and sent them into 2 schools, Dillon & Bozeman, MT. At one of these two places (hopefully Dillon) I will further my horsey knowledge and continue on to become a FULL TIME trainer!!!! For now i am happy training several horses around Homer. At the moment I am training 2 percerons, a caspian pony and a arab. The work is hard and the horses' training ranges from several trail rides in a month to not even knowing how to lead (one of the big ones, of course) My personal favorite is Buzz, a 18.3 hh perc who i believe was abused at one point in his life. He is frightened by lound people but i a big softly and tries hard to please his handler. He towers over me even though i stand 5.7 he weighs over 1 ton and in VERY intimidating!!!!!! He is pastured with Fleet, a spoiled, adorable, little 13hh (at max) caspian pony. Together they make the cutest pair as they exlore their pen. Seeing as Buzz is a scaredy cat, he will only venture as far a Fleet will and he throws the biggest fit i have ever seen when left alone without his pony friend.I have know ridden Buzz several times and he proves to be a fearless horse undersaddle only! After finding out a bit about him i now believe that he was shown in 1rst of 2nd level dressage in Texas, where he was shipped up with Fleet. He was trained completly English and has no idea what a horn or split reins are. He is slowly coming along and i can see a lot of potential in him but it will just take time.

Horse training/buying

All of a sudden I have had o so many people contact me about training horses or helping them find a horse to buy. They ask me what is the #1 thing to look for and I say temperament! People believe that a good horse is trained and maybe that's true but one of the best horses I've ever known i bought untrained. Lenanna was a 5 year old broodmare who couldn't of have anymore than 20 rides on her. She was young and green but her temperament was so great that she was one of the easiest horses to work with. Yes she still has her problems but that okay with me. To me it doesn't matter how trained your horses is, they have to have the temperament and williness to work to make them exeptional horses. Buying a horse that has been trained professionally for 5 years but has no intention to learn or make a ride pleasent will be no fun for anyone. Where as a horse who wants to learn will create the other hafl needed to make up a strong team, compeditive or pleasure.

To buy or not to buy?

This next year i will be packing up my life and moving to Montana for college. I will be taking Orion down there with me. The cost of that would be anywhere from $1700-$3000 + food. When I get him there I will be having to buy a truck, trailer and hopefully a new horse. But that is the delemma, to buy a horse or to lease one. I'm going to have all these expenses and will need an older horse that i can ride hard and put it through its paces. Orion will be fun to have down there but I will need another horse seeing that he will only be 4. If anyone has a horse or knows of a horse that could attent college 2010 let me know! it would be great to have a friend's horse!

Reber Trail

Two days ago we attempted to ride from Hillside pl into town using the mud trail which connects directly to Reber Trail. I rode Orion and Shannon Reid rode Lenanna (Shannon is hopefully going to become Lenanna's faithful rider for the years that i am away at college). So we set out in hopes of a dry and fun trail ride, which is what we got. Orion was a fearless leader and led Lenanna and Shannon threw almost everything. He walked calmly back down West Hill directly on the white road line. Lenanna did not prance most of the way and did very good for Shannon, to the point I stopped glancing over my shoulder! It was a very enjoyable ride!

Orion Update

Today, for the second time, I hauled my horses by myself. It was nerve racking at first but once i got going I found that it really could be lots of fun. I took Orion to the park, where i dressed him up in his new English get up and rode his around the arena. We started but doing a nice long warm up then getting serious and doing a reining patteren for next years shows (why i was in an English saddle when I did this I don't know) and then continued with fine tuning Orions transition from a canter down to a trot. He did really great and when i asked for a leg yield sidways at a canter he did it! I was so happy that we called it a day! so i loaded him up into our NEW trailer (which is amazing) and headed for home!

Orion

Orion, my 3 year old colt came a long way this summer. He went from being a spoiled, spazy colt to a mature (mentally and physically), calm gelding. He's a pleasure to ride and is fairly easy to work with when it comes to fine tuning. We've even been able to jump low set jumps one or two times.

I recently bought a new english saddle that I am planning to use on him. He's not going to be a full on english horse, he'll excell more at reining, but i want him to be able to go any direction. I am really pleased with him and excited to have the next few years at college in Montana with him.

A BIG accomplishment this summer was showing and 4-h horse camp. He was amazing at camp and was often mistaken for a six or seven year old because of his attitude. He was calm, never bucked, and crossed rivers without batting an eye. He was a pro! I was able to show him three times this year and he took two firsts, four seconds, a third and a fourth. He placed in every class that he entered except for one, beginner horse. It just gives us something else to work toward.

Maine!

I finally got a summer job this year and it was amazing! I was able to ride all day everyday in sunny, muggy Maine at Meadowview Equestrian Center!
Meadowview Equestrian Center
Riding everyday in English was pretty hard but I got used to it and started to really like it. I took several dressage lesson and wish I could have taken some jumping lessons, but I got to spend my days with 25 horses and was able to ride/train two and exercise/ride one. I can't say which horse was my favorite, even though it will probably be very obvious when people see the amount of pictures I took of this boy. Here are some pictures of the horses I spent some time with....

Rocky- a 16.1 hand Morgan Standerbred. He was an awesome horse, fun to work with but his trot was killer! After several days of circles and working with a different bit, I could actually sit his trot. He would be a better lap dog but he would make an amazing one person horse after some more time undersaddle. He was very fast and loved to please and was with out a doubt one of the best horses around, but he really needed a lot more saddle time. He was amazing on the trail. proof and loving would be the two words I would use to describe him. Previously, Rocky had been at a horse dealer's place who used him for trail rides and all-around pleasure riding.

Gulliver- was a complete highlight of my life in Maine. He was a furry little goofball who was too cute to get mad at, even though he did some pretty mischevious stuff. Gully was an incredibly smart 13.2ish hand, 6 year old haflinger/welsh pony. He was completely greenbroke, maybe had one or two people on him. He had never, to my knowledge, been bitted or saddled up, but he was pretty easy and agreeable. He did have some crazy/fast moves but chose to never use them with me on him. Like I said, he was a smart pony. Gulliver's story was that he was bought as a yearling by a woman who had thought she would have time to train him. When he came to the age of being trainable she became pregnant. This year she found out she was pregnant again and decided that Gully needed to be put to use.

Taz... where to even begin with him.... all that I have to say is that no matter how much I loved working with Rocky and Gulliver, Taz stole my heart. Maybe money does count but this horse shouldn't of have a price on him. I have never in my life seen a horse as fluid and beautiful as this guy. Riding him was just as amazing as watching him. As I warmed him up for the first time ever I was thinking about how just his walk was different from anything I had ever felt. It was long, purposeful and powerful. He loved to go and he loved to go fast. Even if I had not actually ridden English for seven years he made it easy for me.

I hope Christmas comes soon this year because this is the only thing on my wish list!

Maine was totally different from Alaska. It gave me a chance to experiance things s in AK haven't been able to do. The horses I worked with were great amd the people were even better! I was offered a training/stable hand job for next year and I think I will probably take it as long as all the arrangements go smoothly. The one thing about Meadowview that was really different from Alaska was that most of the barn staff was people under the age of 25. It was really nice to work with people my age. I really enjoyed my stay and hope to make it back next year!

April '09

Lenanna- She's doing great! No more limping and is hopefully going to find a little rider soon. She really has some energy to burn and loves little kids so I can't wait to get her working and doing lessons this summer.

Orion He's getting so big! 14.2 1/2 and 15 hands in back. I took them both to the beach. Orion was quiet and sane While Lenanna had a blast and bolted, bucked and pranced the whole time. Orion is a great pal for her (give her endless love & company) and kept her some what sane as he plodded along. He did really good for his first long ride. He is coming along beautifully in his training.

The horses!

Lenanna- a 12 year old, 1000lb.s, 14.2 hand, haflinger mare. She is beautiful and smart, brains and beauty!!! She is the lesson horse for younger, beginner, or kids uneasy around horses. Can perform just about anything you ask her to do!

Orion- The baby of this operation. He is entergetic and keeps me on my toes or he will get on them himself. He is 3 years old in May '09. Hopefully, he will finish at 15 hands. Currently he is a tall 14.2 and 950 lbs. He is going to be an amazing gaming horse and jumper. He will make his mark in the cutting world. He can naturally cut out cows and move them where ever he wants. It is amazing to watch!!!!

Anoka- My first colt. Lenanna was pregnant with him when we bought her. He has cute curly man and tail and stands at 14.1 and is probably hanging around 800 since I sold him. We kept him at 900, which is the weight you will see him at in the pictures. He has awesome potential if trained right and given a reason to go forward!!

Tutt Horses- Wow.. who to begin with?

Who I am and what I have to offer

I am a 16 year old who loves horses. I have been riding horses since an early age and am trying to take another step. I have been training horses since I was ten years old. I bought a green-broke five year old pregnant Haflinger mare. three months after I bought her, Lenanna, "Nanners" gave birth to W-Anoka and my training began. Over the next few years we worked together everyday and Lenanna, Anoka and I began to develop into a great team. Finally after 4 years i decided to move onto a challenge horse. I sold Anoka to a family that uses him as a kid's horses, AT 4 YEARS OLD! They have their problems but that is expected when putting a young horses with a total beginner rider. Orion's Crown Royal, the next horse I bought, was more of a challenge, he had a wild streak in him that made him so unpredictable he was dangerous. At one point he pinned a lady against the fence and refused to move. After a few months work he was caught up to the other horses mentally and physically! We are now (after a year's work) working on the trot bareback, with just a halter and lead!

Horses, horses and training! That's what I have to offer. I use natural methods with the horses and believe that every horse should be respected just the same. I am looking to help people around Homer, AK that want;

Training for their horses,

Lessons,

Exercising,

and lastly,

Horsekeeping (Not boarding).

I am very knowledgeable about horses and would like to help but I will not put up with someone who does not use my help.

Some of my expertise is;
Colt starting

Helping problem horses
Imprinting and foaling
Assisted with breeding

Experience with assisting vet and follow up in first aid care and illnesses of horses
Riding lessons

Birthday parties
Camp counselor
Trick training; sit, bow, hugs, lay down, say no, shake hands, play , smile, set up for mounting, and kisses.

Contact me through e-mail; haflinger_horses@hotmail.com