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?