Horsekids with reins

The horsekids made a new progressive step. Learning to use reins. Interestingly, the one who asked, a boy, last year had no interest in EVER riding with reins.

There is no rush in learning to "ride" before you learn how to "be". Riding is a fairly small part of keeping a horse. There is the manure cleaning, fence and barn upkeep, feeding, hay stacking, health, brushing, hoof care, tack upkeep, if your horse doesn't live at home there is the travel to them and back. It is a labor of love. We love it, caring for them, watching the herd dynamics, listening to them talk to us as we move around the yard ( I am talking about the mental stuff), just being with them. Yes , we love the riding too. I want the kids to know all of it, to be sensitive, understanding, quiet, intuitive, to sit atop, to relax, to breath, to trust their instincts, to trust their voice from the horse. Only then will they be ready to communicate and ride "with" their horse.

I try not to focus on too many things at once. It will all come together in the end. It is not necessary to overwhelm them with too many things to think about at once. They can sit quietly and confidently now, they can communicate softly, they are ready to learn the reins. I use a rope halter with reins. The kids hold the reins while I lead the horse. They are still using a bareback pad, no saddle yet. I can instruct them and let them practice without worrying about being on their own. I let them do all the work and am only there if needed. They can feel their progress...I can see the smiles. They know the sounds the horses make when they are happy...all the horses made them.

How long will we do this? I don't know, until they are ready for the next step. That's what I do, no agenda really. We do what feels right in the moment. The horse and rider must be able to be ready together...a partnership.

Have I told you about the mounting? The kids climb onto the big wooden spools. They hold the lead line and ask (mentally) for their horse to allow them onto their back. When the horse is ready he/she walks over and sides up to the spool. They can all do it, beautiful to watch.

Finally, there is the itty bitty boy, he just turned two. He has been coming with his sister since he was 6 months old. He never liked the animals much. He rides now! Requesting his helmet as soon as he arrives. A big grin plastered on his face when on board his mount.

That other boy, I have never seen his grin so big as I did this day. Riding with reins.

We love our chickens. There is the obvious, eggs and bug control. But they are so much more, they have such personality and ability to communicate...with each other and with us. If you pay attention you learn they have an extensive language.

These are our two Sussex light sisters. We had five, these two watched their three sisters get eaten one morning, by what we are not sure. We heard the commotion in the yard , when we got out there the sisters were gone. These two barely walked away from the coop and NEVER left each others side for months. One of them recently became broody (sitting on eggs). We let her have the eggs to hatch. After about a week her sister joined her. They sit in that box, together, all day and night. Such commitment to their eggs and to each other.

This is one of our Americana's, they lay blue eggs. I returned home during a heavy wind storm. Normally the chickens will pay no attention to my coming and going. This day, one of the Americana's, came racing toward me, at full speed and squawking madly. It was obvious she was asking for my help. I found that the gate to the coop yard had blown shut in the wind. Some of the chickens were inside, not able to free range. She wanted me to open the door for them. I not only find it amazing that she knew to ask me for help, but she was concerned for her sisters/friends. Her name is now Lassie.

The chickens and the roosters are so gentle. They are wonderful pets for children (not all roosters are good pets, some can be very dangerous....RUDY).

While filling the horse's water one of the roosters came over. He clucked softly at me then looked into the lid that was lying on the ground near us. He wanted me to put water in there. I did and he drank. They are very smart. Like all the rescued animals I also believe that these chickens, many who I rescued from deplorable conditions, appreciate their new home and know I am here to help them. I hope the chicks hatch soon!

The Garden April 2011

The weather is finally turning to spring and we spent it preparing the garden!

This is one of our compost piles, the one we are currently dumping in. We dump the manure and kitchen scraps into the pile, which is built on the side of a hill. The chickens scratch through it, but we don't turn it, it just sits, usually for 12-18 months.

This is the pile we are using for dirt. It has finished sitting. We are using it to make the new garden beds. After we dig out all the usable dirt it will become the new dumping spot. The other one will be covered with mulched leaves to cook until next year.

Beautiful and full of earth worms.

Murph spreading the black gold into the new beds. He moved more then 100 sq feet of dirt this weekend!

Some fresh dirt in the new beds. Potatoes and onion sets went in, peas, beans, lettuce, spinach already in place.

I love art in the garden. This was salvaged from the dump. The back says it was collected on the beach in 1967, I presume it was painted back then too. It was just tossed away, thankfully it now has a new life.

Soon the fruit trees will go here. They lay in the basement, dormant. The nights are still below freezing so they will wait a little longer to find their way here.

I decided to plant the asparagus. I have never planted it before. I have researched it and we prepared the beds correctly. Still, when the time came to put it in I wasn't exactly sure which way was up!

The asparagus on the right was my first attempt. Were the tubers the asparagus? I thought so. As I looked at them, after I planted them, I could see they were roots. Then I read the directions more closely, "spread the crowns". Spread, okay, take them out and start over. The bed was exactly the right size for the asparagus we ordered...how did that happen!

It was warm and sunny all weekend..the piggies came out!

Life is good!

Fun in the spring sun!

For the first time since last year we had a warm, sunny day for horsemanship.

The day starts early with Scout and I feeding the horses.

When the kids start showing up we have a surprise, caught in the barn over night.

Thos little guy ate ALL the lettuce that I had growing in the greenhouse! He had to go. We took him out to "the meadow" to let him go.

On the trail, heading out to "the meadow", we found this fox scat. It is located in the same area I found fox tracks over the winter. We inspected the scat and it looks like his last meal was a mouse!

Working hard cleaning up the paddock.

Horses come out and the brushing begins. Tonto has lot's of riders.

Satinka is doing so well. She doesn't like being separated from her little man Frodo. She was very calm all day and ignored Frodo's cries. Her rider was doing awesome. She knows her horse will always react to her feelings and emotions.

Little is always a good boy..unless he senses an insensitive rider. His partner has learned this and understands it well. They have become a great team.

Tonot's older riders help the little kids first and then each other. Tonto is such a good girl. So patient.

Tonto knows when she has the tiniest riders on board and is extra slow and careful.

The kids start out with quiet time with the horses, brushing and walking. They are communicating mentally with them, sharing feelings back and forth. They are working on their breathing and body language. They know they must be able to communicate everything from the ground that they want to on board their horse. Next they asked their horse `permission to get on. Their horses moved next to the mounting spools to get into position. This lets us know the horses want to ride, they are mentally and physically ready to ride. I lead them through the trails while they practice stretching exercises and work on communicating, subtily, with their seat and legs. They all did very well. They even worked on some trotting.

No one wanted to do much art today. The weather was too nice! Instead all the ride on toys came out and the races began.

They raced for over an hour.

Ten kids from 18 months - 14 years old. All playing beautifully together.

I love having a house where all the children love to gather and have fun together.

Writing/drawing

I am finding it fasinating watching Scout develop her drawing/writing skills. There is paper and markers on the kitchen table all the time. She also paints in the art studio several times a week. She has such a deep concentration on her face when working.

For a long time she always made circles.

Then I found her at the easel making lines. Was it the easel, the pastels or was it just her time? I don't know but it is very fascinating to watch.

Stuck inside

We were stuck inside yesterday. Scout wasn't feeling well and it was cold and snowing, yes snowing, like crazy all day. She slept a lot, we watched Gordy (she rarely watches TV) while snuggling, we played with blocks and read stories and....

we painted. She asks to paint almost everyday. This is her paper mache horse. She made it. Now she paints it, over and over again, fabulous.

She tells me which colors she wants each day, it is always different.

I love the concentration on her face.

These markers get used everyday also. This picture was made for Daddy. She makes circles and uses every color.

We filled the sink with warm water, added bubbles and some bowls, cups and spoons.

She decided it would be better to remove her clothes...they were getting wet!

Jousting poles

Becoming a knight is something one of the kids is interested in. This works well for horsemanship and also gave us an idea for our next art project...jousting poles!

We happened to have some pvc water pipe lying around. I cut it into sections, sized to each childs size. This section is curved because the pipe was in a coil. But hay, it was free, so we just keep bending it and it will eventually straighten out. We cut the top of a milk jug and positioned it as a hand guard. Then taped it into place.

Next we wrapped the "business" end of the pole with a piece of pipe insulation.

A piece of insulation, about 1 inch long, was left extended past the pipe. It was folded over the end and taped with electrical tape to make a soft point. You can get any color electrical tape you like at the hardware store. The bigger stores may have better color selection. We happened to have green already so that is what we used.

The whole thing was wrapped in the electrical tape, including the hand guard.

You could use multiple colors for a more dramatic pole.

Then the knights mounted up!!