Horse Travel Network Blog

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We have several “older” horses on our ranch. They are over 20 years old, healthy and in good condition considering their age and lifestyle. In the summer they graze in good pasture, and in the winter they are in “assisted living” quarters where they get additional feed and care based on their individual needs.

Jade is a 22 year old cutting horse gelding who carried all 3 of our kids to multiple wins in the cutting pen, a state championship, National High School finals in girls cow cutting, many NCHA wins….in short, a long-time competitor and family friend. His once-shiny sorrel coat is now a little duller and has a lot of white hairs in it, and he is a little thinner than he used to be. In his younger days, he liked to “play” with the other horses in the pasture, although I’m sure it annoyed many of them. His cutting horse blood made him develop games where he would herd the other horses and try to get them to outsmart him. Most of them just didn’t get the point! He also liked to “play hard to get” when it came time to get caught. Then, after a suitable length of time he would allow himself to be caught….but only when he was ready.

We haven’t been riding Jade lately - he’s been retired and allowed to take it easy out on pasture. But the other day when we got ready to catch a couple of horses to ride I noticed Jade doing his usual sneaky run for the gate. I said to the kids, “He wants to get caught!” which of course looked like anything but the truth at the time, but sure enough it didn’t take too long before he was back in front of us “trying to get away” again. My oldest daughter caught him and had a nice ride on him which made them both happy.

Technorati Tags: older horses, horse behavior, older horse care, horses, horse health

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Ian Miller, a member of the Canadian show jumping team, is 61 years old and has just won a silver medal as part of Canada’s equestrian team. Canada finished second to the U.S. team on Monday night after a timed jump-off.

Miller has competed in an amazing 9 Olympics in his career, although this is the first time he has won a medal. He was 25 years old when he competed in his first Olympics in Munich and has continued on the Canadian team for 36 years. He refers to himself as a “late bloomer” and hopes to compete at the next Olympics competition when he is 65.

This is a video of Ian Miller riding In Style during the final team round during the 2008 Olympics.

The Olympic show jumping and other equine competitions were held in Hong Kong, rather than in China because of quarantine restrictions in mainland China.

Technorati Tags: show jumping, Canadian equestrian team, Ian Miller, 2008 Olympics, equestrian team

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I live on a ranch with a lot of pasture land available for horseback riding, so that is my preferred place to ride. The quiet, fresh air, and occasional wildlife make for a restful atmosphere for riding. I’m fortunate to have that option available to me, and I know others have to plan ahead for that type of atmosphere.

My sister and a few of her women friends, most of them city-dwelling professionals, plan a year in advance for a long trail-riding weekend in the Black Hills. They rent a cabin, and most bring their own horses to ride the beautiful trails in the Rapid City area. Other friends of ours plan an annual family trail ride, where they haul their horses several hundred miles for a week of riding on public trails. They camp in a “horse campground” where they can set up their tents and use the available corrals for their horses. They enjoy seeing many of the same campers each year and renewing old friendships while they ride.

Other horse owners, my youngest daughter among them, prefer to haul their horses to a local arena to ride. She likes the social aspect as much as anything, I think, and considers it worth the extra time of hauling to be part of a group working on various training projects or just having fun. She’s the one who has spent the most time showing her horses, and I notice that her horses also share the attitude that an arena is the only place to ride……heaven forbid that they have to watch for uneven ground on a winding trail!

Technorati Tags: horseback riding, riding trails, trail riding, where to ride your horse, arena riding

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I love to get phone calls from satisfied horse customers. We raise and sell a lot of weanlings and young horses every year, and in most cases we never see those horses again. Then, years later we may get a call asking if we have more of that particular bloodline.

I got a call earlier in the week like that. We had sold some colts at an auction several years ago, and a rancher about 300 miles away bought several. They are turning out real nice to ride and have good dispositions so he is interested in buying a few more this year.

Of course he had various specifications regarding sex, color and size but hopefully we will be able to come up with a few that will meet his needs. It just brings such a warm feeling to talk to a satisfied customer!

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Sometimes it is hard to realize that everything we do with our horses is a teaching experience - but they may learn more than we expect.

For example, when I drive our pickup into the hills a couple times a week to check the mares and colts I usually bring along a couple of buckets of grain….just as a treat for them and as an incentive to
come to me and stand around while I look at them. It works great. They see a vehicle approaching and they come to meet it and expect their grain as a reward. They will even follow the pickup for a mile or so for a few bites of grain.

Last week we had to ride after the mares to bring them in - they were in a far corner of the pasture in very rough country where no vehicle can travel. It’s several miles as the crow flies back to the house and usually the mares take a pretty straight route home. However, this time I was amazed to see them take the road the entire way, even though it meant winding around hills, backtracking and adding at least an extra mile onto the trip. The only thing I could figure out was that they had gotten so used to following the pickup that they automatically took to the road instead of going cross-country.

So be careful what you teach your horse - it may show up in a different form than you intended.

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