Holiday Wreath: How to make a horse head wreath!

My apologies for how long it has taken for me to sit down and write this post. Hopefully, the information has been worth waiting for!

Last year I saw a few photos of horse head shaped wreaths on Facebook and Pinterest so I decided to make my own. Searches for information on how to make them led to unsatisfactory instructions so I struck out to figure things out for myself. This is what works for me and I really like the look of my wreaths but I encourage you to try something different and let me know how it goes!

Tools: garden sheers, wire, wire cutters,
floral picks and preservative.

Start by determining the shape and size of your wreath. Mine are quite large. I like to really fill in the door. I've seen them with more extreme curves through the neck, smaller, all kinds of shapes. Using a large piece of paper (I use pattern drafting paper but anything that will accommodate your desired dimensions will work), draw out your horse head. This took me awhile. I have some great tools from my work in fashion which helped me perfect my curves. Don't obsess TOO much but getting the shape right from the start makes everything else much easier.

Once you have your shape, you can cut out your frame. I use a plastic coated chicken wire I buy in a package from Home Depot. With the dimensions I chose, I can cut about 10 frames from one package. Lay the paper pattern on top of the wire and using wire cutters, cut the approximate shape.

The first layer of greens is wired onto the frame.

Next you will add your greens. I use Fraser Fur for the base and white pine for the forelock and mane. I use regular floral wire to attach the bits of greenery. Start at the tip of the nose and the bottom of the body and work your way up layering the greens. I find you can't just plop branches on and be done. It won't be full enough everywhere. You need to cut bits off the branches and wire them into the bare spots. This takes me about two hours. I'm very picky. This year the Fraser Fur was not great so it took more time. I really had to fill in where branches were sparse.

Once all the greens have been wired on and
the mane and forelock have been added, spray
with preservative.

For most of the wiring, I find smaller pieces of wire - 2 - 3" - are easier to handle. Longer pieces leave too much excess at the back of the wreath. When adding the White Pine on top, you will need slightly longer pieces of wire since they will have to wrap around more than just the wire frame. White Pine can grow in long or short branches. I like to take advantage of the different lengths to make a more natural look for the mane. I will cut several branches of different lengths, wire them together at the top and then wire them onto the wreath. The White Pine is a bit tougher to put onto the wreath securely without having messy wire showing.

Once your greens are secure cut a very long piece of wire, about 3 - 4 feet, fold it in half, put the loop end into the back of the wreath frame and bring the ends of the wire through the loop, around a piece of the frame. This will be your hanger. I put mine close to the mane so that my wreath hangs with its nose pointing down a bit.

I spray all my wreaths at this point. I use a preservative purchased at the garden center which will keep my wreath looking fresh and green for most of the winter. Considering the amount of work that goes into making this wreath, you will likely want to keep it up as a decoration well past Christmas. It is worth preserving. Last year I kept mine up into March and it never turned brown.

Next you will want to decorate your wreath. I find it easiest to do the crown first, followed by the halter and then finish with the nose and eye. It is easier to place the nose and eye properly once the halter is on the head.

For my crown pieces I like to do a mixture of pine cones, berries, juniper, and a cinnamon stick but the crown decor can be whatever you like. I have seen one large, glittery flower which has great punch and is visible from a distance. Last year I went with more natural, subdued tones. Regardless, the purpose of this decoration beyond making the wreath more lovely, is to cover up the ends of the white pine which make up the forelock and the mane. Be careful not to fully cover your ear with your crown decoration. Some of the items I use come on a pick with wire, some I add a pick and some I add using long pieces of floral wire.

Now for the halter. I believe what sets my wreaths apart from all others are the awesome halters I make. You can use ribbon to make a simple ribbon halter as shown in the photo below. It looks nice and is very easy to do with a hot glue gun. However, I think it is worth going a step further and making halters to fit the wreaths, as seen to the right. To make the halter you need 1" wide webbing, ribbon less than 1" wide, velcro and brass rings. When the greens are on your wreath, measure to determine how long each piece needs to be. I make mine in 4 pieces. The nose band and throat and crown pieces velcro in the back. I add an extra brass loop as a faux attachment for a lead rope. When cutting the webbing, be sure to use a hot knife or burn the ends a little with a match so they don't fray. I suppose I could write an entire how to on making the halters but basically, I cut the ribbon lengths longer than the webbing and use the ribbon to wrap around the brass loops, stitching down the ends of the ribbon.

Once you've determined the halter type you will be using, place it on the wreath.  If you are using the more permanent webbing type halter and choose to add a brass name plate as I have done, you may need to use wire or picks on the back of the name plate to secure it to the wreath so that it doesn't droop from the weight of the metal. Once the halter is securely in place, add your eye and nose. I love the seed pod for an eye but they are rather large. If you use a seed pod, just cut a long piece of wire, push it through the back of the pod and wire it into place. I use a pine cone nose and use floral wire wrapped around the pine cone to attach it to the wreath.

Please let me know if you have more questions or would like better instructions for making the halters. I'm contemplating making a kit for people which would include the frame, a halter and possibly the decorations for the crown, eye and nose. I sold my wreaths this year and it was a ton of fun but shipping them was a bit crazy. I shipped one to my sister in Oregon and it cost over $60 to ship. The box, bubble wrap and other shipping supplies were also a little nuts. However, I shipped 3 wreaths and all 3 made it in good shape! I may try to redesign the wreath size and shape for shipping for next year to find something a little easier to box up.

If you have one of my wreaths or plan to make one, I encourage you to recycle. It does take time to undo all that wire on the back but the plastic coated chicken wire holds up really well. Once you have the frame and the halter, making your wreaths year after year is pretty simple and just takes a little time.

I have seen wreaths made with fake greens. If you insist on having an artificial wreath, buy the more expensive, branch style greens and wire it together as I've explained above. If you use the fake garland and snake it onto the frame you just cannot get that lovely, natural layered look that is so pleasing.

I love my wreaths. I love making them and now, I hope you will as well!

If you just want the wreath without all the hassle or if you would like a kit so you can make a wreath just like mine without having to create your own frame or source your own materials, check out my Etsy store where I sell wreaths and kits!

Volunteering: Why everyone needs to do it.

Decorations for XC jumps.

Last weekend, Course Brook Farm hosted it's annual USEA Recognized Horse Trials. We had over 70 volunteers to enable 137 competitors and the day reminded me how important it is to support the sports we love.

Most kids participate in some form of sport. If your kids play soccer, no doubt you've coached at some point. If your kids swim, you've probably acted as a timer on occasion. But in general, team sports don't require one volunteer per participant the way a horse trials can.

Of all the horse sports, eventing requires the most volunteers. The need to have a fence judge at each cross country fence in addition to ring stewards, scribes, parking help, etc., means that running a horse trials is a monumental task. Without volunteers, we simply would not have any competitions. Did you hear what I just said? If you like to compete, then you or a friend or family member really must volunteer at some point each year!

Course Brook boarders painting poles for the stadium ring.

Prior to the show, volunteers spend weeks painting jumps and poles, setting up dressage arenas and
decorating jumps. A volunteer area is set up, the secretary booth is arranged and everything needs to be made clean and tidy.

On show day, there are a few key, paid officials at a horse trials. We have a TD (technical delegate), a show secretary and scorer, a controller who is also our announcer, a course designer, dressage judges and a show jumping judge. Our show organizers work on all the shows at Course Brook, including the schooling shows. Our volunteer coordinator spends months recruiting volunteers to be sure we have all bases covered.

Beyond the paid roles, we have numerous skilled volunteer roles.  Seasoned volunteers are called upon to be the point person for each phase. We welcome new volunteers, training them for the future! There really is something for everyone. We put all our non-horsey husbands in the parking areas directing traffic!

A view of the busy warm up areas.

With three dressage rings, warm-up can get chaotic. We have 3 ring stewards, 3 dressage scribes to assist our 3 dressage judges and at least one person to run scores from the judges to the scorer. Dressage stewards need to check that horses are wearing legal bits and carrying legal length whips.

Stadium requires warm-up stewards, timers, a scribe and someone at the in and out gates as well as a jump crew to run out and quickly replace and dropped rails. Timers, scribes and stewards are people who have done this before. The jump crew is a great place to start learning if it's your first time volunteering.

Cross country is like a volunteer vortex. At a minimum, you need a warm-up steward, a starter,

Fence judging with a friend is a great way to pass a beautiful day!

Members of the Norfolk Hunt Pony Club volunteer as fence judges!

someone at the finish and one judge at each fence. Realistically, you need two people at the start, two at the finish, a steward and a second steward to control the flow to the start, and two judges at most fences. If you have 20 fences, that means about 46 volunteers just for cross country!!!! This is another great place to learn. People new to volunteering can be paired with people who have done it before. It isn't difficult but there are some things you need to know. There is always a briefing and just about anyone can be trained to be a fence judge. It is also super fun since you get to watch horses galloping and jumping big fences!

In addition to all those volunteers making sure the show runs well, we had 7 people working in our parking areas, two people driving around with food and beverages for our volunteers, a volunteer assisting the show secretary and more.

For schooling shows we make do with much less. We don't have the fancy TD, controller or show secretary and we manage with very few volunteers which is quite difficult. So please do not read this and think that because you or your child are only doing schooling shows, it is less important to volunteer! Anyone who competes at any level can and should volunteer. Kids who compete regularly make excellent volunteers since they know the rules and pay close attention when working as jump judges.

At Course Brook we are fortunate that many of our boarders have played key roles in our shows for several years and they really know what they are doing. Our local Pony Club members (several of whom are also boarders) are another great resource. We drag our husbands and non-horsey children into action. Volunteering is so fun that most people come back to do it again!

How much should you volunteer? Realistically, we all have limited time. If you participate in 2 shows a season, volunteering once is probably fine. If you do 4 - 6 shows a season, you really should volunteer 2 - 3 times. If you like to go to all the recognized shows, volunteer for the schooling shows. Or, train another member of your family or a friend who likes horses to do your volunteering for you on days you show. I like to volunteer at King Oak Horse Trials which is a two day show near us. My daughter usually rides one day and I volunteer on the other.

Through volunteering I've gotten to feel like a bigger part of the eventing community and a great community it is! Don't be afraid! These people will love you and shower you with praise for helping them create something you are already enjoying!

With my boys who run the scores on foot, their cross country running work out for the day.  They run about 10 miles total. I love that my entire family participates!  My daughter volunteered all week and fence judged for the show.  My husband helped with parking from dawn until noon.

Show Season: Being the mother of a young eventer part 2...

Having recently returned from a two day show at Fitch's Corner in Millbrook, New York, I am in a perfect frame of mind to give you a view into the glamour that is the life of an eventing mom.

For this show we decided we needed to leave the barn around noon on Friday so that meant being at the barn by 8am. We had not done any real preparation ahead of time so this was actually quite luxurious. We went down to get our trailer, threw 3 bales of hay in from the hay shed, drove up by Elizabeth's stall and unhooked. I left Elizabeth at the barn to pack and headed out to the feed store to buy some shavings and fill up with gas.

If you are stabling, it takes two bags to fill the stall and we bring an extra for filler during the show. For this show I bought 5 bags since we were taking our trainer's horse with us as well. The trailer was already full of shavings so that was great.

By the time I got back to the barn, Elizabeth and her trainer had done a good amount of packing. I helped with some of the loading since it was a bit of an organizational challenge to fit everything for two horses and 3 people but our trailer has a really nice tack room so it works out. Elizabeth and Erika took their horses out for a hack while I lunged my horse. When they got back they gave the horses baths and shortly thereafter we loaded them up and hit the road.

We had about a 4 hour drive ahead of us including a quick stop for ice cream and some traffic on the Mass Pike. Unfortunately, none of us had read the directions on the Omnibus and the nav system in my car took us down some unnecessarily long and windy roads. Eventually, we arrived but this wasn't the first time I was reminded that we should always consult someone who had been to the venue before about the best route before setting out!

When you arrive at a multi-day event far away from everything, most people stable on the property. In most places this means a tent village of temporary stalls. Fitch's had 11 rows of 20 temporary stalls. Someone generally meets you at the gate and directs you to your stabling. Some shows do a better job of this than others. Fitch's was awesome. A man in a golf cart led us to our stalls and showed us where to park while we unloaded.

This is when the real work begins. It is all hands on deck. The first task is to throw shavings into the stalls and unload the horses into the stalls. Next we dig out the water buckets, fill them and put them in the stalls. Sometimes this is easy and other times it is a serious pain. Fitch's had huge water tankers positioned every few rows in stabling but still, you have to walk a ways to fill the buckets and carrying full water buckets all the way back is no joke. The purchase of a large wheel barrow is in my future! Next we fed the horses their hay cubes and grain while continuing to unload. Each horse has a trunk, two saddles, saddle racks, bridle hooks, bridles, buckets for numerous purposes, water jugs, and more. We bring chairs, muck buckets, a shovel, pitchfork, broom, etc. While the riders set up the stabling area I park the trailer. Once things are organized, it's time to walk the horses.

Next we track down the secretary's booth. Sometimes this is a serious challenge but again, Fitch's is a really great venue. The booth was close at hand and in no time at all we had our packets, XC course maps and schedule for the next day.

Erika and Elizabeth walking the BN Course.

Figuring out when to walk Cross Country can be complicated. Elizabeth had ample time but she needed time to walk it with her trainer and her trainer had her own course to walk. Friday night while Elizabeth's trainer walked her course with her own trainer, Elizabeth cleaned tack for another woman from Course Brook who brought two horses. Bottom line, there is always more work to be done and never an idle moment!

At this point I ran out for food so that we wouldn't all starve. It was already 7:00pm and we were in a pretty remote location. In the future, I am bringing way more food with me to horse shows. I've been relying on concessions but even a good concession can't really feed us well for almost three days.

By the time we had walked the horses again, fed them and tidied up to leave it was 9:00pm. We were staying about 40 minutes away in Poughkeepsie. We stopped along the way to the hotel to grab some more food and were finally asleep by 11:30pm. When at all possible, stay close to the venue. It makes an enormous difference in your level of comfort over the weekend.

The rest of a show weekend proceeds pretty consistently. We get up each morning at 5:50am so that we will be at the show grounds by 7:00am to feed and water the horses and take them for a walk. If we travel with a big group we can take turns being the last one to check the horses at night or the first to check them in the morning but this time we were all stabled too far apart to make that practical. I will admit that my job as a show mom has been less intense lately since my daughter is now able to do her own braiding, mucking, water carrying, etc. But I do jump in and help where I can to speed things up so I often run to get water while Elizabeth feeds and mucks, I help walk the horses or go buy food while everyone is braiding.

Before you know it, the time has come to head to dressage. At Fitch's Elizabeth and her trainer went to walk the stadium course while I polished tall boots and tacked up my daughter's horse. When they got back Elizabeth jumped on Quizz and I followed, camera in hand.

You will notice that many people have some mode of transportation with them at these shows. The distance between stabling and various events can be significant. At Fitch's I would say we walked at least 1/2 mile to dressage and XC. Then 1/2 mile back. FitBit fans will love showing!! Others will value a bicycle or scooter of some type. I'm still trying to convince my husband that I need a pink Vespa. I have the rack for the back of the trailer all picked out!

Once you find dressage, the next challenge is identifying your ring (Fitch's has 5!) and checking in with the steward. As the mom I usually hold the show coats until they are needed. I carry a towel in case a boot gets dusty or the horse slobbers in some unattractive way. I DO NOT SAY ANYTHING!!!!!  This is pretty key for a show mom. You have to know when to be quiet. I don't tell her to smile. I don't tell her to put her heels down. Her trainer will tell her the one or two things that might help. If I'm feeling bold I will tell her to have fun and give her a big smile!

And on it goes, untacking, tacking, changing of wardrobe, following friends, trainers and others around to their various events.

Let's talk about temperature. Horse show weekends seem to mostly be freezing cold or wretchedly hot and humid. I've gone both ways - overpacking and under packing - and highly recommend being prepared for anything if you have the space. At GMHA in June it rained and we were all wearing every piece of clothing we owned. At Fitch's in July we were wilting. The air was so thick with water it felt as though we were swimming. And the riders were out there in the blazing sun with heavy show jackets on for stadium!

Another useful tip - the new synthetic jackets are a great innovation. There are even some very thin mesh jackets out there. The mesh doesn't have enough stability to look crisp and polished so I didn't let my daughter go with that jacket but when she stops growing I will add one to her wardrobe for the days that it is simply inhuman to put her in anything else.

As the days wear on and the troops get tired and cranky, it is up to the show mom to forage for food, drinks and anything that will keep the competitors smiling with their head in the game. I find ice cream to be the handiest tool. Stay out of the way but notice when there is a need and fill it. Be mindful of the schedule but never act like you know something the rider doesn't know, especially if your rider is a teenager!

Eventually, you get to your last event. For us it was Elizabeth's cross country at Fitch's. It was SOOOO hot!!! Fitch's, again a phenomenal venue, provided ice machines filled with free ice. Before heading out for XC we filled a bucket with water, made sure the sponge and scraper were on hand. Some people brought their buckets to the finish line, we left ours at the stabling. Regardless, it was a day that made it necessary at any level to cool down the horses sufficiently after their runs. Also before heading to the last event we had all started removing shavings from our stalls and packing items into the truck and trailer - anything to make our exit a bit quicker! Some venues have pony club kids mucking stalls to raise money but we were on our own with this one!

Used with permission from Joanne Davis, FlatlandsFoto.

We made the trek out to XC. Elizabeth and Quizz had a blast and were happy and hot upon their return. We got back to stabling, iced down our water with the complimentary ice, and got to work sponging and scraping, sponging and scraping, sponging and scraping. Then we took turns grazing, mucking and undoing all the work we had done to set up our little home away from home.

Eventually we pull the trailer around, load up, and get on our way. Here, again, the show mother is in charge of morale, food and beverage! Unfortunately, I'm not the greatest show mom these days. The heat gets to me and I was feeling pretty rubbish by the time we were done mucking. Thankfully, we have the best trainer in the world and she took over willingly. She even ended up driving us home through an absolutely insane rain storm.

After unloading the horses, I glanced into the tack room of the trailer and nearly had a heart attack. But, this was not a pony club outing and honestly, the mess could wait a day. We headed home for much needed food, showers and rest. The day after the show the horses get a day off to enjoy their paddocks and we get a day to clean up the mess.

At the end of an eventing weekend, we all agree it was a great time but we are not sure we would do it again. But, like child birth, we soon forget all the pain involved and look fondly at the ribbons and photos. We get excited about the next time at a favorite venue or perhaps somewhere we haven't been before. We gather up our friends and make plans to eat together on Saturday night somewhere special. And so it begins again...

Show Season: Being the mother of a young eventer out competing.

As in most equestrian sports, young eventers start with schooling shows. When Elizabeth first arrived at Course Brook, she wasn't ready to go out and do much. Events, also knows as horse trials, include 3 phases: dressage, show jumping and cross country. Before going cross country, a new eventer will participate in two phase shows: dressage and show jumping.  Elizabeth did a couple of those then moved on to some schooling HT, all at the pre-elementary level (cross rails, tiny logs) in the first year and mostly elementary the second year (2'3").

Through the winter Elizabeth and I wondered what the show season would hold.  Quizz recovered but between all the uncertainty about her situation and the fact that Elizabeth had yet to finish a recognized Beginner Novice (2'7"), we weren't sure what our path would be.

At first, we thought Elizabeth should spend one more season at schooling shows doing Beginner Novice so I made a long list of shows and started putting together a calendar. The great thing about schooling shows is that they tend to be close by and cost less. This year there is an Area I Schooling Horse Trials Championship so there was even the opportunity for qualifying for something and having some real fun at these shows.

It's not always easy to know where the schooling shows are nor if they are well run. The USEA Area I website does list a good number of shows. In addition, I just started thinking of every eventing barn I've ever seen at a show and googling them. Quite a few ran shows. Friends mentioned a few good ones to me; many of them run their own show series with year end awards.

As the season approached, our trainer told us Quizz and Elizabeth were ready to go to recognized, USEA Sanctioned HT.  Elizabeth had tried one last year on Pumba but was eliminated in Show Jumping. I felt a little nervous, a little out of my depth, but decided to go for it and came up with a new schedule of shows to attend. Our trainer is out competing her own young thoroughbred so we worked together to plan a schedule that we could all manage.

The plan was for Elizabeth and Quizz to do 4 Beginner Novice shows and then, if all went well, move up to Novice. Well, we are going to do 3 before the move up because Quizz is just so awesome it's a little silly and unfair to keep her down at Beginner Novice now that Elizabeth has gained some confidence. We were lucky that a horse competing at Preliminary last year was able to adjust to doing Beginner Novice.  She's such a cool horse! 

The shows are listed in the USEA Omnibus by Area. We live in Area I and some shows in Area II are close by enough to consider attending. We decided to do half the shows close to home and half the shows farther away. When the shows are a bit farther away, the cost goes up. For King Oak we can drive to the show on the day of competition, work out of our trailer, and head home at the end of competition. For GMHA, Fitch's Corner, UNH and Huntington, we need hotel rooms, stabling for the horses and meals on the road. GMHA and Fitch's are two day events which means 3 days away from home and two nights in a hotel.

The cost for a recognized HT varies but entry fees are usually just under $200.00. Stabling also varies but if it is on site it usually costs $125 - $200 depending on the duration of the show, type of stabling, etc. Many of these places are very remote so accommodations are not always straight forward and the first time you go to one of these places it's pretty tough to figure out where to stay. Our least expensive outing would be a day show like King Oak where we pay an entry fee and coaching fee and that's it. At the high end of the range for us is Fitch's Corner where we spent $210 for the entry fee, $195 for stabling for two nights, $400 for our hotel and quite a bit on gas since it was far from home and the commute to our hotel was pretty long. With food and coaching, we are in for about $1,000 for the weekend. Generally competitors cover the travel expenses of their trainer so if they need a hotel room, that should be factored in. If you don't have your own trailer, transportation is an additional cost.

When you travel to a show where you will be staying over night, you need to bring quite a bit of extra gear. You usually need 2-3 bags of shavings. Two bags will fill the stall but you need extra to keep it full after cleaning it. We bring a bale of hay per day and pack all our grain and supplements in ziplock bags so that one bag is one meal, marked with a sharpie with the horse's name and whether it is AM or PM feed. You will need grain buckets, water buckets, sheets depending on weather, a travel trunk (those black Stanley trunks with wheels from Home Depot are awesome and reasonably priced) and all the usual items you need to take care of you horse and go to a show.

Stay tuned for my next post in which I'll give you the unfiltered truth of being a mom AT the show. 

Drama: Ever notice how everything falls apart soon after getting a new horse?

Yesterday we found out my horse has a really bad case of kissing spine disease. If you don't know what that is, it involves the vertebrae, which should be separated by a little space, touching, or in the case of my horse, overlapping. But that's not the point. I bought a horse that appeared sound and rideable.  I vetted him but I did not do back x-rays though my vet implored me to do so. So why did this become an issue now?

I've noticed that when horses change homes, things fall apart. I have a theory about this but as you know, I am not an expert so you should always take what I say with a grain of salt. I think that in many cases horses and their people find coping mechanisms that let them keep going despite issues that may be just beneath the surface. I don't think anyone is being negligent or hiding anything. I think that they simply find workarounds or they have a consistent program so that even though an issue is brewing, a horse who knows exactly what to expect each day can just sort of keep going. And sometimes people don't want to know. They will do the little things when a horse isn't coping, just enough to keep things going, but don't want to open the big can of worms because then they would have to tackle the bigger issue.

When you change something as dramatic as the environment and the rider all at one time, the fragile balance just crumbles. A horse that would do anything for an owner he knows and trusts might start feeling like he doesn't want to go through the pain for a new person. Sometimes it is simply coincidence. Sometimes a new farrier or new saddle can create or exacerbate a problem.

It takes time to get to know a new horse. We probably missed signs that both Quizz and Crafty had pain early on because we just didn't know them and didn't understand what they were trying to tell us. I've observed that it takes 6 months to let the dust settle and a year to really know your new horse in a meaningful way. I have been happiest with buying horses in the fall. We worked through the issues in the winter and were able to have fun when the weather got better. Buying a horse in the spring means working through issues when we would rather be riding.

The trainer I work with tends to notice pretty subtle lameness. She won't ride a horse that might be in pain and she engages help if she's ever in doubt. She is less concerned with keeping all the horses in work for the sake of her income and more focused on the wellness of the horses and the safety of the riders. Rather than finding workarounds such as not riding with contact or staying off a horse's back in the canter or throwing the reins away over a jump, she calls in the vet.

Mine is the third horse under her care in the past 6 months to be in a place where he needs to start over completely. They needed to start over before she got involved but she is the one that is willing to draw the line. The other two are doing incredibly well, looking better than ever and enjoying their jobs so hopefully I will be traveling down a similar path.

Yesterday the vet did Mesotherapy (Novocain injected into the skin to stop the pain messages the nerves are sending to the brain, this is a short-term solution), administered Osphos (a bisphosphonate found to be helpful with bone issues, similar to Tildren) and did some steroid injections. Pretty aggressive but the intention is to stop the pain immediately. Crafty will have 5 days off then get back to work on the lunge line with the Pessoa. We will need to build up the muscles around his back and help him work with his back up and round rather than hollow. We will eventually put him under saddle, a new saddle I ordered which will be adjusted to fit him.

All of this started because Crafty had done some things that were just not acceptable. We excused him several times before concluding he might be telling us something is bothering him. He is so sweet on the ground but often very agitated under saddle. There didn't seem to be anything consistently causing the problem. He'd be great for two days then be unhappy on the third. He didn't look lame and he doesn't mind being saddled and stands still at the mounting block. Discovering issues in stoic horses is especially challenging.

Having seen his x-rays, I feel super guilty. On the plus side, his x-rays explain every single thing he has done. Knowledge is power and I feel better knowing what we are dealing with. The steps we took yesterday were reasonable in my book and I felt I owed the horse this chance to see if he can do his job and enjoy his life with me. I am so grateful that my husband agreed with me.

I did some reading on Kissing Spine last night. I'm feeling optimistic that with the proper work and therapy, Crafty can start feeling better and get back to full work. If you are interested, this article was super encouraging and this one explained some treatment options.

My greater concern now is who he will be when he feels better. In addition to finding that most horses have issues lurking beneath the surface, I have noticed that when you make a horse feel good, his personality can change. The sleepy pony with no shoes and no supplements was pretty sassy with shoes, a different diet and hock injections. Yesterday we removed Crafty's pain. Today he was pretty awake and excited.

While the vet was looking at his x-rays yesterday, Crafty kept sort of dozing off on the cross ties. The vet attributed it to the fact that a horse with such a bad back has a really hard time getting good sleep so he's sleep deprived. It makes perfect sense. Having suffered from chronic back pain myself, I have a great deal of sympathy for all that Crafty is going through. I have a sneaking suspicion that as we help him and as he starts feeling better and sleeping more, my very quiet, safe horse might just be a bit more than I bargained for when I bought him.

For now the plan is to help him. I am giving the situation 3 months. At least now we know what the issue is and we can take steps to address it. He still may not work out for me but at least I feel like I'm doing the right thing for him, helping him feel better and, if necessary, finding him a good home and a useful job.

Leasing: A look at the viewpoint of the lessor rather than the lessee.

I had quite the negotiation with my husband when I finally convinced him to buy a horse for me. He was not interested in the maintenance costs on a second horse so I took on some work at the barn to cover some of my board. I am the show secretary and webmaster as well as doing a few other odds and ends. The deal is that I need to find a lessee to ride my horse 3 days a week and pay the other half of my board.

When I leased a horse two days a week, my perspective on the whole situation was so different. I loved the horses I leased. I loved them as though they were my own and tried to be communicative with the owners and defer to their various care choices. On the lessee side of the fence, I didn't love that I wasn't in full control. In the case of both horses I leased, the owners decided to ride more and I lost access to the horses.

So now I am the lessor. I've only had my horse for one month and 6 days. I'm still getting to know him and I've been so busy with my new responsibilities at the barn that I haven't had as much time for him as I would like. Regardless, the pressure is on from my husband to find a lessee.

I have a friend who may be interested in leasing Crafty for herself or her daughter. She came by the other day to take a lesson on him. It was really difficult for me. I don't necessarily want to share him. I want to be his person. If I share him, he won't know he's mine. I had a hard time watching my friend lead him and tack him up. I'm very particular about how he is lead. He's not allowed to wander, drag his person off, start grazing, etc. I'm working to establish myself as his leader on the ground and under saddle. Will leasing my horse undermine that work?

My friend did a great job riding Crafty and I think she had fun. She will likely try him again but I'm not sure if he will work out for her or her daughter. They use a different trainer and I only want one trainer working with my horse, especially during the first year when we are still getting to know him. Having two riders is confusing enough. Two trainers, two different agendas and approaches, would not be fair to the horse.

I think there will be someone wonderful who wants to lease Crafty. He's a nice horse. But I think it will be interesting to see how people feel about the cost. He can be ridden 6 times per week. I will ride 3 times and lease him out for 3 rides which is a half lease. From where I am now sitting, half of board and $100.00 towards shoes sounds like a bargain. I am paying for all supplements, most of the shoes, routine vet care. I am providing really nice, brand new tack. I am providing a lovely horse, boarded at a barn with awesome facilities for riding.

I will require my lessee to take one lesson a week, at least for the first 6 months. I will also require them to do at least two sessions with our natural horsemanship trainer so that we are all on the same program. My poor lessee. I'm starting to feel sorry for her already.

If my lessee ends up being someone who wants to take Crafty to shows or camps, I will expect them to contribute to maintenance type veterinary care such as Adequan or joint injections. The reality is that my level of riding is putting very little wear and tear on the horse. I will also ask them to have their own saddle pads. I hate washing saddle pads. I don't really want to do it when I don't even get the pleasure of riding!

I think I'm ok with my lessee taking my horse places even though it feels terribly wrong. I will have to get over it but I feel like he's one of my children. I've been a stay at home mom for 17 years. I have rarely spent a day without at least one of my children. I don't know how people who are divorced with joint custody do it. On the one hand it looks so glamorous to have every other weekend to yourself but on the other hand, it would feel like a limb was missing.

This post seems to be more about personal therapy than about leasing a horse but if you are out looking to lease, I'm hoping my thoughts will help you think a little more kindly of the horse owner and the price they set for sharing their precious steed with another rider.

Distance: Buying a horse from far, far away.

If you read my most recent post, you know I found my dream horse in Canada. He checked off everything on my list of qualities I wanted in my horse except convenient location so I just decided that I had to go for it.

Buying a horse from far away and from another country is a little complicated but nothing I couldn't handle (says the naive first time buyer). There were three hurdles I had to get over - the vetting, transportation and paperwork for the boarder.

I flew up to Toronto with my trainer to try Crafty and we both loved him. I contemplated going back up for the vetting and possibly even driving my trailer up to drive my horse home but it was at least a 12 hour drive each way and I had no idea what it was like to cross the boarder with a horse. In the end, I wanted to get things moving forward and didn't have the ability to go back up for the vetting with my husband traveling and three kids to think about.

The trainer who showed us the horse was great. She crosses the boarder frequently to show in the US so was pretty unfazed by the process. I found that comforting. She gave me a long list of vets I could call and was very honest about which vets she uses and which she didn't know at all. I chose the vet closest to the farm where Crafty lived which was 20 minutes away. It was seriously remote and the other vets were an hour to two hours away. I had no references for this vet but she had come from Kentucky, was used to working with race horses and I decided expediency was worth the risk of an unknown vet.

The vetting was incredibly stressful. I hated not being there. The vet was actually great, especially at working to represent my interests. A couple of little things concerned her and I was trying to decide if I wanted any x-rays but she had to leave for an emergency call. I worried about letting her leave without doing x-rays so I called my vet in a state of rookie panic.

My vet, who was in the middle of showing her own horses at a jumper show, was wonderful but I was a train wreck. She was watching my videos between classes and texting her office to tell them what x-rays she wanted to see. I was upset because I just wanted my horse and I felt like for his price and for what I wanted to do there wasn't anything we were going to find that would keep me from buying him.

The Canadian vet went back the next day. We discussed her concerns and decided to x-ray the horse's left leg starting at the hoof and working our way up to the knee. That was the extent of what we planned to look at and my vet was comfortable with that and with the reasoning behind the decision. I didn't want to spend so much on the vetting that I wouldn't have anything left to do maintenance type things later. I felt I would rather get my horse home and have my vet watch him go and do x-rays here. I have no doubt he will need some joint support or injections of some kind but none of that worries me and he is sound on hard ground so what could go wrong? Also, the back x-rays my vet was interested in could not be done with the old equipment available to the Canadian vet. Again, I felt if we needed to do those X-rays at some point I preferred to do them at home with the treating vet having control over the images taken.

This is not necessarily a wise way to go about your vetting. Ideally, I would have been there. In a perfect world I would do X-rays, take it one thing at a time and make informed decisions. However, at my request, the horse would not be ridden again until I got him home. Right or wrong, I wanted to move quickly. If I were buying a more serious competition horse or spending a larger sum of money, I wouldn't have done it this way.

In the mean time, I was dialing the numbers of every transport company in Canada trying to find a truck heading south. They were awful. No one was calling me back and they kept telling me how busy they were driving horses north from Florida. I thought that was a bit absurd since surely the trucks had to go back south! Eventually one of the companies directed me to another that carries race horses down to Saratoga, New York pretty regularly. That did the trick!

A good transport company makes the whole thing so much easier!!!! I used Doyle's and they were great. They went up to get Crafty on a Tuesday afternoon and kept him overnight at their base near the border. Wednesday morning, they took his papers to the government office to be signed and crossed the boarder. I met them in Saratoga that evening, loaded Crafty onto my trailer and headed home.

The paperwork isn't terribly complicated I'm happy to know now. I had the vet rush the coggins so that took a couple of days. Then the vet's office did a health certificate. Someone needs to take the health certificate to the government office to be stamped. The trainer would have done it but it was quicker for us to have the transport company do it because their base is less than a mile from the office.

I have a friend who spent the early spring horse shopping in Florida, South Carolina and Virginia. She was looking for two horses - one for her and one for her daughter. She felt pretty strongly about being present at the vetting and ended up walking away from a lovely horse because of a side conversation she had while she was there. Another horse she vetted long distance but a trainer she knew well was there on the ground to make sure everything went well. That horse ended up not working out either but for different reasons.

Buying horses is emotionally challenging. The addition of distance into the equation simply increases the complexity of those emotions. If you are a first time buyer, try to find something within reasonable driving distance. Think about the cost of travel, time, emotional distress and wear on the horse when considering whether to save a little money by going a little farther. And be certain to involve your trainer or other chosen horse expert! It probably cost me $500.00 to bring my trainer with me to Canada but I would never ever have bought a horse, especially at that distance, without her consent. I just don't know enough to do it on my own and I need her to ask the questions I don't think of regarding work history, fitness, soundness, etc. I also needed her to ride him. She has ridden countless horses over the 30+ years she's been riding so she has a much more developed ability to feel a horse out and see what he's about.

If you need to buy a horse from far away, go for it. Take a deep breath, be patient and work through the steps. Surround yourself with people who know what they are doing and listen. And good luck!