Making unicorns
The local horse world has lost a number of great horsemen and women this past year. Not a discipline has been spared. They were mentors to many, and took with them a lifetime of knowledge learned through riding/driving, but mostly through managing, handling, and knowing their equine partners. Grand success came with colossal failure.
Moving horses and following dreams
We do expect a lot from horses. We sit on them, and ask them to do all kinds of weird and wonderful things at various speeds. We nail shoes to their feet, braid their manes and tails, and wrap them in blankets. We pack them into metal boxes and haul them from place to place.
Starting strong
I started 2024 with a commitment to significantly improve my fitness before spring. Strength and balance are easy to take for granted when you’re younger, especially if you’re keeping horses at home. Moving hay, cleaning stalls, and general barn work provide a decent full-body workout. But like any sport, riding well requires fitness.
Getting lucky, finally
It was a challenging summer for making hay in Atlantic Canada. It started out dry and then quickly changed to soggy – all summer long. Much of the hay crop where I live is made on dykeland – beautiful, fertile Acadian dykes made for growing grass. The historic flood in West Hants, N.S., on July 22 left much of that land under water.
The people that you meet
The old adage “it takes a village to raise a child” can also be easily applied to keeping horses and developing little riders into horse people. Some of the “villagers” play a smaller role but leave a big impression. Others do more of the day-to-day heavy lifting. Two of the best of the best were lost recently.
Changing up
Helping horses perform at their best often requires fiddling around and changing things up. Maybe the saddle doesn’t fit quite right and needs replacing? Or perhaps the current feed ration isn’t doing the job? The horse has lost weight or its coat is a bit dull. Maybe the horse needs more turn out, or a different pasture buddy?
Keeping it simple
The pandemic at its peak was a complicated time for everyone. The restrictions and shutdowns, on the other hand, freed up time to reflect, re-evaluate, and reset. Many of us came out of it with a desire to simplify our lives, and alter the way we do things. We have a few examples in this issue. Unfortunately, just as we were starting to breathe a sigh of relief and process life on the backside of the pandemic, post-tropical storm Fiona roared through our region.
The best laid plans
In my last editorial, I jokingly shared the hope our pregnant mare Felicity would have an easy delivery outside in the pasture after supper. I was selfishly hoping to avoid sleepless nights, and I got my wish. Felicity foaled out easily one morning, with lots of warning. She’s a wonderful mother, and we couldn’t be happier with her filly. This wasn’t the breeding we had planned. It was a last minute “pivot” (ugh, that word) to find another stallion when COVID complications thwarted the original plan.
The horse comes first
We touch on competition, training, good practices, health, breeds, and breeding in Horse and Pony – but the underlying theme through it all is respect and appreciation of the horse. We go to great lengths to ensure the comfort, safety, and well-being of our equine partners and friends.
Raising Mums
My mum grew up on a dairy farm in rural Nova Scotia. It was different than the dairy farms of today. My grandfather had grade cows and didn’t worry much about their breeding or production – the cows produced what they produced. That is until my mum, her sisters, and eventually their little brother joined 4-H.
Knowing better
The longer we have horses in our lives, the more likely we are to suffer heartbreaking loss. The romantic notion that horses are strong noble creatures, is just that. The reality is our equine friends are complicated and fragile beings, and things can go wrong in a hurry.
Jumping through hoops
The season for riding and driving is winding down for most of us. We’ve had an amazing early autumn, with the best stretch of outdoor riding (and strangely, haying) weather since early June. It’s been another doozy of a year for those organizing and participating in horse shows and clinics. The provincial reports in this issue give a good summary of how folks adapted and continued to make things happen safely throughout the second year of the pandemic.
Making memories
Making memories isn’t just for children. Memories strengthen our sense of self and our relationships, so it makes sense to keep at it as we age – to try new things and push ourselves. That said, it was definitely easier when body parts didn’t hurt, and someone else got the gear packed, made sure there was food and clean clothes, and paid the bills.
Prep work
True to my goal of managing my pastures better in 2021, I’ve been spreading lime and over seeding. I won’t get everything done, so I’m focusing on fields where the types of weeds suggest the soil is sour. Real farmers would test the soil. Real farmers would also have the gear to make the job easier. My approach results in a good workout.
A good dog
I planned to write about the Maritime hay shortage for this issue. Then my dog died, and while I was feeling the familiar heartbreak of goodbye, I was also working hard to remind myself how lucky I was to have had her, and those who came before her. Lucy was almost 15 years old. She was a spicy little thing, running a tight ship – sorting cats, managing dogs, reprimanding animals on TV, and generally just being bossy. She was a big, boisterous dog in a compact little body.
Stocking up
I’m writing this as I wait for Louie to digest his breakfast so we can have a ride on this frosty morning. There’s no wind at the moment and I’m anxious to get out there while it’s calm. It’s been an exceptionally windy year. It goes with the COVID theme I suppose? Whatever the case, the blowing, rustling leaves make fall riding a bit sketchy.
Keep trotting
Our relationship with horses is often a lifetime affair. One that ebbs and flows through varying circumstances and stages of our lives. We can now add pandemics to the long list of reasons why. Who saw that coming?
Read MoreLooking for light
Every one of us is struggling to find solutions to the “new normal” as we social distance, try to work from home, stress about income, limit grocery store trips, homeschool, stay away from yet try to stay connected with our family. It’s difficult. All the things we’ve trained ourselves to do when the going gets tough – work harder, be more efficient – are essentially useless during this pandemic. Doing nothing has suddenly become an action.
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Going the distance
A fact in the horse world: the number of people you meet grows exponentially with each horse you acquire and with every horse related event you attend. It takes a whack of people to make, grow, and train a horse and rider, and even more to make and grow a horse event or organization. Some of the folks we meet will remain acquaintances, some will become friends, and others will be like family. Along the way there will also be mentors, whether or not they’re recognized as such at the time.
I met Judith Scrimger when I was hauling a small pony and Pony Clubber to lessons and “D” practices, and she was hauling a slightly older Pony Clubber and his medium pony to “C” events and lessons. Parents and Pony Clubbers, regardless of age, all came together to bed the stalls for spring and summer shows, build courses for training shows, make apple pies, and peddle chicken burgers at the exhibition canteen. Mary Henry’s Avon Pony Club was an intensive program. Lifelong friendships were made.
Judith started writing news items and feature stories for Atlantic Horse & Pony around that busy time, while excelling at her career as an associate professor at Mount Saint Vincent University. For more than 25 years, she’s covered disciplines as varied as mounted shooting, reining, carriage driving, barrel racing, hunters and jumpers, dressage, draft horses, eventing, and competitive trail riding. She’s written about euthanasia, horses on movie sets, concussions, therapeutic riding, getting a pony for Christmas, and countless other topics. Judith did two separate stints as the Nova Scotia Report editor when she took over from her son Ian (the Pony Clubber), who handled the report during high school. She’s crafted many profiles and loved doing almost every one of them. Her profile of the teenage Hornbrook brothers of Landslide Percherons in New Brunswick (“Horses in their blood,” HP Aug.-Oct. 2015) stands out as a hands-down favourite, as their stories rekindled her own childhood memories of life with ponies on the family farm, and the predicaments one might find oneself in.
Judith is retiring from HP to have more time to do other things she loves, including riding her pony Bert, enjoying her new puppy Shenzi, watching her Toronto Blue Jays, and visiting with Ian and his young family in Scotland. It won’t be the same without her, but you might still feel her presence (I hope!). I’ll be bouncing ideas off my friend and mentor for as long she’ll let me. She’s been a wealth of dependable, solid advice on writing, keeping horses, and even surviving life with a headstrong teenage daughter (the other Pony Clubber). She’s never steered me wrong, including convincing me I was up to the unfamiliar task of editing a magazine.
In this issue, Judith has teamed up with photographer Leona Nielsen-Hennebury for her final story, “Blindsided: Building trust with the one-eyed horse.” As often happens in the horse world, Judith and Leona hit the road to cover the story as acquaintances and ended up friends, getting to know intelligent and loving horse owners committed to understanding the needs of their one-eyed equine partners along the way.
We all need people in our lives who believe in us, and push us a little. And every undertaking benefits from the contribution of quality people who will go the distance, whether it’s Pony Club or a magazine. No doubt Judith will do retirement the same way she does everything. Knock it out of the park Judith, and thanks for being you.
NEW in this issue:
There seems to be no end to writer Garry Leeson’s adventures (and misadventures) with horses. Garry’s been entertaining us with his contributions to “On a Lighter Note” these past few years, and we couldn’t resist giving him a recurring column. You’ll find his first offering for the “Life of Leeson” in this issue – “The year of the blue Brabants, part one,” on page 42.
Ride on
During my dad’s last winter, I bought a horse. I didn’t tell him. I didn’t know how to. I worried he might be hurt and feel like I was off thinking about a time when we all knew he would be gone. Of course, it wasn’t that at all. I didn’t really know what I was doing when I bought that horse. I’m generally a careful person and not someone who makes snap decisions. It was just something that felt completely right when so much felt wrong.
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