Alberta Equest

This Blog Post has been sitting in my Drafts for like, ever, because I don't want to convince myself of something and then end up being wrong.. So I began drafting this while things were heavily 'what ifs', which it still is, but we will have answers after our Vet appointment on March 3rd. Unlike my typical posts, this one has nothing to do with Kai, the faults within my personality, or how boring my life is.  In fact, this one is about one of my other horses, who I rarely mention. If you didn't already know, I have 3 horses.  Kai and Kidd are commonly blogged about, however you rarely hear about my beautiful, sweet and colourful 1999 Thoroughbred broodmare, 'With No Knickers', or affectionately referred to as Nikki or, most often, Nik.  I'll save you all the boring background information, but to sum it up she was born on my In Laws farm.  I sold her years ago on their behalf, and bought her back last spring but this time in my own name.  The woman I...

As I scrolled through recent photo's posted on Facebook of a Jumping Event in my home town, I found myself over run with ridiculous judgement.  Like, ridiculous judgement. Okay, some of it was probably warranted, but for the most part, I was being incredibly b ..... 'witchy'.   "Jeez 90% of the Riders saddles are about 5" too far forward, those poor horses shoulders!" "Man, look at her thinking she's all that when she can hardly ride" "Holy, how about you jump with your horse not for it?" and the list went on........  Alas, just as quickly as I was overcome with something I didn't even know I had in me, I told my inner 'witch' to settle down and get back in her dungeon and as I dismounted from my high horse and I was left questioning my sanity.   At what point did I become drown in such negative emotions, and what qualifies me to be so judgmental? Really, what qualifies anyone?  If there's anything that bothers me ...

And 'just because', here is a mini Before & After of Kai Keep in mind I am in no way implying I 'rescued' her, nor am I implying she came to me in poor shape - she came to me as a horse fresh off the track, just as expected.  She had a few long days on a strange trailer, in strange barns, with strange people and no doubt that took a bit out of her as well... Sorry, but it drives me crazy when I hear people promote that just simply buying a horse from a racing home means they automatically rescued it - head desk - Before she got shipped to me in Alberta A few days after arriving Same day as above ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// January 14 There isn't a lot of change between these two photos, but in the photos below, taken roughly a month later, her top line is more smooth and balanced.  This is also after doing a Kidney Flush treatment. Overcast weather doesn't do her coat justice! W...

Feed & Nutrition is something that has always been incredibly interesting to me... when it comes to horses anyway.  I often find myself curious what people feed their horses, and love to spend my [lack of] free time pondering how certain nutrients affect horses - more specifically their affects certain 'types' of horses.  For example, why can the majority of our race horses handle upwards of 3 gallons of oats per day, even in the off season, when Kidd gets loopy off a quarter of that?  As well, why is it that years ago when I fed Paprika to Kidd and a Quarab mare I had, did the mare get hot off it but Kidd didn't?  What is it about specific horses systems that allow nutrients to affect them differently than others? Colour me a conspiracy-theorist, but I prefer to avoid 'chemicals', or processed feed, when I can.  I personally believe that the closer you can get to natural ingredients, the better it is our our systems.  I'm a bit of a herb-buff, and...

Recently my fuse was running short for unrelated reasons, and as a result my wording was less than eloquent when I praised my friend for all her hard work and fabulous riding ability with her new horse.  Due to this, it wasn't well perceived, and while initially I thought "what gives?!" it served as a reminder of how defensive we often become - and rightly so! We work so hard with our horses, and put forth copious amounts of effort to improve upon our skills and advance together with our equine partners. We should feel proud and as such, defensive when people discredit our accomplishments.  Naturally, it would only be a matter of time before I became reminded of this defensiveness.  This reminder came today, after my second ride on Kai. adfkjsdlfkjsdalfjd SO CUTE *squee* As I previously mentioned in my last blog post, the weather is fabulous right now. I mean.. It's February.. in North Western Alberta.... Normally at this time we're 3 feet deep in snow an...

Have I mentioned i'm terrible at this blogging thing?  Ok maybe I should give myself more credit because lets be honest, there is literally nothing happening in my life to warrant writing about.  In recent weeks I have been focusing on going to the gym, eating healthier, and staying positive in a currently disappointing time in my life (adult stuff, it's really not pertinent information).  I have totally abandoned ship on 2 of the 3 things for the past week because well, um... I'm lazy and unmotivated.. but i'm getting back at it today because I can feel myself spiraling downward.  As much as going to the gym 'sucks', its for multiple good causes and I develop a sense of accomplishment and success after each session. Ironically, this feeling of success has become directly related to my confidence, or lack there of.  Much to my surprise, I have done things recently around horses that has me like "You go Glen Coco, you just did that without even thinking...