We've moved.....

This blog is now apart of joneslandandlivestock.com  so we will no longer be putting posts here.  All new posts will be on this blog page of our new website.

There are a few kinks to work out the website still so we will hopefully have those ironed out in the next few days.  We also still have some pages to rebuild.   Our hope is that we now have in place the platform that we need to be able to share everything that we want to be able to share related to horses and horse training.

This change started as a result of our 2012 Training Series.  When we introduced that, we realized we wanted to do so much more with that series.  So, we started on this journey of figuring out how to provide downloadable video products on our website to go with our Training Series.  To do that we’ve revamped just about everything- from switching to a different hosting company and rebuilding the website into wordpress. It’s been quite a process!   Of course shooting videos, remembering all that you want to say in a video, paying attention to the sound quality, and keeping the video quality as you put it into a downloadable product has been a whole other “animal” to deal wtih.  There has been a huge learning curve for us to learn how to do videos well.

We still have a ton of videos that we need to put onto the website.  Some are free and some have a small charge.  Our hope is to show you step by step how to do different things related to horses.  We hope to easily break it down for you so you can go video by video.  We want to you really feel like you can do this!!!  Owning and riding a horse can be so meaningful in your life.  Sometimes the only thing standing in your way to being successful with your horse is knowledge and practice.  We want to feed you with the knowledge you need to be able to go out and practice those skills with your horse.

Remember every journey has a starting place.  Our journey of providing a great website with downloadable video products has only just begun.  As we keep going on this journey we will learn more and thus be able to provide better and better content.  Sometimes you have to not be afraid  to just jump in and start swimming.  So that’s what we are doing.  We are jumping in!!

A quick picture to share

 I just had to show you these beautiful pictures I took the other day!  I love how the fading sun made everything look so golden and the contrast of the foggy mountains in the background.

We've been busy switching everything to our new website format which will most likely switch this week.  It's been so hard to wait because we have so much to share!  But, I'd better wait so that I don't have to transfer more information to the new website.  Hah!  

No baby yet

First of all, to answer the question that is on everyone's mind- Has Lake Hazel Suezee Que had her baby yet?  The answer is no.  Josh and I have to laugh about it because she has all the signs indicating she should  foal soon.  She was even diagnosed by the vet.  It sounds a lot like how we humans are- all the signs indicate it should be soon but then nothing!  Hah!  Well, we are just going with it and making sure she's comfortable.  Maybe that foal isn't ready to make their entrance yet.  

On another note, we are in the middle of totally revamping and updating our website.   Since we are doing our 2012 Training Series we realized that the current website we have wasn't going to do what we had envisioned.  It's kind of like realizing that the car you had was an old beater and you need to update it.  We will be putting downloadable horse training products on the website and needed a different format.  Soon  this blog will be apart of the new website as well- you won't be redirected to blogger.  I'll let you know when that happens.  Also, when the new website launches you'll be able to see all the new videos we've been doing.  I'm really excited about it all!

So here is a picture taken March 23.  You'll see that there is plenty of snow.....

Now, here are pictures taken today... it is all melting!!!

 We've had a lot of flooding here.  But, it's exciting to know that spring and summer and solid ground are coming!

Declaring independence from the weather

Sometimes the weather is less than ideal.

Everything takes longer, requires more effort, more preparation and certainly more planning.

In order to get anything done around here, you have to just get up, dress accordingly and declare independence from the weather.

But when you have views like this, it makes it all worth it.

Almost There! No, Really. They Are Bred

Nearly a week and a half ago we posted that we had two mares that were "making up" and could foal anytime.  At the time both showed significant swelling of the mammary glands just in front of the utter.  Well both mares pretty much stalled out at that point and remained the same for the last 8 days.  Finally, yesterday one of the mares, Lake Hazel Suezee Que, started showing some further signs that the end, or the beginning depending on the point of view, is near.  Here is a short little video I shot of her this morning.

Horse Training Tip: Groundwork - Head Position

Here is a training tips video that is part of the General Horsemanship series.  This video clip deals specifically with working with a horses head position when haltering and bridling.  We apologize for the video and sound quality but felt that the information in the video would be well worth viewing!  We have other videos coming this week using our cool updated video equipment.  Yippee!

Pinterest

Most of us know what pinterest is.  It's a wonderful online pin board where you can store pictures or posts from the websites you visit so that it's not just stored in your head but on your computer.

We all probably have boards where we pin food ideas, craft ideas, ideas for our home, photography or whatever that suits our fancy.

If you are a horse lover, why not have a board that is dedicated to horse stuff?

For that reason, we are posting pin it buttons on our training posts and pictures.  That way, if you see a post you like, you can pin it.  Then, you can remember where you saw that wonderful idea that you want to try.

The same goes with horse pictures.  If you like horse pictures, go ahead and pin those.  Personally, I can't get enough of wonderful outdoor photos with horses. (We'll have more of those here on our site when spring comes and the snow is gone).

All of our training series posts will have pin it buttons.  That way you can easily organize them on your "Horse" board.

So go ahead and start a "Horse" board on Pinterest.  That way you'll have a place where you can store all those wonderful ideas related to horses.

This is why we ride horses

We had a little car trouble the other day.  If anything, it made a great video! Don't you wish you could go back to the day of just riding a horse to wherever you needed to go?

Create a digital slideshow

Stork is on its way

Meet our mares that are ready any time to foal....

This is Captains Dry Tang.  Isn't she a beautiful?  She has the most golden, buttery color.  She is due anytime now with foal #1.

This is another mare that we have that is due anytime as well.  Her name is Lake Hazel Suezee Que and she is due with foal # 3.  She is also our daughters horse that is for sale.  She is a gorgeous chocolate color.

There are some telltale signs when a mare is getting close to foaling.  Several days before the mare will "bag up". In other words, they begin lactating and the utter will fill up, the teats will wax over and may even start dripping milk.  Her behavior will often change as she becomes more uncomfortable.  She may become more irritable, pace, break out in a sweat frequently, breathing may change, and they may raise their tail on and off.

Several hours before foaling a mare may exhibit the following signs:
Nervousness
Pacing
Frequently getting up and laying down
Sweating
Tail swishing
Pawing
Lose of appetite
Frequent urination
Leaves the herd
Kicks at belly
Acts irritable and looks generally uncomfortable.

When you see these signs, stay close by.  You should plan on spending the night at the barn.  Baby is on its way.

The two mares I mentioned above are both starting to bag up.  They should foal within a week.

Don't forget to go back and check out the other links in our 2012 Training Series here

Housekeeping....

As Josh and I started working on the several series that we will be doing this year we realized that our camera and recording equipment were severely out of date.  HAH!

We have needed to upgrade our camera and recording equipment and that's been the reason for the delay in posting much.  But, the new camera and recording equipment  we ordered should be here at the end of the week and we are so excited!!

One of the main reasons that we have been anxious about getting the new equipment here, is because we have two mares that are due within the week!  Exciting stuff!

So thanks for being patient.  I promise you that our posting won't be as splotchy moving forward.  Posting will be very regular.    There is so much to share!

Gymkhana 2012 Schedule

We just posted our Gymkhana 2012 schedule so take a look.  All the dates are on the 4th Saturday of the month.  Registration starts at 9am.  Events start at 10am.  Gymkhanas usually last til about 12:30pm or longer depending on how many riders we have.

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns on the dates:

May 26th (weather depending)
June 23rd
July 28th
August 25th

The events we will run every Gymkhana are barrels, poles.  Other events that we rotate around are the flag race, goat tail tying, water race, tire race, boot race, pony express, quadrangle race and speed ball.  As we get closer to event days, we'll post the exact events that we will be running.  Also, we always post the results in our local paper and we will be posting them on the website.

Theses Gymkhanas are not only fun and but they also give you a chance to work on specific skills with your horse.

Let us know if you have any events that you would like to do and we'll be sure to do them!

See http://joneslandandlivestock.com/Events.html for more details.

Turning Dreams Into Reality

Remember when we talked about what your horse goals are for 2012?

My daughter has had a dream for a long time to train a horse for show and hit the show circuit. It's starting to become a reality for her.

This week she got a new horse,a three-year old, named Pleased By Chex out of Miss Fritzie Bug and sired by Chic Please.

Normally Chic Pleases are pretty hot and not normally a youth horse.  However, Pleased By Chex seems to be pretty mellow.

She's been researching horses with Josh, her Dad, forever- trying to find the right horse.  The right horse needed to be something with great breeding, in her price range, and had to fit into her business plan.

Yes, my 13 year old daughter has a business plan.

After all, not only are we in the business of horses, but we are in the business of raising kids.  There is nothing better than doing projects with your kids to teach them a few things about life.  And, a neat side effect of doing things with your kids is that they love to spend time with you.

So her business plan is broken down into two parts- Part A and Part B.  Part A- she trains the horse with her dad for the next year and hits a few shows to get a show record on her.  Then she sells her horse in a year to get a return on her investment.  Now the hard part A of her business plan is that tricky emotional part where you fall in love with the horse and just can't sell it.  Since that is highly likely, she also has a part B so that she can still make a return on her investment.  Part B is to breed her horse and sell the foals to get her money back out of it.

A funny part about her investment is that she didn't have enough to buy it outright, so she had to borrow some money from her brother to complete the transaction.  So her brother teases her that he is currently a 15% owner in the horse until she pays him back.  In the meantime, her other horse, Lake Hazel Suezee Que, is for sale.   She is currently in foal to a son of Mister Dual Pep and due within a month.  She's a great little barrel horse.

The next step for her is to put together a training regimen /schedule and a plan to get ready for the first show on May 5.

Introducing our 2012 Training Series

We are excited to introduce  to you our Training Series that we will be doing in 2012. 

Series #1 General Horsemanship Tips.  This series will include a variety of information related to riding horses, horse tack, taking care of your horse, and what we learn along the way.  This series will start in the spring. 

Series #2 Colt Starting.  In this series we will be taking you through each step of colt starting, how long each step takes, what you should expect, and staying motivated when training your colt.  This series will start soon.

Starting at the end of February or the beginning of March, depending upon when our first mare foals, we will be doing Series #3 Raising Foals.  This series will include discussions (and of course great photos!) when our mares foal, the first few hours after birth, how to handle the new foal in those first few weeks, and how to start teaching your foal how to lead and be groomed.  We'll also show you how to avoid spoiling your foal.  Again, this will start possibly the end of February, beginning of March. 

All of these series will be posted on our Round Pen page on our website.  As our series unfolds, each post will be linked back to that page in an easy to read format.


We hope you stay in the saddle with us as this exciting new year unfolds......
 

Horse Sense

1.  Beware of those that "know it all" with horses.  They have stopped learning.

2.  Training horses is very difficult.  It takes a lot of patience, a lot of time, consistency, impeccable timing, the ability to read body language, and the ability to adjust your technique from horse to horse.  These things take time and lots of practice.  Be patient and don't get discouraged.  Anything of worth takes a lot of work.  The reward will be worth it. 

Negotiating

What do you do when your daughter comes to you with a proposition?

"Dad, I'd like to make you a proposition."

"Okay."

"Well, you know I don't have any money but I want to make you an offer on one of your new foals coming."

"What kind of an offer?"

"Well, I'll train one of your new foals and then sell it.  You'd get a great trainer at a discounted price and then I'll let you keep 50% of my profits."

How can you pass up an offer like that?

Stay tuned!  We will keep you up to date on how our little trainer is doing.  Those will be some fun posts!

Housekeeping....website updates

We've been busy sprucing up our website....

If you live in our area, check out our events page.  Not only do we host fun, family Gymkhanas in the summer, but this summer we'd like to add roping's and clinics to our list of horse events.  If you are a local, contact us, if you are interested in participating in any of these events. 

Our Gymkhanas are designed for the whole family to have fun- from little pee-wees up to adults.  We run all types of events, the most popular ones being barrels and poles.  We usually change the events from month to month so that you and your horse can have the opportunity to work on new skills as well as polish what you already know.  It's a ton of fun!

We've also polished our For Sale page and added more horses for sale.  It's so important to find the horse that suits your needs and fits your personality.  We hope to help you find the perfect horse for you!

Stay tuned....we are working on our Foal 2012 page.  That page will show you our crop of foals coming this year.  Some special goodies that we will post there and on this blog-  we will take you with us as the mares birth, imprinting, and starting a foal from the very beginning.  You'll be with us every step of the way.  Lots of good stuff ahead....