February 25, 2008 by Capuce.

Magic of the 1 Rein Stop:

I feel like I’m the only person who knew nothing about the one rein stop up until the advent of YouTube!  Not one trainer, horse camp or lesson of any kind ever taught me this and it has to be one of the most important riding aids you could ever learn.

After learning about it on the internet from Horse Problems Australia I started teaching my new horse Cotton how to flex and stop on 1 rein.  To my surprise this simple aid came to my rescue just days after I started working with her.  I had taken her out for a walk down the road and back.  Just before we got to our turn around point someone on a snowmobile came flying by and needless to say I was now atop a bolting horse.  I took a hold of just one rein and gave consistent pressure and to my surprise Cotton spun down into a walk and then a stop and flexed her head to my foot.  I then flexed her to the other side and back.  This little exercise took her from being a panicked state to a calmer focused state of mind.  WHOO HOO!

When presented with this same scenario in the past I did what most people do, white knuckle grab both reins and yank back as hard as possible and pray that the horse starts to slow down.  Usually a bolt like this would result in a quick direction change and me on the ground or a ¼ mile sprint before I managed to at least bring us down to a canter from a gallop.   With the one rein stop, in under 30 yards we went from a bolt to circle to stop and flex. 

For more information check out my favorite Aussie trainer at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b9OvUiOdW8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmpDSbXPtzU

Posted in Tips | No Comments »

January 12, 2008 by Capuce.

I have always thought that clicker training was a bit of a joke.  Not that I had tried it in the past but the concept just seemed silly.  I’ve had success training my pit pulls to advanced level without the use of a clicker and they do very well.

Horses seem to have a clicker mentality though.  The respond the best to reward at the exact second a behavior has been reached.  Unless you have the fastest whit and hands achieving this is rather difficult for the majority of us.  Thus enter the clicker.  An easy devise to give an audible reward to a desired behavior the second it is achieved.

So I started playing around with my newly purchased clicker Friday.  I worked my 2 horses and my boarders horse for 15 min each.  The goal was to touch a tennis ball at the end of a dressage whip.  This was a bit trivial for my old guy but great start for the 2 youngsters.

Today I did footwork.  Asking them to paw with a leg that I asked of them.  The beginnings of a Spanish walk!  I was amazed at how fast horses can learn and at what enthusiasm they perform their task.  Even more interesting is how they act when the session is ended.  None of them wish to stop, they continue to do their new tricks or hunt down the tennis ball in hopes of one last little morsel in my pocket.

I will continue this training throughout the winter as it’s really the only thing I can do daily with the weather being poor.

I hope you enjoy our little video from today.

Posted in Tips | No Comments »

December 31, 2007 by Capuce.

Genesee Valley Equine Clinic annual winter seminar:

When: Saturday February 2, 2008, 8:00 am to 12:30 pm
Where: Wheatland-Chili High School at 940 North Road in Scottsville

Make sure you stop over and say hi.  I’ll be manning the Northampton Driving Society table.

Posted in Fun Shows | 3 Comments »

December 11, 2007 by Capuce.

The Mendon Ponds Winterfest is held Sunday January 20^th 2008. 

New this year the festival is looking for sleighs! 

Here is an opportunity for drivers to use your sleighs or sleds in a winter venue at Mendon Ponds Park.  I know that it takes a hardy sole to brave the elements this time of year, but it can be a lot of fun.  The time will be from 11:00 to 4:00 at the Cobblestone House on Douglas Road.  The area is very gently rolling and off the road with ample room for parking and sleighing.  Ken is the Volunteer Winterfest organizer and can be reached at 585-586-5205 or Kehann@frontiernet.net.

For more information about Winterfest and directions visit their site at http://www.mendonpondswinterfest.org/

Posted in Driving, Parks | No Comments »

November 30, 2007 by Capuce.

This post is in response to the RNews article
http://www.rnews.com/Story_2004.cfm?ID=55944&rnews_story_type=18 

A barn fire is something I’m terrified of, especially since I have a less than ideal barn.  However, I have taken many steps to insure that my barn will have less of a chance of catching fire than others.  Here’s what I did, let me know what fire preventions you have in place.  

1.    Have a plan! – Make sure that if something does happen that you can react in a calm and cool manor vs. running around like a chicken.

2.    Fire extinguishers – make sure they are easy to get to and in key locations. 

3.    Halters/Leads – always know where your halter and lead ropes are.  Better yet, keep a spare set especially for an emergency and never move them.   

4.    In my case my stalls all have a door that leads directly to the outside.  This way should the barn be ablaze I don’t have to worry about finding halter/leads/or entering a burning building.  I can open the stall door from the outside and let the horse run out into the pasture directly.

5.    Hay storage – for some reason people are obsessed with keeping hay tightly confined in dark enclosed areas.  Keeping your hay stored in a location away from your animals is best but if your stock barn doubles as hay storage too, keep this in mind.  Hay needs air flow, make sure your storage area can allow your bales to breathe on all sides, use wood pallets to bring it up off the floor, don’t push the bales tight against the wall leave some space and if you can make sure that fresh are can enter the storage area.  Don’t forget to pick up those pallets 2x a year and clean out the hay that fell through the cracks.  

6.    Spider webs!  2x a year clean all of those too.  Spider webs burn fast and can spread fires.

7.    Proper wiring, we love our lights, headed buckets, heat tape on hydrants and more.  Make sure you have an electrician check your wring and keep horses out of reach of anything electrical they can chew on (wires, lights etc).  Also, if you have heated water make sure your hot water take is clear of anything flammable.  Last time I checked, pilot lights and hay/spider webs don’t mix either.

8.    Duh, no smoking!

9.    These are just guide lines.  The best thing to do is contact your local fire department and have them walk through your barn and make suggestions on how you can improve your fire safety.

What do you do for fire safety in your barn?

Posted in Tips | No Comments »

November 8, 2007 by Capuce.

What a great ride last weekend the weather was perfect.  Cool, sunny, and the smell of the fall leaves was wonderful.  

 I just got a new saddle for my mare and I’m dying to use it.  Anyone up for a ride this weekend?

Posted in Let's Ride | No Comments »

October 23, 2007 by Capuce.

Who wants to ride?

Where: Genesee Valley Greenway Rt 20 parking area
When: Saturday November 3rd (rain date Nov 10th)
Time: 10am
Type: 6 mile round trip, flat wide trails. At a walk with some trotting it usually takes about 1.5 - 2 hrs.
Lunch: Looking for food after? Tom Wahl’s - room for trailer parking in back or across street at Tops Market

If you’re interested please RSVP to trails@rochester.rr.com

Posted in Let's Ride, Greenway | No Comments »

October 22, 2007 by Capuce.

I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while but I’ll bore you with those details later.  Fall is here, the farmers are finally harvesting corn which means the trails behind my house are coming back to life!  There are some bad things that come along with fall riding that I would like to warn people about and how to protect yourselves against them.

1.     Hunting season

2.     Trapping season

3.     Lack of daylight

Hunting Season:  Yup it’s that time of year again when there’s gun toting camouflaged  men in the woods.  This is not all bad.  Hunters are great people who help keep the wildlife population in check and healthy and I have great respect for them.  Not to mention I love venison!  Anyway, as a rider we need to ensure the safety of those around us by training our horses about hunters.  1. Make sure your horse isn’t gun shy, the last thing you need is to be on a bolting horse when a hunter fires a round off.  2. Orange!  Yes, go all out, make sure they can see you even if you can’t see them.  Orange helmet covers, vets, and even saddle pads are the best.  3. Be heard, now’s the time to practice for American Idol.  Talk, sign, whistle the whole time.  If you’re not much of a signer you can do what I do.  Sleigh bells! They never take a break from jingling and trust me, you can be heard from a really far distance away.  So can the deer and they run away from you!

Trapping Season:  Not many of you have to worry about traps but it is something I have to be cautious of.  I have a rather large coyote pack near my house and the farmers do trap them. I highly advise that if you ride along farmers fields make sure you ask if they trap.  Traps are normally placed along hedge rows so traveling through the field might not be an issue but to take a short cut through a hedge row might get you in some trouble.

Daylight:  Oh why did the government have to mess with daylight savings time?  They pushed it back by another 2 weeks so I’m stuck doing all of my morning chores by flashlight.  Lack of light doesn’t stop me riding though.  I only get to ride 1-2 horses before work in the morning which leaves 1 ride after dark when I get home.  No problem!  My riding helmet is outfitted in reflective red/white tape, my breast collar has a white flashing bike light on the front and tied to my horses tail is a red bike flashing light.  I also wear my trusty reflective orange vest to top off the ensemble.  I’m an equine disco ball riding down the road often under a full moon to help me see better. If you’ve never ridden at night I highly recommend it.  There’s a whole new trust relationship between you and your horse.

Well now that you and your horse are decked as a reflective orange disco ball may you have many happy trails in your hunting season future.

Posted in Tips | No Comments »

August 31, 2007 by Capuce.

Most horse riders have never held the reins of a driving horse before.  As kids many of us may have gone on a hay ride or taken a horse taxi in a park but most people never think of actually driving their own horse.

As it turns out the Rochester, NY area has great knowledge base for those interested in learning to drive!  Did you know that the Walnut Hill Driving Competition is the largest of it’s kind in the world!  There’s also local clubs like the Northampton Driving Society, Genesee Valley Riding and Driving Club and the Pittsford Carriage Association willing to help out new comers.  The Northampton Driving Society (NDS) has to be the best beginner friendly organization though. With fun driving events, a yearly show, and monthly meetings and seminars they are the most helpful when starting out. I literally taught my mare to drive with a book, the internet, and the help of NDS.

If you think trail riding is fun you’ve got to get out for a drive some day.  The greatest perk about driving is it’s something you can share with others.  My non horsey mom and friends are always asking me if they can join me for a drive. Some are even getting more adventurous and are asking if they can take the reins for a while.  Driving is also great on your back.  If riding in the saddle makes you sore and tires you out give driving a try.

I find I’m more prone to exercising my horses driving than riding because it’s less stress on me.  Trotting 2-3 miles in a saddle vs. in a cart is a HUGE difference.  Another plus is there’s no better way to build up your horses stamina and hindquarters than driving!  Love those hunter paces or endurance rides but conditioning to ride them tiring you out?  Driving allows the horse to get a great work out over long distances.  Heck, I take my GPS unit with me in the cart to help me know exact mileage and speed.

Still need some motivation to try driving?  Take the virtual reins of my horse.

Posted in Driving | No Comments »

August 6, 2007 by Capuce.

Whoo Hoo!  I haven’t gone to a show in quite a while and the Caledonia Fair is the best!  Very low key, great people, fun atmosphere and perfect spot to take a green horse to their first show.

 I only entered in 4 classes, 2 halter, 2 under saddle.  I wasn’t sure how Cotton would behave away from the barn and her buddy so I didn’t want to stress her out.  Our first class out, Conformation and boy did she strut her stuff.  Thankfully the class is judged mostly on the horse’s conformation and now their brain.  Head up, tail high and every step was that of a young green horse.  Just the same we came in 1st place!  Took me totally by surprise! 

Anyone who wants to show but doesn’t like all the usually hype that goes with it would love to do this one in the future. Breeches, tall boots and a polo shirt was all I wore and it was good enough.  I didn’t feel I was judged any differently because of my attire and I wasn’t the only one dressing for the weather and not for the show.   So next year end of July early Aug make plans on attending the fair!

Posted in Fun Shows | No Comments »