Some catch up & goings on

I know I have been lax in keeping up my blog this year  since our very hard late winter went right into  a cold wet spring in which  about half of our ranch fence we put in 8 years ago was lost in the flood, but  I have just about gotten everything repaired and on the down hill side of that work now.

The update on Lassie my 30 year old  Quarter mare I've had all her 30 years did some severe muscle injuries to her left hind panicking in her stall the night of the big flood. Lassie is doing great and seems almost complete in her healing. I cant thank our amazing and wise vet Dr.Parker enough for seeing  hope in getting her through it, he was right!

Also,the foot I broke  replacing fence is healed, a little odd shaped but doing great too!

It's been busy and not much time to get photos of the goings on, but above is  Karen and her horse McCoy that has now gone home  from training. He is a Paso walker cross that was a super nice horse to work with and being just 5 has a long great working career ahead of him.

Lots of lessons going with the spring and above is Rachel's Two Eye Jack bred Quarter Horse she brings. 

 I love this line and have owned several through the years. Great minds,athletic and very hard for me to dismount  once I'm up , I can get a little greedy working with these kinds of horses and have to  do a check on myself when doing so! I've had one other Quarter horse coming for lessons that makes me do the same, but have to get a photo of Jan's horse Gus as he is  stunning also, but I think he is Poco bred but same  in many ways as the Two Eye Jack horses. 

Liz & Junie  mule

Shawn Junie's owner with big smiles all around. This is one fabulous mule and love how she is progressing so fast, the smartest critter on the place, and that means over Dave, myself and Tony the Aussie put togehter. I am having so much fun  teaching and living with Junie. There,is a great team  together here in Junie and Shawn and to see how much they love each other is very moving and heart warming for me to watch. 

Some other Info for anyone  looking for GREAT mohair english cinches. Pop Wagner recently made me 2  for my Zaldi Spanish schooling saddle, and I am crazy about how well they function and  comfort for the horse (or mule). You can reach Pop at www.popwagner.com

So much going on as always but that's a quick review at Shades Of Oak Ranch.

Liz

Heartland Girls Ranch Clinic

Heartland Girls Ranch 

www.heartlandgirlsranch.org

What a weekend it was ! So very special for me to work again with the girls I did last year and all the new ones attending this year. We had 18 girls this year in the clinic! Wow this is an outstanding group of young  gals that not only was I able to teach and share my horse experience with but in their sharing just how special  each one is.Very joyful, hard working group so dedicated to their horses. It was fascinating in that the karma of the weekend just presented  unexpected fun situations for all of us to learn from, and so many I never expected to present an opportunity in teaching for me. It was a gift for me to watch how they knew to touch the horses with such compassion. The horses loved being with the girls, and how peaceful it made one feel just being in all that special energy happening between the horses and the girls.

This was an amazing weekend for all of us!

Bridget and Myself.

Bridget heads up the equine  program at the ranch, and she continues to impress and amaze me in how she can do so much, it's a huge job and a very large program she takes care of.  

Each girl made me a thank you card  which there are not enough words to say  how special they are to me.

We are not able to share photos of the girls to help in protecting them, but know they are grateful for what the public does and continues to do in donations and all forms of help in so many ways to  have the horses help them in their journey of self growth and healing.

Myself riding Petey who was testing his new rider a bit so I just let him test me for a while and under that I found this amazingly trained pony that was talented and smart. Trained as well as any advanced  horse just very good at conserving energy when he can. Something any of us can do from time to time also!

 He made me smile  in joy!

Updated Ranch  Wish list

The ranch is always in need of many items as they get used there and with  close to 30 horses needed for the program and often over 20 students riding a lot so everything is very used, and many items wear out quickly.

Helmets of every size

Saddles , English and Western

English pads, Western pads and blankets

English bridles 

Reins 

Leather punches

Hay nets
Hoof picks
Brushes ( the girls love to groom the horses)

Saddle bags and horn bags

The girls and Bridget are willing to clean up any old unusable tack and saddles to resell as they have made a  saddle fund hoping to get better fitting saddles than what they have now.

If making  donations of money and you would like it to go specifically to the horse part of the program rather than the general fund,  please specify where you would like it to be use and it will be honored such as vet, farrier,horse supplements,  horse feed costs, saddle fund etc.

Heartland Girls Ranch is a very special, wonderful place doing  wonderful work!