 |
Helping YOU Realise your dreams |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Living Diaries |
||
|
Minnie - My friend!! Well... in the land of horses. 15.3hh Clydesdale/Thoroughbred/Andalusion Mare Born 1997 She did trail riding with Ted until she moved into my world at the age of 8 and became my main Dressage/Eventing horse. We continued to trail ride as well as compete HRCAV Level 1/Advanced and EV competitions in Medium. Minnie moved on to her new home July 2010.
|
|
Minnie |
Click here for testimonials below | |
| 12/8/10 - A week or so ago I received a call from Minnie's new owner and she is going great with her. She has already gone to a couple of new areanas and had a lesson. Minnie stood quietly beside the float like always and I was so glad to hear that one night she stayed laying happily on the stable floor whilst her new best friend sat down with her and they spent some lovely bonding time together. I am so happy that Minnie is with such a lovely couple and is having a great life. | ||
14/7/10 - It is with great sadness and also lots of joy that I write this last entry for Minnie from my home as she has now gone to live in her new home with a very lovely Lady who will bond and move forward with her in their new partnership. Just how can I say farewell to my best friend. I feel like such a huge part of me is now missing. I got home from work to see my new fellow hanging over the fence a little lost and lonely. No Minnie to keep him company. I am lucky that I fed him today because I just can't bring myself to go over to the stables tonight and not see my girl, not hear her nicker to me or see her white blaze shining under the flood lights. She was my best friend in so many ways... not because she was the best mover as she wasn't but because she was always there with me, through so much and she never complained, never got nasty or naughty, never soured, she was always so loving and so forgiving now matter what life with me threw her. I could drag her out to jump after 4 or 5 months off and she would always give me her best, she would be muscle sore sometimes as still she gave me her best. Always her best - that must have been her motto. We could all learn something from such a wonderful creature as Minnie. I love my new horse, Cappy but not like Minnie and I couldn't bond completely with him whilst Minnie was close to me so I guess it has to be this way so that our new partnership can grow, just like Minnie with her new friend. I have a saying "People are in our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime" and I know that Minnie was in mine for a reason as she gave me Dressage. I was a jumper through and through... loved the adrenaline rush and the fast paced excitement un till Minnie showed me the grace and patience and dedication and I learned to love Dressage. Minnie gave me Dressage and I will always be grateful for that. I have shed many tears today and tonight and constantly whilst I am typing this but I know that tomorrow will bring another day and life goes on and Cappy is out there waiting for me. Good bye my best friend, I love you and will miss you greatly and I look forward to being out there on the circuit competing at Competitions with you both. Have fun, bond and love your new friend half as much as you have with me and I know that you will bring so much joy and pleasure into this world again. Love you Minnie, you are very special. |
||
| 29/6/10 - During our night ride tonight I actually did some half pirouette's.... not so good at first but once we got the team work happening I was thrilled to know that she can take me by feel and so much on trust. Cappy is going to have to work very hard to fill the space that Minnie is leaving as she is so calm and trainable. All the rest of her work tonight was super as usual and now that I am feeding her again (reduced her feed to maintenance for a while) it is so nice to have some more 'petrol in the tank' again. | ||
| 24/6/10 - Minnie, Harry and I rode at Lindawarra but Minnie didn't go very well. Even I struggled to get much out of her so I have decided to up her feed to a base maintenance level for a little while as she is getting quite a bit of work at the moment. She got new shoes on yesterday. | ||
| 20/6/10 - I rode Minnie in a lesson at the PURC Rally with Nina Clarke instructing us. We did some really great work and I do love riding my girl as she is so push button now. The weather was abysmal and she just kept giving me everything I asked for. After the morning at the club we went home and Val rode Minnie around the arena before heading out for a short trail ride with Cappy & I and Victor rode Indi. Today we looked for the Kangaroos so there was no spooking. Cappy and Minnie were super tied after working so hard this morning but they gave their all and they were great. | ||
| 19/6/10 - Nadia rode Minnie today around the arena for a while and then we went out for a small trail ride. Cappy found the Kangaroos first and spun around, ran behind some trees and came out behind Minnie who I believe jumped a bit also. After we knew they were there we went on with no problems. Minnie is such a lovely relaxed soul and it was a lovely ride for both of us as I rode Cappy. | ||
| 9/5/10 - Mothers day lunch down the Mornington Peninsula didn't happen so I clipped Minnie instead. The sun was shining so I fired up the clippers and an hour later she was fully clipped. Oh so much hair! She does look so much smarter now. Back to night stabling under lights again to stop it growing straight back. | ||
| 29/4/10 - Becky rode Minnie this morning and they trotted quite well with us. Very calm. | ||
| 28/4/10 - Becky walked Minnie out for 40 minutes this morning and she really enjoyed the stretch. Karen rode her for an hour in the arena tonight and both worked exceptionally well. | ||
| 26/4/10 - David rode Minnie on the 5 hour ride today. There were 8 of us and we rode over to the pub for lunch and then walked back. David is going to give me a small summary of how she went for him so that you can read some-one else's experience of her. | ||
| 24/4/10 - I have been riding Minnie every second day (in between Cappy) before work so her fitness level is coming back up nicely. She is lovely, smooth and submissive it is a pleasure every time I ride her. She participated in a lesson for a new student today. She was so patient for the hour and did all that was asked and I think she was a bit of a hit. I love to see her when she goes so well and relaxed and it is especially great when she allows others to achieve as well. | ||
| 28/3/10 - Minnie did her first Medium (EV) tests of 4A 4B. She was super soft and carried herself most of the time. The first test she was very submissive and it was lovely to ride with her and she placed 3rd out of 8. Test 4B she was firing and I kept getting a little distracted and tensing up so jammed her a few times but we did have very quick recoveries and we placed 5th out of 7. After yesterday and working so hard at home I thought she wouldn't have it in her to do what she did today. I rode in my Top Hat which caused quite a stir; new EV rules state ok but apparently not the done thing. At least now I know about that bit of riding etiquette but it would be nice if there was a place on the EV site for riding etiquette as well as the rules. | ||
| 27/3/10 - Minnie didn't work fwd today and was very resistant to flexing at the Poll. I also had trouble with keeping my right leg (repaired ankle) in the correct position also. So we worked on bending/flexing, lots of lateral work and finished on a good note. | ||
| 26/3/10 - was going to ride Minnie tonight but decided to ride Cappy instead. Will ride in the arena tomorrow morning. Bought some carpet thread today so plaiting up tomorrow should be neater. | ||
| 25/3/10 - I just can't seem to be able to kick this flew so keep having to stay in bed. Today I didn't even get to work. Not good for the horses to keep having so much time off when they are working so hard at being flexible and soft. | ||
| 24/3/10 - Minnie is still quite stiff but working ok. Last night she really struggled. On Sunday we are doing a couple of Medium tests (EFA). | ||
| 16/3/10 - I rode Minnie in the arena tonight and it is quite noticeable that all the trail riding we have been doing over the past week has been detrimental to her Dressage work. We did a lot of lateral work, working on balance and self carriage with quite a bit of long rein walking for breaks. | ||
| 10/3/10 - Karen rode Minnie around the block with Cappy and I and it was such a lovely ride. Neither horses or riders seemed to have the energy to ride with gusto so it was a very relaxed chitty chatty ride for us. Karen is riding Minnie so much better now and I am pleased to see her riding coming along this way. It makes me excited to see how she will ride her horse now. Minnie is great for teaching me and everyone the perfection side of riding because she is so obliging. Anyway I love her dearly and even though Cappy is my new main horse, Minnie remains my best friend in the horse world. | ||
| 9/3/10 - Minnie has been getting quite a break lately. She put on so much weight whilst I was away that I can't fit her snaffle bridle on as the throat lash just doesn't fit around the fat deposits. So she has been locked in her paddock for the past week. I did let her out yesterday to keep Cappy company in this bad weather we are having as he has been getting a bit stressed. I have requested that Minnie be upgraded to Medium with the EFA as her training is too high to start at the start again with EFA so am looking forward to their response - they have a meeting 16/3/10. Then I can start competing her EFA. | ||
| 4/3/10 - Karen was assessed level 4 on Minnie for HRCAV today. Minnie is so good and I do hope she will give Karen some confidence and good experience. | ||
| 12/2/10 - Minnie is back in her old paddock to see if we can pull off some of this fat. I have cut her feed back as much as I can without compromising her energy level in training. She is such a well behaved young lady. | ||
| 9/2/10 - Rode Minnie around the roads and through the bush leading Cappy last night. When we got the Donkeys were at the gate to greet us and because Minnie was so calm, then Cappy coped wonderfully. Minnie is perfect in her attitude, handling, riding, everything. I am so blessed to have her. | ||
| 7/2/10 - Minnie's dressage is brilliant. I started the 4 time tempi changes tonight and she just did them for me. She finished very tied, hot and sweaty so will give her a break for the next couple of nights to let any muscles settle again. On Wednesday she is due to be used for training students again. | ||
| 27/1/10 - Minnie was used in a lesson from me by one of my students so she didn't have to work too hard and so sweet and patient: I am proud of her. | ||
| 26/1/10 - went for a ride around the roads and through some of the bush with Karen. Par of the way we worked in a collected state and parts we were super relaxed. A nice ride. | ||
| 25/1/10 - Minnie is getting jealous of the others now so tonight I handled her on her own and tomorrow I will ride her out with Karen again and spend some quality time with just her. | ||
| 24/1/10 - We did some dressage work in the arena and she is running out of fuel quite quickly as she is working very well. Our half passes in canter are coming along very quickly. Pirouettes are a little rusty at the walk so we are going to concentrate on these a little more. Rein backs are superb. | ||
| 23/1/10 - Rode around the large block with Karen on her horse 'Tino'. Minnie did a super walk most of the time and some collected canter work occasionally. She was a little stiff when I got her out of the paddock this morning so I think she maybe a bit sore from some work I did in the arena on Thursday night. We have a new surface so she works much better and harder than she used to so I expect she is a little muscle sore. | ||
| 22/1/10 - Started on Rastus after work today so Minnie had another break. | ||
| 21/1/10 - New shoes on Minnie so she will come back into serious work again. | ||
| 18/10/09 PURC Rally day. We did some Show Jumping with Nina Clarke which was very enjoyable as we can so easily lengthen and shorten the canter. | ||
| 11/10/09 CRC Rally Day. We had a dressage lesson with Leanne Williams which went well as Leanne teaches the same as Roger. We worked on my asking for the higher head carriage position and then carrying my hands in a more slightly in-front (with elbows slightly tucked in) so as I couldn't bring them back and go against forward movement - I had to leave them there and let her do her job. As she has had a break we were a little stiff and I struggled to keep her vertical and coming off my inside leg. I am looking forward to getting back to lessons with Roger once my personal life settles down again. | ||
| 26/9/09 Seville Equestrian Club at Glenbrae Indoor Equestrian Centre. Level 1 6th. | ||
| 19&20/9/09 Wangaratta Dressage Comp. Placed Advanced 4th, Level 1 2nd, 3rd, 4th. | ||
| 24/8/09 We are changing our warm up now to asking for more technically correct movements, especially in the corners, quite early on as we are using quite a bit of our available energy before we get to the more technically correct work. As we have such good submission and relaxed work so quickly we are now going back to lots of rising trot with all the forward movement I can muster and asking for her to use her muscles to carry herself in correct balance and not run whilst we are continuing to go forward instead of slowing, re balancing and then moving forward again. I am working really hard on asking for movements at the correct timing for the hind legs so that it sets her up for success e.g. the half-pass - instead of sometimes moving forward into a straight step before stepping laterally. | ||
| 12/8/09 Did most of my work out in Canter today concentrating on transitions and correct flexion. She worked very hard and was quite sweaty when I finished. I was pleased overall with her work. | ||
| 10/8/09 I concentrated most of my work tonight on keeping the flexion that I want through bends/straight/bends instead of letting her go. It showed up that I need to do quite a bit more of this so I am glad to find this issue so that I can fix it. I am so grateful to have such a quiet, patient friend to ride and spend my evening's on. We rode under lights so it was even more special. | ||
| 9/8/09 Karren rode Minnie at the CRC Rally today and she said it now understands that she needs to keep asking her horse until he responds correctly and stops ignoring her. She said when she asked Minnie and allowed time for her to respond, then she would. I am so proud of Minnie helping another rider that way. | ||
| 5-8/8/09 Riding 30 min only each night as she is training quite well. | ||
| 4/8/09 What can I say other than she is magnificent. We only worked for 25min today as she did everything I asked in a very balanced, soft and supple manner. The only confusion today was between canter half pass and flying changes which meant she wasn't bending around my inside leg so we did a few leg yields, went back to the canter half pass and she was super to the right and not so good to the left but tried really hard. | ||
| 3/8/09 Brilliant today. Soft, supple and straight. No matter what I asked she seemed to do it. I wish my coach was here to see her half pass's today as they were amazingly fluid. Half pirouette's were bad yesterday but today they were much better - going to the right was superb and going to the left was a little rushed so had to work on it and then they settled into some nice work. Lots of canter canter and walk/canter/walk transitions today - she felt like she would canter short and then just step down into the walk and she very clearly moved the hind leg that I asked for and continued into canter for the walk/canter transitions. I didn't want to stop riding her as she was just so light and feathery - felt a bit like I was riding a quiet Stallion! | ||
| 2/8/09 Rode today and she was a little stiff but tried hard. Worked for 30 min until she ran out of steam. Shoulder in's not too good as she is not bending around my leg too well. Tilting her head as well. | ||
| 31/7/09 My girl is back to her old self but as there is likely to be discomfort and fatigue for a few days (even though it isn't showing) I will lunge her for 20 min today and not ride her. | ||
| 30/7/09 Last night Minnie had some heat in her legs and was lame so I decided to still stable her even though it was a confined space on the grounds that she could lay down on the soft bedding and rest her legs. I think is was due to the ride yesterday. This morning she came out much better than when she went in so I put her in with 3 other horses to run for the day to keep her moving as I think it muscle and tendon fatigue and keeping her moving would be the best thing. I wasn't worried about kicking from other horses as she is the boss. After a day with the others she isn't not readily showing signs of lameness and there is only a tiny bit of heat in two of her feet. Lesson to be learnt, don't be complacent with older well trained horses as they need the similar care as well and so I should have lunged her to loosen her up as well and certainly should have walker her out much more at the end of the ride yesterday. | ||
| 29/7/09 Rode about 10km around the block. Started riding Minnie and leading Loui then swapped over half way around. Minnie is so great because she doesn't get phased by any-thing. I think I will have to call her steady eddy! She sweated up a bit dirty so it showed me just how much she is unfit for endurance work, but to be fair, we did trot and canter the lot with the only walk section in the warm up and cool downs. | ||
| 28/7/09 Minnie has had the past 4 days off and I ran out of time today so she got 5 off in a row. Lucky for me that she is well trained and picks up easily where we leave off. I am taking her and Loui out tomorrow for a long ride along the roads providing it doesn't rain too much. | ||
| 21/7/09 Lesson with Roger East. Once we went back to ensuring we had spinal alignment, straight head and obedience to the aids we were able to perform the shoulder in, travers, half pass and counter canter with reasonable precision and we did perform most of today with much more forward movement and energy than previously. Counter canter to the left took quite a bit but we did get there in the end. After my time off I seem to have forgotten some of the basics and so we we are going to have a few extra lessons to 'whip' myself back into shape ready for more competitions. | ||
| 19/7/09 Rally Lesson with Anne Leviston. Minnie was much more supple and obedient than the past 2 rides since I returned from my 4 weeks holidays. We did a few flying changes and I found that I was throwing my body into the direction of travel and making Minnie unbalanced. Anne showed us a great exercise where we ride straight, take the shoulder ever so slightly to the side away from travel and then gently (not rushed) move our leg back and ask for the canter. Once I started to work this out we did some really nice changes. My downward transitions seemed to come fairly easily from my change in body position with very little change to the rein so I was very pleased over all. | ||
| 17/7/09. Clipped Minnie today. Did a full clip apart form the saddle area. She is such a dream to clip as she enjoys the vibrations and stands so still and relaxed for me. | ||
| Early July 09. Rode Minnie a couple of times but I don't seem to be sitting very well and am having trouble getting the balance back after 4 weeks on a cruise ship. Virginia has done a wonderful job of keeping Minnie fit for me. She is a little hairy so I will be clipping her out again as soon as I get her back up to the farm and the overnight stabling. | ||
| 31/5/09 Rode Minnie and she was fantastic. Plenty of energy, although I have to keep remembering to ask for the new level required and not the 'good enough will do' level of our previous training. We were a bit naughty but it was so nice to finish off today's ride with 4 flying changes across the diagonal line for 4 diagonals (certainly has much more bounce now). Walk/Canters are so soft and lovely, Canter/Walk's had to be set up well for me to get them. Half pass to the right was a little lacking so we are still getting into the rhythm & line and then asking for more oomph where as going to the left is much easier. | ||
| 29/5/09 Intermediate rider rode Minnie to assess whether she would be suitable for her to ride her RDA assessment on. Minnie did all that was asked with the level of energy required. She seems to have improved to her usual self. Minnie was very suitable and is planned to be used again in July when I return from my holidays. | ||
| 24/5/09 Beginner/Intermediate rider rode Minnie trail riding through the bush for 1.5 hours in a group of 6 riders. She seemed very happy, obedient and not lacking the energy of the past couple of weeks. | ||
| 19/5/09 Lesson with Roger East. Very lethargic but otherwise appears healthy. After much discussion I will now be putting her back onto her eventing feed mix and will access her in a week. She now does all the movements that I ask of her willingly but with less effort than I require so once I sort out her lack of energy I need to start asking for more from her. | ||
| 17/5/09 Competed HRCAV 1C (Placed 5th) & 1D (placed 8th). Minnie had no energy at all and I struggled to keep her going all through the second test. She was very soft and felt obedient but she had no power to go forward. She appears to be healthy | ||
| 13/5/09 Minnie had so much self carriage today that I am overwhelmed - it was great. Unfortunately we had no medium or lengthening trot at all as she was intent on stepping into a canter all the time. We did so much trot work until we could get some lengthening - trotting balanced and relaxed and then winding up slowly until she was happy to lengthen and then asking for collected/medium/collected paces. Canter transitions were great, halt/canter/halt/trot/canter. Did 45minutes and even though she is fully clipped out (winter here) she was dripping with sweat. She was very soft in the hands so overall a good session. | ||
| 11/5/09 Rode Minnie tonight for 30min doing all our normal dressage work and she did really well. No coughing or signs of any of the cough from a week ago. Pirouettes were fantastic and half pass to the right was definitely improving - to the left is quite good. She is anticipating the flying changes so I am fining that I have to keep my legs really still to not confuse the signals. My leg position is now getting much stronger with an engaged leg (instead of just hanging) for most of the time now. | ||
| 9/5/09 Minnie is lively and well but she can have some more days off to make sure she is well. | ||
| 7/5/09 Minnie's temperature is now back to normal and she is bright and sparky. Still a small cough | ||
| 5/5/09 Minnie and I started our lesson with Roger but she developed a hacking cough so we stopped the lesson. She had been really slow to walk from the paddock to the stables and now I know why, she wasn't well. She was just starting to run a temperature so I didn't want to take any chances and called the vet in. Minnie was put on a course of antibiotics and medicine to dry up her mucous and no work for the next few days. | ||
| Testimonial by David Berry | ||
My name is David Berry and I have ridden Minnie a couple of times over the last year. I found her to be a very responsive & easy mannered horse. The last ride I had on Minnie was about 4 hrs duration through a varying terrain of straight stretches to undulating forest trails. There wasn’t a time where Minnie felt to be out of control and I had a great deal of confidence in her ability. I have no reservation in recommending that Minnie would appeal to a wide range of riders. I will miss the opportunity for future rides on Minnie and congratulate her prospective future owner. David Berry |
||
| Testimonial by Karen Rose | ||
My name is Karen and I am a 50 year old novice/intermediate rider. I started riding Minnie to gain confidence after loosing my confidence with my 8 year Arab Gelding. I have had the pleasure of riding Minnie on trail rides, riding lessons and I have also competed on her at level 4 dressage. My first experience with Minnie was trail riding, I loved riding Minnie and I really think Minnie loves trail riding as well. I have walked, trotted and cantered her on the buckle with no problems at all, she really is a confidence booster. I have had several very enjoyable trail rides with Minnie. I started having riding lessons on Minnie to improve my riding. My own horse Tino is an 8 year old Arab gelding, very green. Riding Minnie helped my riding immensely as when I gave an aide she responded. After a few months of lessons Minnie and I competed at level 4 dressage and gained a very respectable 15th and then 10th in a very large field. It was great to be able to ride a horse and feel totally comfortable with so many other horses/things going on, something I would think very long and hard about if I were riding Tino. I have had many wonderful riding experiences with Minnie and I can honestly say that she is a true and very genuine mare and I would recommend her to anyone interested in any or all disciplines. |
||
| NB Photo of Karen and Tino on the Testimonials page for Horses Can Be Fun Pty Ltd | ||
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."
Walt Disney
1901-1966, Cartoon Artist and Producer
