Crown Hill Stable

Puff just hanging out with his buddy Robbie on such a gloomy day.

Mares aren’t always well liked and for the same reasons strong women aren’t. Opinionated? Those opinions are not without good cause and maybe you can't figure ...them out or maybe you just don’t like her opinion of you. Change it and she will always be on your side. Stubborn? She just won’t let you bulldoze her. Treat her with respect and her resilience will be an asset to you. Difficult? You just can’t handle her. You don’t have what it takes. Stick with geldings then, and leave the mare for someone who understands her and appreciates the same qualities society has subtlety taught you not to like. Here’s to mares, to strong women, and to those who CAN and DO appreciate them! ~ The Evolving Equestrian

Ride, ride, ride.

It’s just this easy!

Parents, one thing I see a lot of in 4H, Pony Club and private lessons is the pulling of kids from good programs whenever the going gets tough. I wish that pare...nts, who only want what’s best for their children, weren’t quite so quick to interfere. Your child has a poor lesson and comes home in tears your child has to sweep the aisle while other kids fool around your child is assigned the unpopular horse (again) your child is struggling and nobody seems to care your child has to ride without stirrups your child’s lesson horse isn’t ready and she’s told to walk out and catch him. Your child doesn’t win on the weekend and she has to smile while other kids boast your child is spoken to sharply when she is just trying to lighten the mood your child isn’t the star of the barn but her best friend is. Yes, all these things hurt. As a parent of now grown children, I can honestly say, this is life. Not everyone will love your kids and support them. There are no prizes for half-hearted efforts, no rewards for being lazy or rude. We tell our children to dream big but we forget to tell them that they will have to work hard, too. Next time it’s feeling rough at the barn and your child wants to switch or quit, please don’t let the tail wag the dog! Have the courage and conviction to make your child see it through. Agree on a deadline in a few months or next year and if she still hates it, she can switch to another barn or the saxophone. Meanwhile, you are fighting for your child’s character. I know, kids still need an environment promoting safety and fun, but perseverance and an ability to roll with the punches are skills worth fighting for! These are such hard lessons, but they MUST be learned. Life skills need practicing, too.

Even tho we don’t have muddy paddocks not one horse was clean today. They have all found a wet spot to roll around in to cool off on such a warm Christmas Day.

Even in her mid twenties, Jessie is feeling pretty good on Christmas Day. Or just not happy that her paddock hadn’t been cleaned yet.

A MANE TRIMMED BY AN AIRPLANE. A Bee Crowfoot Indian pony was struck by a Canadian Air Force Trainee plane in WWII, and both pilot and pony survived. Frank Me...dicine Shield bred and raised horses that were known as the Bee Crowfoot Indian ponies, the last of the great buffalo ponies. Frank lived on the Blackfoot Reserve, a vast land that borders the town Milo in southern Alberta. Most cowboys in the area, known as Red Deer River Country, owned one of the horses, the best of which weighed around 900-1000 pounds. They roamed the wild open spaces of the reservation and seldom saw a man expect when they were gathered up for branding and gelding. In 1940, George Nelson bought and started the 4 year old horse in the photo. He turned him back on the reserve when he joined the Army and went overseas for WWII. In 1941, there was an Air Force Training center near the small town of Vulcan, not far from Milo. The young pilot trainees used to buzz over the Blackfoot Reserve. One winter day it was around -30 below, a band of these buffalo ponies was sheltering in a coulee on the reserve when a group of trainees on maneuver came flying over. They swooped low over the ponies, before they could pull up, one pilot felt a slight jolt. He immediately began to have trouble and could not gain any altitude, so he landed on frozen lake McGregor. Townspeople came out to help, noticed blood on the propeller, and asked what happened. The airmen explained they were flying low and felt a jolt, and now they realized they must have hit one of the horses. They had marked the spot on their map, and thats how the small herd of ponies was found. It was George Nelson's pony that had been hit, George never knew it happened until he returned in 1946. As the photo shows, the pony's neck was almost completely severed. The folks around Milo figure that when the pony fell, the wound filled with snow and that, along with the cold weather, stopped the flow of blood and saved the pony's life. When George returned, he began to ride his pony again, and told me later that on a frosty morning, the pony could still blow up and give him a ride for his money. The pony died at age 24 on the Nelson's Ranch near Milo. A.R. MILLER & C.Y. BIXBY credit

I was pulled from my field, from my work, from my play, Ne'er again to see England, in lands far away, Through death and destruction, through blood sweat and te...ars, I carried my master, along with my peers, So I ask you to remember a while, Along with the soldiers, in smart rank and file, Remember our beauty, the strength of our kind, As we galloped through danger, without care to mind, For we were the horses thrust into war, And we gave up our lives for your peace evermore. The War Horse, 1914 - 1918

AM chores start at 5 here. All chores finished by midnight.