June 14, 2009

Well, I hope those of you on the west coast had a chance to go to the Horse Expo in Sacramento.  Birke and I drove over the Sierras and down to the valley on Saturday morning and arrived just in time to see a clinic on harnessing.  Now I have done this off and on for a few years, but I still learned a few tricks.  We then shopped for awhile until Richard Winters did his presentation on how to teach flying lead changes.  Birke and I both agreed that we needed some ideas for that, so we attended and learned.  Birke was set to go home and “get the bend, control the shoulders and push the hip”.  She had been looking for a good quality rope halter, and I have one from Richards Winters that I bought 13 years ago and it is still soft….so Birke now has one too, in a nice champagne color that will look great on her chestnut Trakener mare.  We shopped some more and I bought some half chaps.  They have been on my list of things to buy for a couple of years, but it is not something you order on-line or from a catalog….I wanted to try them on…so I have a pair of those now.  I always tease that I am a cross dresser….a dressage saddle and blue jeans.  Now I can tuck my blue jeans into my smart, trim, black half chaps, and look a little more put together!  After a fruit smoothy, we found ourselves back at the Toyota Arena to watch a driving demonstartion.  It was a combined driving competition and was exciting to watch.   The minis had the advantage on the tight corners, but there was an Arabian/ Friesian cross that was very elegant, who held his own on the time.   During the lag time between events, people would ride the horses from the sale barn.  There was a chestnut Quarter Horse that we saw….#41….what a nice horse.  We both agreed he was the nicest horse that we saw all day.  Before we left, we tried to find him in the sale barn.  He was not in his stall, and no people were around.  Neither Birke nor I could buy him…but we were very interested how much he would sell for…just in case we could find the money.  A little shopping more…some visors that fit on your helmet (pink for Birke, turqoise for me) and it was time to head up the mountains.  It is a 3 hour drive from Sacramento to Carson City.  Twilight hung on until a little after 9 PM, making navigating the freeway construction a little easier.  What a fun day!  Total horse immersion!

I would like to take an opportunity to introduce my new friend, Birke, who is much more than a person who boards her horse at my ranch.  We are ‘two peas in a pod’!   When my mother met Birke, she said ” It is amazing how similar you two are, even though you grew up in different countries and cultures and with different languages.”  Ah, yes, Mom, but we speak ‘Horse’, and that is all you need.  With that, here is Birke’s story…..

My name is Birke Klevenhausen Smith and I am 49 years old. Though the main occupation in my life has been to work in the area of Social Work, my avocation has been working with horses.

Ever since I can remember I have loved horses and wanted to learn to ride. I was one of the horse crazy girls and I begged my parents to be allowed to ride. Finally – when I was 10 years old I got my first riding lessons. This was in a big and well known stable. A very well known Dressage rider, Dr. Rainer Klimke, boarded and trained his horses at this stable. Because of this experience I got to see daily, highly trained horses at the international dressage competition level. With his horses, he won several times the Olympic games, and World Championship competitions. Though I was never an official student of his, I was privileged to watch him riding and training world renowned horses; most famous of these was Ahlerich. With this horse he was most successful. These years have had a great influence on me and how I ride horses, and approach the training of horses.

Over the years I have had many good riding teachers. Most of them were competing at the international level and competing up to the Grand Prix level. These professional riders were also excellent trainers. The most influential was Rafael Heiligers, who is a former member of the Dutch National Dressage Team. He is a outstanding rider and trainer. I was able to train with him twice per week over a period of 12 years. I was a member of a riding team which competed for the County Mastership. The team competed in Dressage and jumping competition up to level 2.

Later I became more interested in breeding and training horses and teaching, rather than competing. I started my own breeding program and both bred and boarded horses for four years. The stallion I bred is named Garuda K. He was graduated and the Reserve Champion Stallion of British Warmblood Society 2003. He is also the winner of the award for the Leading Sire of Successful Youngsters in the British Breeding Futuriy Scheme 2008. Garuda K is the son of my most favorite horse, a mare named Gladness B, who I still own and ride.

Over the years I came in contact with many horse friendly methods to educate and ride a horse using natuarl horsemanship. I started to treat difficult horses with homeoepathy, Bach floweres, Tellington, Rogers and I read a lot about how to hold horses, what kind of stable, food, pastures and treatment they need to become a reliable horse. In ancinet times, the old stable masters knew a lot about the needs of horses because the life of important persons was depending on the horse.

I enjoy both English and the old classic style of dressage riding and try to combine both with natural horsemanship. For me the horse is a companion that must be treated as softly and naturally as possible. The anatomy and the ability of a horse needs to be considered as well as the anatomy and ability of the rider. Also important is to discipline a horse for the safety of both horse and rider. Less is often more. This is also true when it comes to training horses.This allows for the experience of training and riding to be more enjoyable for horse and rider. An anxious and alert horse is not fun to ride.

Last year I brought my mare Gladness to Nevada and I was very anxious how she – a German dressage horse and breeding mare, would do here in America. But she is doing great. She “told” me that Nevada is horse country and we both are exploring the trails of Nevada. She is a well trained companion and therefore she is fun to ride.

I board Gladness at the River Bottom Ranch and now intend to offer training for horses and adult riders with my friend Maggie Stillwell.

See you at River Bottom Ranch and on the trails of Nevada.

March 6, 2009

Well I’d like to begin by welcoming Thomas Blaine Fogarty to the world.  This newest member of the ranching community was born today and both mom and little Tommy are doing fine.

While I was at the hospital, I ran into an old friend.  We rode in the Carson City Sheriff’s Mounted Unit, about six years ago, and I haven’t seen him since I retired from the unit to run my equestrian center.  He had retired from the sheriff’s office, sold all his horses (before the market died) and is now semi retired… just driving buses once in awhile.  It was good to see him.  He got a hug in front of all the passengers.

We had about a week of cold, blustery spring weather last week, which doesn’t do much for working with horses, but we needed the water on the pasture, so be it.  But today, it was crisp and blue.  The sun tried very hard to make a comeback to warming the planet and succeeded by about 3:00.  I got Rascal out, and we harnessed him up.  Denny and I drove him down to the park and along the river.  It was a lovely drive.  He felt good and was moving out.  I hadn’t driven him for about 8 months, but you know, if a horse has good training on him, you can set them aside, and go back a year later and pick up where you left off.  The day was nice, but the added bonus was that Denny went with me.  That’s the nice thing about driving.  Your non-horse spouse or friends can enjoy horses with you.