This update is a week old... Carly wrote to me just before I got sick and was sent to bed for several days... Carly's fine now, and back to riding again. ;-)
From Carly:
Hello!!
I'm sorry that I haven't written in a long time but things here are quite busy! I've got some time now, because yesterday I fell off a horse and now am very sore and won't be riding for a few days. Besides falling off the horses, Vanderhoof has been pretty nice. Yes, it's a small town that doesn't have that much,but its really a cute little town. I have been riding almost everyday either in Lisi's outside arena or out on her trails. The trails here are pretty awesome because they are old logging roads so they are packed gravel and wide enough for about four horses. Except for the whole "running into bears or moose"(which we haven't yet!), they are really fun riding trails.
We are also starting a young horse who is 4 years old and has already had a saddle and bridle on him and has alreadly have a person sitting on him, now I am slowly riding him on the lounge line at a walk and trot and we have started on the one rein stop which usually proves useful (read further down for more about that!).
And now for the story of my injuries! Yesterday we went riding, I rode Mouni, and Lisi was riding Marious, a training horse. We were doing fine, crossing water and normal trail stuff and we got to a point where we were going to turn around and Mouni totally freaked out! I tried to do a one-rein stop, which is just pulling one rein so the horse's head is by your knee. Now I had to do this a couple of times already because Mouni is not a very confident horse, but this time he just basically ripped the reins out of my hand and took off galloping and bucking. The terrain where we were is basically a whole bunch of humps and holes because it's a massive tree farm. The trees are only 6 to 12 inches tall but the mounds are at least 18 inches tall and the holes are about the same.
So, we're off galloping around and I have already lost one of my stirrups and am holding on for dear life and still trying to pull his head around. This had been going on for about a minute and a half to 2 minutes, mind you that he is still bucking and jumping over these mounds trying desperately to get me off of his back, then finally, to his gladness, I lost my other stirrup and slid off the side of him and went crashing to the ground.
I don't know how I landed but I'm prettycertain that I got knocked out. Mouni, of course stopped right away and just stood there while I came too. I took my time getting back up which was about 5 minutes changing my position so gradually I was standing. The best part was that I walked all the way back!! I didn't want to and Lisi didn't want me getting back on him. I know that that is not normally what you do, but this was one exception. And here we are today with my neck, back, and elbow all very sore, and not to mention that my legs are really sore too.
I think that my legs could have been a lot worse except that I walked about 3 kilometers back which really stretched out my muscles a lot.The next few days are going to be slow but I have things to do like painting that I can do instead of riding.
I'll write more later. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Springtime in Vancouver
Carly's mom writing today...
Between the time Carly was in California and Mexico (Feb/Mar) and now (May) she spent a week in Albuquerque with a good friend of mine who does bird research. They spent a couple days searching for, and trying to catch/band Shrikes--these cool birds who aren't raptors, but who catch and kill small birds and mammals. They use tools (like barbed wire, thorns and branches) to impale their prey since they don't have talons with which to dispatch their prey. The males attract females by setting up 'displays' of dead and impaled food items, so if you ever see a section of barbed wire fence or a thorny shrub draped with lots of small dead birds or animals, you're in the territory of one productive male shrike!
Carly returned to MN around March 10, and glued herself to our laptop to get all of her work done in her online classes. She took World History and American Literature, and was able to finish all the requirements before her April 15 deadline. She got good grades, and now has 2 open hours in her school schedule for next year that she can fill with other requirements (which will give her room during her 11th grade year for more college-credit classes).
So, on Sunday, May 2, I put her on a plane to Vancouver, BC, where she connected to a flight to Prince George, BC, where she was met by Lisi Ohm, a German woman who lives about 60 miles west of Prince George in VanDerHoof, BC on a farm with about 20 Icelandic horses. Lisi is the Youth leader of the Canadian Icelandic Horse Federation ( CIHF) and chairperson of the education committee of the federation--and Carly says that she's a good teacher. We found Lisi through the friend of a friend, and the timing of this trip worked out beautifully! Visit Lisi's website to learn more about her farm at: www.vindsdalur.ca .
Carly wrote yesterday with a brief update for me to post. She's got dialup internet there, so won't be posting many photos, but the distance between the farm and town will, I hope, provide her with more time for sending blog updates.
Here's what she had to say about her first 2 days in BC:
So far I have just been in the out door ridingarena. I am riding young horses that need miles and just need to getused to having someone else riding them. I have been riding 2 horses consistently, one's a mare and the other is a gelding who needs to seriously calm down.
We are also starting a four year old gelding, he has already had a saddle and bridle and a person sitting on him, now the next steps are to get him moving with a rider on his back,(me). Today I rode a mare that is just out of shape because Lisi thought that she was pregnant but now doesn't think so. She looks and acts just like Rispa (one of the 3-year olds at Kydee's farm), I mean that she has to put on a show for us everytime we're working.
It has been cold and windy (blowing snow in the air yesterday!) here and just today is it finally nice out.
We'll keep you posted,
Thanks for reading!
Between the time Carly was in California and Mexico (Feb/Mar) and now (May) she spent a week in Albuquerque with a good friend of mine who does bird research. They spent a couple days searching for, and trying to catch/band Shrikes--these cool birds who aren't raptors, but who catch and kill small birds and mammals. They use tools (like barbed wire, thorns and branches) to impale their prey since they don't have talons with which to dispatch their prey. The males attract females by setting up 'displays' of dead and impaled food items, so if you ever see a section of barbed wire fence or a thorny shrub draped with lots of small dead birds or animals, you're in the territory of one productive male shrike!
Carly returned to MN around March 10, and glued herself to our laptop to get all of her work done in her online classes. She took World History and American Literature, and was able to finish all the requirements before her April 15 deadline. She got good grades, and now has 2 open hours in her school schedule for next year that she can fill with other requirements (which will give her room during her 11th grade year for more college-credit classes).
So, on Sunday, May 2, I put her on a plane to Vancouver, BC, where she connected to a flight to Prince George, BC, where she was met by Lisi Ohm, a German woman who lives about 60 miles west of Prince George in VanDerHoof, BC on a farm with about 20 Icelandic horses. Lisi is the Youth leader of the Canadian Icelandic Horse Federation ( CIHF) and chairperson of the education committee of the federation--and Carly says that she's a good teacher. We found Lisi through the friend of a friend, and the timing of this trip worked out beautifully! Visit Lisi's website to learn more about her farm at: www.vindsdalur.ca .
Carly wrote yesterday with a brief update for me to post. She's got dialup internet there, so won't be posting many photos, but the distance between the farm and town will, I hope, provide her with more time for sending blog updates.
Here's what she had to say about her first 2 days in BC:
So far I have just been in the out door ridingarena. I am riding young horses that need miles and just need to getused to having someone else riding them. I have been riding 2 horses consistently, one's a mare and the other is a gelding who needs to seriously calm down.
We are also starting a four year old gelding, he has already had a saddle and bridle and a person sitting on him, now the next steps are to get him moving with a rider on his back,(me). Today I rode a mare that is just out of shape because Lisi thought that she was pregnant but now doesn't think so. She looks and acts just like Rispa (one of the 3-year olds at Kydee's farm), I mean that she has to put on a show for us everytime we're working.
It has been cold and windy (blowing snow in the air yesterday!) here and just today is it finally nice out.
We'll keep you posted,
Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
