I am an advisor for Horsemasters 4-H Club of Muskingum County, Ohio, and this weekend is our annual tack auction! I am very excited, as this event always proves to be a great time. We have food and baked goods available for sale in the cafeteria, and, as usual, we will have lots of great tack! If anyone is going to be in Zanesville, Ohio this weekend, stop by the Muskingum Livestock Barn at 1:00 on Saturday to join in the action. We also have many great donated items that we auction off; this...
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Our winter here is now going from snow to mud, meaning mud will be EVERYWHERE. During these wonderfully messy times, horses love to roll. They usually plaster themselves with mud every time you turn around. This makes fr very difficult and unpleasant grooming.

However, grooming is especially important this time of year, to help fight rain rot or mud rot. Metal shedding blades work very well for dried mud on a winter coat, and a softer curry or brush can be used for the legs. Try to clean off t...
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I have always loved doing arena work and training in an arena, probably because I haven't had much access to many nice arenas. My riding education was mostly learned on trail rides; not many of the people I knew were into showing, so I was pretty much on my own with that. However, there are many horses out there who are solely trained for show, such as dressage horses, jumpers, hunters, and Western show horses. All they ever see is an arena, and although this is the preferred way of training ...
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Winter is here in my area, and that means some extra care for our horses! Below I've listed some things that I have discovered can cause problems in the winter, so you might want to keep an eye out if you are in these situations!



1. Foot Care- keep an eye on your horse's feet, whether they have shoes or go barefoot. Here are some tips and reasons why:

• Barefoot Horses: Ohio winters in my area can go from deep mud to frozen solid in one night, leaving the ground in the pasture uneven and difficul...

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Along with my blog posts about my business, I have decided to add posts that feature some basic horse tips such as care, riding, and more. Horses have been one of my greatest passions and hobbies since before I started riding, and I have learned a few basic ideas and tips over the years that could be helpful, useful, or maybe just interesting. Not all of my ideas or tips are the only correct way of doing things; one thing I love about horses is that you can NEVER stop learning and that their ...
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• There is A LOT to know about making saddles before you can ev...

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..... like patience. I REALLY want to move forward with my business, and my hands are itching to get ahold of more leather items so that I can work on my designs. However, life has decided differently for me for now, and college must take precedence. I am hoping to get a little Christmas money that I can put toward more projects, so I can fianlly expand my line of items and build some inventory. But it must wait for now.

In the mean time, to keep from going crazy, I have been concentrating on ...
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My old 4-H club had their fall fun show last weekend, and I went to help my Mom (who is currently the Cloverbud advisor) and to say hi to everyone I know. While I was there, I met some people that happened to own a Clydesdale, and they had brought him with them for the fun show. I have always loved draft horses, but have never had the chance to be around them (I secretly dream of owning one someday; however, I don't have the space or the money to feed one!). When they found out I liked Draft...
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I am a very impatient person by nature. When I think of something I want, or when I dream up a goal, I want it done instantly. No waiting, no worrying, no guessing about how it will turn out. However, life is not set up for impatient people; something always comes up, or the money is not currently available, etc. So I dedicate this post to all of the impatient people out there like me, who have goals and dreams that constantly elude them or frustrate them. Here are all of my goals that I am i...
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I was finally featured on the front page of Etsy.com on Friday and Saturday! Every few hours the items that are featured on the front page are rotated so that different sellers are featured. These items are picked by other Etsy.com members and are usually put together based on a certain theme or color. Mine, of course, has to do with horses. Below is a picture of my bag that got featured, as well as a link to the rest of the items that were on the front page with mine. Enjoy!

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Below are some pictures from my Hocking Hills trip this weekend, it was a fun day! Stay tuned for more posts regarding Sierra's progress, we just took a small trail ride around the house this morning and she did really well! She's a powerful little horse, and also very smooth, so she was a joy to ride. We were only out for about 2-3 hours, so it wasn't a long ride, but it was nice and cool during the morning hour so it was enjoyable. Stay tuned for more updates!

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Last night I rode Sierra again and we worked on bending / circles and picking up a balanced, consistent trot. She is getting better, but still needs a lot of work. She has never really been asked to trot other than on a trail, so she doesn't really know how to keep a consistent trot. By the end of our lesson though, she was much more balanced and I could keep her trotting. we also worked on moving away from leg pressure, and I think she will be pretty good at that!
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I have now ridden Sierra a few times and have decided to establish a training plan, starting with step 1 (the training of Maggie and Blue, my friend's horses, is indefinately postponed due to the fact that I have no extra money for gas!). Sierra has been ridden a lot on trails, has been camping, and has been hauled by herself, but has no formal or basic training. Due to this fact, and because she likes to be a little lazy, she doesn't respond very well to walk/trot/canter cues and doesn't giv...

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