MIA, but having fun!

Sorry, I have not posted much! I am around, just been busy! I went to Atlanta GA for my 41st Birthday (sucks getting older) to visit family and had soooooooooooooo much fun! I went to a Wild Safari Park, Zoo Atlanta, and GA Aqarium. Talk about animals for the long weekend!!! There were 2 giraffes we could feed at the Safari Park. I LOVED THEM and could have fed them all day!! Here is just a few of the 300+ pictures we took! (Click on pictures to enlarge).

Even the slobbber didn't keep me away!

Loved them!!!

Zoo Atlanta!!!!

 A gorilla that passed away(his statue).

My cousin and I at Zoo Atlanta!

I'v gone to the birds, LOL!

 Cupcake that was awesome at GA aqaruim!

 GA aqarium.

 Petting park at Zoo Atlanta. Goats are fun too!! 

 What a fun picture!!

My cousin(left), her mother(middle) and me:)

Blowing out candle on my birthday cupcakes!! 

The boys Enzo and Kaspin are doing fine and didn't mind their vacation, while I was away. I did have my NEW saddle pad and girth come in and I got to try them last Sunday and JUST LOVE THEM!!! I am so glad I purchased them!! Unfortunately, after seeing the boys. That evening I got a MAJOR stomach flu! YUCK! I have been recovering all this week! Soo hopefully the horse posts will start again soon! 

What fun things did you do this week? Janine~Enzo~Kaspin!

Amazing Equine Connections!

If  I could only have a 1/4 of what these guys understand and know! Truly inspirational and totally amazing to me! Enjoy! Janine

Boob award, and Kaspin was a good boy:)

Tuesday, I flew out to the barn after work!! Why?? Because, it was 70 some degrees and awesome in MI! I decided I would ride Kaspin in the outdoor arena, since the weather was so super. So I tacked Kaspin up and headed out. But I forgot my brain when I left the barn door. I was sooo excited and zellus to ride in the great weather. First we played on the ground on line. I made sure Kaspin was in a good frame of mind and seemed ok for the ride. Eventually, I got on Kaspin with my helmet on of course, thank god. Since I had decided, I would be super woman and just get to the very first canter of the day, after I just warmed up a bit with walk and trotting. Mind you, I am still teaching Kaspin to canter. He doesn't have a normal canter as of yet. He prefers to get into a gallop/run instead! Well here is where I win the boob award!!! Since it was so warm out, and Kaspin has 4 inch winter hair!!! And Kaspin had already worked a while. He got pretty sweaty! As I asked for the canter, kaspin picked it up at his crazy pace. But right after that, my saddle started to slide(I hadn't checked if I needed to tighten girth again)!!! I was trying to get a 1 rein emergency stop, but the saddle was sliding way too fast and I eventually fell off and ate the dirt, LOL!! Literally! Lesson learned...... on the first super warm day! Check your girth before you decide to try to be super woman on a horse, LOL!! And don't forget your brain at the barn door becasue it's so warm out, LOL! But I do have to say, the best part was!!!!! That immediately after I fell off. kaspin turned right around and came straight back to me! Now keep in mind, this is a 200 by 100 foot arena in MI, filled with new green grass!!! Also, at this point the saddle was under Kaspin's belly! So for 1. I was thrilled Kaspin never left me!!! What a super boy!!!! And Kaspin was at a run! And 2. that Kaspin didn't continue to run around the arena freaking out that the saddle was under his belly and get himself maybe really hurt. So good boy for both!! Either way, I turned out to be just fine. I have a few scrapes and of course Kaspin is just fine, LOL. But I now realized my girth could have gone tighter, LOL. I am also in the process of finally ordering a new girth! I have been using cheap girths, while I was waiting for Enzo to grow up. But after falling off(granted girth was too loose). But I decided I really do need a good girth again and I think the current size I am using will continue to work with Kaspin and Enzo as Enzo fills out more over time. And if it doesn't fit Enzo later?? I'll cross that bridge when I get there. This is the girth I ordered for my sensation treeless saddle now. http://www.smartpakequine.com/prestige-anatomic-dressage-girth-8616p.aspx?cm_vc=Search  Yes, I realize it's super expensive! But good equipment for my horses and me are definitely worth the money. I had this girth before on my old horse with a treeless saddle and when the saddle is tightened correctly and used with this girth. The saddle will not slide. So very worth the money. What did you do with your equine partner on these warm days so far??? 

Boob Award Winner , Janine

Fog isn't just for Halloween, LOL

I have so much fun with my equine kids. Now, I exposed them to a fog machine! Neither Enzo, or Kaspin have seen this before. Both were not thrilled, but both really didn't FREAK out. Just worried about it. So all in all, I thought they did great! It would be nice if I had a 2nd person with me to work the fog machine. While I could walk around with the boys. But for doing it myself, I think I exposed them as nice as I could, to leave them with confidence to do it again someday. What do you think of my fog machine day?

Janine~Enzo~Kaspin!

Snakes, ducks, and more, oh my!

What are snakes and ducks?? Snakes are cut up garden hose and ducks are rubber ducks that squeak from the dollars store! Just another thing for my horses to walk through and build confidence with! Sometimes they step on the pieces of garden hose a certain way and it can flig up and touch the back of their legs, and the ducks can squeak when they're stepped on. Really helps with horses who are funny with their feet as well. I had the barrels on the wall to play Parelli squeeze game. Lots of horses are claustrophobic and don't like to squeeze through things. Kaspin hates the squeeze game and as you can see he is mastering it pretty well with the barrels now.

Next, was the red turtle. Inside the turtle there is a weasels that rolls around. But unfortunately before I taped, my batterise went dead in the weasel. I'll try to show it better on next post. But horses usually don't like furry things rolling around! Kaspin today thought things looked pretty safe and he had to check the furry weasel out. If you want your own rolling weasel go to ebay(about 8 dollars). And you can use a garbage can top for it to roll in. Or a child's round sled to roll in. I just happened to garbage pick this child's old turtle sand box and used that. 

Lastly, was the scary black bag of returnables(plastic milk jugs and pop cans) that made lots of noise. I always walk away from Kaspin when I show him NEW scary items. It builds a horses confidence to follow something at first. Later, I will progress to touching Kaspin with the returnables on his body.

All three of these obstacles were totally brand new to Kaspin and this was the very first time he had seen them. I went really slow and I think Kaspin did awesome!

Here is a video of Enzo playing with the snakes and ducks. Enzo has seen this obstacle 2 other times in his life. So this time I asked him to trot through the snakes and ducks. You can actually hear one of the ducks squeak! How funny! What creative things to you expose your horses to?

Keep it fun! Janine~Enzo~Kaspin!

Enzo all cleaned up:)

Ok, this is a weird video. But with Enzo butt issue I just had to clean it up more. Otherwise, if I don't keep the rear end clean, Enzo gets butt soars. Now, that it is all cleaned up. I have been putting diaper cream on and it's been working wonders! And if you missed last blog updates. Enzo also is on NEW Advanced Neigh Lox to also help control this butt issue. That poor Enzo has been having lately. I'll keep you posted!

Keep it natural, Janine and Enzo!