Volunteers are everywhere!!!

I apologize again for the break in posts!

Friday was a crazy day! We had over 30 volunteers here to help out. While we are SO appreciative of ANY help that anyone has to offer, 30 people under 18 is really, really, really hard to organize. Ha, ha. There was a group of boys from a local detention center. They also came last Friday and seem to be making a routine of coming by to help. If you're going to have a group of 8 or so workers, teenage boys is the way to go! They helped us unload the beautiful, but VERY HEAVY hay that Stephanie LeVeque so kindly donated. (Our hay elevator is a little hell-ified, but it gets the job done... you just have to push the bales halfway up...)

It also happened to be Senior Make a Difference Day in Athens, so we had students from Athens High here to help out as well. We put them to work with paintbrushes and paint, trying to get the fencing done.
And intermingled within those groups were the girls from the OU Western Equestrian Team, always helpful.

I headed to Columbus Friday evening to attend the Equine Nutrition and Feeding Seminar with Stacy at OSU. Talk about informative! The weekend included a very informative lecture on feeding the orphan foal. There is always more to learn, that's for sure. Stacy and I are going to make some big changes in the feeding program around here, hopefully resulting in healthy horses and lower feed bills. Of course, they gave away a year's worth of free feed at this seminar - and we didn't win! ; ( What luck! Overall, the two days were well worth our time and we learned a TON.

Upon our return Sunday night, Stacy and I made the most of the little daylight left and went for a ride. Stacy rode C.C., our mysteriously incontinent Paint. He has not been ridden in three years. He did absolutely fine, was super mannerly and well behaved. C.C. has done a lot of showing and successful competition in the past, so if we can resolve his incontinence, he will be well worth the effort. He is very lacking in muscle, so we decided to put him out on "the hill" at our in-town farm for a few weeks.

I rode Polar, and I really like this horse! He definitely has been ridden in a HUGE bit and cowboyed around a LOT. He hadn't been ridden in 5 years, supposedly. Although he also was supposedly nearly impossible to bridle - he dropped his head and opened his mouth for me. He was a nervous wreck when I got on. I only had him in a little D ring snaffle, but the second I picked the reins up off his neck he threw his head in the air, expecting to get jacked in the mouth. After a little riding time, he settled down considerably. He is pretty quiet off your leg, but he has a very, very sensitive mouth. A firm "Whoa" and he tucks his butt right under himself and WHOAS, that's for sure! No reins needed. Stacy thinks he was a reiner. I'm not sure. He definitely doesn't have a spin, but he neck reins pretty well. He is a cool guy, and he is soooo appreciative of all the attention he is getting around here!

Unfortunately, that was when our light ran out, but Stacy and I got up early in the morning and rode Henry again, also. He did wonderfully. He walked, whoa'd, and backed on the longe line, and even did a little trotting! What a good pony. We rode him in a halter and reins - I will start longing him with a bit this week and see how he does. He is pretty unfazeable, considering this is the first time he has been saddled. When Stacy gave him a good little kick he did try a little, teeny buck... but he is so darn FAT, it was absoulutely pathetic!! ; )

Today we had another very large group of volunteers - the OSU Horseman's Association. Over 20 volunteers! They busted out the stalls and paddocks in under half an hour - that may be a record. Luckily, we never run out of things to do here at the LCC. The foal barn needed cleaned and washed head to toe to prepare for our Charity Ball on December 6th. They set to work without a break in stride.

By the way, the Charity Ball is an open event! Everyone is invited. If you have goods to donate or would like more information, feel free to email me or leave a comment here.

I mentioned the "in town" farm in this post. For those of you who don't know, we are generously donated the use of a farm in Athens by a very kind donor. The farm has 17 acres of grass, six stalls, a wash stall, the whole shebang. The problem with the farm has been trying to run this farm and keep that farm taken care of, PLUS keeping everything staffed. We have to haul everything over there separately - bag the shavings in garbage bags and take them over, take over hay, take over grain. As a result, the "in town" farm has mostly become a place for starvation victims to be able to graze, or for horses with lay-ups or other issues that just need time to hang out for a while. It's still fantastic. We took C.C., Yuri, and my filly Asti up there this week.

And for those of you who were asking, no, unfortunately, Yuri didn't get adopted this weekend. No one showed up to look at him. Bummer! He is a nice colt who would be a great addition to someone's family.

In better news, I did deliver Suni to his new home on Friday. Also, Lilly was adopted today! She was adopted by a wonderful couple for the young girl who helps them out on their farm. Congrats to all.

I think that mostly wraps it up...

Equine Nutrition

Stacy and I are fortunate enough to be attending an equine nutrition and feeding seminar at OSU this weekend. No post until Sunday! :)

Have a great weekend...

New faces....

We have had an influx of new arrivals here at the LCC since we have had a few horses head out to their new homes. Sunni goes home tomorrow, that will be one more off the farm. Tonight we have 14, tomorrow we will have 13. At least for a day or two! I remember several years ago when I first started volunteering here. Back then, ten was a full farm! We rarely went over 11... at least as far as I can remember. (I have a very poor memory, by the way.) These days, we keep the paddocks and the barns full, so we are usually closer to the 12-14 mark. We currently have no horses at the in-town farm. We have been debating for weeks who to take up there, but right now, it is hard to find the staff to drive up there and feed twice a day. So for now, all stay here.

Yesterday morning, Victoria and I loaded up the pony Pocahontas to take her over to Stone Gate Farm. She was here less than two days! Good for her. She is going to be a pony for the OU Equestrian team. Stone Gate Farm and the OU equestrian team are big donors and adopters for us. Pokey pony was turned out in the big field that she is staring at longingly in this pic:


What a nice place to live, huh? We then picked up Otis from Stone Gate. Otis is a teenaged TB gelding. He is a very good boy! We haven't ridden him yet to see where he's at right now, but he looks great. He does have some swelling and heat in his right front, so we'll keep an eye on that before we ride him.


After leaving Stone Gate, we headed out another direction to pick up a QH.

This QH was supposed to be a big, super quiet boy. His owner was a little short, and has had trouble bridling him. Once he started having issues being bridled, she wasn't able to ride him anymore, so he has been living the good life the last five years. She called him King. His registered name is King's Polar Bar, so we are calling him Polar. Polar was a little bit of a turd to catch and load, but after spending a little time with him here, I really like him. I think he's been bullied a bit. A little bit of lovin's from Traci and I and he was a different horse! He had a lot of old scabby poop runs on his back legs and all in his tail, so I took some time getting rid of all of that, which he appreciated. Even though he's a little homely, he's a decent mover, and got along super with everyone in the field. I think he has quite the cute face, what do you think? I haven't ridden him yet - we'll conquer that tomorrow. If he is as easy to ride as his owner claimed he is, he should make a really nice horse for someone. Sound and sane, he is 17 year old, and maybe 15.2, if I had to guess... I will stick him tomorrow.





One horse rolled and they all had to go at it... Mack was so cute, had to share his pic too:

Yesterday afternoon, I made a trip to Columbus to pick up some hay and even MORE horses. A big thank you to Stephanie Leveque, who obtained 20 of the heaviest, most beautiful bales of alfalfa EVER to help Triumph and King with their weight gain. It is some WONDERFUL hay! After I swung by their house on the east side, I headed over to Richwood to pick up a pony from a friend of mine. Henry is a four year old pony, about 13.3 hands. My friend started him longing, and he does so impressively! This evening we longed him over fences to see how he jumped - TOO CUTE - and I swung my big butt up on him for a minute to see what he'd think. (I don't think he thought anything - no big deal for Mr. Henry.) This pony has a lot of potential and could really light up some child's life!






A big thank you to Heidi, who was kind enough to let me overnight Henry and my truck and trailer in her barn. This morning I packed up and brought Henry and another horse, C.C., back to Athens. C.C. is a very well bred, tall, correct medicene hat Paint gelding. He is 17, and has one small problem: he has incontinence issues. His donors had been working diligently with OSU to understand and possibly correct his problem, but they wanted to be sure that above all, they were doing what was best for C.C. Dr. Pete Smith, our deal vet here at the LCC, has agreed to see what he thinks of C.C. and to try a procedure himself. We hope it works out! Before C.C. developed these issues, he did dressage, hunters, eventing, hunt seat, and western events. He's truly an all-around boy. Traci and I spent an hour giving him some attention today. We washed his back legs, and brushed his mane and tail. He enjoys the attention! Unfortunately, none of my pics of him came out - I will ride him tomorrow and get some more for ya'll.

DeDe Cole is kind enough to donate her massage services to us, and today she worked on C.C., Triumph, and King. They certainly do appreciate it.

Today has been crazy because we have decided on a date for our holiday ball and fundraiser - December 6th. That means it's crunch time for us, in a big way!! I made up some invitation today and we took them to be printed at Kinko's. The labels are ready to smack on the front and they should be in the mail by this weekend. If you don't get yours by next week, email me and I'll send you one! Our holiday back will begin at 7pm in the foal barn on that Saturday, and for those who have attended these events in the past, it is one to remember. If you have an exceptional item you'd like to donate to raise money for the foals, let me know and we can pick it up, or feel free to mail it to us. Another thing we could really use is any unused, working Christmas lights. The Christmas lights really make the farm feel festive for the holidays! Big Lots, here we come.... ha, ha.

Guess what I did today? Ran our first successful tattoo search query with the Jockey Club. We found out that Lilly's real name is Hangin by a Tread. How about that? Her birthday is February 20th, 1999. She was born in Kentucky and raced until 2007! She won over $21,000. Now you really want to adopt her, don't you? ; )

TGIF!!!

I have some cool news....

We have a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW website that is about ready to launch.... keep an eye out for it... It is beautiful and you will love it.

Thus why there was no blog yesterday.. I got so wrapped up with things on the website, I completely forgot! My apologies. Last night, Teddy got adopted. How exciting is that? He is going to live at Fallen Ash Farm with a bunch of minis... I bet he will just love it. Check them out at Fallen Ash Farm's website. I don't think any horse could complain about living there.... He goes to his new home Wednesday. Inevitably, as soon as a horse gets adopted, the calls start coming from the folks who wanted to adopt him! So, I am certain that tomorrow, the phone will be ringing off the hook.

Today I was tired of the sun shining in my room at 6 am, so I got an early start. Tracy teased me that I was trying to work her out of a job!! By the time she showed up I was halfway done with chores, haha. BUT that meant we had time for fun projects... King, and lots of baths.

Of course, I didn't have my camera on me for bath time. (I am still getting in the habit of carrying it everywhere!) Yuri was the first to bathe, as he has a potential new home coming this weekend and we wanted him to look spic and span. He was a gem. Yuri is so bomb proof, he is just a typical little nurse mare foal. He is much happier being so clean. I even tied him for his bath - he couldn't have cared less. Let me sponge his face, too! Cool was next - no problem there, except, being Cool, he wanted to eat everything near his face. Teddy was the last we got done, and BOY, did Teddy need a bath!! He needed one so badly, he seemed to be thankful we were hosing and sponging and scrubbing. What a goober.

Inevitably, Cool and Teddy both went right out in the paddock and rolled - while still wet. OK.... that was a waste of time... oh well. ; )

Victoria continues to improve upon the nifty foal barn renovation. She has sheet metal on the wooden part, and an old safe surround from a bank graces the gate part. I will take a photo when she is finished. Today we also realized another great use for it - we can store hay and grain for the foals back in that corner! We typically put hay and grain in the little tack room, but now the little tack room is also the landing for my room. It was tight before, now it is even tighter, so not having a couple bales of hay and bags of grain taking up space will be fantastic.
After our bathing session, and a fantastic BBQ lunch provided by Jackie... (I know, you wish you worked here..) We were off to ride King. All we knew about King's previous "riding experience" was that he was bought off the Amish at 2 years old, and was green broke to ride and drive at that time. The woman who donated him to us said she had someone jump on him bareback and he didn't tolerate that very well, and she hit the dirt. She also said she tried it again with blinders on and he didn't have a problem. Well, it was no big deal for King. I didn't bother with a bridle, seeing as I didn't know if he'd ever had a bit in his mouth, I just stuck some reins on his halter. He let me tack him up without a problem. I leaned on him for a while, no problem, swung over, no problem. He followed Victoria very nicely. He has a great little whoa. He steers pretty well, sometimes he thinks you want him to back, but then he figured out I meant to turn. He has an awesome back up, too! Definitely important in such a big horse! Ha, ha. From the pictures you can see he was a little skeptical, but once he got used to things, he put those ears up and relaxed. All in all, we all agreed he will be super easy to break, and absolutely as quiet as they come. He never got flustered or really worried at all. He is VERY out of condition though.. poor guy. Ten minutes of walking and he was exhausted! He will need someone to take the time to bring him back slowly. Look at the shine on his coat! He makes my 18" AP look tiny...

Triumph says, "Can I play too??"
I was totally sliding off in this pic. I kept telling Victoria we needed to stop for a second so I could slide off and she didn't hear me. I am hanging on the saddle pads. Poor King... LOL.
This is no big deal for King..
King and his shadow...
What a good boy King!
The best part (as you can see from the pictures) was Triumph following King around everywhere. "OH! This looks like fun! I want to try! Me too me too!" Can't you just hear him? Triumph is, very slowly, learning how to play a little bit. He has spent his whole life tied to a tree, so when he tries to run, he usually trips. But he is slowly getting the idea! I saw him try to buck today! Yeah!

After King, I hopped on Lily, a bay TB who was returned to us after several months at a lesson barn. She was doing fine there, just not being used much. She is cute, and a nice size - I didn't stick her, but I would guess 15.2/15.3 hands. (Tracy said, "Oh my gosh, you look like a regular person again! You looked like a little kid on King!") She walk/trot/canters without a problem, easy stop. She has a little bit of a high headset. Very quiet and calm. We jumped the x-rail a few times, as you can see from this photo, I am out of practice with my jumping. I need to get back into some lessons! But she tolerated me without a problem, jumped them happily from a trot or a canter. She will be a cute little horse for someone! She is currently available for adoption.

The other horse that came in with Lily on Saturday night is a pinto pony from the hunter/jumper world. She has already been adopted. I am really motivated that horses are finally getting adopted. It is so exciting for me! I love seeing them head off to their new homes.

In other news, Victoria made a really cool guest bed in the office... it looks like a princess bed, she has beautiful flowing white drapes surrounding it. She wanted me to make sure to tell you that it has now been tested out by a REAL princess, and she has approved... so next time you come to stay at the LCC, be sure to request the princess suite, which was personally inspected by Imogen, the princess of magical happy dog land. (That is my spoiled rotten Great Dane.)
I am heading to bed. My dogs look tired, and I am too!

I am a slacker!

OK seriously, that was WAY TOO LONG to go without a post. I apologize!

Let's see, what all has transpired the last few days. Smokey, Charmer, and Schatzee ALL got adopted. (YEAH!!!) Smokey was only here for three days, and someone from the EAP clinic fell in love with him! Charmer has been tried by several interested buyers, but he was just adopted today, and will be going to his new home tomorrow. Schatzee was adopted and is destined to try life as a barrel racer. Hopefully all three work out brilliantly in their new homes!

We had a sad day this Thursday. It was decided that it was time for Tango to be laid to rest. Something was very wrong internally, and at 38 years old, we decided it was not fair to her to try to mess with it anymore. It was her time. Since our post two weeks ago, she had lost a drastic amount of weight, despite having a fairly healthy appetite. It was sad to see her go! Victoria said she knew when that mean old mare would let you walk right up to her and pet her, it was time - that was so un-Tango!

Triumph went to Pete's to have the boob implanted in his eye, but unfortunately, it didn't work out the way we planned. Despite the boob being only an "A" cup, it is too big and unwieldy to fit behind his occipital orbit. It appears that whatever trauma caused his eye to swell also caused some damage to the socket itself, and as a result, it is oddly shaped. Pete tried to take some of the silicone gel out of the boob itself to make it smaller, but the consistency of it doesn't allow for that. A big thank you to Liz White, who coerced an unsuspecting cosmetic surgeon to donate the boob! Also a big thank you to John Chun, who is an endless fundraiser and cheerleader for Last Chance. He spreads the word for us online, and as a result, the donations have poured in for this little guy. Now for the good news from Pete: Triumph has gained 147 pounds in three weeks. That is a new record for Victoria! He is happy, healthy, and absolutely blossoming with all this good food and love! He is still learning his basic manners, but he has improved by leaps and bounds, and he is truly a smart boy who is wanting to please. Chuck arrived to trim his feet this week, and he wasn't fazed a bit. Can you see the weight gain? (I apologize for the poor photo quality, they are cell photos. I finally got my beater camera back this week, so you will soon be inundated with better pics!)

Triumph received his first bath EVER yesterday! He was a little anxious on his blind side, but he was a gem on his good side. Victoria removed his stitches, which was an interesting experience in and of itself. (Note to self: remove stitches from impatient unhandled horse's eye BEFORE spending thirty minutes making him stand still to be bathed.) He was jumping around so much, she was afraid her surgical scissors would stab him in the face, so she switched to the big blunt-tipped scissors. (A HUGE thank you to Laura Woolf for the following pics!)

King has also received a much-needed hoof trim and bath. His bad hoof looks much better now that it's all cleaned up, thanks to Chuck. He is much more comfortable on it. He has not been back to the vet to be weighed again, but he has definitely gained a significant amount of weight. He is starting to look like the impressive boy he must have been before this ordeal! This 18 hand Percheron weighed less than 1000 pounds when we got him. I can't imagine what he weighed when he was originally rescued! King was very mannerly during his bath - we all suppose he has been bathed before. I am REALLY HOPING to start him under saddle this week - I just need a strong ground person to hold the lead rope! Poor Tracy, all 95 pounds of her, just gets carried off by him... ha, ha.
I have ridden Teddy several times since his return, and I remember why I liked him so much every time I ride him! He is so athletic and knowledgeable. I have shown him to several people and he has done so well, but he just isn't what anyone is looking for right now, I guess. This is an impeccably sound, well-mannered, awesome horse. His adoption fee is a steal! If anyone has any questions about him, I would be happy to answer them. Teddy has the sweetest, most soulful eyes... I can just hear him begging for attention whenever I'm in the barn.

Leah has been out a few more nights to ride Mack, and she really does get better every time she climbs on his back. The last time we went out, I took Charmer bareback and she took Mack. He is finally starting to make her work a little! She is not intimidated, though. Another week or two and I think she'll be brave enough to start cantering.....

I have shown Burly to one or two interested folks as well, but no takers yet. Brutus is sound enough that he gets to go out for ten or so minutes a day for now. He will still have another year or so of stall rest ahead of him, but then he will be completely sound - worth the wait for a ten year old imported German Warmblood! And what an incredible mover. Asti is without a buddy since Schatzee was adopted, so I put her out with him. It's the first time he's gotten turned out with another horse in who knows how long - at LEAST 5 months! They were so cute together.

I think that covers almost everyone. OH, someone is coming to see Yuri next weekend!! Do keep your fingers crossed for him. I feel bad for him all the time, he never gets enough love or attention. It is hard to remember to mess with a young guy like him when there are horses that need ridden!

Two more horses are coming in tonight. A big thank you to Michael Hiehle for driving all the way to TOLEDO to pick them up for us. How generous! A thoroughbred mare and a fancy large pony mare. Keep an eye on the site for updates.

There is a very cool charity The International Blessed Broodmare Project that has sent us a very generous donation last week. They sell unpainted model foal resins and donate part of the sale back to Last Chance and Pure Thoughts to fund nurse mare foal rescue. Check out the foal resin here. If you are a model horse collector, what a neat gift to buy for someone else or yourself - and help us out at the same time!

We have made a very nifty improvement to the foal barn. Those of you who have visited before know that our foal barn is built onto the house. Just inside the door is the milk room. Smart foals know the milk comes from that door, so they suck, lick, spit, and chew ALL OVER that door and the window right next to it. Since they're over there all the time mouthing the door, they also all poo there, so invariably, there is a lot of foal poo in the house. Enter Victoria's newest, most brilliant creation. We built a partial wall with a gate. Now no foals eat the door. You can bring out a load of milk buckets and shut the door behind you without foals in the house or dogs in the barn. We are installing boot scrapers by the door to limit the amount of poo making it through the door. Best of all, we can park a little muck bucket back there, and keep on top of the foal-poo-picking shenanigans. (Foals always want to eat all the poo in the barn, so to prevent the spread of infection, we TRY to always stay on top of picking the barn.) What an awesome idea. ; )
Looking into the barn from the house: (The milk room is to the right, the pop fridge is to the left)


Looking into the house from the barn:

OK, I know it isn't "Last Chance News" but I have to share. I took my filly, Asti - she is an almost-three-year-old nurse mare foal - out on her SECOND ride ever today. We went bareback in a halter. She went across the road, in the creek, up and down banks, through the woods... she is absolutely AMAZING. I don't know how I ended up with such a good one! ; ) Here is a pic just for bragging rights... OK, then I will stop posting about my own darn horse! I suppose we can totally get away with calling it LCC News because she IS a nurse mare foal. Testament to how healthy, quiet, sound, amiable, and drop-dead gorgeous these foals can end up! ; )
OK! Whoohoo! We're up to date! And I'm seriously going to stay on top of things this time! ; ) Don't hesitate to email me and tell me what the heck you want to hear about..... And have a happy Sunday!

I really AM a Cowgirl

For years and years I have put myself in the path of equine (not literally of course) hoping that some day I would enjoy it as much as my friends. But I never did.

My first exposure came when I would often tag along with my college roommate and best friend to her equestrian lessons and events. I would wait for hours until she finally let me ride her beautiful Thoroughbred Ben. He was safe by this time as she had worn him out to the point where he would barely move for me. But I was always nervous and didn't push him to go beyond a lazy stroll. I remember the long drives and the long waits and sitting in the stands while she completed her hunter/jumper events. I cheered (not knowing really what for other than, "Yeah, you didn't fall off!") because I found it amazing that she never did (at least when I was around). I remember the two of us in the hallway of our dorm, her laying on the floor while I tugged her riding boots off observing the latest bruise the size of, well the size of a hoof to be honest. And I thought, 'I understand why she does this. But why am I doing this? I'm not a horse person.'

Later on I was with a wonderful young man whose family had horses that we would often ride after Sunday diner. I was always excited to do so. But again, nervous as anything. I could never tack up the horse myself and by the end of the ride my legs were so soar I could barely stand. Looking back, I never really enjoyed it. I rode because I kept thinking I would enjoy it but I never did. It was nerve racking. My horse was lazy and would walk right in the middle of the road scaring me half to death. I was so relieved when it was over. But I kept riding and in the back of my head there was the same question,'Why am I doing this?'

At the same time another friend wanted to use me as her guinea pig to start giving lessons. She wanted me to ride without my feet in the stirrups and put my arms to the side as the horse walked around the field. All this time I had never really reached a point in which I could comfortably trot or canter a horse. It freaked me out every time they started to speed up! Again, 'Why am I doing this?'.

Several years and relocations later, I decided to give the equine thing one more shot by working out at Last Chance. The theory; by being around different types of horses on the ground, I will gain the much needed confidence I have been lacking all this time that will lead to me being the best rider I can be. To be honest, I was not gung ho for saddling up. I was perfectly content walking around the paddock and confessing all of my deep dark secrets to the long, sympathetic faces that were really just after the hay in my wheel barrel. Lets face it, if I'm nervous about horses that are sound, all with known histories, how in the world am I going to ride a horse that has been rescued from God knows what?

One afternoon, the idea came from Victoria. "Leah, I think you should get a lesson today. I've got the perfect horse for you.," she stated out of the blue.

Isaac was his name. He had originally been rescued from the slaughter auction in Sugarcreek and returned to us recently after he suddenly 'retired' from being a lesson horse. Basically he was tired of going in circles and began staging 'stand-ins' during lessons.

Stretch (aka Rachael) helped me saddle him up and I wore a helmet - for the first time ever - and off into the paddock we went. Some things I had learned were coming back. But over all the ride was a little boring. So I, on Isaac and Stretch riding bareback on George, headed off across the road to do a little trail ride. While I remained a little timid, Isaac was in his element and we lead the way through brush and water and over banks. He was fun. And I was excited! I thought this would be a great horse for me to start from scratch on. Little did I know this would be the start of a blessing for Last Chance but a curse for Leah - he was sold that week.

Later on I rode Stubs. Sold that week.

Then Tracker and I had the ride of my life as you read in Lauren's entry about our trail ride. Sold that day! To the same family that bought Stubs!

So this weekend I rode one of the oldest, most down-trodden horses on the farm. With arthritic knees but still hot as a pistol, we decided that I was ready for an upgrade, a horse with some training. Mack is not the prettiest boy in the barn (a past kick has left him with an asymmetrical face. But I love it anyway), but he and I were buddies long before I threw a saddle on his back.

This weekend we bonded. He had me at first. He knew I couldn't trot and steer at the same time. So we trotted from one end to the other. Back and forth, back and forth. Lauren and Tracy provided good pointers and encouragement along the way. But I didn't want to push anything.

The next ride out was AMAZING! Mack and I picked up right where we left off. Lauren on Teddy and I on Mack went across the road and MAN what a difference! After Victoria suggested I try neck reigning, Mack was like riding a scooter! He moved with every little signal I gave him and was in tune to the gear I wanted to stay in (even though he really wanted to go for it).

So the moral to this extremely long blog entry is - I really AM a cowgirl!

I always thought I could never be since my interest started well into adulthood whereas all true horse people I've known were in a saddle the day after they started walking. And while I was not doing any formal ground work with these horses, the fact that I was out there frequently wrangling them around, moving them from stall to paddock, entering their stalls during feeding time, etc., it is clear to me that a relationship on the ground is vital to the relationship in the saddle. Mack and I were not strangers. We were simply taking our relationship to the next level.

I've also learned some things about tack such as I WANT AN EQUITATION SADDLE! Simply put, it places you in the correct position. Oh, and chaps are good too. Especially when they have fringe and silver medallions :).

But seriously, it took me a while - about 12 years - but I finally got here. I am comfortable, confident and truly enjoying these wonderful animals for the first time. Thank you Victoria, Lauren, Stretch, Tracy, Isaac, Stubs, Tracker and Mack.

Leah,
the newbie

Notes from the newbie

Hi all,


This is Leah and thank you Lauren for starting this blog! There is never a dull moment on the farm. Trying to convey what happens on a day to day basis is quite the task. And I'm only here on the weekends! This blog will give all of you an intimate look at what we do at Last Chance.



It has been an absolute privilege to tend to these animals. And trust me folks, the therapy that goes on here travels both ways. Since the start of my volunteer work this past spring, I have grown in confidence and skill which is directly related to my overall better mood (much cheaper than Prozac). I always leave for home with a smile stretched from ear to ear.



I can go on and on about Last Chance Corral and write pages and pages right now. But I will instead try to keep up with this blog as Lauren as already done. From me you will get the newbie perspective of things. While most of you reading this may have years of riding experience with walls dripping of ribbons from your many successful showing events, I am still breaking in my boots. So after every weekend, my growth in knowledge and experience will be logged here for all of you to track.



See you in the paddock,

Leah