We were lucky to have our Nadja come back from Germany to spend two weeks with us at Mystic Ranch. She played with Tessa on the ground and Diann was kind enough to let her ride her Taxi. This video highlights the ground play, liberty, trail rides, and exploring the wonderful things she could do with Taxi. Music by Mary Ann Kennedy is used with the permission of the artist.

The autumn weather has been perfect for horse play – at liberty in the trail course, riding the trails, doing drill riding, playing with Kami at liberty off of another horse, jumping cavaletti, riding bridle-less in the arena and pasture and through the pond. What fun! Music by Mary Ann Kennedy is used with the permission of the artist.

Hannah came out for a lesson today. She rode Mystic on trail, with Kami running free with us. At first Kami ignored Hannah, leading the way on the trail or coming back to me to smile and get scratched. She finally found Hannah and the two of them connected together – at liberty, in a large space, with only love to bind them. It was magical. “Mares” and “Heart in your Hands” by Mary Ann Kennedy are perfect for this video and are used with the permission of the artist.

Lindsey came out for a ride with Mystic and invited Kami to join them. There is something magical about having Kami along on a trail ride. With all that space, green grass and distractions, you have to be honored when she says she wants to be with you. Sometimes she leads, sometimes she follows, but when she syncs up with you and gives you her trademark “smile,” your heart will melt. The only part she hates is heading home, ending her fun time on the trail. She blocked Mystic for a couple of minutes before reluctantly concluding that her adventure was over …. until the next time! “Horses and Life” is the perfect background music and is written by Mary Ann Kennedy and used with the permission of the artist.

We had a play date last Sunday at the ranch. It was a hot day, but the trail course was a cool place to watch the horses play together and then play with them ourselves. Before breaking for a potluck lunch, we converged on the pond and the horses had a blast, splashing and even lying down in the water. We went inside to cool off in the air conditioning, ate a refreshing cold potluck and talked full time horse! Later, I had a lovely trail ride with Terry next door and Laura did some really nice liberty play with Kami in the trail course. Enjoy!

Crystal recently adopted Diego, a rescued 1 1/2 year old Palomino Quarter horse colt. Diego had been chased into a trailer when rescued a year ago and has not been handled since then. He has never been haltered, had his hooves trimmed or been gelded. We spent an hour earning his trust by lying on the ground and letting him explore us until he gained some confidence and then teaching him to back, come and follow us at liberty. The Language of Love and Heart in Your Hands by Mary Ann Kennedy are perfect background for this touching interlude and are used with the permission of the artist. Enjoy!

Today was a red letter day of progress for Hannah and Kami. Hannah finally trusted herself to ride Kami in wide open spaces. Hannah started with liberty in the arena, then hopped on Kami and did follow the rail and weave the cones, pivoted 360 degrees on the pedestal and did step up on the cavaletti. With that working, she started trotting Kami in the arena, stopping her with a sigh. When Hannah was confident and used correct body language, Kami stopped dead. If Hannah froze, Kami would dribble to a halt, uncertain, but trying hard. Now it was time for the big leap. We rode out into the woods and did some point to point between trees and then weaved the trees, all flawlessly. Since Kami was trying so hard, we went into the pasture and Hannah did some point to point in the pasture, did circles and about a half dozen trot to halt transitions to Hannah’s sigh before riding her back to the barn at the end of her lesson. So very proud of Hannah!  She is living her dream!