Selena left with the trailer at 5:00 a.m. this morning, which means she should get here sometime between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to seeing her and looking forward to her seeing the horses. Word from Anne Marie in Ocala is that Woody has been jogged and is in splendid form […]

Well The Eventing Showcase didn’t turn out just the way we were hoping. Woody was a bit lacklustre in the stadium and had two fences down. However, he redeemed himself with a really wonderful cross country ride. I know Selena was disappointed in his dressage and is already working on how she is going to […]

Well today’s weather proved to play a part in a few horses tests including Woody’s. Yesterday it was almost too hot to function and today it was cold and windy. I rode Woody early in the morning (he is better with two rides) and he was spooking at the palm trees blowing in the wind […]

I know I keep going on and on about the mild weather, but trot sets in the sand arena, in Ontario on February 4! We are in our sixth year here at Balsam Hall. In all that time, we had one exceptionally mild spring when we were out riding in the sand arena on March […]

I left dressage camp with Clayton feeling very accomplished. This year is our year. Woody has muscled up so much lately and is ready mentally to go to work. During my warm up alone I had some lovely changes and nice extended work. Once in the ring with Clayton we worked a lot on straightness, […]

The mild weather in Ontario continues and we continue to revel in it. The horses look glorious with sleek shiny dappled coats, since everyone is staying nice an cosy in the milder temperatures. The paddocks are bare of snow and, to be honest, I wish they had a nice foot of snow on them to […]

Today was Woody’s first training camp of 2016! Selena started training with Jonathon Millar last fall as he and his dad Ian are conveniently based just an hour north of Balsam Hall and today the whole team was able to benefit from his show jumping expertise. As Monday is our horses’ day off, we were […]

The last day of the month. I count the days and tick off the months in the winter. It has not been quite so bad this winter, but I really do hate the cold. I hate the worry of whether or not they are cold at night. I hate the worry of too many/not enough […]

There is lots going on both sides of the border. The mild weather in Canada is giving us a lot more freedom in our riding and training program than is usually available to us at this time of the year. Normally we can only walk for very short periods of time to ensure that the […]

Today was a gallop day for Woody. His next outing is the Wellington Eventing Showcase in February 5-6. He is in great form. The two photos are of him enjoying his pipe opener this afternoon. The new boy on the block, King Brian, worked on the flat. Selena and he have some bonding to do. […]