My wife Jane and a bunch of horse riders were doing

[George-CT]

a clinic up in New Hampshire this week in the White Mountains. She took some pictures with her little camera so thought I'd post a few for the horse lovers here. Nice area, right next to Mt. Washington. Its a 4 hr run from here. Nice bunch of people that got together for 4 days of riding and enjoying what they love to do. Ride.

#1 is the house against the back ground. Same view from indoor.

#2 was by the trainer to get the horses all friends and she said, it did it..

#3 This was the lady trainer by the name of Fran Hancock. Fred might know her.

#4 another barn out back with a little view of the mts.

#5 This is one of the Assateaque ponys that swim over every year in Maryland

#6 Not sure, but pretty animal.

Bottom line they had a great time. Stayed one of the ladies condo at the ski slopes there. Jane said they saw a car just ahead of them hit a moose. Killed the moose and didn't go much for the car either, but the people were fine but a little banged up from the air bags deploying. They saw another moose the next day and it made it across the road OK.

I really like this area and used to back pack it a lot when I was young. For a lot of miles here you can stay above the timberline which was a treat to me....unlimited view but bad spot to get caught in a storm. There are very strong winds on Mt. Washington and the strongest winds ever recorded were recorded there at 231 mph. Wife wants to go back up in a few weeks so I will take the camera up and get some shots off the top and the wind record plaque. Google MT Washington winds and it will tell you all about it there. They train a lot of military up there for nasty winter conditions...

George-CT

 

[Micheal_R]

It sounds very beautiful..... but extremely severe and unforgiving to the unprepared and unwise.

Very nice shots of the clinic George. When alice gets home from the hospital, I will show them to her. She will be delighted. I see a mixture of english and western gear on the horses. Does the instructor do lessons in both?

Fair winds

Mike

 

[Wayne in BC]

almost but not quite It is a good life until the females show up and then you got serious work and cash outlay ahead of you regarding horses!
Great photos as usual!

 

[Royal]

with you there about the tree line. Mary and I toured the Rocky Mt National Park on the Helix. We were way above the tree line and it was beautiful, until a sleet storm caught us. I had sleet behind my windshield for crying out loud. We had seen it coming but there was nothing we could do about it, no cover at all. We did have rain gear. I had full gear and Mary only had the jacket and shorts. Poor girl.

Of course she had my big arse blocking he wind

A lady from Minnesota pulled up at the place we finally stopped and yelled, "Hop in!" with that Scandinavian Minnesota way of talking and we sure did. She could have been a masher and had her way with my body but I decided to take the chance.

After less than 10 minutes it was past and we were on our way. Strangers in the mist

 

[George-CT]

The clinic was not a riding lesson as such. What they teach is called natural horsemanship. It is learning ground skills that will transfer over to the saddle no matter what discipline you are. By learning the ground skills, it gives the rider tools to deal with rearing, bucking, running away, walking all over you when leading or whatever problem comes up, thus making a more confident rider. The clinician also teaches how to use seat and legs and hands to the best advantage. Everything tho starts with the proper foundation.
The picture of all the horses loose in the ring is to let the horses develop a herd. They establish who is the leader and a certain pecking order so that when the handlers are in the ring also, all the arguments have been settled among the horses and it is much less likely that anyone will get kicked by getting too close to another horse. The horses are allowed to interact for a short time and then moved around the ring at a canter, trot, walk and then a short time to stop and interact and then moved the other way. We saw the 3rd time this happened which was pretty organized but they said the 1st two got pretty crazy at first as the horses dealt with the pecking order.
For sure, I like working with horses this way and wish I had learned it younger. Jane

 

[George-CT]

all things Royal. Being above the timberline, on a bike, with your women, and a potential masher to add excitement. Yeah, I love it above tree line. If you google Earth Mt Washington, you can see all the trails, the cog railway coming up, I've hiked that many times after it has closed down for winter and the dirt road up it. It closes Oct 10 usually. Fun ride on a bike but no guard rails at all. Makes a lot of them nervous coming down is your not used to a bike moving all over under you. There is a ridge line hike, if you zoom in that takes you across the great gulf wilderness. They are still skiing there right now. Great spots up there for your Kayak also...

Geo

 

[George-CT]

Hear your doing a lot better now. Glad to hear that. Makes all the down time worth while.... LOL, I hear ya on the women entering the horse world. I know in the boat world they call a boat a hole in the water to pour your money into, I don't know the expression for horses but I know the cost have sure gone up over the years. But it keeps her off the streets and I'm sure if I objected, I'd be on the streets. She really enjoys them and me my hobbies so no complaints.

Will this operation allow you to get back into gold slushing or panning? I sure enjoy that web site for it.

Geo-CT

 

[Wayne in BC]

the sciatica hopefully may stay away but i also have some ruptured discs to deal with
We called pleasure horses "expensive pasture ornaments"

 

[Wayne in BC]

that sounds excellent! Too many pleasure riders are way too timid with their horses and do not understand them. The rider needs to be top of the pecking order and a gentle tyrant IMO

 

[Micheal_R]

n/t

 

[Royal]

n/t

 

[George-CT]

I'd love to talk to her. George has told me of her problems and I wish her the best for a fast recovery. When she is up to it, give her my web site www.angelfire/planet/meadowmuffin I am always looking for someone to talk about horses with especially in different areas.