Spring Lessons Begin :)

This quarter Matia and I will be the instructors along with Sally, Buddy, Breezy, Kiwi, Lizzy and Sunny. We are hoping to continue teaching horse riding with a positive, fun, safe environment. This quarter will run March, April and May taking off spring break week. We will miss those not continuing but we are excited for a few new students!

Thank you Kailey!

Due to financial reasons we have decided to let Kailey go. I will now be teaching the lessons full time with Matia's assistance. We have appreciated Kailey and her wonderful dependability and knowledge of horses. She helped us develop a wonderful program here at Krazy Creek. Thank you Kailey for being so wonderful. We wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors.

Fun Horse Facts

• Male horses have 40 teeth and and females have 36. Horses' teeth grow throughout their lifetime, making it possible to judge their age by looking at their teeth.
• A horse's stomach holds between eight and seventeen quarts. This is not very big considering their size and shows that they are meant to graze, taking in small meals and move around freely 24 hours a day.
• Horses can't throw up. Once food is swallowed, the valve between the throat and stomach is so strong it doesn't allow food to come back up. 
• A horse's shedding in the spring is triggered by longer daylight hours, not the temperature outside. 
• Research has shown that horses' favorite flavors are Fenugreek, banana, and cherry, in that order.
• The United States has (feral) wild horses, found mostly in the western states. They are managed by the BLM, or Bureau of Land Management and are offered to the public for adoption. 
• Horses are measured from the ground to the tallest point of the withers in "hands or hh". A hand was estimated as the width of a man's hand, but is now equal to 4". 
• The largest horse recorded stood at 21 hands, and was a Percheron, which is a draft breed. (This horse was boarded at Crazy Creek many years ago)
• Ponies are up to 14.2hh (hands), with horses being any animal over 14.2hh.
• Horses have four gaits; walk, trot, canter, and gallop. There are gaited breeds that have have additional special gaits.
• Horses are prey animals. They run to survive, and only fight if they have to. 
• A mare's gestation period is 11 months, making them slow reproducers.
• When a foal is born, it stands almost immediately and can run.
• Their brain is about the size of a walnut, but they are definitely intelligent!
• The lifespan for our equine friends is about 25 years, but the oldest horse recorded was 62 years old!
• Przewalski's Horse is the only horse whose lineage can be traced back to prehistoric times. This breed is native to the Southwest Mongolia.
• You must "cool out" a horse after exercise. You can't put them right into their stall when they are all hot and sweaty or they can become sick. They must be walked until their respiration rate is normal.
• The hoof of the modern horse is his third toe. The chesnuts on his legs are remnants of another toe. 
• The mane and tail are for protection from insects. Whiskers around the muzzle are for feeling things.

Kiwi joins our force

Well it is official Kiwi is officially teaching lessons at Crazy Creek Ranch. She is a 20 year old Appaloosa Mare. She has spent the last 2 years doing 4-H with my now 12 year old niece. She has been nothing but sweet to her. The one down fall on Kiwi is that she will test her riders to see if they will let her do what she wants or if the rider will make them do what they are asking. I don't mind this as a teacher because it teaches my riders to be assertive and follow through with their decisions. Everyone that has ridden Kiwi has loved her so I have bought her and she will be staying around.

Horseback riding tips

Here are just a few tips I found on the internet. It helps you to understand why we do some of the things we do. Go ahead and take a good read.

Horseback Riding Tips #1
Don’t ever be too proud to get off. Some accidents are unavoidable. The horse trips and you are thrown off balance enough to come off, or he departs a bit quicker into the canter than you were expecting him to. No one can predict when something like that is going to happen. Other times when you get thrown there were red warning flags out long before you got pitched. It’s in your gut, you know the feeling. The “uh-oh I am not so sure I want to keep riding this horse while it is doing that” feeling.  This is one of the best horseback riding tips that people ignore:  Go with your instincts and get off the horse. Try and regroup on the ground and if that doesn’t work, be done and start again another day. That way you will leave your confidence in tact, and possibly avoid escalating an already dangerous situation with your horse.

Horseback Riding Tips #2
Don’t believe that you must always get back on right after a fall  “Get back up on that horse so he doesn’t think he’s won” is a common phrase touted by instructors across the nation when a rider falls off when both horse and rider are seemingly un-hurt enough to continue.   This is outdated and ridiculous advice.     If you are scared, the horse will be scared by you being scared! If you get back on when you don’t feel like you should, no matter what your instructor or friends say, you are just setting yourself up to blow what little confidence you do have left. By all means if you feel fine and WANT to get back on, do so if it is not going to be dangerous for you or the horse.          The horse is not going to think he’s “won” because horses don’t think like that. Horses run on instinct. For instance when bucking there could be many reasons why. His saddle might be pinching, you may have changed tack and he doesn’t like the feel of it. He could have a back problem. He didn’t want to move forward when you asked and so started bucking instead. Especially if the behavior was unusual for that horse try and figure out what triggered it. Then and go back and fix it through quality ground training and/or a veterinary diagnosis first before returning to riding.

Horseback Riding Tips #3

You are the leader but not the dictator For a moment put yourself in your horses’ hooves. It’s 100 degrees outside, you’re hot, sweaty and itchy from a soaked saddle pad and heavy saddle and your rider is making you practice spins each direction 1000 times. If you don’t, your rider insists not so kindly with his spurs and whip that you do it again. Doesn’t sound like much fun does it?        While riders should be natural leaders for their horses and direct and ask things of them, they shouldn’t be drill sergeants or dictators. Horses learn 8 times faster than people do. They do learn by repetition, but also need variety. Keeping your horses’ feelings and limits in mind will make for a happier horse who will perform better each time for you. This is much better than one that eventually won’t come to the gate to greet you because he’s tired of your “training.”

Horseback Riding Tips #4
Keep your heels slightly downContrary to popular riding belief you do not have to have a deep heels down posture to stay safe in the saddle. The reason instructors teach this is to keep your foot from sliding through and getting caught up in the stirrup which is dangerous. Having your heels way down is also believed to give you a firmer foundation. A firmer foundation should come from the way your behind sits in the saddle and how well you move with your horse, not how low your heel is.              Balance and the ability to flow with your horse is much more important than having your heels down. An artificially deep heel, especially in a beginner rider, will cause tension in the ankle, knee, hips, and up to the lower back. Riders will often get pain in one of these areas from straining too much to keep the heels way down. It almost always causes you to brace through your lower back as well. Keeping the heels slightly lowered will keep your foundation strong, your foot from sliding through the stirrup but not cause you any additional problems with bracing, pain and stiffness.

Horseback Riding Tips #5
Keep your head up!Our heads weight something like twenty pounds! Now that probably doesn’t seem like too much in comparison to the rest of our bodies, but our horse should be following our focus whether that is over the next jump or somewhere down the trail. If you are looking nowhere (down) you are going to throw your balance too far forward, putting you at risk for falling forward should your horse stop suddenly. You could wind up on your horses’ neck! Keep your eyes and head up, and remember you should always look first to where you want to steer your horse. If you are looking nowhere, your horse should be going nowhere.

Winter Riding Schedule for Jan & Feb

Mondays
3:00 - Emilie, Breann Ashby, Liberty, Ella H.
4:00 - Shayla, Preston, and Lexi
5:00 - Emelee, Ben, Cameron, Mia, Emmye
6:00 - Ella, Anna, Marin, Taryn
Tuesdays
4:00 - Celia, Margy, Makenzie, Breanna
5:00 - Sydni, Piper, Contessa, Alecia, and Justin
6:00 - Jadelyn, Kendria, Colton, Kaleb, Kayden
Wednesdays
4:00 - Celia, Addison, Jacie, Tayler, Jana
5:00 - McKayla, Brianna, Amanda, Jenny, Devyn
6:00 - Tiffany, Lucy, Carston, Lily and Jaylee

Labradoodle Puppies find forever homes over Holiday Break

Rascal, Aladin, Mufasa, Mack, Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella

So we are happy to announce all 7 puppies found their forever homes over the holidays! We had fun while they were here but happy they all found such great loving homes. They found homes in Draper, Eagle Mountain, Provo, Lehi, South Jordan, Salt Lake City. They have all reported they are loved and super happy.