I’d like to take a moment to draw your attention to the Reader Survey . I see that only a couple of people have noticed the link farther down on this page and I hope that more of you will take a few moments to fill it out. We do appreciate your interaction as it can help us to serve you, our readers, better in the future.

I had a rather bittersweet weekend I’d like to share with you. Many of you will be surprised to hear that I delivered Raime to his new home on Sunday. Yes, I sold him.

It still shocks me a little, I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet. Due to several personal circumstances, I am no longer in a position to keep three horses, and I had started looking for a suitable permanent home for him. Well, actually, I hadn’t started looking yet, and one just kind of found him before I did.

Sharon is a friend of mine from Prince George, who I had met through the reining club. We had gotten to know each other better via email and through the albertahorse mailing list we are both on. We had been discussing the possibility that Raime would work for the daughter of a good friend of Sharon’s. However, the friend wasn’t as well set up at home as I had hoped for, and as I didn’t feel that Raime would be as happy there, we decided against it.

That allowed Sharon to express her interest, as she was looking for a suitable horse for her daughter to move up to, from her POA mare. While Freckles and Anwen had done a lot together, Anwen’s legs were getting decidedly too long for a 13.2 hand pony! Her interests are reining, gymkhana and trail rides, as well as being an active 4-H member - Raime fits that bill perfectly.

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Photo credit: Chris Hassell

For that matter, he also fit Sharon’s wish list well! Sharon’s reining mare for this coming year has been put into the broodmare band until next fall. Sharon and her husband Roy have a lovely little cutting bred stud, Peppers Gunsmoke, and they covered several mares with him last year. With Sharon’s riding horse out of commission, she was looking for something to ride! She plans to further her reining training with lessons at Morrison Quarter Horses in Prince George, and Raime will be perfect for her to advance on.

So, in a trip this weekend combined with several other errands, I delivered Raime to Sharon and Roy’s place. We even got to go for a bit of a ride - in spite of the ice and snow - as we took Raime and Hawk (the cutting stud) out for a short introductory trail ride. Nice for me as I have only been on one horse since the end of July!

It was strange pulling out of the yard, knowing that he is no longer my horse. I’ve owned Raime for over 16 years, and it feels very weird to think that he belongs to someone else now. There have been many times I have leased him out, perhaps that is why it hasn’t really sunk in yet. Perhaps it is also partly because of all the horses I have sold in the past, he is the only one I didn’t want to sell for one reason or another. He is also a horse I had planned to keep until his last days were done, but sometimes things change. He is also - and no change in ownership can take this away - a once in a lifetime horse. He will also always be the Little Horse That Could (please see the Photo page for some of my fondest memories).

Farewell, Raime, I will come to visit sometimes but I know it won’t be the same. After selling Riser (Raime’s son) less than a year ago, and now letting Raime go, it truly feels like the end of an era.

And on that note, I’m going to go and find some tissue. Till next week, please take the time to tell your loved ones (horses and otherwise) how much they mean to you!
~ Kristi :)

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Sorry about the delay last week. We pick up here where I left off on October 29.

When I got Lena, it took me a long time to halter break her. I had to start at the very beginning - much of the stuff I’ve explained in the last few weeks was from my experience with her. Introducing a rope was no different - I had to find a way that I could make it less threatening for her, and yet still gain ground.

I started with a piece of soft rope, not a lead rope with a snap at one end (I found this safer as neither of us could get bumped by accident with the snap). Just put the rope near her, then take it away - it’s the same advance and retreat that you did to touch her. Repeat this over and over until she accepts the rope being in her general direction - this is towards her barrel, not her head.

In time, you will be able to begin touching your foal with the rope, and then start draping it over her back and then her neck. Keep pushing her comfort zone until she accepts more and more.

By this time, your foal should be eating grain and comfortable to eat it with you standing nearby. You can now use grain as an encouragement once you get to the point of being close enough to pick up the other side of the rope. Holding both sides of the rope in one hand and some grain in the other, pull gently on the rope to one side (never pull straight ahead when you are first beginning these lessons!).

The handful of grain and release of pressure from the rope both function as rewards for making the right choice. Swap back and forth from side to side and she’ll learn to give to the pressure and to walk with you in a zigzag fashion. After a while of doing this, your foal should be fairly well broke to lead - even though she hasn’t yet had a halter on! By always pulling to one side or the other, you make resistance less likely - and you won’t provoke a straight out pulling match which can hurt your baby’s neck as well as destroy the trust you have built to this point.

The next step is the halter - finally! My filly was very scared of having the halter near her face, so I started using a clicker-type method - positive reinforcement, but without the clicker itself.

Read up on clicker training in our Archives

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(please link to January 17, January 24, January 31 and February 7, 2000) and we’ll continue next week with haltering using this method.

Continued next week..

If you have comments or suggestions along the way, please share with me at kristi@hiway16.com

The Bulkley Valley Reiners club is based out of Houston but has members in Smithers, Telkwa, Quick, Houston, Topley, Southbank, Hazelton, Kitimat, Qualicum Beach, and Morinville, Alberta.

We welcome anyone and everyone who is interested in the western sport of reining. For more information contact kristi@hiway16.com or dawnpark@bulkley.net or kckfarms@bulkley.net

Following is the report on the 2002 B.V. Reiners Windup and awards banquet, which was held on Saturday, November 9, at the Seniors Center in Houston.

The Windup is usually our biggest and best social occasion of the year. Many of the members come out with their families to partake in the potluck dinner (and there is always enough great food - mmmmm!). There was also a silent auction and blind auction which we used to help raise money to cover the hall rental and other costs. Sometimes members bring videos of their horses, while others bring scrapbooks or photo albums to share with the the members.

We also displayed our raffle quilt and the BVR scrapbook. The raffle quilt this year was made by member Carla Amonson of Houston. You can take a peek at it on our photo page although after having seen it for real at the Windup, I have to say that this picture does not do it justice - it is a beauty! Tickets are only $2 each (or 3 for $5, or 7 for $10) and are available until the draw on December 22.

The scrapbook is an ongoing creative endeavour by some of the members to organize and display many of the the club activities over the years, from the workbee held in 1997 to the raffle quilts to the annual award presentations. After taking three rolls of film at the windup this weekend, I think we’ll have lots more to work with!

Part of that film was used up on our fashion show. Lesley Flint, who runs The Tack Store, and Jan Ridennoure, who owns Spring Crest Window Decor, combined forces with the help of their models to show off some incredible new items of western wear. The show was a lot of fun for both the spectators and the models - thanks guys and gals!

We’d like to thank all of our sponsors, who came through for us on such short notice. Our thanks go to:
- The Tack Store (Lesley Flint and Dave Helps)
- Windy Ridge Farm (Roxy Bullock)
- Hatchcreek Enterprises (Mike Plugboer)
- Sunrunner Farms (Bibs and Marcel Dallaire)
- Schippers Creek Contracting (Reka and Chris Schippers)
- M7 Quarter Horses (Larry and Jenny Wierenga)
- Ridennoure Paints (Jan and Jerry Ridennoure)
- Park-It-Here Enterprises (Dawn and Dale Park)
- Dr. W. R. and Kathie Onstein
- B.V. Trophies and Engraving (Grant and Kim Wolkosky)

Next week, the award winners!

Northern BC Horse is sponsored by local businesses who support equine sports in our area including:

• Baerental Ranch
• Burns Lake Building Supplies
• Griffin Crick Ranch
• Hoskins Ford
• Northern Horse Supply
• Ridennoure Paint Horses
• The Tack Store

Do you have a horse or equipment to sell? Want to buy a horse or equipment? Check the Free Classified Ads.