Off and running! I am currently writing this at Randy Ophus' in Vanderhoof as I am taking a four day series of riding lessons. Yippee! A mini-clinic!

I decided to limit my stay at Randy's to four days because I feel that my filly is not up to too many days of heavy riding in a row yet. Because my schedule is so sporadic, it doesn't give her a lot of chance to build up her strength as evenly as I'd like. I also had Dawn Park, my equine therapist, take a quick look at her the other day, and we agreed that Karisma should have a massage as soon as we can get things together.

Finding time to ride my filly is still presenting a challenge, as I have discovered the satisfaction of creating and cooking supper meals. Ack!
Yes, I'm cooking now too! (and you thought me baking cookies was bad enough - LOL!)

(The farrier series will return next week)

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

It is also tough as my significant other comes home right about the time I would usually head out to ride, and as he gets up at 4 am every day I try to spend some time with him before he goes to sleep. Still, I am working on it as my new riding partner has his horse at home now - and he lives just down the road, how convenient!

We have already ridden together at the Tweedsmuir Cavavliers Saddle Club arena, and it was really nice to have someone else there on a horse. Kari's more recent rides have all been alone and while it allows her to focus on the task at hand, it doesn't prepare her for a busier environment.

Fortunately she was shown enough as a yearling that she handled the Smithers Summer Show well and I have hopes that the four days at Randy's arena will help us to prepare for the Smithers Fall Fair.

And that's all the news for now! Til next week, happy riding! Enjoy what summer we have left!
~ Kristi :)

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If you have a horse trailer, you may want to take the time to see what it is like for your horse to ride in it. Although it is not legal for a person to ride in a trailer (no seat belts, etc) it is the only way to really get the full effect of how your trailer rides.

Even without riding in your trailer, you can check quite easily for noise.
Have someone else drive the trailer past you, on a gravel driveway. Even if you are lucky enough to have a paved drive, chances are your destination won't! Plus you usually will be unloading your horse on gravel or dirt, and both tend to have surfaces that are not perfectly level, causing lots of noise in a steel trailer.

Back doors are a real problem in stock trailers - the small sliding door on the swingout tends to rattle like mad. If you never use this door, consider having it welded shut at a welding shop. If you need to keep the door operational, make sure you keep it well lubricated and consider attaching some sort of bungee cord system to try to keep it up tight against the rest of the door, or screw in a piece of rubber belting to make a tighter fit when it is closed.

If you have a stock type trailer with angle stalls, check that your angle gates don't rattle too loudly. Ours did badly and we solved it quite easily and inexpensively. Ask the local tire shop for a piece of an inner tube, which you can cut at home with a large pair of scissors. Use a zip tie (also called cable tie, it's a non-loosening plastic strap) to secure a strip from the inner tube to the bar at the back of the divider where it fastens next to the wall.

Many other inner trailer fixtures could be fixed in the same manner, by simply providing a small piece of rubber cushioning to prevent the loose metal on metal clanging.

It doesn't hurt to check your trailer frequently - say once a month - for noises that may be irritating your horse. Any time you recognize a new noise, you could be discovering a part of your trailer wearing and be able to repair it before it becomes a problem!

If you have other ideas for reducing noise in a horse trailer, please send them in to kristim@hiway16.com

Continued next week with how to KEEP that good farrier!!

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

Guest columns are welcome.

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• Baerental Ranch
• Burns Lake Building Supplies
• Hoskins Ford
• Northern Horse Supply
• Reimer Ranch
• Ridennoure Paint Horses

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