The search is over!

A few years ago, I was looking through some classifieds and saw that people who wanted to ride but did not have horses were putting up ads to lend their services to exercise horses. I wasn't sure that this method would work, so I opted not to put an ad for myself. Besides, who would let a complete stranger ride their horses?!

A few months later, I noticed that some of those ads had found takers! I was surprised and excited... I thought about it and decided that I had nothing to lose. If the readers didn't like my ad, they could just ignore it. I went for it and placed the ad... I felt a huge void in my life ever since Penny had left, I somewhat needed to interact with horses.

I got a call the next day. A lady needed help to exercise and train her 7 (soon to be 8) horses. I visited her farm and agreed to take on the task, with the help of my sister, which is as good a rider as I am (she is also my twin, I can hardly do anything without her!!). The first horse I rode was a broke mare named Gwen, I got on and noticed how I had lost a bit of my touch. I proceeded to trot circles and figure 8s only to confirm that I was way out of balance... I'd have to do some work at the walk to regain my balance!

It didn't take very long to regain my balance and went on to ride twice per week. Only two of the lady's horses were broke (somewhat), so my sister and I rode those two until we felt comfortable handling and training the others. There were 7 horses at that time and here is a short description of them. Some names are pronounced in French, the lady was French. They are all pure breed registered Canandian horses.

Gwen: 10 y-o mare, broke but very forward and fast, blind in one eye. Now 12 y-o, thought her to stop and stand and to not trot all the time. She did have a very nice trot, but one hour of trotting is exhausting!

Lune: 6 y-o mare. Wild and unhandled, had hardly seen a human in her life. Now is 8 y-o, very green broke (by me), I am the only one that can ride without being thrown off.

Legende: 6y-o mare. Wild and unhandled, hardly ever seen humans in her life. was in foal. Now is 8 y-o, halter broke but very shy, will not give her feet. I vowed not to break her (I volunteer, so I don't have to, and I think she is dangerous!).

Providence: 3 y-o mare. Was handled before and had one or two rides on her before I got there. I gave her her first ride, my sister fell in love with her and did the rest of the work with her. She is now 5 y-o and is the dam of my sister's colt (more on him later).

Stella: Yearling filly, I broke her to halter and leading, is now 3.5 y-o and has had about 5 rides on her, she was a bit of a bronc. Broke her myself.

Sendrillon: Yearling filly, Sister broke her to halter and lead. She is now 3.5 y-o and had the same amount of rides as Stella. Broke by sis.

Paygaze: 3 y-o stallion. Wild and unhandled, came with Legende, never seen humans before. Is now 5 y-o, was broke to halter and lead and was sent for 30 days to break to saddle. I do not ride him, but can handle him on the ground. Gentle and friendly, but unpredictable.

Udelali: She's Legende's filly born on March 29, 2008. She's now a filly. I've worked a bit with her on haltering and leading, she's doing good.

When I say that the horses were wild and unhandled, this is what I mean: Those horses were on a breeding farm near Saguenay, Quebec, Canada, they were left in a HUGE pasture and were never handled, they knew that tractors brought food, but never really had contact with humans. They were driven in a chute for vaccination and microchips, just like wild horses or cattle. They only had a neck rope with a tag on it. They've come a long way!!

I fell in love with Lune the moment I saw her, she is a beautiful mare. Unfortunately, lack of exercise and rich feed has made her fat to the point of foundering. She is now recovering, and all horses are on a diet (they were all getting a bit on the dangerously fat side). I swear I will post pictures soon!