Enter our PARTNERSHIP and COURAGE Contest Today!!

[Barnmice Admin]

From now until June 30, everyone is invited to submit a photo, story or poem on the themes of Partnership or Courage for the chance to win one of three amazing prizes. We wish to thank William Micklem for his kind generosity in donating:

*The Micklem Multi Bridle
*The new Micklem Competition Bridle
and
*William's international best-seller, The Complete Horse Riding Manual

William is renowned as the consummate horseman. His revolutionary design is changing the way we think about bridles and his training philosophy is followed by some of the world's most accomplished riders. To learn more about William, visit his website at: www.williammicklem.com

Your entry can be long or short and you can add a photo with a story or on its own! Post your entries in the comment box below. Good Luck!!

[Cheryl Poitras]

To My Equine Partner.

Six years ago you came in to my life quite unexpectedly. Over a dinner with dear friends and family I mentioned that the next time I was going to enter the show ring it would be with a partner of my own. I would show where, when and what classes I wanted. My statement hid the fear I had of riding again. My summer had been tough and my confidence shaken more than I ever cared to admit.

Someone in the room that night mentioned they knew of a loving horse, a good boy looking for someone just like me. You could even come to me as a free lease. Well not wanting to admit I really wasn't sure I ever meant to ride again at that point I said "sure where is he and when can I see him."

We went to the barn that day, I was still skeptical, and honestly it was game over once I looked in to those beautiful, kind and gentle eyes. You picked me and stole my heart straight away. You nuzzled your velvet muzzle in my bangs almost as if you were asking me to take you with me. Your owner didn't have time for you and some how you knew by instinct that you were just what I needed and maybe you knew then too I was what you needed too. I had a test ride, you knocked me in to the dirt, and yet somehow even then you still had me. Two weeks later I brought you home and you have been with me heart and soul ever since.

It has been a long journey to get to where we are today. I have came off you that first summer and was banged up pretty good. Time passed and I questioned if I had made the right choice. As I looked in to your eyes the spring of 2007 I knew in my heart I could not fail you like this, you deserved better. I never stopped caring but was so unsure and afraid. I don't know how but you made me believe in myself that I could do this. An honest horse, a loving rider and a kind a patient coach, our journey began again.

We returned to the show ring that summer. Back in the show ring, my fears now fading to the past. You are more than just my equine partner, you are my equine soul mate. A valuable and cherished part of my heart my family and my life. I see in your eyes the will to do anything and the understanding that sometimes I do still get a bit scared and so do you. Your look tells my heart that "it will be okay mom, don't worry, I will carry you thru anything just stay with me and trust me" and I do.

It is hard to convey to anyone that total and complete unconditional love that comes from something that is just simply meant to be. Together we have learned and grown. We have come so far past the scared adult rider that I was six years ago. I can trust again and as always love you for what you mean to my life.

At fourteen now, I see the beginning signs of gray hair creeping in to your coat. Yet you still give all you have to be there for me and I for you. I wish in a way you could understand all that my words could convey. I have learned things of your past before me and they have made me cry on your neck. Saying nothing I truly think you understand how it breaks my heart. You deserved better. It took some time but you have given me your heart, your trust and most of all your love. Together we have healed the damage from the past and have developed a bond unbreakable. I owe to you more than you will ever know my equine soul mate.

Harmony, trust, and most of all unconditional love......such is the bond of horse and rider. Companion and friend. Such is the bond between you and I. My companion, my partner, my horse.

PS. For those wishing to see, attached is a photo from our very first show in 2007. Time, patience and love does heal old wounds. Together we are free.

[Anni]

My Mustang mare Lily and I -
Lily did not come into my life at the "right" time. I was a first-year college student struggling to pay my bills and keep up with riding lessons for the first time in years after my parents had forced me away from horses as a teenager. An online friend was asking opinions on BLM Mustangs up for adoption, and I stumbled across the online page for a tiny grey mare with the kindest eyes I had ever seen. I could not stop thinking about this mare who had been captured a year ago and still had not found a home.
In a turn of events I cannot believe, my friend adopted the mare and put three months of training into her. I visited Lily and fell in love with her even more. I named her "A Little Faith" - Lily for short - because she had been one of those gambles that rarely works out. In my case, it did. Today she is home and the best partner I could ask for. She is kind, loving, and spirited. She challenges me and is always waiting at the fence when I come out to her pasture.
Lily and I:

[Debbie]

What do you do when your beloved horse dies? You remember the good times you had together and that’s exactly what this story is about – a wonderful partnership, a lifetime of riding adventures, and choosing to put a horse down instead of sending him off to slaughter.

I was “Captain Miller” Barney’s owner, rider and #1 fan since 1986. He caught my eye in a show ring at the Moose Jaw Exhibition in the province of Saskatchewan. Captain Miller was very handsome four year old – a flashy, spirited dark bay, full of mischief with a love of carrots. He was passed over by the hunter-jumper groupies in Saskatchewan; not because he didn’t have the size or stamina but because he’d rather befriend the judge than go about his business on the jumping course. The jumping group’s loss was my gain, as Barney went from a ‘for sale’ horse with ‘jumper possibilities’ to a people-loving , family pet.

Barney attended many horse shows, wore the RCMP regalia for a full summer in Regina participating in the weekly Sunset Flag Lowering Ceremonies; belonged to the Qu’Appelle Hunt Club where he regularly joined the hounds on drag-scent hunts for miles across the prairies; attended many riding clinics under some of the best Olympic equestrians of the day; won awards for his participation in Santa Claus parades in Bowmanville, Thunder Bay, Windsor and LaSalle; and was the mascot for the RCMP in Windsor for such events as marathon fundraisers, VIP functions and tourist visits.

Barney was hauled by horse trailers halfway across Canada several times to catch up to our moving van as we were transferred from city to city and probably walked the other half during all the trail riding we did together. We met many wonderful people through his stable buddies. Latterly, he was a familiar presence around the trails of LaSalle and Windsor in Ontario, where he had many adoring fans who never failed to show up with carrots and apples when we passed by their houses. The children loved him and he always stood patiently while they stroked his nose and patted his neck. He was also my ‘deer-hunting partner,’ as we scoured the back woods of the area to find those secret alcoves where the deer hide during daylight hours.

Those memories I will always cherish as moments of serenity which we both shared with Mother Nature….a soothing time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday living. Rain, hail, sun or blizzard, the two of us were always together enjoying the great outdoors for over 22 years across Canada.

So it was with great relief that he ended his days peacefully, passing away on ‘humane terms’ and not being hauled off to the slaughterhouse where he would have ended his days herded into a van by strangers, scared and away from home, taken to Sudbury and rendered as dog food or fertilizer, which appeared to be the only choice for livestock pets who have served their masters but are no longer useful. That was not the choice I wanted for my pet. I didn’t have the heart to hand Barney over to strangers who would take him, uncaring, to his death.
For anyone who is approaching the final days of a horse-loving partnership, remember to treat your best friend with kindness in the final hours so the rainbow to heaven will be easier to cross…for both of you.

Debbie

[Barnmice Admin]

Who knew we had such amazing writers and photographers in our community! I'm reading all this and bawling my eyes out!!

[Margaret H. Ostrowski]

Attached is my submission

[Nicola Barnes]

PARTNERSHIP:
To Storm, my favourite Palomino mare!

Storm, I love you so much,
Your beautiful mane flowing in the wind.
I've never seen a horse more beautiful than you, nothing close as such,
And I shall never want to bid farewell to you.

Even when you are lame I will love you,
And I would give up all my money just to see, touch and smell you once again.
My heart would break in two,
If I lost you, I would cry all year until I see your face again.

All you need is trust,
In the endurance trail,
Especially on the dust,
And then we won't move like a snail.

Once again,
I love you Storm,
See you till then,
Standing in the light of the Dawn!

[Michelle Synnot]

Courageous First Ride (A Haiku)

A muscle ripple

Leather creaks sighs of relief

Two views now are One


-by Michelle Synnot

This is a picture of my friend's little girl on her birthday and her cousin on their first horse ride.

[Amber J.]

This is my cute little pony, "Sterling Silver"
I ride him bareback everywhere and just hop on him bare back with no halter or anything in the paddock and we walk around

[Laura]

This is posted on the whiteboard outside our indoor arena. I found the quote shortly after falling off my horse this past winter. Since I've fallen off I can get so tense about anything that might spook him. So before every ride we pause and meditate on that quote. It relaxs me and helps me to focus on how much I love my horse and how amazing he makes me feel, and how happy he is after I ride him. So despite the evil "Wheels-eating-baby-robins" in the courner that might spook him, and I am very aware of their presence, getting on and going for a ride is more important to me than sitting out on a ride solely because he might spook at those baby birds. Somedays its really hard and I have to repeat the quote over and over but I always get on because riding him is "more important than fear".

[Barnmice Admin]

Lovely quotation.

[Jess]

Attached file :)

[Marie Vitullo]

I just wanted to share a photo of my father and his beloved horse. My dad rode when he was younger, but it wasn't until many years later, when I caught the horse bug, that he was finally able to get his own horse. We set out searching for a quiet, dependable trail horse when we came across Monti. Not much of Monti's story is known, except that at some point he had been an Amish cart horse. He is partially blind in his right eye, likely due to some sort of trauma, and was very head shy. He wasn't exactly the well trained trail horse we were looking for, but there was something about him that seemed quiet and dependable. We couldn't leave Monti and his sad looking eyes behind, so we packed him up in our trailer and never looked back. Monti and my dad quickly became two peas in a pod. Monti has come out of his shell, quietly nickering for treats when he spots my dad. Together they've conquered many trails. They've formed a wonderful partnership, and it amazes me how trustworthy this horse is after a seemingly ominous beginning.