Horsemanship Day 1 - Caring For Your Horse

Welcome everyone, to Homeplace Ranch! This week, we’re under the guidance of Mac, the head honcho here at Homeplace! Today, he’s helping us go over ranch rules, proper horse care, etiquette, and some general education.

To start off the day, everyone stopped to watch the horses in their pen to observe their behaviour. Are they amped up, or well-rested? After this, we all went in to ‘catch’ a horse. This means talking to them, making yourself and them feel comfortable, and leading them off to the main saddling area.

After a short water break from the summer heat, everyone learned how to get up on their horses again using Woody, the wooden trainer. Next, all the campers went in for their saddles, putting them up on the horses they had caught earlier on. During this, Mac gave some short lessons on how horses eat, and taught everyone that horse dentists exist!

Since everyone was SO speedy and listened SO well, they got to hop up on their horses and take them for a short ride, and even did a little challenge! Communicating with one’s horse is extremely important, and when you’re out on a trail ride, you may have to cross over obstacles. Today’s challenge was to communicate to your horse that you want to go over something, rather than avoid it.

To finish the day off, everyone de-saddled their horse, and was given an assignment: Find a famous horse, research why they’re famous, and report back tomorrow with the information!