Feb 1 2010
First of all, I have to apologize to anyone who has been checking for new entries over the last few months. We've have had an incredibly busy and productive winter. In October we were lucky enough to share a booth with Unbridled Human Potential at the Mane Event. It was a great weekend filled with meeting lots of new people and making new friends. In November, we launched Horsemanship from the Heart's new monthly newsletter! Hoof Beat to Heart beat is written and put out by Christa Miremadi and Horsemanship from the Heart and provides its readers with updates, clinic information, news, a featured article and the best part, discounts! In December and January, Silver Star took 4 weeks off of lessons and training as we always do between Dec 15th and Jan 15th. For once, this time was spent riding and tuning up school horses instead of battling winter. It was a really great chance to get some of the not-so-good habits worked out of the school horses and help to clarify their areas of confusion. February is here and we are thrilled to be seeing little green buds on the trees already!! Recent news to announce:- Rakas Ibn Naar, Lyndales Starfire's first colt, has been sold! Congratulations to Sue Harris!
- Carlotta Nosebands have become available through True North Trading Co. Ltd. Thanks RJ!
- Christa has launched a new website. Check out www.abitsofter.com to see all of the fantastic styles and colors of Carlotta Nosebands manufactured by True North Trading and available for purchase!
- We have started taking registrations for Horsemanship from the Heart 2010 clinics. Don't miss your chance!
- Daryl Gibb will be joining us in March for a two-day Daryl Gibb Horsemanship clinic!
- Horsemanship from the Heart theory nights have started! Each month one will be anounced on the homepage. This month on Friday February 19th Christa will be hosting a three hour theory night on getting to know your gear. Learn how to use your ropes and tools more fluidly and present yourself to your horse with more confidence.
We highly recomend visiting www.horsemanshipfromtheheart.com and joining the mailing list if you have not already done so. Many of the things included on the newsletter, including exclusive offers and fantastic deals on training, boarding, lessons and more, will be found only on the newsletter!
We promise that it will not be so long until the next entry is made. Thanks for all your ongoing support for Christa and her loss and your understanding and patience as things begin to return to as close to normal as possible.
Sept 1 2009
I find it really hard to make this entry as it will be pushing aside my last entry regarding the loss of my beautiful Carlotta. Though life goes on, she will never leave my thoughts and my heart. Not a day goes by that i don't miss her or look for her. However, with the summer coming to an end, i have a few exciting updates to make! Through Carlotta's insistant, unmistakeble request to find another way to ride than with bits, i was inspired to develop an alternative to traditional snaffles, curbs and mechanical hackamores.. over the period of about 5 years and after litterally dozens of prototypes and expirements with different bitless bridles, halters, strips of leather and tons of canabalizing of old gear, i finally developed a manual hackamore that has proven to be increadably affective and comfortable for the horses who have tested it out. In honor and memory of my beloved inspiration, it has been called the Carlotta Hackamore and is available for purchase! It is currently being manufactured by Equine Redesign and is in the process of also being manufacured by True North Trading right here in BC! I am so excited to finally be able to offer this gently, bitless alternative to my clients and their horses.Also thanks to Carlotta's years of teaching (and many other fine four legged teachers) i have begun to offer and run Horsemanship from the Heart clinics! In July we ran the very first Riding with the Elements clinic and this was a HUGE success. Partisipants who rode in this clinic were THRILLED with the results and referances can be read on the training page on this website or www.horsemanshipfromtheheart.com. In Aug we ran the first ever Fear Management clinic. This too proved to be equally successful. Horses and their humans who attended left feeling as though they had valuable tools to work with their horses with towards becoming more confident and felt more comfortable trying new things. I am extatic to be able to offer these clinics and will be offering 4 clinics for 2010. Riding with the Elements 1, Riding with the Elements 2, Fear Management and the Zen of Horseplay.
June 10 2009
It is with a heavy heart and swollen, teary eyes that I make this entry. My wounds are fresh and deep. On June 9, 2009 I was forced to say goodbye to my equine soulmate, Carlotta. For 16 years she stood behind me, sometimes in front of me, but always with me. She taught me so much I can't begin to list it as well as being my inspiration for developing a bitless program. She was bred on July 1 of 2008 to my stunning stallion Lyndales Starfire who has since been gelded. Due to foal in early June, we were impatiently and excitedly awaiting the arival of her beautiful chestnut filly, Starlight. In late March I had to rush her to my vet's clinic due to signs of false labor or colic. Spending only a day or so there, she returned home apparently no worse for wear. On May 24th she began to show signs of labor again. This time much closer to her due date, we did not worry or rush to call the vet, however after a hour of struggling with no progress my vet was called. He palpated her to find that she was not in labor at all but in severe distress from a Uterine Torsion. Her uterus had twisted much like a twisted gut in colic. Her choices were slim: allow her to continue rolling and hope she works it out on her own (very small chance of any success for a small twist), place a board across her stomach and jump on it hoping to guess right and un-twist the twisted organ (likely killing the foal but if you guess wrong you will kill her and the foal), or surgery. Of course she received the surgery. She has been there to get me through many tough times and I owe her my life. This was an easy and quick decision to make. Giving surgery to a 22-year-old mare is not always a sucessful process and so I waited on pins and needles for a call that would put my mind to rest one way or the other. After more than 7 hours, she got to her feet. It took her a while to recover from the anesthesia but she did. When the call finally came to tell me that she was recovering, my vet informed me that her twist was the one of the worst he's seen. Most Uterine Torsions have a twist of around 45 degrees. Hers was a full 360 degree twist. Three days later she was eating, drinking and relieving herself normally. She returned home on May 27th (Wed) at 12:15. Just before 2:00 only an hour and a half later she was down and rolling again. As I stood watching and describing what I saw to my vet, her water broke. With fresh incisions and still in recovery from such an invasive procedure, Carlotta was in labor. After 45 min with no progress being made, my vet returned to help her deliver her unborn foal. As soon as he reached in he was faced with two discoveries. No 1. The foal was dead. No 2. It was in a poll presentation with both front legs curled back toward its body and its chin tucked to its chest. Delivering a foal in this position is an impossibility. With the foal not helping in any way because it was lifeless and Carlotta's contractions straining against his efforts, it became obvious that her chances of foaling on the farm were gone. The foaling would either kill the mare or I would need to take her back to the clinic. In this situation one is faced with four options. 1. C section. Carlotta had had a very recent surgery and this was not a viable option for her. 2. Cut the foal up inside and remove it piece by piece. She was also too small for this to be safe to do without risking cutting her up as well. 3. Anesthetize her again, hang her upside down by her hooves in order to get the uterus in a helpful position, and reposition the foal now that Carlotta has stopped straining against the vet's efforts, attach it to a winch and pull it out. Or 4. Euthanize my mare. Again, this was not a hard decision to make. Looking into her deep, loving and life-filled eyes I told my vet to get back to the clinic and prepare, she'd be right in. Her chances of regaining consciousness after a second anesthetic in one week were low and my vet had my permission to humanely let her go if things went badly and so once again I waited in tears for a phone call. Four hours later this time, I was relieved, shocked and ecstatic to hear that she had made it! We had of course lost her beautiful chestnut filly with a star and stripe and socks who I would later name Starlight, but that seemed like a very minor detail at the time. My mare was alive and recovering. We were no where near out of the woods at this time. We had to wait to be sure that there were no ruptures in her uterus, no infections or other adverse side effects. Three days later on Friday May 29th, Carlotta was bright, eating, drinking and we were just waiting for the bowels to regain action. She would be home again soon. On Sat May 29th at 6:00pm, I received a phone call that she was doing very poorly and would not make it through the night. When I arrived to say my goodbyes and authorize the euthanasia she had been moved to what I called "the exit stall." This is the stall with the big back doors that provide access to a truck. This is the stall that horses are put in if they're dying. She looked at me with such a fight and determination in her eye that i had to let her try. I had said from the beginning, if she wants to fight, I will let her. Her pulse was at 92 bpm (reg is 30-40) and her breathing rate was at 45 (reg is 8-12). My vet informed me of the number of horses that ever recover with these kinds of vital signs and did what he could to make her more comfortable. I stayed with her for hours that night and returned first thing in the morning to find that she had brought her pulse down into the 80's. By that afternoon it was 72. By the following day, 68. The day after that 64. Her breathing was also improving and her bloodwork returning to normal. Despite all of the evidence pointing towards her recovery, her spirit was fading. Her weight was dropping and her eye was losing its spark. She was on a 5 day course of antibiotics which were finished Tuesday June 9th at which point she was to return home, hopefully to recover her spirit and put her weight back on again. On Monday June 8th when I arived to give her the good news that she would be coming home the next day, it became obvious to me that she wouldn't make it to tomorrow if she did not get home ASAP. For the past 2 weeks I arived at the clinic shortly after opening at 8:00am and did not leave her side until just before closing at 6:00 pm. My sister Carol had been keeping me company for an hour or so each day and other than that I spoke to Carlotta, cleaned up after her, syringe fed her her senior mix slop to give her strength, reminded her to drink, tried to entice her with treats, groomed her over and over, combed through her tail and her mane, sometimes braiding it, reflected on our past together and wrote and read with her. I am eternally grateful for the time I was given to be with her as my busy life had robbed me of time with her at home. I touched her all over and memorized every hair on her body, every look she gave, every sound she made. I smelled her and kissed her and told her how much she'd done for me and how special she was and how much I wanted her to fight to come home. That Monday morning the fire was gone from her eyes and despite her signs of improvement she was dying on her feet. I informed the vets that she needed to come home right away or she'd never be able to say goodbye to her herd. It was some struggle getting her to and into the trailer. Her motor skills were poor enough that she could not make it down the aisle of the barn and so we had to use the big back doors that I had been hoping would remain locked. When they swung open and the sunlight flooded the stall her ears perked forward and her head lifted. She staggered with the help of the vet staff balancing her by the tail to the step up of the trailer. Somehow she managed to get up and into the trailer. We left her loose and untied so that she could sort out her own balance and if she were to go down on the ride home she would not get into any more trouble. It was the longest drive I've ever taken. When I got home and opened up the doors to the trailer she was down. She screamed hello to her herd mates and struggled for 30 min to stand. When Eliya brought her best friend of 13 years to see her she managed to get to her feet. Oliver and Carlotta touched noses and spoke softly to each other. The two of them spent the evening together in our beautiful mare and foal field in deep clover. For the first time in a week Carlotta walked freely to a water bucket and drank. She stuck to Oliver's hip all night long and I continued to syringe feed her 4 syringes of "gruel" every 30 min until 11:00pm. When I returned outside at 6:00 am I found her down again. This time she did not have the strength to get up. She called to me as I approached and together we fought and fought and worked hard to get her up. She is not the kind of horse to be ok with staying down. Realizing that her only chance was for her to stay down and regain her strength there, I tried to calm her and let her know it was ok to let go. It was time to rest but she would never stop fighting. Her body had given up on her and her pulse had climbed back up into the 80's. She was panicking and fighting to get up. I realized that she would carry on like this for days as each organ failed on her one at a time but that she would never stop fighting.I had to make the hardest decision of my life and call the vet to come and let her rest. This was especially hard because of the promise that I had made to her that I would let her keep fighting as long as she wanted to. I believe in my heart that she was glad of the chance to go down fighting. It would have broken her heart to have to admit she was beat. My vet arived at around 1:00 and we gave her an injection to end her pain. I stroked her lifeless face for an hour after that and apologized for not being able to fix her, for not saving her foal and for all the time I missed being with her. Her best friend Oliver was there but did not want to watch. He stayed inside the shelter until it was over and then moved as far from her as he could. I took his hint and moved him to another pasture. After her body was removed, he called and called and called. At around 9 pm, it hit me. He wasn't calling for her, he was calling for me. I came outside and hugged him and we cried together. He wrapped his neck around me and I thanked him for giving her a wonderful last night in this world and assured him that we would both be ok. After that he was quiet. And so, as they say, life goes on. It's hard and it doesn't feel the same without her but it goes on. I will take what she shared with me and I'm sure continue to learn from her even through her death. I will always love her and will never let her go. She is my heart and soul. She is my creativity and drive. She is my wind and fire. I am grateful to her for the learning she shared, the love she gave, the support she showed and the foal she left me with, Lexxy. May 4 2009
I am absolutely thilled to be welcoming spring! The blossoms are out, the birds are chirping, the frogs are croaking and the grass is growing!! There is nothing that brightens my days so much as the sight of the green leaves coming back to the thin, bare branches of the trees. Life has been busy here with all the winter repairs to make, new trees to plant, horses to shed out and start working with and new babies on the way. There are a few things to announce.
No 1, after careful consideration and a really tough choice to make, we have decided to geld our fabulous Arabian stallion, Lyndales Starfire. He is an amazing example of his breed and an easy to handle, gentleman of a stallion but since we only breed one or two mare each year and thanks to the current economic state, we decided to do our part in reducing the no. of unwanted horses in the world as well as provide Starfire with a more enjoyable life. For a stallion he had a pretty great life roaming his 2, green acres with his best buddy, Rocky the donkey, and a mare or two all summer long, but he deserves to have a little more to his life than one or two mares a year. We are still expecting two foals of his this summer and we're really looking forward to the last two foals he will give us. Although I am very sad to see this chapter in his life come to an end, I am so excited about the next chapter! He is now in training to become a riding horse and is learning all about a world he never knew, filled with cones, barrels, painted poles, tie stalls, saddles and being ridden.
No 2, We have found a home for two of our sales horses! This is especially exciting to us because Angel, who started out as a rescue, has been bought by one of our own students and so not only has she got a fantastic, loving home, she doesn't have to move! Congrats Stephanie! We know you will be very happy together. The other horse who has found a home is Misty, a brood mare of ours who had foundered after a traumatic foaling and became unsound. She has found her forever home as a babysitter to a herd of yearlings and she will be so good at her job! We still have two more horses for sale and two more foals on the way who will also be offered for sale (unless they're too good to pass up...)
And finally, No 3, we are excited to anounce that we will be running two Horsemanship from the Heart™ clinics this summer! June 19-21th we will be running Riding with the Elements™ and Aug 14-16 we will be running Fear Management™. Both of these clinics are listed on our training page and for more info or to reserve a space, please email or call.
Feb 24 2009
First off, i have to wish everyone a very late HAPPY NEW YEAR! As you read in the previous entry between Dec 15th and Jan 15th Silver Star Stable's lesson program takes a much needed break and i don't think it's ever been needed as much as it was this past year. Durring this 4 week span the temperature dropped to -18 and more snow fell from the skies than i have ever seen! It was so cold that even though our water lines are burried well below the surface of the ground they still managed to freeze. We were forced to make the treck out to somewhere in Abbotsford where we could purchase a truck loaded water tank with which to fill with water for the purpose of filling each water trough around the 20 acres of Natural Care pastures and the water buckets in the corner of each shelter in the paddocks. This was a perminant fixture in the back of our 2004 2500 Chev Silverado without which we could never have continued to get such a simple task completed. The temperature dropped so low at one point that the water actually froze inside the short hose that allowed the water to get from the tank to the trough while it was running! Another winter challange we faced was the depth of the snow that fell. We use our trusty John Deere Gotor as so many other ranches and stables do, to get hay and grain to each horse. After one of the snowfalls it became aparent that since the snow depth was deeper than the hight of the tires, this would be impossible. How would we get the the 6 or 7 necissary bales of hay around the property now? Well, thanks to my daughter Zahra's fabulous super pony, no horse went even a few minutes without their expected meal and her little 11.1 hh Shetland pony became the hero. This amazing little pony who has only recently began to ground drive and wear his new harness seemed to know that he had a job to do and very pariently and bravely alowed himself to be "rigged up" and hitched to an infalateble yellow and blue boat!!! He dragged that boat through snow up to his elbows, up hills, through pastures, around paddocks and back to the hay barn, all before eating breakfast himself! It's an understatement to say that i was impressed by his sense of duty and willingness to do something new and scary. He quite litterally saved the day. Thanks to the unwelcome wintery wonderland, though it was exceptionally beautiful, the job of feeding, cleaning up after and watering 28 horses across this small ranch went from a 2.5 hour job to a 12 hour job!!! It was only a few days before Jan 15th that the weather improved and the ground thawed. It was a humbling and eye opening experience that built a lot of character and proved to both myself and my husband that we really must love what we do to drag our cold feet through snow past our knees and break ice, fill waters and freeze 7 days a week! We are ALL happy to see the weather change and soooo happy to be back in the saddle and teaching and training again.
CJ, another one of my long term students and boarders has decided to become CHA Certified as well. She is a fantastic student and on her way to being an even better instructor. She's patient, considerate, supportive, alert and encouraging and will be offering lessons at a discounted rate as she builds experience and will be a full fledged member of our Silver Star Stables coaching team upon certification. If you are interested in taking advantage of her offer of discounted lessons and helping her to gain the experience she needs please call or email for more information.
Thanks to CJ's involvement in our team, i have been freed up to put my focus where i feel it's needed, the horses. I now have more time and energy to put towards training my own and privately owned horses and their owners. This is my true pation and i am extatic to be able to share my program Horsemanship from the Heart™ with people of all levels. If you or anyone you know is interested in lessons or training in this 4 level program please contact silver star stables for more information. Our manual is in the editing stages but it will be available soon.
Dec 16 2008
Well, another year is almost over. This is winter no. 3 for us out here in Langley B.C. and the conclusion to two wonderful years of growth as a stable and a community. Looking back over the past two years, we have come a ways! When we moved in, we had a 16 stall barn, 16 paddocks, a large arena and 8 pastures. We had about 14-16 horses including our boarders and a small no. of loyal students who followed us from Richmond. Today, we have 4 arenas, 12 pastures, 16 paddocks, 6 stalls, heated tack room, lounge, viewing room, locker room and office! We look after 28 horses and have a large and growing no of loyal, enthusiastic and tallented students! We also came to this property with the help of one of our long time students Eliya Finkelstien who had been learning with myself for many years and made the daily treck by bus from Vancouver BC to continue her learning with me and my horses. Now Eliya is a Certified Instructor here at Silver Star Stables and a Horsemanship from the Heart™ Apprentice trainer! She is currently working with her own horse and one of ours in order to learn as much as she can from these 4 legged teaches as well as myself. I have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas and hopefully a lot to look forward to in the years to come. Lessons have been put on hold over then next 4 weeks as the weather becomes cold enough, windy enough and the nights get dark enough to make regular riding lessons hazardous and uncomfortable. Lessons will continue on Jan 15th and for those of you who are not currently students of the barn, there's still room in the program for new comers! We hope to expand and add another instructor for 2009 so the program can continue to grow.
Silver Star Stables 2009 calander is ready!! We are selling them for $15.00 and these can be purchased through myself, Christa Miremadi either directly or via email at info@silverstarstables.com
We hope you all have a fabulous Christmas season and a wonderful new year!!! See you in 2009!
Nov 22 2008
First off i have to appolagize for how long it has been since my last news entry on this page. I'm sorry. Secondly, i will explain myself:) On July 21 2008 my family and i welcomed our newest member. A baby boy named Phoenix Hassan Miremadi. I know it's no excuse for my slacking on updates, especially when i have something so exciting to report but the lack of sleep and extra busy days have really gone by fast! Aside from looking after the new baby there are a few other things to report since June.
We have bred two of our mares to our stallion, Lyndales Starfire for the summer of 2009. Both of these foals will be offered for sale. The first will be a full sibling to Lexxy, out of Carlotta and the second will be a half sibling to both Naari and Lexxy, out of Ginger. Carlotta's foal is due in June 2009 and Gingers foal is due in August 2009.
We have put new footing in both our indoor and our outdoor arenas, providing a little softer impact for our horses as well as less dust.
I have spent lots of time furthering my learning over the fall. I was able to attend a Johnathan Fields Horsemanship clinic at his training center in Abbotsford as well as one of his teachers, Larry Stewart a few weeks later. It was very informative and i learned a great deal about each of their styles of horsemanship as well as had an opportunity to watch how the horses would respond to each partisipants efforts. It is always interesting to me to watch this as you may see someone with less knowledge achive some amazing results due to the respect and love they share with their horse and at the same time, someone with more knowledge achive less due to the intent behind the request. Many of the excersizes were very interesting and i learned a lot about what each was teaching. Some of the most valuable things i took away with me were as follows. "If a fly can cause a horse to move, so can you. You don't have to get tough, just be consistant and patient." -Larry Stewart
I was also reminded of the importance of being light and having a good time while watching Johnathan work with his horses.
As well as these two clinics, i was glad to accept the knowledge shared by the many horsemen and horsewoman presenting at the Mane Event in Chilliwack last month. I had the chance to observe many different styles of "horsemanship" and as these things often do, was reminded of the importance of Horsemanship from the Heart™. There is still so much abuse to the horse happening in the name of Natural Horsemanship due only to the lack of understanding of how much these animals are capable of emotionally. Physically, with the exception of a few, most of the horses were being treated very well, however, emotionally, it was hard to watch some presentations. I was glad to come home to my herd and welcomed their strong willed, opinionated, Arabian aditudes:) I prefer to hear a clearly stated (yet respectfully delivered) opinion about how my horse feels about something than have them suffer in silence. I will gladly change the method of presentation to try to help them learn something in a way that they feel more comfortable with.
Finally, thanks to the fact that i'm no longer pregnant, i have been in the saddle (or on the back of the horse at least) again for 3-5 hours of every day on top of walking around in circles in the center of the arena teaching. I am so glad to be back to work and now that i've been forced to take 5 months off of riding, i have been reminded not to take it for granted. I am riding EVERY chance i get. Our new indoor arena lights are helping me quite a bit alowing me to ride until the wee hours of the morning:) I've also welcomed a new member into our equine herd as well. Kairon, a 14 year old, magnifisant Friezian gelding. I will post his pics soon.
Well that's all for now but i thank you all for your patience awaiting this entry!
June 3 2008
What happened to May?? We've been so busy cutting grass, planting seeds, building fences and enjoying our new arenas that I totally missed my May entry in the news journal!! For this, i apologize. As many of you probably already know, we - Christa and Amin Miremadi and our 7 year old daughter Zahra - are impatiently awaiting the arrival of the newest member of our human herd! I have been on a break from teaching riding since May 1st and I am missing both teaching and seeing all my wonderful students! I still get to see you all around but it's not the same. It has, however, given me an opportunity to do some of the ground work that my youngsters so badly needed. I've had lots of time to work with Lexy on her leading, Naari on standing patiently and lifting his feet, and Lightning is learning to drive! But, even that work will have to wait now as I'm in my final stretch of pregnancy.
Another obvious piece of news is this new format for our website! Another benefit of not being allowed to ride or teach. I get lots of computer work done. I'd love to hear from you about how you like this new site as well as what you think of our new www.horsemanshipfromtheheart.com
Equine-imity has also re-done their site and it can be viewed at www.unbridlinghumanpotential.com
including all the dates for upcoming public workshops and information about how to sign your company up for a corporate leadership and teamwork day!
April 7 2008
Equine-imity begins again this month! April 18th, 19th and 20th we welcome the 2008 equine-imity program with a wonderful workshop, The Healing Labyrinth with Horse as Guide. This is a one of a kind program - with the horses guiding us as we walk the ancient labyrinth on the way to a whole new beginning of:
~Living a more balanced and centered life
~Making more courageous and confident decisions
~Re-discovering your soul's divine mission
~Learning to say no and "be" guilt-free and "clear"
~Moving beyond our stories and the stress and struggle they create
Join us at Healing Heart Sanctuary in Langley for a quiet getaway in the country surrounded by the sounds of nature and the gentle reminders of "breathing easy". Contact Linda Ann today to find out more about how to register.
Linda-Ann@equine-imity.com or 604-889-4452.
This is just the first of what is bound to be a fantastic year of workshops by both equine-imity and Horsemanship from the Heart.
March 4 2008
Well what happened to Febuary?!? We have been welcoming this early spring weather by doing as many winter repairs and summer preparations as possible and this has resulted in my Febuary news entry getting forgotten. It has been busy but it feels good to see the sun again and even better to see dry ground! :) We have planted some new trees in our Natural Care Boarding turn-outs. We have planted 13 new evergreens between the fields. We have also completed our new outdoor arena as well as our indoor round pen and both are in use. I will post some new pics on the boarding page soon with the new improvements.
Lessons have started to increase again as well! The schedule is quickly filling up so if you're interested in lessons in English Horsemanship, Western Horsemanship or Horsemanship from the Heart be sure to book soon before it's too late!
Equine-imity will be starting up again in April and for the rest of the season, so for information on up-coming workshops and schedules check the equin-imity page. I will also be posting the new dates for 2008 soon so check back.
We will be running two Horsemanship from the Heart clinics this summer as well:
One will be Riding with the Elements, a riding and groundwork program that taps into the power of the elements as energies that live within all of us - including our horses! Learn how to recognize the predominant element of your horse and of yourself, and how to shift from one to the other in order to become more balanced and skillful in your relationship with your horse. We will explore how these elements can expand or contract our possibilities with our horses!
The other clinic we will be offering from the Horsemanship from the Heart program will be The Zen of Horseplay. This amazing program introduces you to the gift of play both in our lives and with our horses. If you are finding yourself (or your horse) much too serious, lacking creativity and fun, then this program is for you! We will combine easy techniques for re-connecting with your creativity while learning safe ways to be interesting to our horses. Play and lightness is important to our horses and they have a lot to teach us!
For more information on these or any other clinics or workshops or if you have a suggestion for a clinic topic, please email info@silverstarstables.com
Jan 3 2008
It's finally here! 2008. So much has happened during 2007 that it's hard to re-cap it all but just for a quick overview, we moved in in Oct 2006, discovered and repaired numerous problems with our well, pipes and pump that deliver water to our home and all the horses, fully renovated the stable, replaced old footing, built 4 new pastures, 5 new shelters, a new round pen, arena and now we are completing the indoor! We've also taken in 4 rescues who are all healthy and useful now as well as today being the first day for our 5th rescue! Yes, we are opening up our barn gates again, this time to a beutiful 20 year old reg half Arab mare. Her owner was out of time selling her and it was us or the auction for her so here she is!
We still have calaeders left so if you'd like to order one, email info@silverstarstables.com for more info!
Dec 3 2007
Over the last few days, we've had snow, snow and more snow! Like always, the horses are prefering to stand under the trees than go into their cozy shelters. It sure looks beautiful but it's very cold! Thanks to the natural care turnouts and all the improvements around the property is was mostly business as usual (except having to drag yourself through a foot of snow). New water hydrants meant that despite the frozen hoses, we could still get water to the horses without having to haul it bucket by bucket and the turnouts meant that despite the sub-zero temperatures, the horses weren't having to stand in old frozen manure! They loped around through the snow and played as usual and looked at us like, 'what's your problem?'
The 2008 calender is ready! A brand new Silver Star Stables calender filled with pictures of our horses and their wonderful home is available for only $15.00 this year! If you want one for yourself or for a gift for someone else, email info@silverstarstables.com for ordering information.
Indoor construction begins again on the 4th. Hopefully by 2008 I will have some new pictures to show everyone of all the new arenas and the latest upgrades!
Now that the colder, less motivating weather is here, don't let it stand in the way of spending time with your horses! Get yourself some warm, waterproof clothing and even if you don't want to ride in the rain, you can bring your horse in for a good thorough grooming, a massage, a nice warm bran mash or with the younger, greener horses, take this opportunity to expand their comfort zones by introducing them, slowly and respectfully, to things like blankets, saddle pads, bandages or even plastic bags! Just remember to keep the stress levels low and the learning will be retained:)
For more information on training and ways to introduce new things to your horse, email info@silverstarstables.com or visit the training page.
Nov 15 2007
The days are cold and short and the nights are wet and windy! Winter is sneaking in. We had our first big wind storm of the year last weekend, blowing over two trees in our large oval turn out and one across the track! The horses were much happier outside huddled together than they were in the barn, so after a few hours of keeping them inside out of the wind they went back to their pastures and cuddled up. They are all covered in thick, fuzzy wooly coats now and keeping cozy and warm.
Construction on our indoor round pen has been put on hold temporarily as we had some parts missing. They are almost here and then we can get on with it! We are all very anxious to have the construction around here come to an end so that we can get back to the things we really love! Riding, training and horseplay!
Oct 1st 2007
The rain has arrived! We have almost completed the second arena and the cement foundation for the indoor is in! There's no turning back now... We are hoping to have both arenas completed by Nov 1st. I am definitely looking forward to having a dry place to ride and train! We've completed the large natural care boarding turnout by laying down a solid, dry, gravel patch beneeth the shelters and around the waters and gates. Funny enough, this is where the horses prefer to stand, roll and relax! Most of the horses spent a good deal of the day under the shelter, glaring out into the rain but some of them seem to really like the change in the weather and take this wet oportunity to graze out in the open.
The boarding page has been updated with some pictures of the new facilities! Check them out and leave your comments in our guestbook!
Equine-imity is wrapping up the wonderful year of public workshops on Oct 13th with a final day with the horses in a workshop called 'The Wisdom of Spirit Horse.' In this day we will celebrate, with our horses, the coming of the full moon. We will breathe together and will be reminded of the magnificence of creating sacred space to honour ourselves and each other. We will be intentional about our self-care, our life practices, and the promises we make to ourselves. The horses will guide us in the journey, releasing, sighing, syncopating our steps in joy and fulfillment. We will find renewed strength to claim courage and resilience to live our best lives! For information about this event run by Linda-Ann Bowling, visit: www.equine-imity.com
Sept 7th 2007
Well... where did the summer go! It feels like it just started and now it's fall! We've had 3 months of beautiful weather and we've been taking advantage of it... What better way to spend the summer than preparing for winter! We've built two new shelters for our large Natural Care Boarding turnout as well as done a lot of drainage and ground maintenance, purchased a generator for the inevitable power failures so we'll never be left without water defrosters or a well pump again, finished the final turn out and we are currently putting in our new 70' round indoor and 100' x 80' second outdoor arena! I'm very excited about our new facilities as now training and lessons don't have to be put on hold just because the weather is turning.
Our horses are all doing really well! Over the last winter we took in 4 rescues, Sierra, Rocky (the donkey) Midnight and Chief. Midnight was in great shape when he came and was just in need of a loving home to have a place in. He has that now! He's part of our school string and a companion to Naari. Sierra is in full training with Eliya (Silver Star Stables' weekend riding coach) and will be joining the school string and will be for lease shortly, Rocky is looking better than ever and is actually starting to enjoy his daily cuddling, and Chief has now been given the 'all sound' by two different vets and is working well in our school string! He seems happier than ever to be back to work and play with the other horses. He too is available for a part time lease.
Starfire has been doing great and has even become a riding horse! He had his first ride last month and
was a natural! He bred only one mare for 2008, Saige. I am looking forward to meeting her foal as she has such a wonderful temperment and is so beautiful!
We have one more workshop/clinic left of the season, Sept 28th and 29th, Riding with the Elements! This workshop/clinic will help you to recognize your horse's equine-ality and learning style, learn about your own, and learn how to adjust inorder to work together more effectively! For more information please email me at info@silverstarstables.com
I will be posting new pics of all the improvements as soon as they are completed!
June 26th 2007
Finally, all the horses are out! There is nothing like seeing horses the way they are meant to be, in a large group, rubbing on tree trunks and moving together as a herd. Huddling together to protect one another from either the wind, rain or even flies! We've completed the biggest natural care boarding turn-out on the property, a 3 (or more) acre oval located within our grass track. It has hills, valleys, open grass areas as well as tree clusters. It sure doesn't take horses long to feel at home in a place like that.
Starfire and his herd of bachelors finally have the run of their 2 acre pasture. Naari is learning all his manners and horsey lessons from his father and has grown so attached to his dad that he'll have to be weaned twice! Once from his mom and now once from his dad.
There is only one turn out left to be completed and we're hoping to have that done by the end of June as well. Things are certainly coming together and the sunshine really helps us all to feel great!
If you are interested in coming to see our facilities for boarding, lessons or training, please don't hesitate to come for a visit!
May 20th 2007
We are enjoying every moment of sunshine here at Silver Star Stables and almost forgot about the monthly update! Oops. Well, better late than never! The sun is doing its job and the grass is thick and full! The horses have never been happier. All that long, itchy, winter hair is coming out and their sleek, shiny, smooth summer coats are here! New updated photos of the youngsters and the sales horses will be added soon!
We are battling all the nasty things spring brings with it with a vengeance and winning.. Now that all the barn renos are done, we are working on the land and the weeds don't stand a chance. Another spring visitor that is realizing that it's unwelcome here is the annoying flies that usually swarm around horses' eyes and noses. We've released the 'fly predators' and where there used to be hundreds of flies, we now have virtually none!
Since we just moved in to this wonderful property this fall we did not breed any 2007 foals but will be breeding for 2008 soon. We will keep you updated on who's being bred.
We have clinics coming up throughout the summer so keep your eyes peeled for the one you want to attend!
April 9th 2007
Finally! The sun has come and it's staying around for a while! Having just moved to this property in October, it's a real treat to follow such a cold, hard winter with such a beautiful spring. All the trees are sprouting new leaves, the grass is growing thick and long and the blossoms are blooming all over! We are also sung to sleep every night by a chorus of frogs from our small lake.
The reno's inside the barn are finally coming to an end so we can now enjoy our brand new office, viewing lounge, locker room and tack room as well as 11 new tie stalls and a nice big groom stall! I feel spoiled in this great new facility! To add to it all we have 3 new pastures for pasture boarding being put in this month. We will be able to keep 10 horses in pasture all year round! (Of course when the horses are out all year round, there isn't too much grass to be had.)
The season for workshops, clinics and training has begun! We will be hosting our first equine-imity workshop of the year on April 27th and 28th and we are looking forward to a great year of workshops to follow!
Starfire and Naari are still living together and stand watch over one another while they take turns sleeping. Soon they will get the run of their 2 full acres of grass!
March 1st 2007
Just when we thought the snow was gone for good! Another snowfall last night leaves us blanketed in the soft, cold, white stuff. This time, not so thick or uncomfortable as the last time. There have, as usual been many big changes! We've begun our renovations to the stable so right now it's been torn apart and is in that stage where you wonder if it was such a good idea to tell someone to tear out the inside of the barn, but it's coming along great and in a couple of weeks we will have a heated locker and viewing room, a heated viewing/conference room, heated tack room and office as well as new stalls and grooming area! I'm looking forward to posting the updated pics of the new facilities soon! We've also cleared out about 5 truck loads of blackberries so that our full time pasture boarding area will be available as soon as it's fenced.
Rakkas Ibn Naar, aka Naari, has moved in with his dad, Starfire and is now learning all his horsey manners and spending lots of time in a herd with his dad! It's not every day a stallion and his colt are alowed to mingle but they are happier than ever and Naari and Starfire are getting along great!
I now have the registration forms for the Centered riding clinic so please email me or visit our clinics page for more information on prices and registation!
February 1st 2007
Thank goodness for a break in the weather pattern! It's been dry and sunny and even a little bit warm for the last week or two! All of the horses are soaking up as much of the sun as they can, some of them have even taken to sun bathing befor finishing their hay! They must have been missing it. I know I have been. There are no major changes to annouce at this time, all are healthy and happy and that includes us two-leggeds. We are approching the capacity for boarders so we are working hard on preparing a year round pasture turn out for our school string to make room for more boarders and training projects so there will be a few more spaces opening soon. I have been getting lots of inquiries on the Centered Riding clinic to be held this July 21 and 22nd with Heidi Potter but unfortunatly do not have more info on that yet. I hope to have the rates and a brief outline of what to expect at the clinic posted for next month. I am still taking names though if you want to reserve a spot as a participant.
January 4th 2007
Happy New Year to all! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great New Year's celebration. We have a few changes to announce. As I said last month, the extreme weather was pretty tough on us, and between the snow, rain and wind, the elements took down my stallion's shelter! We have been working hard though and now he and his band of bachelors are enjoying a brand new 12' x 24' steel-framed shelter! We've also done some graveling and sanding so all of our horses are above water!
The wind also tried to close down our track and trails by tossing trees across the path in many places, but all of that has been cleared as well, so we are back to full streanth again. Lessons have re-started for the season and there are spaces available for horse training.
Heidi Potter, a level III Centered Riding coach will be joining us July 21 and 22 for two days of learning as Silver Star Stables hosts her Centered Riding Clinic! Heidi has said she will also be sticking around for an extra day to do private lessons with anyone who is interested in a more concentrated experience. Between 7 and 12 participants will be accepted to ride in the clinic, however the number of auditors is unlimited. Rates for both auditing and participating will be posted soon. If you do not own a horse or do not have transportation for your own horse but are interested in participating, Silver Star Stables does have a few horses available to rent for this clinic. Auditing this clinic is beneficial as well, as a lot of the work is done from the ground.
If you need more information or want to reserve a place, please contact Christa Miremadi at info@silverstarstables or 604-856-2967.
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