Happy New Year

We survived a harrowing New Years Eve. Normally at 11:30 I throw flakes of hay for each horse. At 11:40 I put on Kalae's halter and hold the lead rope. This evening as I sat in my recliner at 10 pm I hear loud booms, followed by whistling and saw big huge fireworks display blossom directly over head of the pasture, just 30 feet away. I could hear the thundering hooves, panicking whinnying as I bolted out the door. OMG the booms continue. 10-12 total. The neighbors are setting the Ariel fireworks off on the street but the wind is putting them right overhead. !0-15 minutes later the pattern repeats. I now have Kalae haltered, hay spred down for everyone. I am torn... I dint want to let go of Kalae but I need to ask the neighbors to stop. More incoming. it ends and I dash next door. I must have looked the sight, Helmeted, back brace around my neck to keep out the cold, riding coat and boots. Oh and the whites of my freaked out eyes must have portrayed my fright. Please do not shoot the Ariel's over my horses, shoot toward the empty lot! The gentleman said he would let the party goers know. The next few rounds did indeed shoot away from us but by this time the horses were so fried 100 feet did not make a difference. I felt like I was in the "War Horse" movie. I was dreading the midnight on slaught. I could hear the horses down the road whinnying in despair and hoped Monica was there. I can not imagine the barn across the gulch and how all those horses were fairing. At midnight the noise and booms was unbelievable. We survived nearly 3 hours of hell. It was the worst New years ever... you would never know Ariel's were illegal.
The next day we were all tired!

Winter has curtailed our riding

Yes, it is winter on Maui. The last 3 days were quite nasty. We trailered up to the top of Haleakala on Friday Morning. Six horses and a pack mule. I had not been into the crater on horseback for a decade. We were to go on a volunteer service trip to repair trails. When we got to the top the wind was gusty, the rain coming sideways and the wind chill at 24 degrees. Burrrh it was really cold. We all laughed "we don't do cold", jumped back in the trucks and headed down the hill. This was 3 hours of trailering. By Hawaii standards this is a lot of road time. Most of our jaunts are less than 15 minutes. On Friday evening the wind really kicked up a notch and the rain started. I blanketed my herd at 10pm. Saturday morning and Kalae was shivering even blanketed. Thank goodness I was here to blanket them. It rained all day for .63 inches. On Sunday it got worse. My arena was flooded and as the rain pelted the picture window I was so grateful I was not riding out of the crater as we would be doing. I called Wilfred : Can you believe this? We were laughing. "You can not imagine what a licking we would be taking! Stay dry. Sunday we had 1.10 inches of rain and the temps averaged 65 degrees in Makawao at 1,800 feet. 39 degrees at the top of Haleakala at 10,000 feet. wind chill 24 degrees.

John Lassetter Clinic

Everyone had some great rides with John. Peter and Jessica were the bravest by having lunge lessons. These focused seat lessons imporved their seats by the end of the lesson. The gallery watching the lessons were stretching their arms high, rotating one forward and the other backwards. Jessica sais she really likes the lunge lessons as they focus on her seat where the other lesson focus on training the horse.
I rode Freederic the first 2 lessons. Whew I had to stop frequently for air. I had not ridden Freederic in a long while. He is such a trooper. Kalae was awesome as usual. We were able to work past a sticky point and proceed. Linda and Bailey did well. Marilee rode 3 different horses and was very pleased. Belinda and Bella also did remarkably well.
All in all a fun week with friends and horses.

Sunset Ride

The autum sun is setting sooner every day. Our 5:15 pm departure gave us a beautiful sunset ride. 2 Hawaiian owls or Pueo's (pu-EH-oh)were soaring and diving among the old pineapple fields. The wind was nippy and the horses walking fast. A great hour in the saddle! As you can see Dolly got to tag along for the exercise

John Lassetter Clinic Oct 19-24, 2011

Come to Kalae Farm Hannoverians for a week of riding and fun!
Arena Figures: Double loop down the long side, 6 shallow loops down the center line. Head to wall leg yield, cavaletti in a fan shape. 10 meter box. 20 meter circle with satellite 10 meter circles. 20 meter circle in the center with 10 meter circle on the center line to the outside. Spiral in and leg yield out. Cavaletti to canter and back to trot at the cavaletti. Reinback. Short diagonal w/leg yield and canter. The list goes on and on.

Birthday ride

Had a call from the Sheraton Hotel for a guest who wanted a dressage lesson. Patty arrived with her husband who was treating her for her birthday. What a treat to ride the #1 horse Kalae. Her own horse, a Oldenberg has been lame for the last year. She wants to work on her hand position and seat position as she has not been able to ride much. She did great riding a strange horse. "She is so smooth and sensitive"
Kalae even gave her a flying change. A big smile and birthday wishes for Patty!

Dillingham Ranch, Oahu

A beautiful day on the North shore of Oahu. Reef walking in the morning. A swim in the refreshing ocean. It makes me smile. And then down to the ranch to watch Stefanie ride Valentjn. It is always fun watching horses. Valentjn was sure we were there to socialize ( we were Ha) and cheer him on!