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The Bunkhouse, LLC

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Farmville, VA
The Bunkhouse, LLC

Small private horse farm in VA devoted to good horse/ rider communication, safe & fun trail riding!

07/12/2024

For my Texan Friends:)

😅 🤦‍♂️

07/12/2024

Great ride on Mully yesterday, I know my spirit is healing cause I wanted to canter him down the lane! 🙂

07/11/2024

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉

Kavic Kangal, Nancy Cutler Richards

07/10/2024

Mulligan and I trying to get our groove back💙

07/09/2024

Astride their trusty steeds, this band of determined women ventured into the Appalachian countryside, their saddlebags heavy with stories and dreams! These pack horse librarians, delivering books in rural Kentucky in 1938, were part of a remarkable initiative born from the hardships of the Great Depression. The Pack Horse Library Project, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program, employed these intrepid "book women" or "book ladies" to bring literature and learning to the most remote parts of Appalachia. Librarians often rode 100-120 miles per week on rocky, muddy trails that were impassable by car. They endured harsh weather, from scorching summers to frigid winters, to reach their eager patrons.

07/03/2024

😁 Oh well . . .

07/03/2024

I had my first trailer aid for 30 years! The other day I was headed out and threw it into my dressing room, and it cracked in 3 pieces. I guess they can go bad! Got my new one today wouldn’t be without one:)

07/01/2024

OK this is boring for you, but it’s an accomplishment for me. Most people that ride English ( Mullys background ) don’t use round pens that often. When they do they use it just to burn energy off their horse. Mulligan had zero natural horsemanship training. He knew nothing about working off of a handler’s body language. I have been trying for months to get him to turn INTO me when changing direction in the round pen, instead of disrespectfully, turning to the OUTSIDE and turning his butt towards me.
Sounds like a small thing, but it’s very important and transfers to other areas. In this video, you’ll see me taking his halter and physically turning him and using the whip as an aid over and over. Then finally, the lightbulb went off!! I love those moments!

06/29/2024

06/26/2024

Oh well . . .

06/15/2024

Another great day at Waterloo Dressage Show for my niece Haley and Mia! I don’t know if Facebook will show live photos, but this was actually a very cute photo of them giving kisses to each other. It looks like she’s giving an ugly mare face, but she wasn’t:)

06/14/2024

My niece Haley and her partner Mia took a First Place today at Dressage at Waterloo up in Michigan with a 65.143. She told me she was lucky as she forgot to take Mia’s boots off and could have been disqualified! Oops! 😬

Congrats Haley!

06/14/2024

Time to make the donuts and work on getting our mojo back:)

06/13/2024

What a difference a year makes! Standing ground tied for his feet trim versus a chain and alot of correction:)

06/06/2024

😂😂😂It’s Mulligan:)

06/04/2024

That mare in the middle is definitely the boss of this herd but I love when she lets the boys snuggle up next to her:)

06/03/2024

Y’all know I like to create videos. It’s like journaling to me. It’s how I celebrate things or move through things I’d rather not celebrate. I finally swung my leg over Mulligan yesterday. Horse people know how hard that can be when an animal you trusted really hurts you. It’s done, time to move forward.

06/02/2024

Bunkhouse Boon and his owner Danielle took Champion in the Adult Hunter Division! 🏆
Congratulations!

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Videos

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉 Kavic Kangal, Nancy Cutler Richards

Getting Mully to turn INTO me and change direction instead of turning his butt to me.

OK this is boring for you, but it’s an accomplishment for me. Most people that ride English ( Mullys background ) don’t use round pens that often. When they do they use it just to burn energy off their horse. Mulligan had zero natural horsemanship training. He knew nothing about working off of a handler’s body language. I have been trying for months to get him to turn INTO me when changing direction in the round pen, instead of disrespectfully, turning to the OUTSIDE and turning his butt towards me. Sounds like a small thing, but it’s very important and transfers to other areas. In this video, you’ll see me taking his halter and physically turning him and using the whip as an aid over and over. Then finally, the lightbulb went off!! I love those moments!

More Mully

New pony learning trail etiquette:) No harm, no foul and it only took one time to learn.

Today, just part of his weekly world.

If Mulligan was a human being and especially a woman, he would murder me for posting this video! He looks like a feral Sasquatch! It’s been raining for a week and he is disgusting. It takes hours to groom a gypsy, so sometimes I work him when he’s a mess, real life folks, real life😝. When I got him, he was very stiff and heavy, he’s gotten much better. I do lateral flexing with him so that he will soften and give to me rather than brace and pull away from me. I am no match for his size and strength.

Short video on the use of pressure. Everything done in the round pen will transfer to under saddle. My pelvis is almost healed from my wreck, now I have to get my horses (and myself!) back in shape as they have sat for three months.

🎄

THANK GOD for GREAT FRIENDS!!

My great friend Yvonne working Mully in the round pen while I'm injured:)

So I'm going to share some personal info here. I'm 64 years old and people tell me "You're so strong. How do you do everything that you do?" I am not strong. I worked one horse this morning and I was tired but then I had a bunch of chores to do. I ran into some problems unhooking one trailer and hooking to my other trailer. I wasn't strong enough on my own to do what I needed to do. I got frustrated and cried like a little girl, had a serious, snotty nose 10 minute cry. An "I'm giving up" cry, an "I can't do this anymore" cry. Then I went and sat in the barn, ate a popsicle, and prayed. I also reached out to two girlfriends who are like sisters. They just listened and didn't judge. Then I cried some more. Then I wiped my nose and went back and got my trailer problem fixed. I'm not strong. I'm Scottish and stubborn, and was raised by a father who always expected better from me, even when I was doing my best. So decades later, I still keep pushing myself. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I just know that it works for me most of the time. I'm over my morning struggle:) When you're struggling, just remember, everyone struggles even the "strong" ones. The video is of me getting in Mulligans' head , building respect and trying to make our relationship work. I hope you find something useful in it.

It's always fun to turn 1.5 hrs of schooling riding into a less than 2 min video:) Cat has a very fast lope, almost a hand gallup. I have tried to get her to slow down on the trail and in the big arena without much success because of my own fears. Today I took her back to basics in the round pen, and was able to accomplish a soft departure, slow lope! I'm thrilled:)

Coconut Oil🌴🥥🐴

There is such satisfaction in being able to train and school your own horses for what you need them to do. I am grateful to those who shared their knowledge with me. The work is hard, tedious and you can't take shortcuts, but there is no better feeling than when it pays off:)

Grooming always grooming.

Nailed it!!! Figured out the solo Mulligan loading this morning!! Woo hoo. The key is I walked him in and turn him around to the open trailer door, by doing this he didn't feel panicked to back out securing his freedom. He could see the outside and so I rubbed on him praised him then unloaded him. I repeated this twice, rewarded him by exiting trailer. 3rd time I tied him, gave him a small chunk of apple and walked off and shut the door. Left him on 5 min, he was quiet and calm. Done!!

Feather socks, someone should make these!

Mully enjoying breakfast

PROGRESS: Mulligan is making good progress on his trailer loading in his new wide load trailer:) Working now to get him to stand in there long enough to allow me to tie him.