Basis Equine

11/11/2024

It’s a good feeling when you set aside a good chunk of time to work on trailer loading in a very low pressure way, and they hop in on the first try!
I wasn’t sure how much of our last trailer loading work (back in august) he would retain. He loaded well then, but also ran circles int he trailer the whole short ride to the pasture. Apparently the trailer associations are still good! He ate his supplements with just his head in the trailer, finished up, climbed right in, and hung out for a bit. Let me close the door on him briefly with no stress.

02/10/2024

The Gobi Desert. Camels. The first few days of The Great Nomad Expedition. Beginning of July.

I’m put on a midsized camel with a purple fabric ear tag. I name him Tabitha. Even though these are all male riding camels. Tabitha is very attached to the other purple ear tagged camel, Craig. (These names were given by us for our own humorous entertainment only. As the Mongolians do not name their animals.)
Craig was piloted by the fantastic Hannah, who luckily made a great riding partner for me as we were to spend lots of time together as we trotted through the dessert.

Observations:
Being used to riding horses, it is a great (and somewhat unnerving) surprise to me that my camel can just about put its forehead against its front hump and look me in the eyes. The next surprise is just how much noise they make. The grunts, and coos, and keening sounds that come from within these huge animals. They do not have haunches the way horses do. So climbing up sand dunes is a slow and laborious process, and downhills are done at great speed for they do not possess the musculature to sit back as you descend. They are best on flat desert ground at a pace.

Mongolia is a wild and harsh place. Animals are food, transportation, and livelihood. There were many things I had to simply take a deep breath and not dwell on as it is not my place, my culture, or my animals. But watching our camel herder, Loya, was a joy. Seeing someone who’s very presence calmed his animals. It’s obvious how much he cares for these animals and how his life revolves around them. I spent our lunch times watching him catch loose camels, untangle others, and even replace a few nose pegs. Things that I expected to be painful and dramatic were done with such a calm and firm hand, that before you knew it, it was all over and done with. No fuss.
Somewhere there is a picture of Loya and I with the camels, but I cannot seem to find it to go with this post.

Thank you The Great Nomad Expedition

18/09/2024

I joined the and The Great Nomad Expedition this past July to cover nearly 1200 kilometers in three weeks across Mongolia. Mounted on camels, horses, yaks, and reindeer.
I’ve taken these two months to let the experience sit with me. To go through my journal and the thousands of photos. To share the stories with my close friends and family. To ponder what I learned and what I would like to share about the experience.
These are just a few captured moments. I have many more things to write and share soon.

08/08/2024

30/06/2024

It’s a special feeling. To swing a saddle up on a horse, knowing exactly where every nail and screw is. To sit down on seat shaped perfectly to my seat bones. To ride in something so thoughtfully designed, and intended to last even beyond my lifetime.
At the beginning of June, I ventured over to Twisp to be Trent Peterson’s first saddle student. 10 days, one on one and side by side, building a saddle. A complete first for me. It was both an honor and a pleasure. I walked away with so much knowledge and the desire to learn even more, as well and the nicest saddle I’ve ever owned. Something that I’m incredibly proud of. Thank you Trent.
Some photos by Trent and Allie Lynn Yocum

23/03/2024

I was having a tangentially related conversation just the other day. When a horse is fearful, and a human retreats to “give them space” we are often just allowing them to continue existing is the high stress fearful state. It’s our jobs as their people to help them find a calm and confident state to release and relax in. If you have a “traumatized” horse then you have to put in the work to help them through that. And it is rarely ever easy work.

21/02/2024

Zaatar is making sure I feel all the birthday love today with lots of kisses from him!
And an obligatory throwback pic dug up by my wonderful father. Ransom, my mums ever patient thoroughbred, and a very very small me.

25/01/2024

18/01/2024

Snow day!
After several days of below freezing temps, we got some surprise snow. The boys are enjoying frolicking in it and I am enjoying the cozy warm inside as much as possible. Should be melted and back into the 40s in a few days and we can get back to work.
Picture taken by my wonderful Mum, who is doing most of the care right now (Thank you!!!) as this is the view out her living room window 😍

26/12/2023

Zaatar!! No longer 1801.
December 12th. 73 days since arrival. Z is such a wary and reactive horse that doing this safely was a long process. While this tag removal feels like a huge rewarding step, the feel of his exquisitely soft fur is a whole other reward in itself.
Next goal, removing the dreads from his long and matted mane. We will see if they can be groomed out or if I will have to cut them out.

09/11/2023

Updates from Sassafras. Friends with bugs, unimpressed with my selfie skills, and happy to have the mats out of his mane.
This little guy is making very steady progress. Wearing a halter regularly, leading well, and slowly coming around to the idea of grooming.

07/10/2023

Sassafras! No longer just a number.
This little guy is going to be every bit of a fun, feisty, and bold pony! I think the BLM may have been a bit generous when putting his height down as 14.2 though.
It’s been almost a week since they unloaded here, in the dark, on Saturday morning.
Video of some good moments during this first week coming soon.

30/09/2023

These boys loaded up at 10am today! Or, yesterday actually, I’m writing this post after midnight with just three hours left of driving to the ferry! It’s been a long haul and it’s not done yet.
I could not ask for a better driver, supporter, and in this case videographer, than my wonderful partner Justin.

28/09/2023

Antheia.
The mustang that started it all for me.
A scrappy, mousy, little thing that my mom brought home (somewhat on accident) as a halter broke yearling. I got to start her as a three year old, and she continued to be my partner for 8 years!
While I had been riding my whole life, she was the first one I had to actually put the work into. And I learned so much.
She is still absolutely thriving, and I love to watch her both learn the finer details of dressage and tote everyone from kids to the elderly around.
She is worth her weight in gold and I hope to find more like her. And then use all that she, and the subsequent horses have taught me, to do better for the ones who follow them.

22/09/2023

Getting very excited for this handsome guy! The BLM lists him as 4 years old and 14.2 hands tall. Fingers crossed that in less than two weeks, he and the dark one will be in our trailer coming home.

17/09/2023

Fireball enjoying blackberry picking with me at the start of our ride last week!

09/09/2023

The best thing you can do for your horse is give them the education to thrive in our world.

Make sure your horses load, stand for the carrier, can be caught, etc. quirks shouldn’t be accepted. If you truly care for your horses make them GREAT horses for whoever they can end up with in the future and not a horse that gets passed from home to home because you never cared to educate them.

06/09/2023

# 1801 and # 1688. Or as they are currently known, "the dark one" and "the buckskin."
If you saw my previous post about going to look at this batch of geldings, then you may recognize that beautiful dark head as the one who was right in the middle staring at the camera. They have some healing to do post gelding so it will be a couple of weeks before they are ready for travel and I can bring them home.