Redtail Farm

10/10/2024

It’s still hot out, but the light has that distinct sharpness it gets in the fall. The horses are all back in work now and I’m making full use of the hay field now that the hay is baled and in.

I’m terrible remiss in posting anything, but earlier this summer I got the opportunity to work with Maree McAteer and we’ve since struck up a great working relationship. I love what she’s got to teach and I’m finding so much practical application in all of what she’s told me. Of course I don’t have any pictures of our working together, but that’s ok 🤦‍♀️

I’ve got some lovely young horses of my own that I’m excited about, plus my old timers, a couple of great boarders, a couple of nice young horses in for training for a friend.

Things out here are going well and settling into a routine. Though I’ll be the first to admit that routine looks a little different than I’d imagined…3 small children plus running a horse farm and general life certainly throw some curveballs. But all in all, it’s a good life.

Here are some photos of some of the horses and happenings around here lately.

09/23/2024

Governor by BSF Golden Snitch - Connemara Stallion, out of Shez Sippin Whiskey.

09/23/2024

This is Governor’s sire! So handsome and such a good brain! BSF Golden Snitch - Connemara Stallion Nicolette M. Merle-Smith

Fortunately, Thornton Hill Hounds is so welcoming to my stallions. It gives them opportunities to get out and about, having to cross some wild country, climb big mountains, and meet new horses.
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Today, BSF Golden Snitch was presented with some “tempting” moments where he had to behave in the field, or main group of horses. And he just got better and better!
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The best part of it all is that he hasn’t been out hunting in a few years, and couldn’t have cared less about the hounds. He stayed on a loop in the rein the entire time as they ran by, and never jigged or got pumped about the hunting. He is as sane as they get!
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So, when people ask if my stallion hunts, the answer is YES, HE DOES!!! 😉🥰
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08/20/2024

A super short clip of Governor’s first time being haltered like a big boy.

Thank you to Brent Graef Horsemanship for the invaluable halter starting class a year ago. I’m excited already for the next one!

What I learned and got to experience there helped me set up this c**t for success. Sure, there’s plenty to improve on (for me), but isn’t there always! What was so nice is that it was a non-event and the c**t was calm and relaxed and he stayed right with me in a mentally and physically soft way.

06/10/2024

Governor, by BSF Golden Snitch - Connemara Stallion is the sweetest c**t and so incredibly peopley (that’s a word now, by the way). I had my whole upper body weight on him and he couldn’t have cared less.

05/17/2024

Featuring Governor and Bandera, the youngest and oldest equines on the place, respectively. With appearances by Betty, Gypsy, and Theo.

04/24/2024

Governor is so curious and interested in everything, especially his kids. BSF Golden Snitch - Connemara Stallion

04/21/2024

Betty’s c**t has a barn name. Apparently the unofficial tradition here is that we let our girls name the baby horses. This guy’s name is Governor (after the c**t in the Spirit series). We’ll register him as half Connemara and the plan is to call him RTF He’s A Whiskey Snitch (but I’ll have to study the Connemara naming rules). BSF Golden Snitch - Connemara Stallion Nicolette M. Merle-Smith

04/16/2024

Betty had a perfect chestnut c**t by BSF Golden Snitch - Connemara Stallion early this morning. He’s already so curious and friendly!

04/15/2024

01/16/2024

Cold windy days make for fresh, happy horses

12/27/2023

Shez Sippin Whiskey (aka Betty) and her 2022 filly, A Rugged Romance (aka Gypsy).

Gypsy is by My Rugged Destiny (Skylar) and Betty is currently in foal with a 2024 baby by BSF Golden Snitch - Connemara Stallion.

11/28/2023

This past October I got to attend a weanling halter starting class put on by Brent Graef Horsemanship. It was 6 days of full immersion.

Six of us were there and on the first day, Brent chose the baby we’d get for the duration of the class. It was funny because the second I saw the little chestnut filly with a blaze, I knew she’d be mine. I guess Brent thought so too. I ended up getting to help start a second baby and I was so honored to be given the privilege of working with two babies.

We learned a lot of technical, important information both aimed at imparting correct knowledge, as well as ensuring the babies had the best start possible.

Some of these technicalities were things like how to properly carry, hold, and then present a halter to an unhandled weanling horse. How exactly to do first touches; how to stand, breathe, leave (or fade out).

The technical pieces of operating around horses are certainly necessary, and often even invaluable for safety. But if that’s all we focused on then we’d be at risk of missing the biggest piece.

Brent didn’t use this word (or if he did, I must have missed it 🤦‍♀️), but I think it’s the spirituality of our work with horses and really all our interactions in life that will determine an outcome.

Most people out there can learn linear steps and rules and we’ve all had moments of extremely black and white thinking. But that becomes robotic and there’s no room for the spiritual or the present.

Brent, I saw quickly, exists and teaches in the here and now. He flows with the horses and his students, creating an atmosphere of calm and safety and compassion. Good teachers have this ability.

I think there’s a lot more to my thought here that I’ll leave you on, but I can’t get the right words formed yet.

So here’s a short version. They are few, making them truly rare, those who live what they teach, teach what they live, and are willing to go as deep as needed to access something. That’s real spirituality to me.

11/26/2023

Amy Skinner, you nailed this one perfectly. Thank you! This is stuff I’ve been thinking about a lot over the years.

“You can’t be one person in the house, and another person in the barn”

“I just believe you treat people the way you like to be treated”

“My philosophy is simple: treat others with respect and kindness and good things come back to you.”

Good phrases, with heavy meaning - and yet, stripped of any validity when uttered as a trope, a get out of jail free card, by some of the most abusive people I’ve ever met.

Folks who would “rip a horses tooth out” if they didn’t soften to the bit
Folks who would lope a horse mindlessly for ten minutes in the hot sun to teach them a lesson
Folks who abuse their students, who threaten and shout and scream at those they consider subordinates

What do these words mean, if we can’t uphold them when we’re stressed or tired ? When life gets bumpy and those around you take to cowering for fear of what comes next?

I’ve been into this for long enough now to see some of the most well respected folks treat others dismally. They have the costume; the catch phrases, and quite often can keep it together in public for just long enough.

They’re not wrong - you can’t be one way with others and another witb horses. You show who you really are in times of heat, and stress, and trouble.

And I can say with confidence, after being privy to enough talking heads behind the scenes - if they’re abusive to students, it will not stop there. It bleeds into everything.

The most beautiful people I know don’t make a full time campaign of making themselves look good - they just are good, and it shows in others around them.

What’s the point of writing this? Because I believe that when people learn self confidence and trust, they stop allowing themselves to be abused by the right words and the wrong actions. And I believe when people learn to truly take notice, to become aware, they stop giving their power away to others who would seek to harm them for their own gain -

A teacher should be building up a student and a horses confidence - independence, self awareness. Not creating reliance and shame.

Just saying the right catch phrases isn’t enough. Name dropping the greats isn’t enough. If the teacher can’t apply the concepts to themselves and others, what good is it at all?