Cantau Creek Stables

01/06/2025

A proper hay barn 🙌🏼🤌🏼

12/31/2024

Wouldn’t trade these mornings for anything…

12/30/2024

TAKE C O U R A G E.

Not, hope for courage.
Not, wait for courage.

It’s TAKE courage.

Decide, then Take it for yourself.

No one else can do it for you.

Only you know your fears.
Only you know your weakness.

See them.
Challenge them.

Push fear away.
Push doubt aside.

TAKE FOR YOURSELF C O U R A G E.

12/30/2024

This

"People ask me why I do it.. Why I miss birthday parties, family dinners and any other special occasions. Why I spend hundreds upon thousands of dollars. Why I put a billion of miles on my vehicle running up and down the road. Why I choose to leave early or stay late just to squeeze in those last minute sun setting long trot sessions. Why I haul 3 hours to the vet at the first sign of a issue when I won't spend the money or time to go to the ER myself. Why I wake up early and stay up all night. Why my horses eat on a strict schedule, while I eat anytime, anywhere I can. Why sometimes it seems I'm choosing horses over relationships, people, and everything else in my life. Why do I do it? Why do I put myself, my family, my body, my finances through it? "what is one horse show going to matter?" The answer is simple but not understood by most everyone unless they live it. What I do is who I am. It's not meant to be understood by anyone. It's an addiction, a hobby, a lifestyle and a world only us horse people understand. You won't stop... no matter the circumstances, the bad luck, how much you spent and wasted, the time you can never get back, you CANT stop. You can take a break, sell out, lose faith, leave the horses standing in the pasture, But you never give it up. It's always there, in your every thought, memory and future dream. Goals will change but the desire never will. Months and years may shift how and when you go, how many horses you own and your level of interest. BUT, it never leaves. It's a God given passion to learn from and to use as a tool. When you ask me why.. my answer is WHY NOT?! Why not live everyday like it's my last! WHY not be a example to my family and friends as someone who never gave up!!! WHY not give it my all and see just how far I can go and what I can achieve! Why NOT??? My only hope and prayer is that everyone will find their.. "why do you it?" "

12/28/2024

The Bay Boy Band

12/28/2024

It was kind of a gorgeous dew-ey morning. 😌

12/28/2024

Bath day for the pony. ✨ 🧼 Daisy May

12/09/2024

These foggy mornings have their own kind of beauty. 🩵

12/09/2024

Can’t wait!!!!!

Breaking Barriers - Building Champions!WELCOME to the future of horse shows! Jump on board and revolutionize the equestrian world with us! The United Dressag...

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving!

Count your blessings.
Choose joy.

Buy the horse…
There will be more to be thankful for next year.😆

11/28/2024

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 🦃

Choose gratitude today and every day.

It’s important to remember that thankfulness is an action. Being thankful isn’t something you just happen into, it’s actually quite hard. It’s almost entirely antithetical to human existence to feel at peace, to feel fulfilled and to hold space for the good.

It’s significantly easier to be dissatisfied.

And I know I’ve found myself stuck in a state of dissatisfaction this year. When things don’t move at *just* the right pace, it can devastate me.

I think this sometimes comes from my hatred of the “good vibes only” mentality. In my logical brain, I struggled to hold thankfulness and dissatisfaction in tension. But they do exist in the same plane…

Because life isn’t zero sum.

There can be joy and pain existing in the exact same millisecond, and neither should outweigh the other. But both deserve to be felt.

I see that so much in my journey with Luna. A year ago I thought we’d have accomplished so much together, by now. That we’d have shown, and won ribbons and so much more. And none of that happened.

Our last year has been full of missteps, but it’s also been full of so SO much love.

I have a best friend in Luna that transcends the laws of nature. I have a best friend that should be terrified of me, but loves me deeply. I have a best friend that would fight to the death to protect me.

It’s hard to even remember the hard days last fall. But I continue to make myself look at the pictures and remember the tears. Because the pain I felt then, only makes me ever more thankful for the horse I have today.

So, if this year you’re having to force yourself to remember to be thankful, that’s OK. 🤍🍁

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving Vets and All! 🤎🧡💛

As we enter Thanksgiving week in the US, many of your vets will be out of town or spending much needed time with their families.

It’s times like these that horse owners need to practice preventative caregiving.

During this holiday time, as an emergency only vet, I recommend the following:

- Don’t deworm your horse right now.

- Don’t start a new feed right now.

- Don’t get a new round bale of coastal hay right now if you’ve let the last one go to dust (give small amounts at a time or mix with a stemmy hay until they’ve had their fill, then give the round bale).

- Don’t change schedules.

- Don’t vaccinate your horse right now, especially if you have a known reactor.

- Don’t be in a rush and fail to soak your feed for long enough (choke risk) - especially if you’re late to feed due to holiday errands/get togethers.

- If you have visitors, limit treats. Ensure gates are closed. Make sure feed doors and bins locked.

There is already a shortage of equine vets - and the few we do have will likely be out of town or trying to enjoy the holiday.

Let’s all have a very Happy Thanksgiving. And let’s let our vets stay home with family!

Remember: Proper Preparation Prevents Postponed Potlucks! 😂🥴

11/19/2024

I love this boy 🩵

11/17/2024

Bath day for the pony.

11/11/2024

I did not write this but I do agree. It’s not that you shouldn’t or can’t pet/pat. But it’s to wait for them to ask or indicate they are ready. Instead of assuming they are. I have been trying to be more a-tune to when to offer this.

“It is a human thing, this need to touch and be touched.

So many times, I will watch someone whose horse has done exactly as they’d wished and immediately, they take the relax and let down response of the horse and turn it into something else. Another thing to be borne.

Rather than rest and soak in the beautiful feeling of accomplishment, we’ll ruin everything that came before with a pat or a sudden forehead rub.

I know that I share this observation with the risk of ruffling feathers. Yes, your horse loves you. Yes, your horse will stand to be petted for hours. Yes, he’ll leave his friends and even his feed, to come and stand with you. Yes, you have built up a wonderful relationship based on love and sensitivity. Yes.

But wait. If your horse could talk—and trust me, when I’m watching his subtle but telling responses, he is—he would thank you for noticing this heroic effort he has made. He would love that you stopped and gave the long rein, or let his lead rope hang free. He would appreciate that you stopped chattering and just stood there, breathing deeply, melting into one another’s space.

He would be grateful that you behaved like another horse.

He would hear you when you silently were still and formed the thought of contentment. He would shake his forelock out of his eyes, in relief, when you suddenly got it… that this thing you do with your hands is to please yourself, rather than to gratify him.

Hey, I’m not against stroking my horse’s neck, or breathing deeply into his soft nose. I’m not saying that I never straighten a forelock, or gently clean out a horse’s windblown eyes, or that I don’t give a heartfelt hug. I am not against all shows of affection!

I’ve spent a lifetime observing horses and their people, however. I have seen much. Our need to touch, to pat, to caress, to reassure is as often a reflex action, done without mindfulness or empathy, as it is to show our appreciation. Many times, our loving hands have all the softness of a habit, a craving unmet, or a nervous tic.

I’ll go ahead and say it.

So often, when we pat our horses, or rub their foreheads, we’re doing this to please ourselves. Those little pats can be a selfish act, uncaring of the needs of others. It’s one more ask for which they must stand still. For when we stop and really watch, we’ll see that if we sit quietly and with nothing but love in our hearts, they will yawn and rub their noses against their knees. They will feel free to self-soothe, to let down their guard and to wholly relax.

I have seen that the horses who really crave the hands-on, will stand straight on to us with their heads at our stomachs. They will stand close beside us, so that we might reach that one nagging itch. They will not be mouthing at us, or looking away when we reach for them, or standing as unmoving/unblinking/unbreathing as a stone.

It is telling that when we are praising our horses, so often they try to move away…

I have written of this before. I have learned that people will get angry about my drawing attention to such a small thing. They scoff and defend themselves, they will mock this idea and call me names. So be it; I am ready.

Welcoming one’s touch is very different from enduring it and recognizing the difference is a subtle thing deserving of our contemplation, particularly as women. We, of all people, should understand. We claim that we want relationship. This is a two-way street, my friends. Being in a healthy pairing means that one’s needs do not automatically trump another’s.

No, our petting—and even, our constant chattering—is seldom about them. Learning to stand with our hands in our pockets is a self-discipline that isKeystone Equinen.

That said, what a beautifully soft and private moment this is, between Henry and Cait. I think it is telling that it is he who is stretching his head out, to reach her hand.” — Keystone Equine

11/03/2024

It’s kite 🪁 flying season.

10/29/2024

Tell us how you really feel, Arlo!

He is passionate about cookies 🍪

10/27/2024

🤍🤍🤍

“If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles.”
― Wayne W. Dyer

Art Credit: Frédérique Lavergne