Blogs

That title sounds like it should be some classic rock song but really it’s just simply stated that we put the chickens in the sun today. They are currently in the old hay barn under lights but it was such a lovely day that why not get them some vitamin D! I think an chicken tractor is in order at some point this spring and can’t wait for these gals to start laying again! I think they are almost finished molting so hopefully they’ll be back in the nests boxes shortly after!

So I’m about to start trying out this bedding I found which seems quite innovative. I know nothing first hand but from reading about it. It’s 100% pine sawdust, twice filtered for dust and compressed using 10,000 pounds of pressure into a pelleted form. We’re going to swap bedding this week and start using it. It should be as easy as pouring a few 40 pound bags into the stall, spreading evenly and adding water to fluff. I think the innovative Shaken Fork I use should be perfect for this product actually! A couple reasons why I’m so interested in this bedding?.. We currently have 4 acres so space is a concern and shavings bags do take up a large footprint. These bags in this picture is about a 4 months supply of bedding for 2 horses!! So lower carbon footprint based on the shipping plus much less space requirement at your stable. Another big selling point for me is we’re wanting to compost and taking little steps to sustainability so the less bedding we pull out and more just manure that we pull the smaller and more rich pile we’ll have! Well, I’m excited to try and and SOOOO thankful that I have a job where I can test really innovative products and meet such kewl people in the industry! More to follow and we might even do a webisode on it! So stay tuned or as we say… Tune in. Tack up.

Yes, the gelding doesn’t have a name yet but I’d really like a great name since he’s for resale. He’s just too cute but I don’t want to give him a cutesy name as there’s such great movement in this guy that he needs something a bit more powerful. Well the name aside, he’s doing great and we’re going walk, trot and canter around the arena now and he’s starting to get it. He has great changes in his pasture that I’m kinda bummed my plan is to sell him this year but who knows what will happen. I still have a safety person present and Ex has been that person for me. He snapped a couple of quick photos with the iPhone while I was lunging. I think he’s still a bit too nervous and busy watching to snap some while I’m riding around but we’ll get some soon and post. I’m also planning some video and photo shoot with the mare soon so that should be too much fun and hopefully yield some great footage and images. Oh and for those techie viewers, nope… that isn’t Photoshop! The weather these past few days has been simply amazing! So the grass is still it’s nice winter brown but the sky has been spectacular!



Yes I know I’m lunging with a helmet on but I put it on when we walk out to the court so I don’t forget to attach it to my head before mounting. Tehe!

Equestrian Collections, English Riding Supply and HorseGirlTV teamed up to giveaway an ANKY Remy Carriat Dressage Saddle. We’ll be announcing the winner on February 28th so remember to Tune in. Tack up. with us here at HorseGirlTV for the winner announcement! We just sent a Tweet today about the finalists selection so if you’re already following up on Twitter then you already know! Submit finalist selection entry to Team HorseGirlTV for the drawing in March by filling out the form online at http://team.horsegirltv.com.

This FREE, brand new ANKY Dressage Saddle is valued at $2800.00!

Any taxes are the responsibility of the winner. The decision of the judges is final. The winner will be announced on here and on Equestrian Collections sometime in March so remember to check back!

This contest is void where prohibited by law. If we have a winner located outside the US, they will pay shipping of the saddle.

Best of luck to you all in this awesome give away! A big thanks goes to Chris at Equestrian Collections (http://equestriancollections.com) for putting this all together AND more importantly providing the give away saddle! Thanks for your support EC! As I always say, thanks for watching HorseGirlTV and we’ll see you next time!

Tune in. Tack up.

Angelea and Team HorseGirlTV!

We have the wash area almost complete and it looks great! The additional concrete was spread around the existing circular pad & drainage. Next we’ll add the cross ties, put the mats back on and it’ll be ready for horses! Yah! It’s so neat!



We both put our initials in the corner! My first autograph on a property since I was a wee little girl! Too cute!

I’ve been writing off and on for Dressage Today since, if I remember correctly, 2004 when my first feature on the FEI Freestyle Forum in Germany was published. Patty, the awesome DT editor, is such a great lady to work with/for and I wish I had more time to submit more work for them! I know it’s so old school of me but I do keep all my tear sheets from not only Dressage Today but other publications who have published my work and I still have an old school portfolio. Well, yesterday I received the tear sheet from my recent work they purchased and published in the January 2010 of Dressage Today and, even though I’ve been a tech geek for over 15 years, it never gets old seeing your work in print!

You can read the article about my experiences as a working student and in the industry via their affiliate online at http://www.equisearch.com/lifestyle/education/working_students_120909/ but for an old fashioned flavor you can look at the JPG version of my handy dandy tear sheet below. If you haven’t yet subscribed to DT, they are a great mag and you should consider it. You can read some of their articles, like mine this month, on EquiSearch at http://www.equisearch.com/dressagetoday/.

I was just realizing I actually have two offices! Wow! Most people only have one. Here’s the view of one of my offices from the other office. I was just out there working the adorable gelding from the ground (officially un-named still as I’m still waiting to receive his papers). He was a rockstar with his ground work today and as soon as the weather permits several consecutive days of ground work, I’ll back him (of course as long as there’s supervision from the ground, haha!). I do think he’ll be a sweetie-pie tho as he’s really got his voice commands down after only 1.5 weeks and maybe 6 times working with me so far.



I can’t wait for Edwin with Attwood Equestrian Surfaces to come down for an interview so we can move forward with turning our little arena into a fancy dressage court! Check them out if you haven’t heard of them as they have the leading footing products in the states as far as I know! They are at http://equestriansurfaces.com/ and both Edwin and Nick are AWESOME!

Okey, I have to get back to training now as this over 40F weather is stellar and Miss C is probably feeling neglected now that the gelding had all the attention today so far. I hope the weather is a fabulous where you all are at!

Another Happy New Year to you HorseGirlTV Fans!

I guess third time is the charm so I thought it would be nice to publish a little blog about it. HorseGirlTV has been producing great equine entertainment now for 3 years (going on 4! wow!) and I’ve three times received comments about my blog to the nature that they are about a particular person, project or company. Both positive and not-so-positive.

Most of my blogs are images with a little text and chronicled experiences, interviews or lifestyle of the production and/or training here at HorseGirlTV. I do occasionally write a blog that is meant to be helpful or inspiration and its written in a commentary style. If you see a topic on one of these pieces (or any blog for that matter) that you feel relates specifically to you and I’m somehow singling you out, please do consider what I write about could happen to you and many other folks in the industry as well. I mostly write based on my personal experiences and also in generalities within the industry. If it’s happened to me, it might have happened to you and likely your stablemate next door too!

On another note, and I’ve written about this in the past, the horse world truly is a rewarding and challenging group of folks to work with. I’ve met some of the nicest, most talented people in my 27 years of working with horses and with horse folks and I’m very thankful for those experiences and all the ones that await me in the future. Furthermore, training with Anky has given me a bit more insight into other realms of being. I and my training with Anky have been the topic of some bulletin boards as of late. The first few I saw I was a bit alarmed at how the people talking about me actually knew nothing about me and how clear that was from their statements. It was also so wonderful to read HorseGirlTV fans writing in to these same bulletin boards expressing closer to true statements about who I am, what I do and where I’ve been. I guess what I’m getting down to is the lesson we could all learn from working in the equine industry or flat-out living in this world is know yourself and be true to yourself because honestly no one else can ever come as close to those two things as you can. Being honest with yourself will allow you more easily to be honest with others, honest while working with your horses and create a better training and personal environment all around.

I’m really looking forward to 2010 with HorseGirlTV, riding my wonderful horses and working here at the stable. The future of new media is continually developing and I’m so happy to see more and more of the horse world embracing these great educational technologies we have at our fingertips. Happy New Year and beyond being honest and true with yourself — wink, wink… don’t see too far into this blog post!

Happy New Year HorseGirlTV Fans!

While enjoying morning coffee on this first day of 2010 a blue bird propelled itself into our living area window. A bunch of birds began to flock around it while a fellow blue bird pecked at it and we couldn’t figure out if it was saying get up and fly away or simply trying to kill it. Since they were both males it’s my guess he was trying to kill it with survival of the fittest and all. We watched it for a while and the other blue bird and its buddies flew away and it just sat there with its beak open and left wing extended. Finally it closed its beak and wing so I went outside to get a better look and see if it had broken something or was truly just stunned from banging into the window. I flapped its wings at me and to test it’s legs I got it to perch on a stick. I sat the stick in a sheltered area up a bit so it might recover in quiet. It was quite a pretty bird! Here’s a few pictures…