Erica and Angie and a few other riders are busy conditioning the horses. It is quite a job when we have over 50 now. Each year we seem to add a few more to our total. Since my previous update we have acquired a paint named Shasta, and a Morgan/Arabian called Hawkeye as well as Ambers horse, who some might remember from last year named Beau. Amber will be with as again for part of the summer and then she is moving to the lower mainland and is taking the level 1 course for instructor. Perhaps she will be teaching here in the future. Regarding the staff. Angie and Erica will once again be instructing with Jennifer (stable management 2003) returning as well. Right now she is working as an assistant with farm duties. After a year in Europe she has many enlightening stories to tell. She is looking forward to doing more jumping with Moose this year. I am sure some of you remember her and Moose the mini doing jump displays.
Our big spring project this year (there is always one to eat up the dollars) was to redo the bottom ring. We took out all the footing and put in lots of drainage, brought in some 40 loads of road base to put over the clay base, packed it with a packer, then put the sand footing back on. Finally we should have it right and no more puddles when it rains. Our next project entailed horse shelters for all the paddocks. We were short about 6 shelters and even though some had trees, it will be comforting to know that everyone now has adequate protection from the sun and rain. The new shelters and the existing ones have all been painted and now we are sheeting in the walls on the ones that were constructed a few years ago and had only a roof for protection.
More horse news. The Halflingers (Dutchess and Fancy) are being ridden regularly and are going very well. Fancy is already doing flying changes and jumping small courses. They should be ready for camp this summer. Abby, Erica’s horse is coming back for the summer. Rajalee has gone to Calgary to her previous owner. She was just on lease here until her owner found some acreage and had her moved. We will miss her this summer as we have been having a number of campers request her already.
I have a new ‘useless critter’ (as Lorne calls them) in the barnyard. Her name is Wilma also known as Miss Piggy. She is the cutest miniature pot belly pig. Black with white markings. 
The photo blelow was taken at 5 weeks and she is now 4 months and weighs considerably more. Hope to get some pictures on the web soon. We kept her in a pen for the first while but now she is just like Timmy and hangs out. It has taken quite some time to get the horses over the fear and some still haven’t gotten over it. I have a hard time with that, as she is so tiny and they are this big animal. Sort of like the elephant and a mouse. She has no fear of them. She is getting friendlier and has more personality each day. As most animals, responds well to food. When the summer comes she should be the perfect age for training. Apparently they are smarter and easier to train than most dogs so perhaps we could get her to do agility.
On a sadder note, on Mothers day we lost Rudy, our 12 year old black lab. He had been having some issues in the past and always seemed to get over them. He was put to rest in the field by the barn. I’m sure all will miss him. He has been a fixture on the farm for a long time.
Our summer camp weeks are filling quickly. Seems when we get the nice weather everyone gets thinking summer. July is pretty much full, as is the last week, and now we are working on filling the month of August. As of right now August is about ½ full and we hope to have everything booked by June, so if you have not made a decision, we recommend you do so shortly to ensure a spot. I am hosting a clinic starting Saturday with Robin Hood (TTouch) and Peggy Cummings (Connected Riding) for 2 weeks for about 26 people so I will be spending a fair bit of time in the kitchen as we will be supplying 3 meals and accommodation as well as horses for this event. After that is over we have 3 weekends in a row as well as a 5 day adult camp starting June 12th. We still have some space available for that so if you know anyone who might be interested in getting excellent instruction as well as good food, and relaxation, get them to call.
I do some advertising with Infohorse.com and they have indicated that they will look at putting stories on the site about camper’s experiences at riding camps. It would be great if anyone of you would write a story about your experience here and submit it. They even put up pictures, so if anyone is so inclined it would be good exposure for Aspengrove. The web site is: www.infohorse.com. There is a lot of information and a great site to go on regularly.
Updates on my family. Lorne is now working full time with the City of Vernon and also full time on the farm as running this farm is full time. I am sure he will be glad when spring is over and summer is rolling, as he doesn’t have quite so much to do then. Spring time is always the busiest. Angie and Mike have moved into their new house, just down the road about 5 minutes away and are continuing to work on completion. They are hoping to get some fencing in this year so she can move some of her horse’s home. Alisha has been transferred from Calgary to Kelowna and now is managing Perkins on Highway 97 across from the mall in the Ramada Inn. If you have some time on your way to or from Aspengrove, drop in and say hi.
Once again thanks for all your correspondence and pictures. It is always good to hear from the students and how their riding is progressing. Keep writing and see you all again in the summer.
Cheers,
Hilda