Photo Contest & November Riding

Our Curly Horse Ambassador Photo Contest is underway! Please be sure to stop by and vote. There are some amazing photos and many have special stories behind them. So please take your time and pick carefully. The 3 winners will be featured at the top of Curly Horse Country for 1 full year as our international ambassadors! Pretty cool, eh? BE SURE to vote for 3 in EACH category. Deadline to vote is November 30th. Winners announced Dec. 1st!

Trail riding during November, hunting season. Most of the country changed their clocks back this weekend. It sure was nice to get an xtra hour on Sunday morning to fool with my website. But boy, it sure cuts into riding time! Every day it seems that more and more hunters are in the woods up here. Rabbit, Partridge and also bow season for deer is going on right now. I found this cool site to help protect your horse during hunting season. Check it out. Riding during hunting season, protect your horse. Our rifle season starts on the 15th, so this was probably the last weekend to hit the trails for a while. Dec 1st, we are clear to go again. Last weekend a few of us gals headed out for a nice 15 mile ride and had a pot luck afterwards. It was such fun! *Note the orange we are wearing. ;-) SO, be safe as you hit the trail this month everyone!

And don't forget to check in on our Ride A Curly Contest riders! We'll see how they fair for the month as we watch their blog. Til next time!

Favorite Online Tack Shops

If you are like me you like to shop online for the best deals. But I really don't have a choice as I live in a very remote area and the nearest tack shop is 4 hours away. ;-) I wouldn't have it any other way though. Finding that perfect saddle pad or grooming brush is part of the fun and part of the hunt for the best bang for my buck. (oooo, that was a pun! Aren't I clever?)
Anyway....I recently dealt with a really great store called Action Rider Tack inc. (http://actionridertack.com/) I was not only impressed with the items they carried but how informative they were when I called. They use what the sell and it's awesome! Not only that but after I placed my order they confirmed it, sent me a thank you, then sent me a delivery confirmation and then a follow up! I love a company that communicates well! They got an A+++ from me!
One thing I bought that I really like is the Bear Bell. It was just $7.95 and it comes inside a net with a magnet at the bottom. So if you want it to stop making noise you just tuck in back inside the little netting pouch. I went on a nice ride tonite with Reese and it was awesome. It just gave me a little comfort having a noise maker with me. I was also covered in orange too so I wouldn't get shot by the partridge or rabbit hunters. My dogs were also covered in orange tape. It was too funny. Anyway, back to the bell. In the spring I will be glad to have it. Very easy to put in your bag. I usually find I shout from time to time when riding alone to make sure the mama bears here me coming. It works, but I think the bell will save my voice. lol.

Other great things on that website. Check them out!

What is your favorte online Tack and why?

Curly Community Raises $500 for Curly Horse Rescue!

In an effort to promote the Curly Horse, CHC hosts a Curly Ambassador Photo contest each fall. This year, I decided to donate all the proceeds to the Curly Horse Rescue. A small but vital resource for curlies in need. Photos started coming in 4 weeks ago and when we reached the $200 mark I was thrilled! Then $300....then $350. I was in awe! 50,60 and 70 photos filled the contest gallery in the matter of a week or two. Lovely photos of awesome curlies representing the powerful traits of this unique breed, ie handicapped & therapy horses, jumping, dressage, curious, dog like and people friendly photos....and so much more.

At the close of the deadline to submit photos for the contest, a last call was made for 3 more photos to reach a goal of $500. AND the Curly Community rose to the challenge and MET that goal! Whooo Hooo! Congrats and thanks to all of you that participated...and now the fun part starts. VOTING!

The photo gallery for voting will be posted November 1st. Visitors will have the opportunity to vote for the entire month of Nov. Each email address gets a 1 vote per division. USA, Canada and Overseas. At the end of the month, the winners in each division will be posted at the top of Curly Horse Country as our Curly Ambassadors for ONE full year!

So stay tuned - !

Treeless Saddles for your Curly Horse

It is often said that Curly horses are very hard to fit to a good saddle. For the most part, many have low withers and very well spring ribs. I purchased my first Bob Marshall Original endurance saddle while shopping for a lighter weight saddle for my husband, Tom and his curly Zig. I found a great deal on ebay on a BM and took the risk. It was the best purchase I could have made! Not only did Tom love it, but Zig moved so fluid in it too. I tried it out and had to have one myself! I rode in it for 4 years with great comfort.

However, while training for a competitive trail ride, I noticed my curly gelding, Reese was experiencing some soreness. He also had some white hairs on his back in one spot. Red flags went up and I started researching. I thought I may have to go back to treed saddle which I hated to think about. THEN I found the Freeform! Reese in his Liberty Dressage Saddle below along with a HAF pad which is necessary for proper protection.

Jeremy Reynolds won the 100 mile Tevis in 2007 riding in his Freewest Freeform so that says something about the construction of these treeless saddles. They offer a Y shaped girthing system which distributes the riders weight and also a molded foam to protect the spine.

I rode Reese in a Freewest Freeform in his last two CTR rides and he had no soreness on the 25 mile. It was a great saddle! I have sensed decided to purchase the freeform liberty for the knee rolls. I noticed on the down hill that my knees needed support while trotting them.

New they are around $2K with pad. However, I found both my Freeforms used on the treeless group archives, endurance.net and tacktrader.

More about the styles Freeform offers, here: http://freeformusa.com/

(Photo above: *Prairie Espresso Dream, Aka Reese sporting his new Freeform Dressage Liberty Treeless saddle & HAF pad)

If you have an experience with a treeless saddle I would love to hear from you! There are many wonderful options on the market now.

Fall Already?

Wow! Where did the time go? I am back to updating my Curly Horse Country blog but it is hard to know where to start. So much has happened, so many new updates and articles. To begin with, CHC is hosting a Curly Ambassador Photo Contest and all proceeds will go to the Curly Horse Rescue. Enter your photo by October 25, 2008. Photos desired are those that you think best shows off the breed in look, attitude, performance, versality etc. Voting begins November 1st and will go for 1 full month. Be sure to check back to vote on your favorites!

Secondly, is a new article on Curlies and Competitive Trail Riding. A basic intro to my experience with Reese this past season. I hope others will try it with their curlies! Check it out.

Next, I have a new classified section on my website for businesses. I often get requests to advertise on my home page but there is limited space and I just don't want it to get bogged down with ads. Cost is affordable, click here if interested in more info.

There are always new things happening so be sure to check back. Curly Classifieds are updated daily and offer some really find curly horses for sale.

And don't forget to encourage our Ride-A-Curly folks! Check out the RAC blog to see what they have been up to and also congratulation the winners of the MINI contests!

Til next time! Enjoy those Curlies!

Curly Horse Decals & Vehicle Magnets

By popular demand, I placed a second order for Curly Horse Country decals. This time in both white and black vinyl and also vehicle magnet signs. Those magnets were SO cool! I really need to get some of those. Easy to apply...except, do you think someone at a show or fair would steal it off your truck? I don't know why, I would worry about that. Silly probably. ;-) The magnet signs are made of high quality commerical material, so they will last for years. The vinyl decals is probably what I will use on my trailer..especially after a curly breeder who received two for her truck applied them immediately and said they look great and it was VERY easy to apply. Good for her for just going at it! She has already got comments on it while going to town. Be ready for the silly comments too...she said a guy asked, "is that like Curly fries?" As time goes on, I am sure you will think you have heard just about everything, and you will get pretty witty in your replies back too. Anyway...just a fun way to advertise with curly horse decals and magnets, I think. Very public....too. To buy a curly horse decal or curly horse magnet, visit my curly horse store. ;-)

The Ride a Curly Contest starts it's 3 month tomorrow. The riders have been VERY active this year! Some starting young Curly Horses and others just brushing up on the older mounts. While others are overcoming health issues and/ or fear issues. All very natural in the life of a horseman or woman. They are also sending in lots of pics of their curly horses too!! They are making a huge efffort...some getting pics while mounted..with just the back of those curly ears showing. What a hoot. Good for them..it's so encouraging to see.

Lots of Curly Horses for sale Ads came in this week. You can view a total of 79 curly sales ads on my site now...it's pretty neat. A great selection and really fine quality breeding. Beautiful Curly Stallions at stud as well. Just in time for the spring breeding season!!

Til next time! Keep on riding those curlies!!

Curly Foals Soon to Arrive

It won't be long and those darling curly coated foals with curly eyelashes will be born all over the US and overseas. It is a very exciting time for quality curly horse breeders. Whether you are registering with the ABCR, ICHO or CSI, if your foals come from proven parents and offer something to the market place, you are bound to sell them easily - even in this dry market.

Last year, Curly Horse country offered a foal nursery page for newborn curly foals and for breeders/owners to brag about their new littles ones. This year it will be the same. When we first purchased our Curly Gelding back in 1997, the variety in curly horses for sale was limited. Chances of finding a well broke curly horse at all was almost impossible. Those that were broke, were often mares in foal - which made it easy for new buyers to start breeding those precious jewels themselves. Nowadays, that isn't the case and I find it exciting. Well broke Geldings abound on the classified sites and offer a variety of versatility as well. Dreamhorse.com, horsetopia.com and equinenow.com are a few of the favorites.

So to all of those with curly foals coming along this year, drop me an email and I will gladly post your newborn on the foal brag page. Looking forward to hearing from you and see those darling curly horse foals.