Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Dashing through the Snow...the skijoring experience




January finds us all well and looking for new and exciting adventures. Raynor is well after his (operation) and he is now a pretty happy gelding. Solveig the German exchange student who hangs out with us on weekends has been riding him and he is quite enjoying the attention.

Right now our website is down due to our provider shutting his doors...I have my web host and favorite son working on correcting this problem. You may have to go to www.trinityjords.ca shortly to access until we can approve and activate the old .com site. I sound like I know what I'm talking about but I really don't so be patient. In the meantime the blog will serve as an interloper.
Pictured are Wanda,Solveig and I 'skijoring' yesterday and having a ball...we then went on a 2hr snow shoe up into the bush...needless to say I was 'bushed' last night. For Skijoring we used my regular harness and fed the traces through the shaft loops and then put some long heel chains on the end of the traces and a belt system that i could throw over my shoulder so I could disconnect very quickly by bending down and letting the belt slip off my shoulder....I used training driving lines as lines so I could use the full length if desired....I also found that going at a trot was much easier than walking...it seems that the steady speed of the trot allowed me to lean back into the belt and provide security and that way I was out of his mouth and able to have the right amount of contact for steering...I must say that corners are a challenge but we used the arena for safety and of course Raynor as the 'engine' because he is so steady, willing and doesn't spook easy....he also goes by verbal commands so I did not have to use a whip.....such fun but my legs and ankles were sore after only a couple rounds...Solveig and Wanda enjoyed it too and I am sure we will do it again.