Just 4 Horses Stables
4464 Wallbridge Rd V0E 1B5 Armstrong, BC, Canada

Merry Christmas from our barn to yours and to all our clients and friends!

Good morning everyone!! Please use the hand sanitizer that is by the main gate. Please maintain a safe minimum 6’ distance from each other and please wear a mask when in the barn. Please limit your visit to the barn to 2 hours or less. This is being put in place to keep us all safe and covid free. Thanks for your understanding.

Good Morning everyone! With the dumping of the white crap all over the yard....if everyone could hold off u til after 12:00 to come see your fur babies that would help give Cory time to plow without vehicles in the way. Thanks. Meighen Rees Em Stobbe... Chelaine McInroy Jesse Hansen See more

There’s a problem within much of today’s horsemanship. I’m calling it out and yet, I don’t see an easy solution. It’s the one-hour ride time. Over and over, I’...m hearing people say that ‘they don’t make horses like they used to’. I’d have to agree with that, to a point... but honestly, I think horses are fundamentally the same as they were when I was a kid. The difference, then, lies in us. When I was young, there was very little for kids to do outside of school. Sports were not done after hours, unless you were on a school team or in hockey. There may have been dance lessons, if one was lucky, or 4H or Brownies or Scouts but there wasn’t anything extra that our parents were driving us to after supper or on the weekends. We rode the school bus and were unceremoniously dropped off at the end of the day. There were perhaps three channels on the TV. If your mother forbade you to watch ‘Mod Squad’ or ‘The Edge of Night’, you went to the barn. You rode whether or not there were lessons. In fact, few of us riding had lessons with any regularity. Those of is who did were often ‘barn rats’ by necessity, working tirelessly at the closest barn in exchange for the occasional lesson, or a chance to ride any sort of horse. A kid could learn a lot that way. Many of us grew up in the saddle, working alongside our parents with the cattle. You rode to help the family earn a living and if things weren’t going well, it was a helluva long walk home. One step at a time, our ponies carved bridle paths into the ditches for miles around. They were resigned with carrying us to various neighbours for visits and would stand, waiting, at the yard gate while hitched with their bridle reins. There were no computers or cell phones. My sister and I were left to our own devices, finding entertainment for hours on end, with a dog and our horses. In fact, we would be gone and away without a single adult in sight. When I grew up, there seemed to be more empty hours to fill with horsemanship, than there are today. We’re now on the phone, checking our emails, bringing our work home with us. Camping on Facebook and Instagram. Taxiing kids to an endless round of scheduled events. Our riding, no matter our ages, has taken a hit, especially when there are fewer rural families with backyard horses. Barn time has become really important for our fitness and to the wellness of our souls but for the majority, it is now on an hourly basis. Problem is, horses are animals of habit and constant movement. They are spending more and more time, standing around without us. We are no longer a constant in their day to day lives. Fewer horses are working, any more, for a living. They are recreational animals, to be enjoyed for an hour or two each week, and then put away. (There are many of us who may even feel that it is cruel, asking our horses to work for a living, but that is a discussion for another day.) I’m seeing this as a problem that is only going to get worse, as we grow farther away from the lifestyle that surrounds our equine friends. As I say, I don’t know a solution, as we’re forced to work two jobs or more to make ends meet... and as land values rise beyond most families’ means. The issue came to me during a recent inquiry about one of my horses. Will she work for an intermediate adult rider? I was asked. How often do you ride? I replied. I would think she would be best with someone who rides at least three times a week. The silence and disbelief that this statement was met with showed me that this would be a problem. I was suggesting that my horse would require perhaps three hours’ dedicated riding time out of a possible 168 hours in a week! Without leaving the horse in full-blown training, I’m seeing that few owners can spare the time it takes to forge a working relationship with a young or vigorous horse. We’re seeing more and more so-called ‘problem’ horses, a growing number of fearful riders and stories of wrecks. I don’t know what the answer is, as fewer horses are even kept on pasture turnout anymore, living within a herd where they can work off their natural energy and innate need for rough play. Because all horses fundamentally require this, today’s equines have no recourse but to take it out on us. While I've perhaps stumbled on the biggest roadblock to modern horsemanship, it will take someone smarter than me to find the solution. I can only conclude that if we’re having trouble with our horses, they most likely need a job that uses up more than an hour or two, per week. Remember, man or beast, we all need a purpose in this life.

Mocca’s Horsemanship Walk/Jog LMQHA Virtual Show ( placed 3rd)

Tiffany’s Horsemanship Walk/Jog LMQHA Virtual Show (placed 2nd)

Western Pleasure results are in for the LMQHA Virtual Show Terrific Invitation (akaTiffany) 5th Coolin N Baja (aka Mocca) 7th... Was lots of fun...now to work on our loping!! We have homework! Congratulations everyone!!

Great way to challenge ourselves during this pandemic!

Moccas Horsemanship Walk/Jog LMQHA Virtual Show ( placed 3rd)

Tiffanys Horsemanship Walk/Jog LMQHA Virtual Show (placed 2nd)

Great day..lots of fun and laughter.. Thank you ladies for reminding me why I do what I do.. A trip down memory lane...!

No matter which category a horse falls into -- hot-blooded or cold-blooded -- riding him outside the confines of an arena and taking him down the trail is one o...f the best things you can do for him. Riding outside gives cold-blooded horses a reason to go somewhere. Theyre already unambitious as it is, so when you close them in an arena with four walls and theyre forced to see the same four walls every day, it de-motivates them even more. But when you get them outside and actually give them a place to go, it motivates them and adds a little spark to their step. Riding outside is also good for horses that tend to be grouchy or sour because it keeps things interesting for them. The worst thing you can do with these types of horses is drill on the same exercises in the same boring arena every single day. By taking them outside, you can keep practicing the same exercises and train on them as much as you want, and because the environment is new and interesting, they dont seem to get sour about it. Training on the trail is also good for hot, nervous horses because it gets them exposed to all sorts of different objects, situations and environments. The more theyre exposed to, and eventually get comfortable with, the more their comfort zone expands. -- Clinton #ApplyTheMethod

Happy New Years to all our family, friends, clients past and present and everyone in between!! May your new year be filled with happiness and good health and kindness!

Merry Christmas to all! Have a wonder season filled with kindness and cheer!

One spot left for winter training!!!

So called LOSER TRAINING I heard about it today. Teaching poor people how to get rich, teaching poor desperate ladies whose partners want to go away how to ma...gically make them wanna stick around. And with some disbelief and shock I realised that I am seeing it in Horsemanship too: - Yes, you are perfect AS YOU ARE if you WANT TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE - then its all perfect. If you want to move forward you need to take some steps. You will be still a perfect person, but the sweat of transformation, of shedding layers, WILL NOT FEEL PERFECT AT ALL. It will be new, strange and not pleasant (at the begging). And for many it may not fit into the PERFECT picture they have imagined. But taking these steps, and the sweat that accompanies them is connected with making conscious decisions: How do I want to behave? What do I want to ACHIEVE? Do the actions I have been taking so far support this goal? Do I have the right skills to carry on the task? Does my horse have the right set of skills to complete what he is asked for? Do I understand what is needed to achieve my goal? These are not easy questions, but they are important questions. Many times answering them will be painful, and hard, and will cause tears. Its good when the tears come, this is the moment when the IDEA meets the REALITY. With time a good trainer turns the tears of disappointment or irritation, into tears of victory, but it takes time and engagement from all involved. Only those who achieved something know how much awareness, self-discipline and dedication it takes. A trainer who CARES will point out all that is wrong up front, A trainer who CARES will show you all the gaps in the training of your horse, A trainer who CARES can make you feel uncomfortable. But not because of that she or he is a bad person, but because their goal is to take you and your horse up to the next level, and its connected with confronting DREAMS and IDEAS you have about yourself with REALITY, A trainer who CARES will take you down to basics and will make you practice them until you outgrow the level at which you and your horse really are, A trainer who CARES is not a popular trainer. Honesty is not popular. But its a trainer that can guide your transformation, because transform we can only through the truth. Such a trainer has the skills, the knowledge and the strength to keep you on the track, even if it would be so much more convenient for everyone to stay where they are petting each others backs. His words can cause an instant anger, irritation... but they stay with you. They ring in your ears in the following days and trainings of your horse. And you change. Because deep inside you know that he was simply right. I listened few months (or years?) ago to a video of a equestrian coach lady trainer speaking about the importance of doing the job right, everyday job right with the horse. And how people tend to skip that, and just carelessly carry on with holes in their education, and how later they go to competitions and they want to trick themselves into thinking that "it doesnt matter" and "we are all winners". But its not true. If you havent done your job at home, it wont magically appear during the competition. All the little steps count. I instantly thought that she is a strong person, not a nice person (by the common understanding of someone who is nice = tells others things that are not necessarily true but sound good), but a good person WHO CARES. In my life I had the PRIVILEGE to meet few trainers who cared. I rebelled under their wings like a cat taken under the shower...only to kiss the ground they stood on later on when I was ready to hear and understand the message which they wanted to deliver. Hint to take home: Find a trainer who CARES. I am so lucky to have one at home

And todays success..3 year old gelding first in-hand trail ride down the road and over the train tracks..

3 year old gelding..horse eating flag...

3 year old gelding...First time over the bridge..

Short and sweet...3 year old gelding..first ride after 2 weeks...had to work on being more halter broke...yielding hindquarters...yielding shoulders..leading..ground tying...desensitization...response sensitizing...picking up all 4 feet...to lounging both ways(walk, trot,lope)....being saddled..bridled..give to pressure (bridle exercises )...to walking a circle both ways under saddle...good way to end week 2 and on a Friday!!!

Love my job..a 2 yr old first time being saddled. 2 weeks ago he wasnt even halter broke or hardly handled...smart little monkey!!

Just a day in my office...

Full board available in Armstrong starting Oct 01 for one mare and 2 geldings. Semi indoor with lights, seasonal outdoor, round pen, individual and shared tack lockers, new lounge in barn, 2 feedings of good quality hay, will feed grain (owner provides), coaching/training available.

Horsinaround at the IPE in Armstrong today with Sydney, Peter and the Armstrong Enderby Riding Club!

Full Horse Board for One gelding and one mare paddock with shelter coming available Oct 01. Facilities include outdoor arena, semi indoor arena with lights, shared tack room, heated lounge/blanket drying room. Located in Armstrong at Just 4 Horses Stables.

June 01 Mock show day

I will be offering a mock show here at Just 4 Horses Stables this Saturday at 9 am. $10.00 drop in fee for non boarders. We will be going over all the patterns for Sundays show. First class up will be trail! Please let me know if interested as I may get Cory to throw some wieners on the barbi!

Mock show day at Just 4 Horses Stables May 04 Horsemanship