Victoria Rode Horses
1065 Victoria Road South N1L 1B3 Guelph, ON, Canada

Happy New Year! Sending kisses to all of you from Riley, and from all the horses and ponies here at Vic Rode!! <3 Thank you to all our amazing kids and clients, especially for helping us to navigate through such a rough year, you are like family and friends! The support we received throughout the first lockdown was nothing short of amazing!! Thank you to all who contributed to 'The Great Hay Race'!! ... Thank you to all who kept our lesson programs full while we were open, and a huge apology to all those who remained on a waitlist. During a year that our horses could have helped so many kids, we just wish we could have taken them all! THANK YOU TO ALL OUR COACHES AND VOLUNTEERS! Without all of you, we couldn't do the job that we do... and a huge thank you to all you parents, who drive them to the barn, and then can't get them to leave! Thank you to all of our UofG students who were still able to help too, so very appreciated. Mostly, we all owe a huge thank you to all our wonderful horses and ponies! Absolute legends they are!! We are so, so lucky to have these amazing creatures in our lives... and they will be here waiting for your return in 2021... Take care and stay safe <3

Let the old boys go for a little naked run through the snow in the outdoor ring! They loved it... Scooter made snow angels, and Riley wrecked them!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! Thought I would share the amazing horses in this year's message from The Queen.... Simply gorgeous <3

Jenny is single and enjoys long walks in the park... Riley would love a date with her!! Too bad she's all the way in Germany. What do you think Guelph would do if Riley did the same as Jenny?? For those of you who know our Aussie boy, you will know how much he would absolutely love to go walk-about!

Rumour has it, that the 2 Standardbreds in the barn, have a bit of a love affair going on... Apparently Katie stops at Riley's stall every morning, and kisses him on her way to the paddock. I don't like Katie's chances if Rosy ever finds out she's been kissing her boyfriend!

Lest we forget all the War Horses <3

Fabio says "real men wear pink!" He's loving his new blanket! Probably the first one he's ever had.

Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae with his spaniel, Bonneau. "We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie... In Flanders fields." See more

YAY Teneca!!!! <3 <3 <3

Thank you so much Ildiko, for taking all these wonderful pictures, such a lovely surprise! <3

Lest we forget... <3

With Remembrance Day approaching, I've been thinking a lot about my Dad, who fought in WW2. Here is an interesting thing probably not many know about WW2 and our very own OAC.... My Dad graduated from OAC in 1944. The first year, his class were able to live in residence, but in their second year it was taken over by the R.C.A.F Wireless Training School and the OAC students all had to go and board somewhere downtown. A Prof. Baker initiated the first University Naval Trainin...g Division in Canada in 1942 at OAC. Eleven were chosen as the 'charter group', including my Dad, joining active Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve at that time with deferment to finish college. In 1943 in April they trained at H.M.C.S. Cornwallis in Nova Scotia and upon graduation in April of 1944, went immediately re-active. My Dad was also the editor of the year book, I have included his editorial... To all the University of Guelph students who do, and who have, volunteered here at Vic Rode... just imagine what it must have been like, when upon graduation, you went immediately to fight in a world war.

Happy National Black Cat Day!! From our C.C. and Levi

I awoke this morning to a phone call I've been so worried about receiving... my Mom's LTC home has had their first outbreak today. Shut down to all family visits. Here we go again. NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE SINCE THE FIRST WAVE TO PROTECT THESE MOST VULNERABLE PEOPLE... Ontario’s long-term care sector says it is not equipped to handle a second wave of COVID-19 and that urgent government intervention is required to ensure the safety of residents and staff.... In a letter to Premier Doug Ford and the Ministers of Health and Long-Term Care, a coalition of major stakeholders said that the sector had informed the government of significant vulnerabilities back in June. At the time, the sector asked the province for help addressing staffing shortages and infection prevention and control deficiencies among other things but nothing has been done. In the absence of these measures and support from government, Ontario’s long-term care homes are not currently ready to manage a second wave of COVID-19. See more

Happy 23rd Birthday to you dear Riley!

Happy Birthday to this Legend!! Hard for me to believe Riley is 23 years old today... but I think Riley would say, "I'm 23 years young!"

We have a new pony alert at Vic Rode, meet FABIO <3 This little guy did not have a good life before he landed here with us. He had been abused and neglected... I can't even bare to think what all this little fella has been through.... and despite it all, he is the sweetest pony you could ever meet! Fabio made me remember something Jane Smiley had written, and I probably posted it here before, but it bears repeating...... Most horses pass from one human to another - some horsemen and women are patient and forgiving, others are rigorous and demanding, others are cruel, others are ignorant. Horses have to learn how to, at the minimum, walk, trot, canter, gallop, go on trails and maybe jump, to be treated by the vet, all with sense and good manners. Talented Thoroughbreds must learn how to win races, and if they can't do that, they must learn how to negotiate courses and jump over strange obstacles without touching them, or do complicated dance like movements or control cattle or accommodate severely handicapped children and adults in therapy work. Many horses learn all of these things in the course of a single lifetime. Besides this, they learn to understand and fit into the successive social systems of other horses they meet along the way. A horse's life is rather like twenty years in foster care, or in and out of prison, while at the same time changing schools over and over and discovering that not only do the other students already have their own social groups, but that what you learned at the old school hasn't much application at the new one. We do not require as much of any other species, including humans. That horses frequently excel, that they exceed the expectations of their owners and trainers in such circumstances, is as much a testament to their intelligence and adaptability as to their relationship skills or their natural generosity or their inborn nature. That they sometimes manifest the same symptoms as abandoned orphans - distress, strange behaviors, anger, fear - is less surprising than that they usually don't. No one expects a child, or even a dog to develop its intellectual capacities living in a box 23 hours a day and then doing controlled exercises the remaining one. Mammal minds develop through social interaction and stimulation. A horse that seems "stupid", "slow", "stubborn", etc. might just have not gotten the chance to learn! Take care of your horses and treasure them. Jane Smiley

To all the parents who struggle to haul their kids out of the barn everyday...

Our beautiful boy Buck, with 3 of his little friends

N’OUBLIEZ PAS DE COUPER VOS CORDES AVANT DE JETER VOS MASQUES À LA POUBELLE. * Pour ceux et celles qui utilisent des masques jetables (même après les avoir jeté dans les poubelles, un coup dans les décharges il y a encore des grands risques pour les animaux.) www.vcreation.shop

Yay Fiona! Not our horse Fiona... this other wonderful Fiona... I wish you all could have seen our Riley on the track!! https://www.facebook.com/watch/

Riley visiting a Long Term Care Home

We've walked this earth together for nearly 18 years... that's a lot of miles! RILEY... the Wonder from Downunder

Here is a story I wrote for a group I've been involved with since March, we were sharing stories about some of our outstanding senior lesson horses! This group has been trying to get government funding for Riding Schools hit so hard during the Covid lockdowns and restrictions... to no avail unfortunately... to date we haven't received any government help. I can't thank all of you enough who have contributed to our hay campaign though!! If anyone else would like to contribu...Continue reading

Just a girl who loves horses, and a legend called Riley <3