Last year 2015 I saw the posting on fb by Hanna Engström on how to make this riding skirt.
Yes this is for me, I want one!!!!
So I went out and bought a cheap sewing machine and bought the largest amount of material I could find from the second hand store, because in my small town there is no material store!.
​I'm not a sewer but the pattern was so simple and with Hanna's directions, clear and easy to follow......
​With my burst of sewing enthusiasm, it was done in 2 evenings.

Hanna made an instructional video for us!

I made mine with some kind of polyester material just one layer, my next one I'm going to try a double layer with fleece.

Why was my Visit from Alexandra Bohl so amazing and wonderful?
10 full days of lessons on my 3 riding horses, talking AAR and studying photos from the lessons. ( the other cool part, Celine Rieck AAR photographer made the same journey ). For myself living in a remote area and studying Academic Riding through Bent Branderups videos and reading, books and books and books, to actually have knowledgeable eyes on the ground for endless days was truly special.
The other parts like she's a wonderful teacher with a super eye for detail, and a lovely person just made our time more brilliant!
Because it was August the weather was perfect! Beautiful sun every day!

lots of theory in AAR... My horses and myself learning finer details!!!

Together, Alexandra and I, held 4 public evening events, wanting to share our love of AAR and hopefully show local riders beneficial aspects of Academic training. Basically we demoed everything we could, to the level of my horses, my knowledge. Here's a list......equipment and how to use it, ground work, hand work, working in hand, long reining and riding.
Each evening we had a small turn out, I felt nervous and sick before we started the first night but got over it quick and if I got stuck Alexandra had promised to save me, which she did.... a good friend, yes!
Lets just say it was great fun, we were a good team, and the team was big, it included, Alexandra, Celine, Phil Maclean, Bella, Asha, Star, Cinder and myself.
We shared a lot of great Academic information.

I didn't feel sad when Alexandra left Powell River, because I went too! We packed up the little car and made the 6 hour journey to Langley, B.C. and met up with Sylvia Baur, another rider in love with AAR. She had organized a clinic in Langley for Alexandra. It was an awesome time. The lessons were loved, and Sylvia was a great hostess, with gorgeous horses!
The best part, everyone wanted Alexandra to come back!!! ​So in May Alexandra is back for a second clinic.

Having 6 horses and no indoor I knew this winter skirt was a must!!!! Luckily I spotted it ( on Facebook ) about 6 weeks before Christmas.... Thank you, to my fabulous other half, it arrived on my December seasonal day of celebration, Solstice!
What do I want to say about my new Artic Horse skirt, I'm in love! The quality of this skirt is top, the quality of service also was top, so easy to order and talk to Jen ( owner ) on fb messenger.
My skirt is the warmest style of all the skirt choices, I don't live in a particularly cold climate, occasional lows to -5 but I do like to be warm..... spending most of my time outside. This skirt is warm, warm for me and my horses backs. I'm one of those that rugs my herd, so I like their backs to stay dry if I ride in the rain, which is almost always!
Oh yes.... it didn't budge, with our canter work and lateral movements, not a flap or slip, this is a big deal!!!!

In closing, if you are considering an Arctic Skirt, I say go for it!
Thank you Jen.
And of course my horse models Bella and Cinder.

I came across this collage I made last winter 2015. You may be able to guess the theme..... well may be not! The theme of this collage is the bit. In The Academic Art of Riding the preferred bit is the curb, though lots of Academic riders also like to ride bit less and or bridless, myself included. But actually the point of this blog is to share why this picture exists.....I was one of the winners of a competion put on by Rebecca and Christofer Dahlgren of Horse Vision AB, they gave away 6 bits on fb, all you had to do was like, share and comment. It was really, really cool for me to win!!!! Being so far away, in Western Canada, form the flourishing AAR European scene, bits like this are hard to come by, and was grateful feeling a little bit more connected to all so far away. You see in this pic Cinder my lovely Quarter Horse and my lovely, locally made Cowichan Sweater, super Canadian! Cinder was a great model but I know that this will be the bit for Neko, my 2 1/2 year old Andalusian, so it lies in wait till his training begins in a few years. Thank you Rebecca and Christofer!!!!
If you want to check them out and their work here is how.

http://www.horse-vision.se/en
Horse Vision AB ( Facebook )

Garrocha is a great way to test the schooling progress of you and your horse, and really fun. I watched some videos on YouTube, did a little research then went to the hardware store and bought a 13 foot pole. I was surprised after just a short time and a little caution, how easy it was. One reason maybe because I already ride with all my reins in one hand all the time.
One thing I really like about riding with the pole is it takes the focus off trying to ride perfect dressage movements and you just move with your horse as one. I have 3 very different horses and all had their own time of adjusting to the pole. My draft x Bella, in the picture above, instantly was fine! My Anglo Arab was a little spooked at first but her intelligence kicked in pretty fast and she settled after about 10 minutes. My Quarter Horse Cinder, took about 3 separate sessions ( one was at liberty ) to get her comfortable enough for me to be able to ride with the pole in walk, trot and canter.
​ If you like to try new things and experiment, I highly recommend it. Study it, practice on the ground first and then give it a go!

Celine Rieck is deffinitely my favourite photographer! We met in the summer of 2016 by chance, and super lucky for me it was at my farm and she stayed for almost 2 weeks! What happened? Lots and lots of gorgeous pictures of our horses and a super great friendship grew, because she's awesomely sweet and talented! Believe me I swooned over every picture, and still do when I see her work. She has a great artistic eye!
Being a horse owner and a student of the Academic Art of Riding her photography focus is with AAR horses and riders, though I have seen some amazing landscape shots she has taken too, oh yes, and dog portraits, because we all know most horses lovers are dog lovers and our dogs deserve pics too!
But you haven't heard the best news yet! Celine will be back in Canada, specifically Langley B,C, clicking pics for Alexandra Bohl's Academic Art of Riding riding clinic and seminar. Who's Alexandra Bohl? That's my next blog!

​http://www.celinerieck.com/#momente