Welcome to our BlackHawk e-newsletter!

Ride at your own risk!

Ignorance about horse accidents is bliss. When I think back to the things I used to do on horses, I definitely know that angels were there next to me. Now, I'm an overprotective 'mom' to my students. Sometimes, I wonder if they think I'm no fun at all!

I am always on the watch for accidents. It's not if an accident will happen, it's when. I tell my students that riding horses is like any sport. Just like you don't learn how to ski without falling, or learn soccer without skinning your knee, you won't learn how to ride a horse without something happening!

I see people doing things with their horses and I think, "Oh, there's an accident waiting to happen." Sometimes when I warn the rider I hear comments like, "Oh, Brownie never kicks." Okay, but what if he did, where would your head be?

One day I went on a trail ride with a lady who had owned her horse for twelve years. When she climbed down at the end of the trail, her horse turned and bit her right through her britches! She was shocked, hurt, and kept repeating, "I can't believe he did that, he has never done anything like that before."

As attached as we get to our horses, it's important to remember that even though we ride, groom, and feed them with care and devotion, they never stop being horses. So, watch out and expect the unexpected.

Remember that when your horse accident does happen, and it will, you have to get back on the horse.

Happy Trails!
Helen

Nothing is better than spending your birthday with a horse

Buckaroo Birthday Parties are regular occasions at BlackHawk so next time a birthday rolls around, think of us. We make it easy for you to round up friends and head out to a wonderful western party that your guests will remember. Hosted by real, down-home cowgirls, we brush and groom horses, place ribbons in their hair, and do horse games in the arena decked out in western decorations.

Please choose any one of our fun-filled packages:

• Yee-Haw Party: We'll lead horses, hear a horse story, listen to country music, and pet farm animals. You provide the cake.
• Howdy Partner Party: All of the above, plus we'll supply a Western Birthday cake and all the trimmings.
• Round 'Em Up for a Grand Time: All of the above, plus we'll saddle a horse and play with a horse-themed pinata.

Our birthday parties bring a bit of horse-culture to children. It's fun, educational, and, best of all, easy! Just give us a call or send an email.

Read Where Rivers Change Direction

Mark Spragg has written a wonderful book about growing up, horses, and learning about life. In rural Wyoming, Mark Spragg learned early to read the stars. At 11 he was instructed to quit dreaming, and he went to work for his father on the land. "I was paid thirty dollars a month, had my own bed in the bunkhouse, and three large, plain meals each day."

The ranch is a sprawling place where winter brings months of solitude and summer brings tourists from the real world--city types who want a taste of the outdoors and stare at the author and his family as if they were members of some exotic tribe: "Our guests were New Jersey gas station owners, New York congressmen, Iowa farmers, judges, actors, plumbers, Europeans who had read of Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull and came to experience the American West, the retired, the just beginning."

By the age of 14, he and his younger brother are leading them on camping trips into deep woods. "No one ever asked why we had no televisions, no daily paper. They came for what my brother and I took for granted. They came to live the anachronism that we considered our normal lives."

You're going to enjoy this book!

Joe Wolter and his students at our private clinic this winter

New Boarders: We welcome 80-year old Sally Cowan and her neice, Sally, with their horse 'Sky.' Also enjoying their new digs at BlackHawk are Ellen Van Nood and her horses, 'Cupcake' and 'Bandit' along with Olivia Soter's 'Obie One.'

Helen's Clinics have been held at Spring Hill Farms one Saturday per month. Call BlackHawk to set up your own private clinic. Joe Wolter braved the cold to teach sessions this winter. Join us.

Spring time at BlackHawk is one of the best times of the year to take a ride. Contact us to set up a time and date.