Events: Rural Ramble

Each year in Northumberland County, there is a Rural Ramble which is where a bunch of the farms in the Northumberland area let people come in and look around to promote their businesses and educate people. People buy a passport and can go to all the farms participating over a weekend in August.

Maple Crescent Farms has participated in the Rural Ramble for two years now and it has been really fun for people visiting and for us. The first year I wasn't there for the weekend because I had to go to a cottage with my family. But this past summer I was there to help out. We had demonstrations all weekend by me, Amanda and our friend Crystal, we were selling horse treats to feed the horses around the farm, pony rides were being given to people in the round pen, and there was always someone riding a horse around the farm talking to people.

Training Story: Stephie and Titus

Me and my friend Amanda, who also works at Maple Crescent, train and work with horses when we have time which is usually in the mornings. Our main projects for last summer were Stephie, a 4 year old Standardbred mare, and Titus, a 5 year old off-the-track thoroughbred. Amanda always worked with Stephie and I had Titus.

Stephie is a really good horse who is really willing to learn. She acts pretty silly sometimes but she is overall a very cooperative horse. Since she is a Standardbred, she has a special gait called a pace which is really quite humorous to watch Amanda try to sit to. Stephie has also really seemed to show interest in the barrels that are set up in the arena that are used for Beauty and I to proctice for the rodeos.

Stephie

Titus is a really nice horse who tries hard to do what we ask him to do, even though he doesn't always know what I want him to do. He has a bit of a stubborn streak and about half way through the summer he started to buck whenever I cantered him. I am still not sure why. I had our vet check his back and legs and I changed his saddle, pad and bit a few times but nothing seems to change anything.

Titus

Both Stephie and Titus got to go in the Ganaraska forest for the first time this year and they both did amazingly well. Stephie just couldnt care less about anything and Titus was really clam aswell, which is uncommon for thoroughbreds. On Titus' first encounter with four-wheelers and dirt bikes, he barely even looked at them and was so calm. I was so proud of him.

In this coming spring and summer, Stephie should be joining the rest of the trail horses taking customers on rides, after a little bit of refresher rides with me or Amanda, and Titus will continue his training with us and hopefully become a lead horse for the trail guides to ride.

Events: Rodeos

Last summer I got to take one of the trail horses in two Rodeos in the Dodge Rodeo Tour for Barrel Racing. The rodeos we went in were the Warkwork Rodeo and the Valentia Rodeo. The horse I rode was Beauty and we did pretty well for a over-weight trail horse and me being an english rider until 2 years ago. Our times were 17.2 seconds at Valentia and 17.9 seconds at Warkworth. Its pretty scary going into the arena to run the barrels infront of the huge audience. .. but its really fun too! The biggest challenge of our days at the rodeo was getting Beauty on the trailer. She is a very stubborn horse and would have nothing to do with the trailer any time we tried to put her on. After about a half hour struggle she finally goes on. But the struggle is worth it because we get to prove to all the people that spend forever breeding and training the perfect barrel horse that we can keep up with them with a quick trail horse that hasn't had very much time to prepare for the rodeo. We definatly kept up and even beat out a few of the experienced riders. It was a lot of fun for everyone and we are planning on doing a couple more in the coming year.

Beauty and I at the Valentia Rodeo

About the Horses...

We have horses of all different breeds and sizes. Our biggest horse is Alex, a 18.1hh Percheron gelding. His size really intimidates some people but he is a gentle giant. He loves people and kids especially. Everyone who rides him loves him.

Alex

We also have two miniature horses. They are not used on trails for obvious reasons but they are fun to watch. Their names are Red and Tubby. We just got them last august and they are a lot of fun and really cute. All the other horses were afraid of them at first because they weren't sure whether the minis were horses or dogs. Its quite funny to watch.

Red and Tubby

The trail horses are all great horses. They are very well trained and have a lot of personality which you usually do not see in trail horses. They all have things that they do that makes the trails a lot of fun and really memerable. For example one of the horses, Billy, eats absolutly everything that he thinks might be edible. It is quite funny to watch. Also there is a horse named Knuckles, who is a 30 year old Appaloosa and is really not a pretty horse, who really likes to challenge riders. He does not do anything to hurt the riders but he will kinda choose his own trail and once in a while he will back up for a bit. He is an awesome horse and is alot of fun for riders.

Beauty (Black) and Gulliver (Palomino)

About Maple Crescent Farm...

Maple Crescent Farms is a trail riding barn located in Garden Hill on County Rd. 10. We offer trail rides for people over 14 years of age for both one and two hour trail rides in the Ganeraska Forest. Riders will be accompanied by experienced and friendly guides and will be riding one of the many well-trained friendly horses.

Rates:

1 Hour- $30

2 Hour- $45

The trail guides from the last summer include Boris (owner), Ali ("head" trail guide), Danielle (me), Amanda, Kenny, and sometimes some of our boarders come along as guides. We all do our best to make the rides enjoyable and we try to keep you laughing the whole time! Over the past year Boris and Ali have came up with a tonne of creative and almost believable stories to share with the customers. Some examples of stories I have heard them tell include: The time Ali fought the tigers and bears in the Ganaraska forest with his noble steed Jimmy by his side. How people let a bunch of baby crocodiles loose in the pond we ride by in the Ganaraska. (you wouldnt believe how many people believe that one!) And just some of their past experiences which are pretty hilarious sometimes. I never get tierd of their stories and just when you think you've heard it all, they tell you something else. Ali is known around the barn as "Lieutenent Tall Tale" because of all the stories he comes up with.

So, we go to a yard sale and come home with a sumbraro which Ali wears on the next trail. Doesn't Jimmy (the horse) looked embarassed?