Featured Horse of the Week... Champ!
|
Champ is an 18-year-old, 12 hand pinto pony gelding owned by Lisa Dixon. He has been at RTT for 5 years as a "free lease" and he has a wonderful background in
both
driving and riding. His small stature is overshadowed by his huge personality!
|
Horse shares thoughts his with you...
Hey! It’s me Champ. I might not be the biggest horse on the farm but I’m the strongest, and if you don’t believe it I’d be happy to play some tug-of-war with you (especially if I’m trying to get to some grass)! Anyway, people are always calling me ‘cute’ but I prefer to describe myself as mighty, or awesome, or fast, or strong (like I already said…). I am one of the best driving horses on the farm along with my best buddy, Buddy, and I love to pull carriages and work with so many awesome people. In this part of my job I get to work with beginner and advanced drivers, and can teach them a lot about how to drive. Even though I’m a really good driving horse, I also love being in riding lessons. When I do riding lessons, I get to work with little kids and I looove to play games with them and make them laugh with my super bouncy trot and mischievous behavior. I’m not scared of much and I love to go fast in the arena and on the trails. All of this makes me a really good first horse for little riders just starting out, or for riders who are more advanced (and strong like me). When I’m not in lessons I like to play in the field with Buddy, or pretty much do anything that Buddy is doing…
|
|
Learn from Home
Posting Trot
|
|
In this week’s video, posting to the trot is demonstrated. We post for a variety of reasons, but one of the most basic reasons is that it is easier on our horses’ backs if we rise out of the saddle every other beat. By lifting our seat out of the saddle when the horse’s outside front leg is going forward, we are also helping our horse carry their weight more effectively and be in better balance. Remember to practice your posting from home with
this exercise
! To learn more about the horses movement in the trot, watch the next video about a horse's gaits!
|
|
Continuing Education for All!
|
|
|
|
Last week, Champ showed us entering and exiting through the
gate
of his paddock, this week he demonstrates the horse's natural
gaits
! Horses have four gaits - walk, trot, canter, and gallop, Champ demonstrates the first three for us in this video. This video ties in nicely with the above video about posting trot!
|
|
Rider & Driver Exercises at Home
|
|
This week, Marissa shares some full body exercises for raising your heart rate and working on core strength and balance! This is a great way to get your heart rate up and get your whole body warm! No equipment required.
|
|
|
Introducing our Cheverus Arrupe Senior, Keegan!
For many years, RTT has hosted 1-2 Cheverus students during their senior spring for their Arrupe Service Project. In past years, all Cheverus seniors end their classes in late April and spend the next four to five weeks on site volunteering in the greater Portland community. But not this year. Due to COVID-19, Cheverus reached out to many of their previous sites to see who might be able to accommodate a remote placement, and in the RTT way, we said "Why not!" Keegan will be working with us remotely and last week we had a Zoom meeting and gave him a tour of the farm. So far projects include helping us with some newsletter content and proofing our new Website!! While this won't be a typical Arrupe project, we are looking forward to working with Keegan in the final weeks of his Senior year!! Welcome, Keegan!
|
|
And here's a message from a former Cheverus Arrupe Volunteer... RTT Caretaker, Gradeigh!!
|
|
Happy May!
It is an amazing time of year! I first want to say that I hope all is well during these different times (I don’t want to say challenging because I know that our world has been through much worse and we can pull through this together). It is definitely different around the farm.
As some of you may know I am the current caretaker on the farm with my trusty sidekick Grace. We are making sure all the horses are safe and sound while you are at home. We love living on the farm but do miss everyone’s laughter and energy on these nice sunny spring days. I have been living on the farm since the fall of last year. RTT holds a special place in my heart as I know it does with you.
Best wishes and Grace and I can’t wait to see you soon,
Gradeigh
|
|
Share
what you've been up to during these extraordinary times. We'd love to share your favorite recipe, outdoor activity, or project with the rest of the team!
|
|
Zoom with us
Volunteers
- we are looking for new ways to engage with you! If you haven't already, please take a moment to fill out
this survey
on how we can best stay in touch with you and stay on the lookout for new offerings!
Zoom with a Horse
We are having so much fun 'Zooming and Grooming' one on one with participants! Please use this
Google Form
to select a time to Zoom with us and your favorite horse.
Follow us on Social Media
Send us an e-mail
We want to
hear from you
! Tell us what you want to see from us, or just send us a hello!
Keeping Track!
We have been packing these newsletters full of information and resources and wanted a way to keep track of it all.
This document
contains links to everything we've shared so far!
|
|
Shopping from home? Shop for RTT!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
