February 2021 Letter from Julie

Dear friends,

Although the “new” has worn off this year now, as the days get longer and the nights warmer, I am beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. It’s starting to look like the pandemic may ease up substantially by summer and because horses are the ultimate defenders of social distancing, perhaps we’ll be getting back to clinics, expos and horse shows soon. I can’t wait!

I’ve got four riding retreats at the C Lazy U Ranch this year. At the end of April, we have the Women’s Wholeness & Riding Retreat in April, which I co-teach with Barbra Schulte. In the fall, we have the Ranch Riding Adventure, which is for gung-ho riders and includes clinics with me, trail obstacles, cattle sorting and trail riding. Plus I have two brand new programs that I am super excited about! The Saddle Up! Women’s Leadership Program, for professional women, managers and directors, entrepreneurs and business owners. It’s co-taught with Barbra Schulte and the focus is on “leadership skills learned from the back of a horse.” I’ll also offer the Horsemanship Immersion program, designed for insatiable learners of all ability levels, who want to intensively study horse behavior and training, health and first aid, groundwork, plus improving equitation skills.

With some of the horse expos still on hold, I’m focusing more on planning smaller horsemanship clinics. We’ve got clinics in-the-works in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but holding off on setting dates until the picture becomes more clear. If you are interested in hosting a private clinic in your area, please let me know and we can work together to make it happen.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we’ve enjoyed watching the Clydesdale colt, Remington, grow up before our very eyes. He’s learning his leading manners now, with very short training sessions twice a day as we lead him to and from turnout. Remi and Big Momma are turned out with the herd every day now and he continues to learn his herd manners form the older horses. Although relegated to riding indoors now, we work the riding horses every day, but it gets monotonous for horses and riders. We like to mix things up a lot, to reduce the tedium, by setting up patterns with cones and poles, dragging logs, playing follow-the-leader, or working without the bridle.

I’m eagerly awaiting my turn at the covid-19 vaccine and as soon as I am eligible, I’ll be in line! I think it’s the key to getting back to business (along with other smart precautions). I can’t wait to resume my business travel and I look forward to being face-to-face with you and your horses again soon. But for now, we can continue to connect online and through social media.

Until we meet again, enjoy the ride!

Julie