Blog - News & Updates

Rebecca Farms - found some pics of locals!!

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:48:00 -0400

Wahoo!!

There is nothing better then going on the Eventing USA Blog and finding pictures of some of our local riders.

Here is what I found!! There are tons more photos of everyone over there. Go and check them out!

Tik Maynard!!

The AMAZING Lynne Larsen on her winning horse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at this smile!!!!!

And of course Sabrina Glaser- Levere

And we can never forget Hawley!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There were quite a few Canadians at Rebecca Farms this year and every one of them made us proud!

Well done!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you painting volunteers!!!

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:23:00 -0400

I can not thank enough the 2 volunteers that showed up on Saturday and the 8 on Sunday in that scorching heat to help us paint jumps.You are all AWESOME!!! We got a lot of big jumps done and they definitely take the longest. Heinrich was thrilled with what was accomplished at the end of the weekend. We can not thank you all enough for your help!!!!!!!!!!((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))

On another side note please remember that the park is closed from Thursday through to Monday this week for the Knights in Armour. The event does not happen until Saturday to Monday but they have a lot of set up and tents to organize so they are taking over the park on Thursday and Friday as well. No Horses please! But come on out and watch the mayhem. It will be a blast!!!!!

We also noticed on the weekend that in the sun there were ZERO mosquitoes and with some squiter spray I received only one bite while in the trails. My exchange student got three but I think she might have tasted better.

And we also noticed the the water in the water jump has gone down another couple of inches. By the time the Knights are finished their weekend the water jump will be PERFECT to jump through. It has a little bit of a drag that most of our horses are not used to due to it being a few inches higher than normal at the moment.

And we are still looking for people to advertise in our Labour Day Event program. We have had some excellent sponsors come through and the prize list looks amazing but I need a few more small advertisers to help pay for the program costs and this will then contribute to prize money for our winners. Remember that we are allowing advertising for horses for sale now. If you want some more info on this please email me! Every little bit helps.

Have a wonderful summer week everyone!!!!!!!!

Andrea

Horses heat up 10 times faster than people - study

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:45:00 -0400

From Horsetalk.com

Recomend you read the full article here. Excerts below.

"It only takes 17 minutes of moderate intensity exercise in hot, humid weather to raise a horse's temperature to dangerous levels. That's three to 10 times faster than in humans. Horses feel the heat much worse than we do."

And the effects can be serious. If a horse's body temperature shoots up from the normal 37 to 38 C to 41 C, temperatures within working muscles may be as high as 43 C, a temperature at which proteins in muscle begin to denature (cook). Horses suffering excessive heat stress may experience hypotension, colic and renal failure.

Horses also rely to a significant extent on sweating to cool them off. They can sweat 15 to 20 litres per hour in cool, dry conditions and up to 30 litres per hour in hot, humid conditions, but only 25 to 30 per cent of the sweat produced is effective in cooling the horse by evaporation.

"Just giving the horse water will not rehydrate a dehydrated horse. When horses drink plain water, it dilutes their body fluids, and their bodies respond by trying to get rid of more water and more electrolytes."

"Many riders will train their horses in the mornings or evenings, when it's cool, then go to a competition held during the hottest part of the day. You need to get horses used to being ridden in the heat and allow them to develop the full spectrum of beneficial adaptations that come with heat acclimation."

"You can cool the horse two degrees in 10 minutes this way: pour on the water, scrape it off, pour on more, and just keep repeating it," says Lindinger. "The scraping part is important because otherwise the water will be trapped in the horse's hair and will quickly warm up. By scraping and pouring on fresh, cold water you keep the cooling process going."

gate house and park update

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:04:00 -0400

The FVRD hopes to have the Gatehouse open by June 30th.

Remember that they do not have Interac there so cash please.

For large rental payment cheques are made out to FVRD.

The next mowing should be the first week of July before the Chilliwack Riding clubs Krazee Days Event.

Heinrich and Rolf are searching for a tractor so that they can move jumps all over the place before the mowing happens.

We will let you know if jumps have been moved giving you all a totally new course to train.

Still no bugs and very little water!!!

Attention Upcountry Riders!!!

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:13:00 -0400

Campbell Valley Horse Park is having their open cross country day on:

Wednesday July 14th.

Come on down and train at Campbell Valley on Wednesday and spend the night at Island 22. Then Train at Island 22 on Thursday before heading home.

The FVRD and the Gate house will be open and ready for those riders that wish to spend the evening after a day of training in Langley.

All the fee info for spending the evening is on here: Scroll down to the middle.

http://www.island22horsepark.com/parkfeeswaiverseasons.htm

Remember that camping fees include your day pass riding fee.

So far the mosquitoes have been literally NON EXISTENT. It is amazing out there. If there are enough campers registered the Society will make sure you have water in the water jump for training.

This same opportunity is available to you on the other Campbell Valley training day of Saturday July 24th. I have not cleared the Wednesday August 4th training day with FVRD yet but if the other two days prove to be popular than clearing this will not be an issue.

Email me to let me know you are coming out so that I can let the gate house know the numbers.

Hope to see you all having a brilliant time!

Go Eventing!!

Drop Box effective today

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:11:00 -0400

Hi all

Effective today - June 23rd - there is now a drop box for day fee payment attached to the kiosk bulletin board in the front main Equestrian parking lot. If you wish to buy a seasons pass you can also put your filled out forms, waiver and cheque in there as well and a pass will be mailed to you shortly.

Usually Janice and I have been trying to catch up with you all when we can to collect fees and I know we miss a lot of you. I get emails quite often asking me how you all pay. This is the new much easier way.

The gate house should be opening soon but until then we thank all you very honest caring equestrian riders out there for helping us out with the day fees.

Please pay by cash or by cheque made out to the FVRD. There will be waiver forms there but just in case it is always good to come prepared. The waiver form is linked on the home page of the website.

The reality is the more honest you all are the more the Society can get for you.

Last year the FVRD spent 20 thousand dollars on a third riding ring as well as new main and warmup ring footing.

Next year we have other plans and it is all for the benefit of all eventer, carriage users and casual users out there.

The cross country jumps are built by the Society and the funding for them is through events and grants.

Also for those that like to camp please remember that starting July 1st over night paddocks are available on weekends. Please email to let me know that you are coming down and I will make sure the gate house is aware. All the fees for camping are on the website.

Thank you so much for all your support these past many years and we hope that we are all here in the many years to come.

park conditions update

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:30:00 -0400

Grass is still really short.

The next estimated mowing date is between July 1st - 9th.

Water jump is VERY full.

No bugs!! ZERO!!

I was out there for many hours on Saturday and encountered none. Ran into Gord who was out there at 4pm in the evening and he saw none. Maybe 4 flys.

Tons of weedeating all over has been done.

Main ring has been harrowed.

Great News!

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:44:00 -0400

The mower was out there!!!!!!!!!!

He didn't finish but he had enough sense to run around as many jumps as he could and then he had the whole back field cut. There are TONS of jumps open to use now. There are open areas everywhere.

He hasn't hit the back half in full force but he is starting.

And I ran into Gord, who rides at the park a few times a week, there are NO MOSQUITOES out there at all!! The odd fly but they are not an issue.

He also did not see any bears. That is good.

The water jump is VERY full. I personally don't recommend jumping into it, but you can definitely gallop through it.

Also don't forget that the front parking lot chain is NOT LOCKED, it is ONLY HOOKED. This is to keep the goofs out of the area.

Check the ditch footing before training it - we did get a lot of rain out here so it might be really soft.

The weather is said to be pretty decent this weekend so if you head out there for a day of fun, please enjoy yourself, ride safe, do not park in the fisherman's parking lot and leash your dogs at all times.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/cabc0057

Have a great time people!!

Andrea

Park update

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:35:00 -0400

Still no mosquitoes!

Lot of rain though.

And to my surprise, even though there is a lot of rain and the river is way up there is very little water at the park.

As of this evening (I headed down their for a quick look) the water jump is totally filled naturally and there is only one or two stray puddles. Please be careful around the new ditches as the footing may be soft there due to this lovely rain. Check them first.

The big unfortunate is that this rain has not played nice when it comes to mowing. So the park is still not mowed. BUT many jumps are still very safe to ride over you just need to look first and judge based on you and your horse. Ride safe.

Hopefully the weather cooperates soon and then the mower can start working and we will try to fit in some weed eating.

A big huge note!!! A bear was spotted at the park. Now this does not mean the bear is still there. He or she could have left by now. You just need to ride safe and preferably in a buddy system. This is a little reminder that even though we are there with our horses Island 22 is still a park and there is a lot of wonderful wildlife around. We are quite lucky actually.

Also - please head on over to the website and check out the list of events page or the calendar. There is TONS going on in the month of August!! There are very few open spots there so if you are thinking of booking for a clinic (remember you dont need to rent the park but I will advertise for free) let me know soon so you know that the park will be available to you. The Chilliwack Riding club has not released all their info yet but they will be holding a jumper day in August some of you might want to consider.

There is also a HUGE event on the July/August long weekend.

There is even some stuff happening in July with some fun days.

We will keep a very close watch on the mosquito level out at the park. I have created a new side bar box that is visible on all of the website pages and I will update the mosquito level frequently in there.

How to give an intramuscular injection

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:52:00 -0400

How to give an intramuscular injection

June 1, 2010

Featuring Dr. Mike Pownall

Learn where all three IM sites are and how to properly and safely inject your horse