You did much better than you think. But I think Denise was a bit relieved when our lesson was over. I wore her down before you even got a chance. I was so happy when she walked the circle for me. It helped a lot.
Rebecca
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My hubbyās nickname for me is āCone Killerā because Iāve demolished so many. Heāll be heading the mini and when Iām ready to go heāll announce loud and clear āheās all yours Cone Killerā for all the world (or the showgrounds) to hear. We have no dignity. None at all.
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Judging by Bugsā hoofbeats when we drive with the Big Guys: 10-12
@RMJacobs & @M_al FB sleuthing says friendās acreage is in Deer Trail .
They were in Colorado Springs if that helps.
Iād seriously consider a move if you can promise me a temperate Winter with no snowfall over a foot & Summers without soul-crushing humidity.
Subdivisions are encroaching here, so my property value s/b 
Give me 3ac, with a Tiny Home, shedrow barn & small veg garden 
Preferably less than $400K 
Be careful 2DogsFarm, the Rules in CO and western states are ādifferentā than what you are used to now in the Midwest. Husband visited CO some years ago and was quite surprised at how they keep horses out there. Not much in fields, too hard on the valuable land. Unless you own a ranch, things are not like in the movies, endless spaces.
Paddocks are even for raising babies! The young horses he was looking at had no idea how to gallop, manage their bodies in turns etc. Never had been in an open field to play and run with others. All were fed pure alfalfa, per CO State horse diet and paddock size recommends. Nice animals but not being raised for work with confined turnout. No notion of how to be āhandy.ā
The other āBig Dealā is that the land owner seldom owns the water under the land. Land and water rights got split years ago, with water often being sold off. You might have to buy water, be on city water, even out in country areas. That can get expensive with equines!!
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Your friend will need to make sure she has water rights that allow watering livestock. Itās not a given. Deer Trail farther south and is pretty far out on the plains. Iām closer to the mountains (but not in them, not even in the foothills) and practically to the Wyoming border. Distances here can be astonishing.
We can give you very low humidity year round, but the snowfall requirement is a tough one. It depends on the year. When I lived outside Parker, we were on the Palmer Divide, which meant lots of snow. Here in Fort Collins, it can snow a lot, or a little. I donāt know how it is farther out on the plains.
Rebecca
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Thanks for that info - @goodhors & @RMJacobs
I wonder if my old friend - who wants to keep Highland cattle, with no farming experience of her own - is aware of the water issue 
Re: CO horsekeeping:
Different Strokes, Iād say.
My family relocated to SoCal when I was in college. I saw some horsekeeping when I visited & saw things that made me 
The only places I would have considered - coming from the Midwest - were $$$$$.
As an adult, I viewed some properties near Bakersfield in a gated Equestrian Community. There HOA made me grit my teeth
I do not play well with others telling me how my acreage must look.
My brother lives near Las Vegas & took me to visit a stable owned by a Bronze Medalist (he knew my interest in Dressage & wanted to show me options for boarding).
Neither place was anywhere Iād want to keep my horses.
But I understand there are many people in both that do so quite happily.
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The town she mentioned is pretty far out on the plains. When we were 20 miles southeast of Denver, we had five acres and owned nearly complete water rights into a good aquifer, except we werenāt allowed to irrigate our land. My horses lived outside on several of the acres, with sheds for shelter. Where they were most of the time didnāt have grass because they ate it the second it showed up. But we kept a front pasture gated off so we could put them on grass for a few hours a day in the spring, summer and fall, depending on rainfall. and how well we could acclimate them to grass. In a very dry year, they got no grass at all. We gave them free choice grass hay when they all still had teeth. The two older ones ended up toothless pretty quickly (we got them when they were already senior citizens), so we switched to giving them senior feed along with free choice alfalfa/grass mix. I had an automatic waterer with a heater.
We were practically in civilization. It was five minutes to a couple of grocery stores, and my commute to work was about 20 minutes. I mostly worked in the Denver Tech Center.
Rebecca
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When I lived in Los Angeles, I had a horse at home, and boarded another. I had two and a half acres at a rental, completely surrounded by a subdivision in Reseda. There was just nowhere to ride, although my boarder took her pony out on city streets (bareback, no less). Today there are a lot of houses on that acreage.
Rebecca
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Going back to the late '90s, early 2000s, I had an Aunt in Calabasas. Iād see horses kept on less than an acre. Multiple horses.
IIRC, the place with the HOA was offering less than 2ac for the 2 horses I had at the time, including a modest (2BR, 2BA) house.
Larger properties were available, but waaaay beyond my budget.
My brother was still in CA then, with a GF in a less pricy part of Pasadena. There were 2 stables up in the hills, walking distance from her block of apartments.
One was a fancy H/J facility, the other had mare motel boarders & offered trailrides. We did a ride & it was all hilly, desert terrain.
I know Griffith Park had livery then too, but never rode out of there.
Calabasas is pretty ritzy, therefore very pricey. I went to high school not far from there (Woodland Hills), but my family couldnāt actually afford to live in the area where we lived. My father was always big on status symbols, which is why we lived in a five bedroom house that we couldnāt afford (I only had one sister). Who needs food, right?
It sounds like the trail ride you took was in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills in Altadena. I used to ride my bike up there as far as I could take paved roads, then zoom down back home to Pasadena. I used to pass cars on the way down. I was a lot gutsier then. All it would have taken is hitting one small rock with those narrow tires, and I would have been toast. Going 45 mph on a road bicycle was an amazing adrenaline rush. Now I think it was fairly stupid.
I was up there riding my bike one time, and it started snowing. The road got icy very fast, and it was scary coming home.
Rebecca
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Are we related? 
In the late mid-late 70s, my Dad had a store selling 8-track tapes in Woodland Hills:
Tape-O-Rama (creative 
), right on Ventura Blvd.
Yup, you was certifiable on that bike 
Snow was just the icing on your crazy cake! 
Oh, to be young & immortal againā¦
I think we talked about your dadās tape store before. I still have a couple of 8-tracks around here somewhere. I have no idea why I am saving them.
I have never been known for being cautious about stuff that can kill me. Iām a bit better about taking risks these days, but still drive way too fast just because I enjoy it. Give me an empty road when Iām alone in the car, and Iām happy. I did finally learn not to scare my passengers, and I donāt drive nearly as fast as I used to even when Iām alone. I know my reactions have slowed down.
Rebecca
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Fancy hats in dressage in all CDE/DTs, however the unwritten rule is your hat should not be fancier than your carriage. So in theory restraint should be applied if you use your marathon vehicle for dressage. On the other hand itās not like they kick you out if you wear a fancy lid when you arenāt in a presentation vehicle!
Pro tip on well driven circles (and quality corners which are just 1/4 circles): your horse has to be responsive to the outside rein and automatically step into it during the half halt. You also have to drive the circle on the outside rein. Think of the inside rein as a fashion accessory Now spend the rest of your life trying to master that concept.
Second pro tip: until your horse succeeds at circles they arenāt going straight in a line either. It is one of the great conundrums of dressage that your horse has to be straight to do a circle, but has to be able to do a circle to go in a straight line properly.
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Hah, I know who you are taking lessons from lol
She is wonderful. @M_al and I are both directionally challenged, and Denise keeps coming up with ways to help us past our mental blocks. And physical onesāshe asked the BO if she would get some lines with loops to help with my poor useless hands. @cayuse had suggested this to me when I told her we were starting lesson, and I think it would really help me. I have neuropathy in both hands and feet, and itās hard to feel the lines, especially in driving gloves. I may try going without gloves if itās warm enough next time. My hands werenāt great, but they were way better than they are now when I was driving my own ponies.
Rebecca
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Let me know how the loops work if you try them. Have you tried using really thin cotton gloves that have the pimpley grips on the finger and palms? Those help me quite a bit and give a little warmth. I keep most of my sensation with them.
Iāll give that a try in the spring if loops donāt do the job (or if they arenāt purchased). Unfortunately, given the time of year, I think Iām going to have to use my leather gloves with the Thinsulate lining for lessons. If my hands get too cold, then Iām really in trouble.
By the way, we had another lesson today. After I was done and @M_al was driving, it was so nice seeing, hearing and smelling the horses that surrounded us. I have missed that so much.
Rebecca
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I love my loops (ivc carriage), they are life savers on Marathon and in cones once you hit the kamikaze speed that is advanced ponies. You do need sewn in ends with a swivel for them to work on reins though (or you spend all afternoon converting them, it aināt pretty but Iām sitting on them so who cares).
D is good people. We do hang together a lot in the winter 
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A Driving Club member has an autoimmune disease that has made her hands too crippled to hold lines without handholds.
Sheās done fine for years using lines with loops 
Color me jealous you have access to a great trainer.
I might try having my (ridden) Dressage trainer give me a lesson.
Friend who also rides with her has a - new to her Driving mini & a Ride/Drive Vanner.
Also a huge outdoor we could both drive in.
Goals for Spring
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She is an excellent trainer, and a very nice human being.
Rebecca
