Healthy horse standing in pasture with environmental water conservation symbols, promoting sustainable horse keeping practices.
Message from Alayne: January is for Adventures
Matt Livengood riding a sorrel horse down a gravel road lined with lush green trees

January is time for adventures—adventures that come in all shapes and sizes. It’s about planning exciting activities for the year ahead, which can be all sorts of fun and exciting things. Adventures can be as modest as planning for your new pollinator hedgerow (more about that in next month’s newsletter!) or as grand as saving up for a trip to ride in southern Europe.

If you’re on a time/money budget but yearning for a learning/self-care/horsey adventure, how about a Sweet Pepper Ranch Cowgirl Retreat? We’ve got those in the works here, and they will be packed with entertainment, activities, learning, relaxation, gourmet meals, and, of course, excellent horsemanship instruction. And by popular request, this year’s August retreat will even include men! A deposit is all you need to secure your spot and get you started on your adventure goals.

Perhaps your January adventure could be designing your horsemanship goals for the year. Matt recently did just that with his riding clients, and he shared a few thoughts on how to have realistic, attainable goals.

If your adventures this year include improving your horsemanship skills, we can help there as well. We’ve got lots of clinics lined up at Sweet Pepper Ranch (check us out on Facebook or sweetpepperranch.com). Matt and I are both involved with the Idaho Horse Expo this year (April 10-12), which is brimming with educational opportunities and promises to be a fun, dynamic opportunity for all. All for a $10 entry fee, too!

Maybe your adventures this year include improvements to your horse property. As always, Horses for Clean Water is here to help. We have workshops and online classes coming up which offer innovative approaches to horse keeping, from track paddocks and slow feeders and other horse enrichment ideas to building pollinator hedgerows and installing owl boxes. Check out the education schedule in this newsletter to help you get started on those adventures.

Don’t let the winter blues hold you back from your January adventure planning, and I hope we see you out on the trails!

Alayne

Picture of Alayne Blickle
Alayne Blickle
Alayne Blickle is a lifelong equestrian, ranch riding competitor, and the creator and director of Horses for Clean Water. Well-known for her enthusiastic, down-to-earth approach, Blickle is an educator who has worked with horse and livestock owners since 1990, teaching manure composting, pasture management, mud and dust control, water conservation, chemical use reduction, fire preparedness, and wildlife enhancement.  Blickle and her husband raise and train their mustangs and quarter horses at their eco-sensitive guest ranch, Sweet Pepper Ranch, in sunny Nampa, Idaho.
Picture of Alayne Blickle
Alayne Blickle
Alayne Blickle is a lifelong equestrian, ranch riding competitor, and the creator and director of Horses for Clean Water. Well-known for her enthusiastic, down-to-earth approach, Blickle is an educator who has worked with horse and livestock owners since 1990, teaching manure composting, pasture management, mud and dust control, water conservation, chemical use reduction, fire preparedness, and wildlife enhancement.  Blickle and her husband raise and train their mustangs and quarter horses at their eco-sensitive guest ranch, Sweet Pepper Ranch, in sunny Nampa, Idaho.

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