A new year, a new website!
I hope 2007 was a good year for you!
Overall 2007 was a good year but we definitely had our ups and downs.
The biggest down happened at the end of the year--December 22
Our much loved school horse and friend Desi died of old age (he was 33).
Desi was the equine teacher for many many students during his 17 year career.
Desi began his career at the age of 16. He began by taking a refresher course from
my sister Suzanne. Then she showed him for a couple of years in both hunter shows and horse trials. I have some great pictures of them together, but they are not digitalized because that technology did not exist at that time (at least not here at Gusty Wind). Suzanne was an older teenager when Desi first came to live with us. His big trick was to trip, every step. Strangely this problem did not occur when he was out by himself (doing what he wanted). So Suzanne gave Desi a good reminder everytime he tripped and within 2 sessions he got over that trick. Which is good because now that he could
remember where all four of his feet went he could start to have some adventures! Suzanne taught that little guy to jump, jump, jump! He loved to jump. Then she started training him for eventing. Boy did he love that. That little horse would gallop and jump like no one would believe. Suzanne got rather serious about his training and did a lot of conditioning work with him. She often would go out on her own and practice trotting and cantering him so that he would be strong enough to handle the endurance requirements of cross country when she competed him. One day she staggered in from riding Desi with an odd look on her face and some dirt on one of her legs. When mother asked her what happened she said she wasn't exactly sure, but that she remember that she had been galloping Desi across a field. The next she remember was laying on the ground, no Desi in sight. (Yes she was wearing her riding helmet). So she got up and started hiking towards home she found Desi eating grass with the herd of horses. So she caught him, climbed back on and rode him home. Once she got home she untacked him and put him back in his field. The best we can guess is that while she was cantering him he slipped and fell down. Then he got up and went on to join the herd. We guess that she must have been knocked out for a short time. (One reason that riding alone isn't a real bright idea). Both of them were fine, but it was a strange incident!
At one point Suzanne had 7 horses that she was training/showing. So she finally stopped riding Desi and he started working more often in the riding school. For a long time he taught many people to canter and to jump. Later after another golden oldie Honey (at age 34), passed away he became the first canter horse. As he got older he began to specialize in beginner lessons. Many people did their first walking trail class, walk trot class or walk trot individual canter class on Desi. He enjoyed the attention that he got as a lesson horse. His favorite time of the lesson was the end when he got his treats! He used to look at the students with this expectant look on his face his ears would be up and he neck would be arched while he waited for the student to give him his treat. As he got older we had to wait longer and longer for him to chew his carrots because his ancient teeth were not as good as they were in his youthful teenage years.
What I loved about Desi was that I could absolutely trust him and that he genuinely enjoyed being with us!
had 4 stalls and was located in Salem Township, Pennsylvania (30 miles east of Pittsburgh, PA). Today the facility has expanded to include 34 stalls, 3 outdoor arenas (including 1 large jumping ring and a full size Dressage ring), a large indoor arena. We also have an indoor arena and over 100 acres of land.
The school horses are well trained and the instructors are conservative. However none of that slows down the fun. We all enjoy participating in horse shows, camps, barn, and trail rides. In addition if a student decides to buy a horse the 
instructors are willing to help the student choose an appropriate horse. The students can board the new horse at the facility or bring in horses of their own.
