trail ride – Leaning Tree Trail Rides

Happy New Year

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

LTTR _ Happy New Year 2021

Just like that, we are here in 2021. When I made our first hats in 2017, we had never dreamed of rolling into our 5th year of business so quickly. I wanted to pop by and let you all know that despite the world feeling like it was going to blow right up last year in May when we were supposed to open .. we sat back and enjoyed A LOT of quiet time with our animals. We tossed the ideas back and forth about opening up or just remaining closed to see where things landed – but we opened up much later, and we worked hard to create memories for and with you!

Not only did we get to meet AMAZING people from all over the map again, we were a part of a huge production with ZenSeekers Media (who are affiliated with Travel Alberta), who launched this little business into the wide open spaces of social media. With only the two of us at the reins of this operation, we packed things in at the end of September merely out of needing a time out. The boys got their massage therapy, we got our massage therapy and all enjoyed some time off.

From the bottom of our hearts – we want to thank you lovely people who share this passion with us for making the journey to our humble abode. For the social media reviews and recommendations, the kind words you tell your friends and family who book with us .. we always look forward to seeing the new and old faces each season.

Cheers to a happy new year filled with memories – and a few of those memories on horseback.

Warmest wishes,

Shawn + Amara

Spring 2020

June 7, 2020June 7, 2020 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

Hello everyone!!

We weren’t entirely sure that we would get to write this blog and share with you all that June 15th is the date that we will be opening. A month and a half has gone by without any guests, but rest assured, projects never stop around the ranch. Owning animals, means that fences need to be mended, horses need to be exercised and of course feet. Feet ALWAYS need to be tended too. Our days have been packed solid, and always end with a ride to unwind. We are so excited that you will be able to join us on these rides soon!

We do ask that you be kind during this time. While we do our very best to oblige to health codes and navigate through with our small business, we ask that if you are feeling ill that you cancel your ride. Also, please share our little business with your friends/family, and if you have had the pleasure of riding with us – please leave us a review on google and Facebook! These small, free gestures help our little business during these crazy times more than you know!

If you have any questions for us, or want to get your adventure booked – please don’t hesitate. We will send you all the information you need!

Stay up to date on our current adventures on Instagram and Faceook!

Hello 2020!

February 8, 2020February 8, 2020 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

Leaning Tree Trail Rides

Greetings from the crew!

When the doors close at the end of fall, the work doesn’t end. We continue riding when we can, the boys and girls, mini’s and donkeys need extra food when the temperatures fall dramatically, and hooves still need to be trimmed of course! We let everyone have their well deserved time off to be horses to play and run free together and the winter activities that ensue like skijoring and sleighing behind the minis is something you will find me (Amara), doing as much as time and weather permit! So while there are a lot of email inquiries flying into the inbox weekly about coming for winter rides – I sadly have to remind people that we are still closed, and that just as much as the animals enjoy their time off – so do we 😉 We haven’t seen much of the trails as the snow is quite deep .. but we are excited to get out there when the snow lessens to clean up fallen trees so that you can all enjoy the beauty that we call home! Until then – here’s a little look in to what the animals (and a bit of us), have been up to!

Leaning Tree Trail Rides

FALL!

October 6, 2019October 6, 2019 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

Just popping in to say hi to everyone who is stopping in at our website planning their adventure!

We aren’t even sure how this season just flew by so fast, but here we are – informing all of you that we are on the homestretch before the boys go out to pasture and we close the doors on another AMAZING season. Rides will be booked up until October 20th – so if you are wanting to come back, or visit us for the first time .. please don’t hesitate to book. Weekends are all booked up so if you can make it out here during the week – we can find you a spot!

In the meantime, we have been enjoying the cool mornings (with no bugs!), riding the youngsters and having a little bit more time to ride the horses we haven’t been able to ride all season long – that being Teddy and Major 😉 As well as finish up the last of the projects to prepare for winter – cutting wood and getting bedding and food ready for the animals!

We can’t thank you all enough for the love and support we continually get DAILY – this has been the most unreal adventure to share with so many people we would have never met otherwise!

July 2019

July 25, 2019March 9, 2020 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

If you’re on Facebook or Instagram – don’t forget to give us a follow .. all updates and current photos are posted there (as you know – this space gets heavily neglected during riding season!)

Just popping in to say hi! We have been getting A LOT of rain in these parts and at times challenging our bookings! Mosquitoes and horseflies of course are crazy, but for them most part, our morning rides have been more than amazing. Major has been visited a plenty by previous riders who have been itching to get back on him, and of course many tears have been shed when they have to leave their new best friend behind. We are going to start a Major board in the barn for all the art we have been given from kids .. what an amazing feeling to own this guy!

Aside from that, Shawn and I are busy keeping the horses exercised (the grass has been plenty, some bellies are larger than they should be!), keeping the yard trimmed up and booking rides. So on that note, the summer is zipping by and if you haven’t booked yourself a spot – please do .. spaces are becoming limited.

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and finding some sunshine in between these crazy Alberta storms! Here are a few of our visitors from this season ..

LTTR - Mid Season 2019

2018 Year End

November 6, 2018March 9, 2020 leaningtreetrailrides

It felt like yesterday that we were writing that the doors would be opening soon .. and today, I’m writing about the end of the season #2!!

2018 surpassed every expectation we had of this journey and we are really excited for the future. We have met faces from all of the world (which is still insane to us!), from all walks of life and watched so many dreams of riding a horse come true. While we try not to take this lifestyle for granted, both Shawn and I know we do at times .. we have some pretty awesome horses that make this happen day in and day out and when you beautiful visitors tell us we are so lucky – we know! 😉
We spend an incredible amount of time behind the scenes ensuring that our animals are cared for, educated and ready for all kinds of riders from beginner to experienced. Some days are long and exhausting, but the good ones outweigh those crazy ones! Our horses continue to be kind and patient and they deserve the biggest applause of all. We know every single day that they get saddled that they are going to give it their best. We are pretty excited to be integrating the up and comers throughout the next few seasons – so it won’t just look like Teddy + Major do all the grunt work around here haha.
A few shout outs to those who have made this year a pretty outstanding:

Westlock Veterinary Center – Cali Lewis, Sven, and everyone who makes each of our visits a good one. Thank you for putting the care of our animals #1. The professionalism and love of what you do is exceptional.
Barr-North Veterinary Services – Dr. Cera … thank you for keeping our horses happy with every adjustment we bring them in for.
Sizzlin Stitches & Custom Advertising – For our lawn chairs, hats and jackets that we get to advertise with – we can’t thank you enough for your hard work!
Laurie McKay, Wilma Kowaluk-Ladouceur + Ed – THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts – our horses wouldn’t be as fat as they are without you guys lol ❤ .. They love pretending to be wild out there!
To our friends and family – our biggest supporters of all. Cheering us on from the sidelines and helping us exercise our horses during visits!

To all of you, who like, share and book rides/birthday parties with us. It wouldn’t be this awesome with out you. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your adventure and we can’t wait to see more new faces and hopefully ones we’ve seen before come back!!!
Shawn + Amara

LTTR - Alberta Trail Riding

Out and About

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

It’s certainly a great thing that we didn’t plan on officially opening Leaning Tree till May … as Mother Nature spent all of April being an emotional mess. Despite the weather set backs, we have continued to spend many hours on the backs of the horses – flagging trails, exercising and prepping. You know, the usual!

So, we will leave you with some imagery of the last few weeks, because writing isn’t always the forte 😉

Below: Pepper in the round Pen. For the 5 minutes it was dry!

Hello snowstorm.

FINALLY dry enough to hook up Bombur to the cart and make some miles!

The ocean front property has disappeared, the sun is shining and the yard is turning green!!

Till next time!

Spring

April 12, 2017May 3, 2017 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

It’s been a little while since we’ve shown up on our blog, but it’s Spring and with Spring it means we are hustling around here! Horses have been shuffled around, the lawn has taken top priority for Amara as she buzzes around with her lawn sweep and rake, the pastures have been tidied up and the hair has been flying around getting stuck in our mouths with every visit to the barn. We’ve been doing a lot of our own rides – exercising the horses and checking out new and old trails.

Rosie LOVES people so when Alex showed up on the bale … she was a happy horse.

There’s one thing we are sure of – if you get to hang out with Teddy or are ever so lucky to be mounted on him for your ride, you are going to a) fall in love b) smile a lot

Pretty exciting to have this photograph of Shawn and Tara featured on AB Recreation and Parks Assn on Instagram! If you haven’t checked us out there … go! @leaningtreetrailrides

Natalie is addicted to horses and jumping anything available to jump!

We had our favorites up from Calgary for a visit .. and though the chickens are perhaps the girls’ least favorite animals (and much like everything around here, they are overly friendly), the horses are always getting loved on. Though they could have brushed for hours, we threw the saddle on Dallas and went for a walk.

So that’s a tiny look at to what we’ve been doing (that has been photographed anyways!)! Stay tuned for more fun from the ranch!

For more adventures, news and updates follow us on Instagram!! @leaningtreetrailrides

or send us a message to chat about your summer adventure

we look forward to meeting you!

March!

March 16, 2017March 16, 2017 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

Winter has been slowly going away and truthfully, I am ready for it! It has been awhile since I’ve updated the going ons around here – which of course just seems to be the usual! Exercising horses when it’s warm, sleigh rides through the forest .. you know, the good stuff! Ensuring bellies are full for those cold blasts – BUT, hair is starting to fly and ending up in my mouth which only means one thing … SPRING! Days are longer and warmer and sitting in front of the computer working gets harder and harder.

We are looking forward to filling up the spring and summer calendar with rides, so don’t hesitate. Head over to the contact button and shoot us a message!

We have had a whole bunch of birthday party inquiries – and yes, we would be so excited to have your youngsters celebrate their birthday out here! Please send us an email, we’d love to chat with you!

If you are looking to fill up a weekend with adventures, please check out THIS incredible cabin on Airbnb literally minutes from us! A cabin to sleep in and horseback riding .. what more could one person need in life 😉

LTTR - March

Taya our niece stayed with us for 9 days in January .. and we always had an abundance of activities (and chores) to do!
LTTR - March

No matter where I go in the yard, they know where I am and they are hoping for some kind of goodies.
LTTR - March

Hours and hours of sleigh rides. Soon the skis will be put in storage and the wheels will be out!
LTTR - March

Frosty and snowy days …
LTTR - March

Denny enjoying an afternoon treat
LTTR - March

Rosie, Belle + Bo
LTTR - March

The nieces spend a lot of time at aunty and uncles … and with the animals 😉 lucky girls right!
LTTR - March

So until next time .. hopefully we will be sloshing around in puddles and lessening the layers of sweaters on horse rides 😉

Happy New Year

January 14, 2017 leaningtreetrailridesLeave a comment

I can’t believe it’s already half way through January! I’m really excited to be working on this adventure and welcoming all of you out to our humble abode. Things have slowed down for me with weddings and client sessions, so I have been filling my days and hours with driving lessons with my mini’s. It’s usually when Shawn leaves that I get really crafty (probably leaning towards dangerous!) and decide to do things that I should probably do when he is around. None the less, the little fur balls trust that I have only good intentions with them, so off we went. I started with a simple calf sled – and though we had one spill due to my poor navigation, we had great success during the Christmas Holidays. Shawn, my dad and I spent Christmas eve in the shop fabricating the cutest little sleigh .. and since then, our make shift shaft system has been upgraded from my favorite people at Patty’s Pony Place. It has become a serious obsession and I can’t wait to hook up some wheels behind these guys come summertime!

Christmas was an amazing and a relaxing event with the family – as always. Our two nieces were home at the farm, so we had activity after activity. We skated and roasted marshmallows on our hidden gem of a skating rink, horse rides, mini sleigh rides, tobogganing … the works. I can’t wait to share more of our plans with you – so until then – keep warm and see you soon!

LTTR - Christmas