The most wonderful time of the year...

Is actually summer when it's really 9* outside!!! I am ready for winter to be over now that Xmas has come. But it was a nice Xmas, and I'm armed with new info thanks to a couple new horse books from Jeff n the boys. One is about hoof care and the other explains the mystery of Farming with horses and all the hoo-haws of the harness. Which is awesome research for the mural I'm painting of "Old Time farming" so double score there ;). Critters are all doing great, except Buckley who's having trouble with her one foot again. At least she's good about treatment though, so that helps.
Sierra has progressed to picking up all feet, lead wherever, touch anywhere, and walk onto a blanket. (For some reason my tarp is missing...) but at least she has the concept down even if there's no noise yet. She also lets some of the cats (who have nothing better to do but figure out ways to stay warmer) ride around on her back as she wanders around. Lol, breaking her should be easy. Sometimes I can't help but wonder what she'd be like if she didnt have to catch up on so much, but the main thing is that she can now. But I get impatient cuz I know what lies beneath what all you see- she's in the caterpillar stage yet-- but the butterfly will come.
While looking at Breyer horses during Xmas shopping I found the perfect 2- One is a buckskin barrel horse that looks like Pheonix and the other is a set and comes with a cowgirl doll. What's so funny about that is the horse looks like Sierra, and someday she'll wear pink stuff too, so it'll be just like the Breyer. I just wish I was skinny like the doll lol! Jeff has gotten me a few over the years but these 2 are just awesome cuz they look like ones I have- and I've waited forever to find matching Breyers of my horses. But it isnt a high priority either when there's hay to buy for the real ones ;) ...

Highlights of 2009

Just sitting here thinking back on all the main events of my 2009 horse year...
What a year it was too. Saw the rise, my fall, and selling of Rohan, then first time ever sending a horse out to be trained by someone else- with Rohan it didnt work but with Twista it paid off; Learned to drive a trailer finally and found a whole new sense of independance with that; Took Twista out into the world and found adventure; and the latest event was the adoption of Sierra and getting her on the road to recovery. 2009 was a good year alright. 2010 brings adventures of Pheonix and Twista... and I am so looking forward to it.

my little diamond in the rough...read earlier posts

Her updated story follows the last few posts... but here's some cute pics of her :)

Before and during.....

Top photo: This is Sierra the day we got her rescued back to Rhonda's place. Poor little thing is lucky to even survive what that #@+&*^%$#^()&*^** Nikki put her through.

and here she is 3 weeks later. The lighting isnt the greatest so it's hard to see her real well, but I needed some pics of her to see the change, which seems slow in coming but it will. Winterizing the barn hasnt worked- this blizzard blew a bunch of snow inside through every nook and cranny. But at least the middle stayed pretty much snow-free, so Sierra and Kazza had only a bit down at the end of thier pen nearest the door and the tack/feed room was ok, but snow had come in all the stall doors. Alot of snow. So everyone else stayed in the freestall barn where it wasnt snowy and had cornstalk bedding to lay in instead of snow everywhere. Sigh. One of these years we'll be ready for anything ;) .
but in the meantime, here is Sierra in all her fuzzy teddy-bear cuteness lol. Yes I am partial ;).

Un-Stable update :)

Things in the Un-Stable ( my barn's name) have been winterized finally. All the horses have settled into the routine of going into thier stalls at night and turnout all day. Jeff has cut a new door on the side of the barn facing the pond so they can use the freestall barn as they wish. And with the blizzard that started today, that's where they were waiting once I got there.
We had a run -in with cattle the last 2 mornings where they knocked the gates down into the freestall shed, to get at the cornstalk bales stored there. Then of course, Jake lets all the horses out every morning and these mornings were no different. So horses went on a little feild trip into the cornfeilds and found every cockleburr along the fence, grr. so I have another job waiting, ugh. I REALLY hate cockleburrs.
Baby Sierra is doing wonderfully, she's putting weight on and actually feeling frisky-- tonite she was prancing around her pen waiting for supper. She looks like a little arab when she does that. Kazza, on the other hand, is getting cranky having to babysit. He's so chunky already that we have to restrict his grain for fear of founder, so he gets tied and only a half cup of oats to keep him busy while Sierra eats hers. But once he's let loose he shows what he thinks of that idea by tossing Sierra's rubber pan into the air several times cuz there's nothing left. He's good at dirty looks too. Once the blizzard's over I'll let him run around outside for awhile and see if that helps his mood lol. I need to take some new pics of Sierra, hopefully tomorrow works out.
Kajun is holding her weight very well and her cough hasnt appeared yet this winter. With any luck it wont show up at all. I switched her grain and she seems to be doing much better on it than her old stuff.
Cim is his usual roly-poly self using puppy eyes to get oats. It only works for a cupful though lol. He is a character though.
Twista is her same old loveable self, with any luck I'll get a chance to ride her sometime this winter when the weather's nice.
Dusty is really growing- I think there's more arab than pony in him-- he's already big enuf that I could ride him so that's cool. He turns 3 this coming summer so then it begins... :)
Buckley is her granny self as well. I still hold hope that she could be pregnant, so I guess time will tell. When Rhonda comes I'll have her test her and see if my hopes are valid.
And Pheonix is blossoming into quite the lady and losing her ganglyish 2year-old look. I cannot wait to finally ride her. She'll look so awesome as a cowgirl horse and an english horse. She's inheirited all the stuff I'd collected for Rohan and will be my new spokeshorse for breastcancer. Pink looks just as cute on her as it did Rohan, and she's got better confo anyway, not to mention brains.
So I cant wait to see what the professionals do with her, I know she'll come back as my one true love ;)...

Rescue baby is here!

Ain't she a doll? What a sweethart she is, she will be well worth the time and $ she needs to get back on track. I just can't believe there are people out there who do this to dependant creatures- who lie, steal, and do all they can to collect more to starve to death. This little girl has been quieted down alot by Rhonda already, and has treated her issues accordingly. Besides needing weight, poor baby has a bad case of rainrot and an open sore under her chin the size of a 50 cent peice, so is gonna need lots of tlc. But she's very patient and good about getting treatments. Now I have no idea what to call her! But I think I'm the luckiest girl in the world to get the chance with her.

An update...

Things have been nuts in the horse dept too lately. Went on a rescue mission with a freind and that has turned into a saga- hopefully to be resolved soon. My Horses are all moved into winter quarters, ie the Un-Stable, for the duration till spring. So far only 3 have been deburred and that took well over an hour, even with thspray! This weekend promises a new adventure- one of the rescues is a little filly who needs lots of tlc, and I was happy to have her, and she comes here tomorrow or Sun. I had intended to buy her but in her condition my freind wouldnt sell her, she just wanted care for it. Having missed out on getting the last colt this mare had, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get this filly back on track. A diamond in the rough is still a diamond, I just hope I can put the polish on her quickly, poor little thing :(.

Aw Man!

It's STILL raining. Twista is gonna be a handful once this monsoon clears up. This weekend calls for another ride and I wanna go but I dont wanna ride in this, ugh. Time to dig out the Carharrts! But even so, who wants to get all cold n soaked. At least when the snow hits it wont be so miserable as November rain. (Even if it's still October lol)

progress!

Well, 3rd trailride is accomplished, and Twista is getting better each time. I had a setback earlier in the week riding bareback and falling off and then with her being onery about being back with her buddies. So yesterday before we left we lunged for about an hour out in the feild where she'd been so naughty last time- so she would associate that wanting to see her buddies was more work than it was worth. And it seemed to be working, she was licking and listening and doing very well. Then I took her to the yard and she got pushy to be with the buddies again, and even aimed her rear at me so then I really worked her till she figured out what was what and left her tied for a half hour till we left. So 2 hours of "detention" and then we rode without alot of fuss for most of the trailride. At the start she was nervous, and it was windy so she wasnt the only one at least, but an awesome lady ponied her for awhile before the ride started and that helped alot. Then her only thing was calling alot, and getting her face in other horses' rears. So I was checking her alot on that issue and making her wait. The pic is from the highway part of the ride, and she did so good with a car coming from behind and a bicycle from the front-which spooked the horse right in front of us into nearly colliding with us and a freind's next to me. My freind's horse reacted to the horse freaking out towards us, to get outta it's way but Twista just paused when the spooker got in her face, she didnt get sprung or anything and took a few steps sideways and saw the bike but went on as before. Lol, all those summer days of the kids riding bikes next to their pen cuz the ground is flat there has paid off this time. Plus she was tired too lol which always helps. And she got better at standing still, for the halfway point she settled after awhile and even let out a couple of sighs, so finally she's catching on that she can be patient and let someone else do the decisions for her.

The funniest part was when a couple girls asked Cowboy Todd,the trainer, if it was the same horse he'd taken to a ride 3 weeks ago (her first day ever off the farm, first ever trailride, so you can imagine how she was and her markings make her stand out so she cant hide in a crowd) . And he had the credit to say yes it was, so that was good advertising for him. He has done wonders with her.

Today I went out to visit her and she came over all licking and smacking so I'm very happy to see that. Later on I'll take her out and see how she does here. I had hoped to do that last nite but it was dark by the time we got home but the day had ended on a very good note. She has the potential and now just needs the practice.

On our way...

First ever public trailride riding Twista, and her second big trailride. For only having 2 weeks of real work done with her she did very well I think. It was a brisk fall day and the horses were feeling fresh. She got anxious seeing the other horses all leave at once, and was prancy, and my freind was having trouble with her horse as well, luckily Cowboy Todd was there to help us both. Our first big obstacle was a rocky climb up a narrow trail to the top of a bluff- alot of loose rock, steep dropoff, and only room for one horse safely. And Twista was being pigheaded and either had her nose in another horse's tail or wanting to rush past them and being pissy at being held back. She got her back feet off the trail and started sliding down the dropoff, which was a scary moment, but I booted her and got her back where she needed to be and made her WAIT and follow another horse slowly up the steepest part. The other riders were very considerate of her green-ness and for that I'm grateful. Big trail rides are alot of fun and educational for the greenies, but I still prefer riding in smaller groups where there's a slower pace and more opportuny to fine-tune or correct misbehavior. There it felt like 'if she blows up what if she crashes into another horse???' so I tried to orchestrate things to keep the misbehavior to a minimum so other people shouldnt haveta deal with that. Her things she did well was crossing water, circling her to keep her from pushing ahead when waiting was required- so it gave her something 'busy' to do, and a huge tree had fallen over the trail so all the horses had to scramble up thru brush on a bluff ridge (so I was glad Cowboy Todd had already had us do that) and then we hopped a log for awhile- till the 3rd time she ducked around it so I made her do 3 extra. However, whether that got her excited or if it was the farm we rode thru, she got prancy cuz there were other horses at this farm and she wanted to go see them, but I kept her moving the right way. All in all, I am happy with her progress- 2 weeks ago she hadnt a thought past her belly and never been off the farm and now here she is doing all kinds of stuff. The real test will come when I ride her here, away from her buddies. I know she'll test me then, and it's raining/snowing today so I dunno if I'll get a chance. I can't wait though, now she knows all this stuff it's up to me to keep the ball rolling.

The other part of Independance day was driving the trailer and picking her up. I waited so long for that day! Now I just gotta figure out how to hook it up and I'm all set...

Twista's progress

Well, after her 2 year vacation (during which I was dealing with Rohan and another young one) Twista has been in "college" this past week. I sent her to a professional to teach her beyond the basics. Thus far, he has taken her on a public trail ride, ridden her through traffic in town, ridden her through the woods, rough country, creeks and rivers, and out away from her buddies. The last will be her issue, as she's insecure, but she did ride away and didnt fight it today. She called, and got a little prancy, but did slow to a walk as told and on we went for a good ways. I am very happy with her progress, considering she's never done any of this and only been at it a week. Getting in and out of a trailer all the time has been wonderful for her too, at 7 years she's only been in a trailer once as a baby, and then to go the trainer's. She hasnt fought that either with me or him so I am just tickled after the whole Rohan saga. The trainer has said she's very light with her cues so I'm happy to see she's kept that, but he also said because of it she'd be easy to frustrate by overdoing it, which I can understand. Now she comes home soon and it will feel like having a brand new horse only better cuz I've always had her. (I can only imagine what it'll be like when I send Pheonix out!) So all in all, I can't wait to ride her again....

things are lookin up...

Twista is finally at the trainer's. In a week I'll go see how she's doing and I'm confident this trainer will make her awesome. She already knows what to do, just needs a refresher and experience out in a diff enviroment.
Then it was off to another riding adventure with a cool freind and I got to ride her huge blue roan gelding. Only my saddle didnt fit him and started sliding all over the place, and it bothered him as expected. But he was fun to ride, I would like to try him with a saddle that fit, but with mine it just wasnt good, he spent the whole time compensating a bad fit. But at least the ride was short so he didnt haveta wear it for long.
And 2 little longhair kittens came home with me :) . They are white with tabby spots, and solid black, Ace and Spades are thier names. So they'll live indoors for a few days cuz they're pretty little.
When I got home I finished cleaning up the tack I'd started Fri nite. So all in all a very horsy day, and one with some new hopes for the future....

options...

So many ads out there right now. Prime time that ppl are selling off horses, some cheap, to avoid feeding them all winter. It's also weanling selloff season so seeing ads for the babies again. Now this poses a dilemma, with 2 empty spots in my barn now (Rohan is gone and no colt from Buckley) there are lots to speculate over. Only trouble is, the ones I tend to want still cost an arm and a leg. But with any luck I'll find a way or the price will come down. Maybe there's a black n white overo, a blue roan and a Freisian just wandering around in fairyland waiting for a good home. A girl can dream.

Sigh...

Found out today Buckley is not pregnant :( . Nothing seems to be going right this week. Disappointment seems to be running rampant around here. Whine!

Summer's end...

Kajun (behind her is Cim), Twista, the now-departed Rohan (Dusty behind her) and Buckley. Almost everyone. Summer is fading into fall, which is the best season of all. We've begun working in the horsebarn again, prepping it for winter. I've found several prospects for Rohan's replacement, but havent decided till I have more $ to stick into the endevour. Time will tell....

new plans....

on this horizon. I have decided to send Pheonix out to get professionally trained next year. And have decided to send Twista out to get finished better than what riding thru cornfeilds would teach her. So some hope remains. My new plan is that my barn be full of lifetime keepers, instead of so many prospects. So getting Twista professionally finished will guarantee her place, as well as Pheonix. In the meantime, I'm keeping an eye out for a good horse to replace Rohan, but it wont be so bothersome- "get-it-done-right-now" doing something active for Twista. Maybe I'm just burned on hoping somthing will turn out after Rohan- looking back she's always been more alpha- but it was the tantrums that proved she was more than I could deal with. But the good news is Twista and Pheonix are quiet and accept new things alot better!!
I've done a test ride on a gelding, but he was too expensive and his feet were issues- so for that i kept looking. No pospects in that dept lately, but my attention has focused onto Twista as needing my $ now lol.

disappointed beyond discouraged

My adventure with Rohan has come to an end. At the trainer's this week she has fallen into the habit of rearing and flipping whenever she doesnt want to do something, even things she knows already. It has become a full out tantrum over little things and I know there is no way I can get her out of it if a professional can't. So she cannot come back, either my kids or myself will get hurt dealing with her. So it sucks to see all that hard work, time and $ down the drain, and somewhat depressing to see it all fail. Right now it's raining and cant even go play with the good ones I have. Today sucks

discouraged

is the name of the game today. Rohan is on her way to training, after an hour long battle to get loaded. She fought it SO badly, not out of fear but out of not wanting to. Therefore I am discouraged, that she'll be too headstrong for me to handle. :( :( . I'm hoping the trainer can turn her around, else I have no choice but to sell her, she's already hurt me once and cost us $2500 in hospital bills.
Then 2 days ago the cattle got into the horsebarn and wreaked havoc. The round bales of hay I had in there were destroyed, tromped into thier mess and hardly any eaten, but wasted after a nite and day of 30 cows playing/crapping in it. Then they broke into the tack room and ate all the grain, knocked down my bridles into thier mess, smashed what was left of the saddlepad closet and trampled my blankets and pads into the mess, and did I mention they crapped/peed everywhere?? It was such a disaster I couldnt scream or cry or anything. Luckily hubby found them first and drove them out- or we'd be in sore need of Hamburger helper. Some stuff is ruined, but most of it was salvagable, with alot of elbow grease. I spent my evening hosing saddlepads and cleaning leather. I'm just thankful the saddles are locked up or that wouldve been the END.
Yesterday when I got home hubby had cleaned the barn and built a new door for the tack room, instead of the gate I used to have. I think he felt bad his cows annihilated so much, and truth be told he should, cuz my son had told him they'd gotten in, but he was busy watching tv and they were 'just in the horsebarn.' Yeah, he was in the doghouse when I heard about that.
Ugh, hoping tomorrow brings a better outlook.

adorable female Gypsy vanner horse

All I can say is that's some adorable MARE! who are these ppl kidding??


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gonna have some fun

Today I made an app tomorrow to go look at some baby colts belonging to a freind. One is palimino which I am very interested in, but it'll be expensive I'm sure, and it's a boy and I favor girls. Oh well. I still like to look! And next week sometime Rohan ships out to get broke to drive. When I stopped in today to get that arranged they were harnessing up thier Percheron team, man those horses were huge! I should take my camera and get some pics of them, I've always wanted to paint a black team but never remember the camera when I go over there. But I'm excited things are getting in motion.

Something good...

is gonna happen in my horse corner of the world :). I finally managed to save up enuf to send Rohan out to a trainer, who will break her to drive, and hopefully take some of the sass out of her. Then it's back to her saddle work, and hopefully simultaneously as well, as the driver suggested he drive her around first and get her tired and then resume her lessons under saddle. I just wanna be able to enjoy her again- right now the honeymoon is looking more like a divorce lol!
My other project is gonna be making some trot poles and caveletti and having some fun with those. But I gotta get them built first. The tackroom is somewhat sorted, still need to clean some saddles, but will worry bout that once school starts. And I still need to get rid of the fabric closet, but since I have nothing else to put its contents into, well there it remains still.

gotta do something

This is the wardrobe, and no Narnia isnt in there- I looked. But it works perfect for storing saddles, after some modifications were made to it. For starters it had 3 shelves inside, which were removable. We cut them to 9" wide and put a landscaping timber on top, in the center of each shelf, and then screwed the ends in. Then I folded western blankets to pad it and viola. It holds heavy western saddles but I prefer it for the english ones as they are so much lighter to lift in. And it reminds me of those fancy saddle wardrobes for rich english riders lol. Only mine was bigger, tougher and cheaper. Moving it was a challenge though!

tack room overhaul

Here is an example of my homemade bridle racks. It is made of a landscaping timber cut into 4" sections and screwed to a log slice, but any board would do. This particular one is 6ft long. The pillowcases are to keep the bridles from getting dusty.

tack cleanup

I got to spend some time digging thru tack yesterday and have a whole pile I need to get cleaned up sometime soon. And I need to reconfigure my tack room as well, and throw out the cheap little fabric closet thing from walmart since it caved in from holding saddle blankets and english pads. But first I haveta find something to replace it. In the meantime the feed bin keeps it from folding over.
Other things needing doing are clearing the shed of junk and building an insulted/heated doghouse for the dogs this winter. This is probably my favorite time of year, cuz the weather gets perfect and outdoor projects rule, particularly horses...

temptations...

Everywhere I look there are horses going cheap or free. Hay prices are going low due to the dairy industry suffering now, which is sad for them but finally I get a break after the last few years of buying outrageously-priced hay. I'm sure the wheel will keep turning and soon I'll have some other reason to rob Peter to pay Paul, as the saying goes. Somebody's always getting a break or needing one, we all get our turn.
I haveta quit looking at all the ads online, in the paper, in store entryways, ads for horses that would look so nice being in my pasture. And it will only be more so this fall when people are looking to sell instead of feed them all winter- and the babies will be weaned and needing new homes. Man, it's times that I wonder WHEN?? Why not now?? Why not build my breeding program NOW when good horses are so cheap and hang onto them till times are better?? Last time I had it the other way around, bought high with high hopes to match and sold lower, but luckily got out before things hit too bad. Now it's rock bottom. Now is the time to buy but who knows what'll happen in a couple years. With any luck peta will exterminate itself and the horse industry can recover from the destuction/havoc they've wreaked upon it.

Some ads that have really caught my eye are a couple of Fresian crosses, a palamino filly, and several others. But I dont dare look at them in person, I would be wracking my brains for a way to get them home, and dont need to start a fight. So when that mood hits I just go spend some time pampering the ones I have, which is what I did tonite.

And it helps. Somewhat lol.
I'm hopeless

weekend of chaos

Yes, sometimes those hit even my quiet corner of the world. But things have quieted down and today I'm going with the kids to see a movie- Harry Potter for my niece n I and IceAge 3 for the younger kids n Gramma. So that'll be awesome, as I'm a huge Harry Potter book fan. I greatly admire JK Rowling for her incredible imagination, and kudos to her for getting kids excited about reading. Even though the movies are never as great as the books, the HP ones do a pretty good job.
Afterwards I plan on visiting my horses, as I didnt get to see them much yesterday, only a couple minutes.

storms today

But luckily our place just had 2" of rain and a bit of hail, nothing like what hit north of here- lots of hail and crop damage- so we are really lucky.
In horse news, Buckley is home again and hopefully pregnant. I havent had a chance yet to go riding which bugs me, and no idea what the weekend holds. I should just hide and do my own thing cuz waiting on other ppl's schedules can get old. Only take so much putting off my plans and then I get onery that they get pushed aside. Sigh. Just alot on my mind and sometimes it gets cluttered lol.

Sleeping in

Man, what a blessing that doesnt happen nearly enuf! From there to sitting out in the swing with a glass of oj- mobbed by 4 dogs and 10 cats to see what it is- lol not the relaxing early morning ritual I'd pictured. But that aside, once they settled it was nice to just 'be' for awhile- no stress, no nagging, nothing but just breathing and listening to the birds and looking over the flower beds.
But now it's onto buisness, gotta work this afternoon and hit the timeclock running.
But I plan on getting a project going once I'm free.

just an update

on Days of my Horses Lives.
Buckley is still at the Jack's place, and we really hope she'll have a mule colt next year. They told us she's wonderful to work with and doesnt get excited about anything, so that's good it's going well.
The boys rode thier ponies the other nite but I didnt get a chance to ride mine cuz they needed help. Everybody else is buisness as usual. One of these days I need to bring a couple saddles in and get them cleaned up.

a bit of earth, my secret garden

The gardens are doing well, but needs a major weeding after a week of neglect. I started some this morning but it has since gotten hot today and I dont take the heat, or the cold for that matter. Lol, yet here I am where we get both. But we have spring and fall that make up for it. This is the last of the columbines, I had many different colors this year that I didnt plant but they must reseed whatever thier hybrid heritage is. I had blue, purple, yellow, burgundy, white and pink- Last year it was just the blue n purple. I think they're so elegant. And soon the summer blooms will open. Some of the clematis are blooming again or for the first time this year, so there's all shades of purple, white, red, and pink everywhere. After the bombing of climbing roses, which I love but most cant survive our winters, I've switched gears and collect clematis instead-they are way cheaper and survive! The roses I have left do very well and I plan to add more 'tough' ones in the future. No more walmart ripoffs! The 'tough' ones I have left are 'Climbing America' which only gets about 3ft tall even with Miracle grow, but blooms profusely; "Love' which is a grandiflora that is silver with red reverse, very striking florist rose type; 'Heritage' a pale pink David Austin English rose- however, it only gets about 3ft tall instead of the 6ft it should. "Seven Sisters" climber that grows all over its trellis and then some; "The Fairy'' pale pink everbloomer, ''Pink Knockout" & "Red Knockout" lanscape roses, and a freind gave me a cutting of a shrub rose that looks exactly like "Hansa" but is pink instead of burgundy. I hope it survives, so far it looks good but I need to find a better place for it. The rest of the garden is full of perrenials and 3 wisterias which are only a year old, but in a couple years everything should be established. I was disappointed my butterfly bushes didnt make the winter, I bought another this spring anyway cuz they're only a couple bucks at the local greenhouse and the butterflies do come for them. But it stinks cuz I used them as a main focal for several gardens. I also had to replant most of the herb garden cuz the seeds i had were too old or something, but I have success at last. I'm trying to figure it out as I go cuz so many plants have different likes and sometimes they get sick/die in one area and flourish in another. It's very confusing for a 'wanna-be' greenthumb such as myself. The veg garden is doing awesome, any day now the tomatoes should start ripening, and the peppers. I cant wait for peppers and make a beef roast with peppers n onions. I havent done that since last time I had a veg garden, 4 years ago. Anyway, I also need to come up with a plan for the area in front of my picket fence, it has short phlox, painted daisy, and creeping thyme in front, and a purple/white clematis climbing thru it (whose name escapes me now), and a pink clematis at one end and a wisteria at the other climbling up the garage. So in spring it looks very cute, but now it's very boring cuz nothing is blooming. I put sea lavendar there and will see how that looks but it wont bloom till late summer. I had butterfly bushes all along it for summer but they're dead, so the challenge is to find something that wont hide the fence but survive a harsh winter.... But its dangerous to go to the greenhouse lol, too many plants to try.....

Early Saturday morning, and I can't sleep. So went out to see my crew in the early light. As usual they were already at breakfast.

That day was awesome, horse fun day at the fair and I was helping. Hopefully next year I can take somebody and participate.

It seems that now that fair is over and nothing coming up for a couple weeks that I can get back to playing with my horses again. Today I finally got my own helmet, so training can commence once again.

And I'm ready for it....

These guys are the ponies. Both are geldings. Kazza is the little bay roan, he is 5 and broke to ride, and Dusty is the blue roan and is 2. We bought Dusty as a yearling and he's a good match for my older boy, currently we're breaking him to ride. Dusty has a blaze and 3 socks, a stripe down his back, and has obvious Arabian heritage. Dusty is big enuf, but not old enuf yet, for me to ride so that'll help with his training, as he gets away with some stuff with Jake as ponies tend to try. The original plan was both boys would share him but Luke was intimidated by his size and it wasnt working.

So I found something shorter and more suited to Luke's needs and those 2 get along perfectly. Kazza (short for Alakazzam) has no markings and is such a character. He loves to explore, get into mischief, and doesnt mind being by himself, and calls at Luke whenever it sees him. Kazza and Dusty play 'wild stallions' all the time, and whenever the horses run, little Kaz has 3 times the work to keep up. But in his mind he's 10 ft tall. We bought him this winter and he was chocolate colored, with a few white sprinkles here n there. Now he has shed out to have a bay head/points and silver body, so he's very striking. His funniest quirk is when he's done giving rides he just lays down, I guess that's better than fighting, but it is funny.

I don't know what happened- it used to look like an Indian (Native American) herd around here with all the Paints- and Cim was the only solid horse to be seen- Now the Colored horses are outnumbered 2 to 6, and it looks like a Cowboy herd with the buckskins and roans......

This girl on the right is Rohan, a 3 year old bay Paint breeding stock filly. She is full sister to Twista, but favors her Paint grandfather who had some Throughbred in his papers. She has the longer, leaner look and a plainer head, but is still pretty and I hope to someday make a jumper outta her. However, first I haveta convince her not to be a bucker! A few weeks ago she sent me to the hospital with a concussion, and I've just been doing more groundwork since. I hope I'll be able to handle whatever next she dishes out. Before that I was enjoying great success with her training. She has 1 white sock and a wide blaze. She was the last colt outta Chika x my stud while I owned her.

My stud Rado sired a couple other colts after Rohan but they were sold or sold inutero when I sold my mares. Rado was gelded and then sold.

Someday I hope to get back into raising colts every year, but I think I'll skip owning a stud cuz I'll never have another like Rado was. And it'll be easier letting somebody else deal with the stud aspect year-round.

The lady on the left is Buckley, a 15 year old buckskin Quarter horse that I bought at Xmas from a freind of mine. The pic is from the day she came. Buckley is awesome, she does everything, your average ranch horse. Only you cant tie her to anything but a trailer and once you get on she's all buisness, no dinking around waiting, but those are minor compared to how broke she is. I rode her some in the spring, and summer thus far has gotten away on me. Currently she's down at a freind's, getting bred to a jack. She's had mule babies before and we tried 3 years in a row, several years ago, to get one but none of our mares would take, so once we got her we thought we'd try again. So maybe my hubby will finally get his mule and enjoy riding again. He doesnt ride horses anymore cuz of his knees. She almost matches Pheonix but has dapples, 3 socks, and a star, and of course is bigger. Pheonix also has the zebra stripes and a line down her back which Buckley doesnt. But they're my Golden girls- and it's so ironic, I never thought I'd ever have a buckskin and now I got 2. Buckley is a talker, that is she's constantly nickering when she's sees me or it's close to suppertime. She's freindly but not the 'cuddly' type like the others who sponge up the attention, I guess it comes from her remuda days. Still, as long as she's glad to see me , freindly enuf to come when called, easy to catch and enjoys a grooming, I'd say she's fine as is.

These guys are Kajun, 14 year old Paint mare, on the left and Cimmaron, a 15 year old grade gelding, on the right. Cimmaron, or Cim (that's Sim) is the first horse I ever had who was my own. Before that my brother got a pony and he shared her with me. I bought him when he was a yearling, wild and unwanted. He's come a long way, but is now retired. how that started was I had broke him and he was lots of fun cuz he loved to go riding ( except cross water!) But then a couple of years passed and I had severeal young ones around that always needed time, add a couple kids, and life gets away. Then he got joint problems cuz of his conformation (he has club feet/legs and is jarring to ride) so, with so many others around, he can just be a pasture pet and buddy to Kajun, who is long retired from any riding due to a surgery she had at age 4. She had punctured her esophagus and the ordeal that followed was labor intensive, infection had set in, the surgery took 4 hours in a blizzard no less, and she nearly died of shock that nite. For 2 weeks I tube-fed her with a syringe every 2 hours, and she had gruel-feed for 6 weeks total, and her chest was open to her heart and lungs where the infection had been cut away. But she pulled thru and now has only a thin line down her brisket that you haveta search for as the only reminder.

She was a broodmare a few years later and had 3 colts over 6 years time period. Sadly I dont have any of those, but she had a black n white filly, and a bay medicine hat stud that we sold due to enemployment, and her last one was lethal white, which didnt survive. After that ordeal I decreed her to be permanently retired from everything and she can just be a lazy horse who's earned retirement.

Some of my girls... The sorrel Paint is Twista, a 7 year old mare, and the dun is Pheonix, a 2 year old Paint breeding stock filly. There are 4 other horses and 2 ponies that I'll get pics later, but a bio of these 2: Twista was born here and was the first foal outta my stud and mare Chika, neither of which I own anymore. I broke her at age 4 to western and english but consider her green yet, as she needs alot more miles. But she's quiet and easy going, and was my favorite since day 1. Now she shares that spotlight with a couple others, Pheonix being one of them. Pheonix I bought as a yearling and she has such an awesome brain and beauty beyond. She's been saddled and bridled and no big deal. This fall I plan to start getting on her and see what she does.... the only white on Pheonix is a sock on her left hind leg, but that's cool cuz she has zebra stripes down her legs instead ;).

So the horses and a zillion other projects keep me busy-- it's my own fault if I ever get bored. Family, pets, a farm, plus painting, needlework, beadwork, scrapbooking, gardening, well there's never a dull moment.