Riding Today

How blessed I am so be able to ride my horses whenever I want to. This morning two wonderful friends of mine and I rode for about 2 hours. The weather was warm, but not unbearably so. My gaited pony had been ridden by several beginner riders and had begun trotting (which is unacceptable for a gaited horse) so I have had to bump him from beginner's horse to intermediate gaited horse in order to get him back to where he should be. One of my friends rode my show pony (actually a horse) and had fun with him. He can be a handful, but it so much fun to ride! My other friend is a beginner rider, so she rode the oldest horse in the herd who is very easy to ride but sometimes gets a bit lazy and stubborn.

This evening, my husband and I went back out to the farm to take a short evening ride. He rode his TWH who has gotten quite fat and I rode a horse we are teaching to neck rein for a friend who was injured in a horse accident. We had a wonderful time and the horses were kept in a quick gait and did very well.

What a great day!

Spur's Smokin' Samson!

Our mare, Snow Rabbit, had her baby on March 26 while we were at work and she did very well on her own. I had been checking on her every hour or so in the few nights before she gave birth and knew she was getting close. Samson is a healthy and fiery little guy who tried to kick me the very day he was born! Here he is the day after he was born, hanging out in the aisleway of the barn with his mom, Snow Rabbit. His father is Spur. We believe Samson will be a blue roan. He looks dark grey or even black in the video, but he isn't. His father goes from blue roan in the summer, to a bit lighter color in the winter to silver in the early spring, but we think Samson will always be blue roan and solid at that (except for the little white cuffs around his back feet).

Expectant Mother

Our mare, Snow Rabbit, is due on/about March 20. We can't wait to see our new little foal. We are hoping for a colt with brilliant colors. Snow Rabbit likes to stay in the barn, which we find a bit odd. When we turn her out, she stretches her legs a little and then patiently waits at the gate for us to put her back in her stall. She is gaining weight very well and has a great appetite. It seems that her milk is coming in, or starting to at least. Having a baby is exciting and we hope to catch the birth and maybe even get it on video.
Rabbit, as my husband calls her, is very sweet, but since getting her head caught in a wire fence when she was young, she is a bit head shy. We are working on that and she is improving somewhat. She is a very talkative horse and whinnies every time we set foot out the door...even in the middle of the night when the dogs have to go out to potty. At feeding time, she pops up in her stall if we take too long to get her feed to her. It is actually quite funny as she only pops up a little.
If you can think of any names for the foal, let me know!

The Ice Storm of 2009

Well, it's only been about 5 years since the last ice storm hit Central Kentucky, so maybe we were due one. Last Wednesday, the road conditions were so bad and there were so many power outages that my workplace was closed. I thought it was wonderful and I could actually get some much needed household work done. When the power went out around 10:30 am, I thought otherwise.
My husband and I had to come up with a plan before it got too late or the weather conditions worsened. Since his mom and dad still had power and didn't mind us bringing our 4 dogs, we packed up, fed, hayed and watered the horses in the barn and headed to Versailles. Our neighbors agreed to call us when the power came back on.
It's amazing just how easy it can be to keep my little Toyota Celica on the road even under terrible road conditions. If she's not pushed too hard or too fast, she'll go on through the snow and coast over the ice. Normally about a 15 minutes trip, it took us just over twice that long to get to Versailles. But we arrived safely.
My brother-in-law was also without power and had his puppy with him, so we had 5 people and 5 dogs riding out the ice storm and power outages. It was fun as the dogs settled in and the younger dogs chased each other around the house.
The next morning, my workplace was operating on a 2-hour delay which gave us time to go home, drop of the dogs with an abundance of blankets to keep warm, care for the horses and then head to work.
Schools and businesses all over Central KY were closed for the rest of the week due to either bad road conditions or power outages. Things are beginning to get back to normal, but there are still those without power and counties still reeling from the ice storm.

Winter in Kentucky

Brrrr....it's cold here! We've been breaking ice out of troughs and water buckets for weeks now and it really is starting to get old. The flurries are flying right now as I write this.

Our horses are fuzzy and fat and they don't seem to mind the cold as they run and jump and play in what little snow we have. They even seem to enjoy making snow angels!

Mucking stalls is pretty easy when everything is frozen....a shovel full is much lighter in winter...have you noticed?

And so, I blog on....just waiting for the first breaths of spring to fill the air.

Watchful Guard

The gentle mother horse sees
Her very first baby in the hay,
Dreaming about his adventures
After an exciting first day.
Rays of sunshine keep him warm
And his breath is soft and low.
The rustling of leaves is soothing
As a gentle wind does blow.
His long lean legs tucked under him,
He is surely tuckered out,
For this day was a wondrous one
Of walking and running about.
As little ones are prone to do
This baby is sleeping hard,
While mother stands above him
Keeping her watchful guard.
- Joy Padgett

Ride 'em cowgirls!

What better fun can a group of girls have than riding horses together on a hot summer day! Josey, her cousin and a friend are just doing what comes naturally to the cowgirl...riding! Even if they don't have their jeans and boots on, these girls are tough enough to handle it! With three great horses, these girls could ride all day long if they wanted too. What a great memory to share with others.