Introducing Tonka!

Now here's a great story. A friend stopped me on my way home and asked if my husband and I would be interested in a free horse. Of course, when you hear someone has a horse to give away, you immediately begin to wonder what's wrong with the horse and what condition is he in. She gave us some information and, strictly based on the horse's color...strawberry roan, we called the woman who had him.

We made plans to see him and decided to take the horse trailer along. We weren't expecting to see much of a horse, but when she brought Gorgeous George up to us, we were pleasantly surprised. Here stood a beautiful strawberry roan gelding with a flowing blond mane and tail. He was well behaved, but the woman said she didn't ride anymore, her son was not into walking horses and the son's girlfriend was into showing miniature horses. They didn't want him going to waste and being unused, so they were looking for a good home for him.

DEAL! We loaded George into the trailer and took him home with us. We always re-name horses when we get them, so we decided to call him Tonka...then Tonka Tough...then I'm Tonka Tough. We call him Tonk, but hope to either sell him or try him at shows and on trails. We will probably get him registered with the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse association if we keep him.

His mane is 2 feet long at it's longest section and his tail is blond with a strawberry streak in it.

When we first tested him out as far as riding goes, I put one foot in the stirrup and knew I wouldn't even get in the saddle. When I hopped up in the stirrup, Tonka spun around wildly and I just stood on the ground out of harm's way. My husband put up the round pen and we started him off on his training more slowly. After acclimating him to the saddle and the sounds it made, I set off to lay over his back. Once I was across the saddle he began a series of short, half-baked bucks. When my husband grew tired of holding on to him, he told me to bail off. I did this twice, both times landing on my back and jarring my neck out of place (and yes, I had to go to the chiropractor to get it fixed, but I waited a couple of months before I went...dumb, huh). BUT, since I am a serious rider, I once again laid across his back and Tonka finally decided it wasn't so bad having a rider. His training has gone smoothly ever since.

Unfortunately, we may have to sell Tonka, but I trust God will reveal His plan to us in His own time. After all, Tonka is simply on loan from his Creator.

The Winter Season is Upon Us

Well, those who know me best will know I do not like winter weather. I don't like the cold at all and hope to one day move to warmer climates.

That being said, I have been trying to help out more with the care of our horses during the cold winter months. My husband, Brian, does most of it during the winter and I am much more eager to tend to the horses during the warmer months of the year. As long as I put on my long John's, a wool sweater, my Carhartt coveralls, my Carhartt coat and a sock hat, I'm good to go!

With one large stall, for the absolutely HUGE Max Mule, and 4 average size stalls, Brian has been keeping 3 or 4 horses up while the others are left outside. We do rotate them around so they can all get out of the weather a little bit.

Snow Rabbit is our most talkative horse and she is due to deliver a foal in late March or early April (if we don't sell her before then). She decided she wanted to come in for the night last night, so Brian and I took her and Spur (her baby's daddy) into the barn for the night, gave them some grain, some hay and some water and bedded them down for the night.

Max, Zip and Tonka got to stay up last night, too. Tonka prefers to stay outside, I think, but he didn't get to go out until this morning.

Boomerang and Moon Man, who are both fat and sassy, get to stay out more often since they have bulked up well for the colder temperatures. They both love to roll in the mud and, of course, they are both white and almost white in color. Boogers.

It will be like this for the next several months, but I'm not looking forward to it. However, I do thank God for blessing us with such wonderful animals.