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.

A Look Back

Here are some photos from 3 1/2 years ago when Spur was just a couple days old. Star was such a great mom! She took great care of Spur and when we needed to work with him, she was very trusting and didn't worry. Spur was Star's first baby and she delivered him without or help and without any problems. We could not have asked for a better mare or a prettier baby.

More Horse Show 1 photos

Our First Horse Show

Last year, we heard about a horse show for all horses, registered or not, to be held in Waddy, KY. We decided to check it out one month and participate the next month.

Josey rode Boomerang, Brian rode Zip and I rode Moon Man in the very first class we all qualified for. Josey and Boomerang came in 1st! She got a trophy, a ribbon and a 50lb. bag of feed. Moon Man got a 4th place ribbon in that class.

Josey went on to participate in 3 other classes and got 3 more ribbons. Moon Man was in two more classes and got one more ribbon.

We enjoyed showing our trail horses and meeting other who had trail horses, too. It was something different to do with the horses and Boom especially enjoyed showing off. Even Brian got bitten by the show bug and enjoyed watching from atop Zip.

There were a lot of really nice, smooth-gaited horses there as well as some very nice quarter horses and ponies. The show was still going when we pulled out around 11pm. It was fun!