Lily looking pretty!

I just found a picture I figured I'd share. Before I took Lily to be in the Greenville Christmas parade, I spent some time giving her a bath and making sure she looked gorgeous.

First I took the hair clippers to her, and I shaved off her beard (for lack of better words), whiskers around her mouth and eyes, and then I also clipped her bridle path really short. Usually she hates me clipping her bridle path. She surprised me this time by not really caring. It was nice.

After the hair cut, she got a bath. I ran the hose on her, and I used a kind of curry comb that I got for her while the water was on her. So she got scrubbed too. I was doing this cuz when we went on the test run, even though I had brushed her very thoroughly, she still had some dust coming up from her bottom coat and getting on the harness.

I used a squeegie to remove most the water, and then combed her mane and tail out. I even used show sheen or something like that so that her hair looked nice.

The results can be seen above. The picture is a little dark, but this is probably the cleanest she gets!

Dec 14, 2009 - Giving Wagon Rides in Greenville

I had a great time last Saturday night! I got to give wagon rides at Park Street in Greenville, TX. Park Street is a pretty old neighborhood. They have a historical committee, and each year the entire street decorates their houses, some even play music. On Friday and Saturday nights, they arrange for wagon rides to take place up and down the road. I got to go Saturday night and use Lily, my wagon, and my new harness to give people rides up and down this street. I had the wagon all decorated with garland, a wreath on front, and LED lights all around (I used LEDs because they use so much LESS battery than their normal counterparts and they do not generate heat).

When I got there, there were 2 other wagons set up and ready to go. One had a team of mules, and the other had a team of horses. Their wagons were much bigger than mine, but my horse was much bigger than theirs. J I got Lily all harnessed up and hooked up to the wagon. She had this really calm disposition. Usually before a parade she is itching to get moving. That night, she seemed to be content with doing what I wanted.

The night started off with a parade. It was short, and I hauled a few of the locals as well as my wife, and Riley. After the parade, the rides began. The way the rides were handled was great for me. The Park St. people handled selling tickets, and loaded and unloaded people from the wagons. I just sat there, and then the person in charge would give me the tickets for the people, just so I could keep track of how many people I transported. This went awesome. It was great to just be able to focus on the horse and not have to worry about the other stuff.

The rides were great. The street was lit up nicely, carols could be heard and Lily did just fine walking on her own. She has a strong tendency to want to stay with other horses, and so sometimes as we’d pass the other wagons she’d try to stop, or want to turn and follow them, but it wasn’t anything a strong hand on the reign couldn’t correct.

The event lasted 3 hours, and I ended up taking 4 groups up and down the street. When we reached the last hour, the mules were completely worn out and had to be retired. The other wagon had it’s battery die, and it got a flat. They kept filling it with air but it kept leaking. They continued giving rides though. (BTW. Those horses were gorgeous. They were full sisters, and you would’ve thought they were identical twins. Same size, exact same blaze, same colors. They were great.) Lily didn’t even break a sweat till the last ride. The last ride of the night, they piled 11 people onto my wagon. Lily did great, and when we stopped I noticed that she had actually began to perspire from that ride.

I have to say that this experience was AWESOME! It was great to get to be out and giving rides. I had some great conversations and met some wonderful people. The last group were some dancers that were performing where the wagon rides started. That group sang Christmas carols the entire ride. It was wonderful and really brought the Christmas spirit to me.

Lily got an A on this excursion. There was only one time where she got a bit spooked. While I was waiting for riders, the dancing group began a tap dancing number. Lily was not happy about tap dancing and she wanted to get moving. She’s pretty funny though, anytime she gets like that, I can just wrap my arms around her head, and she’ll calm right down. Needless to say, she had no problem getting moving that time. She also did great at following voice commands. There were a few people that were pretty impressed by how well she was doing with it. She did all I asked of her, and kept things safe for all riders. You can’t ask for more than that.

What a wonderful time. I hope to find more opportunities to do that kind of stuff. Giving rides is a very enjoyable and rewarding thing.

I wish I had pictures, but I’m afraid I don’t. We didn’t have a camera with a flash, and since it was dark, I didn’t get any. If I get any pictures from people who might have snapped a shot of me, I’ll send them.

Dec 6, 2009 - Parade was Awesome!

Friday night went great! Besides being in the 20 degree range, it was a lot of fun for everyone. Lily did wonderful and I think the waiting to get going was hardest for her. It’s pretty awesome watching horses get set into parade mode. I probably could’ve gone through the parade without holding the reigns once we were moving. I was pretty impressed with her, especially considering that for a good 3 blocks, we had a guy with these giant strobing light stick for sale and he was walking exactly our speed, right at Lily’s head area. I kept waiting for her to jump away from them, but she never did.

I had 2 times where she spooked on me before the parade started. We were standing, just waiting to get going. On my right side was a chain link fence with lots of city cars and equipment in it. Lily kept eyeing it very cautiously. We were sitting there, and I didn’t notice that some people came walking past us on the right. The minute they got in view she jumped to the left. She kept trying to go and she nearly become the hook ornament for a small truck. I calmed her, and then backed her back up to where we were. After that I kept a vigilant watch on people walking near us to give her a warning about it. But even then, one other time, for no reason, she just jumped to the left. This one was not near as extreme as the first, and I just backed her up and back in place again. I think there was something about that city storage area that she just did not like. Other than that, things were easy as can be.

My friend Roger came down, he brought his mare Jessie, who is 17.2 hands, and his big boy Jack, who is around 19 hands. Luckily I got to be in the lead, so all the kids were amazed at my big horse. J And I didn’t hear anyone call her a Clydesdale (which was a first). It was a great time, and there were around 8-10 wagons. I saw the spotted Mules Kim talked about, and they look like Dalmatian dogs. Very pretty!

Since I was controlling the wagon, I didn’t get any pictures, but friends did. As soon as I get some, I’ll pass them along.

One of the great things about being in parades is getting exposure to the community. As a result of the parade, this Saturday night I’m giving hay rides for a private event in Greenville on Park Street. Should be lots of fun for me!

I should also note that there was a woman there who rode her shire in the parade. I went up and saw the horse. Soooo gorgeous! It was an awesome horse!! I really like the look of the shire!

Dec 4, 2009 - Parade Practice, with only one panic attack

So last night I went downtown with my rig and Lily, and spent an hour walking the streets of Greenville and the parade route. Things went great! Lily is more impatient with red lights than many drivers, but after she gets that initial spunk out of her, she does fine.

The new harness is awesome! I think Lily hates having an overcheck line that is actually attached to the harness. It’s great having a harness that fits Lily well and I can have faith in its strength. No pictures, but I’ll for sure have some at the parade tonight.

I did some vocal practice tonight. I’ve been giving Lily vocal commands when I drive her, but up to this point, I was still pretty much driving her through turns and what not. Well tonight, on these roads, I tried a few different times to just give her a vocal, with no reign, and see what she did. She’s got “Haw” down pretty darn good. She also did great with my “straight up” command (which I use when at an intersection and I can see she is thinking she might need to turn). When I would holler that she would cease looking side to side and just settle in and go straight. She’s not the best wagon horse yet, but we’re working on that! J

I know y’all probably get sick of hearing me sing praises to Lily, but I have to one more time. After 45 minutes of walking around, I came upon a light, and proceeded to halt Lily. The road was going down hill a bit. Well I noticed the wagon kept rolling towards her when she stopped. I knew what happened instantly. Somehow one or both holdback lines had come unhooked. Since we were on a decline, my options were to make her move and run the red light, risking being hit, or brace for impact. Instantly I started calling for her to “woah” and be “easy”. The wagon smacked her right in the butt, and the shaft/single tree hit her rear legs. This all happened in just a few seconds, but I was very VERY concerned. I know a guy who had this same thing happen, and his result was that the horse spooked, took off causing the guy to bail from the wagon, and they found the wagon 1 mile and 4 fences later, turned over, and a horse with some serious wounds. With that in my mind I was probably the most “scared” (if you can call it that) that I’ve been. Fortunately my motorcycle riding has taught me how to put the panic away, and do what I have to do to ready myself for a situation.

After I called out to Lily and the wagon hit her, she took one step forward and then stopped good. I kept telling her to “whoa” as I handed the reigns to my friend, and I jumped down and grabbed Lily’s halter. Whew! Crisis adverted! I just cannot say how wonderful it is to have a horse that is so layed back, and so trusting of me. I really and truthfully thought we were going to have a rodeo for a bit, but nothing happened. What a wonderful horse!!!

The holdback lines I use are just chains with caribeaners on either side. One side hooks to the breeching strap ring, and the other hooks to the metal shaft ring. I do this because it makes adjustments very easy, and it is very stout. Both holdback lines were disconnected from the shafts. Nothing was broken or anything. All I can figure is that somehow I must’ve connected them with some twist in the chain so that they were pressured to turn and just popped off. How the spring loaded caribeaner actually opened and slid off is still a mystery to me. I’m going to get some locking caribeaners today so that doesn’t happen again.

Anyway … that’s my story for the day. This was my first time in a city, doing this by myself without someone more experienced by my side. I think I’m slowly learning!

Dec 3, 2009 - From the mouth of Pam (the Belgian mare)

Hi everyone. So nice to talk to such great folks. I figured I’d tell you a little story.

Well the other night Lily and I hear the whistle for food, and so up to the feed bins we went. We love the feed we get, especially this time of year cuz it has a little more molasses in it. Yum Yum! I noticed right away that things were different, cuz Tim was a bit chinchy on the feed. 1 scoop only? For muah? I knew he was up to something though, cuz as soon as Lily and I were eating, he closed the gates to our stalls.

Well Tim got this big ol’ white trailer. And here he came with it. With the food gone, I figured it might be good to get out of the rain, and have a little adventure. Lily agreed, and we both loaded in the trailer with no problem. Lily went in first, and then I stood behind her. I always stand behind Lily everywhere we go, so this was fine by me.

Well off we went, over the river and through the woods. It was nice to be out of the rain. Tim sure drives slow with us. He’s great!

Next thing I know, the door opens, and there’s Tim. He unties me, and then he proceeds to try and get me to back out of the trailer. Can you believe that. I didn’t see the need, and besides, Lily’s butt was right in front of me where it should be, so I declined his invitation to exit the trailer. Next thing I know, he’s behind me and pulling back. I really hate to not stand behind Lily though. Finally I decided I would do what he wanted, but I was going to surprise him. Rather than just back out (which I can do fine), I was going to do a 180 jump, and then walk out face first. That would’ve been so awesome, but unfortunately, this trailer is only 6 ½ feet wide, and I’m about 7 feet long. My brilliant idea turned bad when I got stuck half way. My back feet kept slipping out from under me, making it hard to get my footing. Finally Tim gave a good pull on my lead rope, which brought my front feet around enough to get back on my feet. Talk about embarrassing. I’m sure glad Lily was tied up front and couldn’t see how that turned out. (I can still hear her snickering).

Well Tim ties me up in the rain (the nerve!) and then he unloads Lily. She is such a show off. He had barely untied her and she began backing out just to show me up. Sometimes she can be annoying to live with!

I watched as Tim and his friend trimmed her feet up. Then back in the trailer she went. Next thing I know, I’m being led over to the guy who was doing the trimming. Fortunately, I’ve given Tim a hard enough time with my feet, so I heard them discussing things. They decided that in the rain, in unfamiliar surroundings would not be the best way to trim me. So back in the trailer I went. Standing back right behind Lily. I really wish I could just but a headrest on the back end of Lily to rest my head.

So then we get back home. Once again, Tim tried and tried to make me back out of the trailer. Do you think I’m going to leave Lily, alone in that trailer??? No way. He tried and tried, and I showed him that this gorgeous 2000 pound body wasn’t budging. One time he almost had me out, but the minute my first foot went down on that ground … brrrrrrrrrr. Back to Lily I went. I got to hand it to Tim … he was persistent. He tried for 20 minutes to get me to back out in the rain with no success. I know he was wet and cold, and I snickered a little about it.

He finally just walked down my side, and pulled the lead rope making me turn 180 degrees. With him pulling my head around, I turned faster then I would’ve liked to, but I didn’t get stuck. The 180 degree jump idea was still cooler. Anyway, so I walked out of the trailer. Once again, Lily has to be a show off and just back out without him even saying a word to her. She is such a brown noser!

I heard Tim in the truck talking to a friend. He said next time he’s going to put a bridle on me, hook up the driving lines, and make me back out that way. Maybe I’ll let him do it that way, but maybe not. I’m also scared that he might load me in first, meaning my head would be nowhere near Lily’s rear. That would be pure torture! Someone call the humane society.

Anyway, that’s my exciting story. Tim has a new harness he’s been putting on Lily. She looks so pretty that I get a little jealous. Tim winked at me though, and told me that this harness will fit me too and that soon I’ll be making use of it. I can’t wait. It’ll be nice to show Lily that other horses look pretty too! Hope y’all are setting up for a very merry Christmas!

Pam

PS – Bev, will you tell Vegas that I miss him and hope to see him again. I sure miss that hunka hunka burnin’ love. My heart is racing just thinking about him!

Nov 30, 2009 - My wagon is stained

Figured I’d send along a pic of the wagon. She’s stained now, and looking pretty. This Friday I will be in Greenville’s night parade. I’m really excited about it. This will be the completion of a goal I set over a year ago. I said I was gonna be in this parade, this year, and it’s looking like it’s going to happen. Tomorrow I get my new biothane harness for Lily. I’m very excited for that! It’s not a flashy spotted one, but it’s brand new, and I got it for well under what it is worth. This Friday night we’ll be in on a pretty wagon, with a pretty harness. Lily will be looking fabulous!

Nov 7, 2009 - My second wagon ride

Is there anything better then an afternoon wagon ride?!? I'm still grinning ear to ear.

This afternoon I decided to go visit a friend in the wagon. That friend doesn't live too far away (or so I thought).

I hitched Lily upwith no problems. And my new shaft holders are awesome! Thanks so much for the idea to use a normal horse back band deb!!! It's great and worked like a charm. Next time I'll get pics to show you what I made. The boy went with me and we had a ball.

So I had to take the long way around the block to my friends, because the sun was at an awkward angle and I didn't want to chance the sun being in peoples eyes. I live right on the interstate, so I turned and headed down the service road. Lily had no problem trotting the entire time while on the interstate.

The ride to my friends went great other than when we came upon a really unique bridge over the road. This was basically a giant grate. I tried and tried to coax Lily over it, but she refused to take a step on it. When I saw her eyeing the creek on the sides I knew I was going to have to walk her over it. So I hopped off, and led her over it with the lead rope.

My friend lives 2 1/2 miles away, and it took us at least an hour to get there. I didn't realize it would take so long. It was a nice slow relaxing ride though!

I gave Lily a short break and then we headed home. I ran out of daylight on the ride home. Let me tell ya ... riding in the dark is no fun. The boy was sitting on the hay and would tell me when cars were coming from behind. Luckily I have reflecters on the rear so that I'm noticable.

The worst part of the ride home, was that when I would ride on the shoulder for cars that were passing, I could not see what I was riding on. I had to have run over 50 plastic pop bottles. The first 20 times, Lily tried to spook, but the silver lining was that after 20 or so, she quit flinching when she heard the sound.

Luckily I have a wonderful wife, and when she saw it was really dark, she headed out and escorted me the last 10th of a mile. It as nice to have headlights from behind! Lights for the wagon are now a must.

All in all, Lily did awesome. By the time I got to my friends, Lily was doing well with vocal commands. She is still requiring quite a bit of reign to get exactly what I want, but she seems to do really well with "Ji". "Haw", not so much. :)

I LOVE having a wagon of my own. Such a fun way to spend a saturday afternoon with my son. I plan to do this more often!

LESSONS LEARNED:
As always with me, if I didn't learn something, I didn't have my eyes open.

The thing I really learned today was to make sure and really plan for how slow
the wagon is going to go. I left much later than I should have, and had to ride
in the dark because of it.

Riding in the dark is not smart, and is not SAFE! Luckily I had reflectors from
behind, but i didn't have anything from the front. That white line on the side
of the road was my friend.

Now I have a feed for how long a nice ride takes, so I won't be out like that
again. I'm going to plan a mile an hour just so I'm safe.

One other thing I learned, was that ferocious dogs, that are almost frothing at
the mouth with how serious they are about attacking, always back down when a 16
hand horse is finally up close to them. I got to watch many a mean dog lower
his tail and head and cower back to his respective driveway.

Have any of y'all ever come across a dog that actually tried to nip at your
horse?

Nov 7, 2009 - The Pam Diaries #2

Today was a great day. I spent some time with Pam today. She did pretty good. She needs me to mess with her everyday. She is always willing to do what I want, but she gets very impatient when I try to kep her doing something she doesn't want.

She let me pick up her front feet, barely. I only held them up for a second before I put them back down. She really REALLY does not like that.

I led her around a bunch, working especially on leading her away from the other horses. She settled right in and payed attention to me for the most part.

I was working with her on flexing her neck for me. She did this great the first few times, but it seemed the longer I made her keep doing it, the more agitated she got. The last time I flexed her nose around to her shoulder she moved her head in a way that made me think she was trying to bite me. I tried it again just to see, and she did the same movement, but did not bear teeth at all.

She's sure a sweetheart. Very easy to catch, and willing to do what I want. She just gets bored doing the same thing over and over. I really need to work her more.

Now that I have a trailer, I think I'm going to haul her and Lily to a friends and just hitch them up together. She does well with most things, I think that having her hitched to a great horse would help me to see how much she actually knows.

Nov 3, 2009 - Riley's first trail ride on Duncan

I figured that maybe some pictures of a 6 year old boy and his horse may make y’all smile.

The first few are of the boy on the horse. My awesome wife (who is not a horse person) saddled up the horse, and let Riley go for his first ride while I was out of town. Riley’s pet rat that he had for 2 years died, and he needed a “pick-me-up”. The horse did just that. “Duncan” is a 30 year old 15H QH. He just followed my wife around while the boy sat on him. This horse is going to be a great confidence builder for him.

Sunday we went for our first trail ride with Duncan. Riley and I are part of a trail riding group here in Greenville. Riley has always gone with me, so the other members were really excited to see him with his own horse. Just over half the time was spent with me dallying Duncan off Lily. Riley really wanted to ride himself, so once we were out in an enclosed, but open area, with Duncan being so good, I let Riley have control. He did great. We crested a hill, and the trailer was in view, and Duncan was off. (By off, I mean a very very slow walk that 30 year old horses do well). Riley tried and tried to pull his head around, but Duncan was not having it.

Y’all would be so impressed with me! I am not a cowboy, and I have a full 2 years of riding under my belt, so I’m pretty green and new at this. Riley was about 50 yards away and we were just trying to let him turn Duncan around himself. When I realized that Duncan was set on walking there, and the boy was getting more and more distressed, Lily and I sprung into action. I swear she can read what I want her to do. I said “Step it up L…” and before I could even finish her name she had sprung into a canter. We raced up on the side of Riley and Duncan, and then I walked her to cut Duncan off. I then grabbed Duncan’s reigns from the boy, halted Lily, and we put that lead rope back on him. I actually looked like I knew what I was doing. ;) LOL. I can’t get over how wonderful Lily is.

At first I thought maybe the boy was just having issues not pulling the reigns strong enough, but once I got that lead rope back on, I realized that Duncan had basically decided he was done. When we started heading back to the group, Duncan did not come willingly. But Lily had a gleam in her eye, because pulling a quarter horse, is much easier then pulling a Durango out of a muddy field. ;)

We had a great time, and the boy loved it. I think we’re going to have lots of fun together riding.

Enjoy the pictures.

NOTE: I think I need to add a special note to go with the pictures. Duncan is dally’d behind Lily. I did my best at keeping the rope up and off Lily’s rear end, but there were a few times where Duncan would not stop, and it would wrap the rope right around Lily’s rear legs. Since Lily is so wonderful (or maybe it’s just cuz she’s used to wearing a harness so she doesn’t mind stuff wrapping around her rear legs J ) she didn’t even flinch at this. Other horses may not be like this! Please do not try this unless you know you are going to be fine. I’ve heard of stories where that rope wraps around and the person who is on the lead horse then get’s a rodeo ride because the horse spooks. Always use caution when dealing with these wonderful animals!!!

Oct 10, 2009 - Riley gets his first horse ... Duncan

We got the boy an old QH. He is 15 hands, and probably close to 30 years old. He has no molars, so he's on a special diet. We're feeding him Purina Sr. and some One 'N Only 2 times a day.

He's gentle as can be, and I'm sure once the girls quit chasing him around, he'll be quite a happy guy. My son already gave him a test ride and he's a great horse. He's going to be a great confidence builder for the boy.

Oct 10, 2009 - My wagon is complete

I need to stain the wood and add a "slow vehicle" emblem. I'm not happy with the bench either, but it works. I either need to make a whole new bench, or at least re-cover the old bus seat. What do y'all think?

Oct 10, 2009 - Saturday Part 5: Lessons Learned

When you have experiences ... if you don't learn from them, they were wasted. So ... this is the most important part of my long and many posts.

What did I learn from this?

I learned that having good equipment is a MUST. A horse harness is not something you should ever go cheap on. Think of a harness like a parachute for a sky-diver. That harness has to be strong enough to take whatever stress and strain is put on it.

The harness I was using was obtained cheaply. I always figured it was good enough. Boy was I wrong. Think if it had broken if I had a load of people, or in a parade or something? SCARY!!!

I now know that even though I have cheap tendencies ... I will not look at a harness in that way again. I'm now saving up for a new harness. One that is not old, and worn. One that will never fail me, and put me in a dangerous situation for me, Lily, or anyone else.

So ... to anyone listening ... DO NOT GO CHEAP ON A HARNESS!!!

Oct 10, 2009 - Saturday Part 4 - The wagon ride

About this time, my poor frantic wife came out. Apparently it was time for the wagon ride, and she had been unable to get in touch with me through that whole ordeal.

I gave Lily about a 30 minute break, then hooked everything back up, and hooked her to the wagon. Since this was the first time being hooked to this wagon, it took a bit as I checked, double checked, and triple checked all my connections.

As I tried hooking the shafts to the harness, I noticed how weak the leather was there. SO ... the southern engineer in me came out. I used a motorcycle ratchet stap to attach the shafts to the saddle. I'll post pictures later ... please try not to laugh at the ugly motorcycle straps holding the shafts up. :)

After hooking things up, and walking her in a good circle pulling the wagon, I was content that things were good. I then hopped on the wagon, and went for my first ride on the new wagon. It was AWESOME!!! So awesome!!! Lily seemed releived to be pulling something light, and went right to work being the awesome hitch horse she is.

After my initial test ride, I decided things were okay for the wagon ride.

The kiddo's all climbed aboard, and off we went. It was sooo fun, and so awesome. The kids had a ball, and found all the ghosts.

I'm so excited to have my wagon done, and to be able to use it now. It put a nice cherry on top of the day.

I'll post pics asap!

Oct 10, 2009 - Saturday Part 3a: Lily vs. Durango stuck in Texas mud round 2, 3

So once again I hook Lily up to the front of the durango. You can tell by the look in her eye that she is not convinced it will work, but she does as I ask and waits as I hook things up again.

Everything is hooked up, and once again, we try to go.

The durango moves ... about 2 feet. Then PING! The single tree then shot up and hit the back of Lily's legs. She spooked, and started to run around me. I was holding the lead rope very close, so it was easy to keep her in control. Once again my words calmed her down, and she stopped moving so I could unhitch the single tree and get it to stop dragging behind her.

Once again, my friend holds Lily, and I inspect what happened. The clevis I used to hook the chain to the single tree had bent almost 180 degrees and had just slipped off.

As I was looking at this, I noticed that the durango was sitting in pretty deep ruts at this point. Each time we've tried to go, the person in the durango had given it gas, making the wheels dig the ruts deeper and deeper.

So ... time for round 3, and time for a new strategy. I unhook the chain from the front of the durango, and hook one end of the chain to the ball/hitch on the rear of the durango. I then hook the other end of the chain to the single tree, which gets hooked to Lily.

SO I stand in front of Lily, and try to lead her. She didn't move, and looked at me as if to say "Like Hell I'm trying this again!!" So ... I decided it was time to drive her with the reigns.

So I start calling out her commands to go, and she does exactly what she's been trained to do. My friend in the durango had it in reverse to try and help. And we began moving. Lily was pulling(pushing really) sooooo hard! She was giving it her all.

After a few seconds, she had pulled the durango out of the ruts. As soon as the durango got moving, she felt the ease on the load and stopped. After that 30 second pull, she was very winded. She was gasping for air, and I could see that she was beginning to really sweat.

After a break of a few minutes, I tried to get her moving again. At this point, she just flat out refused to move. I tried talking sternly, sweetly, and even popper her on the rear with the reigns, but nothing would move her.

So I walked up to her, pet her real good, and told her what a good job she was doing. I then handed the lead rope to another friend. We decided that with some one walking in front of her, and me giving commands from behind, that she may be more willing to give it another try.

And then the amazing thing happened. It worked. She dug down, and she pushed for all she was worth. With me telling her how good she was doing, and my friend walking in front of her, we slowly began moving out of the pasture. On and on we went. We took another break when we only had a hundred or so feet to go. Then we went at it again.

SUCCESS! Lily pulled the durango the 1/2 mile out of that field. As we unhooked her from the durango I was beaming with pride. I walked her back to the feed room, tied her, took off the bridle, and rewarded her with a nice scoop of sweet feed. She was very happy.

Oct 10, 2009 - Saturday Part 3: Lily vs. Durango stuck in Texas Mud Round 1

(Just a little FYI ... the harness I have was given to my by a friend. It sat in his barn for 15 years. It was pretty rotted. I applied a more than generous amount of neatsfoot oil and restored it. The leather has seemed weak to me, but always held. I've never thought of it being in bad shape. We'll get back to that train of thought in a bit).

So I get Lily all harnessed up and ready to go, and then I start walking her out to the durango despite Pam's running and neighing protests to not be left behind.

Things seemed so easy. Hook the chain up to the durango. Hook the chain to the end of the single tree though a clevis I had. Hook the single tree up to Lily. Easy right?

Lily is hooked up, ready to go. I decided that since we were rather close to the durango due to the chain being doubled over, that I would just use the lead rope to get her to pull us out. I had a friend in the durango, durango in 4LO and in gear to help as best it could in moving.

So ... quiz time ... do you know where the weakest point on a harness is? I'll gladly tell you. THe leather staps that hold the hames against the collar. Those are the weakest point. I started to get Lily moving, and right as she started to lean into it ... POP! The hames and harness shot back off her hips. She jumped and got startled. Now ... I had reignes hooked up, and just looped
over the hames, and when the hames left her, the reigns became entagled in all that. This made the bit get lodges all kinds of wierd in Lily's mouth.

At this point I need to say what a blessing it is to have a horse that you are connected with. This incident could have been a train wreck! A harness snapping, coming off, and pulling the bridle/bit tighter then it should ever go?!? Luckily ... Lily is my girl, and she trusts me. The minute I saw her spooked, the "Easy girls" in my soft and gentle voice began. Her feet slowly stopped moving, and she let me reach up and give her the much needed slack in the reigns.

I had a friend hold Lily, and I investigated the harness. The leather strap that holds the bottom of the hames together was ripped in 2. THe belly stap had also snapped, but just on the end (I think this happened as it came off her hips.

Things hadn't changed for me. I still needed to get the durango out of the field. I got a motorcycle strap (just the webbing side) and I used that to wrap around the bottom hames 3-4 times.

Harness is back on now ... Time for round 2.

Oct 10, 2009 - Saturday Part 2: Durango vs. Texas mud

So my son's birthday party was going great. I had just got home with some bales
of hay for the kids to sit on in the wagon. The wife handed me some pictures of
ghosts and asked me to go distribute them amount the hay bales in the neighbors
field.

(Just FYI ... my neighbors 20 acres field still has round bales all over it cuz
he didn't gather them. So for the party, my wife came up with this idea. A
Ghost hunt (the boy's party was Ghostbuster themed)! So I had to place pictures
of ghosts on the bales of hay, each child got a card that matched one of the
ghosts, and to find them, they all load in the wagon, and I drive around the
field until all the kids find their ghosts. She's a clever and crafty woman!!)

So ... my brain must've still been asleep, or just overjoyed from the wagon
completion. I totally know better, but for some reason, I thought I could just
drive our durango through this pasture to put out the ghost pictures. The
durango has 4WD, and a hemi ... it's invincible (insert a few manly animal
noises here) ... right?!

I got to the far end of the pasture, and it happened. The clay decided it was
time to stick to the tires. This made my tires take on a new level of traction
... with that level being none!

"Awwww HELL!" was the muttered words, as I suddenly had one of those lovely
"what were you thinking doing this" moments. So how to get the durango out? I
was smart enough to know that another vehicle would just get stuck as well. A
tractor was out of the question since I don't own one. Ding! I have a horse
that I was going to harness up for a wagon ride anyway. I'll just have her pull
me out!

I decided that would be the best course of action, and off I went to ready the
horse for a good workout.

Lessons learned ... no 4 wheeled vehicle with radial tires is tougher than texas
mud!!! And when Murphy gets involved, you'll find yourself with your vehicle
stuck at the furthest point away from help possible!!!

Oct 10, 2009 - Saturday Part 1: Wagon Complete

So this morning, I finished my wagon. The wood isn't stained or anything, but
all the corners are sanded and smooth. It looks really good. I was going to
send pictures with this, but my phone is having trouble sending pictures to my
email. I'll get some sent ASAP.

With the wagon done, I was ready for a wagon ride for my son's birthday later
this afternoon. More on that later!!!

No lesson's learned for part 1 of my saturday. Just the good feeling of seeing
something beautiful that you made with your own hands.

Oct 5, 2009 - Pop Quiz

What makes no noise, and can level a bunch of trees, opening up an area that horses are not supposed to get into suddenly available to them?

Give up? The answer is PAM! This morning I saw the horses in my neighbors pasture. So I give a whistle to see how they got over there. Once again, I have to brag on Lily. I’ve had horses over here that got out of my pasture, and when you call, they can’t ever come back the way they got out in the first place. Good ol’ Lily has a great memory and I watched her come running, towards me, and suddenly remember how to get back. The area they got through, was THICK trees. I always figured they would not pass through that, and Lily never has. When Pam got back to me, her sides show where the trees squoze her tight as she marched through, making a path for Lily.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. They’ve got barbed wire in the way now, and so far, they have never challenged that successfully. J

And just FYI … this last Saturday I got the shafts for my wagon fabricated. I spend yesterday grinding down the welds, and decking the wagon itself. I’m soooo close to being done now!!! My son has a birthday this Saturday, and his birthday party is a Ghostbuster themed one. My wife wanted to take the kids on a Ghost hunt. She asked me if I could have the wagon ready for it. It just so happens that my pasture and my neighbors have round bales all over them that have not been gathered. We’re going to put some ghost pictures on the bales, and then I’m going to take the kids on a hay ride weaving through them so they can “shoot” the ghosts. My wife is full of awesomely creative idea’s like that. I just gotta get things ready by Wednesday so Lily and I can do a few test runs to make sure she knows that the ghosts are not going to eat HER!

Sept 21, 2009 - The Pam Diaries #1

So I have started working with Pam. I figured I’d write up a bit of what I’m doing for y’all.

One of the great things about Pam, is my ability to catch her without using feed. She will let you walk right up to her, even with the halter in hand, and lets you put it on. This is a wonderful thing. I should also note that one of Pam’s biggest downfalls, is her “need” to be with the herd. She seems to get some anxieties when she isn’t around the other horses.

So I tied her up to my 6 inch post, concreted into the ground, through one of those lag type things that has a ring on it (these details will come into play later). This session started like all others; brushing, combing mane and feet.

Part 1: The feet.

The feet didn’t go so smoothly this time. When I first started lifting her feet when she arrived here, she was very hesitant, and did all the naughty horse tricks (leaning on me, leaning away, trying to put all 2000 pounds on the foot so I can’t take it). I’ve really taken it easy on her and not used a pick. I’ve just been lifting them for 4-5 seconds, and letting them back down. Well this time around, I decided to use the pick. The first hoof (front left) went great. I moved over to do the front right, and it was then that she realized that I was actually picking them. She suddenly tried to lean on me (which made me take a step away while holding the hoof pinched upward). I gave her some sweet talk, and she calmed down a bit, and when she did, I released the foot, and rubbed her all over letting her know how good she did.

I went to do the rear right hoof, and she jumped her rear to the left with a “like hell you are!” attitude. It was at this time, that I got to see the inner fireball in Pam. I kept slowly rubbing on her, and then I’d reach down for the hoof, rubbing down her leg and she’d jump to the side. Then she ran out of jumping room due to the fence. Suddenly the “flight” mode became “fight” mode. For the first time since I’ve been working with these animals, I had a horse try to kick me. As I reached down, she suddenly popped her leg forward, and then swung it back and to the outside to try and kick me. Luckily, I could see this coming, so I was out of the way. More sweet talk and rubbing all over was given, and then I went down again. This time I got a hold of the foot and as she tried to swing it forward, I made the front of the rear hoof point to her butt to really pinch that sucker and give me a good hand hold. She tried a few times to kick, but when she saw that I could not be shaken from the hoof, she went with plan B. Plan B consisted of her trying to kick, while trying to put all 2000 pounds of her body on that leg at the same time. This was difficult. What option did I prefer, to have Pam’s gimongous rear end come down on me, or to let the foot go and be kicked. Luckily I kept my wits, and tried to make that front edge of her hoof touch her leg. This was enough to deter that movement. Then, in the few seconds she was relaxed while I’m sure she was planning a horrible plan C, I released the pinch on the hoof, rubbed her down and placed the foot back on the ground.

Whew. That was enough to tire me out right there. I walked around and did lots of more rubbing, and when she felt my hand begin rubbing down the last leg, she jumped away and tried to kick at me. It was right here, that I had a change in game plans. We had done enough hoof grabbing for the day. I’m going to need to go slower with her on this and not introduce the pick so quickly. I can only think that she has some kind of bad memory of hooves being done.

Part 2: the blanket

As Pam was sitting there being loved on and enjoying all the brushing and petting I was bestowing on her, I decided to see what she thought of my horse blanket. I pulled it out of the shed, and in Pam’s eyes, that blanket was equal to Satan’s spawn from hell with an appetite for horses. I knew she was big and muscley, and had to be strong, but I had no idea. Pam hit reverse. I laid the blanket down on a barrel a few feet away and sweet talked her. She calmed down. I waited a few moments for her to check out the blanket. When I went to pick it up again, it must’ve looked like the red spawn of Satan was hungry again, because Pam hit reverse HARD. My lag eyelet thing completely bent, and opened, and it is only through the grace of God that the ring did not slip off the lag. This hefty 6 inch post that was concreted into the ground, also had a 2 inch gaping hole on the opposite side. Wow … simply amazing.

About this time, I decided that the spawn of Satan (my red horse blanket) would just lay on the ground while I tried something else.

Part 3: the bridle

It is my understanding that Pam was worked before, so I thought I’d see how she handles the bridle. Discovery #1 … Pam and Lily have the same size head from bit to bit. I was shocked. Discovery #2 … red bridle is not scary. Pam was fine with the bridle. She smelled it, and let me put it on her. After putting it on her, she began the “get the peanut butter off the roof of your mouth” routine. She acted like she had never had a bit in. She didn’t know where her tongue was supposed to go, and started shaking her head. At this time, I decided it was time to get those feet moving. So I grabbed the lead rope, and lead her all around. We walked around for 15 minutes or so. She was still busy playing with the bit, but nothing scary was coming from it. I didn’t work at all on using the bridle, just having it in her mouth for this day.

Part 2 Revisited

Since she was so preoccupied with the bit, I decided to try my luck with the blanket again. This time, I tied the lead rope itself around the post. I picked the blanket up, and the look came into her eye … “oh dear god, that thing is going to eat me”. J I moved very slowly, and moved it to her nose. She then begin sniffing and sniffing. I held it still for 5 minutes or so just letting her smell it. Her ears slowly came forward, and I waited until I saw her lips move a bit and then I began rubbing her nose with it. I rubbed her nose and then up her face with it. Instantly she relaxed because she loves being pet. After this, I spent the next 15 minutes rubbing her all over with the blanket. She had no complaints.

After I had rubbed her with it for a long time, I placed it on her back, and we walked around some more. This was cake. During this last walk, Pam remembered that she had a friend who was nowhere to be seen. This brought back some of her anxieties. She started trying to look for Lily everywhere. I just kept leading her and we did lots of circles to keep her mind on me. Then I tied her up, took the blanket off, and un bridled her. Then it was dinner time.

The best thing about this session, was that as long as I had Pam’s attention on me, she forgot about her “Herd anxieties”. That is great! The foot thing I am not worried about. It will come with time. I just need to take it really slow. Pam is a lot more fiery than Lily was when being asked to do something against her will. But she’s also got a bit more of a sweet side to her. She’s going to be a great horse and when the day comes that she’s pulling a wagon for me, I’ll be sure to post pics!!

Sorry this was long, but I figured I’d share.

Sep 9, 2009 - Pam and Lily

Last night we had our first good learnin’ session. Baby steps. I tied Lily up, and then just lead Pam around. It took me 15 minutes of random leading (walking in random patterns all over the place) to get her mind off Lily and on me. Once she quit always trying to look at Lily, I tied her up, and groomed her all up. She even let me lift each foot without problem. Baby steps. J

Here are some pictures of the 2 of them together. Lily and Pam, who are now best friends. These two were side by side all day, and I only saw Lily run Pam off once. They are doing great!

Sep 8, 2009 - New Addition to the ranch!

We have a new addition to the ranch!! Her name is Pam. She is a 16-3 Belgian Mare. She’s built like a tank!!! She’s gentle as can be, and loaded and unloaded from the trailer like a pro. She’s supposed to have some hitch experience so I can’t wait to get working her and see what she knows. She’s been in Lily’s hip pocket since we got her home. I think Lily is in heaven having a completely passive mare around her at all times. They seem to be getting along great. I’ll post a picture of both of them soon, but for now, enjoy the pics of Pam. She’s soooo wonderful! Such a sweetheart! I have to say a big THANK YOU to Bev at the Double M Warhorse Ranch!

I guess I should clarify a bit. Pam is NOT for my son. She is for me.

I am going to work with Pam, and see how she does with a saddle on. If she acts like Lily (doesn’t even seem to notice it’s on) and I can lead her with no issues, I may let the boy ride her (and by ride, I mean sit in the saddle while I lead the horse behind Lily) till I get him his own. I see this happening because of 2 things. 1- Lily is not a beginners horse to ride, and I am the only one I trust so far to be on her and in control, 2- Pam is so gentle and herd dependant, that she will go wherever Lily does, which means if I dally a lead rope from Pam to my back pocket, it may work great. Only time will tell with that though. I gotta gain trust in Pam before I would put the boy on her.

I got her directly from Bev. I am so happy with how this turned out, that I think Bev is going to get my shopping lists for horses from now on! Hope that’s okay Bev!

Aug 24, 2009 - Buck is growing up!

As many of you remember, a year ago I sold Lily’s colt to Tammi. She has done some amazing work with him. He’s now 1 ½ years old and is ready to ride (once he gets old enough to do so), and is very well trained. I just got some pictures of him and she said I could share them with y’all. So this is Buck now. At 1 ½ years old I just love how pretty he is. A blondie with a mane that hangs on both side of his neck and a LONG tail. Enjoy!

Jul 25, 2009 - My second parade

So I did another parade. This time Amanda had to work, so Riley came along as my helper. It was a lot of fun, and Lily did so great. No problems at all. I am having a lot of fun doing these parades.

Riley had a blast sitting up front with me. If I get some pictures, I’ll share them!

Jul 4, 2009 - My first parade with Lily,

I'm sitting here, looking out my window at a beautiful Lily grazing. Sooo good to have her home!

I'll post pics soon! The parade was awesome! I really need to find the person who trained her and buy them a drink. Loud noises, sirens, screaming kids, waving flags, baloons, and blaring horns were present, but Lily never even batted an eye. She did sooooo great! It was a great time and I loved it.

Jun 7, 2009 - Horse Work

This has been some spring in North East Texas. Lots and lots of rain, and some pretty good storms resulting in downed tree's. I love the water, that's for sure!

I've been wanting to haul off some of the downed tree's for some time, but the ground has been muddy for so long it's been impossible to get a truck to the tree's. Well yesterday morning, I decided that it was getting done, and getting done the old fashioned way. I have never actually done any logging with a horse before, but since I have the gear to do it (horse, harness with chain tugs, single tree, and chains for logs) I figured it would be a great first time experience for me.

I pulled out my "manly-man" chainsaw, and went to work cutting things into what I considered manageable sizes. I then grouped bunches of the limbs together so that I could easily get a chain around them. This effort was going to take a bit of planning to get done safe, due to the fact that it was me, and my 5 year old son doing the work. So once all the debris was ready to be hauled, it was time to go old school!

Lily (my belgian mare) was in her pen, looking at me with concern for what I had in mind. :) I just grinned, thinking of the gate she bent yesterday trying to go say hi to the neighbors stallion. She was gonna work off some of that energy in a useful way today!!

I got her harnessed up, ready to go, drug the chain and single-tree to the nearest pile, and then the boy and I had a pow-wow. I explained to him exactly what we were doing, and explained what his job would be. Since he is too small to wrap the chain around the branches/logs for me, his job was going to be "Horse Holder". Now I know many of you are thinking I'm insane and all that, but this is my horse, who I know very well, and she knows and loves my son very much. For this horse, this would be fine.

I walked Lily over to the first pile and backed her up to where I needed her. The chain was already wrapped. I called Riley over, and he grabbed the lead rope and pet her nose. I went to work hooking up the single tree and attaching the chain to the single tree. Once that was done, I walked back up, grabed the halter from him and let him get out of the way. Then I got the reigns in my hands and the worked began.

Things went really good. The first 2 times of hauling stuff was a bit rough. I had to constantly correct her in her direction of travel cuz she was trying to be a bit too bossy. Lily is very sensitive to the bit though, so she never got unruly or anything. She just kept trying to go in directions that I didn't want her to. I was walking behind her with the reigns (my new 30 foot biothane reigns to be exact). I need to say a big THANKS to my friend Roger at this point. He told me a while ago that when working behind horses, to tie the reigns in a knot, and then throw the reigns over my shoulders. The right reign over the right shoulder, the left over the left. The knot would then hold the reigns in place, keep the excess reigns behind you, AND, should something happen and the race should be on, the reigns would come over the top of your head and be less likely to cause an injury. This worked AWESOME! Thanks ROG!!!

Once I got the log in the burn pile, I did the same thing. I walked up to her, grabbed her by the lead rope, called my son in, and then he held her while I unhooked things. I found it easiest to just unhook the chain from the load, and then hook that end back to the single tree and just let her drag the chains back to the logpiles. I would then walk back up, take the lead rope from my son, let him get out of the way, and then go back behind her with the reigns. Then we were off back to the log piles.

One thing I noticed ... after 2/3 times making the trip, Lily quit fighting the direction of travel, and it seemed like she just began following the same path as the previous time. It was nice to be able to not really have to get on her about that. (I should point out that the path I was traveling was a giant S. I had to go through a gate to get to the burn pile, so I had to really make a wide sweeping turn to get the logs in at the right angle.)

This was a great excersice for me! One thing I learned ... doing things with a horse take a lot longer then with a truck. It took my all morning to haul 8/9 loads to the burn pile. I'm sure with a truck I could've been done within an hour. HOWEVER ... it was very satisfying to both Lily and me to have her do this. She worked very hard for me, and did everything I asked. I wish I knew who trained her so I could by them a drink. She has the greatest work disposition. She doesn't complain or get pissy, she just does what I ask. She has definitley spoiled me rotten and I hope the next horse I get can be close to being like her.

My boy ... I am so proud of that kid. He helped me all morning without complaining much. He did great at holding Lily. THere was one point where I was a bit awestruck. I was back hooking up a load and saying my occasional "Easy Lily"s. Well the dogs were playing and knocked something over. Lily flinched and probably would have started to run. My son was right in front of her with the lead rope. The minute she started to whip her head he yanked on the lead rope and said "EASY GIRL!" loudly. Lily instantly calmed down and there were no incidents. I'm so proud of that boy!

This experience did teach me one thing. As always, when working with a horse, anything can happen. I can see clearly that doing this kind of work leaves many windows for a horse to get spooked. Chains clanging around, branches snapping and logs rolling. My story may sound like it was cake, but I was always careful of anything that happened around Lily. Fortunately, nothing outside my control happened, besides the dogs playing and almost spooking her. I can see how someone could seriously get hurt if they were doing this kind of stuff without thinking of the bad stuff. I'm just lucky to have a sweat heart of a horse that is easy to work with. This stuff really should have 2 people doing it to stay completely safe.

Apr 27, 2009 - More driving

Last friday I went up and did some more driving. As usual, all was well, and I
had a lot of fun.

This time around Roger pulled up his big boy. "Jack" is 19 hands tall, and 10
years old. Roger hooked him up to the stud cart that Lily was using in the last
pictures I posted. This horse was huge! The only part of him that I could see
over was the low spot in the middle of his back.

I got to take him out and down the road, and it seriously felt like I had a
horse as wide as a car in front of me. he was so wide, that his hip bones would
hit the shafts as he walked/trotted, and made the cart go right/left/right/left
with each step. Not as smooth a ride, that's for sure.

I have a pic of me holding Jack and Lily almost nose to nose. Lily looks small
in comparison.

Also ... I just thought I would add a note. Roger purchased Jack from a draft
auction in Missouri. He's 10 years old, and fully broke. The owner had him as
part of a matched team, but his match died (the match was 18 years old). So
what did this horse go for? How much is a 10 year old 19 hand blonde belgian
gelding worth? Roger paid 400 dollars for him. It amazes me how low horse
prices are. Great for the buyer ... bad for the seller!

Apr 19, 2009 - Riding/Driving

So this saturday I got to do two of my favorite things! I rode the motorcycle to Paris, and then I spend some time driving Lily on a cart.

The picture of the blue bonnets was more impressive in real life. The field behind the bike seemed enveloped by them. Very pretty. It was a rainy day, but it was an awesome ride!

Lily did really great! Her only hangup I've been able to find has involved the initial spraying of a hose, or a spray bottle. I was a bit hesitant to work her in wet conditions, but then I thought about it more, and figured it might be just the ticket to cure her of it. We got the harness on Lily, and had her hooked up to the cart and then it started raining hard. So we walked her into a barn and waited for the rain to pass.

She did remarkable. Once the rain stopped, we hit the road. Roger was more an observer on this outing, and I did everything. So much fun. Hope the picture comes though. The cart we were using is a stud cart made in Canada. It was great. With the height of the wheels, you sit flat, and can see over the Belgian driving. :) Roger has some Amish connections and thinks we can build a cart like that pretty easy. So I may be buying some wheels and shafts from the Amish, and then build the rest with the help of Roger.

It was a great day. Had lots of fun. I just realized that in the evening I got to play a concert with the band I'm in, so I guess that makes 3 of my favorite hobbies in one day. Days like that don't come very often! :)

Apr 7, 2009 - Texas Blue Bonnets

There isn't a draft horse in this picture ... just my steel horse. I snapped this picture yesterday and thought I would share with my friends.

Mar 25, 2009 - Lily goes to be bred, and I get to drive her under wagon for the first time.

Today I took Lily to be bred. The Stallion resides in Paris Texas. While I was there, we had a lot of fun. The stallions owner is really into wagon pulling, so we had some fun with her. I told him I had never had her hooked up to a wagon, so we started on his 2 wheel cart. We took her out and down the road. She did so well, that we turned around, went back, and hooked up to one of his wagons. We then took my wife and son, and his girlfriend with us on a ride. Lily is AMAZING!!! She acted like it was no big thing and like she'd done it all the time. We had no incidents at all, and I learned a whole lot. It was a great time. PIctures are of Clete, the Stallion, and then some of me, Lily, the cart, and the wagon.

Mar 24, 2009 - My ramblings

So I figured it'd been a while since I wrote anything worth while to the group,
so I thought maybe I would write something that is going on right now.

A few weeks ago, the small horse that I had been borrowing was returned to his
owner (and a very excited grand daughter). When this horse left, Lily was/is
now alone. She is my only horse, and so she has 9 acres all to herself.

At first I thought that I needed to find another horse to buy/borrow so that
Lily could have some company, I mean, who wants to be alone ... right? Due to
life getting busy, I haven't had much time to think about that, so Lily has been
alone for 3 weeks now.

What I have found that is interesting is the change in Lily. When she has
another horse with her, they just hang out in the pasture by themselves, and
only come up to the house when it's feeding time, and even then, I usually have
to yell my guts out to get their attention.

Well right now, due to her being alone, she spends her time with me. When I get
home from work, she follows me up to the house. In the morning when I go
outside to feed, she is there waiting for me. Just seeing her, wanting
attention, makes me slow down my life, and spend time with her.

I love the way things are right now. I am spending quality time with her
everyday. I brush her, clean her hooves, and just love on her many times during
the day. The most interesting part, is that I am doing most all of this without
a halter on her. She is happy to have me around, so I can clean cockleburrrs
out of her forlock and tail, and do all that kind of stuff without even having a
halter on her.

This has got me thinking that sometimes we think a horse needs to have a
companion due to a hard life, stress, or what not, so we keep a few horses
together, and they are completely happy, and let us play with them if they have
to. I'm wondering if it might be better to make a horse like this be alone, so
that they learn to rely on us for attention, love, and friendship. I think the
only way it could work though, is if you slow down life, and make the time to
spend with the horse.

I know sometimes it's hard with busy lifes to spend quality time everyday with
our horses. I know I have had times where I say hello to the horses as I throw
feed in their buckets and then don't interact with them again till the next day.
I am liking the way things are right now. Lily has persuaded me to slow down
and spend more time with her, and it is wonderful!

Please note: These are just my ramblings and thoughts. I'm not trying to
critique or make a point really. Just sharing what's going on with me and some
things I'm thinking.

Feb 17, 2009 - Me and the boy riding

Just thought I’d share some pics of me and the boy out riding. We have a great time! The pics of him on back are from December 2008. The others are of him riding a pony in Jan, and Feb 09.

This isn't my pony. Smokie is a friends. He is 22 years old, with
a few cancer areas. My friend used him for her grand daughter to
ride. Her grand daughter moved for 6 months or so, and she asked me
if I would like to keep him so that Riley could ride with me. She
thought that would be better then keeping the pony at her place
untouched by humans for 6 months.

This pony is worth his weight in gold. He is as cold as a draft
horse and non-exciteable. he walks everywhere. He follows people
or horses just by saying his name. On most of our rides, my son
rarely does anything to actually control the horse. Smokie just
follows all the other horses and stops when they stop. My son is
learning how to control a horse slowly, and it's working out great!

His owner has already made it clear to me that he is not for sale.
I gotta keep an eye out for a good horse just as mellow for my son.
Once this one goes, I'll need another one for him.