Taking the time

This is Hondo. He was a rescue baby with much too much emotional baggage for a little baby, but he pierced my heart. I have spent years with him, gaining his trust. Then made the mistake of sending him off for 30 days and for the last year I have being undoing the harm that those 30 days did. This last week I rode him 3 times. Not long, and not more than a few steps, but today the quality of his steps was soft and flowing. My head has been in the clouds all afternoon, reliving what he was finally able to give to me: his trust.

Night and Light

Walking straight in to the big dipper with the milky way over my head-so aptly named, a childs' fantasy land:wholesome, ephemeral. My black horse free around the barn, I sense but cannot see him. His ears more acute than mine as he follows my lead. I lose him when I enter the barn but when I come back out with hay he reappears from another direction a large shape moving closer, his foot falls getting more distinct to my ears. Fall daylight casts amber colors across the land. The wild weeds brighten the earth. We have a dry land right now in Kentucky, but the rains will come as we move into winter.

FIRSTS

First horse sold. First horse shown. First PLACE! Congratulations to Brandi and Dual Dee aka Pepolena Playboy! These two are going all the way!

Stopping to smell the roses or view the horses...all in a day's work!
Hope you enjoy the view!

Dreams for Real

Now begins the story of a girl and her horse. This 2 year old gelding is one of the best I have bred and I see great potential in him. I have held onto him and not marketed him because I wanted to direct his life, then last week I received a "breathless" email from Brandi, a young mother in NC. She asked if I might consider a trade with her for her 6 yr old gelding and that "Dual Dee is the horse I have been looking for for years". So I said I would consider it and then her floodgates opened. She showed me with her streams of words that painted pictures for me of her heart and dreams and the "little chili pepper red lena" horse that figured so prominently and now he was at her fingertips. We made the deal. That's how dreams are realized. She tells me she's a show off so look for her and Andy as they take their road together.

Pet Me

Pet Me.This is Chester one hard year old. This is his favorite position, he learned it when he was an hour old and his dam was snappy to him so he found he could stay out of trouble if he stuck his head in and stayed in the corner. Poor Chester. He is a hard boy to unstick. After the two of them made some peace she took him to the pasture where he could have some buddies but she bared her teeth at all of them and he didn't dare move from her side. We're giving him courage little by little. Pet Me...

Spring Morning

Fresh May morning, looking out the bedroom window to see what I could see. Sometimes there are geese honking by the pond, or deer sidle over for a drink and gambol off in a sudden flurry, but this morning it was my little herd of horses, waiting patiently for their morning grain.

Winter Snow

The snow storm blew in last night and filled all the cracks and crevices in my barn. Drifts made it under the door and in one spot a veritable cone of snow 3 feet high stood along one wall!
When I let the horses out in the morning they shied away from the door...'what is all that bright white stuff?' they seemed to be saying. A two year old led the way and soon the herd of 7 trotted around, heads down and investigating.
The snow is dry and light and drifts to 2 feet in some spots. I feel for the folks in the midwest. Last year we had the ice storm which left us without power for 10 days. The sun is trying to break through now and sparkling the snow.

Night Lightening

I could see the lightning streaking to the ground across the ridges and the thunder rumbled so deep it vibrated the barn.

Jesse was still outside and when I made the mad dash through the pelting rain, she nickered and ran to me. I haltered her in a rather hurried and rude way, but she was ready and so was I!

We trotted back to the barn and I tucked her in for the night. Nothing like a storm coming in to hurry the old bones along!

...and puppies, too

These little guys are a day old and belong to my neighbor's dog. I fretted so much about whelping with a 6 degree temperature reading I moved everyone inside my barn room to the shower stall. My neighbor has 6-10 dogs and never neuters anyone!
There is no energy to think when the weather is this cold! All I can do is work on taking care of extra equine needs due to the freezing temperatures!
I can't imagine ranching in the upper midwest and readily understand those who move to Arizona or Florida! Everyone HANG ON! (that's me talking to myself!)