I hope everyone a a nice Easter!

We had a nice day here. Didn't do much despite the nice weather. Played with the dogs outside and got a little yard work done, but most of the day was spent eating and napping. Not a bad way to spend an Easter Sunday, I think.



"Ok, I'm a bunny, now get this off my head."

"Um, this isn't ok"

"Lookit me! Ima dust bunny!"

"Did I do good?"

A windy ride.

Today I rode early before I turned the Girls out for the day. I rode Gypsy since she is the one who needs the time under saddle right now and also because it was so windy I didn't trust Doodles to keep it together. Gypsy did well despite the wind. I felt like I was riding in a hurricane! I rode up to the field near the house and once there, Gypsy decided the wind, the soggy grass and the neighbor walking his dog, was just to much to deal with and started some small rears and bucks. She must have looked like a lazy rodeo horse. That is what she felt like. I'm sure the neighbor was wondering what the heck we were doing. After I got her focused back on me she was fine for the rest of our short ride, though still a bit nervous because of the wind. The gates to the cemetery were open so I was able to ride through there and onto the trail behind. She likes the trail behind the cemetery and was happy to go all the way up to the old church and then back again. I wish that trail was longer but for our short training rides it is perfect. Doodles seemed much better after being left alone. I didn’t hear her calling as much, but then again, I couldn't’t hear much over all that wind. I really do hope that they will get better about being separated the more that they are. Last year they seemed to learn to be ok with it. Since they have been doing nothing but hanging out together all winter I guess that this new thing of being worked and alone is hard for them to deal with. We are moving along in baby steps but I’m happy with that for now. I am learning that slow and steady is better and patience is in fact a virtue. I do like riding before I turn them out for the day. I might try that again tomorrow. I find it’s easier to get all the dried mud off of them and get ready. Maybe tomorrow I’ll brave Doodles. I’m worried about getting back on her for some reason. She’s been acting very hot and hard to handle on the ground so the idea of getting on her scares me a little. I think I’ll start with some nice ground work. The arena is still too muddy to ride or work in yet so I’m limited on places to go right now and I’m still not so sure about taking Miss Doodles into the field next door yet. I like the security of the arena for riding Doodles.

Finally riding!!!

I have been riding Gypsy a bit these past few days. Once I scrape off some mud and hair we venture out to the driveway to work on our first lesson, standing while I mount. She's never been very good at this. She gets impatient and starts to walk off while I'm half in the saddle. After a few tries with circles and off and ons on my part she gets the idea and stands. Once I'm ready then I ask her to walk. We've ridden to the big field next door and around it at a walk. She likes to pretend that she's never walked on grass before and it's scary. I'm guessing it's more of the soggy ground under the grass that's freaking her out. Gypsy can be a pill sometimes and it's sometimes a challenge to get her to move forward. She is getting better and I am getting the idea of what I need to do to keep her moving. She has a few "temper tantrums" here and there but it never amounts to more then a really small hop and I can deal with that. She's not one to explode like Doodles. I've been able to ride her around the neighborhood at a slow walk. I'm going to keep it to a walk and maybe a small trot for now. I want to build both her and my confidence up and also build her up slowly to actually having to *gasp* work. So far I haven't noticed any lameness or pain markers in her. I'm hoping that this keeps up and we can keep working. Of course this now means I have two horses to ride and train this year. Last year I only had Doodles to ride since I was giving Gypsy the time off to recover from her abscesses and lamenititis. Now with Gypsy sound, that means I need to spread my time out between the both of them.

One big problem that I am having is that when I take Gypsy out Doodles is then all alone and starts calling for Gypsy and running around like a crazy horse. I'm worried she'll go through the fence. The first few times I took Gypsy out I locked Doodles in her stall but today I tossed some hay out for her and left her out. I'm hoping that Doodles will calm down and get used to Gypsy not being there all the time and of course, vice versa for when I ride Doodles. I'm thinking I should get a mini to keep the lonely horse company when I ride but that's just one mouth to feed and four more feet to trim. I'm hoping this problem will work itself out once they get used to being worked again. It is nice to finally be able to ride again. I'm hoping to go to some clinics this summer and maybe, just maybe a show.

Just because I have the day off

It's raining. A lot. Thunder storms with massive rainfall. My front yard looks like a lake. I was excited to go riding today but with all this rain and mud, I can't do anything. It's another day of watching tv and reading about riding.

This hole used to be a swimming pool. I guess it is again. I'd like to make a pond out of it this summer. At it's deepest point it's about 3 feet. There's a lot of water in that hole right now!!


This is part of my front lawn. It's under water. My walk to the barn is more of a swim right now. I'm thankful for the Bogs boots I got for Christmas last year! they keep my feet nice and dry while wading through all that water!


My boots are not this clean anymore. I recomend these boots to anyone who has to walk through a lot of water and muck! They don't get sucked off in thick mud, they are warm in the cold winter and keep my feet 100% dry! They are light and very comfy. They almost feel like slippers yet they keep my feet so nice and dry. I LOVE them! Mine have held up well so far and other then being dirty, they still look almost brand new. I wear these everyday and they have not cracked or come up with any holes. I don't know how I have lived without these for so long. I will always own a pair of them now! And no, I am not getting paid by Bogs to write this, I just love these boots that much!!!

Rain, it's better then snow.

I went to Tractor Supply yesterday, not because I needed anything but just because I hadn't been in a while. It's always a bad idea for me to go since I always end up with something that I really don't need. In this case it was 2 horse magazines. I did buy some fencing stuff, but that I can always use and always need. Impulse buys I guess. I don't fall for impulse buys most of the time but on a rainy yucky day, the magazines seemed a good choice. I enjoyed coming home and staying in bed reading them. I had woken up yesterday morning (my day off) excited to ride but within an hour of my getting up and my coffee time the snow flakes started to fall. Ok, no big deal, I can ride in a little snow. Then it started pouring. My hopes of riding were quickly dashed. Too much mud, too much wet, too much yuck. I ran my errands instead. The trip to TS was a planned unplanned stop.

On Sunday, after working a really long day I came home and the first thing I saw when I pulled in was the fence in ruins. I instantly thought, where are my horses? I jumped out of the truck and went over to the destroyed fence and saw no horses. Uh oh. I then looked in the barn and there they were, happily munching hay locked in their stalls. Turns out while I was at work they broke the fence and got out. My poor boyfriend and mother had to wrangle them back into the barn. Thankfully they were home and awake. I'm not really sure what caused the breakout but I have since fixed the fence and revamped the charger. Take that you silly horses!

Today is another rainy yucky day. I have to work later tonight. Until then I am going to sit and finish reading my magazines. No riding today. It's just too gross out. I wish I had an indoor.

April Fools!

The joke was on me today!





We are getting 6 to 8 inches of heavy wet snow today. Silly me, not thinking about the mud and wet under the snow plowed a bit too far onto the lawn and I got stuck. I had to call my friend again to have him pull me out. I hope this all melts soon. I'm soooo sick of snow!