A little Fun

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Dev’s OKC Show Team walking the Grand Prix course.

Lauren fully enjoyed her trip to OKC. The Devereaux Sport Horse Team had lots of fun although everyone had ups and downs throughout the show, and not just because they were jumping! There were okay rounds, a little scary rounds, Libby’s Champion and Amanda’s Reserve Champ Rounds. Lauren and Feather continued to grow. Placed second in two classes (one with close to 40 riders) and figured out some tricks to use in future shows.

Back at home, Ally took over the barn chores. She did a great job! I have less sleep in the last two weeks than when my new babies came home from the hospital between busy season at work, visiting with mom and keeping up Lauren’s end of the barn chores while she was gone. I have had lots of visitors. Everyone has been ridden. The boarders have been great helping me out and we have had a lot of laughter coming out of our little barn.

Mia’s friend
Hailey visited Bruno.

Smiles were pretty contagious! Ally and Luke took off on a cruise Saturday morning. The grand girls spent some time with Luke’s folks and I. Lauren and the horses got back from Oklahoma late Sunday. She was not seeing the charm of her young nieces. When I got home we went out to play. I let them have at it in the fresh rain puddles and they wallowed around in the mud like a couple of young rhinos.

Jordyn told me it was the best time she ever had at the farm. All Kendyll wants to do is come back to granny’s to play in the mud. Oh, what has granny done now? A shower, some soap, it was good again!

The next night found Lauren taking her first ride on young OTTB Try Delta (TeeDee). Getting her bred this summer was not a possibility so it was time to go to work. She has been her about a month and look at how some good groceries and green grass have erased her ribs from showing!

OTTB TryDelta about four weeks ago.

Starting to fill out.

Co-owner Lynn was on hand to see the first ride. Lauren has ridden (and owned) many horses off the track but never has she been the first to ride them when they have arrived home. While Lynn’s young son Rhys was getting a lesson on Snow, Lauren quietly slide up on TeeDee and no doubt said a little prayer that she would stay in the saddle. TeeDee was great! Quiet, accommodating and seemingly well started. Both Lynn and I were pleased.

Pretty mare, measuring in just under 16 hands.

It has been a whirlwind of adventures. The group is settling in and it is nice to see the girls out of the arena, riding bareback, taking little pasture trail rides, setting up a small cross country course and just having fun. It is summer and that is exactly what they should be doing!

Momma is brighter, more responsive and able to tolerate being up from her bed. Definitely the pain has lessened. Thank you for the prayers.

Barn Metamorphosis

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Exechorseluver

We took on the project of creating a working show barn (okay, not a fancy barn, but still) from the shell of a 32 x 58 metal barn. Here is the transformation with beginning and current pictures.

The green carpet of pasture surrounding our old “new” barn.

Looking a little less green but so much more complete

The old barn is getting a new concrete center aisle.

Originally in the barn were just a couple of cow stalls, we used some of the walls and support beams and then added our own.

Stalls built now.

Under construction.

It has come a long way with the original lights hanging by hay string. Now full electrical runs throughout the barn.

Kona posing by the new tack room.

Making the add-on stalls tall enough for the big girl my little girl will become (did you follow that?).

Not long after we thought we were complete we added the “annex” to house

Try Delta, the OTTB and the baby when she comes from Colorado.

It has been a wonderful journey and we are really enjoying our new place. Thanks for always riding along!

Jordyn Leases Mickey

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Jordyn taking a ride after she announced she wanted to lease Mickey.

My grandchildren are all smart, of course they are, they are my grandchildren. Each of them possesses some unique traits, is clever and intelligent. Jordyn as the oldest has been called smart the longest, Riley and Lexi clearly are as well and little Kendyll is definitely hearing it a lot these days.

Based on that, it didn’t take Jordyn long, hanging out at Granny’s farm and around the new riders there to figure out something was new wit the horses. Both riders, Isabel and Mia, lease their horses, they do not own them. In a situation much like a long-term rental agreement, people with a horse they are not currently riding or using, look for a rider with the right skills, to lease the horse for a period of time. I know long-time riders who have never owned a horse. When the lease ends, they re-new it or walk away, none of that pesky have to sell the horse problem.

Likewise, leasing offers a specific type of horse to do exactly what level of riding is desired at that point in time. Mostly, horses do one or two things well. People, especially children, increase their knowledge, skills and abilities. Easier to lease horses with varying abilities than have one unable to do what you want or try to buy and sell the right one at the right time.

Anyway, Jordyn figured out these two riders were leasing their horses and learning to ride. Jordyn has been stymied with the horse riding process. All of us, Lauren, Jordyn’s parents and myself, have alternately encouraged her and admonished her and her riding abilities (or lack thereof). It had gotten to the point she didn’t want to ride at all (which was sad indeed).

Jordyn figured out in her head that if you lease a horse the following happens:

you get to ride a lot and no one yells at you
you get to hang out with the other girls at the barn on horseback
you get to take lessons with Uncle Dev (who has never told you that you must trot)
it must be better than buying a horse because all the girls are doing it

The other night, Lauren was going out to ride Feather. Jordyn, as always prepared to ride, dressed in her pink breeches, Zoc socks, and paddock boots, even though it was over 90 degrees in the dark of night during summer in Texas, asked if she could ride Mickey. I helped her saddle up. Then she asked if Lauren would help her put a hair-net on and put her hair up in her helmet (that was when I knew she was seriously mimicking the older riders).

As we walked to arena, she announced to Lauren and I that she wanted to lease Mickey. I caught Lauren’s eye and silently begged her not to laugh. Jordyn was dead serious. Of course, the idea makes no sense in our situation. We own Mickey. Jordyn is family. We are not going to make her pay a lease payment for the use of our family horse.

But, Jordyn had thought it all out. She would talk to her parents and they would help her work out a way to pay the monthly amount. Then she told us that if she leased Mickey she could ride all the time with the girls and just get used to being in the saddle (with no pressure was left unsaid). She could take some lessons with Dev and get better at riding. Then she could start doing shows.

Lauren and I jumped on the ‘lease Mickey bandwagon’ quickly. We agreed it was a great plan and would have a good outcome. Jordyn insisted we print out the lease agreement so that she could sign it. She had a good ride with Lauren and Feather. Instead of working on lesson things, I did “Simon Says” and some “Red Light, Green Light” to help her develop skills without stress. I have to say Mickey was an all-star.

That night Lauren dropped Jo off at home and Jordyn immediately went in to tell her mom that they needed $1500 a month (not the real price-not sure where this number came from) to lease Mickey. Ally choked back a gag and inquired as to why they would lease Mickey. Jordyn sold her plan again.

Mickey is now officially being leased by Jordyn. I know many of you wanted him in your own programs but really, family does come first. Since this night when her lease plan was hatched, Jordyn has ridden every day (still wearing the pink breeches-Ally must wash them every night). We have gone down the driveway and down the road. She has ridden with the older kids. She has trotted Mickey on her own. She is working up to her first official lesson.

Kids, especially high achieving kids, have so many demands on them. It is difficult to meet the expectations of parents, grandparents and teachers. Jordyn found her own way to make sense out of the horse world. She saw happy kids riding fun horses and thought she could do what they did. In Jordyn’s brain leasing is a non-stressful approach to riding and I am so happy she initiated it and we took it seriously!

What story can I tell you tonight?

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Exechorseluver

An extended view across the farm.

I know I gave a few teasers about the weekend. Things are never dull. First, my mother has broken her femur. They are not saying hip, but it is high up in the leg and I feel like it is the hip, or at least the head of the femur. She needs more x-rays, but it is impossible now to take her anywhere with her high pain level and limited mobility.

She was brighter today, thank God! Because Saturday she just laid in her bed. Wincing occasionally in pain but not eating or recognizing me. Things are deteriorating health wise for her. The osteoporosis has made her very fragile. It is increasingly difficult to move her, dress her or get her to eat. I just pray for her not to have to experience the pain any more.

Lauren is still gone on her trip to Florida. Boy, is she in for some surprises. Ally and Luke have been wonderful, caring or me, helping with the chores, facing down Bruno when I am too tired for one more step. I am so grateful. I saw the orthopedic surgeon for my hip as well. I was born with hip dysplasia. My left hip has been replaced and now it is time for the right. I am trying to hold on for later in the year, but the pain is more intolerable every day.

Riding buddy Renee cam over Saturday. Enjoyed the ride but really appreciated all her help.

Riding buddy Renee came over Saturday. Enjoyed the ride but really appreciated all her help.

Saturday a friend from Whipple Tree days, Renee, contacted me about coming over to ride. So, we rode Mickey and Snow, changing horses half way through and it was nice to have company. Renee just jumped in and helped with the stalls, chores, moving horses and filling troughs. Now that is the kind of visitor to have. Dr. Criner came over to play with the new mare (the mare may not have thought it to be a fun game since she got shots and had a sonagram to check her breeding parts) but TeeDee was so well-behaved. Then farrier, Sean came to remove the special racing plate shoes that horses wear on the track. They are light weight and have ridges for extra grip on the track. Sean also re-did Bruno’s bad feet. We are having problems keeping shoes on him. He is pulling them off every few days. Dr, Criner said even with all Bruno has been through she has never seen him so lame. Not good! I will have to post a picture-but between the vet and farrier they came up with an innovative approach of shoeing him that is working so far.

As Renee and I were riding, we spotted a tiny deer over by the wooded portion of the fence. I thought it had just wandered into the clearing and surely mom was close by. Later in the day after I got back from my mom’s, the barn was busy again with Snow’s rider, Mia and Ally and Kendyll. The baby was still by the fence. Investigation showed us that the tiny thing was torn up and bleeding from running hard into the fence without a way out.

We tried to call the game warden and the sheriff but no one picked up the phone on Saturday afternoon. As Ally said, thank goodness it was not a giant alligator we were needing help with. In the end, I couldn’t stand it anymore and we decided to try to corner the baby and carry her to where she could get back under the fence to her momma.

Stuck in our pasture between fences made to ensure nothing gets in or out. Well, it worked-sort of.

Note its face and leg-

I was letting him go, but unclear if he was headed for certain death.

It was a difficult and emotional deal for me. I am not agile but I am determined. The front leg was bad. I know several of you would have gotten a dog crate and nursed the deer back to health but I could not. I let him go under the fence. The next day Ally saw him with another baby and their momma near the corner of the property so I hope he does okay. Thanks to Wendy and Mia who helped in the great ‘save the deer’ campaign and also fed the horses and closed up the barn so I could go in for some much-needed rest.

There were so many ridicules points of the weekend it is hard to pin point one, but I would have to say, it had to be when I went to help a friend who had run out of gas. I had the truck with Lula and Kona riding shot-gun. We were in a what can best be termed a sketchy part of town. I got out of the truck to help with the gas and left the dogs inside with the air conditioning running.

We got her truck running and I went back to mine to find I was locked out. I did not have an extra set of keys. Lauren keeps them conveniently placed in the truck in the console. My phone, purse and two sets of keys were in the truck. I called multiple lock smiths, but if I could not give them a credit card, they were not coming. That was convenient as well. A woman without teeth came by and asked for 89 cents. I guess I would have given it to her but my purse was in the truck. I was ready to break out the rear window, in fact, had already started beating on it, when the dachshund Lula unlocked the truck!

How great! Too bad, I am pretty sure she is the one that locked it in the first place.

Thanks for riding along. Please keep my momma in your prayers.

Can it be done?

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Over eight weeks ago Rodriquez Construction, out of Richmond, Texas, walked onto our property to find a structurally sound but basically empty, 1600 square foot barn, several acres of pasture with broken down gates and fencing, a giant slab of concrete seemingly dropped from the sky in front of the barn and a mother and a daughter full of dreams for a new life.

From the first day we have pushed to complete the stalls to move the horses, to complete the long lines of fencing to let the horses out, then to complete the big arena to let the riders ride and a whole bunch of little projects to make this place our home.

Every time we got close to saying goodbye to our friends we had made with contractor Richard and his crew, we found one more project to do. Most recently with the barn only 30 days old, we added two more stalls and a feed room. I don’t think any of those HGTV heroes could get more from the barn space than we did. Oh, and the giant slab of concrete, well it is now a wash rack.

The new eastern addition includes two stalls and a feed room.

Lauren and I love it! It is a dream come true. Richard and Lauren are already hatching a plan to do another barn extension in the fall, complete with bathroom and expanded tack room. In the meantime, for the very first time since this house became our home, I look around and there are no stacks of lumber. No trailers filled with supplies tucked under the pecan trees in the pasture. The saws and nail guns are finally quiet. I really can’t believe it. Can it really be done or as done as it is getting right now? I will sincerely miss our contractor friends with whom I have been starting and ending my days.

For tonight as the warm breeze blows across the arena, it is quiet and tranquil and at peace.

Day is done.

A working Farm

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Lauren, Kona and Feather riding the endless meadows of Wharton.

We named our little six acre farm in Wharton, Six Meadow Farm. At the time we had six horses, five of our own and one boarder. We had six dogs and we looked out upon our six acres of land as it blended into the acres and acres of farm land beyond us.

Bruno running free.

At new Six Meadow Farm, we actually own five acres, but are leasing three more. The pastures are park like with giant Pecan trees shading our days. The catch pen is actually Bermuda grass and I am working to get looking like the finest hole of a golf course. The flowers we planted just 60 days ago are maturing. There is none of the feel of open land that we had at our last SMF. But it is magical to me as the pastures roll like rivers amongst the trees, from the top pasture to the very bottom, where when it is wet, a little creek flows. Also, it is common now to see deer in the cool of the shaded evening in the protected bottom pasture.

This new place is infinitely more work. Maybe because of the boarders, the leasers or Dev bringing his lesson folks here it is like we never stop working. Plus our tremendous contractors have yet to finish all the work we have asked them to do, probably because, each day we have a new brilliant idea.

Kona and Kendyll in front of the newly made feed room door.

This new side of the barn (we have fit more into a 1550 sq. foot barn than I thought possible) will include two new stalls. One for Mickey and one for Betty Sue when she arrives. They will have their own entrance with a cool Eastern exposure. That should be finished this week.

We had a show yesterday in Katy. Lauren’s division didn’t make so she rode against the girls in the division below hers. Remember this is a timed event. Lauren had to jump the same courses as the girls before her only jump six inches higher. I would call that a little bit of a handicap. But Feather was on and they attacked the courses. They earned two second place ribbons with times just a fraction off the winning horse, but oh, yea, she had to jump higher. My friend and vet, Lynn Criner was there. She hadn’t seen the Flag horse jump before. By the end of the evening we had settled on a mare to breed Flagmount to. So, we will have a baby next year. How exciting!

Jordyn and Kona sharing the shade with Feather and the boys.

Although it was Father’s Day, Luke was shredding pastures most of the day. Ally weed eated and mowed the people places. Lauren and I readied the new stalls and re-did the existing ones with an entire pallet of shavings. I mowed (with the old push mower) around flowers, troughs and construction spots.

I am feeling it deeply in my hip. I won’t be able to hold off this hip replacement much longer. It has been ten years since the first one was done, and both needed surgery then. Maybe over the holidays! Huh, maybe.

Jordyn and Kendyll had good rides on Mickey. Jordyn trotted away and Kendyll refused to take off her helmet the rest of the day.

Bruno watching the lessons!

Oh, Kendyll!

Surprises!

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Kendyll following in her daddy’s foot steps as he taps down the dirt on the new water lines.

Yesterday morning I went off to work. I feel like I miss a lot each day I am away from the farm. Even on a quiet day, horses get ridden, dogs have adventures, the grass grows taller and new things get completed. Lauren is doing a great job as barn manager. She has a new bank account where board money goes and new excel tracking sheets to watch her expenses. Certain days are allocated for the perpetual cycle of pasture mowing, most to riding, others to feed and hay pick up. Lauren takes Sunday off when she is not showing. Who would have guessed it would have gotten so complicated?

Nary a day goes by without guests. It is a different life for her. One filled with commitments and time schedules but one also filled with friends to ride with, new jump courses to design and things like pasture rotation to consider.

Mondays Ally comes to mow the “people/dog” part of the farm. Frequently, her husband Luke comes along and helps with dragging the arena, mowing pastures or whatever else Lauren has going on. Yesterday with baby Kendyll standing close by, and Lauren and Ally observing, Luke got down on the ground to attach the mower to the tractor. Then he moved it forward about a half of a foot to prepare to mow. Directly under the mower was a four-foot (maybe five-foot) water moccasin.

A shovel to the head ended this snake’s life.

I am not going to go into a lot of “what ifs” because I have already totally freaked myself out by Googling water moccasins and seeing the horrific damage they do to people and animals. I am grateful no one was hurt.

I hope to not see anymore snakes. I hope no one nor any of the animals gets hurt in the future. I do think it interesting that almost two-year old Kendyll’s longest sentence to date occurred when talking to her grandpa on the phone. “Poppa, daddy killed the snake!”. At least she used the unfortunate event as a learning occasion.

Oh, surprises!

I got a surprise text as I got up on Monday that my cousin Deb and her grandson, Christian were in town. I had known they were coming but not exactly when. Debbie, with her master’s degree in nursing, has spent numerous years over seas, based out of Dubai. Recently she retired to Sri Lanka. A little off the grid for me, but she is enjoying it. Although my sister and I spent a lot of time growing up with Deb and her brother, Jimmy, I had not seen her for 14 years.

We planned to get together after I got off work to catch up before they jetted back to Sri Lanka today. Wow. Anyway, yesterday morning she and 16-year-old Christian headed down to Wharton to visit my mom. I appreciated with all the miles that she had traveled that she made time to visit my mom. I also appreciated her honest evaluation of the nursing home and her care.

Deb has never been one to mince words, has been in the medical field 40 years and seen a lot of nursing facilities. I have gotten a lot of advice about moving my mom to another facility after her serious falls. Deb found Elmcroft to be the “nicest, cleanest and best smelling” facility she had been to, ever. That means a lot coming from her. She spent a couple of hours there and observed the other residents as well as my mom. She found them to be well cared for and in good physical condition (for being in a nursing home). This is just one nurse’s opinion, but it is an important one to me. Falls can happen anywhere but good care is harder to find.

My mom might have recognized her or not, but loved the attention and the chocolate shake from Sonic. Deb and Christian got to the farm just as I arrived from work.

During the day, the construction crew had ripped the roof off to build on the stall for new Betty Sue. I know I should have planned better but did not expect to pick up two boarders and a new filly. I am glad there is space still available in the barn-just a roof that is too low to house the big horses we have.

Making the add-on stall tall enough for the big girl my little girl will become (did you follow that?).

I loved visiting with Deb and could not believe what an intelligent, thoughtful and insightful young man Christian had grown up to be. With the exception of arguing with his grandmother over his saggy shorts, he seemed like an adult not a teen at all.

Deb has followed my blog from day one. She rode horses and my uncle had racing quarter horses for years. Some of my fondest memories were of horse drill team in Shawnee, Oklahoma under the lights in the summer evenings. She couldn’t wait to met my Bruno. He was a little dirty from the surprise afternoon shower but it didn’t stop him from posing with my cousins.

Christian wasn’t so sure about the big horse but Deb was totally hands-on.

I know my life would be richer if I had more family closer (Sri Lanka is a little far). Debbie is wise, funny and knows my history. It would be great to have her nearby to share the burdens of my mom. But,.. technology is wonderful and we will stay in touch. I suspect they are both reading this blog as they wait in Dubai for their next flight. I am happy for surprises like favorite relatives and new stalls. The snake surprise…well, enough said.

Home School

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Lauren, Arianna and Libby

Something a little magical has happened for Lauren and I in our new home. While our years in Wharton might have seen horse visitors on the average of once a year, at our new location we are getting friends over a few times a week. Our trainer, Dev, has even graciously agreed to come down from north Houston and give lessons at our barn. This keeps Lauren from having to trailer across town and enjoy being home schooled with her friends. It is pretty great. Also, we are meeting new people who are a good fit for Bruno and Snow. It does my heart good to see these grand gentleman in the ring again. Today we enjoyed Amanda and her new super Quarter horse, Bentley, who I suspect will be something special. Arianna and her mustang pony, Ellie Mae, jumped everything Feather did, including the intimidating barrel jump. Former Sarah Petty rescue horse turned World Champion jumper, has joined us with his owner Libby and last, but not least, was Mia getting to know (and love) Snowboy. Here are some great pictures, most courtesy of Arianna.

Amanda with Bentley who could be an ad for Nu Image supplement. Look at that shine!

Arianna taming the wild Mustang.

Mia and Snow-boys still got it!

Cody is settling in well to life at Six Meadows.

Feather still flying even as the heat and humidity bear down on Houston.

What would a day at the farm be without Kona making new friends and getting in a little trouble?

Kona watching over new friend Pippa.

Kona escaping to the arena and giving Mia a little scare. Bad Kona.

And that’s about it folks, I better go to bed so I can get up and feed. Days running short- but happy.

Feather.

Mia finishing up.

Photog-Arianna

Rain and some more Rain

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Exechorseluver

The arena today after three days of storms.

We have had brutal rain showers since Memorial Day. They came in like a wrecking ball (I know, overused words, but so true!) mid-afternoon on Monday. I had gotten the horses (including our new boarder, Cody) into their stalls. My phone started its frightening screeching sound that signifies something really important was occurring and I looked at it to find we were under a “take cover” Tornado warning.

My mother is from Oklahoma. I spent a lot of my youth in the tornado prone areas of Illinois. My mother made sure every tornado warning was met with an instant retreat to basement corner of our house. I don’t think I have been through too many non-hurricane related tornado warnings since. I certainly had not yet thought through where in our new house we would take cover in the event of a tornado.

I stood in the metal barn, watching the rain fall contemplating what I should do next. I should have reacted more quickly and headed to the house but I did not. In this particular case, I was safe and the tornado passed safely away from us. Lauren was caught in the Memorial day traffic making its way back to Houston from the beaches of Padre Island and Corpus Christi. I was scared for her.

Just as she safely arrived home, the downpour started. We rushed to close the doors and windows of barn. The barn roof had been sealed just days before but we quickly found out a few places were still not completely water tight. The rain rushed into our new old barn, but fortunately it fell on the side used for storage and not the stalls.

The rain ran like a river through the storage side of the barn.

As more and more small leaks sprouted in the barn, Lauren and I got more anxious and frenzied. For seven years we have been fighting floods to our property and barns. We felt we were safe in our new home. Then the sky seemed to collapse and water just poured. I have to say we got a little worked up. Not even 24 hours had passed since our first boarder arrived and we felt due to our prior experience with rain of this nature, that we would shortly be evacuating horses and apologizing to our new guest.

Things looking a little brighter today.

But then almost as quickly as my frenzied feelings came over me, they went away. Listening to the radio it became clear that this was not, not, not normal and we could live many years here without ever seeing storms like this again. Now, pulling my wide-eyed frantic daughter down to this same brilliant conclusion was not so easy. My momma used to call it “awfulizing” and Lauren was doing an excellent job of only seeing the positively worst scenarios coming our way.

In the end, over 60 hours of rain and storms later, we had received a total of almost seven inches of rain. Anyone ever get seven inches of rain before? I feel it was a pretty unusual happening. The stalls stayed totally dry. The horses stayed in, dry and reasonably happy in their stalls. We will have to add some sand and build up the storage side of the barn. But until we see rain of Biblical proportions again, I think we found out we could ride out the average storm, and even a pretty bad one.

This is not our old farm and we will be safer, drier and calmer here, once we unwind some of our previous learned responses.

Back in a soggy but green pasture.

Thanks for riding along with us! Hope everyone got through the storms okay.

New Opportunities

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Bruno showing his superior size to new pasture mate Cody.

Some friends have become aware that we have a couple extra stalls available at our new barn. We have been asked to board a couple of horses for friends. We all ride with Dev and it seems like a good opportunity to make a little money, expand Lauren’s responsibilities and have friends to ride with. Perfect! Dev even started running a Saturday lesson here.

I mean why not, our new arena is giant-sized, the footing is good, we have a pretty good collections of jumps and our new farm is pretty centrally located. I certainly never sat back and said, gee I would like to get in the boarding and training field, but we built our new facilities and people want to come use them.

Amelia getting one of the best jumps from Bruno we have seen. Dev couldn’t believe how well he was doing!

We had several horses and riders going. Dev was working with Amanda’s new horse. A young teen had shown up to give Snowboy a try (he was an all-star!), I think they will be spending much more time together, Nice work, Mia! Amelia took her first lesson with Dev and it went well, he complimented her on how much work she had done with Bruno.

Even Amelia’s daughter and my granddaughter, Jordyn took some laps on Mickey. It was a busy day.

Lauren and Feather continue to improve moving up to more sizeable jumps.

Libby and her World Champ Jumper Cody showed up in the early evening and it was wonderful to catch up with her folks whom I have known for years. Suddenly, it was dark and time to head to bed to start a new day today.

I fed the horses early this morning but slipped back to sleep until daylight when I headed out to the barn to clean stalls and get horses out to the pasture. Libby surprised me by already being out in the arena riding. Wow!

Lauren and I headed down to my mom’s for a bit after that. When we got back we were pretty tired and ready for a little siesta. Lauren headed upstairs to rest and I sat down to work on some computer stuff. Suddenly Kona lunged at the window and I looked up to see a black bull looking in the window at me.

Was he going to charge us?

I started screaming for Lauren and we had some hilarious times trying to shoo the big bull back up our drive to where we suspected it had come from our neighbors. Mickey, the only horse with any cow blood, marched toward the fence and beat a hasty retreat as the bull charged the fence rattling the timber.

It was a little unnerving. Finally, we got it headed down the driveway and headed back to the neighbors where it belongs, although it is unclear if it is yet back in the pasture. I hope to not stare any young bulls down again anytime soon.

Lauren about to rope the bull with her superior roping skills.

We also hosted our friends and their family from Oklahoma early this morning as well, the two girls had a great time on Snowney!

Hope you are having a happy, safe holiday. Run by here if you are bored, always something going on!

Exechorseluver

The life and times of modern day horse woman

Category Archives: Life on the farm