Flying the Friendly Skies

Whooooooa, it's been so long since I have made a post! But I can tell you I had a good reason: I was in St Louis! St Louis is pretty much known for three things to most Americans: the Arch, the Cardinals, and Anheuser Busch. But for me, St Louis is home to something else-- my brother David! And David got married this weekend, so Brandon and I journeyed there for a weekend of wedding excitement. My next post will have a few details about that trip. Let me just say that my camera may be great for brumby pictures but is not so great for weddings. In any case, stay tuned for a few snaps of the groom, his lovely bride, and various family members.

But boy have I missed my brum!!!

Haunting the Horses

Lilly was lucky that Halloween was on a Saturday this year. That meant I had plenty of time to scare her. Of course, scaring horses is not hard at all. Especially if you happen to be wearing a big wolf mask...... WATCH OUT LILLY!!! HERE COMES A SCARY WOLF TO GET YOU!!!!!!!

NICE WOLF! NICE WOLF!!!!!

Is this a sheep in wolf's clothing????

HAH!! RUN YOU TASTY HORSES! RUN!!!!!!!

I would never hurt Lilly! I was actually amazed at how fast she and QTee tried to get away from me! Lilly was trying to figure out what I was doing with that mask on! She did not like it! Bill was worried in her haste to get away from me, she and QTee would bash into his new fence he spent the entire morning putting up! here I am setting the mask aside so I can lead her to the barn without incident!

We let her sniff it a few times and she blew out of her nostrils at the mask like a dragon. See, Brumby? All latex and synthetic hair!!!

But in the barn, there were more ghouls to contend with!

Look, Lilly! It's a skeleton!!!!

A skeleton who wants to ride you around!!

Here Bill is helping the skeleton get on....

I'll bet that rider doesn't weigh too much!!!!

I'm sure in the middle ages they had special names for horses who carried skeletons around.

Now, on to Lilly's costume proper!!!

Oh, what an adorable ladybug!!!

Will those wings be strong enough, Brumby???

Louise was jealous of all the action, so I let her be a ladybug too.

More skeleton.

And some french cows in the pasture nearby!

Halloween In Ashfield

I cannot say that Halloween in one of my fave holidays, but it certainly is fun! I have some good Halloween pictures with Lilly to post, but first, I have a few snapshots from Halloween in the town where I live. Ashfield is a town that takes Halloween very seriously. First there is the Rag Shag Parade through the center of town, and then trick or treating through the center of town follows. This year, a good time was had by all. Naturally, I had my camera handy.

This scary entity is actually my husband. He loves being an evil clown each year. He's got an evil clown doll, and is carrying a bloody knife.

This one is me! By the end of the night my feathers were droopy from all the rain.

If you scroll through these pictures and see Marie Antoinette, that is Brandon's daughter.

Hope your halloween was fun too!

Zoom Walk With Me!

Every morning before work I trade my horse boots for running shoes and speed around the neighborhood for two miles. Here are some pictures from this morning's walk!

Uh oh, wait a minute. These are not wild creatures! Lollipop and Nougat have snuck into my blog! but I will leave them there because they are so cute. Sometimes Lollipop tolerates Nougat. Other times he tries to bite her. Rabbits are very territorial little animals. Have you ever read Watership Down? It is excellent.

These two ladies live across the street from me. They belong to Dawn and Tom. Only whenever I am talking to Dawn and Tom I get messed up and end up calling them Don and Tawn. Oopsie Daisy. I secretly call these cows Brownie and Dapple. They like to moo around 6:30pm.

Here are some more ladies on my speedwalk route. My camera pulled a fast one and took a blurry picture. Too bad because they sure look cute eating their hay.

And there was another spread over here.

Here is my path, laid clear before me. If only everything else were so clear!

Almost for my entire two miles, there were crows cawing loudly. I heard on NPR that crows are excellent at remembering facial features and will repeatedly caw and crab at someone who they have decided they do not like. Plus, they have a very advanced communication network. So if a crow who doesn't like you sees you at one side of the farm, by the time you walk to the other side of the farm, all the crows there will already know you are coming, and might try to make your jaunt miserable.

Not everything around here is perfect.

Can you see that little white chicken? I am not sure why that chicken was all alone. I chased her, trying to gte a better photo. She ran from me like I was a butcher! I cried, I want to snap your picture, not your neck! But she did not listen!

Back at my house, a few villianous things are happening!

For example, a vulture is dive bombing the mice!

And someone has buried their dead in the driveway!!!!

Can't wait for Halloween!!!!!!

Who are the Peeps in My Neighborhood?

In addition to the inspiring blogs I list on my sidebar, I have a compelling website to recommend. A friend of mine went to Middlebury College in Vermont and on the current issue of the alumni magazine, there is an incredible photo of a Morgan being lunged. So I went to the photographer's website. His name is Brett Simison. If you enter "horses" under his search criterion, and flip through them, you will see some real beauties both in action and at rest.

Isn't it nice to have such people in the universe? I always love a horselover.

Into the Brumby Circle

The brumby circle is something like the arctic circle. It involves weather conditions and intrepid adventurers. It can involve doing things just like the Vikings did, and demands real exploration. Your itinerary must be flexible, and if you are lucky, you will be blessed with a beautiful yellow-pink sky. It's all yours for the taking in the brumby circle!


In the rugged fjord-like terrain of Bear River Horse farm, the biggest chore of all is getting your brumby cleaned up for a half-day trek in the wild!


Maybe you will pick a brumby who likes to lord over all things--even Toyota Corollas parked on the treacherous by-ways of the region!



Out in the wild, your field leader named Bill will grumble about his steed who feels tired that day and doesn't want to canter up trails crunchy with freshly fallen autumn leaves!

The ancient trails will have you wanting to kick back and slip into a gentle amble, defined by the quality of R&R you can squeeze into it. Aaaah, yes, the brumby circle is not one to be missed.

The signature draw of the brumby circle is the sheer number of brumbies to see, and their grace and elegance. Perhaps the field leader will switch up the brumbies in your pack on a whim....

And you begin to ask, Is this heaven? And someone in your group will answer, No, it's the Brumby Circle.

No, that's not thunder, it's the ancient sound of hoofbeats on the earth! It is the drum of nature calling.

Your own brumby may gaze with restful interest on the path that lies before you. She is tapping into the age-old collective consciousness of all the brumbies who have come before and who are here now...

Your brumby is like an old, knowing wizard.

There is a risk on your journey of becoming a Brumby Circle Fanatic.

You will go from loving her a lot, to loving her a lot more.

Your patience will sustain you when getting an unwilling brumby to cross water step by step rather than jumping willy nilly over it.

Keep your options open. You may want to try yet one more brumby while out on the trail.

Or you may be perfectly happy with the partnership you have found with just one.

It pays to be vigilant. You may see a plethora of other species while tromping around in the wild. Many black animals, like this one shown here, call these hills home.

As the sun begins to set in the sky, and your trek draws to a close, you will realize you have never felt so cold, or so tired, or so good.

If you are interested in this kind of trek though the brumby circle, call your outfitter today! There is a brumby and a journey right around the corner.

You

can

do

it.

Bear River Barn Spa

While Brandon and his visiting mother took Kestrel to ballet, I made a mad dash to the barn so I could get on Lilly. It was raining as I drove over there but I vowed to get on her anyway, wet and soggy tack be damned! But alas, it was really raining hard--sleeting even-- and once again I bailed on the ride. For one thing, my brumby was soaking wet. And look at that big blotch on her bum!!!


In the barn, as soon as Lilly saw Rudy she put her ears back! Rudy is an apple and carrot rival!



I did my best to groom Lilly and get her all pretty just to be turned back out into the pasture again! She nibbled carrots, apples and apple wafers while I worked on her. And sometimes she'd snuggle into me and let me kiss her eyelids over and over. Kissing her eyelids is like a little flower being born in my heart.


Hey! Who's that? Looks like she heard the crunch of apple and came for some! Have you ever seen a Highland cow's tongue poking out of her mouth for a bite of apple or carrot? It can look very serpentine!

Lilly's feet were the very hardest to clean today. In fact, after several attempts, I gave up.

Do you like the pink brush? I like all of Lilly's accessories to be pink. I am going to The Equine Affaire next month and I cannot wait to see what kind of pink horse items I will find there!

There are Lilly's boots hanging up in the barn, right next to....is that a hockey helmet? Looks like Bill can never be too prepared for a rambunctious horse!

Testing, Testing!

I was not sure that remembered how to add a video from YouTube onto my blog. I hope this works!