I'm leaving for vacation for the next two weeks! I'll do my best to update this blog from the field! If I can't, I'll see you all for sure around August 15th!! Happy summertime and Happy Trails!!
Brandon and Brumby and Impending Travels!
Brandon and I are about to leave for a two week vacation in Montana. And at work because my department is on a shadow of a skeleton crew, I have had to put in some extra hours in the last two weeks. All of this has meant that my blogging has been slightly neglected! Let me tell you: I hate not being able to make a blog post after each ride. For the next two weeks, when we are in Montana, I will do my best to try blogging from an internet cafe. But I don't even know if that will end up working out. In any case, DON'T FRET if you don't see a post for two weeks. I'll be back for sure! And I bet I'll have some Montana horse tales to tell!
This post is from my last two trips to the barn to see Lilly this past week. Last night I walked her down to the Big Pasture where she will be while I am away. But a few days earlier, Brandon, Lilly and me took a short hike looking for mushrooms after work.
Here is Lilly quite interested in the bag Brandon brought along to gather mushrooms in. She does like to sniff each mushroom that goes into the bag. She has never had an interest in nibbling at them however.
AH HA! This is the mushroom I wrote about several weeks ago--the one that will definately kill you. It is called the Destroying Angel. This mushroom will make your internal organs mush and recovery hopeless. Don't let its pure whiteness fool you! This angel is a devil in disguise!
Here I am bopping along on my brumby, taking care to avoid smashing little newts out of existence with Lilly's feet. The picture quality is poor because it was actually quite dark in the woods.
Here is Bill coming up on his four-wheeler to look for us and make sure we were OK. Bill, our own personal Search and Rescue Operation! Bill's four-wheeler is so cool, Brandon and I would like to get one of our own.
The next pictures are from last night. I went to get Lilly to walk her down to the Big Pasture for the next two weeks. Another round of summer camp for her. She will LOVE it down there. The pasture is huge and grassy, and plus, Pokey, Ruby and Charlie are down there to keep her company. But when I got to Bill's this brumby was filthy!
Look at that rump! My brumby could not have been dirtier!
I did not want to send her off to summer camp all crusty and nappy. So Bill helped me get the hose out and clean her up. This is a horse that likes water a lot. She was only ground tied almost the entire time the hose was on her. She didn't even flinch in the frigid well water!
Dirty but dainty feet!
Someone is smiling!
There's the moon with an ear.
Here's Lilly just inside the big pasture. Of course the other horses ran right over to check her out. There was some squealing and bucking! I wish I had a better camera to capture it! On the other hand, sometimes it is nice to just watch them without worrying about seeing it through a lens.
And then they all ran off at full speed, Lilly kicking up both feet high into the air and swinging her head around!!!!! That is quite a sight to see!!! Just when i think she's slow and doddering, she gets WILD and kicks her heels up! Amazing, Beautiful and very satisfying to the soul.
This post is from my last two trips to the barn to see Lilly this past week. Last night I walked her down to the Big Pasture where she will be while I am away. But a few days earlier, Brandon, Lilly and me took a short hike looking for mushrooms after work.
Here is Lilly quite interested in the bag Brandon brought along to gather mushrooms in. She does like to sniff each mushroom that goes into the bag. She has never had an interest in nibbling at them however.
AH HA! This is the mushroom I wrote about several weeks ago--the one that will definately kill you. It is called the Destroying Angel. This mushroom will make your internal organs mush and recovery hopeless. Don't let its pure whiteness fool you! This angel is a devil in disguise!
Here I am bopping along on my brumby, taking care to avoid smashing little newts out of existence with Lilly's feet. The picture quality is poor because it was actually quite dark in the woods.
Here is Bill coming up on his four-wheeler to look for us and make sure we were OK. Bill, our own personal Search and Rescue Operation! Bill's four-wheeler is so cool, Brandon and I would like to get one of our own.
The next pictures are from last night. I went to get Lilly to walk her down to the Big Pasture for the next two weeks. Another round of summer camp for her. She will LOVE it down there. The pasture is huge and grassy, and plus, Pokey, Ruby and Charlie are down there to keep her company. But when I got to Bill's this brumby was filthy!
Look at that rump! My brumby could not have been dirtier!
I did not want to send her off to summer camp all crusty and nappy. So Bill helped me get the hose out and clean her up. This is a horse that likes water a lot. She was only ground tied almost the entire time the hose was on her. She didn't even flinch in the frigid well water!
Dirty but dainty feet!
Someone is smiling!
There's the moon with an ear.
Here's Lilly just inside the big pasture. Of course the other horses ran right over to check her out. There was some squealing and bucking! I wish I had a better camera to capture it! On the other hand, sometimes it is nice to just watch them without worrying about seeing it through a lens.
And then they all ran off at full speed, Lilly kicking up both feet high into the air and swinging her head around!!!!! That is quite a sight to see!!! Just when i think she's slow and doddering, she gets WILD and kicks her heels up! Amazing, Beautiful and very satisfying to the soul.
See you soon, dear readers!
Sun Rain Sun Rain
Monday, July 27, 2009
The weather cannot make up its mind. Will it be sunny? Will it be rainy? I never know when I get up in the morning. And this was the case on Sunday. It looked sunny, but then it started to look dark and gloomy! Rats! Christine was worried about lightening, but we headed out on the trail anyway. Because as Anne Bronte once said, But he that dares not grasp the thorn, should never crave the rose!
Can you believe who we spied on the road to the trail?? Yes, the infamous dirtbiker!!!! Of course we heard him coming a mile away. Usually I do not get off Lilly when I think something weird is about to happen. I said: usually. Today I heard that guy and scrambled off of Lilly immediately. He turned off his engine as soon as he saw us. As you can see, the dirtbiker is just a cute kid out having fun. He was VERY skeptical of my taking his photo. I think he thought I was going to turn him in! (Yes, Officer, here is a mug shot I procured myself for your files!)
Christine and I ended up cutting our ride short because it had started to rain. But an hour later it cooled off a bit and got sunny! So I dashed back over to see Lilly! I threw the little english saddle on her because I knew it would be cooler, and I also thought maybe we'd do a few jumps in the ring. Looks like the saddle needs a little adjustment!! Good gravy! Do you see what is missing in this photo? What am I, the bridelless reining champion of the world? I am always forgetting to bring reins down to the ring!
So I had to leave my brumby while I ran up to the barn to get some. I told her to stay quietly and nevermind Louise who was snortling around in the pasture. I did tie Lilly up loosely.
As I got closer to the barn, I turned to check on her. Still there in the same spot. Good brumby!
Back in the ring I practiced the sidepass, and also sidepassing while moving forward. Does that make any sense? She was not bad at it. But not great either. More practice will make it right. She really tries. We also cantered and of course when we got to the gate, the devil gave me a few tiny bucks. So we had to work on respect for her leader. Another thing: when we are cantering toward the gate, she will not stop when I ask her. Oh she'll slow down, but she won't stop like I want her to. So that meant I had to practice stopping before calling it a night. Trot a little, stop. Trot a little, stop. She is fine at stopping at the trot. Just not the canter. Which of course is unacceptable. Because outside of the ring this could be very dangerous. I'll have to ask Bill to help me (again).
Here you can see what Lilly thinks of the idea of jumping!
It's Monday, blech!
Oh How the Sun Doth Shine!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
I wish the weekends lasted 5 days and the work week was two days. Now that would make a lot more sense to me. That way I could spend hours and hours with Lilly, not just riding her, but walking with her, and grooming her, and telling her little secrets. Part of what I like to do with Lilly when I see her is give her many many treats. Bill says Christine and I are like grocery stores with all the treats we bring. Apples and carrots are Lilly's faves. Once I read that horses love watermelon and that it is actually very good for them because it gets even more water in their bellies on a hot sweaty day. Well, Lilly hated the watermelon I offered her. She detested it so much that when I went to feed her a carrot that had some watermelon juice on it, she refused the carrot! 
I figured we might as well get Norman up in the saddle as a baby. He didn't seem to mind being up there.
I thought I might work with Lilly in the ring before Christine arrived today when I got to Bill's. The ring was perfectly and freshly swept. But it was so damn hot. I love trail riding so much that sometimes I forget how valuable the ring can be. It is great for practicing the sidepass for example. And I decided I want to work in the ring on getting Lilly to learn a slow and collected canter. She'll canter just fine but it can get a little fast and willy nilly. I crave a nice, slow lope.
The ladies at the hardware store gave me this little yellow button to try for free. It's supposed to keep bugs away. Look at the horsehair on my boobs! This looks like it is just a picture of my boobs! Hah! No, it's really a picture of that yellow button.
I was tickled to share my trail ride with Christine. I have not seen her at the barn in a while. Our paths have simply not crossed in the last few weeks. Here she is getting QTee all ready to go. Christine always uses an english saddle. I have never seen her and QTee in western tack. Sometimes when I ride behind her and I see her on that tiny disk of a saddle and I am amazed at it.
It was so sunny I had to put on a cowboy hat I found in the barn. I may have mentioned, I don't like the sun on my skin. When we get to Montana next week, the first thing I am going get is a big ole cowboy hat!
I tried to give the new guys little squares of apple which they took in their mouths and then dropped on the floor. Some horses do not know how to snatch up a treat! Not that that's a bad thing! I'm sure they'll learn soon enough!
Do you see that fly paper stuck to my brumby's bridle? Bill wanted to see if it would work on a horse's head like it works on a human head. If you put a strip of this paper on your helmet, it will be clogged with flies by the end of a ride. It didn't work as well on Lilly's head. In fact, not one fly stuck to it. Earlier in the barn however, she did try to sniff it and freaked out when it got stuck to her nose. I thought, why is she freaking out? and then I saw that little yellow thing go flying through the air.
Here we are sneaking in to check the blueberries. None of them were ripe.
I love QTee very much. She is a horse with a ton of personality. To me, she shines like 1000 watts.
This is on the way home. You can see that Lilly is still wearing the fly strip and it is fly free. It's not the prettiest accessory.
My friend Karen P gave me some special horse soap to keep white horses white. This was the first day I was able to try it! It''s called Blue Frost Whitening Shampoo and Conditioner, and it is made by Fiebing's.
I figured we might as well get Norman up in the saddle as a baby. He didn't seem to mind being up there.
I thought I might work with Lilly in the ring before Christine arrived today when I got to Bill's. The ring was perfectly and freshly swept. But it was so damn hot. I love trail riding so much that sometimes I forget how valuable the ring can be. It is great for practicing the sidepass for example. And I decided I want to work in the ring on getting Lilly to learn a slow and collected canter. She'll canter just fine but it can get a little fast and willy nilly. I crave a nice, slow lope.
The ladies at the hardware store gave me this little yellow button to try for free. It's supposed to keep bugs away. Look at the horsehair on my boobs! This looks like it is just a picture of my boobs! Hah! No, it's really a picture of that yellow button.
I was tickled to share my trail ride with Christine. I have not seen her at the barn in a while. Our paths have simply not crossed in the last few weeks. Here she is getting QTee all ready to go. Christine always uses an english saddle. I have never seen her and QTee in western tack. Sometimes when I ride behind her and I see her on that tiny disk of a saddle and I am amazed at it.
It was so sunny I had to put on a cowboy hat I found in the barn. I may have mentioned, I don't like the sun on my skin. When we get to Montana next week, the first thing I am going get is a big ole cowboy hat!
I tried to give the new guys little squares of apple which they took in their mouths and then dropped on the floor. Some horses do not know how to snatch up a treat! Not that that's a bad thing! I'm sure they'll learn soon enough!
Do you see that fly paper stuck to my brumby's bridle? Bill wanted to see if it would work on a horse's head like it works on a human head. If you put a strip of this paper on your helmet, it will be clogged with flies by the end of a ride. It didn't work as well on Lilly's head. In fact, not one fly stuck to it. Earlier in the barn however, she did try to sniff it and freaked out when it got stuck to her nose. I thought, why is she freaking out? and then I saw that little yellow thing go flying through the air.
Here we are sneaking in to check the blueberries. None of them were ripe.
I love QTee very much. She is a horse with a ton of personality. To me, she shines like 1000 watts.
This is on the way home. You can see that Lilly is still wearing the fly strip and it is fly free. It's not the prettiest accessory.
My friend Karen P gave me some special horse soap to keep white horses white. This was the first day I was able to try it! It''s called Blue Frost Whitening Shampoo and Conditioner, and it is made by Fiebing's.
Happy Trails!
July Love
Friday, July 24, 2009
I have gotten into some trouble with my camera karma! First I turned on the computer to upload some photos and it would not connect with the server. I had a tiny freak out until I realized one of the rabbits had just yanked the plug out of the wall. Hah! Then none of my pictures would load into the computer. The message was that they had all been duplicated, and then there was an error and it hadn't loaded anything at ll. Whaaaaat? I don't even know what that means. I changed the batteries in the camera and it seemed to work fine. Bad camera karma or idiot operator? Don't answer!! In any case, I have a few pictures from this week at the farm.
Here's the new gelding. Although he is registered, I do not think he has a barn name yet. I still like Galaxy, but Bill won't do it. I guess I'll have to get my own new horse to use that name! In any case, you can see how beautiful he is.
And there he is with the other newbie, the mare. Whose name is Jody. Maybe because she looks excatly like Cody. (I did take some pictures of Cody for comparison, but it was raining--as usual--and he looked very soggy and sour in all of them. He is such a fabulous gelding that I am loathe to post any pictures that don't show him off.)
There is that funny alpaca who turns up in the strangest places. Like this photo of horses! But wait! There's BonnieBelle the cow back there too! Is this New England, Peru or Scotland? Hard to tell in this shot!
This wouldn't be a bona fide blog post without my brumby in it!! Here she is with Ruby. Lately she has been SO GOOD and so snuggly. Maybe she has really been digging this wet, cool summer. It surely means fewer flies on her. And so far, no Scratches like last year. In a week she will be in the Big Pasture for two whole weeks while B and I are in Montana. She's really going to love that.
Oh no! Looks like Lilly's cadillac has a flat tire!
Shangri La? Or Bill's back yard?
Here's the new gelding. Although he is registered, I do not think he has a barn name yet. I still like Galaxy, but Bill won't do it. I guess I'll have to get my own new horse to use that name! In any case, you can see how beautiful he is.
And there he is with the other newbie, the mare. Whose name is Jody. Maybe because she looks excatly like Cody. (I did take some pictures of Cody for comparison, but it was raining--as usual--and he looked very soggy and sour in all of them. He is such a fabulous gelding that I am loathe to post any pictures that don't show him off.)
There is that funny alpaca who turns up in the strangest places. Like this photo of horses! But wait! There's BonnieBelle the cow back there too! Is this New England, Peru or Scotland? Hard to tell in this shot!
This wouldn't be a bona fide blog post without my brumby in it!! Here she is with Ruby. Lately she has been SO GOOD and so snuggly. Maybe she has really been digging this wet, cool summer. It surely means fewer flies on her. And so far, no Scratches like last year. In a week she will be in the Big Pasture for two whole weeks while B and I are in Montana. She's really going to love that.
Oh no! Looks like Lilly's cadillac has a flat tire!
Shangri La? Or Bill's back yard?
Creatures and Features of the Weekend
Monday, July 20, 2009
It is Monday night and just now I am getting to make a post about the weekend! This is what happens when I visit friends--blogging time gets obliterated! So this post will have a little bit of everything in it. Starting with some new additions to Bill's farm!
I knew Bill was planning to go to the auction on Thursday night. Was I surprised when I found these two newbies in the paddock on Friday? Not really! That pretty red roan is a mare. She looks just like Bill's gelding Cody. In fact, that night Bill tried to trick me into thinking it was Cody. hah! Bill, you can't pull the wool over my eyes!! The other horse is a gelding. I tried to get Bill to name him Galaxy, but that was rejected immediately as being too long. I like the image of riding around on a Galaxy. My second suggestion was Twinkie. Also rejected.
Can you believe this tiny peanut of a frog I found hopping around in the muddy pasture? Boy is he cute. Smaller than a thumbnail. It was quite a feat to catch this little guy.
Whoa! Another little guy! This is the baby of some dear friends of mine. I went to Boston to hang out with them on Sunday which is why I didn't get to squeeze a blog entry in. Some babies seem a little vacant. This baby seemed like he had a little Einstein brewing within. Here's my synopsis of life with a little human who is 4 months old: a lot of work! I do like this little foamy chair he has. You squish him in it and he is able to sit there independently, oggling and flailing safely. Kind of like a fabulous saddle.
Here is my own baby! Lilly the brumby! This is a great example of how she can ground tie herself. Which she does all the time.
Saturday Brandon did some more mushroom hunting while Lilly and I ambled along. Brandon had the camera this time, so he got some pictures of me. Like this one of Lilly's and my bums.
Look, I have a pink helmet! Only it is a Troxel and doesn't fit very well at all. I like my International better. If only it were pink like this one...
Finally we have been having some decent weather. There has been much scrambling to hay the fields.
Hey! There's Bill on his tractor! He has been haying too. Sometimes he lets me take some of the hay for my pet rabbits and guinea pigs. They LOVE it.
When Brandon had the camera on our trail ride, he captured quite a few snapshots of mushrooms. This one is a Amanita. Very pretty. I love it when mushrooms look like they are wearing little garters like this one. In the mushroom world these are simply called rings.
This is another kind of Amanita. On this trail ride, Brandon began formulating ideas for a device that would allow me to pick mushrooms from horseback. The end design was a big basket I could wear on my back that had a long, vacuum-like tube that could reach the ground and gently suck the mushrooms up and into the basket. Can you imagine? Brandon is convinced that if he can build it, I can submit this story to Horse&Rider and get a story written about me.
Here you see a little village of Russulas.
These are some of the specimens we collected that day. You are looking at Russulas, Leccinum, Chanterelle, Suillus and Polyporous elegans.
Not a mushroom! Bill's family's new dog: Norman!
A good shot of Louise.
Finally, here's where the giant tree was that had fallen in our yard. All gone!
I knew Bill was planning to go to the auction on Thursday night. Was I surprised when I found these two newbies in the paddock on Friday? Not really! That pretty red roan is a mare. She looks just like Bill's gelding Cody. In fact, that night Bill tried to trick me into thinking it was Cody. hah! Bill, you can't pull the wool over my eyes!! The other horse is a gelding. I tried to get Bill to name him Galaxy, but that was rejected immediately as being too long. I like the image of riding around on a Galaxy. My second suggestion was Twinkie. Also rejected.
Can you believe this tiny peanut of a frog I found hopping around in the muddy pasture? Boy is he cute. Smaller than a thumbnail. It was quite a feat to catch this little guy.
Whoa! Another little guy! This is the baby of some dear friends of mine. I went to Boston to hang out with them on Sunday which is why I didn't get to squeeze a blog entry in. Some babies seem a little vacant. This baby seemed like he had a little Einstein brewing within. Here's my synopsis of life with a little human who is 4 months old: a lot of work! I do like this little foamy chair he has. You squish him in it and he is able to sit there independently, oggling and flailing safely. Kind of like a fabulous saddle.
Here is my own baby! Lilly the brumby! This is a great example of how she can ground tie herself. Which she does all the time.
Saturday Brandon did some more mushroom hunting while Lilly and I ambled along. Brandon had the camera this time, so he got some pictures of me. Like this one of Lilly's and my bums.
Look, I have a pink helmet! Only it is a Troxel and doesn't fit very well at all. I like my International better. If only it were pink like this one...
Finally we have been having some decent weather. There has been much scrambling to hay the fields.
Hey! There's Bill on his tractor! He has been haying too. Sometimes he lets me take some of the hay for my pet rabbits and guinea pigs. They LOVE it.
When Brandon had the camera on our trail ride, he captured quite a few snapshots of mushrooms. This one is a Amanita. Very pretty. I love it when mushrooms look like they are wearing little garters like this one. In the mushroom world these are simply called rings.
This is another kind of Amanita. On this trail ride, Brandon began formulating ideas for a device that would allow me to pick mushrooms from horseback. The end design was a big basket I could wear on my back that had a long, vacuum-like tube that could reach the ground and gently suck the mushrooms up and into the basket. Can you imagine? Brandon is convinced that if he can build it, I can submit this story to Horse&Rider and get a story written about me.
Here you see a little village of Russulas.
These are some of the specimens we collected that day. You are looking at Russulas, Leccinum, Chanterelle, Suillus and Polyporous elegans.
Not a mushroom! Bill's family's new dog: Norman!
A good shot of Louise.
Finally, here's where the giant tree was that had fallen in our yard. All gone!
The next post will have more of Lilly in it!
Happy Monday, friends.
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