But Do You Recall, The Most Famous Brumby of All?

Here is Jolly Ole St Brumby on Christmas eve! We had a great ride in the ring today. There is a thick layer of snow and we were able to crunch crunch crunch over it. The dogs were frolicking, the brumby was mostly obeying! Lately, one of my fave things to do with Lilly in the ring is to get her up in a canter and then make her trot at my command a few strides later, before she decides to slow it down herself. There was a wee bit of head tossing today when I asked her to canter, but my new method of cantering half the length of the ring and then trotting worked out very well. This is when a blanket of snow can be the best confidence booster ever. I think: You can throw me off, recalcitrant brumby, but I'll just land in a soft snowpile and be able to get up and make you work off your punishment before you get hay! I also like the canter-then-quickly-trot because sometimes right before she drops back into the trot, her canter will be so slow and melodious that I get a glimpse of what real beautiful cantering is all about. Very QTee-style, very addictive.

Today was one of the warmer days we have had in a while! But you can see it still looks very wintery.

Lilly's barn manners are second to none. You would not believe what she tolerates in the barn: multiple dogs, a crabby pig, other horses, tractors chuggling, me!

This is Christine on Sunday when we met for a ride but the wind was so brutal we didn't even bother getting the saddles out. The cold temps are one thing, but the wind is inescapeable. This picture is good because is showcases the new blanket Christine got for QTee. None of the horses at Bill's wear blankets. They all have very wooly coats of their own. But QTee is 22 now and Christine wanted her to have it. So on Sunday we put it on her. When we put QTee back in the pasture with her new clothing, the other horses behaved like they didn't even know her!

Here are Lilly's jingle bells. They are quite loud. I like to have her wear bells in the woods. These are very loud even if I have them inside my pommel bag!

This is Yogi's new halter/bridle all in one. I wonder if he will like it. It certainly looks dapper on him! Gotta love that purple!

Domestic snapshot of me wearing my favorite color with Getty. I chuckle because it looks like I have drunkenly stumbled onto the dog puff. But really, I was quite sober. Today at the farm Getty got too far into Louise's space and Louise bit her! It must have really hurt because Getty wimpered for a while. Next time she will know to proceed with caution. The farm is full of lessons for little canines!

And finally, I am leaving my blog post with a short, pictoral documentary of the development of our Christmas tree:

happy Christmas Eve, everyone, I hope you awaken tonight to the sound of reindeer hooves on your roof and a fat man in your chimney!