One More Time!

Hey! There's my painted brumby peering at me from a snow pile! This is what I saw when I pulled up at the farm today! What an awesome way to start the day! It's true: Christine and I were lucky enough to meet again for another ride. It wasn't as warm as they said it was going to be (as usual), but it was nice enough for us.

While Christine got herself ready, I took some photos of the scenery. First Jodie's bum....

And then Lilly's!

There's Christine with the water bucket. Sometimes the horses like to drink the icky water in the road. So before we head out, we check and make sure they aren't thirsty. Sometimes Lilly takes a big drink. And other times she just flaps her lips in the water.

Since we didn't have Henry today, we decided to get out on the trail. I probably do not need to tell you that the trail looks a lot different in two or three feet of snow! In fact, it is hard to see where the trail is at all! Lewis and Clarkishly, we went for it!

Everywhere we looked, it was beautiful. So at first we were able to ignore the fact that we had no clue where we were going. Luckily, we had two very willing participants along.

I know we were headed generally in the right direction. But really, we were bushwacking. We saw a few of my trail markers from the summer fluttering from a few trees. Christine pointed out that she usually uses things on the ground as markers. At long last, we found ourselves deep in some trees with no easy way out. This is a picture of the point we decided to just turn around and follow our own tracks out. (one nice advantage of winter trail riding!)

It was quite a work out for the horses.

I took this picture to show how hard Lilly was working to carry herself and me though the snow. But of course it just looks like a picture of her neck.

More huffing and puffing along the trail. Manuevering around some of the trees was like giant horse slalom! Only not as fast thank goodness.

As the afternoon went on, it started to get a little colder. By the time we were back out on the road, I am sure the horses were ready to be done with all that deep snow. Although, truthfully, my brumby didn't seem to mind one bit.

Ease On Down the Road

There is some deep snow around here! This is Ruby in the pasture.


Today Christine and I shoveled our driveways out and met at Bill's for a ride. My brumby was particularly affectionate today. I love it when she is that way, because she isn't always so snuggly.

Here she is waiting for me patiently as I ran back to get my gloves. We do have a lot of snow, but today it was warm and sunny! That is Christine with Jodie. QTee is still on stall rest. But maybe tomorrow she will be ready for a short ride. When you are standing in the barn, there is all kinds of strange snowy and tree noises on the metal roof. Lilly is always so good when she is in there; it's like she considers freaking out and then decides against it. Very good brumby..

If you look carefully, you will see my brumby yawning. This is what she does whenever we take too long adjusting gloves or getting the camera settings right. Ho Humby.

It feels so great to be riding. The trail was really deep with snow, so we chose the road. It was gorgeous. Something straight out of a National Geographic magazine. I always say summer is my favorite season, but a day like today is almost enough to make me switch it to winter.

We passed the geldings in the big pasture. Henry barked at them.

Christine and I started out with just ourselves. But on our way back, we found Bill coming our way. There he is up there on Ruby.

This is Bill's point of view of the same moment!

Here we come!

We passed the same geldings at the other gate. That is Elvis, Pokey and Cody. Doesn't that little donkey peeking around on the right make you want the scream? That is so cute!

Here we paused to take pictures of those geldings at the gate. This is actually the point that Lilly started all that yawning. Maybe she thinks she is Apolo Ohno. Because he yawns a lot too..

We started to go off on the trail in the woods. But didn't because it would have been too much for Henry. Walking the road was so beautiful that we didn't feel we were missing out.

Hope you are all enjoying the weather!

We've Been Hit!

Just as Brandon was fretting that the ski season was fizzling to an early close due to a lack of snow, a blizzard arrived! Tuesday night it started snowing...and snowing...and snowing! I had a snow day Wednesday from work and got to spend the day at home. It snowed continuously. It was, seriously, like being inside a lifesized snow globe.


This is the first thing I saw when I came out of the back door! Isn't it amazing? The snow was so dense that it weighed heavily on all of the trees and little bushes. It was so wet that when you looked at it, it was blue. It was like a Blue Moon Snow Cone all over.


I am sure the wild birdies did not appreciate their kitchen being closed. So I fixed it all up for them. Once I did that, birds appeared out of nowhere!

I would have gone to see my brumby, but I couldn't get the Toyota out of the garage! The snow was heavy enough that Brandon had to get on the roof and shovel some of the snow off of it. This is when having a house with a small frame comes in handy.

It would have been nice to have a hot bath after attempting to shovel the driveway and shake all the heavy snow off the mashed trees and tiny bushes, but alas, the power was out the entire day. Thank goodness for the woodstove. A few of our neighbors have generators. When I took Getty out on her walk, I could hear them running. They are quite loud. Still, I would like to have one.

Really, the snow is marvelous. Even if it is a bit of a pita.

Here's someone who loves the snow!

She couldn't stop digging in it! I hope this does not mean in the summer, our new dog is going to tear up all the grass and dig giant caves in the yard!

But even if she does, I will love her muchly.


Now, before all this crazy snow came into town, it was almost (if you cared to stretch your imagination) becoming springlike! The road at Bill's was so soft and mushy, that it seemed like the perfect time to pull off Lilly's turbo shoes!

Barefoot again! Aren't her feet so pretty? Whoever heard of stripedy feet? That is so cool.

It may be a bit flat looking, but that is one pretty sole. What a gorgeous frog!

I told Bill that when Lilly has her shoes pulled off, I feel a sense of relief that they are off of her. But then, when we put the shoes on again, I also feel relief. What is it with my hoof-foot-shoe schizophrenia? The fact is, she goes better with shoes, unless the earth is soft and springy. I'll keep her barefoot until May or June. I can always put her Cavallo boots on in the meantime if she needs them.

I don't know why I am so touched by this photo. But I am.

Look! I made another tee shirt!

Forget Me Not

Well, I hope Lilly did not miss me too much today. Because I wasn't feeling energetic enough to go and ride her. You see, last night I ate too much chorizo. Have you ever had it? It is yummy, especially when gobbled up with the kind of cheese that is pure fat. But today my stomach was not so happy with me. In my fretful-stomach state, I didn't feel like dealing with the cold weather. I am sick of the cold!

So today I spent most of the day in a bubble bath reading. I had the whole house to myself which is rare. No husband, no kids screaming, just me and Getty...and a few of the other creatures. Like The Gee who is pictured here. I uploaded these photos all wrong so they might seem askew in this post. Sorry about that! Blame the Chorizo!

I have also put in a picture of the next bit I am going to try. It can be used with double reins! I want to try that. I know that curb chain looks a little scary. I'll probably replace it with an ordinary strap. Once this bit is made all spiffy, I'll try it out and see how Lilly likes it.

The last picture is one of my Valentine's Day present from Brandon. Isn't it nice of a non-horse person to get me horse jewelry? Actually, last night Brandon said he wants to try riding again. He figures if he can zoom down a mountain on skis at breakneck speed, he should be able to handle a trail ride. Ummm, seeing will be believing! I'll keep you posted!

It's a Great Day at Bear River Horse Farm

I start a lot of my blog posts about the weather these days. The fact is, being out in the weather makes it very hard to ignore. Today it was supposed to be sunny and with balmy temps in the 40s. It may have been in the 40s today...but not for very long. And by the time I got to Bill's there was no sunshine in sight. Still, Christine and I had an excellent ride. It just feels so good to be on Lilly, sitting in the saddle. Besides, who are those weather people fooling? It will be a long time before we are out of winter.


Unfortunately, all of my photos today came out blurry. But why get hung up on the details? I'll post them anyway. Here you see Christine is riding Jodie because QTee's ankle is still out of commission. She is still on stall rest, and today her foot was wrapped in some nice green wrapping.

The snow is still slippery in some places on the trail. I was using that other bit today that I posted in Monday's blog entry. The non-snaffle. It honestly looks a bit hulky but Lilly took to it perfectly. I try very hard not to pull on Lilly's mouth at all when I am on her. Today I realized that I have been forgetting to do the flexing exercises that Clinton Anderson says you cannot do enough of. Why do I forget to do this? It is such a simple thing to remember to do. But I get on Lilly and forget to do it! I must be better at that. I MUST! I need to write the word "flex" on the saddle horn. That way as soon as I am on her, I will see my reminder and just do it.

I wonder what kind of pen will write on leather?

Have you ever seen a cuter brumby drinking water out of a tiny puddle?

Can a brumby really be a gift from God? From the Universe?

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THREE CHEERS TO THE ANIMAL KINGDOM!

Happy Presidents Day

In honor of Presidents Day, I headed over to see Lilly. Because wasn't George Washington probably a masterly equestrian? I really don't see how he couldn't be. I watched a show on TV about George Washington that devoted a lot of time to his teeth. Apparently, some of his dentures remain, and much speculation has been devoted to if he is wearing his dentures or not in the most famous painting of him--the one that appears on the dollar bill. As for Lincoln, I am betting he was quite a horseman too. A long and gangly horseman. Maybe like Dennis Reis.

Here is my beautiful brumby today. I had planned to ride with Christine but (and speaking of teeth), she had some dentisty done a few days ago and is still sore. I really missed riding with her, but never one rue going solo, I headed out alone. My brumby was verrry slow, and so today I tried to keep her going a little faster. Then, as soon as we headed in the direction home, suddenly the slowest brumby became much more interested in trotting. One of my new year's resolution was to perhaps gallop more and trot less. But I don't think I want to gallop more. I'll take a nice even canter over a gallop any day of the week.

There I am with QTee after I had taken brumby back to the pasture. QTee sprained her ankle and has been on stall rest for a week.

The barn is full of all kinds of bridles and bits. I've never not used a snaffle before and just for kicks (umm, not literally!), I am going to try this one out. I want to try them all. I might become a bit connoisseur.

A now, a small meander into my sordid past!......

Yes, that's me in red. I do not look very happy in this picture. Perhaps because it is my sister's birthday and I want to lay claim to her cake. That is my sister Molly and my brother David. The stove in the background tells you how old I am! Because that is one ancient looking stove! And coffee pot! Oy vey!

That's me in the center with my barbie carrying case! I love my dad in this picture. There's something about him in this picture that makes me laugh so hard. I don't know why.

Oooooh dear. That diaper looks like it is weighing me down!

Look! I made a tee shirt!