All Quiet on the Eastern Front...for now!

I am so thrilled to have a Paint. She dazzles! Even when she is being bad, she looks good! But all the horses are gorgeous to me and none of the others are Paints. Take Pokey, for example. I couldn't resist getting a picture of his zebra-striped legs when I was getting Lilly from the pasture this morning. I never get tired of these stripes! I find it amazing that he has them at all!

This morning I had a plan to meet Jackie K and Christine for a  ride through the woods. This plan was thwarted!  Neither of them ended up being able to come after all. I was disappointed, but tacked up Lilly anyway.  One is not the loneliest number in my book! The weather was soggy and I observed  hoofprints in the road. None of Bill's horses or Lilly would have made this print since they are all barefoot! Naked as jaybirds, each and every one. This print belongs to Bill's neighbor, Faith, who has three horses, all shod, front and back.

Today was actually a day for celebrating. Lilly made the entire ride through the woods without her boots on! BAREFOOT! I carried  the Renegades just in case. I am happy to report she did not need them. Between the spongy, soft ground, and the progress her feet have made in getting calloused, she was perfectly comfortable. YEAY, BRUMBY FEET!!! YEAY, SOGGY DAY!

I confess, attempting the barefoot ride was Bill's idea. I was happy to try it though because the Renegades have no tread at all and I thought they'd be extra slippery again.  There is Bill up ahead on ole zebra-legs. If I get to the barn early enough, Bill often joins me on the trail. If I get there too late, he stays home to watch the Patriots. I'm sure he missed some of the game today, but we had a great ride. In my opinion, horses are much more fun than football. But who says one cannot have both?

I am still using the bitless bridle. I don't even know why. Today at the end of our ride, we backtracked so we could drop Pokey off in one of the bigger pasture, rather than have him down by the house. Lilly was not happy about heading in what she thought was the wrong direction! The girl knows where she is at in the woods, that's for sure. She fussed the whole way to the pasture.

Since I am at work all week, I decided to leave Lilly in the pasture too, with Pokey and Jodie and Cody. There is still a ton of grass there, plus the ground is so soft, I thought it'd be good for her feet. Right away, she started gobbling up the grass. As Juliette at Honeysuckle Faire would say, a real gobblefest!

 But not so fast, brumby! Although Cody (in this picture) seemed to have little trouble with Lilly in the pasture, that ole crab Jodie, or excuse me, the Queen, wanted to let Lilly know just who was the Pasture Boss. Some herd dynamics quickly ensued, some of which I captured with my camera. Click right here to see.

To see Bill's video of more of the action just click right here!

My poor brumby got chased all over when she was just trying to have a quiet little pig-out.

Jodie was taking no chances with this new mare in her neighborhood. And Cody joined in half-heartedly. Poor Lilly!!!!!

 GO, BRUMBY, GO!!!!

As all of this was happening, Lilly was still trying to gobble up as much grass as she could. It is very green grass, even though it is December. Bill began to worry that if we left her in this pasture, she'd run the risk for bad intestinal things happening. So after 45 minutes or so, I took my brumby from the green pasture with the evil queen and brought her back to the peaceable kingdom by the barn.

Next weekend, I'll be back at the barn where the fun never ends!