St Patrick and the Green Tarp

I am not sure what St Patrick was famous for. But I have a pretty strong feeling that it was not because he was an excellent horse trainer. In any event, Saint Patrick, whoever he was and wherever he is, may be pleased that on Saturday in the gloom and doom of the ring, we practiced desensitizing with a green tarp. 

Of course, what would be a day on horseback without the usual camera hi-jinx? I have a lot of pictures of Bill snapping a photo of me snapping a photo. And he has the same, vice versa. I do not know why this cracks me up. It is not even that funny. Still, it cracks me up anyway. To see a 21 second video of Cody versus The Green Tarp, follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asmYpvObF28&feature=youtu.be 

 If you would like to see a video Bill made of the same day with a few more ring activities that we did, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GeL0C5CC2E

We did quite a few things in the ring, even though part of it was unusable because there was still ice there. My brumby did not like the tarp, even though she sees one up by her food trough (blowing wildly in the wind, I might add) every darn day. There is something about a tarp in the ring that she does not like one bit.

Cody didn't seem to think the tarp was any big deal. Maybe he had St Patrick rooting for him. Don't you love the horse rolling in the backgroud?

 Back at the homestead I was conducting a hay experiment. I got a sample bag of hay from Small Pet Select in Ellensburg, Washington. www.smallpetselect.com  They make a lot of claims about how great their hay is. And I must admit, it is very nice hay. For one thing, it's green which is nice (and also fitting for St. Patrick's Day), and it also smells yummy: two important factors when feeding my picky eaters. Here are two of them: Spider and Licorice. Licorice is the rabbit Kestrel brought home from school after claiming a little girl in her class claimed it was mean and was going to set it free in her backyard. I was forced to intervene, even though I quickly found out that Licorice is in fact a rather crabby rabbit.

We have two bonded rabbit pairs. They do not mingle. Rabbits are extremely territorial. Our second pair of rabbits are Leopard and Noogie. Noogie is as elusive as the spotted owl. But Leopard is more visible.

There he is chillin' on the couch.

And there's Noogie wishing I would get away from her. I am pleased to report that all 4 rabbits approved of the Small Pet Select hay. And because of that, I have included this hay interlude in my blog. NOW! Back to the brumbies!!

Today I was back out with my brumby. Don't let the serene quality of the photo fool you: it was cold and super windy. I was able to convince my husband to come along on a walk with Lilly and me. We passed the old Harris barn which is getting a new roof.

 And I was able to capture this once-in-a-lifetime moment of Brandon having a tender moment with my brumby. I'm glad I got a picture of it, because it may very likely never happen again. Not only is Brandon extremely uncomfortable around horses, he is also allergic to them.

In spite of a few warmer days last week, we still have plenty of snow. Here we are in the winter pasture: me, Lilly and Getty.

Having a horse never gets old.It is like having a best friend.

Here I am killed by a beautiful day.

Yep, tortured on a rock by a bright blue sky. Save me! Save me from PARADISE!

On our way back down the road, look who we ran into!! Note the helmet cam!!!!

Here's an undeniable sign of spring. The sugar-houses around here are going strong! Pickles and pancakes with local maple syrup for everyone!!!!

GO TEAM NEW ENGLAND!