Happy Anniversary, Lilly!

I forgot to remind Bill this weekend when I saw him that this Columbus Day Weekend is the anniversary of me meeting Lilly (and Bill) for the very first time and then buying Lilly! I was so bummed that I forgot to remind Bill of  this fact that last night I almost called him on the phone. I will never forget the very first time I saw Lilly. She was so spectacular! AND STILL IS!!

So every time the leaves change and Columbus Day rolls around, I remember that sweet moment when I met Lilly for the first time and fell in love with her.

My holiday weekend was quite horsey! But first we dropped Kestrel and her two friends off at the Ashfield Fall Festival.

Saturday I got over to the farm quite late. No one was around and Christine had called to say she couldn't make it. I tacked up Lilly and headed out on the trail alone. The sun has made a hasty escape. It felt damp and gloomy. However, Lilly did manage to bury her face in some pretty  hay in the Winter Pasture.

I never get tired of seeing a happy dog frolicking in the countryside. There's Getty have a very good day. (Who doesn't love a good romp in the hay?)

Here it looks like a very tiny Getty is standing right on my brumby's head!

This is Lilly doing her best giraffe impression. While giving Brandon the hairy eyeball.

Back at home, someone anonymously left us a pair of strange creatures!

We put them in the yard right away. It is the Halloween season after all! Flamingos with fangs!

The next day, it was back in the ring for Lilly and me. We doddered around the ring practicing some obstacles. This tarp produced no real scares.

Once I went over the teeter totter a few times on foot with Lilly, she trounced across it with me in the saddle! She was a divine teeter totterer!

Bill had Cody in the ring and started getting him relaxed in the round pen. Incidentally, that first time I saw Lilly? She was in the paddock with this guy! He was so friendly I asked Bill if he was for sale. The answer was a resounding no. Cody is far too close to Bill's heart to be for sale. 

Bill arranged the cones like this so we could practice going through them....backwards. I am sorry to say that Lilly and I were not so great at this. Eventually, I had to practice using just one cone.

Once again it also helped to start from the ground first and give the horses an idea of what we were looking for.

Here is a video I made of one of Cody's attempts to dominate the cones: Click right here!

This is a camera-battery-changing moment. And a tiny snugglefest between Lilly and Cody. Usually she tries to bite him, so this was extra sweet.

Cody did so great at backing up through the cones, Bill decided, in a rare instance, to give him a treat. Isn't it cute how Cody is watching? He knows there is a treat in that bag Bill is rummaging through. How adorable is that? Very.

The next day was the holiday! I celebrated by zooming over to the round pen. And started the afternoon with a little time on......

....Sophie!!!!!  I have not been on Sophie in months! So we started in the round pen, just in case she decided to try something wild. 

Well, first Bill went into the round pen with her and gave her a few twirls around. 

This little pony could not have been more amenable to carrying me all over. We walked, trotted and cantered in the round pen. Her neck reining was impeccable, as usual. Then we left the round pen and frolicked all over the ring. I daresay, she was truly enjoying her little cute self!!

Check out this video Bill made of me and Sophie in the round pen by clicking right here!

To see more of me on Sophie in the round pen, click right here!

 (If you are like my husband, you will watch these videos and yawn very visibly because it all rather looks the same.)

It was turning out to be a very good day for little Sophie!

Two happy fillies.

My own brumby was up next. Don't you love her big ole bum?

I did a few new things with Lilly in the ring: practiced moving just the hind end, and practiced moving just the front end. We also practiced sidepassing--straight with no crooked lines. And then we trotted around a little obstacle course that involved going up the bank, down through the water, across the tarp and across the teeter totter again. As long as my brumby is not asked to canter in the ring, she is relatively happy down there. 

Getty always wants to be near me. If she can't be right next to me, she watches very carefully. She is just like a cute little muppet.

Thought I'd forgotten the archery? Nope. It is way too fun. Even more fun with a pretty mare looking on.

One of Brumby's rewards for a job well done.