Year.

A year ago today I became a real horse owner. I had owned a miniature, Barbie, beforehand, but obviously I couldn't ride a 30 inch tall mini. For years, I had wanted a big horse. A real one that I could ride. I had begged, searched for the horse, proved that I was responsible enough, that I could help pay, I'd work for them, which was all good, but in the end we just didn't have the room and we really didn't want to board the horse because there wasn't a place near us, or so we thought, and we couldn't afford the average boarding rate of $350+ a month.

Barbie.

Then, we went on a family vacation to Florida and I was invited on a trail ride along with my mother and step-dad. My aunt and her kids, a little older than myself, had to rehome some of their horses after financial difficulty and sadly, Red, the horse they put me on, had to go. It was difficult, getting rid of him. They had him for years, practically since he was a baby, and they loved him so much. But, they had to rehome some and Red just had to leave. I didn't know, but my Aunt was asking my mom if she could take Red. Mom had horses all her life as well, so she wanted to, but we just didn't think we could. But, mom decided to let me ride him, and not tell me her plan, see how we clicked and what she thought of Red. She had met him several times but never really paid attention.

Long story short, we got him after a hard time catching him, as he wasn't a fan of that, tacked up and left. I fell in love. I really wanted him. He was 15 HH at the time, now he's about 15.2'ish..he has odd growth spurts, lol. Not really what I pictured myself with but I really liked him. When we left, I begged mom. Please, let me try. Please, let's just try and see if we could do it. A week later, we were back home and went to a rodeo full of Quarters. I pointed out all of the Bay's and pretty much begged some more. The next day, I found out we were taking him. The conversation wasn't the nicest in the beginning. Mom started with, "We can't keep Barbie." and ended with, "Stop crying, you look horrible." Needless to say, it was bittersweet but I was excited. I loved Barbie a lot, but in all honesty, she couldn't take me where I wanted to go. We were at a standstill and while we had a bond, I helped her and she helped me, I needed and was ready for something better.

July 2012

To make this very long story even shorter, he came home on September 4th. I cried as the trailer pulled up. The first few days were hectic and I lived in his stall. I brushed him a good 50 times a day, I stayed in the pasture. I took my homework-homeschoolers unite!-to the pasture and spent time with him. I gave him treats. We fed him 3 times a day, once at about 5 AM when it was still dark, once around 3 and once around 11. I woke up bright and early every day to go see him. I didn't ride him for a few weeks, but that was fine. He needed to settle. We ended up having to board, that was hard, but seeing how happy he was to be part of a herd again made it worth it. 

The day he moved. Running to me as I left.

I cried when I watched him run freely, I hadn't seen him do that before. 

A year later, here we are. Still trail riding, still working on that gait of his, feeding less, still taking tons of photos every time I see him, the bond hasn't gone away and the thrill hasn't faded. Everyone said it was a phase and didn't expect me to still be this crazy after so long, haha, they thought wrong.

Little less than a year ago.

July 8th.

My EQ has improved, his gait has improved, my physical ability has improved, his has improved. I wish I had a better "after shot" but I don't have a good in action, new photo in the saddle, need to get more. Since my time has been so limited I've been riding bareback.

This past fall, I believe.

The other day.

Can't wait to see where we're at next year.


PS:  I was told the other day that Red was used as a cattle horse before my aunt bought him. Interesting. :)) Also, was told that he maybe cantered 3 or 4 times with them when they had him for over 5 years so I think all he needs is tons of work, muscle gain in his back and etc and his gait will get better. Tips?

Oh, forgot to post these photos I took this morning at the barn!

Congratulaaaations!!

This weekend has just been awful. We took in a foster child for the weekend, a respit, which was fine, great even, then we had to take temporary custody of one of my nieces, who is extremely fussy. Her parents are going through extremely tough stuff and we had to help her out. We're trying to figure out how to juggle everything right now. Luckily, we have a break for tonight and possibly longer, not sure. Praying that our break is long term!!! Now we just have "Petey" my soon to be adopted brother and everyone is out right now other than me..I wanted quietness and blog time.

I'm mainly posting this to give an online friend, Grace, a big congrats on getting her first horse, named Glory. :) Congratulations, Grace!!!! (You can find her here on Pinterest until she makes a blog of her own) Glory is beautiful and I know you'll have a wonderful future ahead with her. :)

 Glory is a 14.3 Rocky Mountain mare, who was a show horse but is now used for trails. She is western broke and has a 4 beat gait, in the words of Grace.

 If any of you all have advice for a first time horse owner, leave it below in a comment!! I know that Grace would love to read all of them.

Red wears his sassy pants & Spirit takes a bit. Finally.

So, we will *not* be able to get out to the barn and ride tomorrow because we got a respit call-for those of you who aren't familiar with foster care lingo, respit is when you take a child for the weekend to give other foster parents a break-for a little girl and we decided to help out and take it, we'd be going to pick her up right at 4:30 and Chip's possible owner will be there at 4:00 and we have to drive a good distance, so we're hoping to swing by on the way home if all is well. Since we can't ride tomorrow, mom and I decided to head out tonight and go for a short ride. We probably rode for an hour or more, and it was just us because Ann needed to work her husband's new horse, Hercules, who was already at the barn and was owned by Chip's owner. He's a 3 year old TWH-or saddlebred, I forget-and has only been worked with a saddle once before, so he needs the work.

Playing with his mother a few months ago.

You'd never think he was such a silly dude.

He is a fly mask ripper, a halter stealer, an escape artist..but he's a sweet horse and very docile, especially when being worked. The other day, we stalled the horses up to feed and he got out of his stall-how he did it we have no idea, it was latched tight!-and just walked out, put his head on me and stood there like, "hey guys, what are you talking about???" Plus his eyes always look so silly..like he's either done drugs or is really sad. But he is really pretty, I love his markings. He should mature to be about 15 H.H!! Of course he won't be seriously worked until he's matured enough since he's only 3, but they have sat on him before just to get him used to it, then hopped off. He's done great!!

ALSO something I'm EXTREMELY HAPPY about!! THE STALL GATES HAVE BEEN FIXED! Before, Red's stall door swung out an awkward way and it wouldn't close, so I had to open it, push Red outside, close it while holding Red, latch it with a lead rope and try to keep Red from running off,it was a pain. Now, we have fancy doors like these:

Just without the bars. :D :D YAY!!

I got Red out, tied him, got his tail wrap off..and then I freaked. Red randomly YELPED like a little girl and knowing his tail was sensitive due to possible arthritis from breaking it when he was a colt-an ugly wittle colt :( :(-I freaked out and thought I hurt him! I was being gentle, but I was wondering if I just pushed a bad place or something. Ann looked up like, "What in the world?" and then he did it again. This time I just stood there. Turns out Raven, a colt, was trying to bite him and he was scared. :( :( I got in front of him and he hid behind my back. DUDE. You are a 15.3 huge QH, you could take a 500 pound, 13.2 HH TWH colt! :)) Apparently, Red isn't a fan of being bullied.

This is what we did afterwards. Which he actually does all the time.By himself. I love it.

Once Raven was shooe'd away, I put his bridle on, tied the reins, put MTG on his tail and decided to let it air out while it was raining tonight so it wouldn't get all dry. I'll wrap it tomorrow or the next day again. It's really starting to look better, gettin' some hair growth!! Yipee!! I tacked him up, left the splint boots and ear bonnet this time because we were kind of rushed and I didn't think he'd need them. I mounted, he tried to spin a couple times but after about three tries he stood still like the good boy he is. ;) Mounted, stood while mom finished with Spirit..He FINALLY took his bit without a fight!!!! We think it was the sunburn on his nose.

Red put on his sassy pants.

Oh my goodness, for the first time in forever I wished I had a crop.




We went out, he did GREAT for the first few minutes, perfect!! He tripped a few times but that's normal for Red, he always trips. At one point I asked if he looked lame because he did some weird trip movement but mom said he looked perfect, and when I got off I walked him and he was fine. Must've been all the rocks that were washed up during the storm the other day. I think most of his issue was because, 1. He's nervous around Spirit, 2. This is the first time he's ridden with ONLY Spirit, normally he hangs out with one of Ann's horses that he is comfortable with and walks with them and stays in line, 3. Mom was the only one with us and he knew he could push me more than usual. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. He was sassy, but we had a lot of good moments. We trotted around a lot but I stuck with a walk for awhile because of all of the mud, once we got up to grass I let him canter. Went all around the farm and into the 4 acres after we were done on the trails, he did well up there other than one moment of, "I'm going to the barn and seeing what Hercules is doing in that round pen!!" and I made him do a little barrel formation twice. ;) There were wonderfully placed bushes up there in a perfect barrel racing formation and we trotted around them. ;) We didn't do great, but hey, it's a start and I think those tests are good for him.

We took some pictures on the trails, of course..

Don't look at his poor tail. :( :( :(

And I ONLY took pictures of ONE STINKING SIDE. I meant to snap a few pictures of my new saddle concho but completely forgot.

Went back to the barn, said hello to Hurk, tied Red, put his halter on, tied the lead rope again, untacked him, used the sweat scraper, fly sprayed again, put MTG on his face and on his tail again, rammed my finger into wood and got a splinter, got it out, gave Red treats-three, because when I tried giving him two he kept looking for his other, whoever says horses can't count is stupid!-took him in front of the fan, then walked around, stalled him up. Gave him kisses. :) He did that hugging thing like he does every time he sees me..Gah I love this horse, even with ugly sassy pants on. Really, the sassy pants came off once I dismounted and fly sprayed again, I'm still guessing it was the bugs.

I'm just so happy about his coat now, it's so shiny!!!!

Anywho, good ride. :) Testing horses are good sometimes, keeps you on your toes-or should I say heels considering proper EQ??-and gives you more experience.

Once we were done he ate dinner and got turned out again to go play. :) It's been a nice day. Before the ride I took my labrador out to the creek and let her swim around. It's been hot today so it was a treat for both of us. I completely forgot to take pictures, but picture a cute, shedding, fluffy black lab swimming with me wishing I could swim too. ;) Shallow water! :P

What did y'all do today? (Any tips on tail wrapping? :D)

Baby goats+Red tack+A horse named Red=A happy Kalin.

Today was the best day ever. Maybe not ever..the day I got Red may take the cake, but it was in my top ten list of best days. Let's have a short rundown..

We woke up to find these cutie patooties, one of which was not expected and caught us completely by surprise,

Still need a name for the grey one..she's a girl. Any ideas??

Then we went to a yardsale with tack and bought a halter for 2 bucks..barely used..and super nice. Probably cost about $30 at Tractor Supply. We may buy one of their saddles as well. Still contemplating. Anywho, went to Sonic, ate like pigs, then went to ze barn! Woot. Now more on what y'all care about...

When we got to the barn all of the horses were stalled and our barn friends were waiting on us so we could all ride together, well, mom, Ann and I..Ann's husband was going to ride the 4-wheeler and John was going to hang out around the barn with his colt. ^_^. So, got Red out, I tied him, groomed him out, fly sprayed and tacked up. Mom got Spirit out of the 4 acres and tacked him up..He has a problem with taking the bit so until we get his teeth floated and know he's not hurting, we'll use a hack. He can use both, but he does better with a snaffle. If that doesn't help him, we'll try a new bit! I went to use the new rubber nosed hackamore I bought for Red, but the bridle sat too close to his eyes and it looked uncomfortable, so I decided to wait until I put it on another bridle, so I just used the leather. He does fine with it, anyways.

Anyways, I checked for any new wounds on Red and allergy marks..nothing new. His tail looks awful but I'm still coating it with MTG and I don't think it'll get worse..

Waiting for me to mount. :)

Once we were all tacked up, Ann took the lead and I followed with Spirit and mom behind..Spirit acts bad following but mom is trying to get him settled, he's been doing better with it. Still not great, but way better. We went through the barn this time and went to the trails first, I took the lead then and I trotted through the majority of the trails until we got to a rockier area. Then we slowed down so Red wouldn't hurt himself or trip. We went up to the ten acre pasture with the subdivision around it and I cantered around through it alone for a few minutes. Red was wanting to race Patches, so I let him go neck and neck with her and cantered around for awhile until I decided to take a quick trot around the pasture alone.

Trotting around by ourselves for a second!

We cantered back to meet the others on the other side of the pasture and we rode around there for about thirty minutes and found a few pretty wild flowers. :) I took a couple more pictures but they haven't finished uploading. :P :P I'll post them later when they are done!

Red did so amazing.He had a few stubborn moments and I have a scratch down my shoulder from him taking me up a hill and into the woods when we were heading home, but that was kind of my fault because I didn't take charge and tell him no!

This was the first time we've ever really done more than a walk while on the  TRAILS. We've cantered in pastures but I've never gone faster than a walk on the actual trail and it was fun, although I have a few tiny "gashes" from tree limbs. ;)

I tested him a few times and made him turn around and go the opposite direction as everyone else..normally he'll act up but he did fine other than when we were heading back and I dropped the cellphone. Mom dismounted to get it because I didn't even notice until she said something and we knew that it would be a good test for Spirit to see how he'd do with her dismounting on the trail..he did fine, but when I turned Red around to help, he was NOT having it and bunny hopped a couple times, nothing major.

I haven't had to bring a crop with me in over a month, when I got him, I was told I'd ALWAYS have to have one or else he'd be stubborn. I haven't needed one in a long time. If he acts bad, all I have to do is say "NO!!" or show him my hand or rein and he stops. :)) :)) Yay for progress!!

I took him over a couple little logs and he managed to trot over them smoothly..This was kind of a trot pole test to see if he'd just run into them...I don't want to invest in trot poles if he is just going to run into them and trip. :P :P He did good though.

After about a two hour ride, we went back and untacked, and Red and I had a little photoshoot with his red tack! Ignore his lack of fly bonnet..It fell off when we were cantering and I just tied it to my saddle horn.

Wish I wore red too..

After every ride he stands there with his head wrapped around me. So cute!!

Selfies are good.

I have more but like I said above, they haven't finished uploading. I'll post them later. Stupid slow phone/email. :(

Once he was untacked I fly sprayed him again with the natural stuff we made because he was covered due to the sweat..Then I slathered MTG all in his tail and other bald spots. He still looks good considering how he looked last year. I'm considering buying a tail guard for his upper tail. Has anyone had any bad experiences with them???? He's rubbed one place raw. I hate seeing it like that.

All in all it was a fabulous day!! I'll post more baby goat pictures soon too..I think everyone should have to look at them. ;) Hopefully we'll have more tomorrow!!!!


Are you planning on riding this weekend? What will you do? What do you think of Red's new color? ;)

PS: I'll be doing a product review on the red leg wraps/boot thingies soon. Look out for that. And if I forget, hassle me about it. LOL!!

Hard days.

Yesterday was hard, I was really struggling to have a good day for some reason. The first part of the day was great, but I got tired and I just felt bad. Everybody has those days, right? we went to the barn to possibly ride but we ended up not riding and just hanging out. We brushed out Chip and we still feel really uneasy about taking him..we found out he reared while someone was putting his tack on, and that he bucks in the round pen and is bad on the trails. I don't think we'll end up with him..we'll help find a great home, but as of now we all feel uneasy about having four horses and none of us want to get reared off...He would need to go to a trainer, possibly, and we just don't have the time or money for that. Plus Spirit needs to be worked a lot or else he'll become sour and then I will NOT let Red just go to the background because we have two horses that have  a touch of an attitude and need to be worked 24/7. Red is my baby and he will always come first. Yesterday Chip took up most of our time and I barely had anytime with Red. I fly sprayed him, put MTG on him and checked his hooves, but really, five minutes ISN'T enough time. I was hormonal yesterday, I swear, I just was not in a good state of mind, I was in a funk and I'm thankful to be out of it today, mostly at least. I need a good ride.

We tried putting a fly mask on Red because he's started to lose some hair on his face, but Hercules kept trying to bully Red and get it off, so we had to take it away. I'm really bummed out about his hair..He's losing a lot and I'm freaking. I don't want him to go backwards..Obviously he won't lose the weight again but I don't want him to be hairless all Summer.

He's still got that red coat, though!!

 

He wasn't pleased with the mask!!

I just adore this horse. I walked in the pasture after they let everyone out once they had eaten and he waited for me instead of going after the others and going to the back pasture..He let me hug him and cuddle for a few minutes and do all that was needed.  Once we were done, we went towards the van to leave the barn and he stood at the gate and waited for us. The minute we were pulling out, he started walking away but he waited for us until we left..

"Do you have to leave, mom??"

 

He's such a good boy...Nothing like this guy to get me out of a funk! Hahaha! I think we're going to try and ride tomorrow or Sunday..Jeff works tomorrow, but only half a day, so he'll be home early anyways. It was supposed to rain yesterday and today but it never even got close and it's staying to the east, so I think it'll be dry enough for a trail ride. I really hope so, I need a good trail ride... It's been a difficult week. :)) :)) Plus I want to break out my red tack! Hahaha!

Thunder, rain and horses, oh my!

Well. Went to the barn yesterday morning to attempt to saddle up Spirit and ride. Since we have Chip now and he needs a lot of work, we need to make sure we even the time out because if Spirit isn't ridden he'll get really green. He was in the same pasture as the babies and we couldn't take him out without the other horses bullying and couldn't take the filly/colts out because they would get bullied, so we were going to saddle him up and see how he did while I kept the babies away, then mom would get off and I'd ride. It didn't work and we left. :))

Then, went to go pay board for Red-we pay at separate times so it's easier-and it started storming really bad. We get the horses stalled up, Spirit is still in the four acres with the babies but they have safe places up there to hang out while it's storming so they were fine. Some of the horses were iffy about the lightening but Red ended up falling asleep after a few minutes of waiting for his food..

Getting sleeepy!

Lighting was horrid in the stalls so I have terrible pictures to offer..

Sleeepier.

Got the grain in the barn for all ze horseys, then as Ann and mom were taking up the food to the others- I was in the car with a terrified little brother..he hates hard rain. ;) Once I got Red taken care of I was out of the rain!-It started raining HARD and we waited it out. Finally we had to leave and all of the horses were safe..Geeze. I hate Spring weather sometimes..It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow as well so it'll probablyyyy be too muddy to ride this weekend but we'll try. We HAVE to get Spirit out soon and start working Chipadoodle.

Dumb rain..PS: This is the front of our barn! Lol!

Our newest fur baby!!

We've been at the zoo ALL. DAY and my step-daddy is gettin' off late today, so we'll probably try to stop by the barn but it won't be a long visit..Probably no riding until this weekend/week. Chip will be in the round pen soon and mom will saddle up and get on him since she's used to buckers. ;) I'll try to take a video, if not I'll get pictures! Excited, but nervous. Hopefully mama doesn't get thrown. Lol!!! Red got worked the other day so I'm not all that worried about riding him. He can go months without work, but I won't let it happen. Lol! I try to get out and ride at LEAST once a week..Spirit and Chip will probably need more than that. Life is changin'!!!!

Not sure about our schedule this week..hopefully riding+work+visits. :) :)

More on Chip.

If you read my last post then you'll know we recently got another horse, Chip. It was a short post because I had to go out and do some work before it got dark, so I thought I'd post a better post today and give a little background. We don't know all the details like his reg name, lineage, etc, but we do know enough. So, first, the basics:

• Name: Chip
• Age: Ballpark 10 or so, we were told when the farrier was out but I completely forgot. :))
• Breed: Appaloosa
• Color: Leopard App, black & white with some brown spots on his face.
• Height: 16+HH-He's a huge boy!!
• Barefoot or shoed?: Barefoot. Nice striped Appy feet!!!!
• Discipline: Western, mostly trail riding but who knows what we'll end up doing later on.
• Lineage: ????

Chip was given to us for free by a man at the barn, and he paid $2,200 for him. Yep. You read that right.

Chip.

He needs a lot of groundwork and just work in general. He has a bit of a 'tude so we'll be doing a ton of work with that. He's never offered to bite us or anything, but he is a little feisty with other horses and at the moment, he's the herd leader. He is classified as greenbroke and hasn't been ridden since early September or before then. We'll get him in the round pen next week and start working. The idea is for him to be my step-father's horse, but we'll probably all ride him if he ends up being a good boy and DOESN'T buck. ;) He works with a hack so we may try a bit later on but we'll probably keep him on a hack because it's easier for a new rider who doesn't know all that much about horses to use and put on. Plus Chip is very mouthy and likes to playfully nip when your hand is close. He doesn't BITE, but he nips and licks. :))

 

I'm really excited to see how this guy ends up!! He's an absolute gorgeous, huge horse. He's got a lot of potential and I'm eagerly awaiting next week to see how he does with someone back on him.

With the farrier.

He does good getting his hooves trimmed as long as someone he likes is holding him like Ann is doing in the above picture, but on one of the hooves he has to have a twitch. He used to need one of all of his hooves but he's improved. He doesn't have his feet messed with often so I think that'll improve and he won't need a twitch at all eventually.
He's going to need a lot of work..hopefully we don't get bucked in the process. ;)

We are now horse owners of 4.

Oh my goodness, we got a new horse. Again.

And he is another Appaloosa.

Craig, a man at the barn who owns Hercules, Trigger, Lady and Chip needed to rehome Hercules and Chip. He gave Hurk to Ann and her husband at the barn, and we took Chip.

I think we are a little crazy, but a good crazy. This guy needs LOTS of ground work and round pen work before any of us-but mom, lol-can ride him, but he's going to be a good boy. He is 16+HH and an Appaloosa, obviously...This will be my step-father's horse-did I already say that??-but he will need work before he is rideable for Jeff. Going to add an "About Chip" page soon..Still surreal. :)) He's already part of the family!!!!

Jeff and Chip.

Red wants no part in your silly horsey shenanigans.

We rode for a long time yesterday. Horses were sweaty. We were sweaty. Horses were hyper.

Red & I cantered. We-Wait, WHAT??? Red cantered??? YES! We cantered!!!! AHHHH!!

Before yesterday, I had never cantered. Like ever. We barely ever even trot just because I was somewhat petrified at the thought of going faster than a walk. I've only been riding since September, I mean, I'm going at a good pace but I was wondering if I'd ever get over my silly fears.

It all started when we were out in the ten acre pasture. Ann-who rode Bay-was trotting a very hyper BayBay, and Red, not to be outdone by his gal, wanted to trot with her. I held him back but Ann was just like, "Oh just let him go!" and talked me into letting him. We trotted. Bay cut Red off, Red looked at me like, "Oh come on, let's just go!" and so I went. We CANTERED. Red and Bay raced for a few minutes while mom got Spirit sorted out behind us, and oh my goodness. I am so excited. We trotted/cantered for almost the whole time and I must admit, it was so stinkin' fun. This is a huge milestone for us.

Red

Red did amazing. I know I say this every time, but this is the best ride we've had in a long time. He started sidestepping when going down a steep hill, but after a couple kicks he went down easy. He wanted to follow Bay-Bay but she kept bunny hopping and trying to buck due to not being ridden-she had a pregnancy scare that enabled Ann to ride her-so I had to keep him away, he was stubborn and wanted to chase her, but I kept him back and after a few minutes he seemed to realize that I wouldn't let him get too close to her just yet. When we were heading back to the trails, Bay kept ramming her side into Red and acted like she was going to nip my leg, but Red moved and pinned his ears back. Mom was like, "Geeze, Red is protective over you." Lol! Every time another horse acts mean towards me, Red pins his ears back and moves in the way. Hahaha!

Ears!

Bay was already tacked up when we got there because Ann had worked her in the round pen for awhile, so once I was done with Red, mom was still tacking up because Spirit acts stubborn and it takes her longer, so I hopped on and FINALLY adjusted my much-too-long stirrups....They are a pain to adjust and so I just lived with the long stirrups until I couldn't stand it...Mom got a new saddle yesterday so she got to try it out. She wanted a deep bucket seat but ended up with a more standard seat, but it has memory foam in the seat. MEMORY. FOAM. So comfy!!!

Notice the saddle...Didn't get a picture of it alone because we were in a rush to get to the barn.

We went on all of the trails around the farm, then trotted-cantered, in my case-around the beautiful ten acres. There is a big subdivision on the other side of the fence, and kids always come out to see the horses when we ride up there. :)) Red, as always, ignored the barking dogs and kept on going. I love this horse. Spirit seemed a little scared, but didn't spook or anything. Phew.

In the ten acres...Ignore Red's stance, I think he just got done peeing. ;) ;)  Funny, I'm always happy to see him pee now after the "bean incident" and him not peeing as much. When Red doesn't pee, there's something up!

We rode for a good hour and a half, maybe two hours. Bay really needed to be worked, and she ended up SO sweaty! :)) The weather was beautiful though, around 75ish degrees and breezy, so it wasn't overly hot. Red, as usual, worked up a sweat, but it wasn't too bad. We walked the horses around and let them graze before eating the grain just in case, though. Don't want them to be overheated and then eat. One of my biggest pet peeves is horse owners that don't cool the horse down!!!

Red on our little walk....My, what sweat.

Taking selfies while chilling with my pony. Totally the norm for me

Here are some pictures from the ride before I get into the "silly horse shenanigans"-

Bay & Ann...She kept backing up!!! Lol!

Talking to John...

Heading out.

Red's ears. Spirit and mom in front.

Spirit bowing.

Ann took this...Those are Bay's ears and Red and I in front.. I love this picture!

TIME FOR SHENANIGANS.

So, today we decided to take Bay and Red out of the 4 acres where Spirit is-Since he is new and no one knows him, we are transitioning the horses in there and going slow-and put Patches and Jericho in. Red hadn't been in the barn to eat or hang out with his buddies in almost a week, and he started whinnying and checked out all of the stalls like, "Is anything different??? HEY LOOK! MY FRIENDS ARE IN HERE!" :)) We let him walk around the barn and didn't put him in a stall...He behaves really well outside of his stall and his stall was currently being used by one of the colts, soooo....

Red..

So, after I made sure Red was settled, we went up to feed the other horses in the 4 acres and we put Patches in there....

Patches being a meany...Patch is in the back and she is "herding" Spirit.

She really did fairly good and only chased Spirit for a minute, then went to Bella and tried to buck. She bucked at Bella and nailed her pretty good, but Bella turned her butt and bucked her right back. :)) Tucker went to Bella and got Patches away and took off to the back of the pasture. :))

Next came Jericho...he came in..

Ann leading him in.

 He didn't seem bothered and went to go drink some water. He drank and some spilled and he spooked at it. Lol! Then, he noticed Spirit. Uh oh

Running..

Running..

Running..I love this one!!

Spirit running from the herd.

After about an hour things settled and we left...Step-dad was watching the kiddo so we couldn't stay much longer. Plus we were EXHAUSTED! Over 3 hours of hard riding, work and herding horseys! Phew!!


Jeff and mom are going to ride sometime this week and I'll have to stay home, sadly, but I'll probably ride again this week as well. :) Went to the barn early this morning to put sunscreen on Spirit's nose and check on everyone..He had a couple wounds but Bella got the worst of it. They had to take Jericho out. :( One step at a time.

On another note....

New boots!!!!