One horse-uv-a weekend!

Saturday, 2/27

Ahhh...virgin soil...

Watching the older girls...

That afternoon, we went to the stables where our studs and one of our last babies are kept...we let Cash and Chief graze a bit and just enjoyed the sunshine...this is Cash...I think he is our most handsome guy...

This is Molly...daughter to our Hershey and Clyde from a couple of years back...one of our renters is working with her to gentle her up so that hopefully we can find her a good home...even though the horse market is still down, we're really hoping to scale down our herd some this year. She found a feed scoop that jumped up and ate her leg - that was her story anyway ;)

This is Chief...he's really shiny white and black, black most of the time, but

with all of this rain, he's currently buff and black. For a stud, he's the nicest guy you'll ever want to meet. He is calm and gentle with a very sound mind. He isn't homozygous (he won't throw a Paint every time), so Jack has wanted to sell him for several years now, but I won't let him. This is Rodeo - he's the son of our Lady and Clyde - he looks just like his Dad, but thankfully has his Mom's gentle soul and sound mind. We hope to find him a good home soon, too.

Finally, this is Clyde. He can be a real stinker - honorary, rambunctious, mischievous...

...but then he can be like this...Jack likes him because he's big and throws big babies...

Long days are meant to be ended with bubbles and this is just how my crew ended theirs...

Galveston Mardi Gras 2010

We continued our tradition of eating at The Original and taking Grace to the Galveston Fat Tuesday Parade...we had a good time simply because it was something different to do and we were all out together, but the parade itself didn't seem as good this year. The floats weren't as fancy and they only threw the regular beads that you see everywhere, but as you can see, she had that hand in the air...and she even scored a few pieces of candy!


When she's a little older and we don't have to be quite so worried about her getting trampled by lots of drunk people, maybe we'll brave the weekend parades where I'm sure they throw better goodies...

This time around though... "Let the good times roll..." We worked hard at it -

Although it's smudged beyond repair (it was just lipstick), she had a big heart around her right eye and a smaller one on her left cheek - it certainly put her in the spirit anyway...

a cool old fire truck -

Can you see that he's praying this is almost over? ;)

This was blaring 80s music...

...a little to loud for Squeezy.

Some festive folks were aboard this float...although none of them were throwing beads...argh!

Ha! "float" - the unconventional kind

...and just because I don't think I ever included a shot of the barn with both sides of stalls completed, here ya go - the closest door to the right with no bars is our tack room. I can't wait until it dries up and I can sweep and tidy up a bit, but of course, it rained today, so who knows when that will be!

Sunday, we're taking her to the Toyota Center in Houston to see the Lipizzaner Stallions, so maybe I'll be able to get some decent shots of their performance and share with you soon...have a good weekend!

Puppy Love

Windows to the Soul

The lucky six that reside in our newly outfitted barn...they are all filthy right now...can't wait for it to warm up (this being said as we are under snow warnings) so they can all get a good, nice bath!

Skylar...our little miracle baby...her Mom is Sunny and the year before she had Skylar, she had a Lethal White baby that died the day after he was born due to genetic defects. I named him Sky Gunner because he was solid white with big blue eyes and was gunnin' for Heaven right from the start...I was so excited when she was born to see how much alike they looked...
My boy, Romeo - born the day Jack and I met, Jan. 30, 2002...Lady is his Mom...and even though he can be very headstrong (just ike the old gal...I'll leave it up to you to infer whether I'm talking about Lady or myself ;)), I love him to the blue, blue sky...

he's acting shy...don't let him fool you...

Now, there he is...

Trashy and Romeo...hangin' out...probably wonderin' if I have a treat in my pocket...

Jack's Dad actually bought Trashy at an auction over a decade ago when he was just a foal. He was bleeding everywhere and was skin draped over bone and Jack's Mom made his Dad buy him because she knew nobody else would buy him in that condition and she didn't want him going back home with his owner for sure...with a little LOT of TLC, he's a big strappin' fella now...Jack David wanted him so badly that he swapped his Dad a tractor for him...he's been ours ever since. What a deal! His markings make me think of the big Paints the Indians used to ride in the old westerns...

He is the kindest, gentlest horse I've ever known.

Foxy...daughter to our Piggy and Clyde...a heart of gold. She looks a lot like her Dad, but is sweet like her Mom...without the nuttiness...Grace loves to love on her because she knows she doesn't have anything to worry about...no surprise kicks!

Lady...our "Queen Bee"...she is second in command to Trashy, the VP of our herd, I guess you could say...she is a wonderful Mom and can be gentle...she just sometimes decides she doesn't want to be...she can definitely open a can of whoop-heiney when she wants to! See, right there...that look says, "Mom, this is dinnertime and you're being awful troublesome with all of those camera flashes...get OUT!"

Monkey, sister to Skylar (same Mom and Dad - Sunny and Clyde)...Monkey gets all of the sorrel coloring from Sunny...she is our resident mischief-maker...if there is trouble to be had, this girl is gonna find it! She's not so much for people...even when she was a baby, you could be sure that if you put a halter on her and tried leading her, you were definitely coming away with a bruise!

That's the roster...the good, the bad, the dirty...and they're all mine! Yippee!

This deserves a post all to itself...

This is at 6:49 AM one morning last week...striking enough, right?
At 6:50...wow! It looks like the sky is aflame...

Now, that's a nice way to start off the day...

Finally...a Saddle-Up Saturday!

This past Saturday...it has been a long time...Gracie was so excited to see Pal...she was beaming! I love close-ups... you'll see more of these soon. Pal is the perfect subject. You know what they say...eyes are the windows to the soul. I think that's definitely true with horses...

Getting back in the swing of things...

Letting Pal have a water break...Daddy and Mr. Eddie are having a coffee break.

whoa there, little bit...gettin' a little tall in the saddle...

Gracie and Mrs. Robin picked these flowers for me when they went to run ditches...back to practicing balance...you'll see why in the video below... ;)

"Mother May I" with the older students capped off the lesson...

Pal got a pedicure before heading back out to pasture...

almost a tumble...

"Mother May I"