March 2014

And here we are.  Welcome to March 2014!  Only 21 more days until Spring!!!  I hope spring decides to be a nice one this year.  March has rolled in here in VA very mildly, it is 52 degrees with no wind.  That probably means we will be blown away at the end of the month....again.


Sorry about the above photos, I couldn't resist!     I have seen a guy put a flymask on upside down on a horse....but it wasn't Donnie.


ELLEN:
 I love Cricket!  First his name and then how he has taken over the neighborhood   .  He sounds very cute.  I do think he is telling you that you need a cat in your house, though!

BEECH:
Yikes!   Block that cellar door like CB said!!!     Also, put in a stash of edible goodies, carry a cellphone or install a basement landline phone, have a nice sleeping bag and cot, maybe install a little potty, a little heater might be nice.....can I think of anything else to make your stay in the cellar any more comfy?    Some company might be nice.  Got an indoor cat? Of course, if you are locked in down there too long, the cat may eat you....

 I hope it doesn't snow anymore this year.  You northern types could use a break.  I'll think of you tomorrow if Ivan isn't terrorizing me on the trail ride....
 Congrats on the new computer!

GRAYMARE:
 One of the little icons above the posting box is for "SETTING THE SIZE PRINT YOU WANT."  You may be hitting that little icon while you are posting.  That's all I've got to explain it....  

TRUDY:
 If those horses knew how high those railroad trestle bridges were, they'd probably think twice about crossing them. One we cross is 90 feet high.  We just went and looked at it from the road that goes under that part of the trail and it looks darn high!  Those were the first bridges Areion had ever crossed, but she followed Ivan who has been across a lot of them.  They never seemed to bother Ivan, either.  Horses are fairly trusting sometimes....thankfully. They do have signs that say to get off the horse and lead them across the bridges.  The railings are only four or five feet tall and when you are on the horse, it would really look like a long way down with nothing obstructing your view of the ground or river below.  

If all goes as planned, we are going back to the same area tomorrow.

Happy March 1st!

TRUDY, I got you on the list……………………….

Ha, this morning Faith was cantering around enjoying fun w her neighborhood friends……..4 horses, 4 steers………..all were happy up & down the way today after the rain………….LOL


It's a nice afternoon here…………God bless, prayers for ALL.

There is a huge benefit to having older horses to help younger ones. They learn what to do right from the start.
Talking about the bridges reminded me of something my dad talked about. Back in the 19teens when he was a kid on the farm, they mostly used mules, rather than horses. When they would drive the team of mules and come to a bridge, he said those mules would lean against each other as hard as they could while they crossed the bridge. They didn't want to go, but since they had to, they both wanted the middle.

well, if just being on the fringe of this big storm left us with iced hiways and encrusted in ice cars, y'all better batten down the hatches if you are going to get it.....ours is turning to rain now, but it will freeze tonight again at 19 degress. The only redeeming factor is we need the moisture....but could do without the cold snap. It will warm up after tonights storm....and be decent weather once again, so can't complain a whole lot!
Pretty quiet around the hacienda lately, but that's good! Puppies are growing up fast and keep me on my toes when they aren't trying to bite them!    Sweet Pea eats and sleeps...a dogs' life for sure....its funny to see him laying on his back all four feet in the air and to see Mom Sassy in the same position. Two peas in a pod!
It's laundry day at the kids' house, but the dogs like me being here, they are inside in their warm beds. I will spend the night tonight to keep them inside. I can't wait until mine will be able to come inside again, but until then we use heat lamps on the
COLD days, and fans in the summer heat.
Hope y'all get thru this next storm alright, it sounds like a doozie.....stay safe and stay warm.

We got a couple of inches of snow last night, but what is coming now is probably going to go well south of us - for once.
Little Miss Scarlett was out with Daddy on the snowmobile this afternoon. It's probably the slowest trip around the lake he's ever taken.    She was most content and warm, and almost fell asleep.

CB, we had huge rains here………….we needed it but parts are now mud city.

How cute ELLEN.............she was probably singing "I'm a big girl now"................

Nothing going on here today....we're having ham sandwiches for supper..............

I took my saddle apart yest and have totally cleaned and oiled it................I have the breast collar left and the roping cynch............so, lol, now I have a new saddle again...........
That's a big project time wise..................

I hope everyone is having a good day.....I'm watching the American RFD Rodeo............it's a million dollars in one day if anyone can do it............My big event is saddle soaping watching!

Ellen, Scarlet probably loved her ride. I started my kids very young on the horses...they would ride with me and fall asleep they were so comfortable with the rythum of the horse moving. Some folks would say it is too dangerous when they are little, but when started young they learn as they grow, I'll be she will have her own machine smaller version of Dads in a few years!

Graymare we could use some of that rain, or the dern hay prices will eat us out of house and home and I"ll have to downsize more. Hate the idea, but neither will I let them lose weight. Lets hope for rain!

Its gonna be a cold night tonight....brrrrrrrr

Stay safe y'all...stay warm...read some good books...watch some tv....hope everyone keeps the power on....these ice storms can be dangerous. So please be careful.

Scarlett's daddy and mommy already have 3 snowmobiles, so there'll be one for her when she's old enough. She already has her own helmet. Daddy's snowmobile goes REALLY fast, but the other two are a little slower. It will be a few years before she's big enough to handle even the slower ones. But, as she gets older, Dad will show her how much fun speed on the snow can be. He just toodled along slowly today.

ELLEN:
I loved your mule story!  I can just see them pushing each other toward the middle of the bridge!

GRAYMARE:
 That Faith is really enjoying being pregnant!  You need to come clean my saddle now.  My leather one needs a good deep cleaning.  I sort of like the synthetic one because it doesn't.

CB:
 Your pups sound so cute.  Did you take pix of sleeping doggies?


Well today was very nearly a perfect day.  We got up to 64 degrees, but it got windy later in the day, then cloudy.  But it stayed warm and we went to our second trail ride with Areion and Ivan on the New River trail.  That Areion was just wonderful!  She would stay a couple of steps behind Ivan's shoulder for much of the ride and just walk or trot along, letting Ivan worry about lions and tigers and bears.  Lori rode her most of the 5 miles this time, only getting off when bikes or hikers were crossing paths with us, although Arieon didn't react to any of them.  She seemed quite content to go along with Ivan.   And Ivan acted very responsible and never spooked at anything, was easily controlled at whatever speed I wanted, and although alert, was not freaky about anything.   This makes three off property rides in a row that Ivan has been very good, even getting on the trailer with little resistance.

We started the ride with Jane, the endurance rider, and her gelding Albert.  Ivan didn't really like him being near Areion, but didn't do anything wicked.  They had already done 5 miles before we got there, and had to go back another 5 miles to Jane's trailer, so they only rode along with us for a mile or so, then turned back.  Ivan relaxed after Albert was gone.  After that, it was a pure pleasure ride.   We crossed 5 bridges, so got LOTS of mounting and dismounting practice done for Areion.   She is getting much better about standing still for mounting.  

Anyway, we had a great day and got home about dark, just as it started sprinkling.  The big storm will get to us tonight.  It was kind of it to wait until after we got to ride today!

Pix, of course....  Donnie took them.  He is such a great ground crew!

Jane, Diane, Lori..start of ride

 On New River Trail





 End of ride

 On Bridge

Well.....NO SNOW. we did have a tiny bit of freezing rain yesterday morning, just enough to keep us home from church but after that nada. Not that I am complaining...I'll suffer with the 3 degrees as long as there is NO more freaking snow. Couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out the window this morning. I was expecting 12" of snow and nothing. Not a word of apology from the weatherwoman either, she should be ashamed for freaking everyone out with her forecast of 12 inches.

Have a great day everyone..

Ark, it looks such a pleasant place to ride. I know Lori is training, but she looks like she's having a good time too. Will that be a good place to train for the ride you're doing in April?

GO ARK & LAURIE!!!  Great pictures!

oops, LORI……………

TRUDY
 We got a couple of inches of snow off that storm.  It is a big shock after having 64 degrees yesterday!  


ELLEN
 The New River Trail is good in some ways for practicing for the April ride in South Carolina.  It is pretty much flat and has got lots of places to move out as fast as you want for a long way.  The S.C. ride isn't very hilly either.  It does have sand in some areas that is hard to come by here.  I'll have to be careful with Ivan in the sand.  Jane says I will love the ride, she has been to it a couple of times.  
 If we do a mountainous ride, we will need to practice a different sort of trail.  Pandapas Pond Park where we go to occasionally has very technical, hilly trails to ride on.

Lori loves training young horses and I catch her smiling a lot! She really enjoyed Areion yesterday.

they have kid sized snowmobiles and dirt bikes ....they are cute, and downsized on the power, I love seeing the lil tykes on these, families out together. Our kids never knew us to be in a bar while they stayed home, the weekends came and we were gone to the mountains to ride or goat pack or fish with the kids in tow. I miss those days. Love it when the grand daughters go camping and riding with us.
....
We got the bitter cold here, brrrr....

Good news, my spots of skin cancer has decided to dry up and go away from having the spots frozen....am thankful. Now as long as it doesn't grow back!

No, no pictures of the pups..I can only send to a cell phone if that person has the capability of putting them up...my camera quit on me....ONE day I'll figure it all out...maybe...there are some pics on face book, under San Angelo general for sale craigslist tho.

Well, sweet Dreams Y'all..

Well, I thought I was going to have a leasurely morning here at home before I had to head out to Fort Wayne to take some Continuing Education for my insurance license. Nope, not to be. I sleep in a little bit, long enough for it to get light out, and discover that the horses are in the back field. They're not suppose to be in the back field. All this snow has wreaked havoc on my fences and the horses discovered there was no longer a charge in the electric fence that kept them out of the field. Now there isn't even a fence to keep them out of the field. At least the field is fenced in. So instead of doing odds & ends in the house until I have to leave for Fort Wayne I ended up picking up the remnants of the fence and getting cold. New project added to my "to do" list. Replace fence before spring grass starts to grow. The way winter is sticking around this year, it's going to be a while before I can work on this project.

Now I have to get around and leave for Fort Wayne. Wish me luck. There is a test at the end that I have to pass for the continuing ed to count. I don't do a lot of insurance work so it's not my strong point. If nothing else, I'll get a nice lunch out of it.

Stay Warm, Stay safe.

Indy, did you get your new tablet to work at home?

This is a rather long art piece, but very beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/v/XBEyCr5AoIs

INDY, if you ever do catch up around your horse farm, would you let me know how you did/do it?
There's always a project or repair here………………daily, sometimes hourly, LOL.  Horses are the EASY part.

CB, sure glad you had good news on your skin cancer!!!

LOL, no baby yet, but we're one day closer than we were yesterday…………….

God bless.  Prayers for ALL.

Whew, ELLEN, I was scared for the squirrel………………….that was really well done.  Amazing photography.

Interesting.  I didn't intend to post the squirrel video.  While I was finished watching it, there was another horse video that I watched.  That's the one I thought I was posting.  I'll have to see if I can find it again.

Here's the one I meant to post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OapMBWNgTzU

Well, I made it down to Fort Wayne and back without incident. I think I passed the test. I'll know for sure in about a week or so. I realized on my drive down that I haven't been to Fort Wayne in probably a couple of years. Some of my landmarks had changed, some were totally gone. I said quite a few times, "huh, I wonder how long that's been here?" I really need to get out more.

Ellen, yes I got my tablet working. I'm still trying to figure it out. I have serious ADD when it comes to electronics. Fortunately my laptop is back to working. It's just easier to default to what I know than figure out something new. I was afraid my hard drive was going out when I took it in, but fortunately that wasn't the case. Some how a tiny piece of plastic had worked it's way inside or had broken loose from something and was rattling around the fan. Easy fix.

GRAYMARE, I came to the conclusion a looongg time ago that I will never be caught up on my "to do" list around the farm. I just try to stay even with my Must Be Done Now list. Fencing is a high priority on that list. Maybe someday I'll be independently wealthy and can hire someone to come in and get me caught up on my to do list? Nah.. probably not.

Oh, and it's snowing again. I heard a rumor that Elkhart is out of salt and chemicals for the roads and all they have left to use is sand. Well, there is sand on the streets this morning so there may be something to that rumor. At this rate it will be June before everything melts around here. Then I'll be complaining because it's too hot.

CB, that is indeed good news about those spots.

Indy, I think Kosciusko County is okay on salt. They were talking about having gotten another shipment. Boy, I sure hope we don't need much more. But, of course, it's snowing again this morning.
Glad you got your new tablet working.