Sunday Stills Challenge - Fruit

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is Fruit.  I wasn't sure what I was going to use for this challenge but we happened to buy a bag of Clementines which were perfect.

Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 33

Blue skies and sun while test riding Kali.

The blue skies didn't last very long.  It rained soon after and now it's snowing with gale force winds and big drifts.

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Making the Snow Fly

Before we took our ride on Saturday, T took Zip in the ring to make sure that he wasn't too full of himself.  He's a very strong ranch horse so we've adjusted his tack a bit - a saddle with a wider tree, a more Western barrel racing bit with a noseband and she's started to use a tie-down especially when she's working patterns.  All of the tack seems to be coming together and he's really starting to come into his own.  Walk, trot and canter kicked up quite a bit of snow in the ring.  He certainly doesn't look like the scrawny, dirty, smelly horse that stepped off the trailer last September.

** Note - these were taken before today's storm so we'll have more snow on the ground by this weekend.

Say You're Sorry!!!

Hey, whoever pissed off Mother Nature, can you PLEASE apologize so we can actually have some sunshine!!!!  We are bracing for a Snow-icane with strong winds.  The prediction is 6-12 inches or 12-18 inches of snow, depending on how north of us the snow line is.

Wordless Wednesday - Strolling in the Snow

A Switch

When we got Daisy in December, we bought her as an English project with the idea that we would work with her and maybe offer her for sale after she had some more training and possibly show experience.  Being 12 hands, T was on the big side for her but she is quite the stout little Haflinger.  After the first ride it became very apparent that even though she was 4-5 years old, she was really broke and only needed a tune up, not training.  You could ride her through the pasture with the other horses with no bridle and bareback.  That little girl will go anywhere you point her - English, Western or bareback.  And she's beginner-safe.  So we decided to offer her for sale with the idea that we were in no hurry to find her a new home and we would continue to ride her and enjoy her.  A flurry of e-mails later and we made a couple of appointments for people to come and look at her.  The very first person that came to look at her fell in love with her and is now her new owner.  Her new owner has other Haflingers, will break Daisy for driving, and she and her daughter ride as well.  Plus the neighborhood kids will ride her too.  All in all, I couldn't ask for a better home for her.  She left for her new home yesterday.  Good luck to the Pony Puff Princess, Daisy!!!

Which brings me to the switch mentioned in the title.  T found an ad for a registered QH mare locally who is 6, coming on 7.  She has been sitting for about a year, was broke for Western Pleasure by her breeder, had been jumped at a young age, ridden English, and did very well for driving at 4H States.  The age is right, the size is right, she's well bred (a granddaugther of Zippo Pine Bar).  It all just seemed to fit into place.  T had the opportunity to test ride her twice in the last week and it's a good match.  So we welcomed a new mare into the herd.  Ironically, she came to the farm yesterday, after Daisy left.  Her barn name right now is Kali.  T will working with her to get her back into shape.  Thanks Cindy and Jen - we'll take good care of her!

The 2nd test ride

Saturday's Ride

T and I were planning on riding on Saturday since we hadn't been able to ride in about 2 weeks due to the amount of snow on the ground.  A fellow boarder, Roberta, suggested a ride on some of the quiet backroads so four of us headed out - T on Zip, me on Jet, Roberta on her Arab Fiori and the barn owner Eleanor on her Arab Romeo plus Tango, the barn dog.  We didn't really have a route planned other than sticking to the back roads and some of the gravel/dirt roads in the area.  We actually ended up at a fairy busy intersection and walking the horses along the side of one of the busier roads for about a 1/4 of a mile to get to a dirt road but all was well and it was a fun ride.  We mostly walked with some brisk trotting and a long canter up the dirt road which had excellent footing.  It was a lot of fun and the horses handled it like they had been doing it forever (we weren't quite sure how Zip and Romeo would handle it but they were great).  I plotted our route on Google Maps and was suprised to find that we had traveled just over 7 miles in 2 hours.  Not a bad pace!  I didn't bring the camera with me but Craig was nice enough to take pics as we were leaving and coming back and he met us on one of the road for some group shots.

Leaving the farm

On the road, just outside of the farm

The woman in the car stopped to make sure that Tango wasn't a stray

Our first turn onto a quieter street

Heading home with T and Eleanor in the lead

Roberta and I are in the background

Roberta and I bringing up the rear

We are planning another ride for this coming Saturday.

Macro Monday - Daffodils

As we wait for yet another winter storm to come through, this one with accumulating ice, I thought I would remind myself that in a few weeks the ground will warm up and the flowers will start to appear.

From my archives, last spring

Macro Monday

Sunday Stills - the Letter "G"

This week's Sunday Stills is the letter "G".  At first I had no idea what to use for this one but I put my thinking cap on and found some pics.

Gallop - all 4 feet off the ground

The sun was setting behind her so the pic is a bit grainy but still a favorite

Green - sorely lacking these days

"Girls" - The local trails are snow covered and icy so 4 of us headed out for a ride on the roads yesterday.

We covered 7 miles in 2 hours.  Thanks to Craig for following along the first road to take pics!

(I'm on the far left - please ignore the outfit, it was cold)

G is for...me.  My first name is Gina and is the G in CTG Ponies

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Skywatch Friday, Season 4, Episode 32

Frozen, snow covered lake in Green Lane Park

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Wordless Wednesday - Reflected

The Winter Blahs

I don't know about anyone else but I'm really struggling with the Winter Blahs.  In the last week, we've had over 3 feet of snow dumped on us, crazy cold weather sometimes in the single digits, and not nearly enough sunshine.  This morning it snowed, once again, and dumped about 2 inches.  Seems like nothing since we still have 3 feet of packed snow on the ground.  I haven't ridden in almost 2 weeks which is driving me crazy I officially winter!  The only plus is that we aren't having to haul water in this.  I was doing just fine dealing with the winter up until the last storm that dumped 2 feet of snow.  Anyone else really feeling the effects?

I'm working on some outings and fun things to do once the snow clears.  And at the first sign that it's possible, I'm hitting the trail...provided the parking area has been plowed.

Snoozing in the Sun

Jet and Romeo took advantage of a flat spot in the snow and the afternoon sun for nap time.  Eleanor did an amazing job of clearing space for the horses in the snow and clearing a path to the barn.

Macro Monday - Rose Petals

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Sunday Stills - Valentine's Day

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is Valentine's Day.  What says Valentine's Day more than red roses and chocolates?

Snow Dogs

Bandit usually likes the snow but this was a bit much, even for him.  Zoey, on the other hand, takes it all in stride and climbs the snow piles like a mounain goat.  I'm pretty sick of snow right now and we are supposed to get more accumulating snow on Monday.  We've had more snow than Alaska!

Burrowing through the snow

Looks like he's swimming

Chasing after a frisbee and kicking up snow

Stalking Bandit

Taking a break

Blazing their own trail

Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 31

Last weekend, we had a snow storm blow through that dumped about 14 inches of snow.  We got everything dug out and with some sunny skies, it started to melt a little bit.  Tuesday night it started to snow and it didn't really stop until Wednesday night.  This storm brought 23+ inches of snow bringing the total on the ground to about 3 feet.  Thursday dawned bright and brought some much needed sun.  Bandit and Zoey enjoyed playing frisbee as the snow started to pack.  T has had 3 snow days this week including Friday and they are off on Monday so she got a nice long break.

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Dashing through the Snow

Riding Daisy through the snow as the sun set
Note - these were taken before yesterday's snow storm dumped about two more feet of snow

Wordless Wednesday - Chasing Snowballs

Their Version of a Snowball Fight

Two of the horses, feeling frisky after the snow ended

Snow is a Four Letter Word...

No Sunday Stills or Macro Monday for me this week as we have been completely preoccupied by the snow storm that dumped over a foot of snow on Saturday (Philadelphia got almost two feet).  The snow started Friday evening and it snowed all night.  All the four legged critters are just fine - the two legged ones are tired from all of the shoveling.

Lots of snow to clear off the Jeep and the truck

From my kitchen window

Zoey and Bandit supervised from the house

The weather forecasters are calling for another foot of snow on Wednesday.  

How many days until spring????

Who's There?

Something got his attention - not quite sure what it was

Skywatch Friday, Season 4, Episode 20

Blue sky reflected in the truck window behind Tango

Check out skies from around the world at Skywatch.

Blending In

Who knew that the grass in the neighboring field would turn palomino in the winter??

Wordless Wednesday - Did you say COOKIE?!?