Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 3

Farmland in the late afternoon

Berks County, Pennsylvania

She Stole my Horse

T got the chance to ride Annie for the first time earlier this week.  She had Annie gaiting all over the place and she even cantered.  I know that she had fun and Annie got a good workout.  I have a feeling that we are going to be haggling over who gets to ride what horse.

Annie was watching the summer camp kids outside.

Wordless Wednesday - Where Hoof Met Foot

A Milestone for Rosie

As of Sunday, Rosie has gained 50 pounds.  I am amazed at her progress.  We haven't been bombarding her with grain or giving her huge amounts of treats.  We've just kept up a steady, reasonable amount of grain for her size twice a day and free choice grazing.  She no longer feels so bony and actually has some padding where it should be.  Given how quickly she's gained, it makes me wonder how much she was actually being fed before we got her.  She is spending about an hour a day in a small paddock with lots of grass and then she goes back into our field with the run in shed or in a stall depending on the weather.  She is getting along with the other horses and is starting to establish her place in the herd.  Her hair is growing back on her face and she's starting to really shed.

She didn't really want to pose for pics

She wanted to go back to eating grass

Macro Monday - Willows

A large willow near our horse pasture

Sunday Stills Challenge - Back to Basics, the Rule of Thirds

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is the Rule of Thirds - put your subject into the upper or lower part of the shot or in the left or right half of the pic. Composition is the name of the game here and you can use any subject you find.  This is one of my favorite challenges since it's something that I do often when I take pictures - it makes for a much more interesting photo.

T and Zip coming home in the Keyhole class at last week's gymkhana

Late afternoon sun behind the clouds

Annie and Kali grooming each other

Brenda Photo Challenge - Ruby Red Macro

The theme of this challenge is Ruby Red Macro - Nothing could be easier! This is simply about Anything that is RED in color and taken in MACRO...
I have been a bit behind this week on photos.  Zip squashed my foot at the show last weekend and knocked me down in the gravel (not on purpose so he's forgiven) so I am pretty sure that I have a broken toe on my right foot and a scraped up, sore knee on my left leg.  I'm hobbling around and haven't been focused on taking pics.

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Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 2

Skywatch

Pink and blue sunset

Remembering my Mother

Today is the 5 year anniversary of my mother's passing.  She loved flowers and her garden.  Petunias were a particular favorite.

I loved her dearly, I think of her every day and will miss her always. 

Wordless Wednesday - Salt

4th Show of the Season - DONE!

We had Buxmont's 4th gymkhana of the season on Saturday.  T did awesome on Zip!  She's been working really hard on getting him used to moving around objects and working the patterns.  He got a time in Keyhole for the first time ever and ran his fastest time so far in Barrels.

Bend and Jump

T-Bone

Wild Lark

Keyhole

Poles

Double Bowtie

Barrels

View more photos here

Placings:
Bend and Jump - no time
T-Bone - 1st place
Wild Lark - 2nd place
Keyhole - 4th place
Poles - 5th place
Double Bowtie - 1st place
Barrels - 4th place

I did confirm with the club president that she earned enough points to tie for Reserve Champion for the night and she adds to her year end points.

We are working with Zip on standing still for T to mount and walking quietly into the ring.  He did manage to catch my foot when I was leading him in and knocked me down so my toes are a lovely shade of purple, I'm pretty sure I broke at least one and I'm banged up on my other knee.  We've got some more work to do at the ingate.  We did bring Kali with us but she was having an off night so we scratched her and let her hang at the trailer and snack on hay.

2 more shows to go for the season!

Sunday Stills Challenge - Summer

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is Summer -What pictures does that word conjure up in your mind?  A pitcher of lemonade covered in condensation?  Water skiing on the lake ?  Sitting on a beach?  Let’s see your summer in pictures!

Summer around here means corn
Acres and acres of corn

By the time it's ready for harvest, it's a good 6 feet high

A quick dip in a shaded pool on a hot day

or a trail ride in the creek

View other Sunday Stills participants here.

Equal Face Time - Annie

Rosie has been getting so much attention - because she genuinely needs it - but I don't want to forget the other new girl. I was joking around the other day that Annie is like the middle child right now, squashed somewhere between Kali and Rosie (somehow I ended up with 3 mares - ?).  Kali is the popular one that everyone loves and Rosie is the one that needs the most attention right now.  That leaves Annie who deserves some equal face time.  She's filling out nicely and is getting used to us.  She got her feet trimmed last weekend and we definitely need to work on picking up her feet nicely (it's really just the left front that she has an issue with).  She's really different than any other horse we've had in temperment and personality.  I like her.

We're off to the Buxmont gymkhana this afternoon, hauling Zip and Kali.  Wish us luck!

Skywatch Friday

Another spectacular sunset over the horse pasture.  

I love the "fingers" of light that stream out of the clouds.

View skies from all over our planet at Skywatch.

Rosie's First Ride

Rosie has been doing well, gaining weight steadily, and filling out quite a bit.  Taking on a rescue like her is like having a puzzle with some pieces missing and you need to figure out what they are.  It's also a big gamble since horses can be pretty resilient and also pretty fragile.  We had a feeling that she would do well once she started to get good nutrition. We knew very little of her history but had been told that she had been ridden recently and supposedly had been a gaming pony at one point.  Craig and T groomed her and saddled her up on Monday to see how she would react.  She stood like a trooper and didn't seem bothered at all.  They untacked her and let her go back to eating her hay.

When we first got Jet, he had a prominent spine which combined with his high withers made fitting a saddle a challenge.  We found a lightweight Simco barrel racing saddle that had short round skirts and a high port which had plenty of clearance for his withers and wouldn't jab him in the back.  Combined with a thick Impact gel pad that had a wither cut out and a channel along the spine, it was a great combination.  We thought this combination might work well on Rosie too, especially since the Impact gel pad distributes the saddle/rider's weight so well.  Part of rehabbing her is to help build up some of the muscle she lost and make her strong.  We thought that short, low key sessions (maybe 20 minutes at a time) mostly walking with a little trotting, would be good for her, maybe once or twice a week.  Since T is lighter than me, I asked her if she would be the first one to ride Rosie.  She has good balance and quiet hands and I thought she could handle it.  Late Monday afternoon, they tacked her up and T very carefully mounted up from a mounting block.  Rosie did great and seems to know the barrel and pole patterns.  The head tossing you see in the video is because she had a halter on under her bridle, just in case T needed to be lead around or make a quick exit and catch her (neither was needed, thank goodness).  Rosie didn't like the nose band.  Next time we will try her with just the bridle. 

Rosie's First Ride from CTG Ponies on Vimeo.

I couldn't have asked for a better first ride (or any ride!) especially in a new environment with one of the arena doors wide open.  I asked for input on her breed on a bulletin board and the general consensus judging by her conformation was some kind of gaited pony.  I think that might be right on the money.

Wordless Wednesday - Early Morning Sun

Rosie - Week 1

We've started Rosie on Nutrena Senior Feed twice a day so she can get the right kind of calories and vitamins to get healthier.  She's getting free choice hay and since it's been so dry and the grass is practically non-existant, she's also been out on pasture as well.  The grass is drier than the hay and kind of stunted since we went about 6 weeks with no rain and the hottest June on record plus July heat waves.  We didn't think that it would hurt her (we've been keeping a close eye on her) and it gives her a chance to really move around and be near the herd.  For the most part, she stays on the fringe and seems to just be happy to be in the vicinity of other horses.  She comes in during the hottest part of the day so she doesn't have to fight for a space in the shed and she can eat as much hay as she wants.  We've been rotating horses in to keep her company.  Plus she can see two other pastures over the dutch door in her stall.  So far this arrangement seems to working for her.  We did have rain on Saturday and although it was 72 degrees she was shivering so for now she will go out with a rain sheet when it rains to keep her retain her body heat.

She was always bright eyed and alert but seems to have perked up even more.  We brought her in the ring over the weekend to work with her a little bit.  She walked and trotted on the lead line and I worked with her with a halter and reins from the ground to reinforce whoa and turning.  She's very responsive, neck reins, and reads body language really well.  And we think she may be gaited. It's kind of hard to tell right now but Craig told me that she was racking when I picked up my pace on the ground.  Craig also walked her through several puddles and she didn't even blink (Zip, on the other hand, thought the puddles just might eat him).  I want to continue to work with her on the ground to reestablish cues for when she is able to handle a rider.

The best news for this week - according to the weight tape, she gained 13 pounds!!!!  She already looks better and is going to be a solid little thing once she starts to fill out.  We gave her a bath with dandruff shampoo and a built in conditioner to help with some flaky skin (the first bath off the trailer was mostly just to get the grunge off - we really scrubbed her this time).  She is losing quite a bit of hair on her face and I think that she's going to shed some of her coat now that her nutrition is improving.  She absolutely loves being groomed.  Hopefully the patches on her face will grow back in soon (she has halter rubs too).  And she got her feet trimmed this weekend.

Something that we've done with past rescues is to take pics every week to chart their progress (click to view full size).  It really helps to see how they are coming along.  She's really friendly and doesn't stand well for pics because she likes to be with her people.  You can see the patches of hair missing on her face (and spots on her body as well) and I included a pic of her brand as well.  I have no idea if this brand is a breed-specific or farm/ranch brand.

Macro Monday - Chickory

 Wild Chickory, at the edge of the wheat field

behind the Kutztown Produce Auction

Sunday Stills - Shadows

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is Shadows - For this weeks Sunday Stills challenge I’d like you to photograph shadows.  Try and find some interesting patterns if you can.  Time of day is key in this one!

Late afternoon shadows on Annie

Tree shadows on the creek across from the barn

A girl and her horse - Zip was tired after working gymkhana patterns

I like the way their shadows blend together

You can view other Sunday Stills participants here.

Riding Annie

Annie is settling in well and seems to be relaxing more each day.  Our first quick ride was kind of stressful and she obviously didn't like the bit.  A couple of days off and a tack change did wonders.  We are getting used to each other and figuring out how we work as a team.  She really seems to want to work and seems to enjoy having something to do.  We are doing some basic walk/gait and whoa stuff but nothing fast until she builds some muscle and we have some more rides.

Craig took this Thursday night.  Annie was really good with Zip in the ring and one of the arena doors being completely open.

Riding 7/8/2010 from CTG Ponies on Vimeo.

I can't wait to get her out on the trails.

Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 52

Hazy, hot and humid

over the growing corn

Farm that boarders the Kutztown Produce Auction

We have been experiencing record-breaking heat over the last week.  

It hit 103 degrees F which is very unusual for Pennsylvania.

View skies from all over our planet at Skywatch.

Rosie

This seems to be the summer of lots of changes...

Craig came across this pony at the same farm where we got Annie and Zip.  She is a rescue that the farm owner took in recently.  She had been purchased at an auction in April by a teenaged girl, unbeknownst to her parents, and had been thin at the auction.  Somewhere along the way since April, there was a divorce and some financial difficulties and this mare hasn't been getting enough to eat and is even thinner than before.  We have the space and the means to take on a rescue so here she is.  She is painfully thin but nicely put together with really great manners.  The pictures don't show how prominent her backbone and the pinbones in her hips are.  She is missing hair in places, her feet are very cracked and she definitely needs some TLC.  She is branded and is supposed to neck rein well.  We have been told that she was ridden last week which leaves me speechless since her spine and her ribs are so prominent.

These were taken of her as soon as she came off the trailer and 

the pics are straight out of the camera

She is about 20 years old, is 13.1 hands tall and about 700 pounds.  We think that she probably needs to gain close to 100 pounds.  She has been wormed and we have started her on Senior feed that has probiotics plus all the hay (timothy/alfalfa mix) that she can eat.  She doesn't seem to have health issues but we will have the vet out soon to check her out and give her shots (I want to put some more weight on her before we give her immunizations).  We gave her a bath, trimmed her bridle path, conditioned her mane and tail, and addressed some skin issues she has.  I am going to work on her feet and Annie's feet this week.  She is a gorgeous chestnut color so we named her Rosie.  I have no idea what we will use her for but I want to make her life better.