Sad Day

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from the mother of the girl who owns Maccabee.  Macky came through the colic surgery ok but developed a complication and was not getting any better.  In fact he was getting worse and stopped eating.  They made the very difficult decision to end his suffering.  I am so very sad at his loss and his teenage owner is really torn up.

This his how I will remember him - full of himself

Always wondering what you were doing

He crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 11/3/2011 and was lucky enough to be loved by 2 teenaged girls in the last year of his life

Maccabee G, may you run and buck in green fields forever.  Rest in peace, buddy.

Schooling Maccabee

Maccabee is turning into quite the little all around pony.  T trail rides him often and she messes around in the ring with him as well.  He is quite the personality - always the first one to greet you in the field but with just a hint of the devil in his eye :)  He pretty much defines easy keeper.  T has been working patterns with him and she is teaching him how to neck rein.

He's a fun pony to have around

Leaping Maccabee

The Girls have set up jumps in the ring and have been torturing schooling all of the horses/ponies.  Maccabee is looking a bit "fluffy" these days (can you say "easy keeper") so T has made a point of increasing his exercise.

They ride nearly every day - English, Western, bareback, double, in the ring, on the trails.  These poor horses have no idea what they are in for all summer :o)

Buxmont Gymkhana tonight with Zip - T is ready!

Sweet Rosie

Rosie seems to very much enjoy her life these days.  While we were riding on the weekend, she had the whole field to herself and spent most of it soaking up the sunshine.

She is very unconcerned about people around her, even when she's laying down.  She loves to get attention and she is shedding like a fiend right now.  When we got her last July she was so emaciated and hadn't shed most of her winter coat.  It seems that her body is in overdrive now and she's got patches where she's shed out completely bald.  It's something that the vet mentioned can sometimes happen with horses that are really undernourished.  She looks pretty threadbare right now.

I got to hang out with her in the field and groom her with my hands

She was perfectly fine with me down on her level - Maccabee is always mugging for the camera

She loves to have her face rubbed

I hope her hair grows in soon!

Jump for Joy

Maccabee absolutely loves to jump.  Whenever T rides him, she usually takes him over a jump or two even if she's riding in her Western saddle.

He's one tired pony when they are finished but he seems to like having a job.

Maccabee 'tude

T rode Maccabee in the ring the other day after it rained.  The footing was deep and he was pretty tired but he had fun cantering around.  This hop was followed by a rather graceful buck and he never broke stride (I missed the buck and didn't realize I got the front hop).  T didn't even blink and just chuckled.  He's so silly.

Wordless Wednesday - Mounting Up

Done, done, and done!!!

This was a 3 day weekend for me and we had a bunch of stuff planned.  Friday night was a much needed and long overdue hair cut (I'm planning to donate my hair to Locks of Love a bit later in the spring so this was just a trim).  Craig and T also picked up a new saddle.

Saturday was off to the hay auction.  Three and a half tons later - we bought really nice heavy small bales of mixed grass with some timothy, alfalfa and clover thrown in.  These bales are HEAVY.  They average about 60 pounds where most other small bales are between 40 and 50 pounds.  We were tired by the time they were all stacked!

Sunday was cleaning up, running errands and a ride in the big field with the track.  The weather was beautiful once the rain cleared and it was a fun ride.  We also dropped my car off to have a tie rod replaced and the front end alignment done.

Monday was up bright and early to head over to New Holland to check out the tack sale and then to the grain mill (with a stop along the way for Fastnacht doughnuts at the Amish bakery).  We picked up almost 600 pounds of custom blended grain - crimped feed with alfalfa pellets, soy beans and flax.  The horses love the new hay and are hoovering the new grain.  I didn't realize that the mill could do custom blends for us so now I have the "recipe" and will probably do it again.

Our field gets the full morning sun and is sunny on the hill for most of the afternoon.  The three redheads enjoyed some sun bathing while Maccabee looked for grass nibbles.

Back to work for me today...

Wordless Wednesday - Profiles

Moving Day

This winter was a harsh one with some form of precipitation, mostly snow with some sleet and freezing rain thrown in, just about every 3 days during January and the beginning of February.  Since this was the second winter in a row of above normal snow, we decided that we needed to find another barn that would afford us more hay storage (we had hay on hold but we didn't have anywhere to store it).  We found something closer to home that would allow us to keep the horses out with access to a shed big enough for all four of them and have a place to store as much hay as we needed.  Plus we have a separate barn, access to an outdoor lighted riding ring, a large pasture with a conditioning track for riding, and some trails.  And it's close to the county park with riding trails - a very short trailer ride down the road.

We moved everything and everyone on Saturday morning (multiple trailer trips) and spent most of the weekend getting the barn set up including rolling out a round bale.  We even found some time to ride Zip and Rooster on Sunday morning.  Maccabee and I took a stroll down the driveway while the curious Thoroughbreds crowded along the fence on either side but he handled it well and listened to me.  T gave Rosie a good grooming in the barn while we strolled.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with a hint of spring in the air.  The horses enjoyed a romp around the field followed by a good roll in the mud and hay munching. 

Monday brought more precipitation in the form of rain but the weather forecasters are calling for seasonal temps and sun (glorious sun!!) for a few days.  I'm looking forward to spring!

"Does my butt look big??"

Maccabee's Eyes

Don't you just love those eyelashes?!?

Wordless Wednesday - Yippee!

Kicking up their Heels

The temps are rising and the ice is finally melting.  The horses are enjoying the temps and the improved footing.  Saturday included a good gallop across the field.

All four were in on the action

Zip enjoyed a few good bucks

Rosie was a speedy girl and was in the lead quite a bit

Really extending

Having fun

They were really enjoying themselves and it was a lot of fun to watch.

Maccabee Bling

Doesn't he look cute in his bling??  It seems to suit his personality.

It's hard to see because it was actually sunny
but there are pink crystals and silver studs on the bridle,

small pink crystals on the side of the bit, and reins in 2 shades of pink.

He's tough enough to wear pink!!

Dashing through the Snow

The temperature this weekend warmed up a bit - it was literally freezing, 32 degrees F, which is warmer than it's been for several days (still very cold at night).  It snowed all day Saturday but with no new accumulation, just the 17+ inches that is already on the ground.  All the blankets came off the horses and they were playing in the snow.  It's so much fun to watch them kick up their heels.  Even Rosie joined in.

Maccabee

Rooster

Rosie

Zip

Rosie, Maccabee, Rooster and Zip

Rooster and Maccabee being silly

Maccabee and Rooster dashing through the snow

Rooster and Maccabee heading back to the barn

Rosie, Maccabee and Rooster trotting along

Rooster posing for a picture

Feeding Time

We feed morning and night with free choice hay available (the bale holder and round bale are just outside of the pic to the left).  The horses have a set routine and specific spots where they eat and the buckets are fed in a specific order.  The balance of the universe is off if anything is changed :)  Zip gets completely confused and it creates chaos. 

Zip eats closest to the barn and run in shed, next the water tub, and his bucket goes down first.  Next is Rooster, then Maccabee, and Rosie last.  So far, this works well and everyone finishes about the same time.  Even in the snow, the routine is the same. I can't wait for spring!

Saturday's Snow

I just checked the blog post for today and realized that half my post is missing (????) so here's the beginning of this post....

Saturday we had another snow storm come through.  Total accumulation was about 2 inches but it seemed like we were getting more while it snowed.  It was flurrying lightly when we left to feed the horses but it was coming down pretty hard by the time we were finished.

Maccabee heading towards the hay (looking away from the barn)

Zip heading to the hay (looking from the hay ring)

Rosie and Rooster, the bookends

Rooster's like a wooly mammoth

The horses have 24/7 hay, a run in if they need it, and access to a large water tub with a heater. They tolerate the weather much better than we humans do :)

The weather forecast is calling for 4-8 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow morning.  How many weeks until spring?????

Sunday Stills - the Letter "W"

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is the Letter W.  The letter W didn't seem as hard as some other letters in previous challenges.

Wispy clouds at sunrise

White barn (I think that's dried tobacco in a stack in the field - it's one of the crops this farm grows)

Weathered barn and old Windows

Western saddle on Maccabee

Rosie napping in the sun near the Water in the pond

View other Challenge participants here