Sunday Stills - Your Best Shot of 2009

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is Your Best Shot of 2009. I have quite a few favorite pics and it was hard to choose just two.  Of course, the two that I picked are horses.

From Happiness Is...

A pic I took on a trail ride at the Green Lane Reservoir

One of my favorite things to do that I don't get to do often enough

Montero spotted something across the water that caught his interest

From Rule of Thirds

One of my favorite overall pics

This was one of those times where I just itched to have the camera in my hand

It was the first time that this mare saw the other horses in the neighboring field

I love the composition of it

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Montero finds a new home

Montero sort of fell into our lives last November.  We weren't really looking for another horse but we came across an ad on Craigslist and decided to go to see him.  I took one look at the rack of bones that he was and loaded him onto the trailer.  He went to another owner later that month and we kept tabs on how he was doing from a distance.  There's a lot of history with him locally and he is pretty well known to members of 4H and Buxmont Riding Club.  His new owner had a tragic accident with another horse she woned and decided to sell him so he once again fell into our lives in March.  We decided at that time that we would do everything we could for him to make him healthy again.  As of the beginning of October, he had gained 120 pounds, lots of solid muscle and his coat was sleek and shiny.  Through some circumstances, we moved him to a farm in October where he would be part of a herd of 12.  We had hoped that he would get used to being in a larger herd since all of the horses were pretty quiet but he didn't seem happy.  We made the difficult decision as a family to find him a home that would be more suitable.  A family from the next town answered an online ad and came to see him on Saturday.  The gentleman's 8 year old granddaughter rode him all around the ring and they decided they wanted him.  I hugged him Tuesday night, kissed his nose, and bid him farewell through my tears.  He left for his new home on Wednesday.  He has another very quiet Tennessee Walker gelding as his companion on 3 acres with a large shed, lots of grass and electric fence which will minimize his cribbing.  Plus there are lots of grandkids to spoil him.  He and his new companion look like bookends.  I wish him well in his new home and I hope that they enjoy him as much as we have. 

Fat and Sassy

Montero is finally getting to the point where he is rounding out. I joke that he's become fat and sassy. It's hard to believe that this is the same skinny, scrawny horse that stepped on our trailer almost a year ago. At last check, he has gained 120 pounds and a whole lot of muscle. No ribs visible, no prominent hip bones or tail head. His gaits have improved and he's started to do this really cool extended trot when we free longe him. Plus he can run like there's no tomorrow. He needed the extra food and a steady companion to get him back to where he should be. He is now in a herd situation and figuring out how to be a horse. He's still a goober and a wimp but he is actually not the low man of the herd. He's like the kid you send off to kindergarten - all you can do is your best and hope that he does well. I'm really looking forward to watching him during the winter months to come.

The Joy of Running

The cool autumn weather has the horses feeling frisky. It doesn't take much encouragement to get them galloping and bucking across the pasture.

Zip in the lead

Zip still in the lead

Jet following close behind

Montero in the lead this time

Zip

Downhill

"Look, ma, no feet on the ground!"

Hard to believe this is the same skinny horse that stepped off the trailer.

He's gained 120 pounds since March.

Sunday Stills - Happiness is...

This week's Sunday Stills - what makes you happy. For me, some of the the happiest and most carefree times are the times I spend on the back of a horse, especially if I can combine that with family time. My husband is usually with us and my daughter is my main riding partner.


This was taken on a trail ride in July in Green Lane Park. Montero was standing in the reservoir when something caught his eye across the water. I just love the view.

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Teaching Montero How to Gait on a Lead

As Montero started to steadily gain weight, it was difficult for him to maintain his gait for any length of time since he didn't have any muscle tone. Now that he has gained a significant amount of weight and is building muscle tone, we wanted to start working with him to gait on a leadline. He will follow you all over the pasture, either loose with with a halter and lead but just doesn't get it when you ask him to gait. We figured it would be fun to try a ground pole on the leadline too. He's a willing soul and will tolerate quite a bit. Jet just stood around and watched.

Busy Week

This has been a very busy week. I had a birthday (the dreaded 4-0), caught a stomach virus, had a couple of days off from work and we have a gymkhana tonight. Not a whole lot of time for blogging. I'm trying to find time to take pics for this week's Sunday Stills. Lots of horsey things going on too. We decided to move Jet and Montero out of Shaky H and back to 50/50 Farm where they did so well. Montero is definitely not one to be kept in a stall but we had to try it to find that out. We will be retired Jet from gaming after this season, and, in about 3 weeks time, we will be bringing home another horse that we can hopefully use for gaming. He's another Mexican Mustang like Jet and we hope that he is as good as Jet. Off to get ready for the show...

In the Wash Rack

Montero had muddy legs so T was hosing them off. We found a small puncture wound on his front leg that I cleaned out really well and treated topically but it swelled up and was hot so we started a round of penicillin. We've been cleaning and treating topically all week and it's drained and the swelling is done so he's on his way.

Our First Ride at Shaky H

We have been blessed with some really gorgeous weather once the thunderstorms moved off. It has been cool and much less buggy with just a hint of the weather to come in the fall. We tacked up and headed into the arena for some schooling - T on Montero with me on Jet and then we switched. We didn't mind riding in the pasture but it is very nice to have a ring with great footing to ride in. Montero was taking it all in and was watching his surroundings but listening to T. Jet, on the other hand, would really rather not, thank you very much, and kept cutting into the center of the ring. He was fine outside of the ring but didn't really want to work in the ring. I took both horses out of the ring for a walk and they did great - no spooks or problems.

Me cantering Jet

Montero is really building muscle to carry himself in a nice frame.

100 pounds ago he had no muscle tone.

T stayed in the ring while Jet and I headed for a walk around the farm

T bought him a pretty light blue crystal browband.

Montero at the canter

Working a barrel

Bringing Jet home after running a barrel pattern.

Montero's Walk

Last week, we got a small break in the weather and T and I got the chance to ride. Our saddles are home so we rode with bareback pads. Montero has been great since we switched bits so I decided to tempt fate and grab the camera. Picture it - bareback holding the reins in my left hand and the camera in my right. The thought crossed my mind about what I should do if I had to bail but it turned out ok. Montero was actually kind of lazy and turned with the neck rein just like he should. This is the view of his walk and running walk. I'm still amazed to see how much he bobs his head since I don't really notice it was much when I'm riding. The background noise is T being a nudge making noise since she knew I was filming. The clicking is me trying to get him moving. He really is fun to ride.

Sunday Stills - Clouds

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is Clouds. This was an easy one! Since I've been participating in Skywatch, I find myself looking at the sky more and really paying more attention to the clouds and the colors.

Late yesterday afternoon.

It's very hot and humid here which makes the sky hazy so the colors are not very vivid.

I very rarely post a photo on this blog more than once but I think this one is worth repeating.

One of my favorite cloud photos from March of this year.

Canadian geese flying in front of clouds earlier this week.

Montero looking off into the distance while we were riding.

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Me and My Shadow

Riding Montero in the late afternoon sun.

Wordless Wednesday - The Joy of Running

Schooling Montero

At the last gymkhana, Montero decided that he didn't have to stop when T asked him to and twice took off with her. She managed to get him stopped but it shook her up a bit. It's a scary thing to be on an animal that big and powerful and be at their mercy. We all sat down and talked about what we can do different. He's in excellent weight now, is muscling up, and definitely feeling more frisky. We are going to be doing more schooling with him, reenforcing the gaits and whoa. We also found a bit that is a more suitable (the other bit was a transition bit and he figured out he could run through it). We tested the new bit a few days ago and it seems to work well for him. I rode him first while T rode Jet and then she hopped up on Montero.

Meet Woodstock

Meet our latest pasture resident. She began following the horses around the other day and was hopping around behind Montero as he headed to the barn for dinner. She's been back for each meal ever since. She will shy away if we get too close (we can still get fairly close to her) but she doesn't mind the horses at all and they don't mind her. I'm pretty sure that she is a fledgling female red winged blackbird. The field next to us is very overgrown and full of red winged blackbirds. She's been eating seed heads from the hay and any crumbs of grain left over. She's even snatching bugs out of the air around the horses. Craig has dubbed her Woodstock.

Waiting at the entrance to the run-in shed

Milling around the hay bins

Perched on Montero's hay box

Cleaning up around Jet's legs

July 18th Horse Show

Well, we started the day off with high hopes. We got all the gear loaded, both horses loaded into the trailer and off we went. The weather was spectacular and everything seemed ok. Jet was a bit off so cold hosed him and walked him around. T decided to use Montero for the opening ceremony. She did great on him but he had quite a bit of get-up-and-go and didn't really want to slow down. Montero blew threw the poles in the first and again decided he didn't want to slow down so we scratched him for the night rather than running the risk of T getting hurt. He seemed not-quite-right, not physically but mentally. She didn't ride the first 2 classes on Jet but he seemed to warm out of whatever was bothering him so she competed in the other 5 classes. She placed in 4 - a first place, two second places and a fourth. She's still #2 in points for the year. It was just an off night but I'm glad that she was able to salvage it in the end. We'll work with Montero to see what's going on with him.

Opening Ceremony

Opening Ceremony

Birangle

Keyhole

Poles

Thoroughly Enjoying Himself

Montero and Jet both like a good back scratch. They even have a frequent spot that has kind of hollowed out and makes the perfect rolling spot. Sometimes the grass is just as good.