Wordless Wednesday

Happy stuff

I am to write ten things that make me happy and tag ten people.

Thanks to Sydney, you all get to find out ten things that make me happy.

1. The most important thing in my life is my faith, for in God I find the source of all happiness.
2. My husband is a great blessing to me, and we have a very happy marriage.I hope I make him happy too!
3. Like Sydney, I'm a morning person; the early hours are a special time to reflect on the blessings of my life, and I'm always positive and ready to take on the day- especially if I got a good sleep!
4. My horses. I can't just single out my beautiful Beamer here, although he fills me with joy, because I take delight in all my horses, and I have had many wonderful ones. If I'm feeling down, even just a few minutes in their company can lift my spirits.
5. My dogs. Coming home from a 15 minute trip I am greeted with as much unrestrained doggy joy as if I had been gone for days. It always makes me smile!
6. Being able to help someone-sometimes even just a kind word is worth as much to someone as being able to give them financial or physical help; being charitable to others is a quiet source of joy.
7. Finding treasures in an antique store or second hand store. So much more fun than new things!
8. The lovely renewal of spring, when the leaves are bursting with fresh green, blossoms abound, birdsong fills the air.....sheer bliss on a spring evening to just sit and look and listen.
9. It always makes me happy when I have accomplished some task to the best of my ability and find out that I did it well.
10. And finally, babies! Of any kind! People, horses, dogs, cats, buffalo, birds, hippos, you name it, there is just something about a baby that is so endearing... until you have to clean up after them!

So there you have it! I don't always follow the rules, so I'm not tagging ten people, but if you want to play, copy the smiley face and have a go at it!

Sunday Stills-G

Thank you thank you Ed for this challenge; I had so much fun with it! The beginning of the week was rainy and grey, and I did take some photos of Geese in the Grey sky, but it got sunny the last two days, so I have more fun shots for you!

First, the Girls were Grouchy , I think they have spring fever, I know I do!

This is blurry, but it gives you an idea of how quickly a Grouchy horse can strike at another one.

And while we are on the subject of Grouchy, I lucked out getting this shot of Chickory biting Sparkle on the withers.

The dogs are always happy though, and wanting to play Games,

and Tess is showing fine style.

From Grouchy, and Games, we move on to Green things Growing in Gardens! These are the tulips at our Church.

Of course, when things are Green, horses get to Graze!

(and I get to use Macro!).

The very best part of this challenge was watching

Gorgeous

Galloping....

and Galloping.....

Yeah. I could watch him for hours! So now I'm off to see your Great photos!

Sun!

We are getting some lovely sunshine these days, so I've been happily shooting photos. Trying to get some good "G" shots for Sunday.

I thought this one was fun, with my shadow on Sparkle. Hey, Wendy, I found some white hairs on Sparkle! Well, silver hairs, really, and in the exact same place Beamer has them- on her upper lip. I'll try to get a photo of it.

Rode Beamer again today, finally have good footing in the pastures. I had him at the hitching rail, and two horses were coming down the road, one being ridden and one being led. The lady says to me, "So, you got a bronc there?" Excuse me? Bronc? So I say, "What makes you say that?" "Oh, just making conversation!"says she. Hmmmm. Funny way to start a conversation with a complete stranger. Especially when you have to get off and walk your horse. She had an 8 yr. old Rocky Mountain horse that she's had for a year, got it unbroke and wants to train it a bit and sell it. Sure was a pretty horse. Gaited, I believe; should make a great trail horse for someone who is willing to put a little time in on her.

I'm itchin' to get some training done on Chickory, as soon as her teeth are done, she'll be in school. The lady I was trail riding with has a round pen I can use, so the fun will begin next week!

First trail ride of 0'10

Foose started out my day with a laugh- he decided to customize a roll of toilet paper for me, and then gave me his best "Who-me??" look:

Little rascal! Good thing he's cute!

I got to spend the afternoon in the saddle-yipee! I met a lady who boards horses nearby, and she invited me to go trail riding along the dykes near her place. I trailered the B-boy over, rode in her outdoor arena to warm up, then off we went. She was riding a mare, and I must say that since I hadn't ridden Beamer next to a mare since 2006, I didn't know how he would behave, but I needn't have feared; he was his usual well behaved self. A little talking, which earned him the penance of immediate extra work. He loved getting out of his muddy pen and stretching his legs.

We saw a blue heron, and a coyote, and plenty of sign of elk. Rode for over two hours. Even got to lope a little, the footing was nice and dry up on the dyke. Beamer didn't want to get in the trailer and come home; I think he's really bored in his pen. But with the weather steadily getting better, we'll be hitting lots of trails and that'll make him happy.

Since my day started with Foose, I'll close out with him too. He loves to climb trees, and tonight he had an audience.

Wordless Wednesday

Rainy day blues

I was planning to go for a ride today but woke up to pouring rain.

Rainy days...

Barnyard tea.....

and memories of summer......

(sigh....)

The flag videos

Here are the videos I was having trouble with the other day. The first one is when I sacked him out from the saddle, standing still and the second one is riding him around. Piece o' cake! We'll be loping around with a real flag in no time!

Sunday Stills- St. Valentines Day

Ah, yes, it's all about love. I dedicate this post to my loving husband, I'm a lucky girl to have such a wonderful man.

I'd like to share with you all a few words on love from Thomas A Kempis, written five centuries ago.

Nothing is sweeter than love; nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing more generous, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or on earth; for love proceeds from God and cannot rest but in God above all things created.

Flaggin'

My husband is a member of the NorthWest Mounted Police Commemorative Association. So today he told me that the unit is going to be in the Cranbrook parade in June and he wants to ride with them. That means he has to ride Beamer. And that also means that I have to get Beamer accustomed to all kinds of different sights and sounds, starting with carrying a flag, as all the troops carry lances or flags when they are on parade. He used to ride Poco, a half sister to Beamer, in all the parades, until I sold her. She was a great mare, he even rode her into a Soda Shop in Black Diamond once (he was invited in by the owner). So anyway, today when I went to the indoor arena for team sorting- surprise, surprise, no one showed up! Worked for me, because I got to use the time on training B-boy to the flag. I used a stock whip with a torn up old flag on it, and sacked him out on the ground first. He looked a little worried at first, like " whatcha doing with that? Just get on and lets go, okay?" After a few moments of fidgeting around, he was cool with it once he realised it wasn't going away till he stood still.

I used advance and retreat techniques, and kept the flag moving while he was moving, stopping it when he stopped. He's no dummy, it's so much easier just to stand still while silly human does silly things.

After a few minutes, we were both bored, so I rode him around a little to warm up then rode over and picked up the flag, and sacked him out with it while standing still.

Since that didn't bother him, I rode around and he handled it like an old pro. (I had a video but it wouldn't load, I'll see if it will tomorrow. Darn Blogger!)

Ted came up and rode for a while; it's been a couple of years since he has ridden.

It'll take him a couple of rides to get used to Beamer's buttons, but they got along just fine.

My boys

It'll be fun watching them in the parades. Ted's uniform is the red serge, almost the same as the modern day police force. The NorthWest Mounted Police were the forerunners of the RCMP, Canada's national police force. The Commemorative Association does re-enactments from the pioneer days, including some of the infamous battles.

Wordless Wednesday- the boy toys

Tess

My border collie Tess is in heat, and so I took her to spend a week or so with her mate, Moss. They are both 3 year old virgins, so it may be a while before they figure things out. Maybe on Valentines day?

He's a very handsome dog, (I love his ears); they are going to make nice pups!

The traditional coloring on him and curly coat are traits I like. Just hope they get 'er done!

(Note to Lisa- Beamer will be featured tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday!)

Just playin'

I had to try doing a video on You Tube today. It's nowhere near as good as Katie Westbury, but I had fun trying!

Visiting with Kitty Bob

Someone was asking after kitty Bob, so he(she?) obligingly showed up for a photo shoot today. He knows that I keep catfood out for the feral cats, so, despite me being only a few feet away, he tried the nonchalant approach.

OK, human, stay right where you are!

Mmmmm, smells good!

Yup, there it is!

Mnonmnommnom!

Gotta watch my back alla time!

Thanks for breakfast; I'm outta here!

He wasn't too worried about me being there. Sure is sleek and fat, he wintered well. After looking at photo 5, I'm pretty sure he's a he, but he's fat enough to be a pregnant female!

Sepia Sunday

Since I chose not to do the Sunday stills Challenge this week, I played around with taking sepia photos because Ed left a comment on my Wordless Wednesday asking if I could do that shot in sepia. So here you are, Ed, hope you enjoy them!

Of course, I couldn't resist this shot.....

Fearless Foose Flies Again

This is why I blanket, folks! It's much easier to get the mud off this rain sheet than to get it off my horse, or get it off the insulated blanket under the rain sheet.

We went touring the pasture, the ice and frost are pretty much gone, so we got to do some trotting and even a short lope or two.

Once we got back, I spotted Foose in a tree, doing his feline acrobatics.

I was about to ride away when the silly rascal did this:

Foose just walked nonchalantly away as if he does this every day! Hey, for all I know, maybe he does!

For Mrs.Mom

....and everyone else who is tired of rain -and snow, for that matter!

Just a quick video post

With a little sunshine today, I opted to turn Beamer out for a bit to romp and play. He likes to ham it up a little, and cooperated in making a video for all those who want to see how I get him to rear on command. The key is to get him in a playful mood, then it's easy. The looks he gives us at the end of the video is priceless- "There, was that good enough? Can I go now?"

Wordless Wednesday

Maintenance

Today was corral cleaning day. We had two big square bales to bring in , so we took the opportunity to clean the corrals while we had the tractor out. Ted did a really nice job, first in Beamer's pen:

There was a lot of ice and mud that he moved, as well as the soiled bedding. We made a pile in the center of the pen, to be moved in the spring.

The mare's pen has a long overhang off the shop for shelter, and it's where I put the hay bale.

I feed large square bales, free choice for the girls, and hand fed for Beamer.

The lake of ice is disappearing, to be replaced by mud. But since the groundhog didn't see his shadow today, maybe spring will be here soon.

The horse dentist is coming mid month, and once I get Chickory's wolf teeth pulled, I can start getting her accustomed to a snaffle bit. Also, it'll be interesting to see what difference having his teeth floated makes in Beamer's performance.