May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.

- Irish Blessing

2012 Resolutions

~ Send Tabasco and Shoni to a trainer for saddle training ~ I've been in contact with a trainer who lives 30 minutes away and who came highly recommeded from a couple of people. I'll be calling her in a little over a week to get on her schedule. She has openings in mid March that I'm planning to fill.

~ Get into shape ~ It's been a long time since I've done any regular riding so I want to get in better shape between now and when I bring the babies home from the trainer. That way I have more muscle power to hang on if my green horse does something unexpected ;)

~ Hit the trails ~ There are a ton of beautiful places where you can take you horses to go trail riding. I would like to bring my horses to Maplewood State Park in MN and to Medora, ND. We have a few friends that have horses and know these areas so I'm hoping we can get together with them. There is also a facebook group that arranges trail rides in our area that might be fun to try.

I'm going to keep my resolutions short this year (more of a likely hood that they'll be acheived that way see). Do you guys have any resolutions planned for 2012?

I love my...

JOLLY BALL!!!!

I was working on this post back in February of 2010 (Really? Almost two years ago??) but I never got around to posting it. Better late then never, right?!

Sundance, Tabasco and Shoni all love their jolly balls. They love to lift them high in the air then watch them fall to the ground.

They like to chew on them until they're deflated

And sometimes stomp them.

Tabasco and Shoni- Teamwork

Round two

All in all, I think it's safe to say jolly balls are big fun. ;)

...And then it was Monday...

It was bound to come around sooner or later, so Happy Monday! By the way, did everyone behave with their siblings for the Holidays? Koda and Ruby were sure having a ball.

It's almost time to celebrate Christmas and take a break from all of the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping and baking.

I hope you all have a wonderful RELAXING holiday and get to spend it surrounded by your loved ones of the two and four legged variety. :)

Once in a while, right in the middle of an
ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.
-unknown

Far away in the sunshine are my highest
inspirations. I may not read them, but I
can look up and see the beauty, believe in
them and try to follow where they lead.
-Louisa May Alcott

... from the sky, from the Earth, from a
scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from
a spider's web... We must pick out what is

good for us where we can find it.

-Pablo Picasso

Photo Contest

Neighgirl is having a photo contest on her blog with the theme being horses (woo hoo!).

I narrowed my pictures down to seven that I really liked but had trouble deciding on which photo to enter so Mom made the final pick of Sundance and the lake. :)

Surprise! Dad found this lovely nest in some lilac bushes that line the driveway.

From what I've been able to find online, it sounds like it's a paper wasp nest. The detail and the size are amazing (I forget how many inches it is... I know it's over 8 inches from top to bottom)! It's hard to believe we never spotted it before. Then again there were leaves and flowers protecting it.

I'm just glad nobody was home when I took that picture.

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same."

-Unknown

"People always say that, when you love someone, nothing in the world matters. But that's not true, is it? You know, and I know that when you love someone, everything in the world matters a little bit more."
-Jodi Picoult

My Shoni Girl. She's so photogenic... when we're separated by a fence.

I find that with Tabasco and Shoni they are much more people oriented and when they see people they just want to be around them. I'm not sure if it's because they are mustangs and because they trust us or if it's just their personalities (or maybe both!).

These two seem over the top though. Anytime I am trying to get pictures of them I have to try and run away to get far enough back to take a picture. Shoni is worse. As I'm running I'll usually hear rapid hoofbeats and when I glance over my shoulder there's Shoni keeping pace right behind me with an innocent expression like, "Hey, where are we going?"

As far as "issues" go, I can't complain too loud. I love being around them as much as they love being around humans so it all works out. And when I can't get far enough away? Well, that's where the fence comes in handy. ;)

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."
-Abraham Lincoln

I absolutely love that quote. When your burdens seem to multiply faster then you can keep up, sometimes it's a little more bearable if you take things one day and one step at a time.

On the other hand, I'm already ready for summer. If the next couple of cold months went by a little faster, I definitely wouldn't complain (even if the ice on the lake can be beautiful to look at).

Big plans in the works for 2012 and it is going to be a busy year with the horses. I'm going to be sending Tabasco and Shoni off to a trainer and will hopefully be blazing trails with them by summer. I would like to send Sundance off as well for a refresher. If you don't see horse trainer posts by April... yell at me!!! lol

I'm also curious what your opinions are about saddle starting horses. Do you think it's enough to send them off for 30 days of training or do you prefer to send them for 60 days? Do you have any big plans for your horses in 2012?

Nothing warms the heart more, then walking around the corner and seeing three eager faces waiting for you at the gate.

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and fire.
-Sharon Ralls Lemon

Ever see a horse daydreaming? Or maybe you've heard a horse talk in their sleep? Or maybe it's just Pebbles.

The horses were soaking up the sunshine so I went and sat next to them while they slept. Tabasco and Pebbles were loudly snoring (yes snoring!) and Pebbles started nickering in her sleep. It wasn't a loud nicker, more like the kind that you get when you go out at feeding time and they see you. I've never heard a horse do that before and it was so COOL! I tried to get video of it but of course she quit at that point and resumed snoring.

I would love to get into my critters heads just once to see what they're thinking or dreaming about. I'm sure I would not be disappointed!

I just adore doggie eyebrows, don't you?

Thanksgiving has come and gone and before ya know it it'll be Christmas. I'm ready for some Christmas baking!! Lots of good stuff on a list that we haven't eaten since last Christmas. Yum!

Hope you all are having a great holiday season with your loved ones.

"Horses aren't my whole life, but they make my life whole."
- Lindsey Stewart

When a bright light is taken from this world, we that are left must suffer with the darkness that now moves closer to us. Remembrance allows us to stave back the darkness and keep the light glowing from within ourselves.

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.

~Winston Churchill

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

- Lao Tzu

"The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters." - Thomas Jefferson

I just love my Shoni Girl. I think it's awesome that she'll come stand guard if I squat down and she'll let me lean against her legs or put my head on her chest. <3

Washington Trip

My best friend of 14 years got married in September so Mom and I flew to WA for the wedding. The wedding was beautiful and so was the bride. :)

While we were there Mom and I decided to go whale watching. We took the ferry boat from Anacortes, WA to San Juan Island. Neither of us had ever taken a ferry before so that was pretty fun too.

We did some research before hand and decided to do a charter boat instead of a cruise ship or larger boat. We went with Maya's Westside Charters and Captain Jim. There were a total of 8 of us on the boat (including the captain).

First we saw an eagle and some harbor seals sunning themselves then Captain Jim was on the radio getting the coordinates for a humpback whale.

The humpback whale was sleeping so all we got to see of her was her fin when she came up for air, then she'd go back down for 5 minutes then come up again. Still pretty cool.

Next it was off to find some orcas. They told us to watch for fins. I think I heard them before I saw them though. You'd hear a slap on the water or hear them as they exhaled. The first fin I saw was kind of surreal to me and I think I had a jaws moment lol I could picture a shark coming out of the water but thankfully it was orcas instead.

This boat came up while we were watching and I was amazed how many people they crammed onto it. I'm so glad we decided on a smaller boat.

The orcas were hunting fish when we were there and they were "porpoising" (see picture above). It was a blast to watch and amazing that they can swim so close together.

While they were hunting, Captain Jim put some hydrophones in the water and we could hear the whales talking to each other. You hear the splashing and them talking to each other in movies or youtube but it's nothing compared to in person. There are no words to describe it, it was just beautiful.

Captain Jim, Mom, Jeanne and me

Captain Jim is a retired school teacher, he was so informative and turns out he's a photographer too! He takes some amazing pictures. He made sure everyone had a good time and that he got to visit with everyone and get to know us. Jeanne was a treat for us. She is a friend of Captain Jim's and she studies the whales. She knew just by looking at the tip of a fin which whale it was and it's history. The stories she told!! I was eating out of the palm of her hand :) If you like whales and/or beautiful pictures check out Jeanne's blog.