We have a Robin's nest under our deck.  When I snuck a peak in there two days ago there were two chicks and two blue eggs.  I looked in there yesterday and there was only one egg left.

The chick with the least amount of feathers is less than 24 hours old.  I have never seen newborn birds before.  Is it just me or do they kind of look like baby mice?

"Most of us don't need a psychiatric therapist as much as a friend to be silly with."

-Robert Brault

Happiness is:

I'm starting to feel like I drive the horse version of an ice cream truck.  "Do you want one cookie or two?"

"Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living."

- Helen Keller

"For mem'ry has painted this perfect day with colors that never fade, and we find at the end of a perfect day the soul of a friend we've made."

-Carrie Jacobs Bond

I haven't had much time to go through the pictures and do a post but I feel guilty for leaving SPIDERSWEB hanging, so... here's another sneak peek.

This is on the obstacle course.  I was nervous to ride over any of the obstacles, especially any that I thought Trib might try and jump.

This obstacle was my greatest fear.  I was terrified to go on it and pretty much wrote it off.  After some major encouragement, I  decided to give it a try and I'm so glad that I did.

It is a wonderful feeling when you conquer your fears.

Too exhausted to sort through all of the photos, let alone try and type up a semi coherent post, so I'll leave you with a sneak peek. :)

Trib and I had a blast today.

We spent the day in the indoor arena because it was too windy and nasty outside.  All of the horses (there were 10!) did really well considering how much noise there was from the wind and sand blowing against the tin, a mare in heat, and that many horses in a smaller space.  Almost all of us have had our horses for under a year and are trying to learn and bond with our horses.  All in all, it was a pretty nice group.

Sundance (now named Stolee) was also there with his new owner.  It was fun to see him and Trib kept doing a double take like "Hey, I think I know that guy!".

My new used saddle that I bought a couple of weeks ago isn't going to work out.  It fits Trib, but when I try to sit back to whoa from a trot my stirrups push me forward.  Not sure if it would help to raise the stirrups but I might try that before I decide to get rid of it.   I have a different saddle that I'm going to use tomorrow.  Hopefully that one is much better!

Trib just wanted to say hello to everyone before he left.

He is leaving us.

On his way to... the clinic.  Hahaha had ya goin', didn't I?  Trib and I are going to a fun day/clinic this weekend working on groundwork and getting us both ready for riding season.  We had such a blast when we went last fall.  My folks might come with and play photographer for me on Sunday so hopefully I'll have some fun photos to share.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

"Listen to the inner wisdom of your soul and not the random opinions of others.  Be kind and remember that sometimes the person you need to be kindest to is yourself."

- Unknown 

I stopped at a tack store over the weekend and they happened to be having a saddle sale.  The clerk was extremely helpful and we found this nice used saddle for a screaming deal.  I almost bought a second saddle which was a barrel trail saddle (very light weight) but the seat on this one was a little bigger and more comfortable.  I caught a nasty cold so I'm not feeling up to trying it on the horses yet, but hopefully by the weekend I'll be able to.  Hooray for new toys!! :)

Have a nice relaxing weekend!!!

New saddle pads came in the mail today and I can't wait to try them out.  Hopefully by next week I should have some pictures of the horses wearing them. ;)

I tried to convince her to stay at the top of the hill but she insisted on walking me to the gate.  Pretty sure Shoni would follow me into the house if I'd let her :)  I love my girl.

Well, it seems that Spring is finally around the corner.  Our weather has been stuck in the 30's or low 40's and we still have mountains of snow around here.  Of course, these snow storms that we keep getting aren't helping the piles go down any... But in the next week or so we're supposed to be in the high 40's and low 50's.  We already have mud issues in the driveway *grumble grumble* but hopefully everything will melt and dry up pretty quickly.  I'm looking forward to seeing leaves on the trees and some green grass again.  Six months of bare trees is a little depressing.

It was actually sunny and semi warm today (with snow in the forecast for tomorrow) so today was a great day for lovin' on the horses.

Trib was kind of a turd when I went to brush on him and kept walking away from me so I went and got a halter.  He was a good boy to halter but wasn't too thrilled when I took his blanket off (he had a grumpy look) but when I was brushing on him he softened up.

I'm one of those people that talks to my horses and Trib seemed to enjoy the chatter and brushing.  He turned his head towards me a few times so I could kiss his face above his eye.

Trib was a little underweight when we brought him home and we had issues this winter with keeping weight on him.  I am beyond thrilled by how much he has filled out.  What a difference a blanket and the right feed make.

"Dreams come a size too big so that we can grow into them."

Sleeping cheek to cheek

Just a fun video of Trib kicking butt during his working days.  :)

Met with a possible trainer to send Shoni and Tabasco to next month.  He came recommended by my farrier and our hay supplier.

I've been really picky about who to let handle Shoni because of the problems we had with her when she came back from the trainer, Mike, around 2007 (mainly being that he was lassoing them to halter them which caused Shoni to be head-shy for a while and hard to catch/halter).

It has been difficult to find a trainer who is not an old fashioned cowboy type or a trainer who is not prejudice against mustangs.  Now of course, I am running into the problem of trainers not wanting to work with them due to their age (they turn 7 this year) as well.  They give up on the horse before they even see them or work with them.  And if they do work with them, they already have their minds made up that the horse is untrainable.

Has anyone else run into this problem with either the age or breed of their horse?

At this rate, I'm thinking maybe I should just train Shoni myself.  I sure wish there were some TIP or EMM trainers in my area.

 

Today is full of endless possibilities.

 

First there was one sweet horse...

...and then there were two.

"Hey!! What's going on over there?"

"Hello, my hooman!  Did you bring us some cookies?!"



"For one minute, walk outside and stand there in silence... look up at the sky and contemplate how amazing life is."

 

This is even more wonderful when your horse decides to enjoy the moment with you.

 

The weather has not been kind to us here in Minnesota.  Every Friday or Monday we have been getting hit with snow storms or lots of wind blowing said snow across the roads.

The picture above shows the solid sheet of ice on the highway.  A terrifying drive home to say the least.

Spring is right around the corner though.  It should be here any day now... yup... any day. I just hope when Spring does get here, it does so gradually so these mountains of snow can melt slowly instead of all at once.  I'm really not looking forward to the mud I know we're going to have. 

In other news, I was offered a new position where I work so I will no longer be working the overnight shift, weekends, or holidays.  I'm nervous about the new position, but I am excited to be able to spend more time with my family and the horses this year. 

Ready to blaze some trails!! :)

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

May love and laughter light your days,

And warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

Wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

With joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

Bring the best to you and yours.

-Irish Blessing

Here is another old one for ya.

We had a temporary electric fence set up in the yard along the driveway so the horses could graze in that area.

At the time we had Trib in this lower/temporary pasture and we had the rest of the herd in the upper pasture.  The horses were all within sight of each other but we were able to let Trib settle in without everyone picking on him.

In the mornings when I got home from work I would stop my car along the fence line and give all of the horses some treats.  Trib would come trotting over to my car and being as tall as he is (and not caring that the fence was hot) would reach his nose right into my passenger window so I could give him his treats.

What a ham.

On February 1st we were dealing with temperatures of 41 below (with the windchill).  Now it's warmed up but we're snowed in with at least 19 inches of snow.  

We dug a tunnel to the garage and there were a bunch of snow chunks in the shape of snowballs.  I threw a couple and made contact with Mom then a big chunk fell off of the roof onto me when I closed the garage door.  Talk about karma, eh?

Look at all those snowballs!

I think it'd be fun to dig a mini tunnel next to this one and start a snowball fight.  Unfortunately, I'm the only one who thinks this is a good idea so I guess I'll have to hang out inside and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate.

Time to post an old draft that has been sitting here for months!

When we got Trib we noticed some markings on his front legs.  I was under the impression that they were caused by some boots that he had been wearing when we first met him.  After they didn't go away we figured out they were from something else.

While we were at the horse clinic in October we were informed by another TB owner/veterinarian that they are actually scars caused by Pinfiring.

Pinfiring is used to treat an injury by burning/freezing/or using acid on the leg.  By doing this they believe that it speeds up the healing process because it causes "counter-irritation".  Hmmm... so lets injure the leg more so it heals faster.  Makes sense, right?

Apparently pinfiring is pretty common in racehorses and it's mainly used to treat bucked shins and bowed tendons.  Trib's scars are only along his cannon bone.  I'm not sure what injury he had or how to look that up but here are pictures of his scars:

Unfortunately, I'm not finding much information online about the benefits or consequences of pinfiring but I don't think it would be my first choice of treatment.

I'm not a big fan of racing or showing horses in general, mainly because I don't agree with things that are done to the horses (either to obtain a certain look or walk).  Spider was a show horse when he was younger and at some point they broke his tail (it was in the shape of a long C) so he would hold it up and to the right.  From what I've read pinfiring seems just as cruel.

If our horses could talk, imagine the stories they would tell us.

This last Christmas was really hard for me because I was missing my Grandma so much.  Everything reminded me of her and made me miss her more than I already was.  She was always so much fun to surprise and buy gifts for, especially funny gifts and cards.  She had such a hearty laugh and would just light up.

I wanted to do something special, as a Christmas memorial type thing, so we brought along two roses (one for each of my Grandma's who passed).

We stopped by the cemetery first, and Dad and I left a rose for my other Grandma who passed in May 2011.  It was the first time that we had been to the cemetery since the funeral.  The rose turned out nice and I was glad we were able to go there.

Then we drove up the North Shore to launch the other rose into Lake Superior for Grandma.  That entire day I felt like Grandma was there with us and while Mom and I were walking along the beach looking for a good spot to launch the rose an eagle flew over us.

On the way back into town we also passed some deer along side the road.  I am a firm believer in signs and I think both the deer and the eagle were signs that both of my Grandma's were there watching over us.  The roses were our gifts to them, maybe the eagle and deer were their gifts to us.  I wouldn't doubt it for a second.  Both of my beautiful Grandma's were very special ladies.  I love them both and miss them like crazy.

"Within the warmth of my horse's breath, I will find the air that I need to live today, I will find the wind to fly to the heights of my dreams and within I will find the one I am meant to be."

-Roberta Edstrom

"Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter.  Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it."

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

I'm not sure about you guys, but I have a major case of Spring Fever!!

"Open your arms and welcome the joy of today"

"True happiness arises in the first place from enjoyment of oneself."

-Joseph Addition

"How easy and simple it is to live enjoyably when the simple, interminable blue of the sky, with its long wisps of white clouds, becomes a pleasant thing to behold, a thing of beauty that thrills you every time you care to look skyward."

- John Schindler

Sun Dog on a very cold morning

Sometimes you just have to indulge your inner child and have some fun.

It's been years since I've gone sledding and I had the urge to go, so I bought a little saucer toboggan at the feed store.

There is a bit of a hill by the horses so I took the sled up there.  Unfortunately the wind we've had loosened the snow up quite a bit so it's like powder in most parts and hard snow in other parts.

After going down that hill a few times I decided to try the driveway since it's a solid sheet of ice.  Now that was fun!  I had more of a runway so-to-speak and got to go faster for a longer distance.

The horses were a little surprised and didn't know what to think, but I had a blast! :)

Shoni, Tabasco, Sweetie, Pebbles

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."

- Rabindranath Tagore 

Enjoying the sun set with Shoni... priceless.