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