Taking the blue

Race to the finish

We took a 5th in gaited pleasure out of 12, and first in pole bending. I had thought we didn't even get a ribbon as we ran against the stock horses too.

Egg and spoon class

It was my fault we didn't win egg and spoon. The announcer said to change our grip on the egg as some had the egg too close and even though he was not talking to me I tryed to adjust and dropped the egg, we came in third. I should learn to ignore the announcer more.

Gaited pleasure class

Here we are at the fun show in Ava. We did have fun too. We entered three classes and got three ribbons.

Off to the show

Hag has learned to be caught very well. She has her ups and downs, her good days and her bad but over all she has come a long way towards being a great horse.

Arrows Diamond Dust

This is Diamond Dust today. She is just starting to show her dapples. She is due to foal next month to Wizard Jack a palomino stallion in Colorado.

The yard crew

Here is one of my geese working hard to weed my garden. Today I planted tomatoes and peppers, a couple of varities of each. I have watermelon started and the seedligs are up. I am such the little farmer! I picked up a friend to visit for the day and she was happy to just sit and watch the baby birds too, lol.

A morning stroll

Did I mention I live on like a 300 acre organic farm? This is Diamond Dust comming up to be loaded into the trailer to go for a ride. She is learning to lead and load real well. After she foals we will start her under saddle again. I put the saddle on her a few times last year in CO and she was fine with it. Of course I was just sadeling her then as part of getting her halter trained. She is one of those horses that didn't "break". I have not tryed to break her, just to teach her a better way.

Small animals

Here are some of my other animals. Front and center is my rabbit. I keep him on a teather to eat the weeds and grass from under the trees in the front yard where I can't graze the goats and horses. To the left, are my gardening crew. The geese do a great job of eating weeds. To the far right are my hens. They are the kind that lay the blue eggs. You can see the edge of my garden at the very far left. The bottles are mini green houses and keep the geese from eating my peas before they get big.

Watching the chickens

Well here is the proof, I have gone Ozark. A couch on the porch to watch the chickens from. Of course I can also see horses and goats etc...

This is Wizard Jack and my good friend Delene. Delene bought this horse to cross on her Blue Gold daughters. He has a whole different cream line. He has a more metalic shine than Diamond Dust with no Dapples. He is the Sire of Diamond Dust's expected foal. Diamond Dust is a Blue Gold Daughter so this is a foal with a lot of potential. You can see more photos of Wizard Jack and his foals on the Lazy Y Arrow link.

This is my new old side saddle I found at a shop. It had been left for repairs and not picked up in over two years. It needs work but I am unsure as to who to have work on it for me. For now I plan to see if I can ride it! I remember when I was young that I could ride sidesaddle on a cantering horse, bareback.

Hag and Taylor Made, her love child. I had her bred (twice) to Gen's Silver Pusher, but she was too in love with KC, so we have Taylor Made and KC has a new home. I am still waiting on the paternity but I think I know already.

Here is Hag out in the yard. I know there is a lot of junk but I still like the photo. This time of year the grass is growing so fast it is hard to keep up with around the place. My theroy is, "why mow when we can graze".

We went to the vet's for our Coggins. Here we are waiting.

The Coggins test checks for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) antibodies in the horse's blood, and samples must be tested by a state approved lab. EIA is a viral disease with no vaccine and no cure, though a percentage of infected horses appear to recover. It is because of these healthy appearing carriers that we must test. The disease is spread by horseflies. If they bite an infected horse and then bite a healthy horse within thirty minutes the disease gets transmitted. With acute infection the horse has fever, depression, no appetite and will not be positive on the EIA test for a month and a half, if he lives that long. Some infected horse will having recurring bouts with weight loss, ventral edema (swollen belly and legs) and anemia.

Here is Hag getting a bath at the field trial grounds after a hunt. We have so much fun there and have made some interesting friends.

Hag in a field trial saddle. She fit right in and I didn't slide off the back going up hill.
You can see what a big girl she is as that is me standing behind her.

Here is a photo of the group taken on Wenesday.

On Sunday I forgot my girth so rode bareback. She is such a good girl these days.