Saturday, December 29, 2007

New toy

The holidays are almost over and what a relief. I got a new upgrade to my photoshop that includes a really cool Bridge thingy. Mainly though it allows me to shoot pictures using the RAW format instead of just jpeg. This will allow a lot of correction of under or over exposure and must better control over color and sharpening. Mainly it's my version of a video game! So, today is my first experiment with shooting in RAW and using that editing option. It's time consuming for me right now, but I think it's going to be quick and easy once I get the hang of it.

Sammy is almost completely recovered from his little sprained fetlock thing. Of course the only action shot I can get of him out if the pasture is from this angle. But I like the picture.


How can I refuse this face. All he wants is somebody to scratch his posterior!



He and Vantage are good buddies. It's important to have guy friends your own age.


Enjoy

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Kids!

Sammy decided to give me a bit of a scare for Christmas. He was 3 legged lame from Thursday to Sunday with no sign of improvement. No swelling or heat in his leg but he reacted very strongly to the farrier which made us think bruised foot. So, hoping to avoid the dreaded abcess, we soaked, packed and wrapped his little foot. Then called the vet on Sunday and he met me at the barn on Monday - Christmas Eve. Well, Sammy was just kidding evidently. He trotted off sound as could be and of course looked at me like "what's up Mom, why in the world would you want me to trot?" How is it they can manage to make you look like a ridiculous, panicky Mom so easily???? So, after using the hoof testers and getting no reaction, it is more likely that he lightly strained his fetlock, which was still a little ouchy when flexed. So, all is well in Sammy's world. And he was sighted careening around the paddock on Christmas Day. Do you think it was just a prank to get extra treats before Christmas?

Thankfully, we have a good outcome and are looking forward to 2008.........his official yearling year.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Merry Christmas from us to you

The Christmas pictures have been finalized, the Christmas cards ordered and mailed so here are the final editions.

Sammy looks like a little grown up in this one and he was a very good boy. It does take a quick finger to catch him stationary but we're working on it. Thanks Sarah for your help.












He had no problems wearing his antlers. I think he actually liked the jingling. He and his mom had a very brief reunion for the photos then back to their previously scheduled lives.

And of course Lily always looks stunning in flowers.




We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.!!

Next up, the whiskers meet the clippers......he was not a happy camper.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

playing dressup

This is Sammy's first Christmas so the first time he's been subjected to the Christmas card photo dress-up day. I think he handled it rather well but couldn't understand why we just wouldn't let him graze. He didn't care that he had these funny things on his head or that we had wrapped him in green and gold "greenery." There's some good grass up by the citrus trees!


This is the picture I will NOT be using but, as you can see, he didn't really mind being decorated, just not being allowed to graze. Think I could show him in hand like this????

Saturday, December 1, 2007

I'm still working out the whole picture thing. It seems upside down to me, but, maybe it's just me! So, here is the little guy's lovely uphill canter.help I have no clue how to get the pictures in the right place....................this could get ugly! Of course I rarely see him do anything but canter, graze and walk.
But just once, briefly, I got him downshifting into a trot (I think he didn't want to use the QH sliding stop) and look at his little pointy toes!

Background

When Sammy was born I used the photosite to update his pictures (of which there were many) and to keep everyone up to date on his progress. Once they sold out, I could not find a photosite that was similar so, here we are. Since the last photos on the photosite Sammy has been through a broken sesamoid bone, weaning, stall rest, hand walking, limited turnout and gelding. He has had a busy life for a little guy. But now he is over all the trauma (at least up to now, knock on wood, please, please be done) and is heading down the boring path of just plain growing up. He will be 8 months old on Dec 3rd and it's hard to believe he'll be a yearling soon. Big decision on whether to show him "on the line" next year but, probably will be mostly dependent on my work schedule. (or really most likely whether I can get organized enough to take him) I think I will probably aim for Alicia's show in April rather than the January shows in Jacksonville just because I really don't think I'll be ready by January. So, he is looking pretty grown up and I finally got some action shots with Linda's help. This picture thing needs work, so forgive me.............

This is my first attempt to post and is just a test to see if I can actually succeed. I want to use this format to keep interested parties up to date on Sammy's progress. I haven't been quite the same since photosite sold out to Snapfish. So, maybe this will work, or maybe not. It will depend on if I can actually figure out how to insert pictures......which would really be the whole point.