Saturday, May 31, 2008

Musical Chairs

Yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to just take a chair out into the pasture with Sammy and Masquerade. I could get some pictures if they would cooperate otherwise I could just sit and enjoy the breeze while I was waiting for Allison to finish her ride so we could have dinner together. These chairs are in the barn aisle, they pass them at least twice a day. Why is it that they are much more fascinating when they are in their pasture instead of in the barn? I put the chair down to latch the gate and that's the last I thought about actually sitting in it. The kids were absolutely fascinated.
Sammy said - Hey Masquerade, think it will do tricks?
Uh oh - it moves!
Oh the trauma of a chair turning over. They were mesmerized, not traumatized.
And anxious for more
Uh oh - did they kill it?
Why does everything have to go in the mouth? And then just like all kids, the fight begins...........Sammy tries to tell Masquerade that the chair is his.

She disagreed with him and she is the oldest so the chair should belong to her.
And then like a kid still, he decides to tell on her to his momma.
As if she cared!

And this was Lily's reaction. Just like all moms, she knows they'll work it out.
Much to Sammy's dismay.


And if this isn't a look exactly like Lily would give, I don't know what is.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is traditionally a day for me to take barn pictures. I had some very nice ones until my compact flash card decided to crash and I lost them all. But, luckily I have a spare card or two. But Sammy ended up being my only model today (is anyone surprised?). I thought I'd throw him in the riding ring and get some pictures. He's entering a bit of a gangly growthy phase. His head all of a sudden seems much more mature than the rest of his body. He'll grow into it, right????? right?????Just like everything else, it's all about the angles you choose. This is a flattering pose for the big headed one.
And look, when he's got those muscles flexed, his head doesn't seem too big for his body, right??? It also helps that his white blaze gives a bit of an optical illusion because it tries to make his head look a bit dishy, like his mother's.
This is Sammy's favorite pose. The big head doesn't look so big removed from his neck this way.
Or look, his head without the body looks very nice and mature. I'm sure eventually his neck will be able to carry it, right???? Why is the head the first thing to look so grown up?
I've been researching and learned that one of the steps to happily backing your young horse is to get them used to you being above them, on a fence or step ladder or mounting block. So I thought, no time like the present to try that trick and see what he does. We've got over a year to perfect this move. As you can see he was traumatized. He was so torn between trying to convince me he needed to go eat his dinner, or seeing if butt scratches were better if I was taller.
The butt scratches won out........It wasn't easy to get this one handed while scratching his butt with my right hand.
I think we can scratch, make sure they don't have a problem with you being above them, off our being prepared list......Now I have to figure out a way to keep him from insisting on being scratched while I'm standing on the mounting block. We have over a year to work on that.

Happy Memorial Day All.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

A Guest Appearance

Allison and I spent Mother's Day in Ocala visiting our friend Jinx and her scrumptious equine babies. They are not all together for boarding reasons so first we met her yearling Woody. He is by the stallion Pablo and out of a lovely gray mare from Canada. He is so much larger and more developed and grown up than Sammy. He is a cudler and a very, very sweet boy. Although he did lay a guilt trip on me when I gave him a sweet peppermint which he promptly spit out. It seems he is a bit of a health nut and will only eat healthy, natural treats. What is the world coming to? But he is very fond of people.....especially his mom Jinx.

Hugs and kisses..........that's what Woody is all about.

He was very sweet to all of us and it became increasingly clear that we were NOT going to see him actually in motion. The look on his face when we tried to shoo him away was heart breaking.We didn't have the courage to try again. Carrots he loved and what a handsome man he is. I can't wait to see the grown up version.

He is bay right now and is slowly turning gray. See, he just didn't understand why I wasn't over there with the rest of them loving on him. That look........it'll get me every time.
Then we moved on the see the 2 mares and foals. She has a colt out of her gorgeous mare Lily by the stallion Rio Grande and a filly out of her Hanoverian mare Marple by the stallion Escudo II. We got there and Allison and Jinx were swarmed by most of them for treats.


This is Joker, the colt. He is bay, we think but right now doesn't have the strong bay markings of black legs. Maybe he'll be a liver chestnut? Nah....we say bay with minimal black markings. And look at his cool blaze. To me, it's a sock puppet, to Jinx, it's Casper the friendly ghost. What do you think?
But this little girl is Evie. She is more about the scratches than the treats. I don't think there is a sweeter little filly in existence.Joker just checking in with his mom Lily. He is bold and friendly but every once in a while, you need a Mommy check. Isn't her Lily absolutely wonderful?I think Joker has some sort of defiance issues. Probably from living with 3 girls....2 adults and 1 child.As we were leaving, and it was hard to leave, Evie still was wanting some scratches.
But she is comforted by her "brother" and her mom. And anyone will take comfort wherever they can get it.

Thanks so much Jinx for sharing your kids with us.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Growth spurt

Sammy is just finishing up a bit of a grown spurt. (Or at least I think he's finished for now) He has grown 1&1/2 inches since April 3rd and he now measures 14.1&1/2. He has leveled out a bit and is really starting to fill out some more. He has lost that ribiness that he had just a week ago. Trying to keep up with his growth patterns is making our heads spin.
I thought I'd put him in the riding ring/dry lot and see if I could maybe get some pictures of him plumped up a little and maybe in motion. He thought he'd use it to visit. Sunny came to say hello, it's been quite some time since they were stabled next to each other and I think they had some catching up to do.
He's checking out the mounting block. He has heard about those things but not sure what the purpose is. He'll find out some day.....I hope. Can you see that one furry spot on his belly? It's just one little patch that refuses to let go. It isn't shedding in the slightest. And it's not like he ever had a heavy winter coat. His mom Lily has a couple patches like that as her full winter coat. Wonder if it will stay around a while. But there is no sign at all of those white streaks that he had following his surgery.
Oops, look, Sammy trotting. It's a very rare sighting and you have to be quick.........
Mostly he likes to canter..............right at you................

Monday, May 5, 2008

Sammy is still napping

Sammy is enjoying some down time (plus he has a little boo-boo on his leg that is being doctored) so I'll share a story about my non-horsey husband. I have to confess he's the grocery shopper/cook of the household and if I don't request anything for myself, I can be counted on to request carrots for the horses.....3 mouths to feed = lots of carrots needed. He considers it a real success if the store has the 10 lb bag in stock (it means he won't be requested to get them for a day or 2). One day, while browsing the carrot section he was given the big tip about the Farmer's Market here in town. He did not share this secret knowledge with me so I had no idea he even knew we had a Farmer's Market, much less how to get there.

This past Saturday was my day to work when in walks Oscar with a rather large (think 25lb) bag of carrots. Not only was the bag large but the actual carrots themselves were enormous. And then there were 2! (He was going to get 3 but didn't think we'd have enough storage space!) Now while at the Farmer's Market, does he get tomotoes (which they evidently have in abundance) or anything else for us to eat? Absolutely not. His mission was carrots and he was focused. Here they are once they arrived at the barn just so you can get an idea of their largeness. (One bag has already been dipped into.) The bench is a regular people sized bench.

Saturdays at my store are not exactly known for being busy. (If anyone needs a prescription in a hurry on a Saturday and are near Orange Park, we're the place to come) So we began to feel the need to entertain ourselves. First we decided to measure this whopper of a carrot. It was bigger than a size 10 insole.....much bigger than a 20oz Diet Coke.....you get the idea. And then I had a flashback to my childhood and my Mr. Potatoe Head.

Meet Mr. Carrot. He has evolved from the primordial carrot patch. He seems to have that dazed look about him and seems uncertain of his new found freedom.
But, hey, we were at work so felt he should be productive.Doesn't he look professional?
Lucky Mr. Carrot. He has escaped the fate of his unevolved friends. They are so large, the only way to feed them was to cut them up. Allison couldn't cut them fast enough for Noah....he likes the AUCE carrot buffet.
And Sunday, instead of walking away when he saw her coming, he cantered right up to the gate...hoping the buffet was still open.

Next time, Sammy will be back....I'm sure of it.