Work and play go together

The little boys have started to work.....just a bit. Vantage is a pro and this is his first excursion out of the round pen. He has been so amazingly easy to work with and nothing seems to bother him.

Then it was Sammy's turn. Just a little on the longe line before the long lines. He has no problem with it this way......

or that way........

And once their brief work period was over..............play time! They really aren't so interested in the jolly ball. But if one of them has it, of course the other one wants it. What was I thinking getting Vantage to take it while I was in the middle?
Of course Sammy wanted it if Vantage had it.





Oops - dropped ball.......now what?Sammy can't be bothered with the handle.........he can pick it up easily.


Oops.....Ball - you ok?


Who needs a silly old ball anyway?

Pasture life

The little boys have a pasture that is separate from the bigger boys. The geldings are on one side and the mares on the other. The little boys like to hang out with the big boys and pretend they are part of the gelding herd. They also share their pasture right now with the pregnant black angus cows, Sarah, Beth and Anne. It's nice that they are learning about the diversity of their world.
Their hay and water is up by the barn so they have to leave their older friends to grab a bite.

They are very good at sharing with each other.

But Sarah and Beth want in on the goods. They are very pregnant and need the extra nutrition....or so they'd like us to believe.
Carefully they sneak up on the boys trying to eat around the edges without the boys noticing.
Please Sammy, share your hay with us?
Poor Sarah, she's got a pregnant sweet tooth. Now Malcolm tells us that cows don't like carrots. I don't think he took into consideration the cravings a pregnant little momma can get. So what if they don't have upper front teeth. She NEEDS a carrot.Ok, little momma....we'll give you the carrots. She must've eaten 3 or 4 before the boys realized she was scarfing down their treats.
And Vantage does the herding. Sammy has taught him well. No one can tell him that saddlebreds shouldn't herd cattle! And Sammy............
Well he's just proud of his friend.

And he's learned how to delegate. He's management material I tell you!
And it's always nice to see one of these going home at the end of the day.

Rio's Court Jester

By Rio Grande and out of Easter Lily. Our good friend Jinx lost him today. His life was way too short but he was loved. We met him very soon after he was born and he had us under his spell.



You were loved little man and you will be missed by many.

Dress up day

I don't know why I feel the need to play dress up with the horses, but I do.....occasionally. And Halloween is just around the corner and cute little costumey things are in the stores. Sammy might as well learn now it's gonna happen sooner or later, might as well accept it and get over it. It's very hard to know the right costume to get for your child. The little kitty ears don't show up very well and they look a bit like Mickey Mouse ears.........so no, those won't do.
How about bunny ears? That's better, but Sammy is still not a believer. Maybe the grown ups can lead the way.


Ooops, it doesn't look like Spenser likes the bunny ears either. And what's up with the bow in his forelock.....much too prissy for him.
Now this is more like it. This really suits him and the color goes great with his black coat.

Noah doesn't mind the bunny ears at all though. He's always cute and fuzzy anyway.
But now Lily - she can work it. (Can you tell she's used to this by now?)
She knows she'll be rewarded in the end.

I thought a ball would be entertaining

See, Sammy can be serious, well, sort of. Not clean but just a reminder that he can stand like a good boy for a little while. Almost square, darn those back feet.

He looks so much like his mother Lily is this picture. There's not much of the baby-look left in him anymore. We measured him and still only14.3H in front but a smidge over 15H behind.......we may hit 16H when he's finished growing after all.
But he still thinks Allison's only job is to give him nose kisses.

Really Allison, kiss his nose.
And today, I thought he and Vantage would find a big rubber ball entertaining. He has no fear. He runs right over to check out the strange thing in their pasture.
Both the boys investigate.
Uh oh, it moves
Lily and Masquerade insisted on a turn (Christy - these pictures are for you!)
After a lot of snorting, Lily didn't want any part of it. Masquerade was interested though.
But back it went into the boys field. And of course Sammy just wanted to know if it was edible.
Or maybe it would hold his head up for him.
Well, what good is it anyway?
He'd rather eat.
So now I feel like I should've just given them a box, I'm sure they would have been just as happy.