Vantage and Sammy have a playdate

Wednesday it was overcast and yucky and windy beyond belief. What better day to decide that Sammy and Vantage needed a playdate. Sammy has been turned out with his mom Lily and Vantage has the pony Quinn to keep him company. (He is not to be confused with momma Beth the cows first born Quin Jr. - pictures at a later date) Sammy went to join the boys in their pasture and at first, the only thing he was interested in were the new smells in the field. Vantage was just tagging along.

Sunny and Spenser have settled in like they are ready to catch up on the WWF or fight night. Then Vantage obviously told Sammy to "bite my butt, carrot top". So, Sammy, being the polite guest, bites his butt...

...which Vantage seemed to actually object to. His solution was to just keep backing up into Sammy...


Sunny and Spenser have to talk that last maneuver over amongst themselves while Sammy says, "Hey - come back here and say that again, mister"


He' s really got his game face on now!!!

A little warm up and he's ready....
....don't ask me what this is, it's just funny.

Sammy had not ever been nose to nose with the mighty Quinn before.
But Vantage seemed a bit protective of the little guy. Those painted ones have to stick together.

Sammy is not believing that Vantage prefers the little guy to him. How quickly they forget a lifetime of friendship and fun.
But Vantage is NOT sharing his pony with anyone....especially not Sammy.

The full body block is on. You can't see or hear the cheering going on from the old guys, Sunny and Spenser, just out of the picture. They haven't been this entertained in a while.

Fine, if he can't play with the pony, he has spotted the old ball.

NOW Vantage wants the ball. But Sammy can't resist a little taunting.....

.... but then he looses the ball and it's a free for all.

Vantage has got a quick hind end......

....but I think Sammy can out muscle him.....

See, he's ready to do it all over again.
Playtime's over.....time to go home to Mom's where you belong.

A Beautiful Day

Look what we did today. Sammy has been long lined before but he's really getting good at it. Linda is a pro at long lining and I'm very much a student. I got it in the end but I am much more comfortable just ground driving. Sammy is such a good boy and has caught on to that very quickly. Our figure 8's aren't perfect but we're getting there. Here's his cute trot.


And his canter the other direction. The saddle pad was a gift from my COTH secret santa a few years ago. He is anything but the hot chili pepper.

And then we moved on to the ground driving.



It didn't take long for him to get bored.


So we opened the gate to head out of the round pen.



We made it outside. Next time, we conquer the pond!


It's great to have T-Shirt weather back.

The Blankets Come Off

It has finally warmed up a bit and the blankets came off. Lily and Sammy went back outside after the farrier was finished with them. Sammy gave me this look and I knew he was up to no good.

He bugs Lily until she will play with him.....or she kicks him, whichever comes first.



I love this picture of the two of them together. We measured Sammy today and he is just a smidge under 15'1......and it's obvious with them together he has the longer legs. But they are so much fun to watch together.


Lily is airborn....and letting Sammy think he's winning.....but she is getting her nip in to remind him two can play that game. From the scrapes and missing hair, I suspect she is getting quite a few licks in.


He is so nice to watch in motion. Here's his canter



And his trot



And then I get pictures like this........what the heck?


And this......he's got some muscle going on.

But no matter what, he absolutely LOVES to have his scratches.


Allison is the one he goes to for nose kisses. He definitely prefers them from her than from me.



Hopefully my work life will be more settled and I can quit being the absentee mother. Hopefully another update sooner than a month.

Happy New Year - But what was I thinking?

2009 is officially here and the boys are now "2 year olds" although Sammy won't really be 2 until April and Vantage will be 2 in May. It's very hard to believe they are approaching that big milestone.

I had a very nice email from the surgeon that removed the chip from Sammy's fetlock joint back when he was a 4 month old baby. He wanted to know how Sammy was doing and if I had a recent picture (silly man). And then I did the unthinkable.....I emailed him back that Sammy was doing fantastic and as a matter of fact I hadn't had to call the vet out for him for anything other than routine matters in exactly 1 year. WHAT WAS I THINKING? The next day Linda reluctantly told me that Sammy was gimpy and looked like he was working on an abcess. I'm so sorry Sammy, I didn't mean it. Linda felt sorry for me since it was my first day back at work following my ear surgery on Monday so she soaked him and wrapped him and said not to worry. I went out to see him after work and he was a little limpy (is that a word) but not bad so I was reassured that it was probably just a bruise or an abcess coming up. I was very greatfull he was already wrapped and all I had to do was love on him. But today it was my turn to do the doctoring.

It started out a beautiful day. A bit cooler than it had been but not bad. I love seeing them out in the field when I drive up.

Hey Mom - look, my bandage that Linda put on is still there........sort of.


Linda (who is sick as a dog with the flu/cold/creeping crud that's going around) helped me do the doctoring. I AM just recovering from surgery you know. :-)

See Sammy Soak? He was a good boy, but gets bored easily and likes to play in the water. It's fun to splash folks.

But just like any toddler, sometimes he thinks he's a big boy and can do it himself. He much prefers to take the towel to dry his foot off. (Excuse the bad, blurry pics - we don't DO indoors!)


He's a good boy and tries very hard.


And tada........his foot is all wrapped. So back out he goes and I grab Lily who needs some attention.....at least that's what she told me.


As I hand graze Lily we can watch the pinto field in action. It's important to color code your pastures. There is a big size difference but the colors match after all. And Quinn can hold his own.




They are causing a ruckus and Sammy is out with just Misty and no momma....what's a boy to do? If you look closely, you can see his duck tape wrap is still there. And doesn't he look oh so lame?
And then this happens when I put Lily back..........sheesh, kids. Sammy - I am NOT buying Lily a new sheet this year......


And then they're off.....my poor cripple horses. Sammy with an "abcess" and Lily with her osteoarthritic stifles..........don't we feel sorry for them? Lily can still get some air time. They lapped the field a few times at a much greater speed than was good for my heart.


Horsing around along the way......and no wrap when he's done. But, whatever, I sincerely doubt he needs it at this point. Thank you for our first miracle of 2009.

But he is starting to look older............and I'm sure someday he'll act it!

Happy New Year everyone. May 2009 be a wonderful year full of fulfilled dreams and wonderful surprises. And we are making a pact.....we will not let December bring us down this year.