A Celebration of a Life

Many of you already know that I lost Lily, Sammy's mom a little over a week ago. If you are a horse person, you know that if you are very lucky, you will have a horse that is so special to you they are like a dream come true. You understand them completely and they sure seem to understand you. Lily was that horse for me. Those of you there in the beginning were sick of me saying how if I could have special ordered a horse for myself she would have filled that order. She was full of personality and opinions but she touched me to the bone. Riding was fun again and I finally had that special horse all for myself. We went to the beach, we went trail riding and she let me start her over fences. She had never had an English saddle on when I got her but I think she thought it was a much better accessory than a big old western saddle. She preferred to think of herself as elegant.
She enjoyed her time at our first barn....good hay


Lots of grass and clover......

Proof that I did ride at one time.

And she would put up with just about anything if there was something in it for her.

And then we took her to UF to find the source of her hind end lameness. She was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in both stifles with the left one being the most severe. I was devastated. My wonderful riding horse would not hold up to much riding anymore. Luckily, we were by then boarding at a facility where I was encouraged to breed her. Linda and Malcolm had a lot of experience breeding and raising young ones otherwise I never would have attempted such a thing. And then came the hunt for a stallion. After much debate and searching, we met Escapade and fell in love both with his looks and his temperament. We managed to get her pregnant on the first try by going through the drive-thru at Peterson-Smith in Ocala. I wasn't sure how she would take to being a mother, she had little tolerance for other horses and needed to be in control. But the minute Sammy was born, she had found her true calling. She was a wonderful mother.

She didn't feel the need to chase after him for very long but those first few weeks, she didn't let him out of her sight. We weaned him fairly early because he was on stall rest due to surgery to remove a bone chip in his sesamoid bone. But that was harder on me than on them. She had raised him to be confident and independant.

She loved visiting with him on occasion and always recognized her boy and made it clear he was allowed more liberties than she would have given to any other member of the herd.

When Sammy and Vantage got to be a little to sure of themselves and obnoxious, Sammy went back out with Lily. She was in heaven. She put him in his place but still allowed him to pester her until she couldn't take it anymore. This is how she looked just last month. She did not look much different than the day I bought her. She regained her figure much easier that I did after having my kids.

Here they are together. This is how I will remember her always. Side by side with Sammy, keeping watch over us both. I'm sure that some day, I'll look and find her shadow coming along for the ride.
Thank you to everyone who have sent cards, left voice messages and emails. I have read and listened to them all but really don't know how to respond. She was that special horse for me. But I am very lucky to have her son who is so much like her in personality. I know I am lucky, but that does not make me miss her less. All I can say is she was loved.

Lara Hurley left me this on Facebook:

If you bury him in this spot,
the secret of which you must already have,
he will come to you when you call;
come to you over the far, dim pastures of death.

And though you ride other living horses through life,
they shall not shy at him, nor resent his coming.
For he is yours, and he belongs there.

People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass
bent by his footfall,
who hear no nicker pitched too fine for insensitive ears.
People who may never really love a horse.

Smile at them then, for you shall know something
that is hidden from them
and which is well worth the knowing
The one place to bury a horse is in the heart of his master.

And that is where you will find Lily.

Life without a round pen

There is not a round pen at our new home so there is definitely going to be some adjustments to be made. I thought maybe lunging would be better than having the 2 reins today and decided it was time for him to work with the saddle on. Sarah was my guest photographer today. Don't get used to seeing me in so many pictures.......can't say I like it much. I don't know if it is the saddle or the angle (Sarah is shorter than me) but oh my, he looks huge here. It gives me hope that even if he's the perfect height (15'3-16h), he should take up my leg just fine!

He had heard that his Wisconsin cousins have been making fun of his poor excuse for a buck. Um, I think he has found the up button since we moved.



Oh my, we missed a shot of his front end way off the ground too, but this should give you an idea. Never mind about needing an action shot, feet on the ground again please Sammy.



Ah, that's much better. Let's just pretend we're in the round pen, ok?

Saddle, only a lunge line and the temperature was only in the 80's this afternoon, thanks to a thunderstorm that came through earlier. He definitely was feeling pretty good.


But, we successfully accomplished a pretty walk and trot a few times when asked and that was all I was hoping for.



All in all, I'd say he was pretty pleased with himself.

Playtime is over

Allison was my guest photographer today. It's very hard to do the work and take the pictures at the same time. So it was time to test out Sammy's training wheels in the riding arena at their new home. It's such nice arena.....and it's got jumps!!!! Sammy was VERY disturbed by the strange furniture in the playpen as you can see.

This is Sammy excited by the jumps. I guess once you've been herding cows, jumps aren't a big deal.


He was oh so disturbed.


oooh. he likes the colorful one.

The flowery one didn't raise much interest.




At least there was some shade somewhere.....I hate the summer and the heat and the humidity and the bugs and the snakes......etc
Allison did a most excellent job on this picture. Perfect placing for the jump standard if you ask me.



And we were out of there. Not bad for our first look at the jumps .



Poor Remy says it's very tough being a barn dog. He needs his air conditioning. Luckily he has discovered that the pond is a nice place to cool off......until he needs to be a bit cleaner before getting in the car.

Sammy and Lily have new digs

Sometimes, it is time to move on. It was one of those mixed emotions sort of day. Sad to be leaving a farm we had thought of as home but excited to be moving into a barn that is a true hunter/jumper facility......but on a smaller scale than a big show barn.
First we loaded up Lily and Sammy and the majority of our stuff.....how do we accumulate so much stuff anyway? Sammy had to look back to make sure I was coming.


But then we arrived a short trip later at what we hope we be their new home for a long time.


Sammy and Lily moved right in and Sammy has already found the hanging hose to play with and loved the ability to visit with passers-by.


He seemed to settle right in and Lily was right behind him so they have each other for comfort. Lily was not wanting her picture taken in her stall.....something about the bad lighting for a glamour shot.


We got them settled in and then went back for Spenser and the jump poles....yes we actually have some. And then Spenser was on the road and it was official, we had left Johnson Farm completely.



Spenser seems to like his new abode also.

Here is the riding arena......it's an acre in size. This will be a true novelty and luxury for us, and a big reason for our move.


There is a lane dividing 2 sets of pastures



And a pond...so we feel more at home.


Sammy thought I should please just let him go....but I thought it would be nice if Lily had actually made it through the gate too.



And then they were off.


I've never seen Sammy quite so....elevated I think would be a good word. Natalie - you would have been astonished at the height he cleared! I couldn't even get a picture of it because my jaw was hanging open.




But all is well. they calmed down and Lily settled right in to her edging routine. Why does she like the edges of a pasture more than the middle?


So the move had been made, the horses have had a night to settle in and we'll see what today brings...........

In which Sammy meets a ground pole

Today Sammy got to meet a ground pole in the round pen. He's been walked over them before but somehow it's different with the long lines. I was grateful it has dried up enough to use the round pen.

He checked it out first to see what was up.

And then had to ask Allison for advice. Or maybe for rescue. It was harder to keep him from trying to visit with her than it was to get him over the ground pole.

He does love her.
Wow, momma.....that came up a bit quick. Do I jump it? What's the deal?


Ok, here it comes again.




ah, got it. It's no big deal.


We can walk over it, easy peasy.


And then just trot off. He was very proud of himself.


All right buddy, what about the other direction. Everything is new again. Let's think about it first. Allison is not going to help you out.

It looks so different this direction. Gotta jump it.

But please don't let it get my back legs.




Oh yea, you can just walk over it. He's good to go again.