Hobby Horse Blog Hop Week 4

1. Have you ever been a victim of the weather when you were riding, or participating in some other sport?
   I'm mostly a fair weather rider so my mind took another direction as I recalled getting caught out in good weather with my Thoroughbred gelding, Woodhollow (barn name: Woody) when I was in my early 20s.
   
   I usually rode in an arena and took riding lessons from a German trainer who owned the stable where Woody was boarded.   I was new to riding English and was beginning to show in English pleasure and amateur hunter classes. We didn't do any trail riding at the stable, even though we had access to miles and miles of trails near Folsom Lake in California.
     
   One summer day, after finishing a lesson, I decided to take Woody out for a short walk on the trail to cool him off.  It was a beautiful northern California day. The trail delighted me with new sights around every turn.  I was having a lovely ride and became very intrigued about what I'd see around the next bend, or over the next hill.  I lost track of time and just kept going and going.   My short cool down walk turned into a trail ride of several hours.  I finally forced myself to turn Woody around so we could get home before the sun set.  I met my trainer on the trail.  I was gone so long that he became worried and saddled up a horse and came looking for me.  (Ya know...long before the days of cell phones when I could have called him and told him I was fine.)
   
   Woody was a special horse to me and parting with him was very hard.  I get sad thinking about it, so I don't talk about him much.  I can't find my photo album that has most of our good pictures, but here are a few photos I found loose in an old shoe box.
    
    
   
    
2.  If you could take a lesson with anyone in the world, who would that be? The very trainers and riding instructors that I'm working with now.  I'm very happy with the help I'm getting from a few local professionals that have really clicked for me and Misty.
    
3. Which season is your favorite?
   A few years ago I would have immediately answered "Fall!"  But owning horses in Colorado has changed my idea of seasons.  They come and go quickly here.  Sometimes we experience all four seasons in a single day.  It's crazy!  So now I'm inclined to say that my favorite "season" is any warm, sunny, wind-free "day" that I can be "caught out in good weather" on a beautiful trail ride.  Know what I mean?

My question for you:  Who is your favorite equine actor of television or movie fame?

Click and hop to week 4

I Love Lucy

Jenny at Saturday Centus says "good things come in fives."  She challenges us to write a story in 5 sentences of 5 words each, for a total of 25 words.

I almost didn't play because I've been too busy to think this week.  But I awoke this morning at 5am (on my vacation day!) with this little rhyme brewing in my head.

Darling please feed the horses.

Will you feed them now?

Darling please feed the chickens,

But never mind the cow.

She's dining with the sows.

Read about Lucy the calf,  and another confused farm critter, in their post: A Goat Named Pig.

Thank you Rachel at Vermillion Farms, for giving me permission to post this photo of Lucy and her dining companions.  Good things do indeed come in fives.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop Week 3

Last week was very busy and I'm late to the hop again.  Work was stressful and kept me very busy (as usual).  Then I spent Friday and Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo.  Had a great time. Heard Temple Grandin speak.  Watched some good horse training demos.  Ate too much.  Bought the cutest denim jacket embellished with a little western bling.  Great weekend.  I'm tired.   But I'm hoppin' onto the hop. Click the hobby horse to view week 3 rules.

1. You are the lucky winner of the "Extreme Barn Makeover"! Lucky you! What things are top on your list to be remade, changed or upgraded? (Sorry, this makeover does not entirely replace barns and/or add indoor arenas!)
   
   I would love to add a finished, climate-controlled rider's lounge to my barn.  It would have a sink, microwave, refrigerator, television, and comfortable furniture.  I'd practically live in the barn.
    
   
2. Why do you treasure a particular piece of tack or equipment?
     

   

   Source: Amazon

   I keep a Weighmax digital postal shipping scale in my barn and use it every day to take the guesswork out of feeding time.  The weight and density of hay bales varies so much, that I cannot accurately judge the weight of a flake of hay just by holding it.  So I weigh my hay at every feeding. (Easy with just 2 horses to feed.)
   
   I put a bucket on the scale, turn the scale on to zero out the weight of the bucket, then place the flakes on the bucket.  This particular scale holds up to 150 pounds so I can weigh an entire bale if I'm curious about the weight of bales coming from a particular grower.
    
   
   
   
   
3. What is the best day of the week for you?
   
   Saturday for sure!  I love sleeping-in until 6:00am and not having to rush through morning barn chores.  Any other day that I can take as a vacation day from work to play with the horses is a good day too.  As the saying goes, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office."  Applies to equine related recreation too.

Bye Bye Birdies

Today's Saturday Centus is saying goodbye.

The prompt: Saying goodbye was harder than she thought
Number of words: 100 plus the prompt for a maximum of 107 words

 

They come every spring,

to our barn with delight.

They labor and toil,

with all of their might.
 

They feather their nest,

to cradle their clutch.

Adding horse tail hairs,

for a decorative touch.
 

They soar and they swoop,

they zig and they zag.

They chase after bugs,

in a fast game of tag.
 

They raise their babies,

from summer to fall.

Til' the chill in the air,

doth send out the call.
 

It's time to fly south,

in search of warm weather.

They leave little behind,

but a lingering feather.
 

Farewell dear swallows,

you'll be missed a lot.

For saying goodbye,
was harder than she thought.

We enjoy hosting swallows in our barn, although we do hope to limit occupancy to one family at a time.  They first found us in 2010 and caused a lot of drama.  Read about it here.  They joined us again in 2011 (with less drama) and we are looking forward to their return this year.

Gone with the Wind

It is very windy here.  It is so windy that one of my bird feeders blew off the stand and into the pasture.

Misty found it before I did.

I'll be shopping for a new bird feeder this weekend.

So how's the weather in your neck of the woods?  Are you seeing any sings of spring?  Not a glimpse of it here yet, other than a little extra daylight in the evening.

Keep the faith.  Good riding weather is coming.

Have Chair, Will Travel

I had fun taking this week's Saturday Centus prompt and working it into the equine theme of this blog.  Think outside the box with me on this one. (Or inside the box, as it may be.)

The prompt: The chair dominated the small room
Number of words: 100 plus the prompt for a maximum of 106 words

Style of writing: Any

Pictures: As many extra pictures as you like

Have Chair, Will Travel

For weeks, bitter wintry weather blanketed the high plains of Colorado, driving the people indoors.

The lady stayed close to home and hearth. She ventured outside only long enough to feed the horses; her gloved fingers aching acutely in the cold.

Finally the sun came out; warming the land and enticing the lady on a much needed outing.

She packed a lunch, snacks, water, and her favorite chair—a big, wide, comfortable ... and surprisingly portable ... chair.

The lady admired her provisions with a grin because the chair dominated the small room.  She was ready to roll.  It was going to be a good day.

Hey lady, let's get this rig rollin'.
Your chair awaits.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop Week 1

Thanks, Dreaming, for starting this fun blog hop.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop Prompts - Week 1:

1. Tell us about your first horse, real or imagined.
   
   After years of begging and pleading, my father bought me a pony - a gorgeous strawberry roan Welsh pony stallion with a red mane and tail.  I wrote about him at the beginning of my blog here.
   
   
2. What lesson(s) did you learn from a horse?
   
   There are too many to list them all and I continue to learn every day, but let me share one simple, real-life lesson I learned the hard way.
   
   
   • Never sit on your horse (even a gentle, well-broke horse) with one leg draped over his withers (sort of sitting side saddle).  When I was young, I sat like that on my Thoroughbred gelding outside the arena at a hunter/jumper show.   My horse was relaxed and half asleep.  I was perched sideways with my right leg crossed over his withers, my left foot still in the left stirrup.  I was resting and very relaxed while watching the horse and rider competing in the arena on the jumping course. Suddenly, the horse in the arena knocked a fence down.  The sound of the fence crashing to the ground spooked my snoozing steed and he jumped sideways. I fell off my 17hh Thoroughbred, backwards.  I've never sat on a horse like that since, but I see young riders doing it all the time.  It's just not wise.  Be alert and always keep safety in mind.
     
     
3. What riding discipline intrigues you the most?
   
   I'm getting in touch with my inner cowgirl, so I'm working on my western riding skills and looking forward to doing lots of trail riding this summer.

Now, here's a question for you to ponder:

What is your favorite color of horse?

Still Horse Crazy

My autobiography....in just six words:

Never outgrew the horse crazy girl.

*************

 Ridin' on the farm.

Kansas

1969

 

Click on the Saturday Centus button to read other "autobriefagraphies".