Riding (Thursday)

We had a good ride on Thursday we had a lot of luck though. We had to wait for me to close before we could ride,we didn't get going until about 6:00ish or so. By then the wind had picked up considerably.The sky behind Mattie didn't  look all that promising...the way we went was worse. I thought the wind would blow most of the ugly sky away ....it didn't, we just kept riding into it. The wind got pretty strong....the bonus in that......no bugs.

We could have ridden towards that blue sky behind Gussie.

It didn't matter much what direction we went in because after awhile we were pretty much surrounded by this.

We rode for awhile and then we hit a spot where we ran into some vicious mosquitoes they were turning my horse into a basket case. They must have really liked her cause she was covered in them, usually the wind keeps that kind of pest away but not these guys.....still no excuse for her badness...Gussies face was covered in them and she just kept going straight ahead like she had not a care in the world.

      This is where all the bugs were hiding out, we didn't have as much wind  in this area. It was here we turned around and headed back to the truck. It was on the way back that we got lucky.....we had a bit of thunder and lightening which didn't make any of us happy especially the dogs, but it didn't come too close and all the way back we were getting glimpses of this.                 

The ride finished off with wind no rain and I know I felt like we lucked out.

For those of you that don't know them this is Shirley and Tess....so do you think they know how to relax after a ride.

Riding ( Wednesday)

Shirley and I headed out to ride...a bit of a later start than I wanted but what the hey. So we loaded up the girls and off we went. This is some of our view.

We startled this guy from his perch and thereafter he turned up in almost every shot ...squawking and giving us heck for the disturbance.

Shirley and Gussie, nice pic. 

See that dot to the left.....still squawking.

 We had a nice ride ..a bit warm but thankfully some of that was on a tree shaded trail.Stay tuned for Thursdays ride

                                      Look who's here....yay somebody to ride with.

                                                                               

                       Shirley and her crew arrived yesterday afternoon, everyone was settled and made at home. We managed to get a short evening ride in. Today we will try for longer....wahoo did I say yay someone to ride with!!!!!!!!1                                                          

Fridays For Sale

It is with a heavy heart that I advertise this horse for sale. Due to my own physical failings I must find a new home for her. Mattie is a 10 yr old Purebred Morgan Mare. She is very well trained she has mostly been used as a trail horse, she is very good in the mountains. Mattie has done some cattle sorting, not her most favorite thing but she does it anyhow. Mattie knows her leads has a good stop and man she has a wonderful Lope. She is easy to load - good for the Farrier - easy to deworm etc etc. Mattie is an easy keeper and an all around sweet - heart.

For some other great horses for sale go to these sites...there are some beauts for sale out there right now. One stop shopping you can go for the Morgan or you can go over to fern valley and see some amazing color (spots) or you can go to ride a good horse and see some smokin Quarter horses or you can carry on over to ranch riding and see some more Quarter horses.

Almost Grown

This one is for Sherry over at Fern Valley...because she couldn't remember Shirley's ( over at Ride A Good Horse) first foal from Belle and Beamer. Shirley's Sparkle my Jazz almost grown. She has gone through many phases, this is when she first arrived a few growing spurts and then to date. She turned 3 in late April.
                                                                   

                                                                             

This was what I called her ugly stage...not quite together if you know what I mean.

                                                                            

And this is how the little Diva looked on Monday....she's pretty proud of herself....must be the girl thing!!!

Sorry no time to fool around with the photos and make them better...you get what you get....gotta go.

Open Spaces ( Finally Out Of The Arena)

Jade and I finally made it out of the arena, Sunday was the big day. We did a little arena stuff first....just checking to make sure she wasn't into kicking up her heels and being goofy. She was excellent....need not have worried. So from the arena it was time to load up. I don't know what her problem was with that, Jade has always loaded well and never been a problem....something was off?????Needless to say that wasn't tolerated for long,loaded she was and that was that.I took Tucker and Kali with me( Sage just can't do it anymore) I was hoping Tucker would get Kali to follow along....which he did....yay Tucker...he has his moments.

Jade ready to go.

This is what we were looking at as I was finding a Rock for mounting.....yes I have to have help in that department...even with the little guys I have to cheat.....and Jade is not little.

Jade was finding the whole process interesting...which I was quite happy about. This is our first ride out of the arena and also by herself...so I was ready for anything.

Kali waiting for us to catch up.I took the opportunity while it presented itself to do a little one on one with Kali....even though Tucker was close by he just doesn't get it...which is OK because I don't care whether he does or not. Kali did really well she is getting the different signs I am using for Wait/ Down/ Come.She is a smart dog, I wish I was a dog trainer....or at least a little more informed than I am now....whatever, it is what it is.

Jade spent a lot of time checking things out which I don't mind ....as long as the body doesn't follow the head and we still have forward motion.She did OK with a few corrections, she was really relaxed and interested in what and where we were going.

I think Jade was finding the scenery as pretty as I was....or maybe she was just looking to see if any of her friends were around.

It was here that Jade was starting to get a little tense and it was here I wondered if she would trust me enough to do what I was asking.You can't see it but up ahead the trail started to go into the trees, they are very close together and it is really dark in there. This trail goes for about 10 mins in the dark before you pop back out into the open and the sun, it was here that I knew the real test was about to begin.....will she trust me? The answer to that question was a yes. She willingly walked into the dark horse eating forest...she was quite tense( poised for flight) but she kept moving forward about halfway through she started crying a bit and then decided nothing bad was going to happen to her.This ride is one big circle so the scenery you see when you start out is the same as when you come back. Shirley ( Ride A Good Horse) might recognize this place ( Stock Dog Trials)

And remember the place I said was for sale and it was only 1,3 something million. Nice view though.

  This last pic Jade was getting a little annoyed with me. (Look at the ears)I was trying to get a picture of how loose her reins were. After coming out of the dark she was totally relaxed ...had not a care in the world, we finished off the ride with me being happy with my dog and happy with Jade's performance.  

In Training

This is a video of Jade in training. It's too bad I missed the spin....she looked like a reining champ out there.....well not quite but it was pretty anyhow.This is at the two week mark, yes he is an awesome trainer but keep in mind she did have a 1 month training period quite some time ago. Oh what the heck .....he is an awesome trainer. I won't have to think twice before sending him anymore horses. I think when Jazz is ready Terril will be the trainer.  Thanks for letting me use your camera for the video Shirley......oh yeah and getting it here....what would I do without you.

Wordless Wednesday

By Request - All That (Jazz)

This request came from Shirley, she was wondering what her girl was looking like now. Normally I won't do winter pics or show too many of them at this age either. Jazz (AKA Sparkle) is not having a very ugly stage....how could she after all she's a Beamer baby and that would be unacceptable....but really this is how she looks as of about 2 weeks ago. No Shirley I didn't bring her in and prettier her up for you, you asked this is what you get....she's actually pretty clean in these pics. Anyhow gotta run hope she looks OK for ya.

The Boys

Well finally the boys have names .....except the red one - how about a little help, the choices are Rocky,Charlie, Rio or Chip. So as you can see from the photos the guys are a little easier to handle...however we still have a long way to go but it is nice to see they are making the effort. Now you can be properly introduced to the boys. To Dave's right is.... here it comes.....Blue, to his left is Speck the black which I didn't get a good shot of is Max and Red to be known as whatever the majority of you pick.

Yup with a little gentle coaxing and the fact that they love grain you wouldn't know these were the same four ( wild ones)not that long ago. By Spring they should be a lot more tolerant of us humans ....at least that's the plan. Keep ya posted on growth and progress. Hey yahoo I managed to get a post done and it didn't take all day. I'll be keeping stuff crossed though and we will see if this is going to be a wonderful computer 2011, check out people's blogs tomorrow the challenge is your best of 2010 there should be some beauties in there.