Old Age

I was just thinking today about how our horses all have their "birthdays" on Jan 1. This will make Delight 20 years old! Tawshi will be 11, and Star will be 6 - is she really that old? She was just born! My new girl Char will be 6 as well.

I have been thinking about the age "20". It sounds so old. I read all the time about people retiring horses in their mid teens! Heck, that's when I *first* started Delight in Endurance! Delight is getting grey on her face and she is loosing some topline but other than that she is a maniac. No signs of slowing down at all. In fact, I really feel like her attitude and her "go" are a lot younger than her body. I went for a 2 hour ride the other day and had to work hard to keep her at a walk, she was sweaty and ready to fly. We both love zooming down the trail!

Last year I skipped taking her to the last endurance ride because I felt like it took her so long to come back from the one before. It wasn't that her "go" was any less or her attitude was lagging. It was just a gut feeling based on the look on her face from her pictures out on the race trail. It seemed more work for her than other rides.

Maybe I pushed her too hard - we did have a fast time - or maybe it was a failure in getting her really fit - or maybe it was an age related thing. I dunno. I will make sure she is very, very fit for next year. (This is done with long slow miles not speed work).

I don't think she is ready to retire yet but it is kinda scary to ride a horse who is "20".

Don't Bother Me, I'm Eating!

I enjoy the simple things with the horses so much.

Nearly every day when I feed I always take a minute to stop, give each one a pat and tell them how much I love them.

They may not understand my words, but I have no doubt that they understand my heart.

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New Friends

Chardoney meets new friends. Star sees a friend, but Tawshi is NOT impressed.

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Candy Canes and a Christmas Tree

Every year we give our Christmas tree to the horses. They seem to really enjoy playing with it, tearing it up and eating it! Isn't this a great way to recycle trees?

It was a grey, gloomy, windy, muddy, miserable day. I am so sick of the mud! We had a record amount of snowfall over Christmas and then it warmed up to 40. UGH! When we buy our own place I have a plan all ready for managing *mud* for my horses...

Ted was the horse who loved the tree the best. He always would trot right up to it and munch on it and drag it away like a dog with a giant bone. We don't have him anymore and this was Foxy's first year to get a tree and since she was chicken, everyone else was chicken too... The Blazers didn't get a Christmas tree last year either, it was their first experience with this treat too.

Here she is telling everyone they had better run away. Spinner is waaay ahead of her!

We tried bribery. Most horses love peppermint. Especially Tawshi horses...



Isn't Star getting big??

Foxy is still worried about the green monster:


Speedy didn't go for the peppermint trick so we tried the 'ol "scritches in the right spot" trick.


It worked.

Tom and his girl Foxy (and Tawshi looking for another candy cane):



Foxy and Star:


Cherish and her boy Spinner:

Fair Part IV: Katrina and Tawshi Make Great Strides

This morning Tawshi was feeling really good! Seems like she has gotten stronger every day, rather than more tired like the rest of us!

The very first class was right after the flag ceremony, so there wasn't much time for warming up. Tawshi was feeling the best she has felt for 2 weeks and decided to really be "peppy". Her first lope was really a canter, almost a gallop and went diagonally across the arena. Poor Katy!

Last minute pep talk and bridle adjustment from Mom:


It was an equitation class so after the runaway flat work there was individual work.

Getting ready to start the pattern:


Loping to the right:


In spite of the trouble she had, Katrina didn't place but she was awarded a red ribbon. In addition to the top 6 placings, each kid gets a Blue, red or white ribbon which represents what the judge thought of their individual effort. She was expecting a white for sure... but left the ring with red and a big smile.

Her next class was Bareback Equitation. Katrina decided to go ahead and enter inspite of Tawshi's near run away in the first class. She wasn't going to lope and just figured that she would "take" a white ribbon.

A big part of 4H is being brave an trying new things. This was her very first bareback class ever, and she has never cantered bareback before. I was pretty proud of her for going for it.


Tawshi was doing so well, when it was time to lope, Katy really went for it! She loped on her!!! Actually, it was a canter because she was riding English. The other direction Tawshi didn't pick up the correct lead, so she had to bring her down twice and correct it. Remember, this is her first time to lope bareback!

At the end of the class she was rewarded with FIFTH place and a BLUE ribbon!

Fair 08 Part I

Fair week is in full swing! I thought I would share some snapshots of the horse show. We still have another day to go, but there are so many pictures!

Here's a picture of the whole crew. We took 4 horses and 4 kids. One of the kiddos isn't in 4H but she should get a ribbon for how helpful she is being! (More on her later...)

Don't worry, all of that stuff on the ground is well away from the horses. There were times when the kids had their stuff strewn every where.... just like at home.

I'll start with Katy and Tawshi. Tawshi has been feeling under the weather lately. She was a real champ though and did her best for her girl. Here they are in their showmanship class.

All smiles waiting for their very first English class together as a team. Tawshi isn't the most photogenic of horses. The ears are floppy when the eyes are open and the eyes are closed when her ears are forward. I don't know why. It's a family joke. She will never be a model!


In the class....


Waiting in the lineup....


And lovies for a job well done:

The Big Show

Recently Katy helped Lyn show some horses at a Class A Arabian show. As a treat, Katy got to take along her horse Tawshi.

Between the two of them they both showed the horses in two different Sport Horse In Hand classes.

Lyn's horse "Bluenote Satin Doll" won Reserve Grand Champion!

Here Katy is handling her:

And here is Lyn's other mare, "Shuga Kane":

Aren't they beautiful!


Tawshi didn't win any ribbons, but that little mare is worth her weight in gold to us! She was a perfect lady for her girl! This was Katy's very first Class A Show.


Many many thanks to the Saddle B(r)itches who came and helped out, and to those of you who just showed up to support these ladies and their horses! Pat, we owe you! Thanks for your hospitality! There's nothing like a good meal and a restful night's sleep before a big show.

And Lyn, thanks for letting us hang out with you! We love you and your horses!

What a Wonderful Day!

We couldn't have had a better day with the kids and their horses!

Their 4H club had their annual Play Day fun show. It was the Blazer's big debut. Katy also took her horse Tawshi.

Spinner took everything in stride. He was "IncrediPony" and his rider was "WonderGirl"! Cherish couldn't get him going much faster than a trot, but he tried so hard for her! She was riding him all over the place with the other kids - in a halter! He acted like he was a broke horse.

Cherish had a permanent grin on her face.

Katy and Tawshi did a great job too. They even won 3rd place in the Keyhole event! Katy also did a lot of things that she might have been scared to do last year like riding up and down the steep hill to the arena . Yay Katy!

At first Speedy was a little bit buddy sour and opinionated about which direction he wanted to go, but he was just acting the green horse that he is. Tom led the pair in the first few classes but by the end, Cody was riding alone! Good job Cody and Speed Devil!

At one point in the day Cody and Cherish took off with a couple of friends to the lower arena. I held my breath, stayed where I was and watched from a distance. Before I knew it they were both LOPING on their horses! First lope for both of the kids on their horses!!

After the show a bunch of kids untacked and rode around the arena bareback. Cherish and Katy joined them, and before I knew it Cody wanted to try too. Here is the proof!

Oh, and this is the first bareback ride for both the Blazer Boys too!
(Yes Cherish put a helmet on right after this picture) These girls were *trotting* all around bareback!
Cody didn't trot bareback for as long, in fact Speedy loped a few strides with him so he decided to hop off. But, I couldn't be prouder of my "Dash" and his pony Speed Devil!

A Wee Visitor

We had a sweet little visitor to our "farm" today.

She is my great niece - am I really that old?


I actually kinda like being "Auntie Char". I am practicing for when the grands come along.

But don't tell my kids I said that!

This girl was born with the horse gene. I pity her parents when she grows older. I think they should start saving for the inevitable riding lessons now while they still have the chance!

Her grandma (my sis - in - law) bought the wee cowgirl a brand spankin' new pair of cowboy boots just for the occasion today, because she has finally out grown the ones that her "great" uncle Tom bought for her.

My daughter spent a long time with her showing her how to brush Tawshi and how to pick out horse hooves. She learned 3 new horse parts today: the mane, tail, and hoof.

Then it was all smiles because she got to hold the reins and guide the horse all by herself. *wink*


Gosh, isn't she just the cutest! I just wish she didn't live so far away.

Es-cop-ay, or Three Big Chickens

No pictures from today, but I sure wish I had some!

Charlotte decided she was tired of the pig sty she was living in and went to go visit the horse sty.

Our farm is currently temporarily under a Governor's State of Muddy Emergency, but that is another story...

One of the kids went out for the 4PM check on the pig family and found the gate to the pen swinging wide open. He got to the shed and the door was busted down and Ma Pig was nowhere in sight!

They hear her grunting and found her in the pasture buried in the mud under the horses loafing shed. She was a sight, covered in mud!

Tawshi was standing near the gate about 10 feet from Charlotte. But, Ted, Delight and Star were big chickens! They were standing all huddled up in the far corner! 'Fraidy cats! What a sight!

Ted: "You go Delight, you are the lead mare!"
Delight: "No, YOU go Tawshi, I command it!"
Star: "Yeah! You go Tawshi! My Mom commands it!"
Tawshi: "You guys are a bunch of chickens! I'll go."

Star: "Look! She TOUCHED the pig!"

Charlotte was easily herded back into her pen, much to the relief of the piglets who had long since resigned themselves to starvation.

Tawshi

Tawshi is a 2001 grey Arabian mare. She was my second try at finding the horse of my dreams. We bought her late in the same year that we got Ted. She was a young 3 years old. She was small, but everyone I talked to said she would grow and that her height wouldn't present a problem for me.

I remember when I first met Tawshi. The thing that first drew me to her was her heart. It seemed like she reached out to me and told me she wanted to come home with me. We had to make payments on her and she stayed at the breeder's until she was all paid for. I drove one hour down to see her and the one hour back at least 3 times a week. She was so beautiful! I loved everything about her Arabian-ness; Her floaty trot, her high tail carraige, her big soft eye, everything!

I broke her to ride at the same time as Ted the next summer. When it came time for me to really work her though I realized that she probably wouldn't be able to handle carrying my weight plus the weight of all of the tack on long trail rides.

In the meantime, my oldest daughter caught the horsie bug. (See a pattern here yet?)