Once Again

Once again, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged.  Life gets busy and when we start to add too many extra things to our schedule, then something has to go.  With liquidating the store, I finally added Facebook, and last July and August, I stayed busy adding inventory to a FB page.  Now that Christmas shopping is over, sales have slowed down.  I hope to find that extra time, that I used to have, to blog more.  And to read.

                Winter is my time to find that extra time.  Usually that starts about November, slows down in December and then I have lots of time in Jan and Feb.  I’m behind this year as my free time just started last week.  Now I need to establish a routine of staying on track with my time. 

                My other plans are to start reading and discussing more books on my Horses Are Our Lives chat, which I just started to do.  Join the chat and read and/or discuss the chapters with me or anyone else who joins in.  You don’t need to buy the books, as I hope that the review and discussion of the books will give you a good idea of what the book is about.

And I hope to find the time to take more photos.  We finally got a DSLR camera, and now to read the booklet to figure out how to use it!  Maybe I’ll try to take an online class or even some classes at the Community College.

Sometimes, I just need to set a schedule to get things done.  Are you like that?  Or are there days that you just say, “I need to do this, then this, then this before the day is over”?  I know, for me, if I have days like that, or even a week like that, then I need to get up in the morning and get started right away.  I’ll set a schedule that includes reading and typing up and posting a chapter of whatever book that I’m reading.  Then I need to work on my FB pages, continuing the Clothing Sales (as there isn’t tack left).  I need to promote my Messick Performance and Endurance Horses, and continue posting photos of the mares, their bloodlines, and the foals that will be coming early summer.

 

Somewhere in there, I need to take the time to start yoga again, and follow a DVD tape of both yoga and my horse exercises.  And continue a work out on the elliptical and weight machine.

 

I hope I can get this all done in one day!  Maybe I’ll need to treat myself like we condition horses.  Once I get in shape, all I’ll need to do is 2-3 times a week, and one long day.  That might make staying on track and keeping up with my schedule a little easier.  I just need to do everything every other day!   By doing that, I’ve cut my work load in half!

Thankful for....

I’ve had another Thanksgiving meal today, with Jacob and Amber, almost 4 year old Caden, and 21 month old Tyler.  For thanksgiving, we were in CO with Sara, Jake, soon to be 4 year old Makenzie and 10 day old Kaytlyn.  Today, Kaytlyn is a month old already!  Today, we had a fun time with her cousins.  Today, we had our Thanksgiving meal here.  This is a great reminder that Thanksgiving can be any day.  This is a great reminder that any holiday, or special event, like birthdays, anniversaries, etc, can be celebrated on any day.

Today’s thoughts are on what we should be thankful for are.  I am so thankful for my 4 grandchildren and their health.  For Makenzie and her outgoing ways and ambition and energy.  For Caden and his quiet ways of figuring things out and wanting to know if we can play with him.  For Tyler’s laughter, his soft side, his tenderness, and not wanting his feelings hurt.  And little Kaytlyn, so young, so do we really know her personality?  But she is so calm, so peaceful, so content.  She teaches us a valuable lesson.  I am so thankful for all my family, my children, my SIL and my DIL, and my grandchildren.

Then there are our horses.  They teach us so much! 

The shake of their heads.  The stance.  The demeanor.  How, and why, they like, and how they don’t like certain horses.  And do you figure out the why?  I have on most of the horses, and then there is always a surprise.

Starlet, the boss.  Fought with Doc, a gelding who was gelded as a 12 year old.  They did not like each other for 3 or 4 years.  Now this year, they stand close to each other.  I think still figuring who is the ultimate boss.

Shaggy who isn’t a threat to any horse and every horse likes him.  From birth to 9 years.  No one fights with him.

Chick who could be a nasty show mare, but with a calm influence, shows well.  But she hates to be separated from her pasture mates.  And let’s all horses around her know that! 

The quiet yearlings who turn into monsters when new young horses enter their space.

The old horses who accept anything, some who move away from nasty horses and some who put younger horses in their place.

And the young horse who is bossy, pushy, fights with everyone and then meets their match with an older, mature, confident, mare or gelding, and teaches a valuable lesson.

This is most of my herd.  What is your’s like?

“Embrace the Journey!”

And Embrace your Horse’s Journey!

My Mom's Sister and Brother

We are at an age where all of our aunts and uncles are aging.

My Mom's Sibling: 



Aunt Ann, Uncle Jr, and my Mom

 

My mom lost her sister a few months ago,
 

then about a month ago, her brother-in-law passed away.

 

 

This past Wed, her brother passed away.

 

My Uncle Jr was always goofing around,

 

and always laughing.

 

 

I will miss all of you.

 

 

And earlier in the week, a cousin posted that it had been 10 years since her father passed away.  (This would have been my dad's brother.  My dad was 1 of 3 boys, but the first boy was still born).

 



I had to change my weekend plans.  I was still having trailer tire problems and decided not to haul 4 hours away for the CTR in Kansas.  I just didn't feel like going.  Maybe I just need to stay home and think about my aunt and uncle.  And what my mom is going through.  My mom has some dementia.  I'm sure all this sadness is affecting her health.  You're in my thoughts and prayers, Mom and Dad, as well as my cousins and their families.

Fall Weather is for Riding

Time to get back to riding the Arabs and the Quarter Horses.  I'm still thinking of what name I should be using now.  I'm thinking Messick Quarter Horses & Arabian Performace and Endurance Horses.  I'll be having my website updated over the next few months, so I need to decide.

The Arabs,

 

Allie

 

I just love her head!

 



 

Bonita when I first got her,

 

and under saddle.  She is so smooth.

 

Shaggy, just love his trot!  He is for sale now.

 

Duke

 

Duke is fun to ride. Fantastic lope!

 

Duke as a 3 year old.  I need to get him back to looking like this, but he is 15 now, so we'll see.

 

And Sox, the 12 year old Arab gelding that I bought for the fall trail rides and CTR's. 

I can't wait to do the next to Open CTR's on him.  I decided to get him as he is more seasoned than Allie, and I can work on me this yearto go the distance.  Allie will be ready next year!

I hope you are getting some fall rides in too!  The wind isn't blowing as much as the last 2 days, so I should get a few rides in today!

I Cherish Your Memory

I cherish your memory.  Time has passed.  You were so strong, yet so delicate.  You were my little colt, orphaned at 1 month to turn into a tall black horse.  What a pistol as a weanling, yearling, 2 year old.  So small and so light on your feet that I could almost pull you over on the lunge line.  So graceful as a 3 and 4 year old.  So easy to ride.  Your lope was lovely.  I miss you so much.  I cherish the years we had together, even though so few, yet so meaningful.

 

Over the past 3 years, the grief has turned into pain, into heartache, into sadness and guilt and into so many questions.  Why?  Why now?  Why so soon?  Understanding comes in time.  I still don’t understand.  But I don’t grieve.  I am sad and my heart still aches.  But I can think of you without crying.  Even though a lump forms in my throat when I think like this.  I was able to hang a picture of you this year.  I have looked at photos of you and me.  Now I think of what we had and I don’t think so much of what we missed out on.  The good memories need to come so this terrible lump and tears forming in my eyes go away.  With time, comes acceptance.  I have accepted the fact that you are gone.  I just don’t like it though.  Sometimes, I catch myself just looking out into the fields and thinking and remembering.  I feel you there, even when I’m on a different horse. 

From http://www.searchquotes.com/quotes/about/Acceptance/

“Acceptance, though a hard thing to do, is an essential thing that helps you to improve in life. When you accept a friend as such with his plus and minuses, you gain friendship. When you accept a past deed, you prepare yourself to face the future, when you accept a situation, you become more comfortable. Acceptance is the essence of life and if we try to shun away from acceptance, life becomes a bed of thorns.

As K C Theisen said, acceptance is not submission; it is an acknowledgement of the facts of the situation. It also helps you to decide your future course of action. Those who accept things that cannot be changed are as wise as grass that grows in the riverbeds and those who refuse to accept are like trees there. When a storm blows, the grass accepts and survives but the tree falls to the power of the wind. Acceptance is an important character that we have to inculcate in us, to survive successfully in this world.”

I will love you forever.  I will miss you forever.  Until we can meet at Heaven’s Bridge and you can carry me home.  I’m not crying.  I look up to the heavens to watch you gallop by.

 

Finny

May 26, 2001 - October 10, 2009