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

Dixie has a New Home Too

I bought Dixie 2 years ago when the lesson horses were going to have babies.  She was also my substitute trail horse, or should I say, my only trail horse that first summer after Finny was gone.

She is a quiet mare, and just wants to get along with everyone.

I liked her because she was a quiet mare.  I enjoyed her as a trail horse.  I think she knew I needed her quiet soul. 

I get along with Dixie, and I think she liked me too.

She got along with all the other horses, too.  She just wanted to hang out and be friends.

She is 18 this year, and now I am riding Shaggy, and have Duster to start.  I also need to start riding Starlet more.  So I made the decision that Dixie could go to a home and teach others to ride.  I'm so grateful that a friend bought her and now Dixie has 4 wonderful girls that wll  groom her and love her.

That makes my heart happy.

Thank you, Pam, and your granddaughters for giving Dixie such a loving family to be part of.

Goldie has a New Home

Goldie was a 1995 red dun foal out of Deck of Stars by a Page Boy First mare.

Goldie was one of my first foals born at our place.  She actually was born during the afternoon, as the kids were getting off the school bus.  They didn't actually see her born, but they saw here within minutes of being born.

Over the last 10 years, we had downsized our mares, and only had 2 or 3 mares left. In the past, we had bred 5-7 mares. With the economy changing, we were only breeding every 2-3 years. Something had to change. The end of almost 20 years of breeding has come. We sold her last weekend at a sale. She went to a breeder who actually lives only about 10 miles north of us. We will get to see her next year when she has her next baby!

Goldie is a good mother. She is an easy breeder, and kind to her babies.  This is weaning day last year, and she was listening for her foal.

Goldie just walks the outdoor arena.

Last year's foal, Fawn, is listening for her mother.

She has her buddy, Dove, to keep her company.

Goldie had nice babies.  Some were bay and some were bucksin dun, just like Fawn.


I'm glad she is with someone who will appreciate her as a broodmare.  She will have some more great babies!

Muddy Horses

Did Savannah know that it was her turn for a ride yesterday?  There is a pretty palomino under that brown camouflauge.

Yes, I see you watching me. Oh, you think you are safe from being ridden?
Wait until it rains tomorrow and all that mud gets washed off!

yes, you can back to sleep?  Today you can. 

So I rode Shaggy, as he was a little bit cleaner.

Until I saw his other side of his face and neck!

These horses are shedding.  And they must be itchy.  So they roll, not in the high spots that are dry or in some of the places were the round bales were and there is no mud.  They must pick the sloppiest places!

You Know You're a Horse Person When

Skipa and Starlet, 1996



I called someone's calves their cannon bones. LOL

What else have you said or done, besides the common clucking to get someone to move over, saying whoa to stop, or I say "quit" when I want someone to stop doing something.

What have you done, said or heard?

Come on over to my chat,
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/horsesareourlives/

and share, discuss, and laugh over our one liners!

I'm also reading and discussing some books this winter on the chat.  I'm a Center Riding Level 1 instructor, trying to move up to Level 2. We are reading and discussing Book 1, and after Christmas, I will start Book 2.

We are also reading Tug of War, Classical vs Modern Dressage.  I hope to go through Jane Savoies Dressage 101, which is a long book.

There are other books on my list, that I hope to get through this winter.

Fall Horse Pics

The mares are weaned 3 weeks ago.

Starlet

 Goldie

Dove is saying, where did my mom go?

 Dove and Fawn

Chick and the other mares.

Dixie

The 4 mares got along very well together. They have been pasture mates before. No one fights, and they just exist together.  I think it helped the most when Dixie and Chick were put together last winter, to get to eat a little more grain.  They really bonded together. But Chick would rather be with Starlet and Goldie.

The trees were this pretty for almost 2 weeks. But that was about 3 weeks ago when I was weaning. They have since lost their leaves and are now barren.

Chick and Dixie have since gone back into the lot with the weanlings, so the 2 harder keepers are able to eat more over the winter. Starlet and Goldie are now in the larger lot of 8 horses. Dixie may join them, as she is starting to be a little bully with the babies. And she is fat enough! But I'll probably wait until Spring to move horses around.

Everyone is being good and not fighting, so I don't want to upset the apple cart. It's good for those babies to get pushed around a little and to know their place in life. They aren't getting hurt, so it's probably a good thing to just leave Dixie in there to teach those 2 babies about respect!

October Photos

October 1st, Hubby and I went to the Arbor Day Farm with Micah, Jacob, Amber, Caden and Tyler. The 1st was also Sara's birthday!

 There were lots of hands on activities for Caden, while Tyler got pushed around in his stroller.

October 2nd, the mares and babies were in the lot beside this tree area.  The babies got used to traveling between trees and brush, getting ready to be trail horses.

 Lots of areas to zig zag around and logs to cross.

The babies had a good time playing in their, loping all over the place!

I finished decorating the main bathroom.

I just love my horse towels!

The spare bedroom is ready for the grandkids to sleep over, and their horses are waiting on them!

Meanwhile, the toddler bed is just as cozy!

The leaves are beginning to turn colors by the end of the first week of October,

Tyler is  6 months old! He is really beginning to laugh and coo!

The 2nd weekend in October, I had a Centered Riding Clinic in Kansas. I changed so much about my riding, and have been practicing in a new "used" dressage saddle. I'm working hard on trying to certify from Level 1 to Level 2 Centered Riding Instructor.

We took Caden to the Pumpkin Patch.

Which pumpkin to pick?

We found a pumpkin for Grandma, Caden and Tyler!

 Pop and Caden loved the cut-outs!

Showing off the pumpkins with Pop.

Caden loved the bounce house!

 Then talking with the lonely rabbit!

Caden spent the night, then we took him home. He missed his baby brother!

Pop and Tyler

 Tyler is really starting to slobber! Those teeth must be coming!

The leaves have really changed colors by the end of the month,

We did need to say goodbye to one of Micah's beagles, AJ, this month. I think we gave her a really nice final resting place.  We left her collar on her. She needed to have something of Micah with her.

Micah had a birthday this month too.

I had a CTR at Whispering Pines, Missouri,

It was a lovely area,

Savannah is turning into a great CTR horse, but I'm looking for that Arab,

We weaned the foals,

and the mares are in the lot where I can see them from the living room window. I just love this look.

  Pop relaxes with Tyler any chance that he can get, on the recliner!

Halloween ends the month. The boys are super-kids.

I wished I had pictures of Makenzie too. She was a princess and Sara made her a lovely dress. I'm sure I'll be taking photos of her in her dress when we see her at Thanksgiving!

And that was my October, and why I wasn't blogging much. Winter is coming, so there will probably be too many blogs soon!