The Ponies Arrive

I am very fortunate in the fact that my Dad loves to take photos. Pretty much my entire life has been documented through photos, and I am so, so grateful. My Dad was home when it was time for the ponies to move from his place to my place. Here is the event documented in photos:

The very happy pony owner:

Scout and Tonto, not too sure they wanted to leave their lush green acreage:

Scout saying, "Whoa there, Girlie, I'm not sure I want any part of this trailer..."

"Let me stop and think for a moment."

"Did you say grain?"

"Well, okay, maybe just one bite."

"Okay, I'll follow the grain bucket anywhere."

One on and one to go!

My wonderful help!!

I honestly thought Tonto would be the hard one to load.

He hopped right on!

Yay! They both loaded with very little fuss! Let the adventure begin!

Scout and E visiting over the stall door:

I love this photo:

Poor Tonto, he hadn't been at the house longer than 20 minutes before we had him saddled up for my daughter's 6th birthday party! He was wonderful carting all of the children around in a new place! I was so proud of him.

D visiting with Scout:

In our aisle way:

Untacking Tonto in his stall:

Checking out Scout in his stall:

So, yes, they are finally home!! I have wonderful neighbor girls who come over to ride on a regular basis, so the ponies are getting worked. They already have Tonto cantering under saddle - the first time he's cantered under saddle in 8 years!

More updates to come.

Happy Riding!

Dreams DO Come True!

I have been dreaming of this moment from the time we moved into our current house 8 years ago. Dreaming of the day when the old pole barn was renovated into my dream barn. Well, my husband made it all happen. And now, this is one of my favorite views (as well as my screensaver on my work computer):

(Scout is on the left and Tonto on the right)

The stall guards and divider wall is temporary...we are so busy with soccer and baseball, we don't have time to breathe, so these things will be finished in due time. Yep, the stall guard is a little high for Tonto, but he has behaved so far and only gone under it once. :) The stalls are almost 14x14, so they really don't complain about being up at night. Being small ponies, they have plenty of room! My wonderful neighbor has 3 young daughters that come over a few days a week and work the ponies for me...I love watching them ride - and I sure wish I had their fearless attitudes! They have gotten Tonto to canter, so we now know he CAN canter under saddle! Will post more photos soon - I want to share the move-in and my daughter's 6th b-day party pics. Promise I will, Soon!!

Check out this Blog

Okay, I just found a new favorite Blog. I love Cake Wrecks (http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/), but, OMG, this one has to be one of the best ever. I was laughing so hard, I was crying.... Check it out when you have time, but if you work in a cube, you may want to wait until you get home.... :) I'm just sayin'... http://yougottobekidding.wordpress.com/ I promise I will post updates and photos of the ponies - soon!!!!!! Rode Scout yesterday - he is a DREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my BABY!

Our youngest turns 6 today. Where in the world does the time go?

She has recently decided ponies are pretty cool....who could resist little Tonto anyway?

Can you just imagine these 2 competing in leadline?

(once they are both cleaned up a little...) :)

Happy Birthday, my sweet darling. I sure wish I could pause time, or at least slow it down - there will never be enough time to get my fill of having you by my side.

Your Daddy and I love you more than words could ever describe.

Don't wake me if I'm dreaming!

Well, it is finally happening! The ponies are coming to live with us tomorrow! It all started with a plan to bring Tonto to the house for our daughter's 6th birthday party - I asked her if she'd like to have a "pony party" - a very last minute idea, and she responded with a huge "YES!," so hubby, 3 kids, the wonderful neighbors and I got to work preparing for Tonto to just come stay the weekend. Well, one thing led to another, and now we have a fence, the stalls are almost complete, and everything is kind of just falling into place. I can't believe it. It has been a dream for so long, and now that it is just on the verge of coming true, I am terrified something is going to happen to prevent it from all working out. Don't you hate it when you have those feelings? Everything seems so perfect, then BOOM. The rug is yanked out from under you and you fall flat on your face, dreams and all. So, if I'm dreaming, please don't wake me up!

I promise I will post photos soon -

Happy Riding!

Sorry it's been so long!

Things couldn't be better - we are just so busy! I will post a longer update soon, but let me tell you, if I am dreaming, please DON'T wake me up!!

Scout is a dream pony - he is better than I ever imagined he could be. Tonto is doing awesome and is such a solid little fellow for my kids now. All 3 of my kids are beginning to ride independently and are even fighting over who is going to ride first! I love it!!

This weekend we are working on the barn and fence!! We have the screenings coming for the stall floor on Monday...things are coming along! I have photos and some video I will try to get up soon.

Sorry for being absent for so long - things never seem to slow down!!

Until next time, Happy Riding!

Rode the Ponies Today!

It was chilly, wet and windy, but D and I decided to brave the weather and try out the new pony. D rode trusty old Tonto, while I lunged, then managed to muster up the courage to climb on the new pony, Scout.


Good old Tonto was an angel - he continues to cart D around, although it looks like D could use some roller skates while riding the little pony:


D demonstrates the "chair seat." He is begging for a western saddle...it may be time to comply. However, he may need a new pony to carry the western saddle around...or maybe we can teach Tonto to pull a cart! :)

Scout was full of himself today. The lady we bought him from warned me that he could be "spunky," and he was, but he wasn't bad. He just wanted to play!

I rode him in a standing martingale today because he flips his head up. It worked wonders. Poor pony, I am pulling his face off because he kept wanting to run through my hands, so we did some "extreme bending and circling." He seems to bore quickly. We may have to find some games to play once I get to know him better and I'm not so nervous. Not sure how far to push him and I don't want to get tossed at this point as my confidence is slowly growing! This lack of confidence thing is for the birds!

It was fun to have a pony to ride and to be able to ride with D again! Hopefully we can swap ponies in the near future so D's feet won't drag the ground (as bad).

In the photo below, Scout is way behind the bit. It's part of that head flipping thing he is doing and me locking my elbows. I worked him in a plain full-cheek snaffle today and he liked it much, much better than the kimberwicke we used the day I tried him out (they had been riding him in an Argentine snaffle...). Hoping to ride him without the standing martingale soon and may keep trying new bits to see what he goes best in. Any suggestions?

So far, so good - I am thrilled with the new pony. Tonto is thrilled to have a new buddy, too, and has quit running around screaming to the horses next door.

Can you tell I like color? :)

Until next time................Happy New Year and Happy Riding!