Recent Photos

We haven't had much time with the horses lately, so nothing much to post. Here are some photos of a quiet weekend a few weekends back when the weather was warmer than normal and we got outside to enjoy it. The horses needed a good brushing and deworming, so that's what we did. Some photos from our nice quiet visit with the ponies. Enjoy.

B and Filly - notice Filly's long(er) mane!!!

She has hair everywhere! No bald or rubbed out patches!


Filly is so nosey! It is good to see her back to her old self again. When she was suffering from the sweet itch, she was so miserable, she didn't want to be touched.

Now she wants to be in your pocket and her sense of humor is back!

Filly is now groomed and her mane trimmed (butchered).

I'm not a fan of long manes - too much mud at our place!

I love Filly's eyes.

Little Tonto was patiently waiting his turn for a good brushing.

He wasn't too dirty!

All clean and looking for my Mom to bring a treat.

Here the three of them are turned loose to head back out to the big field.

They walk side by side like this often.



The playing begins.


Something catches their eyes...

They start trotting in circles...

Even Maggie was feeling good!


They stop again to get a good look at something in the field....

Then they take off to get a closer look! See my kiddos playing in the mud puddle?

Notice my daughter has NO shirt on?!?!

Tonto gives Filly a nudge - he wants to keep playing!

She says, "Nah."

So they get back to what they do best...



Hopefully we can get Filly and Tonto back into work once the weather begins to get a little better. It is just too wet to slip and slosh through all the mud.

Hope all is well with all of you!

Thank you for visiting!

Sweet Reunions

Time is never on my side when I want to blog. There are so many things I want to say, but can't find the time to get them posted! I do want to share something really neat that happened recently.

In my limited spare time, I love to surf the internet reading other people's blogs. I left a comment on a blog a few months ago, and by chance, an old friend that I have not seen since she was around 10 years old saw my comment and contacted me! Not only was she a friend, but she owned Maggie for a while! Her family boarded horses at the farm where I spent many summers working. We e-mailed back and forth for a while catching up on life. It was quite amazing! She was stunned that Maggie was still alive; and I was stunned that her Mother's horse was still alive!

Then I caught up with another young lady that I taught a few riding lessons to (on Maggie) at the same farm. She even came to visit Maggie while she was home on Christmas break!

And finally, I got back in touch with the lady that owned the farm where I had worked from age 12 to my early college years. After the farm was sold and they moved away in the mid 1990's, we lost touch. I tracked her daughter down, who led me to my lost, but not forgotten friend. This is the lady who gave Maggie back to me after our Shetland pony Amber passed away, leaving Buck alone. She also had her farm hand bury Amber, then a few years later, Buck.

So, these past two months have been a time for sweet reunions and catching up with friends from the past. I love how the horse world seems to be a world of its own and how it seems there is a connection every where you look.

Happy Happy Birthday to My BFF of 26 years!

My faithful cheer leader and supporter through so much...

This post should be much, much longer, but unfortunately due to the time factor, it will be briefer than I want.

Our family moved to Pike Road in December 1983. Back then, Pike Road was "out in the country," so only luck (or God) would have it that a girl my very same age lived right next door. We even ended up in the same 3rd grade class together and shared an amazing love for horses. We were instant friends and our friendship flourished and grew through millions of trials and tribulations over and through the years, but she stuck by me; an unfaltering, caring, loving, very best friend. We have been through so, so much together. She knows some of my deepest, darkest secrets, and I know they are safe with her. I would trust her with my life; with my kids' lives. Although we are now worlds apart (or so it feels with her living all the way across the country now), we can still talk and pick up right where we left off. She is one of my closest, very best friends in the whole entire world. I miss her so much - her witty, brilliant humor, and her loving compassion.

We shared so many fun times together....like swimming the horses in her pond....

She was always supporting me during competitions.....

Thank you so much for all you have done for me and with me. There are so many treasured memories. I want to wish you all my best for your birthday on January 17th and I sure wish I was there to share the celebration with you. I love you so much HCG#2 - LYLAS. Happy, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!

Thanksgiving

Wow, where has the time gone? Still ticking by way too fast. That's the exact reason I hate the ticking of a clock. It reminds me of the time ticking by and minutes I can never get back. I need to put a positive spin on that, because thinking that could become quite depressing!

Work is keeping me extremely busy (thankful to still have a job after they laid off 1% of our staff right before Thanksgiving.) My heart goes out to those families. The downfall though...I have no time to blog!

A lot has been going on here - not much horse stuff unfortunately, but a lot of other things!

D played in the State Finals for soccer, but unfortunately his team did not win any of their games. They sure played their hearts out though! We are very proud of all of the kids and especially D.

Our neighbor had a birthday party for her son recently, and brought her horses over for the kids to ride. This fellow is "Rooster." My husband and I went to look at a house for sale a couple of years ago and Rooster was one of three starving horses in a pasture of dirt behind the house. The people had been transferred and had to find homes for the horses within two weeks. My sweet neighbor's Mom bought two of the horses, Rooster and a mare named Cocoa, while the little mustang went to a wonderful family with a little girl who adores her. Rooster was by far in the worst shape of the three. Here is a before shot:

and here is a recent one:



We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with some of my husband's family from California. C1 & C2 are awesome and we always enjoy being around them. Hoping they will return soon for another visit to the south. ;)

My husband and the kids built this awesome teepee out of limbs, leaves and pine straw!
The weather threatened rain...so.....

we wrapped it on plastic to keep the cushy leaves on the floor from getting too wet!

Sam, the newest addition to our family, seems to be settling in and feeling like part of the family. He follows me to the end of our driveway every day...and is waiting in the same spot when I get home in the afternoons. That is loyalty. He is such a sweet dog and deserves a loving home. A and I bought him a dog bed recently that came with a stuffed dog bone with a squeaky inside. It took him all of five minutes to shred it and find the squeaky. That may have been the best five minutes of that silly dog's life. :)

The puppies that my parents rescued from South Carolina in October are having a blast digging up all of my Mom's favorite potted plants...and tearing up everything they can...as puppies do. :) They have now been spayed and neutered, so one less worry...If you know anyone looking for a very sweet and loving puppy, the little boy, Max, still needs to find a home. My folks are willing to keep the 2 little girls. We have no clue as to their breeding, but since they are approximately six months old, shouldn't get much bigger. They are all below knee height.

Nothing to report on the barn...it has been over a year since the concrete was poured for the aisle, and several months since the gully washer scoured the new topsoil off the hill. I try not to pressure my husband too much about it, but I am dying to get the horses here. (The ticking time...) They will probably be so old by the time we get them here, I'll be caring for geriatrics (and I'll be geriatric, too!)! At least I can still visit them on the weekends. Oh, and Tractor Supply just had its Grand Opening today, so maybe we can get fencing and barn supplies from there... :) Christmas is coming up soon!

I have another post I want to share soon - it is a pretty neat story about blogging!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope all is well with all of you.

Soccer Updates and Other Things

Well, first off, Happy Veteran's Day! My hubby served in Desert Storm, so I thank him for his service. Thank you to everyone who is currently serving or who has served at some point - your selflessness is more appreciated than you will ever know.

Things are still just as crazy as ever around here. I don't think work is ever going to slow down, and with the economy like it is, I should not complain. I love my job...I love my job...I love my job!

Halloween was a lot of fun...the kids picked out their costumes. D was a cowboy, B was a Clone Trooper, and A decided she had to be "Batman Girl" rather than the black cat she originally wanted to be...Boy, she is quite the tomboy! (Please don't laugh too hard at the photos! :) The guy that blends in with the fire place is D's best friend.

Filly is now back at my parents' house...and already rubbing her tail. UGH! I think she is bored and has too many places to rub. It may be time to make her a paddock out of electric tape...I know that sounds awful, but anything to keep her from self mutilation! It is too cold for bugs now, so that is no excuse.

The puppies are still doing great. The little boy, Max, is lined up to get "tutored" soon; right around Thanksgiving. Then the girls will get "fixed" in December. They are so fun to be around. They especially love to play in the leaves...it is so funny to hear 12 little feet running through the dry leaves. It makes a great spook excuse for the horses.

And great news - D played in the District Tournament last Saturday. After a really long, grueling day, and two incredibly difficult games, D and his team are headed to State Finals! They won the U-14 division! Those kids played their hearts out. He plays on a co-ed team, and let me tell you, those girls are TOUGH.

Below is D's All Star Team. Notice the blue hair...you should have seen the kids with the green jerseys! They looked like martians with their green hair!

This is the next up and coming soccer player - she can't wait to turn 4 so she can play on a team!

D with his hard earned championship soccer trophy.

So, a lot going on here - hey I saw that our gas prices are down to $1.99 a gallon!!!!! I haven't seen prices like that since I was in high school! Sure would be nice if they would stay down, but I seriously doubt it. I shall enjoy it while it lasts though...maybe make a few extra trips out to my folks place to play with the horses and puppies!

Hope all is well with you guys.

A Few Updates....

Hello! It's been awhile again - things just don't seem to want to slow down! We just finished up the regular season of soccer, then my oldest was asked to be on the All Stars team....so we have a few more weeks before D's season ends. We were ecstatic! He always works so hard, but this year he finally made it! He was one of 18 picked out of 50! Districts are on November 8th...wish us luck!

D with some of his winning moves.

B with his team trophy

The puppies are doing great - gaining weight and playing like puppies should. They are the sweetest things! I believe my folks want to keep all three, but if they can find the perfect home for any of them, they might let one or two go...Mom finally decided on names. Max is the grey boy, Salley is the black one iwth the least amount of white, and Boots is the girl with the most white. She should be named Sassy or Fiesty or Ferocious or something like that. She is the smallest, but the toughest of the three! We are all enjoying them so much!

They love meal time!

Fun in the tent! The puppies loved it as much as A and B!

A with Boots - this is A's favorite one...

Papa and A enjoying a laugh...

Mom and her puppy, Salley...

Salley is loving the attention, too. :) She looks pretty content, huh?

D and Max

Boots enjoying a nap in the sun...

Well, nothing much is going on with the horses right now. I made it out to brush Filly the weekend before last, but didn't work her or anything. She'll head back to Pike Road after the first freeze. May not be too far off since this morning it was 36 degrees! I don't remember it being this cold so early in the season! We are normally sweating our hineys off in our Halloween costumes! Fall is my favorite time of year, so I really wish it would last a good while longer.

Maggie enjoying some grass in the yard...

I've been digging up some old photos of the horses. I came across one of Maggie from 1987 that I'll have to post.

I took some photos of Filly the last time I saw her...she looks super! She has not rubbed at all, so she has a mane and tail again! No bare spots at all. It is such a relief. L was sweet enough to let Filly go back to her place next spring, so that's the plan for now. My hubby mentioned something about working on the barn again, so just maybe we can get that done before next spring...at least I am keeping my fingers crossed. I didn't have anyone to hold her, so I had her rope looped on the fence...it got long when she reahed back to scratch an itchy spot...

Filly has a mane and tail!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!

You can see where she rubbed out the middle part of her tail, just under the white part. It looks funny, but I'm just letting it grow!

Drew hasn't even had a chance to ride Tonto lately, so that little fellow is getting really fat. He's still living in the fat pen...poor guy.

Other than that, things are ticking along. Sam is still here and seems to be happy. Hope all is well with you!