For S (Horse Crazy Girl #1)

I know you are missing spring in the South, especially from the days of your roots,

so these are for you, Girl.

D and Sally with the azaleas

Photos of Dr. Thompson's old pasture:

The gravel road towards your old place:

The road to the big hay field:





I think they still store hay in this old building for the cows:



I was in Pike Road on Saturday and actually rode Tonto for a bit. As I was riding, it all felt so familiar; like when I used to ride Buck. The only thing missing from a perfect day were my horse friends, and I missed you greatly.

I noticed the field of buttercups and had to snap some photos for you.

Please come back and visit soon.

Love and Hugs.

Thank you Work in Progress

A fellow blogger, http://www.fyyahchild.blogspot.com/, was kind enough to share this award with me a few weeks ago.

I am very honored!

Work in Progress was a featured blogger on mugwump chronicles (http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/) and that is how I was introduced to her blog. I love Work in Progress, as we are similar in that we both have children, work full time, and both have a strong desire to continue riding. However, she has lived through some really rough times in her childhood and young adult life; things I could not even imagine. She has survived them and become a stronger, even more beautiful person. Fyyahchild blogs about her horses, her dreams, and sometimes her past, in a way that makes for a great and very interesting read. I can't wait to see how she succeeds with her beautiful new paint mare she is sharing with her niece.



For the privilege of receiving the award, I am supposed to tell you 7 things about me that you don't already know and pass the award on to 15 other beautiful bloggers. (I don't read 15 other blogs, but I'll share it with the ones I do read!)



Hum, 7 things you don't already know about me....or maybe you do. :)



1) My favorite color is green, yet I despise the color neon green. I love various shades of green, and Hunter green is a fav. When I was Pony Clubbing, my event colors were Kelly green and pink. They were obnoxious, but I liked them! :)



2) I am a graduate B from Pinchona Pony Club.


3) My favorite food is fried chicken, rice and gravy. The way my Momma makes it.



4) I love fresh vegetables. I have been known to sit down and polish off a whole head of Romaine lettuce by myself. No salad dressing required.


5) I love ponies. Don't get me wrong, I love horses, too, but there is just something about ponies...that strong-willed, often stubborn personality, makes me smile. As a short person, their small size is a plus for me. There is nothing that compares to a bond with a pony that "gets" you. Buck "got" me and we had an incredible partnership.



I have always admired Emerson Burr's ponies and grew up reading "The Pony Book, The World of Emerson Burr." Please forgive the ripped cover. It is very loved. :)





6) If I could have two wishes granted, they would be to own a pony farm as Mr. Burr did and never sell the ponies, only lease them to kids. I would also open a pony rescue. I feel ponies are often misunderstood. I think they are just a whole lot smarter than we are. :)




7) My dream is to ride again, without fear, with confidence and as an effective rider. Dressage.

Now to share this Beautiful Blogger award. The following are the blogs I visit on a regular basis because I enjoy them:

1) A Southern Girl in Vegas: http://vegasgrits.wordpress.com/. I read this one daily because we grew up together and I want to know what she's up to. Plus she is living her dream of owning and successfully competing her gorgeous Arabian in Dressage. She is also known to post some rather thought-provoking posts. :)

2) Braymere Custom Saddlery: http://braymere.blogspot.com/. This is another one I read daily. Jennifer makes custom tack for model horses and her work is exquisite. Oh, to own one of her tiny English saddles (and a bridle...girth, a complete set!)!! You must check out her blog whether or not you are a model horse enthusiast. You will be amazed.

3) It's Sunny in SD: http://fssunnysd.blogspot.com/. Sunny has a new job and doesn't have as much time to post as she used to, but I love her book reviews and the way she talks about her daily life with horses in South Dakota. She has a precious Arabian named Sunny, and cares for a whole herd that is bound to get into something interesting, fairly often. They recently purchased a horse for her husband, too. I have to thank Sunny for introducing me to Braymere Custom Saddlery.

4) Growing up in the Farmhouse: http://www.growingupinthefarmhouse.blogspot.com/. A fellow Pony Clubber who still rides and has a precious daughter who just got her own pony. I love to see what my friend is up to...right now she's in the midst of building a new house!

5) Dressage Mom: http://dressagemom.blogspot.com/. I admire this Dressage Mom. She has her goals set and is able to balance her riding with her family and work. She shares how she has been able to maintain this balance, which I really appreciate. Her Arabians are beautiful, and she is such a lovely rider.

6) Notes from the Squirrel Nest: http://buttercupgurl.blogspot.com/. I love this blog because she blogs about her older palomino, Buttercup, along with her wonderful menagerie of animals. They are all loved and so well cared for.

So, there we are, the Beautiful Blogger award has been passed on, to some very deserving blogs. :) I hope you come to enjoy them as much as I have. You may learn a thing or two from them as well!

Thank you for stopping by - Happy Riding!

Happy Belated Easter!

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been very busy with work (traveling some) and after school activities lately, so there has been no extra time to post.

Here is a photo from Easter taken in my parents' yard in Pike Road.

Notice the little white flowers? I believe they are called crocus. They are prolific in Pike Road, and they have become my favorite part of spring. I love how they form a flowing sea of white in the horse and cow pastures this time of year. They are so beautiful.

Work in Progress was kind enough to give me a blog award. I was so touched and honored! I will

post it soon so I can share it with you.

Hope some of you are able to ride while the weather is pretty!

My Youngest Baby is 5!!!

I believe the phrase I use the most often is, "I just don't know where the time goes." I use this phrase way too much, but that is truly how I feel. I look at photos of my childhood and wonder where that time went. Those endless days just evaporated before my eyes. Now I feel the same way with my children. Our oldest child will be 14 this year. Our middle son will be 9. And our BABY just turned 5 today. Where does the time go??

I don't have any baby photos on this computer...they are sitting on the hard drive of that computer over there....on the floor...the computer that crashed last year and we haven't quite pulled everything off of it yet. So, here are some photos of A when she was about 12 months old to current. Enjoy!

Here's looking at you babe!

(These are the glasses my middle child made in kindergarten to celebrate 100 days of school. Not sure why he chose to strategically place that letter "k" in his line of vision...A looked cute in them though!

Oh yah? Can you do this?
I'd never seen a child do this before...and neither had our pediatrician. A would stick the nipple end of one passy through the ring of another and put the nipple in her mouth. She just liked them this way. She also created "passy chains" by hooking 3 and 4 together like this. Interesting...

Notice the little horses on her dress? She no longer wears dresses unless bribed with ice cream. Yes, she is my daughter...I don't like to wear dresses, either.

Fish lips!

Ah yes, and her favorite super hero is Batman. She even asked for a Batman cake this year....I'm not sure if Daddy is going to allow that though. He feels a Batman cake for a little girl is just too much. Let's see if he can convince her otherwise. :)

"A the Builder."

She is always ready to help out around the house. It seems as though she prefers power tools, too. This is the "I'm bored and ready to get to work" look.

One of my favorite views of A. I LOVE to see her on the pony! :)

Oops....just a little tired here. Must have had a full day at the barn!

A! Quit picking on that manikin! He can't defend himself!

(She thought this was hysterical - a manikin her size!)

Who can resist those freckles and curls? Her Daddy sure can't, for one! :)

(I find it hard to, myself.)

Cousins - there's no better friend than your own kin! :)

She even loves her middle brother sometimes - like when he agrees to carry her all over the sidelines of the soccer field on his back!

Spending some time with her namesake and Great-Grandmother....absolutely priceless.

Nothing like dancing on the beach!

Or holding a baby shark!

(The shark was not harmed in the making of this photo.

It was quickly released back into the ocean.)

Occasionally A will agree to be a little princess...this was for a friend's birthday party.

This is the serious soccer stance.

This is using funky arms and stealing the ball from all of her team mates to score a goal.

This is the sign that she thinks its okay to steal the ball from her team mates right after Dad fusses at her not to steal the ball from her team mates.

This is my sweet girl helping to fill holes in our hopefully-soon-to-be-horse-pasture.

No, she really didn't go to Marti Gras and get all those beads...her Grandma had them. :)

Notice the war paint on her face? A had the lovely idea of getting mud from the lake and painting it on her face....the hand prints were really cute, but a bit on the smelly side.

One happy girl after receiving her soccer trophy and a cupcake to celebrate the end of the soccer season!

Fun in the snow.

This is the second time in her life she has seen snow. We don't get much snow in the south.

All dressed up for the Father/Daughter Dance on Valentines' Day.

Yes, it took LOTS of ice cream to get her in this dress.

She was adorable. And a bit silly.

Looking cute for the camera at her oldest brother's soccer game on March 11

(where he scored his first goal EVER!)

Going down the courthouse stairs in Westville, Georgia this past weekend.

A and her walking stick in Providence Canyon from this past weekend as well.

I would have uploaded the photos from her small family birthday party tonight, but as I was cooking dinner, I placed a hot pan on the side of the sink. For some reason, A went over to it and put her lips on it! It burned her bottom lip very badly. I immediately administered ice, but it swelled and blistered very quickly. There were lots of tears tonight, through dinner, through blowing out her big "five" candle, and through opening her gift. I felt awful and didn't have the heart to look at those photos. A was very excited to get her "snuggie" though. That was one of several things she had on her list. We have her big birthday party on Sunday. Hopefully we won't have any mishaps and I can post some happy photos.

Once again, I just don't know where the time goes. It seems like only yesterday A was just a tiny little wiggly, adorable baby we were getting to know. Now she is already 5 and excited about starting kindergarten in August. She is an amazing blessing and I will do my best to cherish every moment with her, and our precious boys.

Happy Birthday, A.

I love you.

Fun with Tonto

Saturday we had extraordinarily beautiful weather and extra time to play, so I pulled little Tonto out of the pasture. He wasn't sure what to think of that, it had been so long! He certainly enjoyed the long grooming session - hair was flying everywhere and there must have been at least a hundred hair packed wads from the curry comb surrounding him. It is definitely shedding season and this little guy has A LOT of hair to shed. I should have hosed his feet off - the mud sticks so badly. I look foward to warmer weather when I can wash his tail again, too.


Since we had a few hours to enjoy, I tacked Tonto up and the kids and I walked down the gravel road to the little creek that flows under the road to the front of the neighbor's property. I just led Tonto and let him get a good look at everything. He stood fairly patiently while the kids threw rocks into the water for about 30 minutes or so.

Once we were back home, I longed him for a while. He was very well mannered, remembering his walk, trot, and halt commands. He still doesn't know how to canter on the longe, something I hope I can teach him when we have more time to spend together...anyway, once he'd been worked and I felt he had all the bugs out, my daughter wanted to get on.

Tonto was very good and I was so proud of A! I led her around for at least 20 minutes or so, working on sitting up, soft hands and elbows, stopping, turning. This is the longest she has ever ridden and she truly showed an interest. She turns 5 tomorrow, so maybe she is finally maturing enough to focus longer than just a few minutes. I wanted to keep it fun and not bore her, so we stopped when she wanted to. Her little legs are so short, they don't reach below the saddle flaps!

It's time to get her some paddock boots and jodhpurs, it looks like! :)

I think it will be a few years before she outgrows Tonto...and that is a really good thing!

Tonto will be 14 this year, so as he ages, he continues to get better. He was quite green when we bought him over 7 years ago and rather skittish. He's had ample time to settle over the past several years.

I think they make a cute pair!

Tonto was enjoying a good neck scratch while Ashlee put her head on his neck. Mom snapped the photo as Ashlee was sitting up -

A is very proud of herself!


Then it was B's turn to ride. Yes, the shorts and dairy boots make a funny combo, but hey, he wanted to ride and I wasn't turning him down!

It's time for him to start riding Tonto regularly, too!

B had so much more confidence this time and wanted me to turn him loose. I still don't quite trust Tonto in the pasture and we don't have an arena, so I ended up putting him on the longe line so we could work on walk/halt transitions.

B is focusing on learning to turn:

(I wish I had been able to upload the videos. I believe the files were too large.)

It will be so nice to have the ponies in the back yard so we can play with them more than once every few months. I was thrilled that both A and B wanted to ride this time...and I was proud of them for listening to instructions. They tried so hard to catch on to what I was trying to explain. Maybe there is hope? :)

Happy Spring and Happy Riding!