Coy, Renny and Me

Here is a goofy picture of Team Rengade.  I don't deserve the happiness that's been gifted to me this summer.  Beth said that I could have Coy come and train my little pony.  Stacey has been so helpful and nice with her perspective.  Friends have offered good wishes and come to see the training.  Lexie came to visit and cheer us on.  Kelsey offered to help with his sale video.  Emily gives sage medical advice. Todd helped give Renny a nice safe working pony trim.  And my little boy has been an angel.  He has taken on the life of a working pony with grace, ease and intelligence.  He has had compliments heaped on him.  He's been called the world's best green pony.  He's been called handy, good-minded, intelligent, light, responsive, balanced.  It's been a ridiculously happy time in my life this summer.

Renny and Me as a Team!

I haven't written in a very long time and so much has happened this summer.  I wouldn't even know where to begin.  So, let me just say that I am writing this post on the first week of class, the day after my 5-year anniversary from my accident with Hailee, in the week of the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, after a month of Coy training Renny.  And this photo says it all -- today I rode my little handsome wonderful pony who I love so very much.  He is light, responsive, lovely, delightful.  He's all that and a bag of chips!

My Secret Hope

I secretly hope that one day, Violet gets to be a dam.  She'd be tremendous and loving at the job.

My King of the Family

Okay, so I'm writing this entry on July 7th and we are in the middle of a heat wave -- it's stifling hot and very creepy.  And what makes me happy is that even though it's like being in an oven, my little king of the family still prefers to sleep with me.  He is at the foot of the bed and several times in the early morning, he will do the customary walk across my chest and stop for cuddle and purr.  I am blessed to have this fine cat as the head of my family!

Pleased with Grandma

Here's my Renny, nose shoved happily in the grass, giving Grandma a comfortable satisfied glance.  He is in charge of his little corner of the universe.  He's the definition of happy camper!

Taking Care of My Foundation Mare

So, I'm not proud of this fact, but I have to report that my beautiful foundation mare has been neglected as compared to my other two horses.  Her farrier told me she had thrush and I haven't been treating her.  So, Hailee's thrush became serious enough that her frog was compromised and a bubble of sensitive tissue came up. So, she is now being treated every day with an antibiotic wash, providoine rub, thrushbuster and vet skin spray.  For five days, I would wrap her feet in animalintex, vet wrap, and duct tape, but now I simply treat her feet.  She looks so happy when I do anything with her that I feel pretty bad that she's feeling left out.  I need to give her more attention. So, today it's about 98 degrees, so after work, I'm going out to see her and give her a nice cool bath!

Renny and Parker

Here's a June photo of my beautiful red Renny and his friend, Parcour.  I am writing this in early July while I am waiting to see if he managed a spot in the American Classic Hunter Pony Auction in Lexington.  It's not looking good for him!  I may have to coordinate another way to sell him.  But anyway, he's the busiest little guy lately.  He had to pose for pictures and take video for his sale blog portfolio.  He's had to practice long-lining some more and wearing his saddle and longing.  And this Friday, his friend Coy is coming to help him learn to load onto a trailer quietly. And then his friend at St. George, Kelsey, is going to work with me to sack him and back him!  He's going to have a busy two months.  Plus Stacey helped make him beautiful by pulling his mane and making it thinner and shorter -- which broke my heart, but still made me proud at his handsomeness.  Anyway, he's growing up, albeit reluctantly.  And I have to say this -- when I go up to his stall and see him, he's just gorgeaus.  He has a great looking body, handsome face, and he just radiates intelligence.  He is a beautiful creature.

Violet Saves the Day!

This weekend, while we were jumping, Violet and I had our first near mishap! I was feeling all nervous about her enthusiasm, energy and speed, so I was really holding her and bearing down on her as she approached the jumps.  And there's this one jump she just wants to take at top speed.  So, I accidently held her while we were going over and she tripped.  Her head went down as she tried to recover and I fell forward hard.  I couldn't quite grip her neck and I was slipping to the left and all confused. When Baker gave a shout to sit up! And so then Violet and I both popped up like we had strings attached to ourselves.  And she bounded across the arena all girlish and confused.  And I didn't fall off!!!  It was amazing.  I know I will fall off, but I was happy to learn two things from this near fall.  First, I really need to get comfortable with Violet's style and strengthen my seat for her enthuasiastic big jumps.  Second, my seat isn't as bad as I pretend!  My upper body fell forward, but my seat was pretty strongly attached to my girl.  I was able to recover from a trip and bounding leaps!  Yay me, yay Violet and yay Team Tenderness!

Violet, Me and Team Tenderness!

Here is a video from early Spring, of Violet being a game young girl for Jill Jewett's clinic with Katie Pohlman.  Lots has happened since then.  Violet and I started jumping and we have gone over crossrails and verticals.  She's a wonderful square honest girl.  I've been loving it!  But actually, she's become so good at it that I am going to have to become a stronger rider and develop my core. 
Violet gets eager and excited and wants to rush the jumps a bit. She's not being naughty; she just really loves jumping.  Her entire energy is that she's willing to go up to and over that jump!  But because she's so fast, I'm a bit nervous, so I have to work on having a very solid seat and an appreciation for her good energy.

Anyway, I am writing this right after July 4th and I've had a great week with the herd.  I saw Ashley ride Violet in a lesson and Violet worked 6 days in a row.  Over the holiday weekend, Violet and I worked on jumping and dressage patterns.  And I can honestly say that she and I had a breakthrough.  She's finally really getting what it means to give her face softly without locking her jaw and to work hard to be responsive to my leg without leaning on it.  She is happy to get off my leg when she wants to lay on it and throw down.  In fact, last night at lessons, Stacey said she had nothing to say, we were working so well at our spiraling circles!

The Walkway

Here are my girls, with Lacey and Shaolin, walking along to get to the front pasture.  They really live in a beautiful place.  I am so glad to know that they are happy, safe, and comfortable.

My Baby Columbine

So, I love columbine and each year a little patch of it pops up here and there.  But this year, I'm having some troubles.  This one giant columbine I had just got uprooted and then another one got trampled by Zelia because it was in a high traffic zone.  And the many many packets of columbine seeds I've planted over the past two years, don't seem to be yielding anything.  So, each year it's a struggle to nurture this species.  But here's a new little recruit that popped up this year beneath my Maple treet.  Which reminds me, I once told my friend that I was having a hard time identifying the tree in my backyard.  And he asked me, is the leaf shaped like a Maple Leaf like on the Canadian flag.  I said yes.  He said, "Well, then it's a Maple Tree."  Excellent.

About to Touch Grams

I'll never be able to express what an honest pure joy it always is to enter the pasture and step out onto the beautiful grass and have this handsome boy leave his grazing to come and greet me with his ears forward and his kissing freckle ready for a smooch! 

Hailee's Pricked Ears

Hailee is such a beautiful creature.  I wish that I were able to breed her again and enjoy another foal with her.  She receives compliments all the time.  Beth thinks she has a beautiful face and Ashley loves her personality.  I am so proud of my quiet soulful foundation mare!

My Space Warrior Thoroughbred

I was worried about Violet's eyes, so I found her fly mask.  She likes it immediately.  She seemed to have perfect clarity about what the mask was for.  I think the bright sun must have been bothering her eyes.  Anyway, this girl is learning a new talent with eager calm.  She and I have been taking jumping lessons regularly now.  I am no pro, but I will say this -- I can jump an entire course of cross-rails (low ones) at a canter, and I can do a lesson where I do a circle of jumps at a canter several times.  I am working on getting the roach out of my back and the curve out of my shoulders and the hovering problem of wanting to hold her harder than I should.  I need to get stronger.  But Violet is a natural talent!  She is eager about the work and straight and true and enthusiastic.  She has no interest in balking or stopping at the jump.  She moves true and swift and calmly to and over them.  And if I look in the right direction, she is happy to land on the right lead.  She's a sweetheart!  What's funny is that sometimes, she just randomly likes to jump way bigger than she needs to!  She's probably imagining herself at Rolex!  What a good beautiful girl!  I love her.  And because of Cheri, Baker and Stacey, I can say that I know what it feels like to ride a thoroughbred over jumps, my own beloved sweet red thoroughbred!

My Favorite Forelock

So, here's a little photo of Renny's handsome forelock and broad intelligent forehead.  This pony is super smart and adorable.  I've been talking with Beth and she is giving me lots of good advice about how to approach selling him.  And she's going to help me with either the auction or another sale option, if that falls through.  She's giving me advice about photos to use, how to pick the videos, what to emphasize in the ad.  And last night, June 29th, she talked with me about working with Kelsey to give him about 6 weeks of backing work.  To start him with sacking and a rider, so that by the time he meets potential buyers, he's willing to at least walk and trot with a rider.  I was sort of stunned, but I have to admit that I'm also a little excited to imagine that I might actually know what it feels like to ride Renny before he finds a new home.  I am really happy at St. George.  They provide such a safe fun educational environment and they are so experienced.  They have two trainers on site!  It's a wonderful place for my herd.

Ren and Parker

The past few weeks have been really busy.  I am writing this entry on June30th and I've been working hard for Renny.  Beth suggested that I try to get him into the American Hunter Pony Classic auction in conjunction with the Pony Finals, so I hired a photographer to take some video and photos of him, and we had him pose, longe, trot-in-hand, saddle, jump over cavaletti and I put in his application.  I'm as of this moment waiting to find out if he makes the auction.  This week I have to get a little video footage of him figure-8ing on long-lines and letting me "drive" him around the farm, so that we can post that to his sale portfolio blog. 

And what's been happening is that he's been getting handsomer and handsomer.  When he gets led in from pasture, he just looks so long and lean and relaxed and sexy and powerful and elegant and athletic.  I think he's going to be a truly handsome remarkable show pony.  And everyone knows that he's going to be on the market soon, so people are always telling me cute little Renny stories.  How he likes to mess with Ashley's boyfriend when he leads Parker and Ren in.  How he is friends with Elliott, Stacey's horse.  How he likes to cause hijinks and make all the boys run around.  How he's a real sport.  I just truly love Renny.  He has literally been just a miracle in my life over the past few years.  I can hardly believe there was a time when I was hoping and praying for Hailee to get pregnant and now here he is in all his fabulous glory!

Renny's Birthday Cake

Here is a Memorial Weekend photo of my handsome fella having a snack and here's a photo of his May 3rd carrot coconut birthday cake -- the family specialty. He is a celebrated beloved pony and I love him so much! Namaste.

Ren Loves Grandma

Namaste.

Zelia and the Coop

Here's part of what my mornings are like -- feeding cats, feeding chickens, birds and squirrels, weeding the garden a bit, walking Zelia and giving her breakfast, and basically enjoying my tiny little Laurel Wreath Farm!

Renny's Preparations

Over Memorial Weekend, I worked with Renny and he was so good. He worked hard at walking, trotting and cantering quietly while longing. And he just was a super star at jumping over a circle of cavaletti. And he let me give him a full bath -- he was very polite in the crossties. So, I called and made his appointment this week for his professional sale videos and photos. By the end of June, I'll be working at getting the news out that he's available. I'm in no real rush to sell him and have no real expectations that I'll be able to sell him right away, but I need to start working industriously toward finding him his first post-Grandma family of happy little pig-tailed cowgirls!!

Sweet Girls who Love Mama

Here is a photo and video taken over Memorial Weekend. I love these happy girls. And I'm writing this on Wednesday, June 2nd. Yesterday, after work, I drove out to the barn to visit the herd and the girls were feeling lazy and tired after grazing in the beautiful sun all day, so they were standing by the waterer, snoozing. I stopped my car and got out and both girls perked up right away and walked over to receive a little love and some kisses. I have mares who care about me so much that they come over right away to say "hey." How cool is that!?

My Robotron

Here's my big fat sassy Violet with her new fly mask on. She doesn't mind -- she never does. She's a good girl. I wanted the fly mask because I am worried about her eyes. She has white sclera, particularly on one eye, and it's always super red at the end of a long leisurely day grazing.

My Jumping Jewel!

I haven't been keeping up with my blog as well as I should, so much detail is missing about my wonderful horses and their great life at St. George. I will have to kind of summarize. One day in early May when the days were turning more lovely, I had a private lesson with Stacey in which she said that she'd never seen me be more of a team with Violet and that she hadn't seen me ride better. We did great! And that day was our first day jumping over crossrails. Which we loved! Violet is a natural talent. So, I've had three crossrail lessons and a day of free jumping over crossrails over Memorial Day weekend with Baker and Cheri. I know that four little times of jumping over crossrails is just the inkling of a start. But what's fun and nice to report as I write this on June 2nd, is hope much fun I am having with my big eager lovely smart talented athletic girl. She jumps with earnestness and care. And sometimes she jumps "big" with real scope and a long low head and rounded back with her knees up tight. But it feels wonderful to feel her be big and strong and graceful. I want to take these lessons and get better at jumping. I am really enjoying my time with her. And what's fun is that we have been jumping courses with 5 hazards, etc. We have stepped up in just those first few lessons from jumping a single thing to having to do a pattern. I really love lessons and I super duper love Violet.

Ridiculously Cute

Here they are, the absolutely dazzling creatures who live with me.

Renny on Census Day!

Here's my April 1st pony! Sure wish I could have counted him on my household list because he sure is counted in my heart!

A Prayer for My Pony

I pray that you enjoy your time in training with me. I pray that you think of me as part of your family. And I pray that you find wonderful homes in your future where you are loved for the smart, happy, hard-working, talented boy you are! I am grateful I was there at your very birth! Namaste, my little wonderful guy! Written April 19, 2010

Gorgeaus X 2!!! Yee Hah!

Photos from November 2009, gorgeaus gorgeaus sexy girls!

Gorgeaus Zenyatta!

Wow!

Gorgeaus Ginger Punch!

Uh huh, Namaste!

Gorgeaus Rags to Riches!

Namaste.

Sunday Namaste!

Namaste from Winter 2008!