turn a page

For many years I have enjoyed Lesley Harrison-Keller's "Spirit of Horses" calendar. The name, is what she portrays with her equine art. Each month I turn a page to reveal a new horse spirit captured and eagerly read the caption that gives a little insight to it's significance, my favorite part. I don't allow myself to preview the paintings (other than a quick glimpse at the beautiful heavy card stock envelope packaging) - what fun would that be??
  
I enjoy her art so much that I can't bare to part with past years calendars, they are that beautiful. I would love to see some originals in person. Co-workers complement my calendar periodically, and as of today I'm good to go for another year of dreamy views!! If you have not seen one of her calendars before, take a look - it's worth it. I went to school for art, and there isn't one painting I've seen over the many years that isn't spot on, and "takes me away" at some key point throughout the month it's displayed. Harrison-Keller is a very talented artist who uses pastels and oil to evoke emotion from the viewer, here is a link to her website Lesley Harrison-Keller

making progress

Are you tired of trailer loading? That makes three of us - you, me and Koda. Thursday was warm-ish and dry, we took the trailer down and loaded them up at night - that was a first. Brad recently mounted flood/loading lights on the trailer, which added for a new dimension. They both handled it well, altho the light brings them both to an abrupt "blinding" hault - the lights aren't that big or bright, but still gets that reaction.

Of course Koda took longer to load than Nemo - testing both humor and patience. He is such a two year old. If he wasn't side stepping so his shoulder blocked the divider, he was putting his head on the wrong side, or stretching his neck while turning his head upside down and making goofy faces (if only I had my camera) - really horse? Do you think I am going to buy that? Pretending he was sleeping didn't work either. In the end, Koda willingly loaded, stood, and waited until being asked to back out. We have yet to secure him, latch the strap, and close the door - once all that happens smoothly we will be back to where we left off.
WI continues to get a ton of rain, the local farmers are worried about crops. The wooded patch in the boys pasture has standing water, the round pen and open pasture are muddy. Good thing they have some higher ground to graze around, as well as a dry shelter. Today wasn't as warm, but at least it didn't rain. We fed them a trailer breakfast - Koda did really well and actually finished first, mainly because Brad and Nemo were socializing. Tonight, you guessed it - we took the trailer down and loaded them up again. Same story different night, shorter two year old antics. We successfully loaded, and when asked to back out he did it s-l-o-w-l-y...I am happy to say we are making progress.

sunny sunday

It's been a very wet and busy Fall to date, leaving us with little time to do anything other than chores - hence the lack of blog posts. I'm sure reading "it's raining again" and "we fed and hugged our horses today" would get boring in a hurry. However, this sunny Sunday we were able to spend some quality time with Nemo & Koda!!

Among other things, we hauled the trailer down, put their shipping boots on and fed them breakfast. Sounds easy? Well it is for Nemo, he has no problem with it. Loads up, stands, with or without the door closed - he's a quick learner and gets it. We ended up taking our second mini-road trip to our house with just him. Koda stayed in the pasture, the dogs didn't get to play this time either. Koda & Nemo winney'ed across the fields to each other, so I guess today served as a lesson on seperation as well.

Fuzzy Nemo helping mow our lawn.
Side note; just noticed today, his mane has finally grown a little!

Koda continues to struggle with the trailer. He will load, and stand, but frequently does the panic back out thing... We do get to the point of easy loading, standing long enough to be able to ask him to back out/reload etc - almost long enough to even be able to put the butt strap on and close the door...but what we have now is different opinions. I'm the reason he didn't get to go on the mini-road trip. I don't think he is ready, any resistance and he panics. I think he needs extra time, and deserves it considering "we" helped create the situation that set him back.

He was sweet when we returned, and very willing to do whatever I asked - so, we spent more time in the trailer. Guess it wasn't much fun being left behind in the pasture. Maybe I'm wrong not to take the next step, but I much rather he do it semi-relaxed than force the situation. It's not fun watching your horse freak out. What would you do, any suggestions on our trailer loading predicament?

borrow freedom

This quote reminds me of how much I miss riding:

In riding a horse, we borrow freedom. ~ Helen Thompson
I've never thought of riding that way, but it's so true. I look forward to feeling free again, someday...savoring the moment when time stands still, yet goes so fast, forever wishing it would last.

Do you relate to a particular horse quote?

I don't have a favorite, not really a quote person - that would require remembering them!! However I enjoy reading them, they make me think of how I personally relate to the message. Do share, if you have one.

hay shower

I'm happy to say I finally had a night off this week, where I could see the boys! The crisp fall air added to their energy - they came a'running...my pictures turned out too blurry to share, but here is a short video.



I wonder what they thought when I attempted to toss hay into the bunk, and ended up taking a shower instead. It was pretty funny, and would have made a much better video. I'm still finding hay in my hair. Can I blame it on the slippery mud?

seeing double

I get teased because I check on our horses with binoculars. Words like stalker, peeping tom, your obsessed, what are you looking at (duh, the horses) have dissipated and been replaced with chuckles, and the occasional mention of getting me a high power telescope for better viewing. Very funny. It’s brief, it’s random, and it’s harmless.

Is it really that weird anyway? Before you answer that, know that between us and the horses are farm fields – that’s it. Even if you do think it’s weird, I don’t. I love my horses, and I’m mainly checking to make sure the gate remains closed, and as of late that Nemo hasn’t decided to see if he can jump any higher.

Now, if I had regularly scheduled viewing sessions – say, every 30 minutes, with a recliner set-up by the window, in a dark room – that might classify as obsessed. But, it’s far from the case. I'm really just looking, and hoping to see double - safe horses that is. See above, they look fine don't they? So call me what you want, I will continue checking on my horses upon occasion – just hope I don’t stub my toe on the recliner next time ;) jk

why jump?

Nemo jumped out of the pasture yesterday…my brother-in-law found him close-by and put him back in the pasture (thanks Jay!). He said the gate was closed, and could see where he had jumped out based on the tracks. Hubby did chores without me last night due to a family commitment, so Detective Aurora wasn’t able to investigate the situation. Brad checked Nemo out to make sure he was okay, and also saw the hoofprints where he had escaped. Guess the ground is a little higher in that area. Nemo had some scrapes on his legs, but thankfully nothing major.
Why would a horse jump out of their pasture?
Yes, I know – to get to the other side. But seriously why leave your best buddy, the back lush pasture, supplement hay, water, and shelter? I can only think of one reason, something scared him enough to jump out. If he wasn’t a gelding, I could think of another reason. Or maybe if he was starving and saw greener grass on the other side, but trust me they are very well fed.
I’m not sure we’ll ever know why he jumped out. I only know we’ll try to prevent it from happening again, while we keep a watchful eye for roaming critters.