Jonah's Pony Ride

Poor Jonah is usually napping when Hyrum rides Jena. So this morning before my friend Alice and her boys showed up for pony rides, we decided we'd let Jonah take a little spin. He was super excited and once we got Jena out of the field and walked her up the driveway to cross tie her, he wanted to lead her all by himself and kept saying, "Ride it, ride it, ride it!"

Here's my budding little cowboy!

Hyrum of course had to pick a few roses to decorate "My Little Pony" with. She's such a pretty girl, especially with her shaggy winter coat all shed out. We couldn't have asked for a better pony. She's so great with the kids and has been so much fun to have. If any of you have little kids that would like to go for a ride, just give me a call or email and we'd be happy to have you over.

Lauren Sammis on Sagacious

For those of you non-equestrian readers of my blog who may not know much about Dressage, the type of riding that I do, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite Grand Prix Musical Free-Styles from a recent show in Raleigh, NC. This horse and rider combination is amazing! Lauren and Sagacious scored a 74.2% which was the top of the class. They are so fluid and make everything look so effortless! To get a horse to this level of competition takes many years of training for both horse and rider, which pretty much equates to lots of money. So although I'm no where near reaching this point in my riding career, it's always fun to have something to dream about. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do. Each time I watch it, it gives me the chills!

Videos by WarmbloodsForSale.net

Two of a Kind

My time spent house-sitting was very relaxing. Much of my day was spent hanging out with the horses and letting them graze on the lawn. It was great to be able to soak up some sun while listening to them munch on the grass. They are two of a kind and get along so well. Almost too well at times, since when they are separated, the one left in the pasture runs around whinnying until the other returns.

If you look closely at this photos you'll see that Jena is being silly and sticking her tongue out at you. What goofy personalities ponies have!

Mia's Pony Ride

After Preschool we headed over to my parent's house for pony rides. Mia had a great time, she was such a little natural!

Feeding Ben a sugar cube.

Brushing Jena and making her pretty for her ride. Take a look at all of that hair that's on the ground. She's shedding like crazy!

We were lucky to have such a sunny day for riding! Hyrum of course was more interested in Mia's "Barbie" than in riding Jena, but at least that meant they didn't fight over who got more saddle time. Thanks for spending the day with us Mia! We had a lot of fun and will have to do it again some time!

Remembering Toasted

Today marks eight years since my childhood horse, Toasted Chance, passed away. I thought about her as I went on a trailride this afternoon with Ben. We rode on the same trails that I used to ride her on. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to own her and even more blessed to own another horse today. Because of Toasted, horses will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope that I will never have to span as much time without them as I have in the past 7 1/2 years. When I got home this evening I looked through my journal and read the entry I wrote on the day she passed away. In her remembrance, I'd like to post it here to share with you.

"Thank You for Teaching Me"

For the last 10 years we have spent together

Walking through fields,

Hiking on trails,

Swimming in the ocean,

Jumping over obstacles,

Dodging tree limbs,

Fancying ourselves up for a show,

Prancing to music,

We have become ONE.

ONE HEART, ONE SOUL, ONE MIND.

Thank you for listening to all of my complaints,

For letting my tears fall over your shoulder,

For making me smile when no one else could.

For teaching me love, trust, companionship,

Confidence, courage, responsibility, dedication,

The value of hardwork, and to listen with

My whole body and soul.

You have altered my life in so many ways.

Each decision that I look back on making over the

Past 10 years held you in mind.

I wouldn't be who I am today without your presence in my life.

Now that you are gone I feel empty.

I hope you know that no one wil be able to take your place in my heart.

I only pray that we will be able to meet again someday.

With you by my side,

Together we will ride,

Through valleys and hills left untried!

I'm sorry I had to be the one to make the decision to let you go.

Please forgive me for what I have done,

I just couldn't bear to see you suffer so.

Wherever I go now in life without you

I'll always remember your

Soft nicker,

Gentle nudge,

Wet kisses,

The smell of you in the rain,

The slickness of your coat just after a bath.

But most importantly the way you'd always make me laugh!

Thank you, Toasted, for teaching me!

Update on Ben

Okay, so maybe I overreacted on my last post, but the thought of having Ben in a cast for the next 4-6 weeks really saddened me. The more I thought about it the more I realized it would be torture for not only him, but for Jena (Hyrum's pony) since she would be without her best buddy for the next month and a half. I hate to see animals suffer and will do anything in my power to help them feel better. So the idea of casting Ben's leg just so it would heal with minimal scarring proved to be very selfish on my part.

Saturday morning the vet came out to check up again on Ben's wound. After seeing the progress it made in just 3 days, she agreed, there was no reason he would need a cast. YIPPEE! I was so excited to hear such great news! Especially for the fact that I saved $1000 by not doing it! It would have cost about $500 for the cast to be put on and $400/month to have him boarded over at Barnabee Farm for hospitalized care.

I am so thankful that everything is looking better of him! I've been changing his bandage every other day and it continues to improve daily. Hopefully by next week he'll be 100% healed and I"ll be able to be back in the saddle starting in February.

Out of Commission

No, I'm not taking a break from blogging and no, I'm not laying in bed sick, it's my horse Ben who will be out of commission for the next 4-6 weeks. I am so sad for this set back, especially when it seemed like we were just getting back into a good riding routine again after the snow and my kids getting sick. Last Tuesday I took Ben on a trail ride up to Gazzam Lake and everything went well. Then on Saturday when I got him out to ride again I noticed that there was an open wound on his front left fetlock where he had an old scar. I hosed it off and applied some ointment and then had my Dad do the same for me on Sunday. Since there was no school Monday, I wasn't able to see him again until Tuesday. When I took him out yesterday it looked much worse and was swollen. I called the veterinarian and she was able to come out to look at it today. After her exam she told me that since the wound is opening along a joint, every time he flexes it causes the tissues to stretch and rip even more. Since it's along an old scar line the tissue is weaker than normal and there is a risk that the whole scar could reopen if not dealt with properly. For those that are interested here's a photo of his injury.

She suggested to have the area around the wound clipped and cleaned really well, debride the old scar tissue, suture it closed and then cast his foot for the next 4-6 weeks. Although this was not what I wanted to hear, there's really no other way for it to heal properly unless the joint is immobilized. So now we are in the process of finding out if there is a stall available for him to recuperate in at the boarding facility down the road, since keeping him here in his pasture would be too hard to keep the cast clean and dry. If all goes well he should have his cast on Saturday and he'll be out of commission until the 1st of March. Boo Hoo! The timing of this couldn't have been worse since I just received my new saddle in the mail today and am so anxious to try it out. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep it covered for now and come Spring we'll have lots to look forward too. At least this injury occurred during the winter, since riding in the cold isn't that much fun anyway. Let's just hope it warms up soon and he heals properly so we can be back in the saddle again soon.

Ben Meet Jen!

We lucked out with the weather today since it was supposed to start snowing last night and actually didn't start until late this afternoon, so we were able to go and pick up Jena as planned. She was really easy to load in the trailer, which we were so thankful for. It was so weird to see such a small horse in the trailer, she could barely reach the feeder!

After the 1/2 hour ride from Poulsbo we arrived at my parents house and she was excited to check out her new surroundings. I walked her around the yard and then took her down to the fence line to meet Ben. When Ben saw her he came running out of the barn towards us. He had his head all perked up and ears pricked forward, he was so beautiful, I wished I had recorded it but I kind of had my hands full holding an excited pony. After sniffing noses and rears they seemed to be comfortable with each other, so I walked Jena through Ben's pasture to her little paddock. Afterwards I let her loose in her paddock and she trotted the fence line taking in her new surroundings. For the rest of the day the two horses stood across the fence line from each other and didn't want to leave each other's side. It was really sweet!

Ben kissing Jena under the fence.

After lunch we went back outside and took Jena out to brush her off and go on a little ride. Hyrum loves brushing her, especially since she is so easy for him to reach. We are so excited for this new addition to our family and can't wait to go on many riding adventures together. If you have a pony loving child out there you are more than welcome to come and ride her too. She is great with kids and so much fun we just can't help but want to share her loving little self with others!