The adventures of Gilly the rescue horse and his side kick and partner in crime, Pokey the donkey.~~~
Being with a horse is a journey that never ends. What they have to teach us is amazing; but we must quiet our mind to hear them. ~ jca
*****
I had intended to post this a few days ago but we had an ice storm, then snow so we were without power for 30 hours; some around here are still without power. We do fine when this happens because we have a very big generator and it will run the whole house. Mike got one this large several years ago just for that reason and we have power outages a lot out here in the country.
The above picture is a pen and ink drawing that I did in 1968 in art class at school. The summer before I had been to an Arabian horse ranch in Arizona when visiting family there.
This was from the same time period as the one above but this is a linoleum block print of a drawing.
This picture was taken on my way to the Homecoming parade in 1967, I was 16 years old. I had been in Arizona visiting an aunt and uncle for the summer. I had bought the Indian blanket and the new hackamore for Trigger. Boy, I sure did love that horse, he was my first horse; paint or pinto (deep red and white with two blue eyes)
This is the last picture of Trigger that I have. He was 17 years old and I had sold him to a family years before; he wasn't ridden then, he was just out to pasture with the cows. Our daughter Jennifer is sitting on his back and my niece Brenda is on the other side of Trigger. Trigger died the following year.
This is Copper the second horse I had and the little calf is Willie. Copper thought this was her baby, she never had a baby but I think she would have been a wonderful mom.
We bottle fed Willie and when he was finished he would turn to Copper and nurse! She had no milk but he thought that by working at it long enough he would get more to eat. That never happened; when he got older and much bigger he would butt her to let down the "milk", Copper finally said, "Hey, kid....enough already! It's time you are weaned." She kicked him a few times and that put a stop to nursing! She was very protective of him even when he was much bigger.
This is a picture that I had on another post of Copper pulling a sleigh. That was so much fun! Gilly you are going to learn to do this someday! If I had a sleigh and harness now this would be a good time to teach him, we had a lot of snow now!!
Copper when she was 12, she had filled out quite a bit by then but she was a small horse. Not near the size of Big Gilly.
In looking for pictures of a dog I came across some old pictures of old horses; and a wedding invitation from 1910. So I thought I would do a post on the past. The picture below is my great-grandfather Pinkney Abbott. I have never heard of this name before but that is what is on his tombstone. I believe there are more pictures of him somewhere........but that's another post. The barn looks to be fairly new here I don't know what the date is of the picture. I love the two mule hitch and the buckboard wagon. I wonder why the wagon tongue is so long? Anyone know, I have no clue.
Below is a picture of a wedding invitation that my grandmother had addressed to her parents; Mr. and Mrs. Silvester Helm.
The folded wedding invitation with embossed flowers and wedding bells.
Inside, with the names and dates (click on picture to see close up), it says:
Mr. and Mrs. S. Helm request your presence at the marriage of their daughter Clara Belle to Mr. Seth L. Abbott, Wednesday afternoon, June first nineteen hundred and ten at two o'clock Belpre, Ohio.
The picture below is dated June 1st 1910 the day my grandparents got married. The young girl in the picture, far left if my grandfather's sister Alice, then my grandmother, grandfather and the horse is Lady. I know this because it's on the back of the picture. The little dog, I don't know it is not named.
This is a rug I hooked that was in Early American Life Crafts Directory for 2007. I added more elements than what is in the photo; more of the farm. The orchard, the barn and the family cemetery. I moved them up on a hill behind the barn so more of the farm could be seen.
Again I don't know when this picture was taken but that is my sister in the wagon with grandpa so maybe it's in the early 40's. She and my brother stayed with our grandparents when our mom was in a sanatorium with TB; this was before I was born. Looks to be two horses but it could be a mule on the other side of the horse. No names on the back of the picture.
This is my brother when he was Arizona in 1959, the year before our mother died. He worked on a cattle ranch then, this is the only picture I have of him riding a horse. Looks like the stirrups are too short. My brother was 6'4" tall, looks like a good sized horse. I see a rope, did my brother rope cattle too? Don't know I never asked him much about this picture and now I can't; wish I had because I would like to know more now.
Ahhhh, now this one.........this is me back in 1966. How funny is this? I had been to the Belpre Homecoming Parade; this was a big thing in our town the end of summer. A parade to kick it off, carnival rides in the park, lots of food and a gathering of people, a reunion of sorts. I won a trophy that year, just for being in the parade, wow, I thought it was really something! Notice the white hooves of my horse Trigger, this was my first horse. His feet, stirrups and the reins were all done white with liquid shoe polish. Why??? Thought it looks cool I guess. Even my blanket has some kind of tinsel like glitter stuff sewn on it. My aunt and uncle in Arizona had sent me the turquiose pants, pink shirt and turquoise hat; my boots were a gift from my brother at Christmas; oh, yes I had a turquoise bolo tie too! I had taught Trigger to park out, he had to look like a show horse.
How fun looking back at the past.
"Gilly says, catch me if you can Lacy, you're IT!"
OK, this is a new one for me, I have never been tagged before...thanks Jennifer!
So,here goes........ 6 random things about myself...
1. I have been in love with horses all my life. My first horse love was a huge sorrel work horse named Prince, he lived to be 32 years old. I was 4 when I first remember seeing him.
2. My first horse was named Trigger, after Roy Rogers horse Trigger. But my Trigger was a paint with blue eyes.
3. The longest car ride I have ever take was a trip to San Diego, California. My parents drove my big brother there to a Marine base in Dec. of 1955.
4. My favorite place I have ever been to is the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
5. In high school my favorite subject was art class!
6. After not having a horse for 20 years I got a rescue colt 5 years ago. With this one, I have been bucked off, rolled on twice and so far have not had any broken bones!! That's more than the other two horses I had did to me.
Now I have to tag 6 others, (if you don't want to play that's OK....if you do that's great!)
The Doodles of My Mind
A Day in The Life
GoldieLoo Woodworks
Heart of a Cowgirl
Life at the Rough String
Black Feather Farm
I have been needing new cookware for some time and finally decided on what I wanted. Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless-Steel, bought this from Amazon.com (LOVE shopping there!) I ordered this one Friday and it came today! Wow, that was FAST!!
So I unpacked it, washed it, dried it and put it away. Is this going to make me a better cook? Don't I wish!!! But unfortunately probably not.
It's nice and shiny and it be the last cookware I will ever buy, the other cookware I had was coated with Teflon and was starting to come off, not good I am sure...wish I had found the Cuisinart cookware earlier but then it may not have been on sale!
This was such a good buy, at least I hope it was! Had been $450 and still is on sale for $147. I also ask a friend of mine who is a chef about it and she said it was wonderful cookware!
OK, now I should probably go and look for a cookbook for dummies on Amazon too. But even better would be if I could find a cook, that only cooked good healthy food that tasted delicious.........I would even clean up the kitchen!!
Where, oh, where can I find that???
I received this award the other day from "gtyyup" and just hadn't added it to the blog yet. So.......here's how it goes! Recipients of this award are bloggers who show Great Attitude and/or Great Gratitude in their blog. Thank you "gtyyup" for the honor~~
So, this is how the Lemonade Stand award works...
1. You must add the logo to your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show Great Attitude and/or Gratitude.
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link this post to the person from who you received your award.
Here's who I pick to pass the Lemonade Stand on to~~~~~~~
1. Mary's View
2. Gypsy Mare Studio
3. Black Feather Farm
4. The Prairie House Primitives
5. The Doodles of My Mind
6. notforgotten farm
7. A Day in the Life
8. Thistlebrooms
9. All Horse Stuff
10. Goldie Loo Woodworks
Now, many may not like to play along, and that is fine...please don't feel obligated.
Cheers!!! Enjoy your very own Lemonade Stand!!
(copied this from gtyyup she said it so well)
What started out as a fun day for the horses on Tuesday turned into something I sure didn't expect!
Took Gilly and Pokey to Kim's to play in the snow with Lacy until time for their hooves to be trimmed. This is something we do every 6 weeks; the hoof trim and play time for the critters. Lacy was really wound up and Kim thought she could keep her out from under the back shed while I brought Pokey and Gilly in to be turned loose. Not a good idea, as it turned out. Kim tried to keep Lacy back but she bolted under the shed roof and headed straight for Gilly. For some reason she likes to beat him up if she can, well he was having none of that and kicked back as she tried to bite him. Then he bolted forward and out into the pasture; in his hast to get away from trouble he smashed me up against a wooden shelf. It spun me around, so my chest was against the shelf and then Lacy decided to kick at Gilly. She missed him and caught me square in the back and ribs! I had a very heavily padded coat on so that absorbed some of the force of the kick and she was pretty close to me, thank goodness. Boy, oh, boy did that ever hurt!!!! I didn't hear anything snap so I figured I didn't have any broken bones. I figured I would be OK but sure was sore.
As you can see from some of the pictures Gilly is trying his best to stay out of Lacy's reach. She chased him around the field, trying to get Pokey separated from Gilly; Pokey wasn't having any of that. He always managed to slip around her and come back to Gilly.
Gilly is still running from the mean mare and Pokey is just standing with his eyes shut, wondering what all the fuss is about!
Gilly strutting his stuff with Pokey in tow. Look at how flexible Gilly's tail is.
More of Gilly showing off. He loves to run and play on flat land, since our field is very hilly when he comes down to Kim's he loves to run and run.
Pokey is getting his little hooves trimmed and isn't to sure that he likes it; but he did very well this time and stood good for Mike to trim him. As long as I rubbed his neck and ears he seemed pretty contented. (behind me is the wooden shelf I was smashed against.)
Big Gilly is getting his feet trimmed and he was good too. His feet have come a long way since we first started the "barefoot" trim. He has beautiful big strong feet now!
A little advertising for Mike...............
Taking the boys home. This was about noon and the stiffness and aching in my ribs was getting worse. Still I thought I could tough it out.
About 4:30 I called my daughter at work and told her what had happened and she said I had better to and have my chest X-rayed. On thinking about it I decided it was a good idea because if the pain got really bad it could be a long night.
When Mike came home we got into the truck and headed to the emergency room. I had quite a few X-rays which showed no breaks or cracks in any bones, thank goodness. Then I got a pain shot, felt like a swarm of bees stung my butt!!! OUCH!!! In about 15 minutes I didn't much care about anything but going home. Stopped by a pharmacy to fill a perscription for pain medicine.
Mike has been feeding Pokey and Gilly in the morning for me, it takes me awhile to get limbered up and ready to face the cold we are having. Cleaning up the barn takes some doing, my ribs, back and chest are really sore so it's hard to lift my right arm to do much. I figure if I keep working at it I will work through the soreness; but just wish it wasn't in the teens and windy! Makes for a hurried job at the barn! Gilly and Pokey don't seem to mind the cold, they eat their hay and venture outside for awhile before it's time for supper. Lucy has been sleeping in the snow!!! She has an insulated dog house to sleep in but doesn't go in it much.........she must have one heck of a good heavy coat of hair!
This is a view from my yoga teachers house, well, her yard down below the front of her house. The river in the picture is the beautiful Ohio River and the partial view of a flat field is her riding arena. With, I might add, a view of the river. You can't see the fence around the arena because of the trees.
As we came up the drive that curved around the hillside this is the view of the back of Vicki's house. Her grandfather built it in the 1920's patterned after an English Country Manor; mostly all stone. It's beautiful! Her dance/yoga studio is in the basement and it's big and gorgeous!
Here is a part of the front of the house, will have to take more pictures in the spring when the weather is nicer and the lighting is better. It was dreary, cold and very windy when we were there.
This is Vicki and her horse Ben, yes his name is just Ben and his is taller than big Gilly, about 17 hands. A beautiful dark dappled silver gray. What a good horse he is too and knows some tricks. He will kiss, hug (really he does hug you; curves his head and neck around to hug you, cool!!!) will also pawl the ground with one foot or the other depending on which one you point at. Ben is about 6 months older than Gilly and in dressage training. Will try to get a better picture of him this spring or summer.(wish the gate hadn't been in my road!)
How would you like to have a big 1,200 pound plus horse give you a kiss??? Now I love my horse but I'm not sure I would try this! Ben curls his lip and puts it right on Vicki's mouth, then he gets a carrot for being a good boy. Maybe there should be a warning on this picture......
KIDS, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!! I think I'll pass, not sure if I would trust either of mine at this time to do that.
More about the class at another post.
You will have to look closely at this picture. Pokey has a big stick in his mouth that he stole from beside the gate. I was using the stick to reach under the fence and get their rubber feed tubs. Somehow Pokey got it, he has the stick in his mouth and he hit Gilly on the head several times with it.
I tried to get more pictures of him in action but he would stop or drop the stick when I opened the door to snap a picture. I also in my hast to get out the door picked up my small Kodak camera instead of my big Canon so the picture isn't as good as it would have been with the big camera.
Not only was he playing with a stick but also had decided that the rubber feed tubs would be good things to play with. He picked his up first by an edge and was shaking it around and slinging it back and forth. Well, this got me to thinking that Pokey can by my trick donkey instead of Gilly. I just have the feeling that Gilly would use the tricks against me, like laying down and rolling over at a most inopertune time.....when I was on his back! Pokey on the other hand isn't going to be ridden so he can learn all kinds of tricks. A trick donkey, how fun!!! Now if I can just get Pokey to cooperate, he may have other ideas though.
I had intended to post this a few days ago but we had an ice storm, then snow so we were without power for 30 hours; some around here are still without power. We do fine when this happens because we have a very big generator and it will run the whole house. Mike got one this large several years ago just for that reason and we have power outages a lot out here in the country.
This was from the same time period as the one above but this is a linoleum block print of a drawing.
This picture was taken on my way to the Homecoming parade in 1967, I was 16 years old. I had been in Arizona visiting an aunt and uncle for the summer. I had bought the Indian blanket and the new hackamore for Trigger. Boy, I sure did love that horse, he was my first horse; paint or pinto (deep red and white with two blue eyes)
This is the last picture of Trigger that I have. He was 17 years old and I had sold him to a family years before; he wasn't ridden then, he was just out to pasture with the cows. Our daughter Jennifer is sitting on his back and my niece Brenda is on the other side of Trigger. Trigger died the following year.
This is Copper the second horse I had and the little calf is Willie. Copper thought this was her baby, she never had a baby but I think she would have been a wonderful mom.
We bottle fed Willie and when he was finished he would turn to Copper and nurse! She had no milk but he thought that by working at it long enough he would get more to eat. That never happened; when he got older and much bigger he would butt her to let down the "milk", Copper finally said, "Hey, kid....enough already! It's time you are weaned." She kicked him a few times and that put a stop to nursing! She was very protective of him even when he was much bigger.
This is a picture that I had on another post of Copper pulling a sleigh. That was so much fun! Gilly you are going to learn to do this someday! If I had a sleigh and harness now this would be a good time to teach him, we had a lot of snow now!!
Copper when she was 12, she had filled out quite a bit by then but she was a small horse. Not near the size of Big Gilly.
