Charlie pup is growing!

I swear I think he is growing while he sleeps! Look at those long legs, he is already bigger than Gonzo and Petey. Into everything too and picks on the other dogs. Lucy doesn't tolerate it much and she will put him in his place really quick when she has had enough of his silliness!

Looks like he has found something interesting in the grass. He loves to chew sticks and anything else he can find, carries rocks around the yard too. He has discovered the creek and you can't keep him out of it.

Charlie saying hello to Pokey. Pokey is probably thinking he has another dog to train to stay out of his field. Right now Charlie is afraid of donkey and won't go in the field if he is close by.

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago and he has grown more since then and his ears are both standing up. At least they do from time to time, they aren't sure how they want to be. Up and pointed like the Blue Heeler or flopped at the tips like the Australian Shepherd.

He is probably thinking of what he can get into next. He has a very active mind and is very smart and also has a stubborn streak that is typical of the Australian Cattle Dog. We went round and round trying to get him to learn the down command. He wanted to fight with me, I didn't give up and now he is pretty good at it. I have a lot of work ahead of me with this one, any advise on training this kind of dog would be appreciated!

New Puppy

Lucy, we have had her for many years, she came from a shelter. She has lost most of her hearing and has arthritis now but still loves to go with me when I ride. Such a good girl.

She has been a good guard for the farm and has kept many critters out of the garden and the barn. But since she has gotten older she has let the critter population build up to where we decided to get a new dog to help out with critter control.

This is Charlie.....he is 11 weeks old his mamma is an Australian Shepherd, blue meryl; his dad is a Blue Heeler. I didn't see the dad but the mom I did see, nice dog too.

 Charlie sitting in the yard the first day on the farm. He is taking it all in.

 Here he is watching Lucy who was keeping her distance. What the heck it this thing, a pesky baby! ugh!

 Laverne telling the new boy how things are on the farm. I might be little but I will bite your butt if you step out of line youngster! And she does too, jumps on him with teeth flashing!

 Charlie is a happy little boy but he is growing fast! I don't know how big he will get, the mom is about the height of Lucy but not as heavy.

 Charlie looking so innocent, he was eating a cookie. He's a smart little guy and learns very quickly. He knows where the cookie jar is and when he comes in from going out to pottie, he goes to the jar and puts one paw on it. If you don't get his cookie fast enough, he will rattle the jar with that paw.

 Watching the dogs. He never misses anything, he has learned a lot just by watching the other dogs and me too. He is one smart pup!

Buster has turned into a grumpy fur ball, he really gets after Charlie if he comes too close. These little dogs are feisty, Charlie just jumps out of their way, then comes back for more.   

Belly shots, his is tri colored and his belly looks like it belongs to another dog! Right now his fur is as soft as velvet and very thick. Wonder what kind of hair coat he will have as an adult? Love that little tail too!

 Charlie's first horse ride. I was at a fun show at a farm and he was watching with me but Adrianna wanted him to be on the horse with her. He didn't seem to mind at all. He hasn't made friends with Gilly and Pokey yet, they are still pretty scary to him but he will come around. He didn't mind this because Bailey the horse didn't try to smell him.

Love this picture, Charlie getting hugs on horseback! Check out the saddle pad, I helped the girls at summer horse camp with a craft day. I put the white corner on the pads and they glued on rhinestones on for bling. They put their names or horses names on the other side. We had fun.

Charlie sitting watching me and check out the circle by his right foot, a four leaf clover! Lucky dog!

We had gone to McDonalds before going home, I had some iced coffee and he got a water and dog cookie!!! Taking a nap on the way home.....he was one tired pup!
Jane

Another ride in the Cover All arena

 Back the first part of June Gilly and I went to take a lesson at Sheri's and rode in the Cover All arena. I love this arena, so nice inside and Sheri has the nicest footing in there...very springy and not a lot of dust at all.
What kind of lessons am I taking, just basic riding skills. I never had riding lessons of any kind when younger and I feel that I really need help in some areas....probably all areas! ha
The above picture I did some photo manipulation on it. I think it looks pretty neat.

 Gilly tacked up and ready to ride. He is such a good boy, posing for the camera, already worked on the long line and ready to go.

Putting on Gilly's bitless bridle, really good shot of him, me I'm not so sure. I think Kim, who was taking pictures, must have said something to me. I was probably saying, what?

 Love this picture of Gilly, he was really in a nice frame here and looking good. He is such a nice mover but he takes a lot of work to ride this trot, it's big and lofty.

 Trot, Gilly trot! Effortless for him, hard for me...by the end of a lesson I am wore out, he hardly breaks a sweat!

 Cantering feet, shots taken from a video.

 A little blurred but still I love seeing his feet off the ground, he has such pretty feet.

Sheri was riding Gilly here, moving along softly.
I am looking forward to going back for more lessons, it's been hot here, the horse flies are terrible so I will wait for cooler weather. I seem to have become a fair weather rider as I have gotten older....when I was a kid I didn't care what the weather or bugs were like, I rode no matter what! Not now, body also says what I can and can't do.
Even if I don't ride I can still hang out at the barn and love on my two boys, Pokey really loves that, he is a snuggle bug more so than Gilly.
Jane

Storms in Ohio

Horrific storms cut through Ohio Friday night and now we are in a state of emergency. From Columbus, Ohio to Charleston, WV it knocked out power for thousands of people. Slowly it's coming back on but we may be out for another 5 to 6 days. We have a generator but gasoline is difficult to come by right now. 

We only had some tree tops come down out here on the farm, no damage to house, barn or outbuildings. Lucky for us we have gravity fed water to the house so electric or no we still have water. So far refrig and freezer are being kept going by generator and I can get on the internet when we power up. No phones or cell phones, hard to find out what's going on out there sometimes!

Gilly and Pokey are doing well, they don't even seem to know anything is different except that they have no fan! ahh, poor boys! LOL

As long as we can find gasoline to run the generator we will be fine. Hoping that I can make a run to town, 16 miles away, to get dog food and horse food in a few days!

Jane

Gonzo the pony

Gonzo doesn't look too happy about being my model for a little sample pad. Helping out a friend with a class at summer camp and this is a sample of what we might make. I am still working out the details. Everyone can write their horses name on the piece of fabric add some bling and I will sew it to the pad. The pads will be purchased, barn colors are red, white and blue. Purchased pads are red so I will also add the white and blue.
Will post more pictures with the details are worked out.
Thanks Gonzo pony! LOL
Jane

For the Love of Donkeys

This is a picture of a little donkey who was used in donkey roping a cruel sport in Texas and I am not sure where else. How could anyone do this to a sensitive little donkey a close relative of the horse? What is the matter with people?? These little donkeys are being hurt by this, broken legs, disfigured from the scaring on their necks from the ropes.....this is horrific and it must be stopped!

http://horseandman.com/people-and-places/aw-cmon-really-donkey-roping-another-stoopid-human-trick/

Below I have copied a link from "Horse and Man" a web blog that I read. Please go there and read about this. There is also a link to a petition that you can go to and sign. Also the address of the local newspaper and the chamber of commerce and the owner of the donkeys. Please, please sign the petition to stop this cruel sport.....if you love Pokey do this for his relatives!!!!

I can not imagine someone doing this to my little donkey, he would be so frightened it would scar him for life....mentally and physically.

Please, please go sign the petition....Pokey and I are asking for your help!!!!
Jane

I'm still here.....just not on here

I have been slacking in my posting....a lot! Have been doing lots of things just haven't been posting, sometimes writing just seems like too much work to do after a long day.

I have been making more saddle pads and sold some, Gilly and I have been doing some work. Even did some cantering and I am learning to try and be more balanced so both of us can have better rides. If I am out of balance I throw him off so he stops, can't say I blame him.

Nice trot Gilly!

We even cantered and it felt good. Went to Sheri's to take a lesson in the CoverAll arena, so nice......wish I would hit the lottery then maybe....yea, right! LOL

Some more saddle pads.....

These two pads I made for my neighbor Kim and her horse Messina. Like the last one, kind of whimsical don't you think? Flower Power and Peace signs!

This one is all wool made for an eventing friend. White wool and pink wool stars with black trim.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one! My husband who is a non-active Marine who served in Viet Nam inspired this one. Love the military swallow tail and the emblem so classy! This one is for sale on my Etsy store GillyWear

Army pad, special order. Love the look of the tail on these pads.

This is Gilly's fun pad! I found this fabric and just had to have it, color is so different and love the wild running pony's on it. Trimmed this one out in a sparkly purple fabric. I haven't used it yet but in two weeks me and Gil are going to a clinic with Karen Musson so Gil will get to wear some new "clothes".
Hope I can get back in the groove of writing and posting. Got lots of pictures and will be going back and forth with posts.
Hope everyone had a good Easter....we did!!!
Jane and the boys

New Years Ride

Well, the weather was pretty nice and I got to ride out the old year and ride in the new year! Short ride but hey, I still rode from one year to the next, even if it was only 15 minutes! haha Don't have too many good pictures, camera operator was having problems. Since he doesn't take pictures very often he was photo challenged! But that's OK, we got some to document the event.

Here is Gilly's mail order, purple hair extensions. The really are purple although they look blue in the picture, night shots sometimes don't turn out too well. Now there is a BIG butt for you, that Gilly is one big boy! I put these in his tail a couple of hours before I rode. I called them into the barn to see if I had to clean Gilly up before hand, went ahead and added the fancy tail decorations. I was hoping that Pokey didn't spy them and chew them or tear them out. I gave them some hay to keep them busy until I came to get Gilly out. The "hair" is synthetic and I found them on Amazon, under $3 each so I couldn't resist, I bought 5!

As Mike took this picture the camera caught his breath which made an interesting picture. Gilly has glowing eyes and the white spot on me is the reflector strip on my winter gloves. Gilly was a good boy for me, he probably remembered from last year that it was going to be a short ride!

Pokey standing back in the shadows, again swirling mist, good effects from the camera man.

Gilly looking worried here. Mike was shooting a pistol, I got off before hand just in case he decided to get beside himself and have a bad spook. He did pretty well but was snorting and blowing. See video below pictures.

Ahhhh, the smell of gunpowder! Gilly seems to like that smell, he would take a sniff then turn his head away then come back to smell again. In the end he curled up his lip, LOL, must have smelled good...I kind of like the smell of gunpowder myself. We will keep working with gunfire, I want him to get used to it sometime want to be able to shoot a pistol from his back.

You can hear Gilly's bell necklace jingle has he moves around. He did pretty good, flinched a lot and danced some; I love the snorting and blowing. Notice near the end he is licking his lips and he is on a loose rein.
Happy New Year!
Jane