Words to live by

May I be at peace. May my heart remain open.
May I awaken to the Light of my own True Nature.
May I be healed, and May I be a source of healing for all beings.

May there be peace on earth.
May the hearts of all people be open to themselves and to each other.
May all people awaken to the Light of their own True Natures.
May all creation be blessed and a blessing to all that is.

-Buddhist prayer of unknown origin

Found this on an email I got today from the animal Reiki site. Beautiful words to live by, I think. Have a peaceful evening.
Namaste,
Jane

"Posting" for Kacy

Kacy over at All Horse Stuff wanted me to post pictures of me and Gilly "posting"; well me posting not Gilly. He is just trying to put up with my riding; which isn't very good. He is a hard horse to ride and riding English is something that I am just learning to do. Hard work! Even harder is that I am trying to train him myself and work on learning to ride the high lofty suspension he has. But I am determined to "get it"!
So here we are in the round pen doing some trotting.

The two horses I had in the past were definitely western horses, Gilly is not. I can't, and do not want to, change the way he is, so I will change me. Selling him and getting a easier horse for me to ride is out of the question; I love my rescue boy.

I am not fond of seeing myself in pictures, need to lose a lot of weight and I think I do not ride very well. My teacher says I am doing fine, it takes time a lot of time to get things right. So.....

Here you are Kacy, pictures of me and Gil just for you to see (and everyone else!) LOL

Gilly did well, as well as he can with a rider who needs help! The pictures are not very good because it was cloudy and raining and he has glowing eyes that I can't get rid of, so that is why his eyes may look really black or glowing.....sorry.


Kim came up and took pictures today for me. I went out at 8:30 am and the weather was overcast but not raining, just as soon as the saddle was on Gilly it started to sprinkle and rained harder the longer I rode. We really need the rain so I won't complain.

Gilly says, "Get this woman off me, PLEASE!!!" LOL Look at his lip sticking sideways, wonder what he was thinking???

Spring is coming!

Took this picture last week and I would say that this lilac bush thinks spring is on the way. I hope so! It was warm a few days ago but yesterday and today it's in the 30's and windy...brrrrr! Still feels like winter to me. Last week Mike ripped up the garden and made it larger; then we shoveled manure from the backhoe bucket onto it.

A dressing of manure is great for the garden, we will be putting some pelleted lime on at some point also. Last night Mike came home and headed back out to get the tiller on the tractor to work the manure into the soil.

I snapped this picture from the upstairs window; could get a better view from up there.

Ahhh, garden all tilled and beautiful! In the coming week I will have to get the cabbages, broccoli, peas and potatoes to plant. Well, if the weather is cooperative.

This robin showed up to see if there were any worms for him to eat. Hope he found some!

What's this in the yard below the fence where the boys are??? Check the dark spot above the lettering in the picture.

Looks like the boys wanted to add one more piece of fertilizer, their input, to the garden. It didn't quite roll down the hill far enough though. Whose idea was that??? Pokey?

Donkey Talk

Got this great magazine at Tractor Supply the other day when I was in there. Wonderful articles in it and something really interesting to me. Speaking donkey, you know talking to your donkey and what he means when he does certain things. Like for instance, Pokey with the head jerking, tail switching and stomping his feet. He's mad and he is letting me know it and that is also a bad attitude when it comes to feeding time. Bad Pokey!!!
Well, the book said to stomp the ground hard, use your hand behind you butt like a tail switching it and glare at them to get a response. LOL I did this to Pokey, just the foot stomping, when he came to eat with his little bad ass attitude and it stopped him in his tracks! He backed up with a surprised look on his face, the ears came up and he looked at me with a much more pleasant look on his face and asked if he could eat.
Yes, we WILL be working on his manners, no more little brat like in the picture below. Ears back, head jerked up and tail switching. Now we will ask politely for our supper or breakfast!
Who knew a foot stomp could mean so much???

Premio Dardos Award

“The Prémio Dardos is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing”.
This award was presented to me by Sarah at Cottage Garden Studio, thank you so much Sarah!!
I didn't know I was much of a writer, just putting down my thoughts here for my own amusement and hope that others find some of it a little amusing also. I will pass this on to some other as Sarah did to me.

Kacy at All Horse Stuff; love reading about her beautiful horse Wa and the wonderful trails she rides on. Maybe someday Gilly and I can take a trip to Oregon.

Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch; great sense of humor even with a bad knee that is getting better every day. (She also has some really neat chickens too! Beautiful horse Baby Doll) You go Lisa!!!

Michelle at Pony Girl Rides Again; love all the pictures and stories of her spotted stinker "My Boy" a beautiful Appaloosa.

Anne at Aging Lite; good reading and excellent information that everyone should read.

Now I need to go to these blogs and tell them they have an award. I am only naming 4 but I guess you can name as many as you want or don't want to! :-)

Anniversary Moon

Here is the picture of the full moon I got last night. I had to be quick because of the clouds that were flying by then it was gone. This picture was taken on my husband and my 36th wedding anniversary, so hence the name, "Anniversary Moon". This picture was taken at 9:29:54 PM and I had written it on the bottom of the picture but for some reason it isn't showing up on the picture??? When I was taking pictures I was hoping that I could get some of the clouds that seemed to have silver edges from the glow of the moon but will have to work on a different setting for the camera than what I had. Still all in all it turned out really pretty, what a moon.

I also got to ride Gilly yesterday, just in the round pen and a little on the road. Pokey wasn't in the the barn so I could go far. He was having one of his little ass fits about it too. He was running hard with his head down and every fourth stride he would kick up in the air as hard as he could and snort at me. Showing his disapproval I am sure! He was excited to see Gilly when I was finished riding and put him back in the barn but then Pokey wanted out. It was like he was saying, "My turn, my turn! I want in the round pen next!" Funny little guy I have taken him out after Gilly before and he will head right to the round pen, he wants to jump the poles in there! I guess he thinks it looks like fun and wants his turn at it. Maybe this afternoon if it isn't raining he can have a turn at it. What a funny little guy he is!!

More Moon Shots

Here are a couple more shots of the moon tonight. It's almost full now, tomorrow night is the full moon so says the calendar.

This is a shot that I was playing around with, same settings on camera but the pine tree in the yard was what I was shooting through. Click on the pictures to see them larger and in more detail. This one is neat because you can see the pine needles and a small branch of the pine silhouetting against the moon. Pine branch is more in focus and moon is soft and out of focus. Fun!

Pokey Faints

Pokey just got off the phone with his stock broker and accountant and in light of the economy... he fainted dead away! He is worried that with his finances he just won't be able to eat as well as he thought he would this year, prices of hay, corn and oats are going up and his portfolio is going down!!! Poor little guy, I had to throw some cold water on him to revive him!

Not to worry, I won't let him read the paper, talk to his broker or accountant any more!!

Night Shot ~ Moon

WOW, I have impressed myself with this one! Pretty neat shot of the moon in almost full stage. Will take more when it's full. OK, I had help with this one Russ at The World at Large told me the setting for the camera to take this picture. I have much to learn about the camera and having help from someone who is knowledgeable on these things is helpful. So a BIG thank you to Russ. He takes some really awesome pictures, check out his site!
More moon shots coming up in a couple of days!!

Horse-radish

Yesterday Mike decided it was time to dig horseradish. It has been in the ground for years since the last time we dug it up. (This should be some HOT stuff!!) The older is it the hotter it is and some of it has been undisturbed since we moved here 12 years ago. Above is a pile of the roots freshly dug.

These are the tops that had just started poking it's leaves out of the ground for the year. We cut these off and set in water to start rooting to go back in the ground. We dug it all up because we are expanding the garden and it needs a new home. I haven't decided just where we are going to plant it. It needs a place where it can be undisturbed so it will grow long roots again.

We got 2 quarts and one pint of ground horseradish. I have a great blender called a Vita Mix that will grind just about anything! I just add some vinegar to the roots and this is what we get. Boy, is it hot too!! But great to eat and good for you too.

Looking into the jar; when you take the lid off either hold your breath of get ready to a nose full of very pungent smelling, eye watering aroma to hit you!

Wanta bite???

Sport Horse Gilly

Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch had a mag cover of her rooster Sid Vicious so I had to do one of Gilly. Sid the rooster is a Rock Star but I made Gilly Sport Horse of the Year.....don't I wish! LOL

Well, it is fun to do and if you click on the picture it should take you to the site so you too can make the mag cover of your choice!!! Have fun!!

Tagged...6th photo from 6th picture folder...

Angie tagged me with the instructions to take the 6th photo from my 6th folder on my computer and the post and blog about it. Well of course it would be a picture of Gilly, I have hundreds of pictures of him on my computer....I mean after all what else is there to take pictures of????
This picture was taken in January before he had his feet trimmed, the day I got kicked, 8 weeks ago. Snow on the ground then today it's in the mid 50's this morning and hopefully it will get warmer as the day goes on but it looks like it could rain too so I guess no riding today!
OK, now on to business, I have to tag 6 other people to play the tagged game! Lets see now....

Heart of a Cowgirl
Black Feather Farm
Jesse's Desert Rose
Art by Gail Ragsdale
Art of Scotland
A Cowgirl's Grace

Now I have to run over to this great sites to tell them that they have been tagged to play or not. If you don't want to that's OK, but we would love to see your photos! :-)
Let's go!!!

Gilly's Barefoot Trim

Gilly says, What's up??? Is it time for my pedicure again? Well, OK but I will only be good if you give me a couple of dog cookies!!"

Gilly gets his feet trimmed by Mike Stevens a man I went to high school with. He has gone to school and learned the art of the barefoot or Mustang trim. Gilly has never had shoes on and never will as long as I own him. Why? Well, why would he as long as his feet look like this. Since starting this trim almost two years ago; Gilly's foot has gone from a pretty flat foot to one that is concave with thick walls and a thick sole. His feet are tough and hard! They will get harder and so will the frog which has a small piece missing in this picture. (front hoof pictured)

Nice beautiful hind feet too. Gilly had some flare to his from feet but that is almost gone now and his feet are growing the way they would if he was in the wild. Now since his feet aren't flat like they used to be there is no reason why he can't walk on rocks like a horse with shoes on.

Left front foot trimmed, standing on hard top road.

Right front foot. His hoof is much shorter than it was when we first started too and the heels have become much shorter. Also because of this trim his foot has gotten wider; if he were wearing shoes he would probably wear a size 2. Yes, he has a very large foot but it's a beautiful good solid foot.

Here is a shot of both front feet. Lead rope is in the picture because he kept swinging it around and won't be still for me!

Hind feet; should have turned him so they weren't in the shade. Pokey had his feet trimmed too but I didn't get any pictures of him. He doesn't want to stand still like Gilly does and wants to snort and jerk his head to show his displeasure......bugger!

These are actual wild horse feet pictures taken from a book by Jaime Jackson; the wild horse died in captivity. They preserved the feet to better study the hooves of a wild horse. These hooves are worn like this from the horse traveling miles and miles everyday over rough hard stony ground. Look at the roll over on the edges of the feet. Look at the difference in the frog of the wild hoof and Gilly's; he's still got a ways to go, but we are getting there!!

New Pony in Hollow

There's a new kid on the block, so to speak! Lacy has a new friend but they aren't buddies just yet. Princess the pony is now with Lacy for a companion but they didn't hit it off right at first. Princess came from a place with a lot of other horses, ponies and a donkey (good, she won't freak out when she gets to meet Pokey!) The people that had her before never put her in the barn and she didn't even have a run in shed to get into. She looks a little rough right now, she was a show pony at one time.

Last Friday when Kim and I went to get her it poured the rain for half an hour before we got her into the trailer. These pictures were taken when we got her home so he is a little ratty looking. She will look lots better this summer when the rough coat of winter hair comes off and all the good food gets in her; and she is wormed.
She wasn't too interested in Lacy at first; yes, there was lots of squealing and snorting going on. A kick or two but nothing major; she spent most of her first hour looking the fence over and hunting for her buddies she left behind.
How hard that must be for a horse, dog or other animal to be taken away from the place they know and their friends. Get onto a trailer, then back off into strange surroundings and a strange horse to deal with. It's almost heartbreaking to think of how we would feel in the same circumstance; she will have a good home at Kim's and be well taken care of. Good food, dry warm shelter and another friend to play with; and will get to meet Gilly and Pokey in time but still, it's kinda sad.

Kim's boxer Sophie had to run and play with her, although she didn't pay much attention to her. Sophie is a clown and always has to play with Gilly and Pokey when they come down. She will chase the horses for awhile then they will chase her; till all of them are worn out. The pony will learn this too.

All the running and chasing around finally came to a halt, with the pony still trying to figure out just where she was. Sophie on the other side with her tongue hanging out.
I talked to Kim today and she said that the two are doing much better together. But they aren't good enough friends just yet to eat their hay together and Princess is now named May-Belle but that could change too! Kim hasn't decided for sure on her new name; she doesn't know the name Princess so a new name is in store. Any suggestions on a name and I will pass it on to Kim???

Action Sunday

Run, Gilly run!! Love how his tail looks in this one, he's flying and having fun! (these are shots from fall, too cold and windy to be outside today....I'm a weiner! LOL)

All four feet off the ground, good shot, love my camera with the action setting.

Whoa! Now that is a stop! Look at that tail over his back, so glad I wasn't riding that one.


Little Pokey trying his best to keep up with big Gilly (click on these pictures to see them close up)

Pokey says, OK, I give up......not running anymore...pant, pant, can't take anymore. Gilly and Lacy are still flying around having a great time!

Pokey says I'm done, stick a fork in me!!! Lacy, ever the bossy one is after Gilly again; just before he takes off running. He has gotten smarter and really tried to avoid her when she is in her "I'm the boss" mood.
Lacy does now have a new companion to try and boss around, we went and got the pony, "Princess" on Friday. Princess is just the temporary name, Kim will change it when she decides on a name......so far she has picked out 4 but isn't happy with them. I will post pictures of her tomorrow.