Saturday, November 26, 2011

The Beauty of Simplicity

I was on the phone with my life long best friend this afternoon when she mentioned that a horse which we mutually know was having health problems and not doing well. I inquired about the horse's age since I couldn't quite remember and my best friend told me that the horse was nearing 27 years old. That got us on the topic of all the horses we used to know at the barn where we grew up; the lesson horses, the first horses we leased, the horses that our friends owned. The sad part? There aren't very many of them left. Out of the original barn of horses that we knew, almost all of them have passed away.

And so, with that in the back of my mind. I started going through my laptop today, looking back on a whole bunch of photos and videos capturing my many years with horses. It bought back so many memories of days, people and horses which are now long gone. There are a few photos which I would like to share with all of you. They embrace the times when life seemed so much simpler and less chaotic. I hope you enjoy them and can look back on your own memories to find the beauty of simplicity.

This may in fact be one of my favorite pictures of all time. While it's not from very long ago, just a few years, it was taken on a beautiful spring day with one of my really good friends (pictured) and Emmy. She leased Emmy for all of her 4 years of college and made is possible for me to bring Emmy to school with me. 

A few summers back with Johnny. I used to ride and train him in the pasture during the summer because we didn't have any type of arena. (Note the tree branch being used as a ground line.) He opened me up to the world of Standardbreds and taught me to think outside the box when it came to training horses. He has the greatest personality of any horse I've ever known. I learned so much from him and not a day goes by that I don't miss him.

Emmy after coming back from her suspensory injury in the hind leg. What an amazing feeling it was just to canter her through a field again.

Freshman year of college. I took my new friends to my barn at home for the first time. I was so afraid that they would judge me because they all came from show barns while I rode in the back yard. We took a few horses out for a trail ride and had the most beautiful day. These girls had never experienced horses like this. To this day they tell me it was one of their most favorite college memories.

Enjoy your simplicity.

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

New Endevors

The horses are finally all moved into their new barn. It's been nice having them on full care and being able to devote time to actually riding and training and not just doing barn work, having said that thought, it's been a really difficult transition for me. I've only had a horse on full care twice in my life, for one month for rehab after Emmy hurt her suspensory and then again for two months years later after a colic so bad that I almost lost her. Other than that, I've always taken care of my horses myself...and the majority of the time I like it better that way.

Anyway, the horses seem to have settled in well. We moved on November 1st and they have definitely been adjusting since then. Emmy got her shoe put back on and I started her back under saddle. She is sound (YAY!) and seems to be really happy to be ridden again. I'm super happy to be riding her too! Cool has been pretty good also, he's settled down quite a bit and is now SUPER lazy under saddle. I've been working him mainly western but also english a little too. BF has been riding him a lot which is really good!

I also (drum roll...) FINALLY bought a horse trailer!!! YAY!! It's so exciting to be able to take my horses wherever I want, whenever I want. I love it!

I'm in the process of really buckling down and making a good weekly training schedule for my horses. I'm a little all over the place with when I ride them and how consistent I have been with working them. The majority of Cool's rides have been mainly walking with a little trot since BF has been riding him. I'm working on figuring it all out...lol. More updates to come!

Peace.Love.Ponies.