Merry Christmas

Well on December 18th I was fortunate enough or crazy enough depeding on how you look at it to go trail riding. For the midwest December riding isn't always possible. It was only 35 degrees but I had my two crazy friends and to accompany me. I think Blue thinks I'm absolutely crazy. He might be right. We took pictures of all the horses with their fun holiday headbands on. They did great. They didn't care that we did this to them. I love that my two best riding buddies have horses that are equally as tolerant and well behaved as Blue. We are all so fortunate. Well here are some pictures and naturally after our ride we had hot chocolate. Beautiful day. Merry Christmas to all.

It's Fall Riding Season

It's fall riding season. My favorite!! I love riding in the fall and winter. Bundling up in clothes and taking a thermos of hot cocoa and going for a ride to get the stale heated air out of your system! Blue and I are doing great. He is wonderful and reliable. Each trip out we try something new. Mounting from the other side, riding backwards, trimming trees while riding and whatever else we come across. He spooks at nearly nothing. He is doing much better at leading the groups too. His only challenging characteristic is that he is as slow as molasses in winter! Snails have been seen passing us. All the stories that I would not like owning a gaited horses and riding with non-gaited folks because my horse would out pace them...nothing could be further from the truth. I guess it's ok. I'd rather go slow than fast throught a trail. Here are some of our latest pics. Enjoy and Happy Trails to you!

Blue

This is Blue. I haven't introduced Blue to the blog world yet. Partially because I've forgotten about the blog world. I've been living in my real world with Blue! He is an 10 year old Missouri Fox Trotter. I have never owned a gaited horse before but he is forgiving of my inexperience.
He's wonderful actually. Not because he is a gaited horse but because he is truly a wonderful horse. He is patient and forgiving of my attempts at the Clinton Anderson groundwork techniques. Over the course of the 6 months that I have owned him we have bonded and I think we love eachother. Love and Trust are two things that grow gradually with a horse.
We had a rough first month getting to know eachother but then after hours and hours together we were doing great. He knew I was his and he was mine! We spent 2 weeks together riding the black hills of South Dakota in July. This was an amazing riding experience for us. He showed me just how wonderful of a horse he is. He did not faulter once. He was excited at first but settled in and was great! We opened gates, rode with free range cattle, had deep and shallow water crossings, steep inclines and rocky decents. We were rained on and used foil to protect ourselves from being contacted by aliens. I played dead and rode side saddle all without even a flicker of his ear.
Everyday we spend more time together riding and realize we are a perfect match.

While Maggie (my old faithful mare of 22 years) holds her own special place in my heart there is a spot developing for Blue as well.

Everything's Going To Be Alright.

Well I guess I have to give my husband credit this time. He always says "everything's going to be alright" It's true this time. I recently found out that the stable I've been waiting 2 years to get into finally has an opening. YEAH!! I still had another minor problem....no horse. Well I have Maggie but I don't think my Dad will give her back to me. He loves her. She is a very animated horse. She "talks" a lot and Dad loves that.
So I talked to my sister about my dilemma of having a stable but no horse to put in it and she suggested I call Patty. Patty is a family friend that had a Missouri Foxtrotter that I went and rode last summer. I liked him a lot but didn't have anywhere to keep him or the money to pay for him. So I thought I'd give Patty a call and hope that the horse was still available. Luck was on my side and he is still available and now cheaper than last year which is definately in my favor. This winter has been nothing short of a financial challenge. So...with the convenient return of tax money it looks like I will be getting my new horse after all!
His name is Blue. He's a blue roan Missouri Foxtrotter. He's 11 years old. I'm thrilled to say the least. I think I'll be moving him up to the stable in April and I am sure I will have lots to post after we start spending more time together.