First Times

My pooch Sarah had her first haircut yesterday..... she was way too hairy for Florida and was shedding her fur everywhere in the house. I almost didn't recognize her when we picked her up from the doggy hair do salon !

I rode Stylin bareback, no halter - no bridle today for the very first time ever ! I did use a neck rope and climbed on her from the fence. She did really well! Of course I did it in the horse pen, not out in the big wide open, but she walked, trotted, turned, stopped and backed like a champ. I had Bobby taking pictures of me working Ringer in the round pen, but he was already in the house when I hopped on Stylin.

Ringer For Sale

We're planning to put Ringer up for sale - $2500 to approved home. 2005 APHA red roan overo gelding 14.1 hands - Cant Bayou Diamonds. Those who know us - know that he's been handled since birth, brought up and trained correctly. He's well started, has been ponied extensively since six 6 months old, and is being ridden on trails now. You can see photos from birth to present HERE. If interested please email zambito_oaks@yahoo.com.

Getting ready.....

I need to be getting ready for Christmas, but I haven't done so yet. No shopping, no decorating - nuttin.

We did go camping with our friends from First Coast Trail Blazers last weekend and had a blast! It was our first Annual Christmas Party and Campout. The weather was coolish in the morning and warm in the afternoon - just perfect. We all stayed on top of our horses - YAY !

Dixie came home from her lease effective Dec 1st. It's good to have her back home - I don't think I'll lease her out anymore. She's just too good to have around here for friends and family to ride.

Work has been crazy - today I just relaxed for most of the day....rode Ringer and Dixie in the back yard. We've got to get Ringer ready to sell for the first of the new year.

It's Called Christmas with a Capital C

Fall is Here!

Fall is here and it's such a GLORIOUS time of year ! It makes you feel so alive ! Riding weather is perfect now and we have camping trips and rides lined up. I got to ride at San Felasco last Saturday with my FCTB buds for close to 5 hours - no bugs, great weather and almost everyone stayed on top of their horse.

Last month I attended "Walk to Emmaus" which is a spiritual weekend structured to help create Christian leaders. It was an awesome 72 hours and I came out of it renewed with the Holy Spirit and with lots of new friends as well.

Bobby and I went camping with friends over the Labor Day Weekend at McCulley Farms and had a great time as usual. Since Dixie is living at JW STables for a while, Bobby didn't have a horse to ride which suited him just fine... he likes hanging out at camp and cooking for us. Yay ! I took Stylin and Ringer and planned on letting Cathy ride Ringer but he came up lame Friday and didn't get better. (a week later when he was still limping the vet checked him out and found that he abcessed on his left rear hoof and had just blew out through his heel bulbs. He's still lame today, but healing) Anyway we had a bunch of good rides and you can see the pictures HERE

We had a new friend visit our little farm last Saturday. We met David on our bus tour of the Southwest and found that he lives in our city so thought that it would be fun to go get him once a month for visits. He seemed to enjoy himself and especially liked the horses and dogs.

Our Girl Dixie has a new Lease

Dixie has been leased once before for six months to a nice 15 year old girl. That was 3-1/2 years ago, but the other day we got a call from a good friend asking us if we would lease Dixie to a 12 year old girl and her mom. We went to meet her and it was mutually agreed to lease her on a month to month basis. The girl Haley fell in love with her and Dixie will be a great horse for her to learn on. This picture is Natalie, the mom who promises to love and treat Dixie as her own. Dixie is a 20 year old, been there done that unregistered Appy. She's always been the one to teach new riders and be the backup horse for us and our friends when their horse is lame or out of commission. The best thing is she is just down the street about 2 miles and we can pop in anytime to check on her. This is a win-win situation for everyone.

Saturday Morning Ride

I met Charlotte and Kate for 2-1/2 hour ride in Jennings Forest this morning. I haven't ridden with them in AGES and it was nice to catch up with them. Charlotte was riding her new mare Coco and Kate was riding her little mare Morgan. ( I know...3 mares together , but everyone behaved). We started out at 8:00am to try to beat the heat. It didn't work, but it wasn't too bad and the bugs were out there but not horrible. Any time I get to ride is good. Here's some more pictures of the ride. PHOTOS

Keystone Heights Ride

Jenny invited me to Keystone to ride and swim in the lake. I skipped church, loaded the ponies and drove the hour to her place. Of course we picked the hottest day so far this summer, but we had a really good time.

Sisters Riding

Shelly & I had fun in the back yard today riding the ponies. Shelly did real well riding Stylin - I rode Ringer, and Bo was playing on Dixie. I had Bobby and Shelly take a bunch of pics of me and Style so I can send it in to APHA for our 1000 hour trail riding award. (I'm the helmet head)

Canyonlands Tour

Bobby and I just got back from a 7 day vacation in the Canyonlands. We flew out to Denver, then caught a tour bus for stops at Arches National Park, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon ending up in Las Vegas. The scenery was breathtaking and we made some new friends . I could have skipped Las Vegas - it was way too loud ! Here are some pictures of our trip..... we'd definitely go back to the Colorado Plateau. PHOTOS

Here's a portrait I did a few years ago.... I always liked this one. As you can see - I took some liberties; like changing Alan's ear position and skipping the plaid pattern on Monica's shirt. She had this done for her mom. If I had it to do over - I'd detail and shade Monica's face a lot better.

Full Week

We didn't go watch the fireworks or anything , but we had a really nice holiday. My Tennessee sister, Shelly came down for the week and left the kids at home. First time ever and I think she really enjoyed some time to herself. I'm doing well on the weight loss program and am looking forward to buying some new clothes to wear on our Canyonlands trip. Bobby and I are starting to get excited - only a week and 1/2 to go.

I took my work friend Karen on a ride this morning and I think she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Dixie took good care of her as she hasn't ridden in over 13 years. We saw four deer, enjoyed some shady trails and we even cantered. She did great !

Jenny was cooling off Ringer after a ride and decided to put a flower on his head. As with most things, he didn't seem to mind much.

Father's Day Weekend

Well, Bobby didn't get any visits from his kids, but he and I had a good weekend. All of his kids live out of town so it's hard to coordinate time together with them.

We worked in the yard putting out seed in the back where the drought and 2 inches of leaf litter had killed the grass. As soon as we got it down and covered it with hay, those dang roosters started rooting around in it. We might be having some chicken stew soon ! We also scouted out a new place to ride off of Old St Augustine Rd... it's called Julington-Durbin Preserve. We had a nice walk to the creek and back....I can't wait to take my pony there to check out the rest of the trails. The entrance is right between two huge condominium complexes but as you go down the trail it's like walking through unspoiled old Florida.

Jenny's continuing to work with Ringer a couple of times a week and he's progressing well.

Ringer's first trail ride

Jenny rode Ringer on his inaugural trail ride (without being ponied) on Saturday evening. He behaved very well and acted like it was nothing to carry a human around. We had 3 two year olds on the ride and they did better than most grown horses. My batteries quit on me so I only got a quick shot of the two of them....unfortunately he was peeing at the time. :)

Mom, Robb, JT, Melinda and I drove to Springfield, TN for Vance's high school graduation over the Memorial Day holiday. As always, it's a long drive, but well worth it. We had a wonderful and fairly uneventful visit - it was good to see Shelly and all her kids together. Tennessee was so GREEN ! I was envious of all the beautiful hay that was being cut up there; especially since we're having such a hay shortage here. The only smoke we encountered along I75 from the various wildfires still burning was right through the Valdosta, GA area.

Happy Birthday !

My family gave me a "surprise" birthday party on Saturday and although it wasn't a surprise it was great fun !! We had friends and family over for low country boil and fresh fried fish - everyone got plenty full and had a good time. Here are some pictures of the day. Special thanks to my husband Bobby and daughter Jenny for putting it together. Jenny fried up some mean gulf trout and Cathy was in charge of the delicious low country boil.

Yee Haw !

Guess who got to ride Ringer last night? After Jenny worked him, I got on him for just a few minutes. I'm still too heavy for him, but it won't be long before I'll have enough off to feel comfortable riding him.

I've been taking Sarah to classes so that she can become a Pet Therapy Dog. She'll be able to go with me to the nursing home to visit the patients. Some people will respond to an animal when nothing else works. She's doing well and working through her shyness. Next class will be a group visit to a local long term care facility - we'll see how it goes.

Jenny and Cathy both rode Ringer last night..... boy is he doing well! Walk, trot and canter in both directions; turning and stopping with very little pressure. We've put him in a gentle, full cheek snaffle and he's responding well to it.

Ringer's First Ride

Thanks to my daughter Jenny.... Ringer has his first and second ride under his belt. Jenny saddle him up with her saddle which has a back girth and after he hippity hopped a couple of times getting used to that, he was fine. Jenny warmed him up in the round pen saddled up for about 15 minutes,then I went in the pen with her, clipped a lead rope to Ringer's halter while she mounted and led him around for about five minutes while he got used to her weight on his back. When I took the lead rope off , he took a few minutes to understand what he was supposed to do, but quickly caught on. Jen worked him at a walk and then a trot in both directions, stopped and backed..... I was very proud of Ringer and Jenny ! Here's a few more pictures of the first ride. PICTURES

Savannah Getaway

Bobby and I decided to see historic Savannah for our 3rd anniversary. The town was everything that everyone had said it was, but we learned a couple of things the hard way. Make hotel reservations ahead of time and don't take US 17 all the way into the city. :) We enjoyed our scenic drive up the coast on US17, but learned the easiest way into the historic district is Abercorn (SR 204) which is where we wound up staying for the night also. We learned that the line waiting to get into Paula Deen's restaurant is over a block long. Our tour guide said that the line was a combination of folks with reservations and those who wanted to make reservations. I think the wait was going to be 2 to 3 hours ! We wound up having a wonderful time riding the trolley and hearing the history of the city...we got off and on several times and enjoyed walking the area also. On River St you have to be careful not to turn your ankle - the cobblestones are large and rounded - not a place for a wheelchair either. You can see the pictures of our weekend HERE (then click on slideshow). I definitely would like to go again, but will be more prepared next time !

Weekend

I had a wonderful, busy weekend. Friday I went to the imaging center and had my thyroid sonogramed (loads of fun, huh?) then stopped by the nursing home to visit Ms. Thelma. After that Robbin, Julian and I met at Waffle House for a leisurely breakfast. We decided to go to Westside Regional Park and had a nice 2 mile hike through the nature trails. Later in the afternoon Bobby and I purchased a new laptop - (it's still in the box ! )

Saturday morning I met a couple of my great riding buddies, Cathy & Traci, and we explored Jennings Forest for about 4 hours - except for getting attacked by ticks it was an enjoyable ride. Stylin was a little ouchy on the hard pack because she had just been trimmed on Thursday, but held up well without her boots. Julian spent the night with us and we watched "Flushed Away". What a cute movie !

Sunday was an all day affair. We got up early, picked up Mom and went to early services and dropped Julian off with his mom then headed out to Newberry to visit the in-laws. Had a great lunch and visit then headed back through the Melrose/Keystone area to visit Jenny and her man Joel. He has a very cute little place on the lake with a nice big piece of lakefront property. It was great to see Jenny so happy. Joel made us feel welcome and Mom even took a short nap on his couch ! We made it back home after an 11 hour day !!!

What Kind of Horse are You ?

What breed of horse are you? Find out!

Fabulous February

February has been a good month. I've been able to ride quite a bit with my friends, spend quality time with my family and get some chores done around the place. I signed up for an evening class at the church and just today started visiting an additional patient at the nursing home.

We just had 18 pine trees removed from the back part of the yard near the horse paddocks. They had been dying because of pine bark beetles and I was afraid that either the horses or one of us would be hurt. It sure looks empty back there now, but it's much safer. Hay is very scarce around here right now, but I was able to pick up 16 bales today to add to what we have to give us a 30 day supply. I guess the lack of rain last fall and the late freeze we just had caused it - the hay I got today was trucked in from Georgia.

Good Times

Life is good and we are blessed ! Got to go camping with friends last weekend at the River Rise trails of O'Leno State Park and the weather was perfect. Stylin held up for her first big weekend since her bout with laminitis. We rode 3-1/2 hours on Friday afternoon and then over 5 hours on Saturday. She got a little tired, but recovered quickly. I didn't take my camera, but hopefully my pals will provide some pics of the weekend.

On the homefront - the family and critters are all well except something's killing our chickens. We're down to 2 from 5. Found a pile of feathers but no carcass............

Property of Zambito Oaks Farm

Ringer's and Stylin's brand finished out nicely as you can see. I finally got to ride Stylin out on the trail again.....boy did it feel great to be back in the saddle with her ! We kept it at a short 2 hour ride to see how she did and because we had company coming in the early afternoon. Other than bush whacking and breaking the cable on her boot - it was a great ride with some good friends.

Worked with Ringer tonight and he did real well. As you can see by the picture above - he's growing and filling out. He's pretty comfortable carrying the saddle around. The really good news is that I finally got the go ahead from our vet to ride Stylin again - Yee Haw ! Rode her for 30 minutes last night and then about 20 minutes tonight. Saddled her and rode with just her halter in the yard and then in the round pen. She feels and acts sound.

Holidays are over

Everyone is trying to get back in to the swing of things at work and home. We had a wonderful visit from my sister Shelly and all of her kids for the week between Christmas and New Years. Robbin, Tim and Julian and Mom also came over and we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. It was loud, hectic and FUN ! We spent most of Christmas Day in Newberry with Bobby's mom who was very sick with pneumonia.

Stylin is recovering well - no sign of lameness and I hope to start riding her this coming week . Bobby and I camped with our friends at the 7BarL Ranch in Live Oak for New Years weekend and had a BLAST!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !