PRICELESS....

My good ole 23 year old Appy mare, Dixie, takes another person on their inaugural trail ride. This time it was my nephew Julian, who has ridden her in my yard for years, but this was his first venture away from the farm. You can't put a price on a horse like this.

A Step Backward ...

I had shoes put on Stylin's front hooves 2 days ago after she was barefoot for about 3 years. She has had some persistent toe cracks for well over a year that my Natural Hoof Practitioner nor I were able to resolve. They run vertically about a full inch up the front of both front hooves. I've had her on hoof supplement for about 10-11 months, I treated her with the recommended Lysol solution, shaped her hooves, beveled the toes...did everything I knew to do. I used good hoof boots to protect her feet, but the cracks continue.

I really do prefer to keep her barefoot, so hopefully we can get the cracks grown out and get her back to barefoot.

SUPERSTAR !

Said while doing a deep knee bend and both arms up in the air! I'm so tickled........ The Ride America manager of the Paint Horse Journal contacted me a few months ago to get some information on trail riding in Florida and of course I obliged and sent her some photos. I just got a copy of the March issue a couple of days ago and guess who's featured in the trail riding section..... that's right.....c'est moi avec mon cheval. Me and Stylin baby! Well....it's not all me, there is a gentleman from Florida who also contributed - but how cool is it to see your name and photo in a national nagmag? If you subscribe to the Paint Horse Journal the trail section starts on page 90. If not, here's a LINK to a copy of the article.

Charity Ride and Camping

Cathy, Mustang, Shelly and I camped at the Florida Horse Park to participate in the Horses for Hospice Charity Ride benefitting Hospice of Marion County. We got there on Friday before lunch and stayed until Sunday afternoon enjoying the park and the Greenway Trails.

Cathy on Busta and Mustang on Linc

We rode for a couple of hours Friday afternoon just exploring close trails and the beautiful park itself. We got to play around on their cross country field and obstacles. Of course we didn't do any jumping but did climb up and down a hill and practiced stepping off and back up some drop offs.

Volunteer Sheriff's Posse

Saturday morning was the charity ride and it looked as if there were well over a hundred riders participating. Another riding buddy, Susan and 3 of her friends joined us early in the morning to do the charity ride and camp with us. After a very short group ride, we enjoyed a catered bar-b-que lunch and instead of hanging around for the demonstrations and festivities, we headed out from the park over the Landbride Trail and almost to the 49th St trailhead and back. I guess we rode for about 3-1/2 hours through some really nice trails with switchbacks and lots of hills. Stylin got a little amped up when her friends got out of sight which is not like her. I'll be putting her back in the snaffle for a little while so that I can work her properly on the trail when she isn't focused.

Susan on Apache and Curtis on Chester

After a fun evening of story telling and adult beverages by the campfire, we woke up early Sunday and packed our gear and horses and drove down to the Shangrila trailhead which is only about 15 minutes away by vehicle and would take more time than we had to ride to and back. We really like the Shangrila trails - there is a lot of variety - single track trails, wide sandy ones and the ability to challenge your pony and yourself working around trees and a little hill climbing. After another 3-1/2 hour ride, we all packed up for home - tired and happy.

Shelly and Dawn

Here are the rest of my pictures and here are the ones that Mustang and Susan took.

Me - yapping about something.

Movie Night

I forgot to post that Saturday night I went by myself to see Avatar. My husband isn't a big sci-fi or fantasy fan but I have been from my teen years. So I popped some corn, filled a bottle of water and went to the local mall theater. My daughter and another friend talked me into seeing it at the IMAX in 3D and I am glad I did! I won't write a review - there are plenty out there - but will say that I think I have a new favorite movie. I sat there grinning like a fool right by myself and got sucked right in. If you have any inkling to go see it, do it before it leaves the big screen.

Week in Review

Well I stuck with my resolution of last week.... I got on the eliptical each morning for 30 minutes before work and got out of bed each morning without hitting the snooze once. Did not exercise Friday, but was on the run all day long. It was a cool rainy day and I was able to meet my new care receiver and visit an elderly couple at the retirement home then hang out with my mom and get some chores done. I left the house at 8:30 am and got back home at 6:30 - a full day.

Mr. Skinner is such a sweetheart!

I met Mustang and her daughter Cory for a short ride on Saturday. I took Dixie out and we rode for almost 3 hours at the Ravines. Aren't Cory and Beauty just the cutest? Here's some more photos of them.... notice the Valentine artwork? Beauty's isn't as noticeable, but she had plenty of glitter and paint on her rear end too.

Cory posing with Beauty

Today for Valentine's day, Bobby and I skipped church services, picked up my mom, then picked up some KFC and we all went to visit Bobby's mom in Newberry. We had a great visit and on the way home we stopped by to see a home that was redone by "Extreme Home Makeover".

Jenny took her mare out for a 16 mile loop at Jennings State Forest today - her last opportunity to get a training ride in before she takes off for the Florida Cracker Trail Ride next Friday evening. She's getting very excited now and getting her stuff ready to go.

Oh NO ..... Yes You Canvas !

Oh NO! - I know I've been gaining my weight back , but there's nothing like a photo to bring it on home. I went to look at a horse for sale for an on line friend of mine on Friday. Of course when I got on the horse I had a picture taken so I could send it to my friend..... Oh my word....is that really me up there? My jeans look like they are about to burst.

Anyway, after checking out the horse, Mom and I had lunch with Traci and Mike Woodard at a new bar-b-que restaurant in Middleburg then spent the rest of the day shopping and messing around. Traci "hammed" it up in front of the restaurant.


Saturday I got to ride with friends from the Jacksonville Equestrian Center to Pope Duval Park. We rode for about 5 hours including our lunch stop. Poor Cathy got slung off of Busta pretty hard when he spooked and just missed getting totally dumped into a big muddy puddle. As it was, she hit her noggin pretty hard and got mud in her face, nose and mouth. Thank goodness she was wearing a helmet! You can see additional pictures that our friend Mustang took here.Saturday nite was spent with my work friends, Karen , Martha and Maria, a friend of Karen's and my sister Robbin at a really cool place called Yes You Canvas. It's a studio where you go and paint a picture to take home. We took wine and snacks, had a really good time and all came home with a picture to hang on our wall.

Sunday after church I decided to start early with my Lenten commitment for this year. No more PROCRASTINATION and started by doing 30 minutes on the eliptical before I started puttering around for the rest of the afternoon.I'm hoping that by the end of Lent I will have created some good new habits at home and work by not procrastinating. I have always churned out piles of good work when I have a deadline looming but I want to create good work consistently. Wish me luck!