The Ride that Sucked.....

....sucked the back boots right off my pony's feet.   :-(

We started out jsut trying to have nice little ride from the Jacksonville Equestrian Center early to beat the heat and bugs.  We made a simple 1 hour loop on the roads and marked trails and were definitely not ready to start heading back yet....so Jenny took us off roading and we hit some swampy areas.  We were going along fine...felt like the mud was about 6 inches and the standing water was about 8 to 12 inches.  I felt a hitch and heard a different slurping sound, but had to wait till we hit solid ground again to see if I lost a boot.  When I asked if I was missing a boot, 2 people told me no....you still have them on.  Marilyn commented on her Sport Boots on her mule's front feet and I said they were the same kind that I had on Stylin's rears.....she looked at me funny and said you don't have any boots on the back.....   Dang it!  $100 down the drain....  We plan on going back when it dries a little and do a search.  These are the first Cavallo boots to ever come off my horse..... the Simple Boots (the original style) have never come off.  That's what we had on the fronts.

Anyway, once we splashed our way out of the water we hit the hilly trails and had a blast climbing up and down some steep hills...not very high....maybe 20 to 25 feet or so, but fun and a change of pace.

Mustang was going to be at the Equestrian Center for the rest of the day for the swimming competitions with her daughter at the facility next door, so I brought my 25 yr old Appy, Dixie for her to ride.  The old gal cleans up nicely and gave Michelle a great ride.  I love to watch other people ride my horse and appreciate this horse more and more each year.

We finished up the ride at the Equestrian Center and had some authentic Cuban ( or was is Puerto Rican?) lunch while watching the Paso Fino Extravanza. 

Celebrity

My girl, Stylin, was used in a photo shoot recently by Bonnie Estell Photography.  She behaved very well and I think they had a successful shoot.  I hope to be able to get a full size image from the photographer soon.  My daughter bathed her and took her to the location where she helped as a wrangler and jumped up and down in the background to get her to perk her ears.

Sunshine on my Ponies Makes me Happy

Water has receded...mud should be dry in a week or so...ponies had a nice day in the sunshine mowing the back yard.

Flood Update

I unhitched my truck to drive to work this morning.  My little car made me nervous driving the flooded streets yesterday.  The rain finally stopped and I can see some sunshine this morning!  The roads are draining, but a lot of them are still closed and some are washed out.  People in a couple of areas in town are isolated and trapped by the water.

I let the girls out of the mud and into the back yard for today...I left them happily eating hay and grass.  Hopefully, we'll dry up quickly with the wind and sun that is predicted.

No One's Singing But the Frogs

Tropical Storm Debby has turned our horses' "dry lot" into a lake.  We haven't had so much water since the hurricane season of 2005.  The girls only have a small portion around their Hay Hut and the area with trees that is semi dry in their paddock.  The rain is supposed to start drying up tomorrow so maybe the water will dry up before the tadpoles hatch.  My thoughts and prayers go to the folks who have been made temporarily homeless by the floods.

You can see Maybe on the left trying to skirt the edge of the water next to the fence to come see what I have for her.

What Makes A Special Horse

I have regular blogs that I like to visit and see so much posted about what they want their horses to do, what they are afraid of doing, excuses made for bad behavior and also posts of horses that are happy in their job and make their owners very happy. I've had Stylin since 2002 when I purchased her as a 6 year old unbroken broodmare. I had a friend start her for me and since then she and I have put in a LOT of miles together. I've made mistakes, but she was forgiving and we learned in spite of my errors.

I used to compare my mare to others...but now I enjoy and appreciate her for what she is and what our partnership has become. She doesn't have a specialty, but when I started listing the reasons she's such a good horse, I found that she is pretty darn special.

Over the past 10 years together she has learned to:

• cross a creek
• swim in a lake
• climb a hill at the pace I ask
• stand still for a hug
• lie down on command
• stand tied patiently to a trailer, tree, hitching post, etc.
• hi tie quietly for camping ( to my trailer or between trees)
• lead or follow on the trail
• step over logs, fallen trees without leaping
• walk, trot, canter when asked on the lead requested
• allow me to clip, braid and foofoo on her
• load up and trailer for 20 minutes or 7 hours
• be part of a drill team
• pony her youngster on the trail
• allow me to crack a whip from her back
• go down the trail by herself, with a couple of riders or 400 riders
• be ridden with just a halter and lead rope, bosal or bit
• be stalled in a strange barn
• ride alongside a busy road
• not spook at motorcycles, trucks, deer, flushed birds
• ride in a covered arena with loudspeakers and music
• push cows
• travel happily whether barefoot, shod or in whatever boots I've put on her

There are so many more things that make her special to me. We kept riding through our issues, I faced my fears and she learned to trust me.

It didn't happen overnight but boy is it special now.

Busy Spring

I haven't been able to ride a whole lot but we've been having fun. We rode and camped at McCulley Farms again in March. I rode my Appy mare Dixie in a charity poker ride in April.

Stylin and I participated in another charity ride for Dreams Come True in April.

Then most recently, Stylin and I joined Cathy and Michelle to be the honor guard in a wedding. We escorted a Cinderella style carriage thru a neighborhood and thru the Carter estate for our friend Marilyn's son's wedding. What fun and our horses were perfect!

Nothing planned but some regular trail rides before it starts getting too hot !