Random Pictures

There’s a lot of pain and wisdom in Lucille’s eyes.  Brannon thinks her feet may be back to normal and pain free in a year.  That’s a long time to have to be on bute just to be able to hobble around the yard. :(

 

That’s Shane’s head in the background.  The first horse is his new wife, Lacy.  I love this shot because of how their heads are lined up. 

 

I had to pick on Shane’s adopter for getting Lacy from someone else instead of coming to me, but I was just teasing him.  She is a very beautiful horse!

 

Shane and Apache introducing themselves.

 

 

Steel in his home.  He’s soooooo spoiled!

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A very dopey dobey.

 

Fraggle.  I love him.  Just don’t ask me what color he is because I still haven’t figured that one out. 

 

Things are happening fast around here this month and there are big changes coming up.  I’ll try and post as often as I can, but no guarantees.  October should slow down a bit and I’ll try to catch everyone up then.

Apache Goes Home

I wrote about why Apache came back to the farm over on the Training the Unwanted blog, in case you haven’t read it yet. 

Marvin, who adopted Baby Girl over a year ago, stopped by the other day to see if I had any small horses that would be good for his wife.  Something gentle and kind, that liked attention.  He had seen Jasmine and Cheyenne on the website and I had told him about Apache over the phone.  When he arrived, he had decided that he did not want Apache, but wanted one of the girls instead.  Cheyenne introduced herself first, then Jas came over to say hello.  Then he saw Apache… and the two girls were quickly forgotten.

Sometimes it’s just that way.  Some people come here with a preconceived notion of what size/breed/color horse they are looking for, but then they see the complete opposite and that’s the one they end up adopting.  I love it when that happens!

 

I also got to check up on a few other adopted horses today.  Remember Shane when he got here last October?  He’s a different horse now!

 

Baby Girl wasn’t starved when she got here, but she was terrified of people and not even halter broke.  She was gangly and funny looking and had never had her long feet trimmed.  Now she’s a real beauty of a mare who has a special bond with her adopter.  She’s two this year and will be broke to ride next year.

 

 

Jacob was just a tad ribby when he came here last year.  He had originally been adopted as a family horse and companion for a young Andalusian colt, but he was returned a short while later because he was too aggressive with the colt and much preferred the company of an older stallion.  He wasn’t here for long before he was adopted again and this time his only purpose in life is pleasure riding.  He’s low man on the totem pole in a herd of five horses (all smaller than him), and has a huge stall and a shed full of hay just for him.  He’s spoiled rotten and it shows!

 

Happy Labor Day tomorrow!  I, for one, am not planning on doing any labor unless it involves saddling up a horse for a trail ride!

Genesis, Apache, Abby, & Quest Go Home

Quest actually went home Thursday evening.  I delivered the other three today and just got home a little while ago.  The dogs are less than pleased that they spent most the day in the house, but it doesn’t appear that they took it out on the cats – just the cat food.  The bags are torn into little shreds and have been used to decorate three rooms of the house.  I’m so thrilled.

Anyway, let me tell you about a girl and her horse.  I told you last year how Meghan and Manny were in love and had many happy days to look forward to together.  Then a month later I shared the sad news that Manny had died of a heart attack and Meghan was crushed.

Well, Meghan has a new love in her life now and the two make the cutest pair.

 

The two mares that currently live with Meghan are mother and daughter, and Cinnamon doesn’t think there’s any need to share her food or her mother with Genesis.  So there was a lot of running around and pinning of ears at poor little Genesis.

 

The running around certainly did provide me with a lot of photo opportunities.  Too bad my camera and I were having a bit of a tiff today and the pictures aren’t as clear as they could have been.

 

 

I have always wanted to get a picture of  horse trotting, with all four feet off the ground at once.  I will never be this lucky again.  Ever.

 

Meghan went out into the pasture to “save” her new best friend from the Arabian mares who were so obviously PMSing.

 

Genesis ran right up to her and became her shadow for the next 20 minutes.

 

They walked around the pasture together and got a drink out of the creek.

 

I’m pretty sure Meghan didn’t drink out of the creek, but you never know around here.  This is West Virginia after all.

 

 

 

 

Rest in peace, Manny.  Genesis will take good care of your human.

A taste of the wild west

Yup, two more horses.  I know… just shoot me now.  But there are some people that I just can’t say NO to.  These are the people that genuinely care for their horses and have tried to find a way to keep them, but things just haven’t worked out for them.  Like Chessy and Duchess, Holly and her band of hoodlums, and Misfire’s little herd.

And I’m probably feeling a little pleased with myself these days.  In looking back at the last year, I’ve taken in 24 horses and adopted out 15, with another 6 horses already adopted that just haven’t gone to their new homes yet (Abbi, Genesis, Marbles, Jacob, Holly, & Synergy).  There are three more geldings coming next week and I already have homes lined up for two of them.   Luck?  Probably. :)

Everyone gets their feet trimmed on a regular basis and gets wormed every other month.  Teeth have been floated when necessary, everyone has been vaccinated this year, and when a vet is needed Doc is here to take care of things.  I’d like to think these horses are better off here than where they came from, or where they were headed to, in Sadie’s case.  So, I continue to say YES to horses in need, even though there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.

There are things that I wish I had more time for, like grooming, training, and riding.   Especially with these two cuties coming in yesterday!

Everyone, let me introduce Apache (left) and Cheyenne (right). 

 

Apache is a 5yo Mustang, adopted from the BLM a couple of years ago.  He was originally captured in Kansas as a weanling and has been living in WV ever since.   He’s a friendly fellow and has had ground work done with him, but isn’t broke to ride.   Cheyenne is a 3yo grade filly that isn’t broke to saddle yet either, but she’s really sweet and friendly.  They’re both very short, topping out around 14.1 hands, so they’ll make great kid’s ponies eventually.  They came from someone who had lost his place to board and he couldn’t find any place else to keep them.   He drove them all the way down from Glendale, WV to bring them here yesterday.  He had Cheyenne’s mother that was coming here as well, but she ended up being bought by the trainer that had been working with her.  Whew!

 

 

They’ve been hanging out together and staying away from the rest of the herd, even though Gentry and Willow made them feel welcome when they got off the trailer.  I’m sure they’ll settle in shortly and make some new friends.  Maverick has already been eyeing Cheyenne and calling to her.  “Hey, baby!  What’s a good lookin’ filly like you doin’ in a place like this?”

Jacob has been trying to help Maverick with his pickup lines, but it’s not going well.