All the Pretty Horses

Well, the rain is officially past that charming stage and is now becoming an irritating menace... somewhat, at least. The irritating part is all the mud in the horse pens, and the fact that we have no real shelter for them yet. The pens are swamps, the trees offer only minimal shelter, and it's too warm for even turnout sheets. Plus, the dogs end up tracking mud into the house.

Oh, but I truly do enjoy running through the rain after work the half mile to my truck... seriously, it's very refreshing. Running through the downpour tonight reminded me of a date that Jeff and I were on a few years ago (yes, married folks do still date!). We were dressed up real nice, I in a hot little dress and heels, and when we got out of the movies it was pouring down rain. I mean p - o - u - r - i - n - g down. He opened the door, we saw the downpour, took one look at each other, grinned, and ran for it! We ran straight through the "valley" part of the parking lot where the drainage holes are, where the water was knee deep on me!! LOL It was incredibly fun! We were s - o - a - k - e - d!!! And enjoyed every second of it. Tonight wasn't near that drastic, but it was still fun and the memory of that night made it even better.

The sky was dark and gloomy, the air was damp and raw, the streets were wet and sloppy. The smoke hung sluggishly above the chimney-tops as if it lacked the courage to rise, and the rain came slowly and doggedly down, as if it had not even the spirit to pour. -- Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

I just love this and my previous rain pic ("mist" blog entry) - I found them on yahoo images.... I've only got one of my own original pics of the rain and it doesn't hold a candle to this. This particular pic for today's post originally came from www.aphotojourney.com ... this guy is an awesome photographer.

Yep, that's our Snickerdoodles all harnessed up like she's fixina be travellin' somewhere with a cart behind

her.... exceptin' we don't have a cart yet... and she's not really ready to drive. :D She's getting there, though. I was so excited the day the harness came in the mail, and the wonderful woman I bought it from put a training video in with it as well, which was very helpful. There's some tweaking that needs to be done to it so it will fit just right. Maybe today Jeff will get a chance to work with it since it rained all day yesterday, last night and the previous night, and he will likely not have to work today. He got to come home early yesterday, and he got the martin house put together - I'm so excited, it looks fantastic! Back to Snix - she is such a great horse... I was longing her in the round pen with her harness on and the breeching came partially undone and slipped down around her hocks - she didn't care at all! When I first tried the bridle on her, the blinkers were too close to her eyes and were basically blinding her... did she care? Only about her next bite of grass, which she was so greedily reaching for! LOL I love this horse!

On a darker note.... we lost our darling Boxer, Chloe, this past Sunday. I really don't care to go into details anymore, but I blogged about it the other day on my 360.yahoo.com/kwattahoss blog. I miss her dearly.

I had told myself that after my first two days of severe misery I would only celebrate our time together when I thought of her. It is tough to not be miserable about it, though.... she was our darling baby girl and I sorely miss her. I'm so thankful I took so many pictures of her, and I am particularly glad I got that pic of her leaping up to "kiss" Snix.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart. --Helen Keller

As you can probably guess by now, our plans for last weekend changed. We couldn't get reservations for Eureka Springs due to Corvette Weekend and Oktoberfest, so we decided to take our little vacation at the end of the month. Soooo, we altered our barn building schedule. We now have time to focus on the roof and the gym (which may not be a gym so much as a living room! lol). Over the weekend we worked on the gym walls and installed a French door we got on clearance at Lowe's over 3 years ago (and have been waiting for the perfect spot to put it, which we've found!) and a window we bought at Lowe's last week - it was a special order return. Originally priced $170, we got it for $60!! Oh, how I love a steal!

We plan to work on the east side of the roof (over the stalls) this weekend and possibly pick up some metal strapping so Jeff can begin working on the stall walls. He put in his 2 week notice and next week will probably be his last week to have the time to work on the barn during the workweek - he'll likely be working longer hours at his new job. Despite that he is very excited. His pay will nearly double and he'll finally have a chance for serious promotions. Praise God! I'm excited for him and pray that he will be happy with his new job, the company, his superiors, and all of his co-workers. I'm also very proud of him for his skill, talent, hard work and professionalism on and off the job. I am particularly proud of him for the fine barn that is taking shape in my backyard and I am elated at the thought of Snix & Pepsi soon residing in it!



If a man does his best, what else is there? --General George S. Patton

Friday was my 27th birthday, and it seems we were celebrating all weekend, though it wasn't really for my birthday - it all just came together at the perfect time. My mom and my niece came over Friday night to spend the weekend. My mom slept in the trailer living quarter's, my niece slept on the couch the first night, then in the trailer LQ on the second night. I love sleeping in the LQ - though small, it's very luxe and comfy. My mom loved it, too. Saturday Brittany, my niece, rode Snickers and I was so glad I finally got some shots of Chloe jumping up to lick Snix - she does it every time I ride!

That evening Jeff's parents, sister, niece, nephew, and uncle came over and we grilled some rabbits, salmon, sausage, hotdogs and corn. It was a great feast. We all sat around a campfire by the pond and enjoyed the evening. It was just like we were camping out. Sunday, after church, we headed over to Nanny & Papa's (Jeff's parents) and ate roast beef - YUM! - and crashed in their living room for awhile before heading home to crash on our own couch. We were sooo pooped yesterday. I guess it was from having company all weekend - we're so used to just being by ourselves. It was a great and fun weekend, though, and was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday, even if it wasn't really for my birthday - it's just a great way to spend any weekend!

Now I can't wait to go to Lowe's to spend my birthday gift card!!! :)


There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle The other is as though everything is a miracle. --Albert Einstein

I took Snix out for a leisurely tour yesterday. I set out bareback, jeans rolled up, flip-flops floppin', with Dally and Chloe running alongside. Chloe, of course, couldn't resist leaping, pouncing and performing airs-above-ground, trying her hardest to entice Snix, the "big dog", to play. Her antics would increase during our many "pit stops" in which Snix would stop to graze and Chloe would relentlessly annoy her.

I lost a flip-flop in the brush while crossing through a draw, so I had to dismount to get it. I have never been good about mounting up bareback without a bucket or some assistance of some sort. We were close to a gate, thankfully, and though I wasn't able to get her very close to it, I was able to make a flying leap onto her back. Bless her soul, she is such a docile horse!!

Later, she proved her worth once again as we were travelling down a trail and came upon an obstacle - they looked like a bunch of sheets of plywood, painted white and stacked/overlapping each other 3/4 of the way across the path. Without hesitation, she dipped her head for a closer look and simultaneously planted her hoof firmly in the middle of the boards and kept on going right along. A few hundred feet later a large limb-covered tree was laying across our path. By this time she was marching along with a long, ground-covering stride and I was a bit concerned she might either trip over the tree or try to jump it. However, she slowed at just the right moment and stepped high over a limb, then the tree trunk, and marched on. I was very proud of her for being so perfect in those instances.

Well, we got to the end of the trail and came out on the road about a 1/4 mile from our driveway. We had to cross an oilfield location road to get home, and just as we started to cross a truck started to come down the gravel road. No big deal. Usually.

But, for some unknown reason, as soon as Chloe saw that truck she spun around and ran off in the direction we'd come from. I called and called for her, but she had disappeared. Dally, Snickers and I got home, I tied Snix up and jumped in the truck. I couldn't find Chloe and was getting more worried, so I called Jeff. He reassured me that she knew her way home and would come home soon, so I parked the truck and started bathing Snickers.

By the time I had Snickerdoodles gleaming, all bright and shiny, Chloe showed up, panting heavily.......... I think she ran the whole 3-4 miles of trails back home! After tending to the horses, the dogs and I went inside. Chloe got sick all over the living room floor - several times, till nothing was left in her stomach. It was all water. (And thankfully our floor is laminate wood - very easy to clean!) I think she was over-heated. She's okay now, but I feel sorry for her, the poor little girl.

Aside from all that, though, I was glad to get some quality time in with Snickerdoodles. As I've said before, she loves having a fuss made over her and she really enjoyed her bath - particularly the scrubbing on her neck, chest and tail. Pepsi was jealous of all the attention - she was pawing the fence and reaching her head over the fence. I hosed her off through the fence, which she enjoyed - it was a rather warm day! Afterwards, she took a good roll and covered herself with mud, of course. So now, I have 2 paints - one very dirty mud/gray paint and one gleaming, bright, shiny black/white paint! :)

To get to know a country, you must have direct contact with the earth. It's futile to gaze at the world through a car window --Albert Einstein

Not really, but that is the way I'm feeling right about now... I ordered the automatic feeders I talked about in an earlier entry and they arrived last week. Woo-Hoo!! And, even more exciting news - the barn is coming along nicely! Jeff is working on it nearly every day, the gym sub-floor is done, the roof is on over half of it, purlins are up on one side, and.... more good news: I ordered a driving harness for Snickers! I almost gave up on the idea of training her to drive, knowing that I'd need the money to send Pepsi to David for training, but one of my old saddles finally sold on ebay and I used the money to buy a harness. I figured if I at least got started training her, then it would fire me up to work towards buying a cart. Then, the very next day, Jeff met a man at the gas station who was pulling a two horse trailer and a cart. Just so happens that man has a fixer-upper sulky for sale that we can get for a bargain!

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege
it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. --Marcus Aurelius