Skywatch Friday, Season 4, Episode 12

The SCC captured this photo of the full moon through the clouds from the front porch. If he thought this was beautiful, he should have seen it from the pasture with me and the herd.


Please go visit the other great Skywatch participants at Skywatch Friday There are wonderful photos from all around the world!
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Mad scientist

The DOR mentioned something about a mad scientist and an experiment. I want to know why the scientist is angry, did things go wrong at the laboratory?

She has been muttering about trying an experiment with me this Saturday...now I am getting worried. I don't want any cheezed off scientist near me.

The DOR's dad is a famous scientist. I hope she hasn't gone through his lab books and found an unfinished experiment that she plans on using me for.
I wonder if I can invent a machine that will allow me to skip Saturdays until she gets past this phase.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Wordless Wednesday

The Support Crew Chief, aka SCC, and Coelho, aka Quaalude, taking a break during the clinic.

The DOR thinks she is so lucky to have the SCC in her life. I think she is so lucky because she doesn't have to ride Quaalude.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Loping

For those of you who may not remember my werehorse incident I will give a short explanation. The first time the DOR loped me I sent her to the moon and she fractured her pelvis...I felt really sorry. It took her almost a year before she loped me again and that was for only 1/2 the length of the arena. It left her shaking and crying, but she did it.

Sir Royal Pain has reminded her how much fun loping is. She giggles and smiles, she feels like she is flying. Here she is at the clinic loping for the first time in an English saddle. It is also the longest she has loped since she started riding again. They had done a big clover leaf pattern and this is the very end of it.

Nice that SRP is getting her ready for when she rides me again. I plan on taking her for a nice lope around the arena to celebrate. I won't need a massage, relese on my legs, or bute when I am done because I am a young guy. Although I may act like I am sore to get a massage.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Quote for the week

"Are you sure you want to ride in that saddle? It has absolutely no security."

~Clinician to the DOR

"Well I guess I better stay seated and not fall off then."

~The DOR to the clinician

The DOR chose to ride English, she was confident that it would be just fine. She had told the clinician about how Sir Royal Pain will sometimes jump sideways, sit and spin when he gets frightened. The clinician was worried that the saddle seat saddle had no security and that if something went wrong that the DOR did not have enough experience riding English to stay seated. For once the DOR listened to her horse and her heart more than someone else's voice. While she was nervous and a bit concerned that maybe the clinician was right, she knew in her core that now was the time and things would be just fine. She also had the encouragement of the SCC and the Horse Guardian.

Things were fine and the clinic turned out wonderfully. Three hours in an English saddle, which felt the same as being bareback, made the DOR work hard...now she knows how I feel when she makes me trot a bunch. Nice to know that old farts can learn new tricks.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Clinic

The DOR will be attending a clinic tomorrow. She will be working with my original trainer. Sir Royal Pain will be packing her. He better be good and follow directions or he will get a big ol' appy hoof upside his head when he gets back. He also better remember that next year it will be me going.
The DOR is trying to decide if she is up to riding English for this clinic...I guess we will know when she gets back. She packed both of her saddles.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

DOR's inspiration

Besides me, the DOR has found a lot of inspiration in her journey to loose weight so she will be able to ride me again. This video says so much, it has a message for all of us.

I want to carry a rider again and I am working to do that. The DOR wants to be that rider and she is working to make that happen. The DOR started her mission to get light enough to be my rider at 310 pounds (yes I know we shouldn't discuss ladies weights, but if you keep it a secret so will I). As of last Saturday the DOR weighed 260. She is steadily getting smaller and I am steadily getting stronger. Soon we will meet in the middle and will be sharing two minds and four hooves once more.

Whatever you want to do, just get out there and do it-nothing is impossible once you put your mind to it.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Wordless Wednesday

I found these photos of Sir Royal Pain and thought he would appreciate me sharing them. Seems they are important to him because he had them hidden away.




Looks like he is getting in touch with his girly side. Alrighty then....

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

I am not a hippie!

There is a difference between being hippy and being a hippie! I am definitely not old enough to be a real hippie. The DOR and Freedom are both pushing being old enough.

I am just glad that unlike Sir Royal Pain, Mushboy didn't manage to get the pearl necklace on me....there are limits after all.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Quote for the week

You should never humilitate your horse...especially if you are planning on riding him that day

~Cactus Jack Splash

I HATE playing dress up! It is embarrassing and makes me feel just plan silly. The DOR insisted that I try on different headgear in preparation for the upcoming Fall Follies. I did the best I could to cooperate, but it was not fun in the least. All I can say it is it is a good thing she couldn't ride me after making me look silly, I would have had to make her look silly....

The DOR did tell me that I do not have to wear a costume at Fall Follies since I hated all of them, she is just going to paint me up.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Freedom speaks Saturday

Some of the horses played dressup with Mushboy, the SCC, and the DOR this week. Shandi is such a good girl and was very good about all of the silliness. That was until she got to be the Queen of the Nile. Once she had on her crown she promptly gave all of the gelding a raspberry. She is in charge, at least she thinks so, and had to rub it in.

I didn't have my feet done today, I wasn't on the rotation. It is a good thing because I wasn't feeling too well and wanted to be left alone.

Life is so good!

Skywatch Friday, Season 4, Episode 10

A look at the sky from a horse's point of view


Please go visit the other great Skywatch participants at Skywatch Friday There are wonderful photos from all around the world!

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Oh man!

Oh man, just wait until Sir Royal Pain sees this picture. That is Smoke wearing SRP's saddle. The DOR got to take him out on a trail ride with Freedom's Lady.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Wordless Wednesday

The three amigos. No the DOR isn't crying, although Mushboy says that is what it looks like, she is just wiping sweat from her face-it was hot.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to

hug your DOR!

Look at my baby

This is my Shandi Doll wearing a saddle for the first time. What a big girl she is becoming! She didn't flinch at the cinching, didn't offer to buck, and acted like she had been wearing a saddle all of her life. She was a bit fluxomed at the saddle following her everywhere, but soon that didn't bother her either. Very good for a first time. I am one proud uncle!

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Packing a rider once again!

Look at me, being ponied while carrying Mushboy! The DOR is over the moon to say the least. I trotted around the arena five times at the side of Sir Royal Pain. I didn't take one wonky step. In fact it appears that my hind end is working perfectly fine. Given that the DOR decided it was time to try a rider again. The last time I carried a ride I listed to the right and almost fell over. The SCC walked beside us just incase I got wobbly, he was going to snatch Mushboy off of me if needed. The DOR was pleased with two giant circles and we called it good. I was happy to be carrying a rider again, it was fun. Mushboy thought getting ponied was fun. Best of all the DOR was having a grand time with all of her "boys". I just keep getting better and better, next spring I will be hitting the trails. Mushboy told the DOR he would like to ride me on a trail ride if the DOR will pony me, sounds like fun to me.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Quote for the week

"Every good ride I have ever had is do to the compassion of a good horse and the grace of God. Every bad ride I have ever had has been my own damn fault"
~The DOR to her trainer

All of the DORs horses are fortunate that she never blames us for her riding problems. Sometimes I think she is a bit too forgiving. There have been times that Sir Darby and I have both been naughty and it had nothing to do with what she was doing. The DOR will just say, "I should have checked them out better on the ground before I got on." She also thinks that maybe sometimes she pushes too hard or asks for too much. I think it is time that she learns that sometimes we are just naughty like little children and need to be told to grow up and stop it... That aside, her philosophy does make it a lot nicer to work with her. Most of her horses try harder for her because of it. We don't want to let her down, she has placed so much faith in us.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Freedom speaks Saturday

Today we stop to remember a tragedy, helpless victims, and numerous heroes. As we do this I encourage you to remember how forgiving we horses are and seek to find forgiveness in your own heart. Extend the dignity and courage in which your equine friends live their lives to those around you. Like members of a herd, strive to live in peace.

Life is sooooo good!

Lessons

Here is the Support Crew Chief taking a lesson on Coelho. They are working on their communication skills. Coelho won't let me smooch him either. He just wants to kick me because his old girlfriend likes me better than him. I am going to have to find a horse here that likes smooches.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Wordless Wednesday

Three best friends. To quote Mushboy, "You guys are BFFs"

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Outing....

Yippeee, I had a great time yesterday. I went to the cow pasture and Sir Royal Pain and the DOR ponied me around. I loved trotting out there, in fact I offered to lope and was told that we were not doing that. The only bad part about the pasture work was that SRP did his pinny eats and snapped at me when I tried to smooch his face. The DOR got after me too... It seems that I am not supposed to get ahead of her stirrup, every time I do she snaps my lead and growls my name. Good thing her stirrups are blingy, make them easier for me to see.

After our time in the pasture the DOR took us on a road trip down around the ranch. SRP does not like getting sprayed by the sprinklers so he did a bit of dancing. I stopped because I like getting sprayed, okay I also stopped to get even with SRP for snapping his teeth at me when I tried to smooch him. The DOR sorted us both out and we headed back to my pasture.
The DOR says I need to quit trying to smooch SRP because I have to good bites on my neck that he has given me for trying. I keep thinking that he should just let me smooch him and be done with it.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Happy Labor Day

Today is the day that humans honor those who work to make their lives better. I think that means that we animals should be honored too! So let's all celebrate all the creatures who work to make our lives better.


This photo is here just in case the DOR is thinking about making me work today. Rumor has it I have to go trotting in the cow pasture with Sir Royal Pain...hmpff.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Quote for the week

If you want to improve and get well you have to work, help me out here will you?

~DOR

The DOR was a bit hacked off at me the other day. I would walk along just fine while we were doing our pony work. The DOR would visit with Sir Royal Pain and myself and was enjoying the ride. Then would come time to trot... The DOR has been working with SRP to trot slower so I wouldn't have to work too hard and he has finally gotten down a nice western jog. She would get me slightly ahead of SRP's shoulder and then cue us both to trot. I saw it as a perfect opportunity to see if the DOR was practicing her centered riding and if she was firm in her seat, after all I want her to get better at riding. Soooo with that in mind I would just keep walking or stop altogether, depending on what I wanted her to learn. Oh my would I get a dirty look and the DOR would scold me a bit. She knew I was being a bit of a twit because she knows that I know how to pony like a good boy. Well I am a bit cheesed that I have to follow SRP around to begin with and he kept giving me pinny ears when I tried to smooch him.

I forgot that the DOR used to compete as a power lifter and boy did I get my antics handed to me after a few times of not listening. SRP is a big boy and the DOR planted her hand on her thigh and clamped her arm to her side and off they went at a trot...I had to go or get dragged, it was like getting towed behind a truck. Well I decided that cooperation was the better idea so around we trotted, walked, and trotted some more. We did trotting turns, figure eights, and we even backed a few steps. The DOR says that soon we will be good enough to have a bit of a change of views and leave the arena. Until then I am going to keep working on getting better...but at what I am not telling

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Freedom speaks Saturday

This photo is of Mushboy and me at Spring follies, I went as the King of B-BQ.

It takes a strong person to own an old toothless horse. Really, you need some muscles! Take my 15 pounds of dry feed, soak it with enough water to make mush that is easy to eat and it weighs 50 pounds. Then move that mush on city block over bumpy ground and thick grass. Even with a wagon that is a chore. Then toss in doing that twice a day (except in the summer months), regardless of the weather. I am fortunate that I have such a person-Mushboy.

Mushboy picked me out to rescue. I was skinny, really skinny, and had two retired bucking horses helping me stay safe and upright. In return I have packed Mushboy around the pasture until I retired. Now the two of us play in the arena on occasion. Mushboy makes my special mush just the way I like it. In the winter he makes sure is is warm. He blankets and unblankets me as needed, checks my water, and best of all he makes sure I get scritched everyday.

He is also emotionally strong. He knows that I am getting really old and that soon I will need to leave him as much as I don't want to do so. Mushboy tells me that I need to do what is best for me. He tells me he would like me to live with him forever, but he knows that might not be what I want to do. I can tell you that the love and determination of this young man helped me recover when he rescued me. His love keeps me going when I feel like I am too tired. My love for him will keep me ticking until I have no more to give...who knows that just might be forever.

Life is so good!

Skywatch Friday, Season 4, Episode 8

A lovely sunrise viewed from the DOR's front porch.

Please go visit the other great Skywatch participants at Skywatch Friday There are wonderful photos from all around the world!

On the move

Tonight I agreed to meet theDOR and Sir Royal Pain at the arena. The SCC took me in and lead me around to check out some new obsticles that were in there. Then he handed me off to the DOR. I thought we might be taking a nice leisurley walk, I should have know better since Sir Royal Pain was involved. The next thing I know I am being asked to trot at a pretty good clip. The DOR had me trot around the entire arena four times. I am pleased to report that I did not take a single off step, I am making progress. This video is of me making a short circle at the end of my workout so the SCC could see if I was off....you can hear his report.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!