The DOR went visiting

This photo was done by Amanda of Amanda's Veranda, she does the best pictures! Amanda sent it to the DOR yesterday, made the DOR really happy by the way-thanks Amanda.
The horse on the right is DOR's Spooky Sky, ranch name Scooby. The horse on the left is named Blue. Blue and Scooby are best friends across the fence. They also are best friends in the same pasture as long as the orphan that Scooby is raising is not in it. If the baby is there all bets are off, Scooby will only share the baby with Hank and beats up other horses who come around the baby. The two uncles need to do a better job teaching the baby manners according to the DOR. It seems they are letting the little guy get away with being rude. What does she expect? Scooby can't see a darn thing the baby is doing and if Hank gets after the baby Scooby bites or kicks him, so Hank has taken to ignoring the naughty baby. I think the baby needs an aunty that will make him tow the line. While she is at it she can also teach Hank a thing or two also. Actually Hank is a good guy, he keeps his eye on Scooby and that is an important job.
Hank is the varnished roan appy with Scooby in the picture (again another great photo by Amanda). The DOR loves riding Hank, but she needs a five foot ladder to get on and off him. He spent the summer as part of the CWU equestrian team, now he is just hanging out with his buddy Scooby.
In case you are new Scooby was her favorite riding horse who went blind last spring. He is staying in a wonderful place in Ellensburg. The DOR has him there because she knows that she would want to still ride him if he was home and that would be bad because sometimes he has panic attacks and those are dangerous if you are on him. The facility he stays at is run by a lady named Sudi-she absolutely loves every horse in her care.
After the DOR and Amanda visited Hank and Scooby they went to a colt starting clinic. It was a good learning experience. I am especially glad the DOR went because it prevented her from torturing me for the day. She didn't take a horse but worked with one the clinician brought for her to help with, the horses name was Rodeo. Don't people think about what they name horses? What are some DORs thinking? Buck, Bam, Trigger, Dusty, Thumper, Panik (yep my DOR did that one), Luger, and other such names are just asking for trouble. I have Splash at the end of my name and look what happened...the DOR took a dive off of me two weeks ago. Really think about what your horse's name is telling it.
The DOR likes doing the groundwork leading up to a first ride. She doesn't do first rides because she doesn't like to fly (yep that is her excuse, she just hated the landing). The horse she worked with did well enough he got his first ride yesterday with no courtesy flight included for the rider-see the DOR should have gotten on.
The other reason she had a great time is that most of the participants were her age. Most all of them were dealing with the effects that age brings like needing to mount from a mounting block, knees that don't bend well anymore, and those little aches that remind you that you aren't 20 any more. I can see it now...a bunch of old farts working with a bunch of young farting horses, would have been a riot to watch. I am going to see if I can go the next time just so I can have a good giggle.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR

I'm a Superior Scribbler-Award winners

Thank you Amanda at Amanda's Veranda The DOR is glad it wasn't for Superior Pooping, she has plenty of that to deal with already.

With this award, there are some rules:

1.Name 5 other Superior Scribblers.

2.Link to the author and the name of the blog that gave you the award.

3.Display the award on your blog with this LINK, which explains the award.

4..Click on the award and at the bottom of that link, add your name to Mr. Linky’s list.

5.Post these rules for your recipients.

I am going to post my awardees later after I talk to the rest of the herd.

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

Boy it is hard to pick from so many great blogs. I have been visiting other blogs that I find on fellow bloggers sites. It is a never ending world of enjoyable reading. With that in mind I am going to pick some new places I have been and also everyone who is listed on my blog. So for the newbies (at least to me):

1. OLGA, THE TRAVELING BRA

2. Your Life is Now

3. Luxor

4. The Thoughtful Horse

5. Dawns bloggy blog

To all the blogs I have listed in my sidebar, make sure and pick up your award also. Please visit all my friends and if you have time do some surfing-there are so many great blogs out there to read!

Vocabulary Sunday

I thought I would start someting a bit different with vocabluary Sunday. I am going to talk about the structure of the horse itself.

Here is a picture with all of the major body parts labeled. Now you will know what the DOR and I are talking about when I say I have a gogeous croup.

This website: http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Conformation/BodyParts.htm will give you a good description about the different parts.

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

Schooling Saturday-Grades for the DOR

Professor Cactus Jack Splash here. Today is schooling day, boy do I have plans for the DOR! I am going to teach her to jump, keep the ball away from my feet, get her to jog beside me, and I just might see if I can get her to put that stupid grocery bad on her head.
I will give a report later.

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

We started out playing the friendly games.
The DOR the worked with me on how to act in a halter class. She thinks it would be fun to show me in some halter classes next summer. I did really good! I don't quite get why the DOR feels I have to trot while she is jogging beside me...won't she get tired. Well she did today, she was jogging and I was walking-eventually she gave up. See I am good at "halt her"-I got her to stop.

The DOR also brought out a new toy, a circingle...looks like something a circus horse would wear. If she thinks I am going to tolerate feathers and blingy stuff put on it for a parade she better think again-I have my dignity to maintain. I am not sure what all she plans on doing with it. Today she decided we would work on my issues with things flapping around me and the fact that I think everything that is white is a grocery bag. Well I could see that I was going to have to teach her a lot today.

She had been out in our pasture earlier with these white things hanging out of her pocket. I thought I should save her from them, but there was no way I was going near them. Freedom grabbed on out of her pocket and tried to eat it. All he did was kill it, the DOR picked the dead thing up and put it back in her pocket. Well the DOR decided that it would be a brilliant idea to put the things in one of the rings. Do I look like I thought it was a good idea. Well I taught her how to lunge me without a fall apart, I did worry about her a bit when the white things started flapping around. The DOR did such a good job that we got out the apple stick with the bag on it. You will never believe it-the DOR touched the bag with her hands and set it on her head. Well she isn't scared of it is she. I did pretty good with blowing marbles when she first started waving the bag at me. Eventually I ran out of marbles and the bag was still waving and it was inching closer and closer.... Well I tell you that the United Nations would be proud of me, I made a peace treaty with that bag in a big hurry. The bag listened and hostilities were stopped. The bag hung in the middle of the air and I touched it with my nose several times, the bag did not eat me. I am not sure if the treaty extends to all bags or only this particular one, but it is a step forward. The DOR decided we had both had enough and that both of us came a long way today.

I am going to spend the rest of the evening watching the horses in the north pasture go nuts...the llamas moved in next to them and they are all wigging out. I like the llamas, I offered to swap the horses the llamas for the grocery bags but they were too busy snorting and running to hear me. Maybe tomorrow I can work out a deal.

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

Skywatch Friday No. 21

This is a series of photos of the oak tree taken at 4:30 in the evening. Boy is it getting dark early.

When I was six I came to live with my grandparents while my dad finished his doctoral program and got ready to move up to Washington for a job. I rode up in my grandpa's truck, loaded with our possesions, with my uncle Buck driving and my aunt Betty navigating. I was in the middle and got to "shift gears" (grandpa would scream if he knew that!).We arrived at my grandparents and the first thing I remember is spying the biggest tree I had ever seen. Now I know I had been at my grandparent's house before, I just have no memory of it prior to arriving in the truck with my aunt and uncle. We arrived on my seventh birthday, my grandma made a pink bunny cake and I got a necklace with a blue heart surrounded by "diamonds"-I felt like a princess.

I remember going out after eating cake and standing at the trunk of the oak tree, looking up. While the leaves were green, it was much like these photos. I thought the tree reached clear to heaven and that if I could just climb up in the branches I would be able to see God. I just had to figure out how to get up into that tree...

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