Freedom speaks Saturday- the leader of the pack

At the place we live horses are pastured in various sized herds, this is our"family". Like most families there is a boss. In most herds you can watch for a bit and tell who the boss is...well my little band of merry horses is a bit different. Our pasture has three geldings and one little filly in it. That in itself is unusual, you see we don't do any feuding over that little filly. We all are her favorite depending on what is going on and we are okay with that. But I am pigeon walking a bit, we are talking about who the boss is.
Well first of all we have to decide what a boss is. Is it the horse that bosses every one around with an iron hoof and jaws of steel? Nope, that is just a bully and no horse really likes them. We don't have one of those in our pasture.
Is it the horse that gets every one to playing around with their antics? Nope that is the pasture clown and as you can figure out that is Jack's job.
Is it the horse that all the other horses defer to when it comes over to eat or drink? It could be...in our pasture that horse is Salty.
The DOR has been watching us over the past year, really trying to figure out who the boss is. She has wondered if it has to do with the day or the situation. She thinks she has figured it out finally. I could have saved her a whole bunch of cogitating if she would have just followed me around sooner. I am the boss! Yep this old guy still rules the roost, I just do it differently than what she is used to seeing.
I have learned not to hassle over every little thing. If it isn't going to matter in 25 years it probably isn't that big of a deal now. So if one of the horses wants to share my food and I am not starving I let them. You see once they get busy eating I can just go right back to munching away and after I drool on them a bit they usually leave.
I don't have to shake my head, pin my ears, kick or bit to get horses to move. I am a bit like a sherman tank, I set my eye on where I want to go and just start walking...you can either move or get run over-the choice is yours.
I don't go running across the pasture if something startles me. I trot off a few paces and then turn to check things out. This is how you figure out what is dangerous and what is safe.
I am the horse that all the other horses turn to if they are uneasy about something. It isn't wisdom that comes with age that makes them look to me, it is just my attitude. The DOR says I am what the old man from Mark Rashid's books would be if he was a horse...whatever, I am just doin what I do. I am the "invisible boss", most people wouldn't realize that I am in charge unless they really dedicated some time to figuring out who runs our little pasture. At first glance most people would think it is Salty, he would like to think he is the boss but he is just snarky.
I don't mind being the leader, it gives me something to do. Some days the two young twerps tire me out, so I camp out with Salty under the trees. Well I have to go teach the little filly a few manners, she is getting a bit pushy wth Jack.
Why don't you guys write in to tell us about your herd leader...it will be fun to read about.
Life is so good! Oh and Jack told me to remember to say: Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR

Skywatch Friday No. 49

Happy Skywatch Friday....well actually at the ranch it is "bagwatch Friday". The DOR had the deadman bag out, dragging it around the pasture. She is sure one of these days it won't send me over the moon, well alrighty then she is the eternal optimist isn't she.
None of us wanted to touch it, who knows what would happen if we did? I finally reached out and tapped it with my nose...I had to show her that Uncle Jack is a big brave appy.



Okay, the truth is that when I first saw the bag I shoved Shandi out front. My plan was to make the bag think that Shandi would be an easy target. I was then ready to attack the bag at a moments notice to defend my niece if needed, but it wasn't needed because the bag could see me and was terrified!


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

My niece Shandi

All photos are used with the permission of Sunny Acres Ranch.
This is my niece Shandi. Well she isn't really my niece, she just decided to hang out with us geldings and we love her to bits.













Shandi and I share the same birthdate, so I think that makes her pretty special.















She is absolutely beautiful!
















Look at her fancy face!



















Shandi is a gorgeous, sweet AQHA filly - (papers pending). Her sire is Smokin Lynx Olena, and her dam has Sir Quincy Dan and Sir Quincy Bob on her papers. Shandi has a great mind, loves people, comes to you to be caught and haltered, leads well, and stands for hoof trimming. She is a dark grulla color with a dorsal stripe, darling baby doll head, nice shoulder, and huge hip. This filly will grow up to be a quality mare that you can do anything with. Her dam has been a roping horse, rode trails, and has had children ride her. She passed on her great attitude and people pleasing nature to Shandi. Adoption fee: $500

We would love to have Shandi find a DOR of her very own. If you are interested in Shandi contact Shelly at Sunny Acres Ranch
You can also look at more horses looking for DOR's at Sunny Acres Ranch Message Board
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR

Less words Wednesday

Here we are DOR watching. We tried to act like nothing was going on and that we really weren't watching her. We were trying to imitate her doing one of her favorite things...watching the herd.



































Then Salty, Freedom, and I couldn't stand it anymore and we went DOR snooping. We were going to mug her for treats, we got some.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR

Ick

Yesterday afternoon the DOR was told by the Dr. that she has a cute bronchitis. I think he is mistaken, she has a ugly bronchitis because there is nothing cute about it. In fact it is so ugly I am not sure she should be near me...it is going to take away from my blingness.
Her eyes are running, she is sneezing (which makes me jump), coughing, Kleenex every where, and sounds like she has been breathing too much dust. She can hardly talk. That is a bonus because she can't yell at me if I am naughty...but she still has that mean look she can give that makes you fear for your life, so that is enough.
Her Dr. gave her some cough medicine with codeine in it, so she is a bit goofy and can't drive. That also means she can't ride either. Oh darn more vacation time for me...I am soooo sick of just hanging around the pasture eating-NOT!
Rumor has it she should be feeling much better after a couple of days on her meds. The DOR has a list of things we are going to do once she is better. Well I have a list of my own too... Maybe we can compromise and do a few things off of each list, that would be fair. The truth is I miss getting to play in the arena, it is always fun to see what new things the DOR comes up with.
So DOR stay home, take your meds and get better soon.
By the way those of you who think my niece Shandi is delightful, I am going to make a post on Thursday just about her. She is available for adoption at Sunny Acres Ranch, though I would miss her it would be nice for her to have a DOR of her very own.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR