Barn scenes from yesterday morning:


Jack and Andrew become kitty sitters while I freshen up the kitty crib. They had fun coming up with names like Dr. Doolittle and Feedo. So far Ash has vetoed their choices. We will keep you posted.

Ashley has decided to start preparing for her C2 rating in Pony Club. For those of you that arent familiar with PC this is a building block toward an A level. The ratings are based on knowledge, responsibility and the riders ability to understand first what is going on with their ride and second how to improve it. Pony Club is not about competition, it is about knowledge and responsibility. Ultimately the club strives to turn riders into trainers. I am proud of Ash for tackling this new challenge.

Combined training rally was at Rocking Horse on Sat and Sun. Ash and Phanny were on a scramble team with girls from around the state. The nice thing about scrambling is making new friends. Also the pair had their best cross country run. Beautiful! My job this rally was to coach 5 riders ages 7-9. That was really fun.
They were very cute and so brave. I told them near the end that the rider with the most elegant salute to the judge would get a piece of bubble gum. If only I had a movie camera of those salutes! Let's just say they all got gum.

The new kid on the block is checking out his digs. His name in Denmark was Ligoretto. (If anyone knows what that means you can let me know.) His English Mom (Lisa) calls him "Gettin Jiggy With It" which is a reference to Irish dancing. We call him Jiggy and are very excited to have him living at Lucky Trail Stable. ps: Phanny likes him too!

Misty Morning Star: That is what Ashley and I named this little fellow that early morning when he found the strength to stand. It is a pretty good story how we came to know him. His Mama (Misty) was purchased as a 2 year old over the phone. When she arrived she was ill. Ashley and I helped with her care. One morning she was lying down, her owner out of town and she seemed in pain. Next thing we see is this little fellow on the ground. Wow, even the vet didnt see this coming. Apparently Misty wasnt prepared either because she ignored him. The vet told us that if he stood in the first hours he maybe could survive. 6 days later Ashley and I were still camped out at the barn feeding him warm cow milk on the hour. I woke Ash and we walked over to the stall to see him standing on his own for the first time. It was a moment to remember.

His name was changed to Shadow because of his habit of following people around looking for the baby bottle full of milk. Even now as a big 4 year old he will follow and nuzzle you. Only now he is looking for carrots.

Adam and Aiden
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Zoom, Zoom, Zoom... Adam gets a new car, Ashley gets a ride to school and I get to sleep longer. Yahoo! Hey, we all have our priorities.

We had a wonderful trip to Idaho to see Papa and Jamie. As you can see by the photos Idaho is wild and beautiful and pure. The vision in my head that I was unable to capture on film was of a wolf running up through the trees near Cascade Lake. A rare site that truly felt special.

Sad News:
We lost our battle to save Scout. He died in the hospital on Wed. He was a beautiful, kind, and gentle horse. He was often my inspiration. He will be greatly missed.

Hugs for Scout.
He has been in the Peterson Smith Equine Hospital in Ocala since March 17. He is undergoing tests to determine why it is so difficult for him to eat. I cant express how much we miss him. It's like a sad cloud is hanging over our house.
Someone is missing...

Hey aren't you kids supposed to be in school?
Sledding Florida Style

Turtle Mound
These kids are sitting on top of a huge mound of oyster shells. If you use your imagination you can visualize some Timacuan children hundreds of years ago on the same mound. This is where they piled their empty shells. At one time the mound was 75 feet tall. It is thought that they would use this mound to escape the storm surge in a hurricane. I told the kids that the next time we would take kayaks and gather our own oysters, eat them and throw the shells on the heap. You know a re-enactment of sorts.