Regard's Little Stinker!

2/2/2025

Regards loved being a mama. She enjoyed her extra attention and was thrilled to show off her filly to anyone. That filly, however, was huge in the personality department. Very confident too.  She would walk up to a human and attempt to introduce herself by nosing about their pockets or chewing on their clothing. She was so cute that it was hard to be angry with her. She learned that to not get in trouble, all she had to do was scoot around her mama and ‘ hide’. 

One day I was grooming Regards. She was enjoying it immensely as her winter coat was beginning to come out. All of the horses were incredibly itchy, too. I was currying her tummy when her daughter slid her face underneath from the other side to see what I was doing.  She was fascinated. All of a sudden, she scampered around to my side of her mama. I looked up and saw two little hind hooves flying towards me.  She had decided that I wasn't supposed to be there and was letting me know by kicking at me. Ears back and a baby grunt with the effort.

Ok, that was the end of baby cuteness. Had I not known to keep an eye on babies, I would have been kicked. Those foals look adorable but a kick or a bite can be serious. It was time to respond to this as another horse might. She could learn how to speak  ‘ human ‘ soon enough. 

The next time she was a bit more confident...trotting up to me, shaking her head. I ignored her and let herself get into trouble. I wanted to be sure that she understood that it was because she had been a bad filly and she caused the discipline.  I had to grin at her fierceness...she was so darned cute. As she got close enough to reach out to bite me, I stood up very fast and got “big”. Arms stretched out to my sides, my jacket also, and I roared at her in my most intimidating voice. “ Don't you ever try that again !!!” I clapped my hands as I yelled at her. Regards, who had grown used to the fact that humans were all pretty much crazy, turned her neck around and calmly continued eating her hay. 

The filly whirled around like she had been hurt somehow, ran to the safe side of her mama, and peered from behind Regard's tail. It was really hard to be angry with her, but I had to let her feel my anger at her trying to hurt me. Those mile-long eyelashes were blinking at me in between Mom's tail hair. After I finished what I had been doing, I gave Regards a piece of carrot, ignoring the little stinker, and left.

 

Regards Becomes a Mama & Skunk Grows Up

 Regards was heavy in foal that early winter. It was her first pregnancy and I figured from how she would waddle around that she didn't think much of it. Regards was not a happy camper at all. She discovered she couldn't keep up with the other mares due to foal later in the Spring and rolling in the mud wasn't as fun as it used to be. 

She could feel something in her stomach area that kept moving around.. she didn't remember eating anything alive, so what could that be all about? Sometimes she was sure it had kicked at her, which was quite bothersome. She finally got to the point where she would kick at her belly with a hind hoof. "whatever is in there needs to STOP!"

I ensured that she had the right supplements a mom-to-be would need and that she had gotten her vaccinations at the correct times. I could only imagine how miserable she felt. She was used to being fit and in top condition, not walking about feeling like some walrus. Two more weeks and she would finally understand just what was going on.

The farm ran along regardless of miserable mares, snow, sleet, or mud here in Maryland. Just like all of the other farms, animals, and livestock needed even more care in winter it seemed. The horses being turned out, went with blankets on to keep them warm, and those who had grown heavy winter coats always had hay available to eat. You see, hay turned into energy which in turn helped them stay healthy and fat. Extra feed to those hard keepers, and topped off with corn oil for extra calories but not as much feed. Water that was warmed by stock tank heaters, and heated water buckets in every stall. We made sure that every horse drank plenty so there was no colic. 

 Jellino was full of himself. Not enough miles and he was so fit that he could easily gallop for quite a few. Wintertime was not a safe time to go galloping through the forest. No matter how wonderful one thought himself to be. 😆

When I would turn him out for the afternoon, I would be confronted with hind heels flying and turbo boosts. ( aka - toots, farts, etc) He'd race about like an idiot bucking and throwing his head/neck from side to side. I told him like some others that one day, his head would go flying away from him, and that would be that. He didn't seem to care. 

The babies from last year will soon be considered to be yearlings. Every Thoroughbred becomes a year older in January, no matter when they were born that last year.  My little Skunk was not a pure Thoroughbred, so she will get to keep her actual birthdate. Speaking of my little baby horse, she was getting tall. And incredibly fuzzy! We practiced all of the things that a proper filly would need to know. So far, she would pick up each hoof, waiting for me to hold it and clean out anything that may have been collected in it. I could brush her literally from ears to toes without a fuss unless she had an itchy spot. Then she would move so I was currying that itchy spot some extra. She would follow me all over that barn and eventually all over the farm. I had a little black shadow and loved every minute of it. 

One morning in February, I arrived to see a lot of people walking around looking very important. Or at least trying to. I ran to the foaling barn and realized that Ms. Wonderful was finally foaling! Oh, she was not pleased with anyone being there that she didn't know, so I told the strangers that they had to leave. Once they were gone, I got a soft nicker from Regards. She was relaxing and not pinning her ears any longer. My boss was there along with Anna, quietly waiting and watching the much-awaited event. I joined them as soon as I could. By now the mom-to-be was really seriously pushing as her body told her to. It wasn't long before we saw some small hooves. My boss said that seeing the tops of hooves meant the foal was going to be born properly. Seeing the bottoms of hooves told him that the little one was coming backward.  A breech birth. Regards was pushing that little one ( who didn't look so little from the size of its hooves!) out further and further. A nose laying on top of those long legs, then a face, neck. It was difficult pushing those monster shoulders out but with one final heave, out came baby!  We all softly cheered and told Regards what a grand mama she was. Of course, Regards was napping, finally comfortable. My boss let me do a dose of iodine on the new born's umbilical cord so no infection would happen. Wow, what a gorgeous baby it was! Four white stockings, and a blaze just like Papa had. All of a sudden, I thought:  filly or colt!!?? Anna checked and said quietly, Regards has a daughter...... Once again, I was in tears. What a miracle a birth is. A whole complete baby horse and in 5-10 minutes was attempting to line those long legs to get up. Regards woke up at all of the noise, looking around at us. All of a sudden she saw the foal. What a wonderful soft welcome nicker she did. The filly looked around to find the creature who spoke her language and saw her mama. She too, nickered back to Regards. That was it- Regards was In Love. She licked and caressed her new daughter with such care and I could feel the love coming out of her soul to her baby.  Mom got up and turned around to be sure her little one was alright. Then, she looked right at me and turned her face to her daughter. Just as though she wanted me to come meet her. I slid the stall door open softly and walked to Regards. I knew because of her past life, to not trust her explicitly. She looked at me and caressed her baby, nodding her head towards her. She was inviting me into her world and to meet her new foal. What a special compliment it was from a mare who would attack the stall bars to injure me.  I walked over to her foal who was trying to figure out life as it was for her. When I touched her, she flinched like she was surprised. When I opened my hand and touched her again, she was happier.  My boss came back into the stall and gave Regards a piece of carrot.  Then stepped back to help guide the hungry baby to the milk department. It was so sweet to see that little pink tongue looking for something to latch onto. She took a big step and reached her neck under Regard's tummy, looking to find what smelled so delicious.  All of a sudden we heard slurp, slurp, and my boss smiled widely. 

 "We have a first breakfast, Houston," he said. Anna and I gave each other big hugs as we knew how important it was for a new foal nurse to get the colostrum from her mama. That filly slurped and sucked like she was starving. Regards kept licking her rump and nickering things that only her baby understood.  

I ran to the house to let my boss's wife hear about the new foal and she immediately came with me to the foaling barn. 

'Oh, what a treasure,' she said, watching her trying to lay down. She too, had tears in her eyes... she knew how much it meant to have a strong healthy foal on the ground and such a fantastic mare caring for it.

                            Welcome to the world, little one! 

 

NEWS! 1\14\25

Happy New Year, belatedly !!!

 A lot has been happening since the last time I posted it seems. The last time, I had just moved into the farmhouse... Heres one.. 

As I find more, I'll share them. Those are my grandfather's hand-carved decoys. I used to have many more but had to sell them due to finances. Here's one of the horrid sofa left behind when the other folks moved.

 Anyway, it's looking homey as I get more things unpacked.

It's so quiet here, I love it.

Next on the list is that I met another guy the first of October! He's not boring, no lies, no games, just absoutely normal. We spent the holidays together and things have gotten better and better as time passes.  We are in touch daily and I'm quite happy. He lives an hour from me . Sometimes I drive up to his place, and sometimes he comes to the farm. He's TALL so I will refer to him as the Tall Guy.   6'4"-- 😵   Also, he's a Keeper!

He has wonderful stories to tell and I enjoy hearing them. Oh, and the man can COOK!  Wow can he cook.  I have gained 12 pounds over the holidays and meeting him... THIS IS NOT GOOD.😆

  I will get into how we met, how things went and some goofy things too.

Lets see....... what else.

I start a new job this coming Thursday- Happy Dance!👍👍

I just found the emoji area, can you tell ? 

 Training, how too do things, etc. I desperately neeed to begin getting money coming in ; I'm so far behind that I don't know if I will ever get caught up again. A month off being terribly sick sure was Not a planned item for sure.

Anyhow, I'm excited to be making money again, and I like the gal who's been helping me get hired too. 

Aside from horses here, there are some Barred Rock hens that are protected from predators and have a nice hen house to sleep in too. There's 2 small donkeys that adore carrots it seems ( gosh, they are so darned cute. It's a joy to arrive "home" .

There's one walking horse who should be named Houdini as he gets out frequently. He doesn't really go anywhere, but eats the grass in the yard and hangs out. All of the animals are friendly and I can tell that they are loved. :) 

I guess that's it for now, stay tuned for more on my Tall Guy and life here at the farm house.

Below is a doe who, with two others, were grazing in the back yard.

On my way to work one morning, the moon was full and so beautiful.

have a great week.

Catch Ups!

 10/ 20/24

Well!  So much has changed in the past month that I found it tough to keep up with. I kept getting emails about how my life was going to change for the better. “yeah” I thought to myself…. “ heard that so many times before “ I don't think about it much, but they kept showing up. Oh well…

 I had been told to move out by the woman I rented the room from. I'd been looking for a good while so it was not a surprise. The trouble was that I couldn't find a place to rent. If it was in my price range, it was a dump. If I liked a place, it was way out of my price range. Sighhhhh….

 I was desperate. So I  took a chance and made a post on my Facebook page. There's not much, but I got the expected replies from folks. I checked back later and there was a private response from a pal I knew online and a horsewoman too. I had to be moved out on a Monday, which happened the Saturday before. She said that she didn't know that I was looking for a house.… that they had an empty farmhouse. I sat there stunned. It sounded like a dream coming true.  A farmhouse…on a horse farm! I sat there in tears, it was so hard to believe. Could this really be happening to Me? Nothing good ever happened to me. Not in many years. I called her and made plans to go see the house on Sunday… It was a bit of a drive from where I worked but if it was great,  I decided I could figure it out. 

It was lovely. Two floors and a clear area that can be a craft place upstairs. I fell in love with it. Horses that would not run me over and I could see them from the windows. Big kitchen and country dining area.

                                                      A bedroom

                     The area I think that will be a great area for beadwork.

Kitchen 

 Needless to say, I said Yes!  There were one and a half days left. I packed and loaded the Escape and drove the miles to the farmhouse four times. 

Needless to say, I was exhausted, but I was out of that house. Just one more carload and I got those things the next day. Luckily she had dumped the rest of my things on the porch. I didn't have to go up those steps 😁. Finally, it was done. On my first night, I didn't get much sleep. The old leather couch that I had to sleep on was not the most comfy. I got used to it though.

It's been a couple of weeks now and  I love this place more every day. It's become a way to leave the world behind for a while. 

Not a new man for long..🤔

 10/14/24

Turns out the guy was boring as can be. No, thank you. I just stopped replying or answering the calls. I am not going to play second fiddle to a bunch of records. Such is life, I suppose.

 I had a reply to a dating site that I have decided to not continue. It's a waste of money that I don't have to spare. In the meantime, the man who responded seems very nice… stay tuned.

Autumn is here and I am enjoying it immensely. It's the best time of the year what with the great holidays and winter coming.😊  I used to love to decorate but ever since I was married to a man whose mission was to destroy me, I had stopped. I decorated for Christmas when I lived in the little apartment. But ever since, I just didn't feel Christmas or Yule in me.  That spirit is hard to find anymore.

A New Man 😁😁

 8/18/24

I know you have to meet a lot of people who are not your type before you find a special person to hold in your heart. I had been contacted by quite a few men who were either totally weird or unaware of how to deal with folks like me. Many didn’t want to get to know me because I was a straight shooter who was honest about my feelings, ethics and morals.  Apparently they didn’t like me having an opinion on anything. Or they just wanted to get laid.. or they wanted someone to take care of them. Then the one person I thought was wonderful decided that I was to be controlled. Ummm, No..  A few more of ‘ maybe we can just be friends’ get togethers, and I was about done.  I resigned myself to being alone for the rest of my life. Granted I was ok with that but it would have been nice to have someone to go out with or to various places of mutual interest. 

  I was online one evening , weeding out the whole bunch of men who wanted to   ’ meet’ me. I was giving up on the idea. Oddly enough, there was a name I recognized from a while ago. He was one of the group of guys, and I almost deleted him too. All he wrote was hi. Okay, so I returned the ‘ hi’ . The next morning I had a long post from him. We had talked a little bit about a year ago and he went on from there.  He asked if he could call me as he had never deleted my phone number from his address book. 

And so it began. 😉  He lives and hour away from me and is working on getting retired. He’s tall and has a super cute smile.  We have been out on a few dates so far and chat online more. We have just hit it off. We both were raised in a similar fashion… he knows something’ about horses, he was raised in a farming family and wants to live in the country.  So far we have been having a great time and I have been told that he has become ‘very fond’ of me.  We are becoming more than friends and it’s nice to meet someone who is not in a hurry. 

                                                                 Stay Tuned !!

Fun From the Past

8/19/24

Hope you enjoy these fun memories of mine… from almost 50 years of experience. Sadly I don’t have pictures of my past horses… but if I come across them I’ll post some pics.

 I had an Appy mare who had maybe 20 tail hairs. (AKA: rat tail) My riding students thought it would be better for her to have a tail for swishing flies. I said ok when I saw the plan. Those kids worked and fussed over an hour to attach the tail. Keisha was so good at being patient. Of course, I had to come and see her after they were done.  “ see, Miss Kris?  It’s a delightful tail!”

 Keisha had been sprayed with a fly deterrent so she wasn’t swishing that tail. She kept pulling it out of their hands. 

 When they took her out into the yard, she started swishing and then she started to freak out. She started turning around in circles trying to see what was wrong with her tail! Seemed like Keisha had never seen herself with a long tail before, especially one made from a bright orange kitchen towel…

                  

                               ********************************************************

I have to share this with you…  This little guy was 11 years old and he had just had a birthday, As one of his birthday presents from his parents, he was given horse riding lessons. When he arrived for his first lesson he told me that he loved horses and that he would be a great student for me.

Everything went smoothly with him learning to groom my ancient Appaloosa mare, Alli. Joey was cooing sweetly to her as he curried her spotted coat.

Joey gave Alli kisses and hugs too. It was clear to me that he truly loved horses, especially my mare.  I enjoyed watching him getting to be more comfortable around Alli  (short for 'All the Best')  She would turn her head around and nuzzle his little chubby tummy and Joey would just laugh.

We were all done with the first ride lesson and he couldn’t wait for the next week to get here.

Later that evening his mom called me and explained that by the time they got home, Joey was sneezing and had runny eyes… allergies.  She said that he was crying because he didn’t want to stop riding lessons. We both felt awful.

His mom said that she would send him next time with some allergy medicine and see if that helped. 

The day arrived for Joey’s second lesson …. He gets out of the car and comes running to the barn yelling “ I’m here, Miss Kris!” 

He was full of energy and smiles. Reaching in his pocket he told me that he had a treat for Alli. That he and his mom had made it. Apparently, she had been thinking about safe treats for horses. He had it in a little box with Alli’s name on it It was so sweet to see him open it and show it to me and Alli. I showed him how to safely give a horse a treat and he was thrilled. 

‘ her lips are very soft and she is so polite’

That lesson we didn’t have grooming because of the dust and dander.  He seemed to be doing better Later that day my phone rang again. Joey had been sneezing and coughing since he got home… His mom said that he was in tears again. He didn’t want to stop… He would be okay, honest he would. Mom didn’t agree. So Joey was going to have to stop being around horses.  I could hear him in the background, sniffling. She said that he was going to make something for me and Alli and that they would drop it off when he was done.

 Later that week I was called to be outside at a certain time because Joey had finished his creation. I was at the barn when they arrived. As usual, Joe came running to the barn, this time with his mom. 

He handed me a flat piece of cardboard that he had wrapped in Christmas paper. He was a little bit embarrassed because it was all he could find. I opened it up gently and inside was a watercolor painting of a little chubby blonde boy giving a spotted horse a kiss on the nose. It was all I could do to not cry… he was standing there beaming at me with tears in his eyes too. We all exchanged hugs and he looked for his favorite horse, only to find she was out in the pasture.  I told him to go call for her… see if she wanted to see him. While he was off doing that, his mom explained that he had worked on the painting until way past his bedtime. They had gone to the store and picked out a frame that was the right size, and she had brought it along if I wanted it. When we got to the car, we saw Joey and he was snuggling with his best friend in the pasture.  She truly was All the Best that day. 

I put the painting in the frame and it hung in my tack room ever since.

❤️😘💖💕💓💗❤️

Life….

 5.27.2024

 Well, it's the day before my birthday. Used to be my birthday was special. Now? Just another day. Used to be there would be a cake and some presents, maybe a special dinner out. Now? Just another day. No celebration, no family, no anything 

 I don’t know… maybe I’m having a tough time with all of this. Ever since I was a kid I looked forward to birthday celebrations. Not mine but everyone. We would not have a birthday if we had not been born, right? Therefore birthdays are important. The Only time I ever forgot a birthday was when I had just said goodbye to my Lynna a few days before and it was the now ex's birthday. I really felt awful, but I couldn’t make it up. I had forgotten and that’s all there was to it.   

I realize that as we get older we might not like to be reminded that we’re another year older. Not me. I love to hear that someone remembered.  So many wonderful memories of birthdays in the past. Not mine but others I loved and went all out for. Some of mine were pretty cool too. I always think of others before me and remembering them makes me smile. 

So, if you have a birthday coming up soon…

                🎶💙 HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

                 TO YOU!!!!💐🎶

Or as Pooh says, 

Many happy returns of the day !“

Oh Mine Gots!!!

 4/7/20

That’s a saying my Finnish grandmother used to say when she was facing a lot of problems.  I still can hear her.

 “ Oh Mine Gots! Vot vill happen next?”  🩵🤗

Since I last wrote, things have taken a negative nosedive. Literally, twice.  Life was rolling along peacefully through the first couple of months. We got little to no snow or frigid weather like I dealt with when I lived further north by only a couple of hours. Mother Earth is definitely showing that climate change is real, and it's happening Now. At any rate, it was almost balmy in February. If I had been working on the farm, the weather would have been welcome. 

Then March came along. 

On the 4th, I was driving to a FedEx location so I could get a package returned. I was a little turned around and figured I would find the next area with enough room to get turned around and go back again. I saw a rabbit who had decided to sit on the pavement. Slowing down I waited to see what it was going to do. Usually they either make a decision to go back, or do the ‘death dash’ at the last minute. Apparently, this one was undecided and just sat there. I had slowed down a little waiting to see what was going to happen. The stupid rabbit hopped right into my side of the road! By then I couldn’t get stopped enough to not squish him. I swerved to my right and all hell broke loose. BAM!!!  I hit something hard and solid, airbags deployed and I couldn’t see anything. I felt my little VW spinning and I prayed for it all to stop. I did see the windshield cracking like a lightning bolt across from the right. And then things went quiet and still. I got out to see what happened and don’t you know, that flipping rabbit was nowhere to be seen. I did see the electric pole we had broken through. But my dear little car!! The whole right front fender back to the passenger side door was destroyed. Its poor front wheel was all but separated from the car. I remember thinking that I ought to move my car off the road so I got back in and pushed the start button. She started right away.  We sort of limped off the road onto the driveway that was close by. One thing for sure, we were not going to get far had we wanted to make a getaway. Not that I would have anyway but we were out of trouble at least. All of the people that were in the houses were out there and I was almost in tears. My beautiful little car! There was no way it would ever get repaired. I knew that it would be totaled. The police came, took a look at my vehicle, asked me questions about what happened and I realized that I was not hurt. He kept saying that I was very lucky that I hadn’t been injured.  Like before when I would have had a nasty fall from a horse, going over a jump, or simply being unseated the first thing I thought of was my horse. It didn’t matter that I could barely stand up -how was my horse?  I guess that was when the shock hit me because I was shaking inside pretty badly. No, I didn’t need to go to the hospital, I just wanted to reverse time about half an hour. My roommate got lost coming to pick me up and couldn’t find where the location was so one of the other police drove me home. I had to watch the tow truck haul my car away and more tears were shed. It was truly a tragic day. 

 About a month prior I had gotten up to head to the bathroom in the middle of the night and was not awake. I lost my balance and fell backward. Landed on my butt( which was well-padded) and slammed the back of my head on the floor.  This created a mild concussion. Whew, if that was a mild one, I would hate to have a serious one. Still, the dizziness hits me if I get up too fast. Not to mention my bum hurt for a few weeks afterward. Youch. 

On the Wednesday right after the wreck, my roommate had driven to where my SUV was parked to get the things out of it. I was carrying a cardboard box, forgot that there was a curb step down, and Wham.  Free fall/ nose dive. Smack, on concrete.  My nose began bleeding like crazy and all I could think was that I hoped I hadn’t broken it. After 5 stupid hours of waiting to see a doctor and getting an ex-rays / CAT scan, it was determined that my head wasn’t cracked but basically, my nose was broken. Oh, Joy. 

So far I had no idea what was going to happen as I had never been in a wreck before. No car, my face looked like something from a horror movie and I unraveled right into depression.  My  SUV was totaled and I got a new-to-me Escape. It is nice enough but not like my Tiguan. I loved the little one.  This one is bigger, has more energy, a little better gas mileage, and a bit more room but…. My Tiguan was completely paid for and was the only thing that gave me freedom.

                                                        Josie right afterwards 

😥😢😭🥺

The new to me is Escape.

Lower mileage but a year older. It's in lovely shape, 

but it is not all mine. 

In time I  suppose I will learn to enjoy driving it, but so far? Ehhhh.

But wait!!

 There's more.

  A couple of weeks after I was carrying some groceries to the house. I had on a pair of slip-on shoes and as I went to step up a step, one slipped off. Yep, down I went Again. This time I heard that nose crack. Another awful nosebleed and luckily not as much damage. Last time I had two black eyes and my whole face felt swollen. This time, just a little bruise. 

At this point, I’m almost scared to do anything for fear of hitting the ground again. Needless to say, I’m done with awful things happening to me. 

Good things: 

I have had an interview with a bus company that is ready to hire me as a van driver. The day before the interview, I got a call from a pet rescue/ boarding place 15-20 minutes from here. An interview is scheduled for Tuesday  I’m happy to finally have some way to make some desperately needed money.  I lived on my credit cards and it’s well past the time to get them paid off.

Stay tuned on the above.👆 

That’s been my year so far! I hope everyone reading this has had a Much Better year so far.

A belated happy Easter holiday and  I don’t know about you but I am looking forward to some happier times this Spring.

🩵🐥🪻🐣🙋‍♀️👩‍🦳🐰🐇🤦‍♀️🩵

Happy New Year!

A day or two late… 

Since I have been forced to enter the realm of people more than horses, life has changed. Being able to observe them easily, I think they are fascinating. I spent a lifetime studying horses and ignoring humans…but they are even more fascinating to watch. Sit in an airport and just look around, you’ll see what I mean. 

Told you that so I could tell you this… I decided to not continue seeing the guy that I had met. As I got to know him better I realized that he was a little more troubled than I wanted to deal with. We parted ways and few weeks ago. He was very wrong for me. This is why I have never been one of those women who go around professing their love to people after knowing them for a few months.  That’s lust or desperation to me. Nah, I enjoy being with those special to me and observe. He checked off most of the boxes in my ‘ want’ list but as I got to know him more, he was not willing to give me any time.  That among other things made me feel like I was marching in place. A relationship has to move forward or it stagnates, in my opinion. So we parted ways and after a few days I realized that I wasn’t into him as much as I thought. And that it was okay., 

I was laid off from work and am trying to get through to April without finding a job. This is the first year I have ever dealt with seasonal work. My carriage business was available until the new year kicked in and usually it was nasty weather from then until Spring. Finances are tight but they have always been. I have a small business going, well, almost going, on Facebook. Miscellaneous hand-painted rocks, some suncatchers, etc.  A couple of nice photographs of mine and some other prints by some of my favorite artists. If you’re interested, and a part of Fb, the page is ‘Winter Wytch Designs ‘. I’ve done a few custom orders and they were great fun. 

Those are a few. 😇

In the meantime, I have met another man who is into horses. This is the second time I have dated another horse person, so we will see. He’s very nice.. a good sense of humor and is smart. He’s supposedly retired but he is still working every so often. He checks in every evening and we have a lot of different things to talk about. He knows a bunch about horses and loves the ones who are there now. 

 All in all, the new year has been a good one. Only a week into it! 👍👍Stay tuned as we learn more about each other.

Oh! IT IS SNOWING!!  The first snow of the winter. Here are a few photos of a city snow. I much prefer a country setting, but it is what it is. I have learned how to use the iPad to take photos 😁😁

Have a  wonderful  weekend 🩵🩵

Merry Christmas to everyone

 12/24/2023

Firstly again I have to apologize for my not being present much. Just when I think I have things under control I don’t. Anyhow I’m back and have a lot of things to write about.

                     Tonight is a special night and this is one of my favorite moments…it's Christmas Eve..........

I used to tell my students that I was on personal terms with Santa. I had delivered him to many towns in my carriage, so we were pretty good friends. They would look at me with wide eyes and in wonder. How could I know Santa!?

 It turned out that one of the Santa’s had left a black glove behind and I would show it to the disbelieving.  It wasn’t long before they too were asking about him. This is truly my favorite time of the year. When true magick happens and love abounds. 

  Did you know that all animals are able to actually Talk on Christmas Eve? Yes they do ,and we are able to understand them! It was and still is a beautiful time of the year. Cold days and colder nights ; maybe it will snow? So bundle up and keep warm, head to the barn or wherever your beloved horses are and sit quietly. As the clock strikes midnight, listen very carefully…. Hear them? They are talking amongst themselves . 

  Hear them? Listen closely. If you are lucky enough to be loved so deeply by them, You will be able to talk with them. Just maybe. 

Hear the Christmas bells ringing in the distance? Be oh-so-still and tell God thank you for being allowed to come to a barn just like many years ago when a couple needed a place to stay. A barn is an incredible place to be on Christmas Eve, because it’s where a special babe was born thousands of years ago. We horse folks are very lucky to be able to be in a barn, on a Very magical night. Can you imagine us all sitting quietly in our barns, maybe holding hands and listening? 🎄🎄❤️ 🐎🎄🐴

                                                  Shhhhhhh, can you hear them?

🎄❤️🐎🎁🎄 Merry Christmas. 

                 Sending love to you all 🎄🎁🐎🎄❤️

Men in general.

 7/25/23

Men, Eh?  I have always liked them a lot. Not because they are good to go places with,but because they are more interesting than many women.

Women are to competitive and sometimes right rude about it. I imagine many of you have been in the “ I have more than you “ game… You know, they have more men, if they are married, or not , they have more money, bigger diamonds, bigger farms, deeper pockets. Ohhhh, a higher-paying job, a bigger barn, a fancier trailer, etc. If horse oriented, it is worse I think. Maybe I just have watched it happen so much in the world of horses. Jealousy is rampant with women. Heaven forbid you talk to a man who is standing beside you at a horse show. 

Well I guess I don’t know how to play the game Or more truthfully, I don’t care. I was never impressed by money. Yep, it can buy you anything you want but, I usually want to get to know the person inside. It’s what I look for.  Can’t be bothered otherwise.

Okay, back to the men. Don’t worry, guys, I still think that you are great. In my last few years' travels, I have chatted with and met some Very odd guys. I think I mentioned that I decided to join a dating site and see how it goes.  When the subscription ran out I didn’t renew it. 

Early on, there were men who were incredibly picky about the ladies they talked with. They wanted a Barbie girl and at our age, those women didn’t exist anymore. I found myself thinking “ ya gotta be kidding me!” Oh, some even had body measurements listed. If you don’t have a PhD, then you’re out. Good grief! I was learning about what I would not want to meet. One guy kept sending me messages and wanting to talk to me. Turns out he wanted an “older woman “ to teach him about sex. HELLOOO?  🤪 The guy was in his early 50s. If he didn’t have a clue, then he was going to have to learn on his own. Another one didn’t want to see me again because I didn’t dress up like a fashion model for a lunch date …. Ummmm at a crab shack? Sorry pal. It began to get funny as the requests showed up. 

Unfortunately, I am a very kind person who has been used a lot. I should have applied my rules a little more but I started feeling bad for some of them. Wrong. One was looking for a woman who was a perfect choice for him. I really don’t think he actually knew what he was looking for, but I wasn’t it. Turns out, I’m glad I wasn’t.  A few guys I clicked with but it was distance or other things that kept us from being friends.  There was one guy who lived a long way away and basically wanted phone sex. Ummmm, no thanks. One man I met was not a part of the site and I liked him a lot. Ha, turns out that his wife didn’t ‘understand ‘ him…. ‘ see ya’.  

 One needs to be careful when meeting people anymore… Not just sit and talk in a car, or whatever. I’m well aware of the fact that there’s some real sick people who are out there. Scammers run rampant and I have learned to despise them when they show up. What a waste of time and air space. The pill droppers are not for me at all.

So, I guess I am a picky person who is not going to ‘settle’.  It’s been said that I am, by many men, lately. They’re right. I am picky and never going to make mistakes I made in the past. Which leads me to the man who is slowly stealing my heart. So far, he’s been great. Summer is a time to get out door things accomplished and the man is busy. We are getting along famously and there’s no frantic rush to get together every single free moment which I am enjoying immensely. Thanks to this amazing man who is becoming a good friend, I am finding myself smiling a lot more often. 😁🩵

Regards con’t: Decision Made

 7/20/23

The choice was easily made. Regards was hopefully going to be a mama. She had been letting me know that she was feeling a little bit sore after her jumping classes, so of course I let the boss know. We had a equine vet available for pictures to show us how her tendons were after her class.

Regards had been winning every class she was entered in and loving it. I knew by then that we were to go walking about before she would allow me to wash her off. She was such a show off. Anna had brought her to the point where Regards was racing fit and then added in a lot of gymnastics. To Regards,it was like a game that was so easy. She was  incredibly athletic. I wished I could have met her before she had beef almost wrecked mentally and physically. Wow! 

The last show for us,  and luckily it was close. Once she was all tacked up, Anna said that she could feel her mare’s excitement . It was time and they were in second place. Regards jumped each first round jumps easily, clearly enjoying herself. There were only two horses left to decide the winner.

The heights were raised for a jump off between another great open jumper and herself. Two had a very tricky take off angle and almost enough space to make it, so long as a horse was easy to turn and rate their speed. Two were monsters. It was going to cut the top horses from the lesser horses for sure. 

I could see Anna and the other horseman talking about it while waiting for their call. All I could do at that point was to wish them both the best of luck.  Due to Regards being a fraction of a second slower, was to go first. They entered the ring and picked up a canter, while Anna let Regards see the heights. Regards shook her neck and head as she was saying.   “ Let’s go, human… I have work to do!”

Anna aimed her towards the one simple jump and they sailed over it. Next was the first of the two tricky jumps. I knew Anna was glad she’d taken the time to look at those two. She swung Regards out to one side to get a better take off and left it up to her great mare to bring the ribbon ( and the huge check) home. 

They thundered towards it in complete unison and I swear Regards kicked her turbo booster into action. Leap, fly, land ,one stride .. leap, fly and land. She’d done it. One more to go….. they cantered around directly into the big fence. No easy angles for those two. With a Big grunt of effort Regards took off, cleared the huge jump and one stride after, she threw in a giant buck to let it know that she could have gone higher.

The whole stadium went wild. Anna asked Regards to slow down and then to walk. Anna was never a person to show many emotions, but I could see she was in tears and rubbing her wonderful mare on her neck, then top of her rump.  They exited the ring to allow the other team to have a good round.

I was drooling over the horse in the ring … he was spectacular. I had seen him before and he was absolutely perfect in confirmation. A huge deep bay, with a stunning head… wow, just wow. They took the first jump easily but came in the tricky ones a little bit too fast and had a pole down. The rider was done. He slowed his gorgeous horse down and took his hat off to honor the winner. 

Later when it was time to receive the awards, they both entered the ring together and cantered their way around the ring. They stopped in the middle and did a typical dressage move… hats off, and bowing their heads to the crowd, instead of the judge. There was some music playing in the background and when it was turned up, it was “We are the Champions “ by Queen. Anna and Regards turned around and went to the award presentation area, after she gave the second place winner a kiss on his cheek.  

 After all the excitement had settled down a little, we were able to talk about the class and how Anna thought it went. She was so incredibly amazed at Regards’ effort that each time she began talking about it,the happy tears began. Regards herself was still high from winning and was being an amazing horse. Allowing so many face pats and praise from her fans. She loved it. She would grab a mouthful of hay, then stick her head out of her stall for more attention. 

Something caught her attention and she lifted her head to see who it was. I had learned that her competition was named Sternlicht. He was a Hanoverian stallion who was at stud a few hours drive from the farm. I got to meet him and I was in love. Oh my gosh, he took my breath away. We chatted with the rider and when he walked away! I told my ‘family’ what I thought of him. 

 We had gotten the bad news about Regards’ tendon deterioration, it was decided that she would be retired from the show ring. The vet had let us see the injured tendon photos and they would not have lasted much longer…

We all agreed that the second place stallion was one stunning animal. Then my boss asked me I thought he would be a good stallion for Regards. 

??? !!!! 

I was stunned.. Really??? Everyone was nodding their heads ‘yes’.

 Come February, Regards was hopefully going to be a new mama… I could barely wait .

Regards….continued

 7.13.22

Finally, I had a full time job. Before I was morning help, but since I was being much more than that,  I was told that I would be getting full time pay and also an basic health insurance policy. I was totally pleased!   That was going to be very helpful for me to catch up on my bills.

 I had been working with one of my personal horses and she was lookin so very good lately. So good that I thought we could be ready for an easy day trip to a show. I just wasn’t sure though. I owned Appaloosa horses and loved them so much. One was moving into a wonderful English pleasure horse and one other was just so sweet under western tack.

Jellino had been showing in baby classes and he was loving it. What a complete show off he was! He would jump so high that it was like he knew this was for  ‘ babies’.  Each time he’d return happily and full of energy ,Anna had been saying that he might be more interested in eventing than a boring show ring. She was not sure if the damage that had been done before would rear its ugly head or not. This was one of the reasons I loved working here. The horse’s health came first… not the status or ribbons. This is why Regards had been held back before her re-entry to the world of show jumpers. To be completely sure that she would have a good time, and she did. In fact she still was. 

My little monster was growing like a weed. Every day she changed. Butt high for a couple of days, then she’d level off and be gorgeous.  Then it was back to “ Omg, Who are you today ?”  One day I was grooming her (she adores being groomed, especially when she is muddy) and was trying to get her tail a little neater when I noticed that she had a white area starting from the top of it and traveled about half way down. Sure enough, it was white hair… I asked my boss about it and he told me it was inherited from Cliche’s side … many decades ago a foal had been born with a white area in his tail.Try as they might, it would not go away. Owners had tried braiding it at shows, pulling the white hairs out so they wouldn’t show up… just didn’t work. I thought the white hairs in my filly’s tail were cool looking. In fact I told her that she reminded me of a little skunk. Oddly enough,that became her barn name. “ Skunk “. She was so incredibly friendly and kind,that there were times when I could not believe she was so young. She would pick up all of her feet for me, she’d let me brush her all over ,bend her little ears almost inside out, rub her gums and loved to get her tummy scratched. We’d go out for walks with mama and she’d have the best time with the snow. I could say the word to back up or to walk on with out touching her. Such a smart beautiful baby she was becoming.  Cliche’ was a great mama too.  She was patient but when little Skunk was wrong, she was firm in her discipline.

One morning, I was having some coffee with my boss’s daughter and she asked me if I was going to breed Regards,what stallion would I choose.After almost choking on my coffee I got out “ I have no idea “. Anna grinned at me and said that I should think about it because it was going to be a family decision. A “family “ decision? Wow. They wanted Regards leave a legacy for them after she was gone. Well, I didn’t have a clue but I was going to have to think about it all.  Hmmmm, a Hanoverian mare would match perfectly with What? Yes, I certainly needed to think about that. I needed some options to consider too…. 

A short one tonight..

7.12.23

 I am liking this man more and more in getting to know him.  We seem to agree on important things the same. You know, like ethics, morals, and standards. I feel like if this doesn’t become something “serious “, we will end up being close friends. Of course, I am hoping for the first one. I get called daily as we live a bit of a distance from each other. (around 50 miles) It’s not close enough to just pop over for the evening. He lives closer to where I work though which is cool.

He’s funny, smart, and knows a lot of things that I have no clue about. He’s close to his family and I like that..  Plus the man has a Harley. Woooohoooo. Oh, and he’s taller than me too! It’s a stay-tuned sort of thing and we’re not in a hurry. Another thing I prefer 😃

All in all, it’s been a wonderful time getting to know who he is, really.

 Subject change… omg I was so hot today!  Summers don’t agree with me anymore. I now have the typical Farmer Tan. Just my arms are tan and that is it. It’s been many years since I have not been able to get more than that. Ah well, it’s been a great week and the horses are behaving, so life is going great!

                                            

                                                    Have a great day tomorrow