Happy New Year

Reflecting back on the year 2015, I think it was not as good as it could have been. For instance, my back is finally giving out as well as a new pain problem- my right hip.

Early in the year, I had traded a horse for another and fell in love. This little pony ( yeah- Percherons to PONIES!! Never Ever thought that would happen to me!!) is a delight. I named her 'Briana'- one of my favorite names. She arrived here a little frightened and not knowing what was going to happen to her. As she settled in more, I got to see a little "horse minded" equine. As the quote goes " She may be little but she be Fierce".  That's Briana in one sentence.

Thanks to being "lame" (in desperate need of a hip replacement) a whole lot more than planned, I've driven her 3 times and each time was grand fun. She and I will be having a good time once the mud either freezes or dries up.
( LOTS of wet conditions here- clouds/ rain but no snow)

Then Abby left me at the end of summer. Any drive I had to keep training horses left me for a while.With each beloved horse I lose, the less I allow my heart to become stolen by another. (of course, not counting Briana)

I Really wanted to travel to some shows this year, but the dealer and manufacturer of Titan trailers screwed that up with not building our new trailer as we'd wanted and just a major lack of communication caused us to be 'trailer free' for quite sometime.

The good things were that now, this farm has it's own "dream team" of working students. Each and everyone is wonderful! After weeding out some of those proverbial 'rotten apples' from the group, things picked up nicely. We had some clinics and a lot of fun this past year. A horse wash, a Halloween Parade and ending with a great Christmas Party.  I love every one of these super gals and appreciate them more than they'll ever understand.

And so it's on to a new year once again...... I hope everyone gets to continue moving forward in whatever they choose- and do it successfully.

Happy New Year !!

Toby:

Briana:

Happy Christmas, etc.

It's been a while since I was here- life is tough when it begins to get cold outside. But !  It hasn't been cold outside. So- what's my excuse?  I guess I don't have one - so that will have to do.

Christmas here was quiet - just my husband n' I for gift openings and dinner. It was most certainly pleasant though.

Our annual barn Christmas party was great fun- tons of fun 'like' people, tons of food and tons of gifts too.  A few folks couldn't attend due to their having other things to get accomplished that evening, but we still had a house full.

 Below is our farm "mascot"- in her new Christmas dress.... she was posing to have her picture taken.

The weather has been rotten for December - rain and when it isn't raining, it's heavily clouded over. The ground is so saturated that now, the water just lays on top and isn't sinking in. The past week found us in high humidty and WARM! Temperatures in the mid to upper 60's and even higher on some days. Humidity percentages in the high 80-100% - which is terrible to try to work in. Nothing dries out and even inside the house, it felt damp. I hear that this sort of thing is going to continue til 'next year'. The pastures are nothing but sloppy mud- and each day it gets worse. (ugh) I bet once it becomes January, we'll get some whopper snows and freezing temps. 

< sigh>  Sure wish Mother Nature would make up her mind for this year. Perhaps she already has and we will fry this coming summer. Stay tuned!

Toby, my little American Draft pony colt is now a gelding. He got gelded on the 19th of December and has come thru it all very nicely. He's still a pest with wanting to nip and pull on shirts/ jeans or shoe laces .

We have a new "barn cat"- a kitten actually- and he's something to see. He's a 'tuxedo' marked fella and is named "Felix'' (my hubby's choice.) He's just gotten big enough to be in the barn and outside so long as a human is around. He Loves It ! Soooooo many new smells and wide open spaces- and oh, those funny looking things with feathers. What grand fun. Here he is when he was MUCH smaller- now, he's sleek and shiny and much taller.

We are looking forward to this upcoming year. Possible shows, a LOT of riding ( and driving for me) and more.

I hope your holiday season has been and will continue to be grand!

Happy New Year from all of us !!!