A Lazy Day is not always a Good Thing

Sunday, June 21st, OYY Elektra went to her second show of the spring. She was entered in the intro tests and also her first -- and Zoe's first-- training level, introducing the canter. Elektra seemed half asleep -- we did get an early start to arrive well ahead of our ride time of 8:00, but perhaps she thinks it's just too early for work.

Where ever we go in a trailer, Gabby's our main man of traveling.

We are back at GMHA (Green Mountain Horse Ass'n) -- beautiful grounds, beautiful country- but it's half raining and chilly. I can never resist getting a photo of their cross country course.. this is something I'd love to try. It's on my list of things to do-- build a course at my farm.

We are pretty much the first ones up, but before long- trailers, horses, and people steadily pulled in and began to ready themselves for a long day in the drizzle.

The brook crossing over to the main exercise area is even deeper today.

Whoops.. our number dropped off the bridle.

Jen, one of our volunteers at the therapeutic riding center, came along to help out. We are waiting for our score sheets.

The main commentary on Elektra's performance was-- lazy, lazy, lazy horse. She did manage to get 2 nice ribbons but we need to work on her 'sleeping on the job'.

On our ride home, we decide to go to Keene, NH to Cheshire Horse and buy some spurs.. just enough to, well--- SPUR Elektra on a bit. So after settling our Sleeping Beauty into her pasture- we head off to shop at the tack store.

While we are in Keene, I also want to visit my good friend Amie who has a farm with her partner Sparky. Quite a few years ago, Amie purchased a smooth coated filly from me - Tuff's Suzie Q. Suzie recently delivered a nice filly of her own sired by a Belgian.

Here's the filly- sporting a few curls and

Amie, her son, and Rena with the filly

She's a pretty thing- Her dam, Suzie is out of my old mare (who has has passed on) Tuff 'Nuff - also a smooth coated mare. She was my main mare for riding and I have many super memories of my rides out with her- awesome mount ! :) Amie calls the filly Roxy.. Sparky calls her Raquel.

Mom- Tuff's Suzie "Q"

Amie and Sparky run a very successful pig farm-- so we got to see lots of new born piglets.

We interrupted a big Tom Turkey taking a dust bath. There are large herds of wild turkeys roaming the farm with the cows and pigs-- they are quite tame.

it's always great to see old friends - but Zoe can't wait for Monday morning to try her spurs.

Enjoy your day ~

Trot over Hawk's Mountain

Zoe and I have been wanting to ride over Hawk's Mountain forever. The best "entrance" is the snowmobile trail about 12 miles or more from the farm so we decided to trailer over to save that riding time for exploration once we got there-- since we have not ridden in that area, we weren't sure how much time it was going to take. Our good friend and trailer man- Gabby- taxi'ed us over to Baltimore and dropped us off at the bottom of the Mountain. Here we are getting unloaded-- with a quick photo of my lovely mare and Gabby. She's looking at the trail and thinking-- let me at it !

Baltimore is a little town in Chester with a population of about 300 people- and Hawk's Mountain is the geographical dividing line between Baltimore and Cavendish - where we will eventually end up.

You can see the trail is a pretty easy one to travel - a steady ascent to the top. We crossed about 3 or 4 snowmobile bridges on the way up and down into Cavendish.

Part of the trail followed the powerlines.

I think the summit view must be more beautiful in winter-- less leaves and vegetation to block the view.

I did not take many photo's as we were traveling along at a good quick clip, not really knowing how long of a trip we were committed to.

The trail on the down side was wet and rocky and steep- We crossed the bridge over the river and came out in Cavendish at the General Store on Route 131. Our horses are in such great shape after all our steady riding this year-- the trip took far less time than we planned-- so we poked around the roads in Cavendish for awhile and headed back over the mountain to Baltimore to look for more exploring over there.

At the bottom, where we were dropped off-- we took a left on the Old Baltimore Road and took the trail which leads to Quarry Road, and headed toward the floodplains which we have not ridden in years.

Quarry Road is another one of those Vermont dead ends connected to other areas by old trails and Class 4 roads. As we trot down this road- we can look back on the mountain we just rode over.

We cross Route 106 and head toward the Floodplains which is all part of the Stoughton Pond and North Springfield reservoir-dam area. This area is crisscrossed with old roads and trails and we could easily make a day of it just riding here- but we are on a schedule now to be back at the farm by a certain time so we trot and canter on the easy trails.

entering the floodplains

Passing an old cemetery.

This area is full of old history. There is some great canoeing opportunities here and bird watching.

One day when I was canoeing in this area- I saw eagles and lots of great Blue Herons nesting.

We take the trail that heads toward North Springfield and the Hartness Airport-- but we have decided to definitely head back here to explore the trails that follow along the river more closely with a couple of nice river crossings. next time !

This trail hooks back onto the snowmobile trail past the airport. Last year we rode along the opposite side of the runway and met up with the Governor's helicopters landing., which I posted back in April of 2008.

Today there was one small plane taking off and lots of gliders being taken up. Pretty to watch the gliders silently soar-- but-- me, I'd rather be firmly seated in my saddle. :)

Time to trot home-- we had a great ride. although an easier trot out than we have been used to lately-- We are planning another trip in that area again.

Enjoy your day ~

One Advantage of Riding with a Friend

Other than the bonus of companionship and fresh trail side gossip, the advantages of having a friend come along is -- Zoe and I get photo's of us together for a change !

These photo's were taken by Mary Watkins the day she accompanied us to the top of Mount Ephraim in order to learn the way.

Mary works at Slypner Tack in Claremont, NH. There is an additional dividend in that fact as ewll. When we find we need a bit or some other item, Zoe calls Mary-- she has kept a file at the store of our favorite brands of certain tack accessories and brings them toher house in Chester where Zoe can pay her and pick it up-- no driving for what we need.. so handy.

Mary rode her lovely gelding Sport to the farm in the afternoon, s she had an exta 7 -9 miles added onto her trip that day. She rides in a ReactorPanel saddle , which is a pretty clever set up for fitting your horse and saddle perfectly.

We had the usual great ride up and around-- trotting home on the back side of the mountain to avoid backtracking. It was late by the time we arrived back at the farm and Mary still had to trot home. We made plans to meet her at her place so she can show us some new trails we have not explored yet since it's a little out of our normal riding radius.

During the week, it was time for OYY Dante to get out again- his fourth outing on the trail. Choosing the Apple Tree trail, in order to match distance with the amount of time we had for a ride.. even though the skies seemed threatening-- we saddled up anyway.

After a few miles of trotting down the road, we reach the opening to the trail.

we should remember to stick a note in the owner's mailbox to get these trees trimmed back :)

A nice little brook crossing for a green horse to practice... Dante is perfect- He really shines on the trail. We did end up getting rained on a bit.. but the ride was worth it.

Zoe and OYY Elektra have been working on their patterns for the several shows they have together this summer. Elektra is continuing the Intro Walk/Trot and advancing into the Training level this year.

One of our volunteers at the riding center rides Lilly a few times a week- she may go to a show or two this summer. Lilly is Elektra's grand-mother and also one of our very dependable lesson horses.

My silly Russian Spy cat is settling in and becoming a part of the household. She loves to sit in baskets.

enjoy your day ~

Our Watchtower Ride

A week ago Monday, Zoe and I headed out on our zippy mounts to find a trail we've wondered about for years. We've heard talk of the trail and seen what looked to be the way from the car-- it became a kind of search for the Holy Grail for us... the path from the farm to Wyman's Falls. For those of you are also RAC blog followers, I have posted most of the ride already there.

I call this our WatchTower ride, because as we met twists, turns and the metamorphosing disappearing/re-appearing trail, it reminded me of Bob Dylan's song- All Along the Watchtower... The more we trotted on, the more turned around and confused we became.

"There must be some kind of way out of here, Said the joker to the thief, There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief. " There are some who interpret the two riders in the song as those in Old Testament Biblical verse, in which two riders on horseback deliver news of the fall of the ancient city of Babylon. Zoe and I - as 2 riders on a mission.. we never did get there to deliver any news of any sort.

The ride started innocently enough- But the challenges presented themselves soon and continued along the way.

Saplines that we had to duck under very carefully.

The fluctuating trail that disappeared, and re-appeared.

We finally reached the half way point in our quest-- crossing Trebo Road onto the trail which we believed would lead us to Wyman's Falls. We are excited ! Mission half accomplished ! so we think.







A short ways in-- we discover.. what's this ? squatters ? An odd little "settlement" in the midst of the woods.

As we near a small sunny clearing - we discover a hide-a-way Yurt with the beginnings of a lovely blooming roof ~

Coming upon someone's private sanctuary on the trail always creates a bit of apprehension for me.. But- No one seems to be around... which is a good thing because you don't want to come upon someone's wrong kind of 'secret garden' and get shot at.

We continue along, pecking away at our camouflaged pathways, through brush and openings that look like trail.

Decision time..
we can trot left... Choose the center

Or go to the opening on the right.

We chose the right - it seems to be headed in the right direction and we spy a deer path to follow.

Soon- we come to an area which has been logged of quite recently.. it's here we begin to run into serious directional problems. We spent quite a bit of time following false leads and wannabe trails here. We've come too far to quit now. It's here I begin to think-- there must be somewhere out of here.

Could this finally be the gateway that will lead us to what we are seeking ?

Nope-- it leads out onto the powerline.

And you can see from the photo, we have a ways to go. But- like I said-- we've come too far to turn back.

This powerline has to come out down onto a road somewhere and we can trot home from there.

Way off in the distance, there's a person walking in their field. maybe we can get over there and ask that person where we are ! :)

We eventually got out on the road and cantered and trotted for home ! it was a fun ride-- a long ride, and I am not sure if we'll bother re-visiting that trail again. But we will continue to search for the way to Wyman's Falls.

Enjoy your day ~

A busy day of riding and photo's

Yesterday morning I woke feeling rather foggy- my thoughts were as tangled as wind blown hair. One of those days where I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other to get through my 'lists' rather than attacking my daily tasks with gusto... fighting the urge to go play slug on the hammock.

I have been collecting photo's of most of the horses for their registration in the Curly Sporthorse International registry over the past week or two. While I was off in the 'brook pasture' capturing this side and that side of Zoe's Day Dream and Tupelo Honey, I captured this picture with my zoom of Zoe just finishing up with her morning work out with Chip. I wonder what they were thinking about together ?

Chip's going well and enjoys his daily exercise with Zoe. In a few weeks is his first show of this year- just an intro walk trot again but he's ready for a try at training level as well, so we signed him on for that at the end of July show. I would love to get him in a few driving competitions-- but where to fit it into our busy schedule ?? Impossible. At the show he is attending- they have one day set aside for Morgans in which the horses compete in dressage, driving and the stoneboat competition-- one horse all three. It would be great if we could bring Chip as he does all three rather well.

After we got most of 'must-do's' done, Zoe and I went out for a short ride- She saddled up OYY Dante for his second trail ride of his life. Dante was excited to be the chosen one-- somehow he does not get ridden as often as he'd like- but when he is - he's perfect and forward and a delight.

Right now, ring work does not excite him- so trail is where he's going to build, mature and shine. He's all ears forward and let's go-- there's a big beautiful world out there !!

Leafy trails and dark yukky mud.

Dante insisted on being leader, bravely and competently.

We decided to add what we call the extended loop to our ride- which is full of turns and twists and several places we have labeled the roller coaster-- with dips and rises.. loads of fun to trot and canter.. Dante has a wonderful canter and here on the trail is the perfect place for him to really grow and develop.

The trail comes out into this yard- like so many of our trails here in Vermont, a dead end road with one farm at the end. This is sometimes a bit of a surprise for some horses- as they approach those patio doors and see their reflection.

That was a very cleansing ride-- and Dante was impressive with his forwardness and willingness to navigate it all. What a great young man !

Later in the afternoon, we went over to one of my lease pastures to take more photo's and visit the ponies. We were surprised to find that OYY Demeter has completely shed out to have a new pattern this year-- those appy's are always changing !

She was born a dark dun, over the last few years developing a little frosting over her back. Now, she has new spots and this lovely cobwebbing.

Here's Demeter last winter

and a photo of her last summer in the same pasture where she is now. No spots, no white to speak of.

Demeter is Mom to OYY Matisse, our curly colt with very little color.

For most of the time, my camera was aimed at OYY Piccolo, such a ham and so curious. He has his Mom's personality .. nosey about everything. Mom- Pal O' Mine, is a palomino POA with a nice spotted blanket-- I wonder if Piccolo will develop one as he sheds and grows. He is paternal brother to Matisse.

My main objective here, was to get some decent fresh photo's of OYY Queen Jane Approximately for an interested party... even though I was temporarily side tracked by the adorable ponies. Every time I tried to capture Queen, her pasture mate-- another curious pony, OYY Hummingbird, thought it was SHE who ought to be in pictures ! HummingBird kept getting in the way and posing for me.

I did manage to snap a few of Queen without HummingBird in the foreground, but I'll have to go back and try again... bringing a halter and some kind of distraction for the photo wannabe pony.




At the end of the day, Zoe saddled up OYY Fiona to ride her to her house where Fiona will be Zoe's evening ride mount and get some more time out on the trail. Fiona is an awesome horse, bred expressively to be my "replacement" horse-- although I don't really like to think about that part of the plan since I adore my Keri. Fiona is everything I want in a horse - a very successful breeding of our beloved Teena and Chip. Fiona will live at Zoe's for a few weeks and then come home-- I think Dante will visit Zoe's house next. He's going to love it there with all the new adventures on the other side of the mountain.

I set up jumps and cavaletti's in the lower big ring-- Keri and I are going to learn to jump together ! Keri already loves to jump and is quite proficient-- great form and very willing. Now, I am going to practice .. so far it's fun !


Enjoy your day ~

Spring time list making

Every morning, with my coffee, I make up a list of projects and things to do. Even after all these years- each day, as I add to the daily docket - I still believe I am going to accomplish most of what I outline for my day. Outlandishly wishful thinking- as I am lucky to get one or two items ticked off. I work hard all day and come in to check the blueprint of the day sometimes to discover-- I got a lot done-- but alas, much of what I did was not even on the list ! So-- I add those tasks just so I can check them off. I like to see at least something scratched off the assignment tally. I am addicted to list making- but it's definitely a love hate relationship.

We had an unusually very early warm spell that sent many people off to the local nurseries to plant their gardens. In my lifetime, I have experienced snow on my birthday and later at least 3 or four times, so here in Vermont, I always wait till the last weekend in May to do any serious planting. It's not exactly number one priority item on the "list" since on a farm there are many more pressing needs than having flower boxes and tubs .. but an aesthetic necessity for me. I was anxious to fill the dreary empty spots with color. Saturday, I made the trip to purchase flats of cheery petunias and brilliant jaunty impatiens, along with a few more colorful choices for the window boxes on the barn and the tubs and pots that dot the farm. Well, Sunday I woke up to a pretty frosty landscape and some pretty frosty squishy flowers. I am not sure if they will bounce back from the ordeal of the deep freeze. I'll give them a few days to see-- but I may have to replace most of the plantings-- bummer !

I planted this Hawthorne tree last spring - up by the pond. And the Wild Flag is just starting to come into bloom. In a week, this wild iris will be blooming a purple carpet.

This past week, much of my time has been tending to pastures, trimming fenceline, and rotating horses around to new grazing. The grass is doing great and I already need to get the mower out to clip pasture. Seems early for that -- It's on the list !

Not much for riding this past week, although Zoe continues to school Elektra and Chip for their shows coming up soon.

Seems I have some squatters on the farm-- a pair of Canada geese have moved in. I will get a few each year that stop in for a brief visit and leave-- but these two have settled in. Normally, I don't like geese hanging around too long as they tend to be messy but I enjoy watching these two. As long as they don't send out invitations or host an open house for their friends I guess I'll let them stay as long as they choose. Mostly they glide very regally around the pasture and graze.. I haven't seen them in the pond much. And I don't see that they have any kind of nest anywhere. Since male and female Canada geese are identical in plumage, I am not even sure they are mates or perhaps two lonely bachelors hanging out together. I guess I'll find out one morning if they appear suddenly with their queue of goslings.

My number 5 son (Number 6 child- and the youngest) is still in high school. He attended the prom on Saturday night and I took a few photo's as the group was waiting for their limo to pick them up. He's the young man (child/half man ?? ) in the middle - My last little fledgling with one wing out of the nest, almost ready to fly. Quite a leap in passing time - from onesies to tuxedo !

Off to tackle another list - Enjoy your day ~

Old News - New news and a very busy week

As always, when one puts off a project-- it keeps mounting up until you are far behind. There's so much to do on the farm with several shows coming up and pastures to maintain.. I have not been very diligent about posting news and photo's.

Last week-- on my birthday -- which now seems like very old history.. we managed to have 2 rides out. The first was planned, the second one-- a 'spur' of the moment. My daughter and I wanted to have a special ride for my birthday, but until that morning, we could not come up with a NEW trail to try. As we were saddling up, I had the thought.. let's try the Hospital Trail. I have been down that trail only once a long time ago on the 4-wheeler-- Zoe has never been on it. So that's where we headed. We trot up the Snow's Trail to Monument Hill - and again, like so many old Vermont roads.. the road ends and trail begins. Here, we wonder-- which way ? There were many offshoots, so we plan on heading back over there again soon to do some more exploring.

We choose this way.

It was a steady downhill all the way.

Eventually it comes out right by the hospital, but we decided to take a left to head home on a very steep wooded trail which eventually exits onto another dead end.
Much steeper than it looks here, the horses and riders worked hard.
When we got out onto the road to head home, the horses were happy to trot and canter on more level going. I am sure I added a few muscles to my thighs on this ride.

Zoe has had Winter Dancer at her house for a few weeks- time to switch mounts. That evening, I saddled up Sweet Bee to ride to Zoe's to meet her so we could ride home together. Funny how when you are riding alone, the trail has a entirely different look to it-- as Sweet Bee and I rode along, we were both hoping we were heading correctly.

The woods are a bit darker at sundown. Sweet Bee was confident her rider knew the way, she was great about listening and I was great about pretending I did know perfectly where I was going :)

Just as I reached the opening to Zoe's dead end road, my cell phone rang--- where are you guys ??

But-- there's Zoe and Dancer waiting patiently for us.

In the evening, the shadows are long - the rays of the setting sun strong. I love an end of the day trot out.

Here's the beaver pond behind us as we are almost home.









Short ride but fun !

During the week, the vet came out to do rabies vaccinations on all the horses. Partly due to the riding center with people coming and going, I feel more assured with an official certificate on each horse just in case. I had the opportunity to snap this head shot of OYY Cosette.

She is a beautiful smooth coated large pony mare. She has been ridden but not since last year. She's been busy growing and maturing- and probably next week, we'll move her up closer to the barn to start up her saddle training again.

OYY Little "Z" has been in training- long lining and ground driving-- coming along very well. She had the opportunity to cross the bridge and walk over the teeter totter in harness.

She's nearly ready to be backed.

"Z" 's full younger brother, OYY Hollis Brown, is up for training.. he's only 2 years old but there's plenty for him to learn on the ground.

Lastly-- I found kittens hidden in my hay loft. Not wanting them to end up as wild feral un-neutered cats- I captured them and we have been doing some kitten de-sensitizing all week. Zoe's children- Rena and Dominic have enjoyed their kitten training.

Here's Dominic- kitten whisperer - with the lot of them. Some one has a Siamese tom on the prowl in the neighborhood I guess, because 2 of them are marked like Siamese (Frankie and Little Ears). Kittens are fun -

Today it's raining- which is welcome.. it's been dry here and last week, it seems most all farmers finished baling their first cut. I'll probably spread a little fertilizer on the grass which has already been grazed and closed off so it will sprout back quickly to that sweet tender nibbling the horses are so fond of.

Enjoy your day ~