Category: Living life

A Horsey Fun-Filled Weekend at Monty Robert’s Flag Is Up Farm!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share21 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our life with old friends and new. I am up north visiting my daughter and her girlfriend gifted us with these beautiful flower bouquet’s. What a great way to start my post with these flowers, as I just love them. Flowers of any kind always make me smile! 😀

I drove up to Orcutt, CA where my daughter lives and I am staying with her while I attended Monty Robert’s The Movement, 2022 ~ Happiness, Health & Horses! His Flag Is Up Farm is located in Santa Ynez Valley which is just minutes away from Solvang, CA. My daughter is about 30 miles north and so the drive was not bad to get to the clinic. It was an all day event for both Friday and Saturday and I am spending Sunday with my daughter and friends and will head home Monday. I have some time here and thought I would share the photo’s I took of this weekend and the training seminars.

Monty Roberts showing us his famous training technique “Join Up” which he was teaching to us in his round pen.

We started out with this 3 year old Arabian filly who has had very little to no training, just growing up in a pasture. Within 2 days he had a rider on her back using his gentling methods. He is on a mission to change the training techniques across the globe for non-violent training for all horses. It doesn’t matter if they are wild mustangs, young horses needing to be “broke” he hates the term breaking horses, we should be gentling them as we speak Equus to them and get them to want to be with us and learn from us. It is all so amazing what he shares and his methods are tried and true and he wants to rid the world of violence, if only he could. He helps groups of people with PTSD and holds training seminars for corporations and anyone needing to see how horses can heal and help teach us patience and confidence.

We had a seminar on hoof care and the woman in the photo is Ada Gates-Patton the first and only woman journeyman farrier of thoroughbred horses in the nation. She also inspects the shoes of every horse taking part in the Rose Parade. I also have a photo of Monty talking to us here as we were waiting for the farrier to trim the horse. Her background and knowledge was so amazing to hear about and she was Monty’s farrier for many years. I won’t go into her whole background but she gleaned so much information to us about horses hooves, it was so educational and something I am so grateful to learn about. Ada explained to us what she was looking for after the trim on the horse for a balanced hoof.

We broke for lunch which was provided each day and we enjoyed the beautiful grounds of Monty’s farm. It is so tranquil there and a huge farm! There are horses everywhere, in pastures or paddocks. He has transition horses from gentling mustang’s to off the track thoroughbreds that will be retrained for a new career. He also has young thoroughbreds there for training for the racetrack. He will get them started and use to the starting gates and they will be sent back to their racing trainer. Such a busy place but you would not know it with how peaceful it is there. ❤

This is Jamie Jennings who is a Certified Monty Robert’s trainer. She has gone thru all his courses and tests.

We are back in the round pen where Jamie did a “join up” with this thoroughbred who was recently retired from racing and will be retrained for a new career. She is a beautiful young mare and started out a bit nervous but settled right down while being worked with in the round pen. This is what Jamie does at her farm in Oklahoma getting retired racehorses from Horse and Hound Rescue and that is how I got my horse Midnight Murphy, a retired racehorse but he never made it to the track because he was too slow!

It was so wonderful to finally meet Jamie in person and as we exchanged hugs it was such a pleasure to see her training in action and all she has learned from the great Monty Roberts. She will be continuing his legacy as they train more and more people in his methods. There are Certified Monty Roberts Trainers all over the world. Monty is 87 years old and he has accomplished getting all of this training online with I believe hundreds of video’s and with my participation at this clinic I get 3 months free for Monty’s online university training.

The above photos are of Mark Bolender a famous trainer in his own right being an expert on extreme trail and mountain trail competitions. He has designed mountain trail courses all over the world and he has designed and put in a mountain trail course at Flag Is Up Farm in the infield of Monty’s racetrack. This is Mark’s famous horse Checkers. A National Grand Champion I think more than once and he is now a Breyer horse (You can buy a plastic Breyer horse of Checkers!) Mark is riding him bridle-less with just a rope around his neck. Very impressive as he navigates the bridge. He even turned around on the bridge! There are many components on the trail course and I did not take photos of everything there. I’m finding that there is so much to share, maybe I’ll just share more photos and less words!

Friday was a long day as we had wine and cheese and a concert in the evening. Templeton Thompson and Sam Gay sang to us as we enjoyed the evening. It got a bit chilly with a strong breeze but it was beautiful music and a fun time!

The next day was gentling mustangs in a special pen Monty had built so that the wild mustang’s could be gentled and all could stay safe. In the stalls that you can see they are standing in they can be touched all over with a long stick and a glove at the end which mimics a hand. These wild mustang’s have been there for about 6 weeks now and believe me, you could tell they were still pretty wild. But they were trusting too, and you can see Jamie rubbing on one’s shoulder as he enjoys the scratches!

Day 2 and Monty uses a dummy rider to get the young Arabian filly to accept a rider. She did buck a lot at first with the dummy on it’s back. It is secured and has weighted boots to mimic a rider. It does not fall off but she was very good when a rider did get on which was so wonderful to see. His gentling methods are truly amazing!

Here I am standing next to Monty Roberts. I didn’t want to interrupt him as he is always deep in conversation explaining away as there are always so many questions. Haha, this photo works as I am kinda shy anyways! And a photo looking out to the pastures. So pretty! I’ll end here as there is just so much to share and I did not upload all my photos of the weekend. I think you get a pretty good taste of my horsey adventures and I am enjoying spending time with my daughter too! We are off to a seafood restaurant in Pismo Beach. YAY! I just love Sanddabs and that’s what I will have for dinner! YUMMY!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by!

Horse Crazy and Happy Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

Birthdays, Vacations, I can’t believe it’s June!

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, weekend coffee share24 Comments
My pretty tiny Iris bloom

Welcome to my weekend coffee share. Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea as we sit and chat? I have been one busy Mom, Grandma and cowgirl. I have been a bit under the weather as I returned from my visit to my family in Arizona at the end of May and have a head cold. My grandson was sick the week before and they thought was better but still had a bit of a cough. I wasn’t worried and would have still gone and visited even though I ended up sick too, I am getting better each day. I didn’t share last week because I haven’t been feeling great. Onward, as I have so much to share I hardly know where to begin!

How about birthday celebrations! My daughter-in-law and my son both have birthdays in May. We headed there for my sons birthday May 30th and had a ton of fun. My grandkids are growing up as my granddaughter will be turning 7 years old this August, she’s getting so BIG!! My grandson is just over 2 years old and is so smart and into everything. He is quite the handful but is as cute as can be and I cherish every minute I spend with these cutie patuties!

Me and my selfies! I have to take them fast but they are so FUN! I’m a crazy Grandma!

My daughter and other son joined me as we visited with the son that lives in Arizona. It was wonderful having all 3 of my grown kids together. My son in Arizona is the only one who has children and they may end up being my only grandchildren at least in the foreseeable future. That’s A-okay with me as I feel fortunate and very grateful for my beautiful family and grandkids!

My daughter with my grandson, isn’t he adorable? I couldn’t decide which photo to share of my daughter with Teddy so I just shared them both! And the center photo of my granddaughter who has the cutest smile. I think she has had so many photo’s taken of her that she often makes silly faces. I will share a silly selfie as she loves to make funny faces. What characters and what FUN!

She’s so silly!
Happy Birthday!

This may end up being the last birthday celebration at my son’s house in Arizona as he has been applying to jobs in other states. We do not know what the future holds but I know he will do excellent as he grows with his career in Medical physics or Bioinformatics which is a growing field with technology and the medical field. He is currently working on his Master’s attending online at Stanford for Bioinformatics study. I am so proud of all he has accomplished as with all my children, I’m a proud mama!

How are you doing, can I get you a refill? I have gotten a fresh cup of iced coffee as it’s been pretty hot this last week and into this weekend. It hits the spot, I did not grow up drinking iced coffee as we just didn’t have such a thing. Now I LOVE iced coffee, haha, how things have changed! Now let’s see, where was I? In Arizona it was only really hot on the first day but Memorial day weekend had nice weather. We visited a mall and ate lunch at the Tikki Shack which was delicious. I took a few photos as we ate and walked around the outdoor mall. We spent most of our time at Barnes and Noble bookstore. 😀

Great memories and fun times with family. I could not ask for a better vacation and I am so appreciative of my children and all that they do for each other and for the family as a whole. I love them so much! ❤

Can you believe it is June? This year just seems to be flying by and I have been thinking a lot about my blogging and more like the lack of it as I have been rather absent lately. I am a creature of habit, and so with that I have my habits of the things I enjoy doing each day (and I have to squeeze in the things I don’t enjoy as much too, which is usually housework. Haha!) I do enjoy sharing and blogging but I feel like I have kind of lost my groove. I lost that “habit” of sitting down and writing! I use to think of things through my week that would stand out to me and I would say to myself, that would be fun to blog about. I think as I stepped back I lost that lust of thinking about what will I blog about today or this weekend, does that make sense?

I will say since I am writing about this that last year was a really tough year for me even though I had some real ups (the purchase/adoption of my beautiful Murphy) and some real downs (the loss of my sweet horse Zack and I did not write a blog about him but we put down our dog Drew as well). I also had some friendship problems that really hurt my feelings but the wounds have healed and I am much better now. I did not want to blog about these feelings, just too personal and I just needed to work through the emotions. I sometimes have worried that all I write about is happy cheerful stuff, like my life is so rosy and perfect when clearly it isn’t nor can it be….. BUT if you are an avid follower you know I like to stay as positive as I can and share smiles and laughter which in turn makes me happy. Sorry, I didn’t know I was going to write about all this but it has been weighing heavy on my mind! I feel much freer now! YAY!

You make me SMILE Murphy!! ❤

This post makes me smile! I will end with Murphy and I am hoping to write another post tomorrow and it will be all about my horses. Next weekend I am going to attend a horse clinic at Monty Robert’s Flag Is Up Farm which is near Solvang, CA. It will be 3 days of clinic training with clinicians attending with Monty which includes the trainer I got Murphy from and I can’t wait to meet her in person! I am also really excited because I will be staying with my daughter as she lives nearby. I can’t wait to learn new and exciting horse training and so I won’t be sharing a post next weekend. I will share when I return.

I thank you all for reading and sharing coffee with me this weekend. I also want to thank you all for your support of my blogging whether I blog a little or a lot, you all are awesome! I want to thank Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare, I so enjoy linking up and I will try and visit other coffee shares this weekend. Take care ya’ll!

Crazy Grandma horse lover forever,

~Diana ❤

P.S. I have been told from fellow bloggers that I can save on space on WP if I share videos from YouTube but I don’t have a YouTube channel, another password another site another something to manage. So I am slowly running out of space here on my blog for my photos and videos which in turn makes me stress about blogging and sharing as eventually I will run out of space! Haha, it’s always something!! I guess it’s time to get a YouTube channel, sigh….

Weekend Coffee Share; May 22, 2022

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share23 Comments
My pretty rose bloom!

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee, latte or tea? I just have to share my pretty blooms when I can and thought this pretty rose deserved the top spot today. This weekend is a special weekend as I continue to celebrate my horse Murphy entering into my life. This weekend a year ago is when he arrived in the big trailer van that delivered him from Oklahoma! I can’t believe it’s been a year as it seems like it just flew by, but it was filled with so much fun with my sweet horses. 😀

As I shared in my last post, I will be traveling to Arizona to visit my son and his family next weekend and I am SO EXCITED!! I can’t wait to see them all which includes my grandkids. I am also really excited because my daughter and other son will be joining us so all my grown children will be together. The only one staying home is my hubby who will be working and taking care of our animals. It’s all good as my hubby and I went to AZ in February to celebrate our grandson’s birthday. I thought I would put together this post as I won’t be posting anything next weekend.

Murphy’s arrival one year ago this weekend! This was the first time we met in person, so crazy but exciting!!

Happy anniversary to you Murphy! I can’t believe how much he has grown in this last year. Not only in size and has filled out with his weight, he has grown in maturity too. When he arrived one of the biggest things I noticed right away was how he did not appreciate humans in his stall while he was eating. He was fine with the people who cleaned his stall, but when he I gave him extra hay in a hay net (which is a netting that we use to slow down their eating. They have to pull hay through little square holes so the hay will last longer and it is more like grazing which they would do out in a field.) I gave him the space he wanted and did not brush or groom him in his stall. I could barely pet him or rub his neck because he would turn and nip at me and pin his ears. He clearly did not want to be bothered. He had just turned 3 and he was VERY protective of his food ~ he still is today but he is very polite and has learned I am not in his stall to take his food! ❤

He now let’s me groom him in his stall while he eats! YAY! And I am able to pick out his hoofs in his stall all while he munches on his hay. I do not have him tied up nor do I have a halter and lead rope on him. He is just a very content happy horse munching away while I care for him. What a sweetie, so smart and kind! A different horse (or more importantly) different attitude in the year in my care. I could not be happier! We have such a great bond and I know it will grow stronger every day and that’s so important for a good foundation, good horsemanship and friendship between horse and rider. 😀

I feel so blessed and lucky to have Murphy in my life!
Murphy happy in his stall eating!

I thought I would share this photo again of him eating and when I turn him out and I don’t ride him I will groom him in his stall. It took time and patience to get to this point but he is very trusting and understands now that I will not be taking any of his food. I know I explained all this, just thought I’d share this photo! It is these fun stepping stones of a young horse that is fun to gain their trust and see how they mature and grow!

I will wrap up this post as I am barely going to make it to add to the #weekendcoffeeshare linkup with Natalie. Thank you Natalie for hosting and I am happy I could join in even though it is the last minutes of the weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful week and thank you so much for visiting!

Happy Anniversary Weekend Crazy Horse Lady,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; It’s May 15th Already!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share21 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share! How are you today?

I decided to feature these beautiful cactus blooms as they so deserve another look. I’ve never seen such pretty cactus flowers and although they aren’t mine they are local in my town at a horse feed store I was at buying horsey stuff. Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea as we sit and chat? I also have some yummy Trader Joe’s sweet offerings. Yummy chocolate chip dippers, they are delicious and I think we still have some milk chocolate covered pretzels, oh they are to die for ~ salty sweet scrumptiousness. Now I am drooling and may need to stop writing to get something sweet! 😀

As these weeks fly by it has me thinking about this past year. It seems to have flown by like a blink of an eye. So much has happened and as I look back I am also looking forward as to what does the future hold? Last year at this time I was in the process of adopting my horse Murphy from Oklahoma. It was a fairly stressful couple of weeks but so worth the stress and it all went really smoothly in hindsight. Interestingly, there was a young lady at the stables the night Murphy arrived that stayed with me while I waited for his trailer to arrive. She has an OTTB (Off The Track Thoroughbred) that she got through a rescue here in CA. As we chatted we had a lot in common, adopting a thoroughbred to name a few things. She could be my daughter at half my age and we got to know each other that evening as I bought her dinner as we waited.

She shared that she wanted to move to Spokane, Washington to have her horse at her cousin’s ranch. She grew up riding with her cousin and you know what? She made that happen! She moved with her horse last month almost a year after she told me about her dreams! She saved and saved and worked two jobs until she made her dream come true. That’s pretty cool and inspiring and makes me think I need to think more about our future and where I want to be and where I want to live as we approach retirement. It’s a lot to think about and I have some ideas as to what I want to see happen in the next few years.

Murphy after my ride and he is ignoring me but standing quietly.

I called his name so he would look at me but instead he walked towards me! Sweet Murphy! ❤

He is so smart and as I wanted him to turn his head and look at me when I called his name, he decided to walk to me so I clicked quickly and got this photo which I really like as he started his walk. I then took a really close up photo as he sniffed the camera! Haha! I just have to share! Warning, it’s very close up!!!

Haha, I know I am crazy to share such a silly photo but he melts my heart and our bond together grows stronger every day. It is hard to describe how special a horses bond can be, just as strong as with our sweet cats and dogs but different too. Especially since they let us do so much with them, riding around on their backs. It is almost indescribable. These horses in my life help keep me young at heart and the joy they bring to my life I wish I could share with everyone and what I mean by that is I wish you could come and ride my horses. I wish you could brush them and feel how soft their coats are and let them see you and feed them a treat. And so here I am trying my best to share with you all!

As I ride down the trail on my other horse Chloe the Jacaranda’s are blooming. I stopped near the blooms to take a close up photo! They are so beautiful and we have lined streets with these trees. I have shared them many times before and as each year comes around and they bloom, I share yet again!

Miss Chloe out in our small pasture! My pretty girl! ❤

As I wrap up my weekend I am looking forward to an Arizona trip at the end of this month. My son’s birthday is May 30th and so my daughter and other son will be heading there to help celebrate. We are so excited to spend a long weekend together, I can’t wait! The other thing on the horizon is an event I am going to attend in a month at Flag Is Up Farm, Monty Robert’s training facility and they have a weekend of clinic’s and the event is called “The Movement, 2022”. This event is only 30 minutes from where my daughter lives so I will be able to visit her after I attend the clinic every day. The horse trainer that trained Murphy will be there as she is a Certified Monty Roberts Instructor, I can’t wait to meet her! I’m excited to see my grandchildren and excited to attend this wonderful horse event!! 😀

He has the sweetest eyes, and a heart of gold!

I end with Murphy as May will always be a special month for me and Murph. Not only was it his birthday May 1st, he also arrived in the month of May. I haven’t forgotten my sweet Chloe girl as she’s had my heart for many, many years now. I spoil her just as much and have shared plenty of wonderful photos of her as well. I will continue to share and I may re-share as I continue this blogging journey. As I look to the future I have been discussing maybe moving north to be near my daughter. That’s an idea that needs to be looked into but we are in no hurry. I so enjoyed having you visit with me this weekend. I am always having FUN IN THE SUN with my ponies!! I’m also going to thank Natalie for hosting, the #weekendcoffeeshare.

Crazy Horse Loving Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; May 1st Birthday Fun!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share24 Comments
Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share!

Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I think a nice big glass of ice tea is in order as it is the afternoon here as I get to this special day written out and shared. Today is my sweet horses birthday and although it is not a particularly special year, it is his first birthday with me. I adopted Murphy from a Thoroughbred horse rescue who takes in Off The Track Thoroughbreds and finds them a new career. Murphy’s Jockey Club name is Midnight Murphy, I had to call him Murphy as the name fits so well. He came from Oklahoma from Horse and Hound Rescue Foundation and he arrived last year on May 22, 2021. I can’t believe it has been a year in a few weeks that he arrived. Today I celebrated his birthday by making a few video’s of my weekend and I bought him a few horsey made treats to spoil him. Haha, he was probably wondering why he got an easy free fun weekend and extra carrots, apples and these yummy sweet treats! We are just crazy horse people!!

I do not know Chloe’s birthday as she is not a registered breed. She was from a rescue though so I know the year she was born. She turns 18 years old this year and I shared with her the treats I brought to Murphy and I bought enough treats so I could share with other horse owners (and their horses) at the barn. I am so proud of Murphy as he is a fine looking 4 year old thoroughbred. 😀

I hung a Happy Birthday on his stall. I will share a video I made of him eating a few treats. Yummy, he kept looking for more. I do not normally hand feed him and will put all carrots and treats in his bucket, but today is a special day and he will be fine if I go back to putting the treats in his bucket. Feeding treats by hand can encourage them to possibly nip your fingers. I do feed Chloe by hand and she is gentle and has never bitten me or gotten aggressive in any way. Murphy is so young, he already tries to put the lead rope in his mouth, he is like a toddler wanting to put everything near him in his mouth. I have had to pull my sweatshirt out of his mouth and sometimes my shirt. He is getting better as this year has passed, keeping the treats out of my hand has been extremely helpful in him learning to let things go and it doesn’t belong in the mouth! Haha, he’s such a baby but this year has grown tons in respect and in size!

Murphy enjoying his birthday treats! He is so very sweet and looks forward to our time together each day!
On the left are donut hole horse treats with sweet toppings! and the squeezy buns I shared with the barn!

At our local feed store I heard they make horsey birthday cakes and when I got there they had packaged up horse donuts and donut holes (made with grains and horse food with sprinkle icing. They can eat sugar, think sugar cubes and peppermints. Murphy does not like peppermints yet, Chloe loves them!) The icing we were curious and tasted and it is just sweet icing like on cookies. The horses loved these treats. I asked about a horse cake and they said the lady that makes them will be in on Tuesday. Oh shoot, I didn’t realize you had to place an order for a cake. So donut holes it is as to me they looked like small cupcakes. I decided for next year he will turn 5 and so I will plan and order a cake then. I continued shopping and found the Uncle Jimmy’s Squeezy Buns. I put one on top of the container so you can see they are all individually wrapped grain filled molasses scrumptious horse treats! YUMMY! I shared with others at the barn handing out the Squeezy Buns! Hahaha!! 😀

More treats PLEASE!!!!
Murphy’s second time with the big ball. Wait for it, I did get a reaction from him! Silly boy!

I can’t believe how laid back this horse is to be honest with you. He really doesn’t want to exert a ton of energy. There are horses at our barn that run around and kick at this ball and there is one horse who will bend down with his knees and try and squeeze the ball between his front legs. He is very energetic and runs all around. Murphy? just meanders around, runs a little because it was coming after him there for a second. Haha, but he meandered back to it sniffing it. I just loved how he pushed it with his nose towards me, which makes me wonder did he want to play? Haha, horses do not think like people do but they are very smart. They can learn words and he responds to “Good boy” and he knows these words, “walk”, “trot” and “canter” and “whoa” for stop. Horses LOVE routine, because they know what to expect and they learn much easier if you keep their routine as close to the same as possible. It’s okay to deviate some days for enrichment and for learning new things, they learn that much faster when their routine and safety is A-Okay!

He has been such a joy! So fun to watch him interact with this toy!

As I enjoy Murphy I also enjoy my other horse Chloe and she is very spoiled and loved too. I take her out on the trails and I took a few photos with a girlfriend who joined us today. The Jacaranda trees are starting to bloom. We rode by one before I realized I should have taken a photo so in front of us was a baby tree and the tree behind it is a huge Jacaranda that is just beginning to bloom. I’ll share the photos and ask you do you need a refill? I think I will get one as I finish up this post.

Chloe on the left and my girlfriend’s horse Fashion. Yes, a funny name for a horse but it fits her well!
Miss Chloe after my ride. They all enjoy the grass that grows on the property!

I can’t believe it is May 1st! This day now has new meaning to me and my life since it is Murphy’s birthday. April was a great month and went by way too fast. My husbands birthday was April 13 and my daughter’s was April 14 and she was at training for work in Colorado and for my hubby that day was a Wednesday. I made the day as special as I could and I think I forgot to share in my last blog post. Forgive me family! Haha, if they ever read my blog. I do not think any of them do. I have a couple of sister’s that read my blog from time to time. As I share my all about horses blog, you can see I do sprinkle in the family happenings.

As I write this my son in Arizona has been applying for jobs outside the state. He has a job interview at the University of Maryland Teaching Hospital in Baltimore this coming Thursday. It would be better pay and advancement opportunities but oh my, it’s across the country. I am thankful I have a job that I can take many vacations so I can visit my only grandchildren if he should be offered and if he takes this new job. I am so excited for him but a bit sad they will be so far away. We will see what happens!

I’ll end with this selfie. I took several with Murphy and I like them all for different reasons but I will only share one, hard decide which one to choose! 😉 I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and thank you so much for stopping by my coffee share and If you care to share, what’s been happening in your week?

LOVE THIS ONE! ❤

Happy Horse Loving Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; April 16, 2022

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share41 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share!

I can’t believe it is the middle of April! The weeks just fly by so fast. Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? It has been a nice April so far with only one heat wave just over a week ago. It was almost 100 (38C) degrees here in Southern Calif for a few days. We get these mini heat waves before the summer comes and then it cools off again. I just looked up our climate here and it’s considered a Mediterranean climate. I really can never complain about the climate here which is so loveable and livable! Hence why there is too many people here. I can tell you that our freeways overflow with too many people with too much traffic, and the construction to widen and/or add lanes or toll lanes continues and never ends. But we all love living here, and those who don’t will move away. Haha, I read that more people are moving out of California in recent years then moving in which is totally okay with me! (I think the cause of this is affordability or cost of living is so high, so people are opting to move elsewhere. It is expensive but we own our house so it’s not too bad for us for now.) As I write this I am not sure if this is where we will retire and I am all for living near my grandchildren when I retire if that is possible someday. ❤

Okay, how did I get on that subject? I do write as my mind rambles and I definitely have a lot on my mind. I will say I am definitely missing my grandchildren especially since this is Easter weekend. Happy Easter to all of you who may be celebrating. With no little ones around we will just have an Easter dinner that I will make tomorrow. No Easter baskets or hiding eggs, no little ones around which I miss. I will see if I can video chat with the littles tomorrow! Now that’s a great idea! Now I am smiling. 😀

My beautiful Iris blooms!
Cactus blooming at the feed store!
My roses are blooming and this one is just about done! I just love roses smell!

Such happy flowers! The beautiful Iris and the cactus blooms are just amazing, I just had to take a photo when I went to the feed store and saw their beauty. My very, very light pink rose bloom is almost done blooming but the smell is just divine. I always stop to smell the roses, one of my favorite smells! I just have to share the flowers as Spring brings in it’s gloriousness.

On to my horses. How can I not share any kind of post without sharing how my horses are doing. I see them every day and ride one or the other like I’ve mentioned before. This last week was a Vet appointment for Spring vaccines and the Vet checks them all out listening to their heart and lungs and checking their teeth. Horses need teeth care and because of the way their jaws are aligned and the way they chew when they grind down on the hay they can get sharp points along the sides of their molars. Horses teeth erupt all throughout their life and because they can get these sharp edges they need dental care called teeth floating. The Vet or Equine Dentist will take a tool to grind down the sharp edges on their teeth so they are nice and smooth. The sharp edges can in time cause tongue sores or cheek sores depending on if the points are on the inside or outside of their molars. They should be checked yearly.

I had Chloe’s teeth floated just over a year ago and so her teeth look good at this Vet visit. Murphy who will be turning 4 yrs old at end of this month has some sharp points but he also has 2 wolf teeth that are only on the upper jaw in front of the first molars on each side. Wolf teeth (which are very small) are usually removed because horses when ridden and a bit is in its mouth, the bit can hit or interfere with these teeth and can cause issues (pain) which no one ever wants. (About 70% of horses are born with wolf teeth that will erupt. I have had Chloe since she was 2 and she had no wolf teeth.) We want the bit to be in their mouth with no problems. For those non horse people, horses have a natural gap in their jaw where the front teeth are and the molars begin. This big gap is just gums and is where the bit sits in their mouth. It is amazing how we can ride and communicate with them and have the control we need to stay safe when mounted and riding. We communicate with the bit through the reins in our hands, and the horses learn so many really cool things. Think Olympics!

Murphy has only one erupted wolf tooth on one side and the other side it hasn’t erupted yet. The Vet wants to wait 6 more months to see if that other tooth will erupt so it can be pulled out. He will be sedated for this procedure and they will float his teeth at that time to smooth the sharp edges that have developed over time with his chewing. I use a French Link Snaffle bit which the Vet said is perfect for riding him and hangs in his mouth in a way that it should not be a problem for the 6 months I have to wait for the teeth pulling. I’m grateful I can continue riding him with this bit. He also lost a cap which is part of his teeth as they grow which I found just outside of his stall last month. Baby teeth! Haha! Here are some fun photos of my ponies! ❤

Murphy out and about in the round pen. He is filling out and is still growing!
Hi Murphy, he has a huge head, but then he is huge!
Hi Miss Chloe! She is such a good girl!

As my time with my horses has morphed a bit, mostly because I have such a young horse I have really enjoyed arena riding. My horse Chloe has a bad back leg which is an old injury and now arthritic so the best thing to do with her is walk. I can walk in the arena but it gets boring and since she is a seasoned trail horse, I can take her out by herself and I have shared many trails riding her. I now get the best of both worlds by riding and training Murphy in the arena because he is young and athletic and he can do all the arena exercises easily. It has been so much fun!

I have a super good friend, my best friend who I’ve been friends with since we were 10 years old. Gosh, we have known each other for 50+ years now. We were riding trails together for the last 10 years but she has needed to retire her mare Gracie from the trails due to age and health. She will be 30 yrs old April 25th!! She bought a younger horse Roscoe and after some trail riding she decided to devote her time to just arena riding and has moved him blocks away to another ranch. She now just rides at that ranch and I visit with her often. Recently, I helped her move Gracie to this ranch (she wanted to check it out first with Roscoe and make sure it was a good fit for her and her horses before she moved Gracie.) I helped her hand walk Gracie about a week ago and I took a couple of photos.

Gracie is a little thoroughbred mare, she is beautiful!
This is Gracie saying Hi to Roscoe, her other horse.

My girlfriend and I do not see each other near as often any more but that’s okay because we are in the same town when she comes and visits and takes care of her horses. We meet for lunches and I will continue to take time to make these visits happen. Paths change, and I am finding my horse riding goals are changing and morphing all the time. That’s A-okay and that is life, full of changes! ❤ ❤ ❤

I have taken up so much of you time but I know you can read this faster than I can type and put this all together. I was going to make it shorter but since I haven’t been sharing as often I will just make my blog posts a little longer, I didn’t think ya’ll will mind. 😀 I’ll end with this pretty photo of a happy horse eating his breakfast!

This morning at the barn ~ Murphy is so handsome!

Thank you for visiting and I want to thank Natalie for hosting and if you would like to read others coffee shares just click here! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead!

Horsey and Flower Crazy Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; April Flowers & Horses!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share31 Comments
I LOVE SPRING!

I think Spring might be my favorite season. I love all the flowers and they sure are blooming. I am thankful you are here, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I made chocolate chip cookies last week and there are a few left, yummy. Can you believe it is April? March seemed to fly by and I had so much fun keeping busy with all the usual things I do each week. I wanted to share more flowers that are blooming as my Iris plants are going crazy. I am growing Iris in a big container and they are happy campers blooming like crazy. 😀

It was not a sunny day when I took these photos but the flowers are so pretty. We have gotten some much needed rain last week. It rained all day and into the evening. We got a lot more rain than I thought we were going to get but it doesn’t slow us down. I still get outside every single day as I tend to my horses and I enjoy all the weather. It’s been really overcast all weekend and very cool and cloudy. I am enjoying all the coolness as the heat is around the corner as we slowly head towards summer here. I see so many blooming flowers on my trail rides. I took this next photo yesterday!

Flowers blooming on my trail ride with Miss Chloe! ❤

As I sit here writing this I am thinking about all the wonderful people in my life. From my wonderful family who I love dearly to all the friends that I know and love. I also am thinking about my Mom and Dad up in heaven as they bestowed their best qualities in all of us children. We are all loving and giving people and we care deeply. Sometimes it is hard to balance as you realize we can’t fix the things that need fixing and no matter how hard you try you can only change some things which is often just the things close to you as the bigger picture stuff is pretty hard to change. I sometimes enjoy thinking about and pondering all these thoughts in my head. I think it’s important to not sweat the little things. We are here to enjoy each day as best as we can, how do you enjoy your day? I will tell you that smiling makes you feel better, I always feel better when I smile.

Miss Chloe after my trail ride. She is the sweetest horse and pretty too! ❤
Murphy is so silly trying to play with the big poles on the ground! ❤

I’m not free from stress, who is these days? But I try and release the stresses I feel by enjoying my time at the barn. Horses do not like stress, they can feel your anxiety through your hands and arms from your heart rate, it is an incredible thing. Breathing or taking a few deep breathes is a great way to release stress. As I take deep breathes and shake my hands to release the anxious feelings I can feel my body relax and as I talk to my horses you can see them relax their head and get soft in their necks and settle that big giant head and nose near your heart. Horses can sense a heartbeat from 4 feet away. Yes, they can and that is how they can sense any anxiety you feel as your approach. Think about your day but leave your day in your car when you arrive at the barn.

They are so sensitive that even if you do not feel anxious but are just not in a good mood, or say rushed and not paying attention, yes, this will all be picked up by your horse. They are amazing, fascinating animals and they are so centered and in tune with their bodies and far more aware of their surroundings that humans can’t come close to relating. They can also move 7 times faster than any human being, especially when they do not feel safe, we want them to always feel safe. Some days can go awry, you can have a bad day with your horse, but you must shake it off and move on to the next day. They do not hold grudges, they do not think like humans as they do not have a developed frontal lobe, they don’t lie or plot. In this way they are very forgiving, the next day is a new day. Interestingly, they have great memories. They can remember words and humans and things taught to them (good and bad) for up to 10 years. So abusing a horse can do some real damage as that can destroy trusting humans.

Clearly, I could talk all day about horses. I am so enjoying sharing these intelligent animals as they bring me so much joy in my life. I would be happy if I just had them and took care of them, but there is so much more as I am able to ride them and enjoy all that they give to us in their incredible lives. I have had a couple days this last week with some bobbles I’ll call it ~ Some miss-communication with my horse Murphy. (It was related to me feeling anxious, which in turn made Murphy feel anxious and worried). We are doing great, he is a good boy and really doing well. Learning with a horse is a gift and so I like to remember and think about all they have to offer to us humans. I am truly grateful and cherish every minute with my horses.

Murphy enjoying some yummy grass. He is such a sweetheart! I enjoyed having coffee with you today and as I head into next week I am thinking about my hubby who is traveling up north to my daughter’s place to house sit while she is away for training. She has a cat sitter, but thought it would be good if someone could stay for a few days. My hubby and best friend will be heading there tomorrow and it will be fun for them to explore the area. There is so much to see, Solvang and Pismo beach with their amazing cinnamon rolls to name a few places. I thank you for visiting and I also thank Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare. If you would like to visit other shares click here for the linkup.

Appreciating life and horses,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; March 27 ~ Staying Busy!

On By DianaIn Horse stories, Living life, weekend coffee share23 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives!

Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I have so much to share. This month of March has been full and busy. With my busy life comes hard work with my full-time job and of course my time spent at the barn with my two horses Miss Chloe and my young guy Murphy! I try and fit in so much including some relaxing time doing my crafting. I am either doing crochet projects or my cross-stitch. I am currently working on my cross-stitch and here is my completed project! I am also going to share the first 2 projects that is from my pattern book of seasons. I have now started on the Winter scene.

I just finished this one which is Fall
This one is Spring (Click on photo for full view)
This is Summer! I love all the colors, so fun to stitch up!

I have been thinking about what I will do with these seasons once completed and I decided I am going to try and make a quilt throw or hanging. (The photos make them look like they are crooked on the edges but they aren’t, its just the material is not completely flat. I will rinse them with safe soap and water, let them dry and iron them flat before I sew.) I have never sewn a quilt before but have helped my sister and have a new book on quilt making for first time beginners that I got for Christmas. Since I have helped with many quilts my sister and I did together I am hoping I can make something pretty. I know it won’t be perfect, but then I am just hoping to get it all sewn together properly, haha! And not fall apart. I know all crafts take time to get down as practice makes perfect, or at least makes you better and more confident.

I’ve been wanting to put together a small quilt like a throw or wall hanging for a long time and now that I have these cross-stitch pieces I feel inspired and the timing is perfect since I received the really helpful quilt book since my sister’s do not live nearby any more. I figured if I run into any problems I can always call them or ask my good friend who sews. My bigger challenge is to learn how to use my sewing machine, haha! It’s always something!

Speaking of sister’s ~ this same sister that I use to sew with is also my riding partner and who I grew up riding horses with and she now lives in Idaho. She has been there now 7 years, we can’t believe how fast these years fly by. She was so excited to come and visit for a week and she stayed with her son nearby and she was over every day to help me with my horse Murphy. She and I have had tons of training with young horses and with many horse trainers over the years. Together we worked on some new things with Murphy and he is so smart and easy going it made our time together a blast! Here are some photos and videos of our week here in March! 😀

I gave Murphy a bath the weekend before my sister arrived! He’s so handsome! ❤
I also gave Miss Chloe a bath as it was so nice and warm! She’s so beautiful and I do Love her so much!
My sister on Murph (click on photo for full view)
Me and Murphy, so very smart, calm and willing to learn!

My sister was here this month for a full week and I am so grateful for all her help. She flew down which gave her more days to visit. I am planning on sending her videos as I go and we have already talked since she’s left as she has remembered a few more things I can work on with Murphy. Training a horse takes time and she and I are so happy that I am in no hurry and I am giving him plenty of time to grow into his body as he is 3 years old. He turns 4 beginning of May which I am excited about. He is still growing but I feel like he is pretty balanced for a 3 year old. I know with this training and riding he and I are getting stronger, he is so much FUN to ride! 😀

Murphy and I trotting in the arena. We are working on softening with his head and neck and moving forward into the bridle. We are also working on circles. The first circle he was going a bit fast but has a better steady trot for the second circle. It is all a work in progress and I am so proud of him!

I thought long and hard last year when I purchased (adopted) my young horse Murphy, can I start and work a young horse again? I knew I would have to get into shape and get my riding legs and upper body stronger and I am slowly accomplishing this. Riding up on a horse like I am in the video I shared is very aerobic, and to those who don’t ride you probably do not realize how much work it is as we make it look like we aren’t doing much. I can get so out of breath that sometimes I need to take a break before Murphy needs a break. I was riding him yesterday and I wanted him to stay steady with his head down and I was getting more out of breath with each stride. I’m getting stronger each ride. Riding the trails on my other horse Chloe is not very aerobic at all since all we are doing is walking. It feels great getting into shape! I LOVE YOU MURPHY! He is the best gym and this is my most favorite exercise!! ❤

Me and my shadow with Miss Chloe!

On to my trail rides and Miss Chloe! She is a trooper and her and I go out alone often. I will partner up when there is another rider at the barn ready when we are to head out. I have to fit in Murphy and Chloe in my mornings and some days I have time to ride both of them and other days, it’s one or the other. Chloe and I have been together now for 16 years and so we have years of trail rides under our belts. She is trail savvy, its what we do and owning and riding horses is all about repetition and consistency as they are smart and willing as long as they feel safe. We are all about safety in all that we do and so we have a great time together! Here is a video I took just this last week. It was a few days after my sister left and a beautiful day. We are expecting a very rainy day tomorrow which I mention in the video. I hope you enjoy!

Such a lovely day for a trail ride in my hometown in California!

So much FUN! I love the trails but I also love the arena riding and training too! I have no doubt that Murphy will be a wonderful all around horse eventually. I am in no hurry with him and when you take the time they need, they turn out so well rounded and confident. I’m excited for our future together.

I’m so happy you visited today. I know I am not sharing as often as I once did but this is working out better for me and my busy life. I don’t want to stop blogging altogether, I will just share when I can and I do appreciate this wonderful blogging community, more than you know. I can’t say enough for all the wonderful bloggers I have met through blogging. I do try and keep up reading and commenting on other blogs but apologize because it can get overwhelming sometimes. I do what I can when I can and you all are so wonderful, forgiving and caring individuals. Thank you for being you! Have a wonderful week and stay smiling. 😀

Horse Crazy Crafty Gal,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; March Is Here!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share19 Comments

Welcome to my coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I also have apple juice or cranrasberry juice if you prefer. I have so much to share as its been a few weeks and so much is happening in our lives. We made it to Arizona last weekend for my grandson’s birthday and we celebrated and made it special for him. I am also thankful that my family wasn’t planning a very big party (so very thankful) because my grandson ended up with a fever on his birthday so we had to cancel the event. We were to drive to my daughter-in-laws aunt’s house about an hour away to celebrate. It turns out my little grandson had a mild case of hand, foot and mouth virus which we found out he was exposed this last week when he was brought back to day care. That was why he had a fever, and we made his birthday a fun day none the less and celebrated at his home. ❤

We baked him a smash cake and the cupcakes with a Mickey Mouse Funhouse theme!
Me and my selfies that I so enjoy taking! He doesn’t know “smile” yet, and my granddaughter likes to make silly faces which makes me giggle! She has a beanie baby octopus in her hand!

My hubby and I enjoyed visiting and we did not catch any sickness which I told my family I don’t care, I would have come anyways. Unfortunately, my son caught the hand, foot and mouth virus as he came down with a fever at the end of this last week and he has nasty rashes on his hands and feet! Hence the name, and he says these rashes burn and are very painful. I feel so badly for him as he is the only adult that caught it from my grandson. My granddaughter and my daughter-in-law are fine. I am praying for my son to recover quickly. He is out of time off at work, so he can be out sick but can’t get paid since this has been a rough couple of months for illness for my little family. They all had Covid at the beginning of January and it has been one virus after another the last 2 months. Please say a prayer or send good thoughts their way, they sure could use a break right about now. This is SO HARD being so far from them so that I could help. But it is what it is, and all I can do is be supportive from afar. I Love them so much!

Ugh, there are lots of sad things happening in the world today and everyone has their own set of problems and/or issues to deal with. I certainly do not want to add to any of that and as you know I am usually full of optimism and positivity, but I will say even I can struggle with that from time to time. I am thinking if I share what makes me smile and brings me to a special place where I can forget all the scary sad stuff then maybe if I share it will bring a smile and a bit of positivity your way as well. I decided that is one reason why I like to share here on this blog. I have been questioning why I blog lately, and so I am only blogging when I have a collection of fun and enjoyable shareable things that not only make me smile and feel good, I hope you can enjoy and smile too! It’s my contribution to keeping my mental health happy, and in turn I hope it can do that for someone else too! I don’t even know if I am making any sense, but these are my thoughts today. 😀

These blooms in my garden sure make me smile! Spring is in the air!

My Iris plants have multiplied since last year. They are in a container and I am thinking I should thin them out this year. I am not sure what to do with the extra plants? I guess I can start another container and have more Iris plants! Haha, I do much better growing flowering plants then vegetables. Since I am not sharing daily or weekly posts I have accumulated lots of pony photos and fun videos that I wanted to share. 😀 As you all know this is my happy place, the stables or barn where I board my horses and the horses are what fill my heart and help me with my mental health. They bring me so much joy, so let’s get started with what I have to share.

Miss Chloe with a big bouncy ball to play with only she isn’t very interested!

My girlfriend at the stables (we call each other pony sister’s) brought the bouncy ball and let us all take turns using it in the arena with our horses. It is fun for them to see something different, it helps desensitize them and get use to different objects. We have horses that love playing with the ball. It is very bouncy and soft. They can bite it and throw it around with their teeth. It is so fun to watch them play! Chloe just stares at it but didn’t move as it headed towards her and then walked away, haha, and she did go up to it and push it once but I didn’t make a video of that. She just isn’t interested in playing like the geldings, especially the younger horses!

Murphy with the bouncy ball. He licked it and tried to bite it and will need time to learn to play with it!

Murphy was really afraid of the ball at first. I carried it into the arena and walked up to him holding it and he stood still and I let him reach out to touch it with his nose. I will say that for Chloe I knew it was not her first time with the bouncy ball as I have had it in the arena with her and my other horse Zack some years ago before he passed away. So that is why I was not worried about her reaction when I kicked it towards her. I knew Murphy has never seen the ball, so I introduced it carefully. I decided to let him check it out by himself and left the arena at which time I could take the video above. 😀 I know he isn’t doing much with it but he is very brave and is a good boy!

I had time this weekend to shorten their manes. It is good for them to learn to stand still as it takes a good half an hour or so to get this completed.

As I am sharing my horsey photos I am realizing that this could be a very long post. I am thinking I will save some of them and write another post soon. Either a Smile post or horsey post of some sort. I’ve been wanting to shorten their manes. I like to keep them tidy and they were getting pretty long especially Murphy’s mane. He got tired of me messing with him and when he gets antsy he starts to paw at the ground. He does not really enjoy being pampered and groomed. Unfortunately for him, I’m the type of owner that loves to brush and groom them. I do not overdue it and ask for his patience kindly and I don’t groom him every day because when it’s his day off of riding he just gets turned out and then I put him back in his stall. I am being gentle with him and give him days off from grooming since he doesn’t enjoy it that much. I’m hoping when he gets older he will enjoy being groomed, hopefully. 😀

Murphy is the second horse on the left. I just love this photo of the paddock row with the beautiful clouds!

We have been getting some weather which is always something exciting for us here in sunny CA. I just love the clouds and we got a little bit of rain. It has been chilly and cold a few days this last week. The sun was out today and that’s when I trimmed up their manes. I also had a nice trail ride. Saturday was fun with the bouncy ball day and I am hoping to ride Murphy tomorrow. I usually take turns riding one horse one day ~ the other the next day. It works out good for all of us! I’m going to end with this pretty photo which was taken by my pony sister who brought the bouncy ball! Thank you Jane! ❤

Murphy standing tall near the back of arena! Such a pretty photo! I hope you all are doing good and thank you for visiting and having coffee with me this weekend. I am so happy I shared and I will try and write and share again soon. Have a wonderful week!

Loving Grandma, Loving Horses!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; My Heart Is Full

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share25 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share! How are you today?

Welcome and how are you doing? Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am doing great and am so excited because next weekend is my grandson’s second birthday. I can’t believe he will be 2 they grow so fast! My hubby and I will be traveling to Arizona so we can spend some fun family time with not only our grandson but with our granddaughter and my son and daughter-in-law! I pray that someday we won’t all be living so far apart and am thankful they are a short flight away and its not a bad drive. We will be driving there and my daughter will be joining us flying in Friday evening. 😀

They are so adorable! My granddaughter is 6 1/2 and my grandson will be 2 at end of Feb. ❤

Boy, just looking at this photo fills my heart with so much love for them. I could just stare at it all day as I miss them so very much. We do video chat, sometimes I wish we could more often but they are really busy and I will keep hoping that someday they will move closer to us, or vice versa. My son has been applying for a new job and has even mentioned maybe moving back to CA. Oh my, that would be so GRAND! But I should not get my hopes up too high as who knows where is next job will land them. He has been applying all over the Pacific Northwest.

As I am getting excited about my upcoming little vacation next weekend I wanted to share this last weekend and the fun I had with my ponies. I have been struggling a little bit with Murphy and getting him to participate more willingly in our rides. He has a bit of a stubborn streak in him, and I have been gently working with him in a positive way to keep his feet moving. I have to say my eyes opened up yesterday when I was reading Anne’s blog (HorseAddict) she shared a lesson with her trainer (her trainer is an Olympian!) She rides dressage and at the highest levels and I am just trying to get a nice walk, trot and canter in the arena.

Murphy is so young I am teaching him the basics but he would rather just stop and stand. So I asked Anne a question after watching her video and I asked her about riding with the dressage crop or whip that she carries while riding. I have one to use but it has been so long in using it I wanted to ask an expert and she gave me great advice about tapping Murphy with the whip near my leg when I cue him if he doesn’t respond immediately and it worked GREAT! I only had to use it on two different occasions, once to trot and once at a halt I asked him to walk. I barely touched his side, it seemed more like a tickle but he is sensitive enough it motivated him perfectly! I have to give her credit as it definitely helped him keep his feet moving which made my job riding him so much easier. I wasn’t so exhausted trying to push him forward. I am so excited! Thank you Anne!! Here are some photos from my weekend.

Before my rides I always get him warmed up by trotting and cantering in the arena!
I set up some trot poles that you can see in one of the photos. He did great trotting over them today!

He was such a good boy today as I was able to get him to move forward and into the bit with him being supple in his neck and he does this best at the walk. I am working on him to stay supple at the trot and having the dressage whip helps immensely and he is much better going to the right, I need to strengthen my left leg when we go to the left as he is a bit stiff. It is all a work in progress and I need to take one day at a time. But I was so impressed as he had a good attitude and moved forward more easily! YAY!

I also rode Miss Chloe today out on the trail. Her and I had a great ride!

I can’t leave out Miss Chloe. She can’t trot and canter any more with me riding her as she has a bad back leg that does fine at the walk but not so good at the faster gaits. She has an old injury in her stifle which is like our knee. She can run around free in arena with no problems but with the weight of saddle and rider it just isn’t a good idea and would put more pressure on that old injury. She does great on our trail rides! Walking is motion lotion!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I know some are still really cold and living where they may even have snow on the ground. I know others across the world are still in Summer probably heading into Fall. It is fun to share my rides and my adventures with my horses. I am having to reach far back in my memory in riding now that I am starting out a young horse. He is very, very calm and doesn’t get rattled very easily. He is smart (sometimes too smart) and forgiving as I am getting in shape just as much as he is with our training. I will end with a pretty photo of Chloe as she is shedding out her winter coat and getting a nice shiny one as we get closer to Spring!

Miss Chloe looking very pretty! My heart is full!

Have a wonderful week ahead!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; February Fun!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share18 Comments
My roses are blooming!

Welcome to my weekend coffee share and instead of my coffee mug I wanted to share my pretty roses as they are starting to bloom. I can still get you a cup of coffee or tea if you prefer as we sit and chat about the happenings here. We are in a mini heat wave, feels like summer has come really early! But this heat shouldn’t last too long and we are expecting some rain this coming week. It was almost 90F (32C) this whole weekend. I am praying for the rain as we never really get enough here in Southern Cali. I am thankful the winds seem to have stopped for now. We can really get some howling winds and these winds have been relentless the last few weeks. 😦

I am really late writing my coffee share this weekend and I know I’ll get late responses and I don’t mind at all. Today is Super Bowl Sunday and so I am expecting most everyone is watching. I am not a big sports nut (just a big horse sports nut! Haha) and so I have the Super Bowl on as I am writing this and I was telling my daughter that I don’t think I have ever been to a Super Bowl party, nope. My hubby is not a sports nut either, he watches and keeps track of things but we do not have party’s and I can’t remember if I’ve ever been invited to one. Maybe I have gone to my sister’s when they lived nearby many years ago, so maybe family party’s. Clearly they didn’t leave an impression because I can honestly say I can’t remember.

I asked a friend to take some photos of me and Murphy!

I have some photos to share and I zoomed in on the one above and you can see Murphy is sticking his tongue out! Haha, he is such a silly boy. Here are a few more, from afar and then I zoomed in close up!

Aww, I love this photo and the ones above. I’m not in many with Murphy!

Murphy is so much FUN! He is so tall that I can’t see over his neck, shoulders or back or rear end for that matter! 😀 He will be 4 years old this coming May 1st and he is not done growing. He has such a personality and is what I like to call a gentle giant. I am so use to handling him now that I forget how big he is (I guess I don’t forget but am use to him) I am always mindful of his size and we have a good respect for each other and our space between us. I make sure he understands what I want when I groom him and when I need to pick out his hoofs. His legs are so long and when I see others work on him I notice his hugeness. My farrier was out this weekend and he was such a good boy and when the farrier picked up his front legs with his knees bent I just stared at this huge knee! I’m in awe as I’ve never owned a horse so big!

Since I am on the subject of the farrier, I thought I would share how smart Murphy is and how with his behavior we solved a mystery. Horses love routine and with what ever routine you develop they can anticipate and start to do what you may ask them to do next. Because he is so big and so young I needed to have him be comfortable with me picking up his hoofs and holding them so that I can get the dirt out of the bottom of his hoofs. This is called hoof picking and when Murphy arrived he was a bit antsy about being groomed and getting his hoofs picked out. So I kept the same routine starting with his left front hoof working my way around counter clockwise to the back left, then back right and front right hoof.

When the farrier comes he just starts wherever usually trims the front hoofs and then finishes up with the back hoofs. He has been very good with the farrier, never tries to kick but a couple of months ago Murphy was very confused as he picked up one back hoof, then the other, and wanting to take his leg away as he wanted to pick up the opposite hoof. The farrier said maybe he is in pain? Look how every time I pick up this left back foot he picks up the right back! Something must hurt. Gosh, I know its possible but he is only 3 yrs old and it got me thinking about how horses think. That’s when I figured out the mystery. Murphy is use to my routine and so now I have asked my farrier to please trim his hoofs counter clockwise and guess what? Murphy is perfect! He has the next leg sometimes lifted waiting for the farrier. Smarty pants!! ❤ He’s my counter clockwise horse! Haha! 😀

Miss Chloe out for a run in the arena and eating her grain back at her stall! I Love her so much!

I have shared a lot about Murphy! I had some friends on Facebook ask about Miss Chloe since I’ve been sharing more Murphy photos than Chloe photos. I will try and be more mindful to share both. She has my heart too, so much so it is really good to love on another as she ages. She is doing good and I can still ride her on the trails and I ride her out with my girlfriends at the barn. I know all of you who have animals knows how hard it is when they age, and I am getting to the point with Chloe that I want to be careful and stop riding when she can no longer carry me. I will ease her in to retirement when the time is right. Having Murphy is a great distraction and my heart won’t ache quite so bad when I use her less. She is so LOVED. ❤

Thank you for sharing coffee with me as I chat away! I know I am so late in putting this together. My weekend was busy, my daughter drove home and so my Saturday was busy. I so enjoy having her home to visit and she visited her best friend here in town as well. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! And thank you Natalie for hosting #weekendcoffeeshare. 😀

Happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow! ❤ ❤ ❤

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Jan. 22, 2022

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share31 Comments
Welcome, can I get you a hot cup of coffee or tea?

How are you today? I know for some it is summer and so maybe a cold brew is in order! I do know that there is plenty of cold out there as I have been visiting other coffee shares and brrr…. it is cold in the north! I can’t believe it is Jan. 22 and with it being 2022 that is a lot of 2’s. I am not a numerologist but I like numbers. I am more of an astrology gal, as I love all things astrology and find all the charts and signs fascinating! Okay, I am going down a rabbit hole and wonder where my mind is going. When I am here writing and sharing I usually have a bit of a plan on what I want to share and to be honest if I don’t have a plan, then I just don’t share anything. Hence why I skip some weeks, I only share when I feel inspired and everything I have written so far is literally just thoughts flying out and so let me hone in my thoughts!

I want to share that I enjoy blogging very much and I have found that my blog revolves around my life as stated but I enjoy sharing that with photos. That is my inspiration is being able to take photos of things that inspire me and so in turn I hope they somehow inspire you! And with that, what inspires you? I find as I am taking photos thoughts of a smile post, a horse trail post or a weekend coffee share starts to form and so I take my photos and plan out my post. I have so much fun thinking of how I will share and inspire! 😀

I found my browband from my show bridle from 40+ years ago! I just finished polishing it as it was very tarnished after all these years!

I am giggling here as guess what we didn’t have back in the 70’s! Spell check! Hahaha, I have spelled Norwegian Wood wrong! And I just discovered this as I am typing in 2022! Oh my goodness, all this time I had it wrong. What is that called, literary license? Sort of? Holy smokes, I should have looked at the Beatles album more closely as that is the song I named my horse after! This piece of leather with the silver name plate I used on my show bridle when I showed my Hunter, who’s barn name was Chester in the 70’s. I found most of the bridle today when I was rearranging my tack room area. I decided to go through some rubber tubs I have which is storing horse stuff and that’s when I found this brow band! I also found 7 bits, and I have more than that in another plastic container. I probably have over 15 bits, maybe more! I really need to go through my stuff!

This is Murphy with a bridle like my show bridle. The arrow is pointing to the browband! Sharing for the non horsey folks out there! ❤
This is Norwegian Wood wearing his show bridle with me at a Santa Barbara Horse Show back in 1979 ❤

I have no idea where I am going with this post. I am a bit all over the place especially since I found out I don’t know how to SPELL! Thankfully, since it is a name I know lots of folks who don’t spell names correctly on purpose. So now that I’ve made a huge deal out of this I know no one would have ever noticed but me as I typed it into my computer and it was auto correcting my spelling. Okay, shake it off Diana! Haha, and I have to say I will use the browband in a shadow box or something of the sort as it doesn’t take up that much space to save this browband. 😀

Onward Diana! I wanted to share my cross-stitch I’ve been working on and I have one photo of my progress from some weeks ago and a new photo today of how far I’ve gotten on this project. I thought it would be fun to share as I enjoy sharing my crafts.

It’s really coming along nicely! This is Fall, part of a four season’s pattern book.

Once I get closer to being done I will take a better photo. What will be fun is when I use black to outline everything and then things will really pop. The people near the little building will be better defined and I will outline the wheels to the carriage and all the rigging for the horse. The barn will be outlined and will be so pretty. There is still a lot to fill in and stitch but I am more than half way done! I will share the two other seasons I have completed when I get close to completing this one. It is such a fun hobby!

Can I get you a refill? As I segue back to the horses I have a video of Murphy lose in the arena. I took the video last weekend and wanted to share it with you all. My other Murphy news is that I took my first lesson on him with a trainer that comes to our barn for other riders. I knew I would be asking her for help as I have gotten so far and I knew I wasn’t connecting the dots as it were with his training and I needed another eye to see what I am or am not doing correctly. Remember, my original training was many years ago and so I am a bit rusty. Trail riding is not arena riding at all and so it was great fun to get this lesson!

Lisa is very kind and explains things extremely well. I need to focus more when riding, she has some helpful focusing points for example; ride to a post on the rail and look through your turn to another post and so on and so forth and when you focus on this it will help teach Murphy to focus and comply. I was so amazed on how much better he got in that lesson as we both walked with purpose from one side of the arena around the corners to the other end. I won’t get into all the details (as there is much more) but as she is reminding me of things, memories are rushing in and I can’t wait to continue on this journey. I will take a lesson every 2 weeks and work with him in between for the next few months or so and then see where we are at and if I need to continue. I am so thankful and grateful for her help! ❤

I Love watching him as he trots and canters around in the arena! He is such a character!

I know this has been kind of a crazy coffee share post. Haha, maybe I can blame it on the wind! Maybe the wind is making my thoughts all kind of crazy today. It is super duper windy here in southern California! It gets to be so darn windy we can’t ride. So I can’t practice, bummer. I was so looking forward to riding this weekend and it is suppose to be windy tomorrow too. Oh well, there will be plenty of good days to ride. I haven’t been able to ride Miss Chloe on the trails this last week because they have been working on the trails replacing all the wooden fencing with white vinyl fencing. They finally finished Friday!

I know I take so many photos it is hard to choose which one I like better!

Murphy is huge! He has a big head, big ears and a huge heart! He truly is so sweet, gentle and kind. I will end here and hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead! If you would like to visit other coffee shares please click here ~ and I have to thank Natalie for hosting our #weekendcoffeeshares

Crazy spell checking horse Gal! 😀

~Diana ❤