Tag: #horsecrazy

Weekend Coffee Share; May 21, A Happy But Solemn Day

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share30 Comments
My sweet roses make me smile!

Welcome to my weekend coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? My rose blooms are waning and so are my Iris blooms. I am so happy I took photos so I can still enjoy their beauty. As I write this I am wanting to celebrate my 2 year anniversary of when my sweet horse Murphy arrived and I am so happy and grateful for our journey together, and am excited for our future together, he is so much fun. However, as I titled this post I am very solemn since I had to say goodbye to my most beloved horse Miss Chloe. I’ve posted a tribute and if you missed it you can find the link here. She has left a huge hole in my life and I am going to have to take one day at a time. I knew this day was coming, and I miss her terribly. I haven’t figured out a new routine yet at the barn, everything is in flux, and I know it just takes time to grieve and so I will try and enjoy each day as it comes. Its been a tough year and am hoping and praying for a better second half to this year.

I didn’t want to be all sad, and I didn’t want this post to be a downer so I will try and share more positivity as I am hoping this will help me smile. I have finished all the crochet hats I was making for my sister. She had brought to me when she visited some alpaca wool all spun and ready to use and then she will gift the hats this coming Christmas. They were fun to make! I am more than half way through my cross stitch and so am back working on it as I really want to finish and frame it. Here are a few photos of them.

My cross-stitch looks better in person as I know the grey material makes it more muted in color. The narwhal is almost done and next to stitch is a big orca whale! There is a squid and more small fish to stitch as well. Then the intricate border. The pattern actually called for a dark blue linen but I had grey and thought it would look nice enough. The crochet hats I adore and am thinking of making more hats with my yarn as gifts to my family members. I decided to try and use almost every piece of yarn my sister gave me and made the 2 tricolor hats pictured together. I actually ran out completely and found a multi colored yarn to finish that one hat. I might keep that hat for myself, since it is unique and/or I’ll ask my sister if she would like all of them or not. Haha, I worry about the silliest things sometimes as the yarn isn’t exactly a perfect match but thought it will work so I just stitched it up anyways!

Let’s see, my emotions are all over the place. Normal right? I know life can throw you curve balls sometimes and so I am trying to keep to my routines as this helps keep you sane. At least that’s how I see things. 😀 and I know smiling helps your mood. I have been wanting to start a veggie garden in my containers and so I think I will work on that this week. Ironic or not, now I actually have time in the mornings tending to a small garden since I now only have one horse. I let the horses commandeer many hours of my mornings before I have to go to work. I have so much to think about, keeping busy for idle minds helps.

He sees something next door! When he stands tall, he is VERY TALL!

Murphy is so handsome and beautiful. I want to slowly get going with riding him more often. Now that he is 5 years old he is at a great age mentally to handle more, not that I couldn’t have done that sooner but I keep saying we have all the time in the world. Now that he is my only horse, it feels surreal. I think partly because an era has ended. When you have a 17 year history with someone or a beautiful animal like Chloe you realize that life will be completely different. One day at a time, my new mantra!

Forever in my heart, miss you sweet girl!

Memories are wonderful and I have hundreds of photos. This one is one of my favorites, me and my selfies. 😀 I’ll end with my boy and looking forward to a new adventure as we forge ahead. I needed to write as I find it cathartic. I may sprinkle my sweet Chloe girl in my future posts just because she has a piece of my heart forever. It’s nice to see her beautiful face, she had the hugest heart and loved and touched so many lives in the years she walked on this earth. Run free sweet girl! ❤ ❤ ❤

Love you Murphy, he loves to graze!

Thank you for visiting with me today. I am trying my best to smile and am very thankful I am here to enjoy all that I have in this life. We all have our ups and downs and I know I am truly blessed with all the wonderful friends and family in my life. I want to thank Natalie for hosting #weekendcoffeeshare. I hope you all have a beautiful week ahead. I need to remember to smile often and laugh more, life is too short to not enjoy it to its fullest! ❤

Horse Loving, family loving Gal,

~Diana ❤

Upside down is Beautiful!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life6 Comments
A break in the rain, pretty ponies in the water! I love the rippling in the water and the clouds in this photo! ❤

I had a wonderful morning with my ponies. I donned my mask, put on my rubber boots and headed to the feed store to buy shavings for my horses stalls. Here at this stables and most in town, only the box stalls come with shavings. The paddocks are dry parcels and depending on the boarding facilities the owner of the horses supply their own shavings or bedding. We use these pelleted shavings and/or fine pine to help soak up the water and aide in a dry area for the horses to stand and eat and/or lay down at night. It’s worth every penny to put down some bedding to help keep a dry area during these wet days. I was able to turn out the horses and I believe that my two may be the only ones at these stables that thoroughly enjoy the lake in the corner of the arena!! Silly ponies! 😀

My girlfriends horse Gracie! She rolled a couple of times in the wet sand. She is so silly and was feeling so good today, trotting and running around the arena! You can see the small lake in the corner of the arena behind Gracie.
I am enjoying these cool photos with the ripples and mirror images from the water! I just have to share all the photos I took today, SO MUCH FUN!
Zack looks like he is looking at himself in the mirror!! Haha!
Close up as they meander in the water. Love the ripples and I am too close to get their whole body in the mirror.

It felt so very good to be outside. It has not rained all day but it is very cloudy out and more rain will be here soon. It is to rain all day long tomorrow and then ease up into Friday with the storm blowing away by the weekend. I heard some thunder rumbling in the distance when I finished up at the barn today. Stormy clouds all around with the sun breaking through here and there and I was so happy I was in the arena when the sun shone enough so I could get some really excellent photos. I saved the best for last. When I took the photo I did hold my phone upright instead of sideways and I snapped this photo. When I got home and I viewed my photos it was upside down! Wait, what? I believe it is partially because of they way I took it, but I decided to use it even though I could flip it around. I thought it was a really cool and BEAUTIFUL PHOTO!! One of the best reflections yet!! I hope you enjoy. 😀 😀 😀

Upside and beautiful! Fun with photos, and my pretty ponies!

There you have it! I thought the mirror image so very cool I wanted to share as it is ~ so exciting and so much fun!! I just keep staring at this photo, it’s so interesting. They all had some good exercise and then a good grooming as they ate their lunch. I really needed this time outside and am so grateful for my ponies. They bring me such joy and relaxation. I hope you all have a good week!

Crazy, Horse loving Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Sept 3, 2019

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, weekly smile7 Comments

My weekly smile this week goes to my huge furry friends who make me smile everyday I see them. To anyone who reads my blog it won’t be a surprise that I am talking about my horses. Yes, I talk about them a ton, blog about them as often as I can and take a million photos of them because I just can’t help myself. I sometimes try and change things up and share other things which are important to me, which I think is okay since this blog is about My Life, but it’s also about my Horse Stories. I won’t stray for long away from my pretty ponies! Whenever I am feeling down or sad, it never fails when I am at the barn they ALWAYS pick me up and make me smile! 😀 And of course, I look forward to my daily visits when I am happy too! ❤

My beautiful bay roan, Miss Chloe! She melts my heart! ❤

What I noticed today is how beautiful their coats are as summer is waning, and fall is on it’s way. They will soon be growing their winter coats and I am thankful Chloe does not grow a very long winter coat at all, but Zack turns into a fuzzy bear! I plan on clipping his coat to make it easier to groom him and keep him exercised. Her beauty just makes me smile!

This is my handsome boy Zack. His coat is still nice and short and he is nice and clean! ❤

As they were lose running around I noticed their shine. My photos didn’t capture the shine as much as in person, especially Zack as a grey horse doesn’t glisten like darker colors. He is doing really well, a very happy boy and I am totally enjoying him this summer. He is a funny horse, lots of personality and of course Chloe has personality too. They are both so different since she is a mare and he a gelding, it is fun to see how different they are. Zack loves to chew on things and always tries to nip or bite. He knows not to bite us humans, but still sometimes tries. Chloe is much better and does not have that oral fixation. Its a guy thing for most geldings.

Horses being horses! This makes me so HAPPY! They LOVE to groom each other! ❤

I Love how they groom each other. I’ve written and talked often about the herd dynamics. Chloe is an alpha mare, totally in charge of the herd even if it is only 2 or 3 horses (I often turn out my girlfriends horse with these 2 which I did today but I didn’t take a photo of Gracie). Chloe is definitely the boss lady, is totally in charge and makes sure the herd stays safe! She is as solid as they come, and brings much calm and bravery to the herd. I can’t express how much I love this horse and she and I have mutual respect for each other. It is the most AMAZING bond between human and horse, hard to describe but we are so connected her understanding me and vice versa.

I can say that Zack and I are more bonded then when I first got him and he has learned with Chloe’s help that our group is a wonderful thing and his confidence is growing. But he still gets scared of things on the trail and his fear and flight brain sometimes jumps out but Chloe and I can keep him in check and in control. He’s fun, different and keeps me always thinking about how horses think and feel. They are all different with different personalities.

Thanks for visiting my #weeklysmile! This is hosted by a blogging friend Trent. I think it is so fun to share what makes us smile! What made you smile? Your comments are always welcome and I hope you have an amazing week.

Always smiling with my beautiful horses!

~Diana