Tag: #horsefriends

Weekend Coffee Share; September ~ Fun In The Sun

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share23 Comments
These blooms are going crazy this time of year in my front yard!

Welcome to my coffee share and yes, I usually share a cup of coffee as my first photo but I got to thinking the last few posts I’ve featured some pretty flowers. This bush in our yard is just going crazy and so full of blossoms I just had to share. Fall is in the air here even though we are still getting pretty hot each day, we can feel and see the days slowly getting shorter as we head into fall. I have been busy the last few weeks which include visiting my sister in Colorado for a long weekend and riding and taking care of my ponies and working. Of course, being busy includes family time here at home and if you know or have known any horse crazy people you will realize the horses take up much of my free time! 😀 😀 😀

Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I will have some ice tea since we are having a hot weekend. I have so much to share. I had a grand time with my oldest sister and her beautiful family in Colorado. She lives south of Denver and the day I arrived there were scattered thunderstorms and rain. We had to drive home in the rain and at her house it even hailed! The hail stuck and looked like snow, and I asked if they get big hail and yes, they can get such big hail storms the hail can dent cars and cause damage. We never get hail that big and it never lasts long in our area on the ground.

Some beautiful trees and my sister’s backyard. It was so pretty in Colorado! Perfect weather!

The first photo is a beautiful tree in my nephews front yard. The second photo is my sister’s front yard with the pretty aspen and her back yard with her deck and greenery. My nephew and his wife live a couple streets away from his mom. I am so happy my sister has family so very close to her since she lives alone, family isn’t far away. Her grandkids would come over weekly or more often when they were younger. She always has a Sunday dinner so her son and his wife always get together with her to break bread. I just LOVE that tradition and it helps bring everyone together. I think family that eat together, stay together. I enjoyed being there for my long weekend to enjoy all the things they do together and their wonderful company.

My sister treated me to sushi! Thank you Sis for the wonderful dinner! YUMMY!

Here is to more visits with not only my sister in Colorado, but I am hoping to visit other family members as we wrap up this year and if I can’t fit it in these last few months then I will be traveling next year for sure! I have Portland, Reno, Idaho and Northern Calif to visit. Who knows? Maybe I will head back to Colorado next year too!

Some pretty photos of Murphy I took this last week. I am actually standing pretty far away, but zoomed in to create these photos! He just melts my heart and makes me smile! ❤
I am riding him both English and Western. I am actually riding him the same way, just with different saddles. My go to training is hunt seat. In the Western saddle I ride more forward because that is my go to training. I like the western saddle for the trails.
I am riding with my friend Jane, on her horse Irish! Murphy was a good boy and I thank you sweet Jane for the ride today!

I had such a great weekend with my horses. I like to call my horses my ponies, even though they aren’t ponies at all. I have mentioned it has been hot getting into the high 90’s (37C) and so I actually gave my ponies Saturday off but was able to ride both of them Sunday. Even on their day off I turn them out and let them be horses, meaning I am not doing any particular training with them. They can mosey around or run around and enjoy the time out and about in the arena. Can I get you a refill on your coffee or tea? I can tell you that the trail ride with Murphy went really well and I am so proud of him.

He remains calm through out the ride as we head down the trail. He will spook on occasion which is totally normal. I am always praising him and reassuring him which helps him learn that the little bit of scary stuff isn’t that scary. He is a very brave horse especially at his age of 3 and so I know that every ride he will just get better and braver. He has a lot to see out on the trails, so in time he will be just as seasoned as my girl Miss Chloe! ❤

Miss Chloe is the sweetest horse I have ever owned! She melts my heart just as Murphy does and I am a lucky cowgirl!

I had a super fun ride on Miss Chloe after I rode Murphy with another friend at the barn. We rode around the block and it was a bit hotter and later in the morning but it was a lovely ride. She is such a good pony, walking along as not much phases her on most rides. She is a horse of course, so there will be times when she will be frightened or scared but we have been together for so many years it doesn’t take much to reassure her that we are fine and she calms right down if she spooks.

Thank you for visiting my #weekendcoffeeshare and I want to thank Natalie who hosts as she is doing a wonderful job. I am just going to make it for this weekend share, but wanted to join in since it has been a couple of weeks. I want to thank my best friend for a wonderful lunch we had together this last weekend. We don’t see each other like we once did and so we are going to meet for lunches more often to stay in touch! YAY! I just love that and I will try and stop by her barn more often as well. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! 😀

Happy Trail Riding and Traveling Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; End of Summer ~Aug 30th

On By DianaIn Living life, weekly smile28 Comments
  • I had to use this flower again, so unusual and it makes me smile! 😀

Welcome to my weekly smile! I have been taking a bit of a blogging break. This summer has been very busy, so different than last year right? Lot’s of family visits, which I LOVE SO MUCH! There is more visiting coming up for me as I will be heading to Colorado at the end of this week to visit my sister. I have seen her as she has come to California a few times in the last 5 years but I haven’t been to CO in about 8 years. As I am writing this I am thinking I will continue with this blogging break until I return from vacation for another week or so. Since I have some fun video’s I made to share I decided to write this post and explain my break.

When I return to blogging more regularly I’m going to give myself permission to not feel pressured to write a blog post. I feel like I can get a little OCD about writing my blog thinking I have to write and share on this link or another and then I pressure myself into thinking I am letting everyone down if I can’t keep up. Isn’t that a little crazy? Do you feel like that too, or is it just my crazy brain as I so enjoy being involved and join in. I guess I need to just take a chill pill and blog when it feels right and not worry! I’ll take my advice! Haha, I’m smiling!! 😀

It really has been nice to work on some of my crafts, and relax and not make myself crazy with pressure about my blog. This should be fun and so I am not leaving but I may post less often so that I can balance my busy life. 😀

I Love this baby blanket pattern! I decided to try a different background color which is variegated grey, white and pink!

I am smiling as I am finally making progress on another baby blanket I am making for a good friend and her baby girl. When I find something I love to make, I will make it in different colors and then gift it to my relatives or good friends. I have done this with fingerless mittens and scarfs, haha, I guess I get a little OCD about crochet patterns!

My daughter said that her friends colors in the nursery are pink and grey. I am thinking probably more pink than grey, and I didn’t ask for photos but as I looked through the yarn to buy I found this variegated yarn that is really pretty in person. The photo doesn’t do it justice but it is grey/white/pink. Very light pink, so light in pink that it mostly looks grey. Darn it all, it’s not really a very good baby color but I am going to finish it and I found a nice pink yarn you can see in the photo for the border. It will help bring out the pink in the grey, I hope! It’s kind of antique looking and really super cool I think. I can always keep it if I don’t think it’s worthy of gifting! Sorry about this long description, it’s just been a challenging blanket to put together with the colors I chose! 😀 Now, on to my horsey adventures!

  • My sister riding Murphy for the first time! What a good boy, they look great!!
  • Murphy on the right meeting Ava!
  • My sister’s son on Murphy!
Riding with my sister and her son. They were here visiting from Idaho! I’m smiling at all the FUN! 😀

We had so much fun riding when my sister visited this month. She drove from Idaho with her oldest son who is on Murphy. We rode out on trail with my best friend and Roscoe. My sister came for her youngest sons birthday who lives here in California not far from us and so it was so great to also have her meet Murphy! I am so proud of Murphy as he was so good with everyone and I also had some fun trail rides. (I am one of 6 kids, so it can get confusing. This sister here on Murphy is now visiting my sister in Colorado. I have a sister in Oregon and another in Northern CA. I have a brother in Reno, NV. It will take a lot of weekends away to catch up and see everyone, eventually!)

Trail riding with my best friend on Roscoe and my sister on Fashion and her son on Chloe! 😀 😀 😀

I’m smiling from ear to ear! What fun trail rides while my sister visited. My sister brought cool weather with her the week she was here! She is riding a good friend’s horse and her name is Fashion. She is a black and white paint and she is in her 20’s and knows the Norco trails well. It is really good for Murphy to go out with other horses. He wasn’t bothered by the group and with 4 of us we all had a blast!

I am in no hurry with Murphy and his training, taking one day at a time and he gets days of rest or turn out to just be a horse. I am riding him in the arena with him learning what I want him to do for me and we are working on the walk, trot and canter. He is extremely lazy, so I ask a little bit and reward him when he does what I ask of him. He is very smart and learning so fast. He is learning to move off of my leg, which means I use my leg to have him move over to pressure from either side and I use my reins as well. I won’t go into all the detail, I am just so happy he is understanding my cues and I reward with a release and a nice free walk. It is all so much FUN!! 😀

He is really happy and has such personality! Murphy and I are bonding well. I Love this boy so much! ❤

I can’t believe this month is ending. Where did this year go? It is really going fast so I am trying to slow down and enjoy each day. I think the last few weeks I am accomplishing this and I am finding my stride. I know one thing and that is I am looking forward to Fall and hopefully cooler weather. We have been hitting 100F(38C) too often this summer and we are expecting cooler weather this coming week. This weekend was really hot and I took a video of Murphy after I hosed him off and he likes to play with the hose and loves the water. I will end with this short video and I want to thank you so much for visiting my smile post! What makes you smile? I do love hearing from you and I thank you for reading and following my blog!!

I want to thank Trent for hosting My Weekly Smile! With the world craziness, it is great to smile at the simple things whenever possible. Have a great week!

Smiling Happy Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Trail Riding Fun in August!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share17 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekend coffee share! Cookies anyone?

Howdy! I got inspired by my daughter when she told me she has a friend who had trouble making a good chocolate chip cookie and her friend decided to make Mrs. Field’s Cookie recipe. I looked in my cupboard for my Mrs. Field’s cookbook and I have 2 copies of her cookie cookbook from the 90’s. One is new and one is well used, not sure why I have 2 and will give one to my daughter if she doesn’t have one. I just looked it up and it was published in 1992! My daughter told her friend those are cookies from her childhood, yup! I cooked many, many cookies from that cookbook. I haven’t cooked from her cookbook in quite a few years, sticking it in the cupboard I just stopped using it. I know one reason is she bakes her cookies low and slow, it takes double the time to bake one sheet of cookies! BUT IT IS SO WORTH THE WAIT!! These Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip cookies are the bomb!! YUMMY! ❤ ❤ ❤

Forgive me, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea with some cookies? I sure wish I could share them with you all! I just could not resist sharing a photo with you today. I may use this photo from time to time as cookies go with coffee very well! Now onto my weekend, and I had a ton of fun with my stable friends and both my horses. I am getting to know my new horse Murphy better every single day. He is so much FUN!! 😀

My girlfriend at the stables saw me ride in from my trail ride with my friend on Roscoe and took these photos!
This was on Saturday and I was able to trail ride both Saturday and Sunday!

I will tell you that I am a bit out of shape. Riding the trails on my other horse Chloe does not take all that much effort on my part so my riding legs are out of shape. Too be honest, after riding each horse the last two or three days I am a bit sore. My legs (or thighs) are sore this evening but it is a good sore meaning it is worth the riding as I want to get in shape. I need to get stronger, but Murphy is out of shape too because he is young and hasn’t done much which is perfect. We will both get into shape together! We are a team! Haha, a wonderful team and we are working really well together! YAY!

I am sharing my video’s a bit out of order but I figured it doesn’t really matter what day is what ~ it all happened this weekend. This video I took on Sunday as I didn’t think to take a video on my Saturday ride. I have another video I am going to share which I took on Saturday on Miss Chloe. It was so fun to be out with my horses this weekend. Here is Miss Chloe!

She is such a sweet horse and we have so much fun just checking out the neighborhood. I don’t know why, but I was noticing the trees and I have walked and driven by all of these houses countless of times when this one house just caught my eye with all the palm trees. I wish I kept the video going as I rounded the corner as the line of palms continues down the other side of the property!! They have quite the palm tree collection that is for sure!! I hope you enjoyed my video’s for this weekend. I have so much FUN making them, and I so enjoy sharing them!

I am going to end this coffee share with a couple of photos of my sweet horses and I hope you have had a wonderful weekend in this month of August. I can’t believe it’s the 15th, half the month is gone already.

My horse LOVES!! I am completely obsessed with these beautiful animals. They melt my heart and fill my soul! ❤

I want to thank Natalie for hosting this weekends #weekendcoffeeshare as she is doing a wonderful job. Thank you Natalie!!

Happy Trail Riding Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; First Week Of Aug!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share21 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives!

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? It has been a busy last few weeks and it’s the best kind of busy because it’s been all about visiting with family. My sweet family, my beautiful daughter and my son and his wife and of course my beautiful grand children. During this first week of August it was my grand daughter’s 6th birthday and she has had such a wonderful birthday spending time with her cousin’s at Knott’s Berry Farm. We’ve had cake and ice cream and all the fun that birthday’s hold and then my daughter and I visited Phoenix and we spent this last weekend with them. We flew out but drove home as my son had my daughter’s car and he returned it to her as he does not need it any more. So we drove the 5 and 1/2 hours home and I thought let me put together this coffee share before the weekend comes to a complete end.

We enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed these bushes blooming! My grand daughter is so sweet!
Her mommy and daddy got her a little motorized jeep. Not meant for two, but I thought this was so cute!

I had such a great time and my grand daughter is growing up fast. She is learning to read and is now in kindergarten. She absolutely LOVES school which makes us all so happy. She is now attending school in person which we are all happy about as well. I had so much fun babysitting so my daughter, son and wife could get a night out together. My son and wife do not get out that often and so I am always so happy to babysit. I sure wish we could be closer, but at least I can visit often which just makes my heart so happy! ❤

I am also busy taking care of my horses. I have something very exciting to share as I have been working with my new horse Murphy and wanted to share something I have been wanting to accomplish for the last month. Murphy and I are doing really well bonding and I decided with the help of my best friend to try and take him out on a short trail ride. Yes! I am so excited to share a couple of video’s we made!! He was such a champ, such a good boy. He definitely looked around which is what you would expect, but he remained calm, and relaxed. We have a short loop to walk which takes about 25 minutes and my best friend and I had plans on returning home early if he seemed stressed at all. I even had him in a halter and lead rope (with a bridle) which would be easier to lead him if I needed to get off and walk him home. I didn’t need it! He was great! I can’t wait to ride more trails with Murphy!!

My girlfriend took this video, so kind of her and I think it’s great! It’s hard because Murphy didn’t want to walk next to her but behind her on her horse Roscoe.

I wanted Murphy to feel safe as he followed Roscoe on the trails. He stayed mostly behind him and only once walked up next to him but he didn’t stay there long. So my girlfriend had to practically turn around in her saddle to get the video of Murphy and I on the trail. I think she did a great job considering, but that is why it kind of ends abruptly. Haha, she did the best she could but you can see Murphy well I think! I’m so grateful and thankful for his smart brain, calm attitude and all around willingness to go where he’s never been before. Here is one more video that I was able to take while I rode him on this same trail. 😀

Horses have GPS, seriously, they know when they are heading home. When we rounded the last corner that turns in the direction of heading back to the stables I could feel Murphy relax a bit. He actually relaxed enough so that I felt comfortable enough riding him to make this video. I am so proud of him and I hope you enjoy my video’s!

  • He is so handsome at 3 years old!

My veterinarian has told me that at 3 years old he is not done growing. I know some of that means filling out too. He still has a young body and he stands at least 17hh (at his wither or the point at the top of his back where his mane ends equals 5ft 8, and he could possibly get taller!) I am 5ft 7 and I can’t see over his back. He is one tall dude!! He is a ton of FUN!! I am so enjoying working and riding Murphy!! ❤

Thank you for visiting my coffee share and I want to end with a photo of my son’s cats. Today is international cat day and these kitties are just so cute. They love sleeping together and they have managed to squeeze together at the top of their cat tree. I hope you all have a wonderful week! I also want to thank Natalie for hosting #weekendcoffeeshare!

Super Busy Cowgirl Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Last Week of July!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share16 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekend coffee share!

I can’t believe July is almost over and oh my, did it fly by fast. I have been having fun in the sun, in sunny Southern California! Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am going to get iced coffee today as I share my weekend and accomplishments of the month. It was a crazy week but as this weekend comes to an end I am home relaxing and enjoying the Olympics that are on in the background as I type away!

  • My daughter’s guinea pigs are here visiting. I am cleaning their cage and this is their turn out cage while I clean!

The happy guinea pigs are here as I am babysitting them as my daughter was to be away for training for three weeks. Unfortunately, it all got canceled for her but I had already picked up the piggies and she will be taking them home in two weeks. They are so adorable and I enjoy them immensely. I think they are so cute out and about in this temporary cage while I clean their home cage. I just had to share!

My hubby was able to complete the retaining wall and I thought I would share a couple of photos. What a job. The bricks weigh 55lbs each and he moved them all into place mostly by himself. He had a few hiccups, lining things up and had to tear down and rebuild at least twice in different sections. Oh dear, he definitely was outside working out as I call it in his make shift gym (as it were) lifting and moving all the bricks. He then filled in the back of the wall with back fill dirt, and he did get some help from a friend with that part. I told him to hire help, but he can be pretty stubborn wanting to save that money for something else. It was just all physical labor which he completed. I am very proud of him actually!

Its a very long wall turning in the corner of the backyard. The photo on the left is from the corner of the right photo.

In and done. The wall is done which is FANTASTIC, but we have a lot more work needing to be done to complete the whole yard. It’s all a work in progress in actuality, but the wall was the biggest project for sure! He actually worked fairly quickly and completed it before the end of July. I know he is so done moving bricks! Haha, I would be too!

On to other things to reflect upon for this month. I have now had my new horse Murphy for two months. He has been doing well. He was laid up for one month when I got him because he had a splint bone fracture which is completely healed. He then had his shoes replaced which we do every six weeks or so and after this was done he lost one shoe and after that was replaced he then lost the other front shoe. He only had shoes on his front hoofs. I made a decision with my farriers help and advice to try letting him be barefoot with no shoes. He has great hoofs, and he is very healthy and at three years old we can always go back to putting on shoes if needed in the future. I also may just buy trail boots for him as I think he will be fine in the arena, but the trails may be too hard for his hoofs.

Playing with the hose as I filled up the bucket of water! Silly boy!
These were taken this weekend. He is happy, shiny and doing great. I can’t wait to ride this week and working with him is such a joy.

Murphy is very smart and loveable. He is very lazy but tries and is so fun to work with and what a personality! With his size came some apprehension from me but thankfully as I’ve been working with him his size disappears. I now look at him as my loveable boy and I am so use to his size I don’t blink an eye. Of course, I know to be safe and kind. I think about my actions before I do them to keep him safe and keep myself safe. You can get lax around horses, especially the ones you know well. It is always smart to be smart, alert, very calm and very clear with your actions. This brings peace and calmness, everything they are looking for so they know they are safe. I just love interacting with these giant beasts. They are truly magical in so many ways! ❤

Murphy has a friend! This young chicken has been roosting on his back and a friend was able to take these photos! 😀

Haha, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen photos of chickens on a horses back, but my horse? I’ve never seen this before. Chloe would not put up with a chicken on her back, no way! But he doesn’t care at all! What a chill dude, exactly what I was looking for in my next horse! Murphy, you are just ADORABLE!!

Thank you for visiting my coffee share and having a cup with me today. I am late in posting but really wanted to join this weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful week and thank you Natalie for hosting #weekendcoffeeshare!

Happy, busy, but a good busy cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; July Fun In The Sun!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share18 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share and how would you like your coffee today? Or I have tea or juice, apple or cranberry today? I can’t believe it is more than half way through July. And we are feeling the heat and I am always thankful when there is a breeze which makes being outside a bit easier. I wanted to share my teeny tiny garden and I actually just threw some tomato seeds in my container with some fresh fertilizer and thought maybe they will grow and if they don’t that’s okay too. I’ve been so darn busy that this year it’s just going to be tomatoes, and even though I long for a fruitful garden it takes work.

I want to give a shout out to all you wonderful gardener’s out there because you all ROCK! I supposed when you garden (and you are good at it) you become efficient, and you are probably organized and so it all just falls into place for you and your schedule of watering is on point and on and on… perfect gardening techniques I am finding takes practice, and so I mulched around the sprouting tomato plants and I know the container is being watered and staying moist more evenly (I hope!) as I know this is important too.

  • Tomato plants growing big and tall! I have 4 plants in one container, I hope that’s not too many?

Haha, I already pulled out a plant early on as I knew I should thin out the container. I then thought let me see what these 4 plants do and I can always pull one or two out if needed. But now that they are getting so big, I want to see what they will provide! They have plenty of room, so I think they are okay. It is great fun watching them grow and I have other plants and flowers I water so I am always outside doing something.

My hubby is almost done with the retaining wall in our backyard, YAY! What a job, but it looks so much better which is wonderful. We will wait until fall to think about landscaping shrubs or ground cover plants. I want to plant some trees too. We have such mild weather here in Southern California I really don’t have to worry about planting in the fall. As I am talking about being outdoors you must know the next subject I want to share is my trail rides and my horses! I’ll start with a video I made today and a shout out to my weekend coffee share peeps! Haha, I hope you all know I say howdy to anyone who stops and visits here! You are all WELCOME! I hope you enjoy! 😀

We were chatting away and as we headed down this street I thought let’s make a video. My girlfriend took out her phone to take a video of me since I am never in my videos ~ how sweet! She accidentally hit slo-mo so her video was all in slow motion, oh dear, haha! Maybe next time she can make one and I can use to share! Thanks for trying pony sister, there is always next time! ❤

After I returned to the barn I hosed off Chloe as it was already pretty hot out and then I turned my attention to Murphy. So I will share some photos and I made a little video with Murph too. It was a fun morning at the barn. It was another pony sister’s birthday. There were cupcakes brought for the birthday and they were delicious. (We like to call each other pony sister’s because of our love for horses! If you have never met a horse crazy gal, well you are reading her blog right now!) 😀

He LOVES people and attention which I am sure you can tell. His nose is super soft and I love kissing his nose when I can!

Silly selfie video, but it was fun to make! I was trying to get his whole head in the view of my phone. I did pretty good, but what I am most impressed with (myself) is I was able to give him a kiss and got it on video! Haha, I have tried with Miss Chloe before and there’s just a way that you need to hold your phone. I had so much fun working with him today.

I wanted to wrap up my #weekendcoffeeshare with I connected with my oldest sister and we chatted and I think I have figured out a date to visit her in Colorado. I need to check out airline flights and figure out all the details and this will be at the end of August so I have plenty of time. In just a few weeks I will be heading to Arizona for my grand daughter’s 6th birthday! YAY! She is getting so big and I am so excited. I will say that I kind of wish she was born in the fall or winter, haha, just because it is so hot in August! It’s all good, and I’m so excited my daughter will be joining us too! I hope you all stay cool, safe and healthy!

Horse or pony crazy cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

TreeSquare Challenge; I Love Trees, Part 2

On By DianaIn square challenges, TreeSquare16 Comments
Trees provide us with so many things, most days it provides shade for Zack and my girl Chloe!

This photo is from my archive just over a year ago. Trees see so much and can be around for many, many years. Providing some shade and now memories as my boy Zack is now running free and it brings warm fuzzy feelings seeing him from time to time in my archives. This tree challenge is so much fun and I hope you enjoy my theme for this day, and I am sure you will have no trouble guessing what that is?

Miss Chloe and I out on the trail on a beautiful tree lined street!

Another from my archive and to be honest I may not be riding alone as my bestie girlfriend may be with me but I can’t remember. I go on so many rides! Which is my therapy, my Love, my horses. I will look for a photo with the two of us together. That would be fun to share too!

Here we are together with a huge giant California pepper tree in front of us on the trail! Chloe has an ear cocked back listening to me talk as we chat all the while when we ride. Love our trail rides together!

This is from last year and my girlfriend has since retired her chestnut mare, Gracie. She has bought a new horse to ride on the trails with Chloe and I, and Gracie is doing fine in retirement. 😀 Now on to my recent photos that I want to share as I got ready for this challenge there was some beautiful flowering jacaranda trees on the trails. I’ve shared some of these photo’s already, but saved a few that will be new!

Absolutely beautiful! Purple flowers and the best view ever between my horses ears!
She see’s someone across the street and with the jacaranda tree near her I had to take a photo! So pretty!

As we walked under the tree I looked up and took this photo! I thought it was cool! It may not be completely in focus as I didn’t stop, just clicked away. Can you tell my theme yet? The photo above is the only photo without one of my horses in it and so that is my tree theme today! Trees and my beautiful horses. Here are a few more photos, after all I do not want to leave anyone out!

My new horse Murphy with another shade tree at the barn!

I didn’t plan on using a photo of Murph and I like this photo except I cut off his nose. Haha, it’s eclectic and different is how I have to look at it and at least it has a decent tree shot included! Murphy is doing really well and I will share more of him in my coffee share this weekend. So if you follow me, you will see him in action as I have some video to share! (A good tease, don’t you think?) I would include a link but I haven’t written it yet. Maybe I will title it with “Murphy in Action” so it will be easy to find! 😉

One of my favorite tree photos! I saw her standing there and thought PERFECT for sharing! This just makes me SMILE!! ❤

And we have come full circle! I was sitting in a chair waiting for my farrier as Miss Chloe was standing under this shade tree. It is the same tree in the first photo with Zack and Chloe, just from a different angle. We have gone back a year, gone on some trail rides and finished up with some beautiful shade from a tree that isn’t all that big, but sure can provide some shade. There is some meaning in all of this somewhere, maybe it’s look back in your past with loving fond memories but also look forward as you never know what the future will hold. Here I am with a new horse Murphy, to be here as I Love and take care of my aging mare, Chloe. They all have my heart! I hope you all enjoyed my trees for today photos and thank you BeckyB for this wonderful challenge.

Tree Loving Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Last Week Of June Fun!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, weekend coffee share33 Comments
  • Welcome to my coffee share!

My goodness this year is flying by and here we are just about half way through 2021. Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I do have some juice as well but let’s get to the happenings around here as my daughter came home this weekend to visit with her friends and see the new floors in our house. She will be heading home tomorrow, a short visit but it is always wonderful to visit and see family.

Today after I enjoyed riding my Chloe girl with my girlfriend on Roscoe, I finished up with Murphy who had a turn out today. I then joined my daughter at her friends house and we went to downtown Riverside to eat lunch and visit some shops. The lunch place was a really nice food court and we had some wonderful vegan burgers and fries. We were close to an open market and also found a really cool old bookstore! We had a lot of fun walking around and I took some photos today. We then went to Trader Joe’s and after that bought mini Bundt cakes at a specialty store called Nothing Bundt Cakes. They are the perfect size and they have a lot of flavors and so we will have that for dessert later!

Super good lunch! YUMMY! and mini Bundt cakes for dessert!

I love the sayings 😀 I should have bought them but I didn’t. I Love all the trees that line the streets so I had to take a photo!

It was hot today but we weren’t outside walking around too long before we were in a shop or bookstore. There was a wonderful breeze which made the afternoon really pleasant. It is always great fun to be out with the girls. My daughter’s girlfriend has two children who stayed home with dad, so I am thankful they let me tag along! They are the sweetest girls, so thankful for them. They make me smile and laugh. I try hard to keep up, sometimes feeling so much older (which I am of course) I am not one of those Mom’s who try’s to stay hip or anything….. I am just grateful they enjoy my company too. My daughter is spending the evening at her friends as well. We have plans to visit my daughter next weekend for July 4th. My hubby and I will drive up north the 3 hours to see her new house and spend time with her there. We all need to fit in all the family time we can, so here’s to FUN family weekends!!

Back to the horses, I have not only photo’s but a video to share. I had ridden yesterday by myself on Chloe and had passed a lot of other riders on my ride. There are so many days that I ride and don’t see anyone, but maybe they were out early like I was to beat the heat! I also have a few photo’s of Murphy I wanted to share as well. It is so fun to share!

There’s horses coming down the trail towards me and my camera focused more on Chloe’s head then the horse ahead!

She’s such a good girl as each horse or horses rides by, but then we are out on the trails all the time. She is very seasoned and not much bothers her as we stride along enjoying our day. Sometimes we come across bigger groups and so we will stop and move off the trail a little bit if needed. Mostly, we all just walk by each other and wish each other a good day and a good trail ride! Here is my video, I hope you enjoy!

I’m enjoying my time working with young Murphy! He has really settled in and is learning our routine. I think routines are so important as it not only helps solidify a bond between horse and owner, the horses learn by doing and they will relax and learn. They will realize what is asked of them is not hard, or scary and when you communicate what you want while doing this routine you can layer their training and they will then feel safe in your presence and with everything you ask them to do.

He is finally standing really well to be groomed. He was more antsy, moving around and he didn’t really enjoy the whole grooming process when he first arrived. With routine he is learning that if he stands, I can get done with what I need to do and his reward is getting back to his stall where lunch is waiting for him. Win, win! He is doing great!

Murphy out in the arena! Too funny, I caught him licking with his tongue slightly out on the photo to the right! Haha!
I took these photos of him standing next to another horse and he was respectful and quiet and stood like a champ!

My girlfriend with her horse Irish was next to Murphy. I went behind them so that you can see how tall Murphy is and Irish is pretty tall himself. Irish is a Morgan, so we have a Thoroughbred next to a beautiful Morgan! ❤ Okay, I think they are both so beautiful! And I have to say, I am so proud of Murphy! He has been such a joy and I am going to start riding him more regularly going forward.

Murphy and I getting along famously! Thank you pony sister for taking these photo’s for me! ❤

Thank you for visiting my #weekendcoffeeshare! It is always so much fun to share my days whether its family fun or horsey fun! I am keeping busy as you can see and I haven’t even written about my crochet projects and/or my coloring fun. Its just some fun things to do when I get home from work to unwind after a long day. Thank you Natalie for hosting the weekend coffee share, and if you would like to read more coffee shares click here!

Grateful Mom and Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

My First Ride On Murphy, My New Horse!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Living life27 Comments

I have some flowers blooming and so I just had to start this post with this beautiful flower. I have had a super busy weekend as this last week I was asked if I could help take care of horses at the barn. There is a horse owner recovering at home after being in the hospital with a staph infection and I am so thankful she is recovering. She has a good friend who is helping with her horses but she had a planned vacation which is where I come into the picture. I also have had other’s who were away this weekend for one reason or another and in total I have been taking care of 8 horses including my own. Some just needed meds and water buckets filled and others needed meds and some turn outs. Amongst all of this I rode Chloe out with my girlfriend on the trails early morning and then I exercised Murphy Saturday and Sunday I made time after my trail ride to get on and ride Murphy for the first time! YAY! I’m so HAPPY!

As I write this I still have 2 more days of extra horse care. One of the horses will drop off my list as their owners return Monday. I will just turn out my horses the next 2 days since I have to get everything done before I have to go to work in the afternoons. I am thankful it is cooling off a little bit and there has been nice breezes each day so the weather has been good being outside for most of the day. I can’t wait to share my ride so let’s get to it, here he is Murphy doing all grown up horsey things with his new Mom, ME! 😀

I should not admit this but I look so frumpy! It has been so hot, so I am wearing clothes that help keep me cool. But for me it’s all about Murphy, and he looks so handsome!

Aren’t we always so critical of ourselves! And I am rarely in my photos since I’m taking them. I asked to be in this so I need to stop being so critical. However, I do not like the way I look in this photo as I wish I was wearing riding apparel, like English riding breeches. But this is super comfortable for me and eventually I will be riding him in my western saddle as I get him use to it as I want to eventually get him ready to ride out on trail. Baby steps, it will all happen and it is SUPER FUN to ride him English as well. Maybe one of these days I’ll buy a pair of riding breeches, it would be worth the investment and I can ride in my western saddle in English breeches too. I have to say, I am really enjoying this whole adventure!

My first ride on Murphy! What a good boy!

I am so proud of Murphy! For those horse people out there, I lunged him before I rode him and he trotted around like a champ with the saddle and bridle on and remember he hasn’t done anything like this in just over a month. He relaxed on the lunge line, as he trotted around each direction which is what I was looking for before I mounted up on him. We have a mounting block in the arena and he stood perfectly still as I positioned it to mount and he didn’t move a foot. After I sat on his back he just stood there as I patted him and then I asked him to walk! YAY! What a solid horse, not scared or frightened and took everything in stride like he’s done this a hundred times before and I could not be happier. It will be fun to look back at this video as our adventure grows and he gets more and more rides under his belt!

I know they are almost identical photos except Murphy is licking in one of them so I think it is really cute. I like the other one because he has his ears forward! Haha, my girlfriend who took these photos said I’m just clicking and clicking and so I have 8 or 9 to choose from and these I zoomed in and these are I thought good enough to share.

I decided to share more photos of this weekend as I took some of my girlfriend on her horse Roscoe and a couple of photos out on the trail as I rode Chloe with Roscoe! It’s just so fun to share, I hope you enjoy too!

I tried to get both Chloe and Roscoe in the photo as we rode down the trail!

As I share with you my weekend I am thinking of how fortunate my girlfriend and I are to share this love of horses and being able to ride together each week. We are truly blessed and as I mentioned in my previous post my girlfriend and I have known each other for 50 years. We grew up together and rode ponies when we were young so in many ways we are doing what we grew up doing! Haha, that may not make much sense, but it is amazing that for the last 10 years or so we were able to connect and board our horses together or near each other so that we can keep riding together just like we did so many years ago. Who is able to do that? I don’t think a high percentage of friends stay this close.

I did split off in my late teens when I went to a horse trainer and showed in the Hunter/Jumper division. My girlfriend also went off to college so there were some years of separation. We both got married and during our early years of marriage having babies of our own and once they got a bit bigger that horse LOVE never died and only grew stronger. And here we are with grown children and now grandchildren and horses that we love and can ride together. So much to share, I could write a novel. ❤

Thanks for visiting my horsey loving post! I am so excited I can ride Murphy now and will keep ya’ll posted on our progress. I love to share video’s and will continue to make them when I can and with help from my friends. I am thinking of investing in a Pivo as then I can video with no help and I have seen on other posts they follow the horse really well as you ride around the arena. One step at a time I always say… something to think about!

Horse Crazy Mom and Grandma!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Good News! June 17, 2021

On By DianaIn Barn stories, weekly smile16 Comments

Welcome to my weekly smile and I wanted to share my huge smile again as I have gotten the green light to start doing more with Murphy! I had my Vet out this week and he took x-rays of his hind leg which had a splint bone fracture. It is healing nicely and he is ready to get to work. I am in no hurry and will start riding him soon. We are currently in a bit of a heat wave right now and so I will go to the barn earlier in the morning to try and beat the heat. This week I have been doing this and getting Chloe out on the trails. We just go for short rides and its just enough to get some nice walking in before it gets too hot. We only walk on our trails and I have been able to ride with my bestie girlfriend on her new horse Roscoe. I have some recent photos to share and a video! I’m just feeling so grateful and am smiling from ear to ear! 😀

Miss Chloe this morning and I liked this photo of Roscoe getting new shoes about a week ago!

It’s a short video but still fun to share! We still have some blooming jacaranda’s on the trails and I am enjoying all the purple blooms on our rides. This video is actually from the weekend but our rides are just like this as we ride around the blocks talking away and catching up on our lives. My girlfriend and I have known each other since we were 10 years old and so we have 50 years of history together and so we are always keeping each other up on all our families happenings as well. We never run out of topics, and we cherish all our time together. I feel so blessed to have such a good friend who is like another sister. Thanks for being here and for all your love and support Sally! ❤ She makes me smile too! 😀

I edited this photo to be up close and personal, he’s such a handsome guy with a very dirty nose! Haha, just so sweet!

I am so thankful Murph is healing up and the Vet gave me some anti-inflammatory cream called Surpass (for those horsey people out there) and he said this will help with any residual inflammation and so I am to apply daily. He said I can also apply it to his front leg where he has an old injury above his knee. He has some soft tissue that may reduce in size if I apply there also.

This is one of my shorter posts, I’ll say short and sweet! I really wanted to share my good news as I am so EXCITED! I know I keep saying I am going to take my time, and that’s because rushing gets you no where and everything has been going so smoothly with the purchase of Murphy to now the good news with the x-rays, I want to take the next step in stride with no rushing. I know I will be in a good place and he will come along nicely as we get to know each other with me riding him and us getting on together in the arena and eventually on the trails! I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you all have lots to smile about this week and always!

Happy Smiling Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; All About Murphy, My New Horse!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, weekend coffee share23 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives! How are you today?

Welcome and come on in so we can share a cup of Joe. I also have tea are juice? I have so much to share as I am spending more time with my new horse Murphy, I like to call him Murph. He is such a character, as he has figured out that his Mom that gets him out will give him lunch and he just LOVES food. Of course, all horses love to eat and they are meant to graze all day long so being domesticated has its challenges for grazing animals. I have a hay net which is exactly what it sounds like, a big net with with big enough holes that the horses can pull hay through. It is a good way to slow down their eating as it takes longer for them to pull out the hay stems. Hmmm…. I think I will get my hay net out this week and put it up so it will slow down his eating and that should last him longer until dinner. I like it when I give myself good ideas! 😀

He also loves people and he really enjoys the attention we give him and you can tell because he enjoys his head being rubbed and in general he is very pleasant to handle. He doesn’t show any stress and he is so funny when you go to handle him. Most horses put their head up, and may move away from you when you go to put the halter on to lead them out of their stall. Murphy puts his head down and as you put the halter on which he knows goes up around his head, he puts his head lower and lower! Haha, it’s so low I have to bend over to get the halter on! I even pull his head up and even with my shoulders. Dude, you are being kind but almost too kind making me work to put this halter on!

Here is head is up as he almost is posing for my photo! I had to use this halter with the chain over his nose until my new halter arrived.

He is so big and tall that when you lead him without some sort of pressure on his nose, he will bump into you or try and rub his head on you and so he needs to learn his space with ground manners. He is not bad at all, just young and not knowing exactly where his space is and stops and anyone handling him starts! I ordered and just received my dually halter from Monty Roberts. His training halter is awesome and has two nylon ropes that are attached to a ring on each side which acts like the chain in this photo I just shared. What’s great is it applies pressure on the sensitive parts on their nose but with the dually it is kinder and will release when the horse gives to the pressure applied. So it is a great training halter, but until it arrived I felt safer and had more control with the chain over his nose. Now I don’t need it and I will save this blue halter for use at a later date.

  • My new halter!! Thank you Monty Roberts for all you do for horses and people all over the world!

I have been hand walking Murph all around the property as he can’t be worked (or more exercise than a walk) until I have my veterinarian examine his left back leg. He had an injury to his splint bone and the vets in Oklahoma said he will heal up just fine but needed 30 days lay up. I decided this weekend to let him lose in what we call a round pen. He has been so calm that I thought he would be fine walking around on his own and if he started to show too much energy (like trotting around or bucking or anything of this sort) I would go in and take him out as I don’t want him to re-injure himself. He was as relaxed as could be and just moseyed around. What a calm, sensible easy going guy!

He is lose walking around and doing just fine. He is what I call “chillaxin” as he doesn’t seem to have a care in the world!

How’s your coffee, do you need a refill? I have more to share as earlier today (and is why I am late writing this post) I had another fun day at the barn. After my girlfriend and I rode out on the trail with Roscoe and Chloe I took out Murph to walk him in the round pen. He walked around nicely lose while I was in there asking him to walk. I can’t say enough how sweet his personality is as he almost wants to be in your pocket. He wants to put his head in your lap, and he will follow me around and when I went out of the round pen he wanted to come with me! Haha, I wanted him to hang out on his own and then I went back to take him out. He nickers when he sees me coming, so darn sweet!

After I groomed him and did all those things I told my girlfriends there I wanted to try on my saddle, just to get a fit and see if my cinch would fit him. I asked them for help because this is something new I haven’t done with him yet and I wanted him to have the best experience possible. I also did not think he has ever had a western saddle on him and they are bigger and heavier so lets see how you do Murphy! I knew he’s had an English saddle as he was ridden and I saw him on video trotting around with the trainer.

He was AWESOME and did great! What a handsome fellow!

I borrowed a thicker pad from my friend and I can see it’s a bit short for my saddle so I will be buying a wither relief pad to go with my western saddle for him when I start riding him. Miss Chloe has a very flat back with her wither just blending into her back. She is great for bareback riding because she has a back kinda like a couch! HAHA! But Murph is a very tall thoroughbred and they are known for having a tall wither, and so I knew I would need a thicker pad with wither relief which means it is formed higher in the middle to go over their withers or backbone. I was worried my cinch would not fit, but it is perfect and fits just fine. Yay!

My western saddle is called a Circle Y flex tree. The tree is made with plastic and is flexible and so I am hoping with the thicker pad my saddle will be okay and not pinch him along his shoulders where it will sit on his back. I will check again about this as I may need to invest in a saddle that fits him but for now I was just happy he was accepting of the saddle and as my girlfriends and I talked and they were helping me they asked if I was going to sit on him. Wait what? ENABLERS! AND YES! I was so wanting to get on and sit in the saddle! SO…

I was going to just sit on him but why not take a short walk! Lucky there were 3 of us as we walked around a couple times and were done, and my other pony friend took the photos.

There are a couple of video’s but after I loaded them they are very pixelated and not to clean to look at and its from transferring from one phone to another through apps. There will be plenty of time for videos to share of Murph! He was a champ, took everything all in stride as he took each stride around with me on his back! First time! It was such a fun day and I am so EXCITED AND A SUPER HAPPY Cowgirl!! He is just amazing. I Love you Murph! ❤

This is really long but I just had to share. I hope you all had as much fun as I have had this weekend. I will end with this photo my pony sister girlfriend took of me and she edited it to get closer up and as she says, she loves my smile! I’m in horsey heaven! Thank you so much girlfriends! ❤ ❤ ❤

I just LOVE this photo and I have one of my favorite t-shirts on and is from my daughter where she works and is in the Space Force! ❤

Thank you for having coffee with me and for visiting today. I have to thank Natalie for the weekend coffee shares she hosts and if you want to visit more click here and maybe one weekend I will hopefully write and share a little earlier! I get so darn busy it gets very late in the evening when I finally get to finish up my posts so I should call this a coffee share after the weekend has ended! 😀

Excited horse crazy cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; My New Horse Arrives!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, weekend coffee share13 Comments
  • Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? Sit back, relax and enjoy my adventures this weekend!

I hope you have more than a few minutes to sit and chat as I have a lot to share! I know it takes me longer to write this than for ya’ll to read it so I am hoping this will be a FUN read. I am over the moon excited as my new horse arrived! I am getting chills as I write this as I cannot believe a Kentucky bred Thoroughbred is residing in Miss Chloe’s old barn stall. Please check out my last two posts (My Weekly Smile and my Weekend Coffee Share for more back story!). I received a call that Midnight Murphy was leaving Oklahoma Friday May 21st early morning 2am to be exact and he stayed true to his name as he arrived in my town just before Midnight Saturday night May 22nd! Here he is in the van, and honestly I am almost speechless how smoothly this whole entire process has been. I have to believe this was truly meant to be and for him to be my horse, without a shadow of a doubt! 😀

He was so calm. He never quivered or whinnied. He just calmly looked around and there was a lot of darkness as where I live there are no street lights. It’s a horse town remember? Its a rural setting in a city and there are only a couple of street lights near my house because there is a Junior High School across the street. Other than that we rely on our headlights, or barn lights if you must be at the barn at night.

I had a stable friend who I didn’t know extremely well stay with me as we waited and waited. We got to know each other sharing horse stories for the 5 hours we waited for the van. She owns an OTTB (Off the track thoroughbred) too, and her horse lives in the barn as well. She is 13 yrs old and raced until she was 10. She wants to use her as a hunter and jump. She is more “hot” with lots of nervous energy, which I believe comes with the territory of a long racing career. She loves her dearly though as she has the sweetest disposition. Midnight Murphy has never raced and is only 3 years old. This is what I want because he will be calm and gentle because he was not introduced to the rigors of racing. In my heart and head I felt I was looking at a very sensible, calm horse so far he is all those things!

These photos are not the greatest, all taken at night but I think totally worth sharing! This photo of him eating was after 30 minutes or so of him checking out his surrounding in his new barn stall. It does have a light, but he stayed out back with the light on in the barn. So I turned the light off, and he came inside and calmly started eating! I took this photo with my flash, and he didn’t skip a beat, spook or snort, just kept on eating like nothing happened. What a good boy!
What I did before the sun went down while I was waiting! I cleaned my saddles! I will start riding Murphy in the English one on the right. And eventually get him use to the Western saddle for trail rides. It is incredibly uncomfortable to sit in the English saddle on the trails. It isn’t made for that kind of riding, and you can see how worn in my comfy Western saddle is by the darkness where my legs reside. You can almost make out like a ghost leg! I have ridden over 100 miles in this saddle over the years!

As tired as I was feeling I was also very excited! I thought he looked comfortable and was not stressing out when I left him for the evening. He never once nickered or whinnied. They often call out when they are moved from place to place or have left herd mates behind. He was so relaxed (or stoic) and calm. He checked out his neighbors and those horses were more upset than him which is very typical. I thought I could sleep soundly knowing he would be okay in the morning. I woke up with this photo sent to me on my phone! A Happy surprise!

My boy taking a morning nap in the sun! I bet he is tired after his long travels. The caregiver at the barn was there early and when she walked into his stall he did not get up. She took the photo and then she said she slowly walked over to him and petted his head! AWW, what a sweet horse! He’s the calmest, sweetest 3 year old horse I have ever owned. Okay, Chloe is the first so he is the second! I can’t forget about Miss Chloe!

Today was get to know Midnight Murphy day! When you enter the stall he just looks at you like, hey, whatcha doing? He is so casual, just hanging out. He loves attention, loves the pets and pats and hugs. Not all horses like to be hugged, they are flight animals so with us being prey they look to see is she going to attack? Well, that’s the idea and what horses can think about but he just put his big ol’ head in the crook of my arms as I scratched his neck and I hugged his head with my left arm. He is the talk of the stables of course, so many of my horsey (pony sister’s) friends were coming and going and enjoying spending time with him as we stood in awe of his height! He is HUGE! But what FUN!! I can’t let something like height frighten me or there will be problems. I don’t let much ruffle my feathers and I have a huge amount of horse experience so I know we will be fine together. (I would never suggest I know everything, because no one knows everything about well, everything or anything they think they are an expert in so I am and always will be open to learn, learn, learn. I try to be a sponge!)

Here are some photos of today with the Murph!

Me and my selfies! I just have to try and this one turned out pretty good! He is such a joy! And isn’t he just Beautiful!!

I have just five more minutes to complete this coffee share before the link closes! So I am rushing to finish this and so I hope you enjoyed having coffee with me for this weekend. I have to thank Natalie for hosting and I will try and visit with everyone too. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! ❤

Welcome to the family Murphy! ❤ ❤ ❤

Super Happy Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤