Tag: #horsephotos

Weekend Coffee Share; September Wrap Up!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share20 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I can’t believe its the last day of September and we have moved into Fall! I do think this is my favorite time of year. Oh wait, I do love Spring too ~ no, no, I think FALL WINS! There is just something special about the turning of this season as we cool down as the weather changes and we head into the winter months. Here where I live the winter is extremely mild and there is so many fun things to do as well. As you know I love being outside and I am very fortunate to be able to ride my horses all year round. This month started out hot which is typical and we are now seeing some much cooler weather as we head into October which makes me smile! 😀

Earlier this month my daughter, hubby and I visited President Reagan’s Library in Simi Valley. It is almost exactly half way to my daughter’s house up north. So she drove down and we drove up and met there on a beautiful Sunday morning. They had a WWII Exhibit there which was leaving in early October and we have been wanting to visit this library for a long time. We spent most of the time seeing and reading all about Ronald Reagan’s life as we toured the museum which left not as much time for the WWII event. We did walk through it and it was put together well. I only took photos to share of the Library on this beautiful day (no photos of WWII exhibit).

My most favorite thing is the horse lover of not only Ronald Reagan but of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and so I just have to share these iconic photos that they had on display, so beautiful. May they both rest in peace. ❤

Great quote!
I Love this artwork of the Reagan’s on horseback!
My daughter as President! I Love this! Haha!

They had mock ups of so many things including the oval office. It was so educational learning all about his young life and into his political career. I remember him well as President of course, and I knew he had a ranch in Simi Valley. But I didn’t know how much of a ranch and horse lover he was until I visited the library. He had a whole bunch of saddles and belt buckles which were gifted to him by famous political leaders and others that gave him the belt buckles. Some buckles were so huge, just for display I am sure. Here is a few photos.

The belt buckles are all along the bottom of this four sided display. There were plaques explaining where the saddles came from and I had to take a photo of the jumping saddle plaque. Not only is that my discipline of riding (I use to show Hunter/Jumpers) but I noticed he had a horse named Sergeant Murphy! That is so cool, since I have a Murphy too! I know I am silly, but fun to have little connections none the less. 😀

This was definitely a highlight Air Force One and Marine one overlooking Simi Valley all enclosed in a giant hanger type area all built around the airplane and helicopter. It was seamlessly added to the library and they show photos of how the plane was disassembled and towed up the hill to its resting sight. Boeing put it all back together and it is opened to tour the inside of both. It is really amazing and VERY COOL to walk through where President’s and many important people sat and did their work for our country. They had a kind of musty smell inside as they are both well over 30 years old. Air Force One served all US presidents until George W. Bush and was retired in 2001.

My daughter taking a photo of the amazing view!

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of my daughter taking a panoramic photo of Simi Valley. The library sits on top of a hill with a breathtaking view. I love taking candid photos when I can and thought this was a good way to end my share of this beautiful tribute and wonderful library. We have another library very close to where I live. It is President Nixon’s Library which is located in Yorba Linda. I actually drive by it every day I go to work. I have visited his library many years ago and it is not as large as President Reagan’s. At President Nixon’s Library it is located at the house where he was born. The house is still there and has been turned into the museum. I remember well the day President Nixon was brought in to be buried at this library as they had a big presence on the freeway as they drove him through and oddly enough we had a hail storm blow through on this day. So strange, I’ll never forget that day. We lived across town about 10 miles from Yorba Linda at that time.

How is your coffee? do you need a refill, or are you drinking tea? I decided to get a refill with my favorite sweet Italian creamer and I have some small donuts for a snack. Lets go outside as it is a beautiful weekend. I can’t believe we are heading into October, and as we say goodbye to September I will look back at some important things with my horses. I made a dental appointment with my vet with my young horse Murphy. He needed a tooth pulled, called a wolf tooth it sits right in front of his first molars and in his case it was at least an inch or so more forward than normal. (He should have had 2 one on each side of his mouth, but the right side no tooth descended which is considered normal. There are horses that do not have wolf teeth, my mare Chloe was born with no wolf teeth.)

This tooth was interfering with the bit he has in his mouth when I ride him and I will say he is much happier when I ride him now. He was drugged up so he stood good for the vet and they gave pain meds afterwards so he stays comfortable. He also got his teeth floated, which means they use a tool to smooth out the sharp edges that can occur from chewing on his molars. This will keep his teeth healthy.

The vet and his assistant working on Murphy’s sharp points on his molars. He was a good boy!

I wanted to ride Murphy more often than I ended up riding him through the month of September, but we had some unbearable heat. It also can get really busy at the barn and so there were many days so many people came early to beat the heat that I just couldn’t fit in a ride. I have to remember I am in no hurry with Murphy and we have plenty of time together and since he is so young I am just going to take one day at a time. I am happy that I rode him yesterday and then again this morning. 2 days in a row! YAY! I have to remember to stay positive and on the days I do not ride I try and do some meaningful ground work with him. I also have my other horse Chloe to take care of and her and I head out on the trails when it is crowded at the barn. So in the end I ride just about every day, it just might be Chloe instead of Murphy!

My pretty girl, Miss Chloe! ❤
And Murphy looking like he is going to say something!
My current cross-stitch project!
This is what it will look like completed!

I am having a ton of fun with this cross-stitch project I started in September! I love the colors and the quote. I have this really cool cross-stitch book full of patterns called Cross Stitch For The Earth, 20 patterns. They have some small designs that I can stitch up for gifts too! This fulfills my creative mind as I am addicted to creating something with my hands. Whether its cross-stitch or crochet, its so fun to create!

I better wrap this up as it is getting pretty long. I really wanted to do a wrap up post of September and am looking forward to October. I so enjoyed having coffee with you today and I hope you have a fabulous week (and month ahead). I have to thank Natalie for hosting our #weekendcoffee share hook up and let me know what’s been happening in your world!

Staying Busy Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

Why do we blog? Updates And Horses!

On By DianaIn blogging, Living life43 Comments
A Magnolia bloom I came across on a trail ride on my sweet horse Miss Chloe!

Why do we blog? I am asking myself because I have lost my blogging mojo. Yep, it’s lost and I keep searching and am having a lot of trouble finding it lately. Do you know where it could be? I have lots of theories, maybe if I break it down and share some of my theories I may just find my mojo again. I will start with a few sad events that I take in stride and don’t dwell on sad things, but maybe the deep roots of a few of them have affected my thought process and given me pause. Yes, one of the things that has really affected my thinking is a lifelong friend who hurt my feelings badly last year (and in turn I hurt her feelings too, which makes me sad) and it doesn’t matter how and why, and we’ve made up and we are on good footing again, but it made me wonder what it is that caused the issues that brought us to this place where we didn’t understand each other.

Hmm, was it me? we will never know and this is a good horse friend who I rode with every day. I’m so happy we are all good and we don’t board at the same stables anymore, but am happy we are still best of friends. ❤ However, this has caused me much reflection and in this reflection has caused me to wonder what am I doing and how can I be authentic and fun, and happy to share all the things that enrich my life. Why do we blog? for me to share.

Murphy is doing great and he makes me smile each and every day!

Life is full of challenges, good and bad. Lots of things are challenging right? Friendships, loved ones can be confusing as I have had my fair share of misunderstandings with my family too. Life decisions can be challenging, as I have shared that I wanted to move to Arizona which did not pan out and I am actually thankful we did not move there. Owning animals can be challenging, I lost a horse last year which was really sad, and I feel enriched and thankful that my sweet Murphy is now in my life along with my other horse Miss Chloe. They both help keep me centered and truly are my therapy. Why do I blog? Definitely for Therapy.

My sweet girl Miss Chloe! We’ve been together 16 years now and I love her so much!

As I share my thoughts today I am thinking about how I started my blogging journey which was to improve my writing skills. I always wanted to write and I have journaled (a lot) and thought wouldn’t it be great to write a novel. Wait, novel writing? That’s hard work, and I am no english major so there is that as well. I find the freeform writing here is my cup of tea. I don’t need to remember grammar stuff, and if I make a run on sentence who cares? RIGHT? Haha, at least all those who follow and read my posts are all very kind and I so appreciate my audience, more than you all realize.

Part of my missing mojo also revolves around this wonderful blogging community because I am also finding it difficult keeping up reading all the wonderful blog posts out there and then I feel guilty I am not reading them all and commenting. It is a growing emotion for me, feeling guilty because I am not there responding. My mojo is wrapped up in this predicament. Why do we blog? To strengthen our writing skills.

Murphy looking handsome even with a little sand on his cute nose!

I know, I know, just do what you can. I tell myself that everyone has a life and we all are busy (some probably more busy than others) and that no one is counting or looking to see who reads what or who comments when…. And then I see all these blog posts and think I need to catch up! It can be stifling. Shake it off Diana. Your mojo is here somewhere, and I think I just need to write. There is one last thing in my head that I think grabbed my mojo and I was so worried this would happen, and then it did.

I joined a Facebook group which is something I have paid for, a small price each month as it is a private group that is specifically for a horsey podcast I listen to almost every day. I didn’t want to join this podcast auditors group because I was worried that it would be exactly what I thought it would be and that is a time eater. Yep, I find myself spending lots of my spare time reading all the posts in this horsey podcast private group! I know myself too well, and I joined because I really wanted to adopt my thoroughbred Murphy and the trainer who helped me adopt him is on the podcast. (By paying I am supporting this wonderful podcast and it is worth the $3 a month to me.) It’s all coming full circle. As my time has been eaten away by my FB readings, I have dropped a lot of my blog posts readings on WP. Criminey!! I feel like I am at a point where I need to make a choice. OR I need to figure out some moderation. Why do I blog? For friends and family!

My lazy handsome thoroughbred this last week, Murphy! ❤

Why do we blog? The posts we all write and share have meaning to all of us that I could not even come close to describing. We all have a need to be here and I honor each and every one of you as I truly believe my life has been enriched by all that I have met through your posts. My updates that I mention in my title is really just updates on where my head is at, at this time in my life. I need to free myself from guilt, and free myself from any passed transgressions with friends and family and I think my mojo will return. My life and horse stories is important to me and I have shared so much of my life here that I don’t want to throw in the towel. I don’t think I need to start over either, but I do feel like I need to find a new way forward that feels fresh and forward thinking. Looking to the future and appreciating the past. I hope you’ll enjoy my shares. Mojo, where are you? I know you are there somewhere!

Love this photo a friend took, Murphy is so tall!

I updated my blog site with this photo that was taken by a friend this last July. It’s nice to update things every once in awhile. It’s a start to finding my mojo, I feel like its right at my fingertips now. Thank you for your support and for reading and following my blog. ❤ I blog for me and for you, Why do you blog?

Searching Lovingly,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; August ~ Fun Month!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share21 Comments
Welcome to my coffee share! I just love this bearded Iris and wanted to feature it again.

How can it be August 28th? The weeks have just flown by and it has been a busy but fun summer. As I am writing this it is really overcast outside which I am a bit surprised but if the marine layer is thick enough to head inland where we are at it will stick around for at least half the day. That will be today, much cooler and cloudy, a nice reprieve from the hot summer days. I have to say that we have been lucky this summer, so far it has not breeched 100F (38C) and we have had summers where we have hit 115F (46C) that was years ago, now that’s stinking HOT! I think we will be okay this year and just have the usual 90’s most days. We do not have humidity here, I like to call it a dry heat even though we sweat like crazy working outside with the horses. It cools off very nicely every evening, I can’t complain.

I started out this month of August heading to my family in Arizona. It was my granddaughter’s 7th birthday. It was so much fun to be there to celebrate with the family. I can’t believe she is 7 years old and she is heading into first grade. She has since started school and her dad told me she LOVES first grade, that just makes me smile. 😀 My grand daughter is so smart, funny and quite the character. She’s a wonderful older sister and with her baby brother 2 1/2 years old, I know there’s always a little trouble with sharing. He’s starting to talk more each day which helps with communication between them. They have my heart, love them so much! ❤

She is so adorable as we sang happy birthday with most of the kitchen lights out and the glow of the candles lit so bright! Baby brother was trying to blow out her candles, silly guy and after she made a wish and blew out her candles I took her photo with the cake. My flash went off which caught her by surprise, so cute! She also has poses for her photos which we do not ask her to do of course, and I just giggle as she is so adorable. I will be saying adorable a million times in this post because that’s just the best description. I miss them so very much!!!

She doesn’t like her hair brushed so I took her photo to show her the pretty braid! ❤

We headed to the water park nearby the next day which the kids just love! Me and my selfies, these turned out so great and I went crazy and took one with everyone who went including my daughter and my son. The only one who didn’t come was my daughter-in-law, I feel bad I don’t have a selfie with her and didn’t get one on this visit. The selfie with my grandson is now my background photo on my phone. ❤ I may switch it out soon with the one with my granddaughter! I change them often depending on my mood. 😀

My son and daughter selfies, love this so much! My heart is full and I am feeling blessed to have such a wonderful family and am so happy to be fortunate to have these two grand children who make us laugh and are so full of energy and love. I have lots of photos that I took but wanted to share other events for this month. I can now see the advantage of sharing weekly because I can dedicate the whole post to one event. Since it’s been a month I will continue on and share my horsey photos as my horsey sister arrived just over a week ago. Her son’s birthday was this month and so she flew down from Idaho and stayed a week. We had a ton of fun as she helped me with my young horse Murphy and we rode out on trail with my other horse Chloe. She was able to ride a friends horse with me on the trails.

my sweet trail horse, Miss Chloe!
My sister and I out on trail!
Murphy enjoying a turn out in the arena!
He is very tall! Love this photo!
My sister riding Murphy! He is doing great and learning so much!

As I share this month I am thinking of how fast this year has gone by so far. I am terrible at planning things but am thinking I should try and be more conscience of this and try and plan more for the future. I tend to fall into a rut of day to day things and need to think beyond the moment. I blame my lack of planning on being a middle child. I tend to just do things as they come up as one sibling or another make plans and/or my daughter who is the planner of the family makes plans and thankfully I can usually join her or she invites me and her dad. We have planned to meet at President Reagan’s library in 2 weeks as we’ve never been and they have a WW2 presentation there that will end in October. The library is about half way to my daughter’s house so the plan is each of us driving there and meeting up for the tour. I am looking forward to this and am so thankful my daughter is helping plan and getting us there!

This month has been full of events. Our 38th wedding anniversary was August 19th which I almost forgot about but I took that day off to add to the days to hang out with my sister. My hubby and I went out to dinner and he is so sweet and got me some gifts and I got him a sweet card. I took a photo I will share.

He is so very sweet and incredibly thoughtful! The box has a beautiful necklace with double hearts and heartfelt saying!

Why am I so bad at gift giving in general? I would gladly give away money, my shirt off my back or anything one could want if I can afford it. But I can stress for days and not know what to get and I rarely get him anything for our anniversary as I have no idea what to do, I am serious. I am horrible and I got him a sweet card and that’s it and I will ask him if he needs anything but we have been married for so many years the words romantic don’t strike me as being a great definition of how I feel. I LOVE him with all my heart and I know I am the glue that is our family unit and all I have to offer up is the love and consistent “being here” as I will always be there for my hubby and my family. I guess that is my gift.

I considered removing the last paragraph as I am embarrassed I can’t be more giving in the gift department to show my appreciation and love through material things. I can’t be alone in this world so I am going to leave all of this mumbo jumbo in and say that as I try and figure out the “why” I am like this as I feel rather selfish to not buy him anniversary gifts. I do not expect him to do what he does for me as I would be just as happy and never blink an eye if he just bought me a card and we had dinner out. He almost always gets me these gifts. He got me Jade gifts for our 35th anniversary, me? I got him nothing, zip, zero, nadda….. A big hug and a kiss to thank him! Haha, it is what it is and I am who I am….. Sharing myself to ya’ll wasn’t my plan this weekend. But there it is! 😀

I’ll end with these two photos. My sister riding Murphy! I think I may get a print of this to send to her for Christmas. Or I may make her a photo book with all the photos I have taken this past year of her and Murphy. I thought I would try a selfie with Murph on her last ride. Haha, it turned out pretty cute! Thank you for visiting and having coffee with me today. As I think about this month of August, there are a ton of birthdays. My granddaughter 8/3, my brother 8/4, my nephew 8/14 and my sister’s 8/23 and 8/26. With my anniversary thrown in there 8/19 you can see its a crazy month of celebrations. Most of them were virtual but still, no wonder I have been busy!

I hope you all have had a wonderful August and I am looking forward to the Fall as September is days away. Thank you Natalie for hosting the weekend coffee share link up and I hope you all have a great week ahead.

Loving Family Cowgirl Grandma,

~Diana ❤

July 23rd, Thankful For The Summer Breeze!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share33 Comments
My summer rose bloom! It smells heavenly too!

Welcome to my weekend coffee or tea share where I enjoy sharing what’s been happening here in Southern Cali where I live. It is definitely summer time here as the heat is on and we are hoping for a break but there isn’t one coming any time soon. I am thankful for the summer breeze! It almost always shows up every afternoon and it feels so good and helps you cool off. I had to look it up as I was pretty sure there was a song about the “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts and it’s a nice relaxing song to listen to on these summer days, I do date myself!

As I share a tall glass of ice tea with you (I have lemonade and we can make it an Arnold Palmer if you’d like!) I decided I would share my cross stitch I have been working on the last month or so, I am nearing completion and this is my winter scene. This is the last one I needed to complete for my 4 seasons pattern that I started many years ago and am determined to finish. (I’ll share the photo of the other seasons here too.) I am planning on making my first quilt with these cross stitches as the star or center pieces of the quilt which will be the size of a wall hanging or small throw blanket. If I run into trouble I’ll have to have my sister’s help me as they are the expert quilt makers in the family!

I have a confession and that is this coffee share I started late last weekend and never finished it so I thought I would just add to it and finish and post it this weekend. I took the above cross stitch photo on July 2nd and I have done a lot more since then so here is a current photo of it today. I am working on the bottom portion as you can see the cart the horse is pulling, a sideways tree and some snow texture stitching. 😀

Winter!

Some of the funny colored shapes will eventually be people and things really become defined when I am done with the stitching and then I will outline everything and that will make everything pop and look completed. It is so fun working on these projects! I know it is another way that I can relax and create and keep my brain thinking as I count away. I am hoping this and other things I do in my life will help keep me healthy. What do you do for fun or for relaxation? I know many enjoy their gardens, and they are a wonderful source of healthy cardio work and relaxation too! And others enjoy being outside exercising. Here are the other seasons. (Click on photos for full view).

Spring
Summer
Fall

I am motivated to finish my winter themed cross stitch because I was gifted this last Christmas some really cool cross stitch pattern books I had on my wish list. I will be diving into these new patterns when I finish here and I won’t start working on the quilt until I feel inspired or motivated to sew. Maybe I will dive into it sooner, I just take things one day at a time and see how I feel when starting new projects. I know my “in the house” projects I call them are not cardio, but it’s important to have the relaxation to help lower blood pressure when relaxing. I get all my cardio from the stables and I like to call the barn my outside gym! I love my segue as I want to share my horses this weekend. My last share about the barn was how busy I have been and thankfully it has calmed down now and I am not having to take care of so many horses!

Getting ready to buck!
And a big BUCK! Go Murphy!
Pretty trot
Standing tail! Such a handsome boy!
A girlfriend at the barn took these photos even catching him getting ready to buck and the buck, such pretty photos of Murphy and me out in the arena together!

I am having so much fun with Murphy! Him and I are really bonding and he is always excited to see me which to me indicates he enjoys our time together. He is vocal about this nickering as I arrive! 😀 Today I started some liberty training with him which basically means working in the arena with him lose and following my lead as I ask him to work with me free or at liberty. I also have thought long and hard about his training and I decided to introduce R+ training which is Positive reinforcement (+R) is a form of learning that occurs when a desired behavior is rewarded. It’s based on the idea that reinforced or rewarded behavior will be repeated out of want for a reward. I have found that Murphy would rather not do much of anything and although his defiance is not bad (he does not bite, rear, kick or do anything nasty) on the contrary he is very sweet but can be a bit stubborn. He is also very food driven! I have already started to introduce treats in a meaningful way and he has not started biting and/or is not aggressive at all. He has remained very respectful and sweet which is perfect for this kind of training! I’m very excited!!

He loves to splash and play in the water bucket and every time I see him and want to video he stops and comes to visit me instead. I LOVE you Murphy, but I just want to get some water fun action!

You can see how wet he got and all the water he splashed all around the bucket as he practically emptied half of hit splashing away! Haha, he’s so funny and has so much fun in this summer heat! With horses when you are with them whether it is every day (yep, I go every single day to see them and usually work with them) or every other day or once a week you are always learning and working together as a team. You should be growing your bond with them and mine grows each day. I have this wonderful bond with my other horse Chloe. Her and I are a team that just gets stronger every day. The trust the two of us have in each other is hard to describe. It would be like the trust you have with your best favorite dog or cat, it’s strong and we enjoy each others company. I am so grateful and thankful Murphy and I are bonding like Chloe but as I learn and grow reading/attending/watching other trainers I am growing and am doing more with him than I did when Chloe was his age. IT’S SO MUCH FUN!

Chloe and I out on the trails!
Murphy and I in the arena!
Miss Chloe after our ride!
Murphy after our ride!
I am enjoying riding him and working with him in Western Dressage!

I have a video I made all by myself by propping up my camera but since I don’t have a Pivo I ride out of frame a lot and so I decided not to share here. I will ask someone to video one of my rides soon. It is fun to see his progress. He is learning so much, a little each ride. I don’t ride him every day as he is young and growing and I don’t want to bore him to death. PLUS as I have recently shared I can be busy and so I usually ride one horse one day and then the next I ride the other. This is working out great! Happy horses means a happy Mom. Now that I want to incorporate R+ training, it is all started and performed while I am on the ground, we call this ground work with horses. So on the days I do not ride Murphy we will be working on things together which will be stimulating for him and I. Anyways, I enjoy learning new things as well and there is plenty of YouTube videos out there to visit for ideas. Can I get you a refill? I know I can ramble on and on sometimes! Haha!

He almost always rolls after a rinse or bath in his dry shavings! You can see them all over his back!
This was from a few weeks ago! All that I am sharing is from this month of July!

I am so thankful we have a huge pepper tree that has grown so tall now that it provides a lot of morning shade where we tack up our horses. This is why this photo is in the shade. I like it’s soft tones and you can see part of the tree in the upper right corner. Near noon the shade is almost gone except for closest to the tree. As July seems to be flying by we are getting closer to my granddaughter’s birthday August 3rd. She will be turning 7 years old this year and I can’t believe it! I am so excited to be heading to Arizona to help her and family celebrate my sweet girls birthday. YAY! This time I will be flying there!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I thank you kindly for visiting with me today. I am always grateful for all the support I get from fellow friends, family and the blogging community. I enjoy sharing when I can and so I will get this wrapped up and get back to stitching. I am getting super close to completing my project. I’ll have to pass the ice tea and say how is your (week) or weekend going?

Loving Our Summer Breeze Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; 4th of July Weekend!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share22 Comments
My pretty honeysuckle blooms which are so tiny but so fragrant!

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am having a nice cup of joe with my favorite creamer, sweet Italian cream. I can’t believe it is July! Where did June go? it just zipped on by seemingly so fast. I had a busy month last month and I am hoping to slow down a little and enjoy this month. For those of us here in the states, this weekend is July 4th weekend ~ Happy 4th of July! ❤ I am so thankful for the long weekend and an extra day off this next week. We always barbeque which millions of American’s do, and since it is summer here it’s always a great way to celebrate!

Did I mention already how busy I have been? Ah, yes, I think I bring it up all the time. I am not sure how I fit in all that I do and my life just seems to get busier. My “busier” has been at the barn where I board my two horses. It seems that when there is other boarders that need help with their horses, my name comes up. I am honored and deeply grateful that so many trust me to take care of their horses, but it is getting to the point where I am getting super busy with many to care for especially this month. (I will say that it is difficult for me to say No! Haha, so I do this to myself to a certain degree!) I have 6 horses for the first week of July (2 of them are my own) and after next week that care will go down to 5 horses. I can thankfully take turns getting them out and exercised which means I do not have to handle all of them all on the same day. It will put a kink into my riding on some days, I may be getting less sleep so I can get up earlier to fit in all that I want to do each day. We will see how this goes. 😀

Miss Chloe after a nice ride this weekend!

Since I am on the subject of horses I thought I would share some photos. I have been able to ride a lot out on the trails with Chloe. I am riding my other horse Murphy but mostly in the arena as I want him to learn in there more basic riding commands so we are safe together. I am hoping to get him out on the trails some this summer. I want to partner up with a friend as it can be scary on the trails for a young horse in our town all by himself. He is very brave and the trail riding I have done this past year with him was always with other horses. I knew he needed more arena training but wanted to see what kind of “brain” he had which just means that the trails I have ridden him on were short, not far from home and he had a good “brain” and was very sensible and kind.

Now that Murphy has turned 4 years old I am upping the demands slowly and asking him to do things that will make our partnership together more cohesive and safe. He should know how to walk, trot and canter when I cue him to do this and just as important to “whoa” or stop when I ask. His whoa he is getting better at especially at the walk and trot but he still needs work at the canter. I am in no rush and have done more with him at the walk and trot, so that is why he is getting that down better. I wish I had more time to spend riding him and hence why I am a tiny bit frustrated with my time at the barn. Part of the issue is a friend fell off this last Friday. She owns 2 horses and has asked me to care for them as she recovers from the fall. She broke 2 ribs and hurt her back and so how can I say no? She doesn’t know another lady is going out of town for one week so I have already said yes to her for her horse. And I have another that I care for 2 days a week, the lady has paid me through to August for that horse care. It’s all good, it just is what it is at this time!

Hi Murphy, we will do some fun riding this week I promise!

He is such a handsome guy! He is so laid back, so calm and pleasing. I think he gets a little bored. Since my other horse Chloe is 18yrs old, I can just hop on and head out on the trail. My shortest trail ride is about 25 minutes, so it’s a total of almost an hour from getting her out and tacked up, out on trail and then I need to clean her up (which may be hosing her off if it’s hot) and get her put away. I then do Murphy. Or I do Murphy first and spend about an hour and a half with him and then I ride or turn out Chloe. I then have to fit in another turn out with some care to other horses that others have paid me for. My riding time gets cut into if say I eat breakfast out with hubby one or two mornings each week. Haha, I guess I have a full-time job and now a part-time job. My family can’t understand why I am at the barn every single day. (They kind of understand my obsession, but they have asked me why do I go every day?) Seriously, I NEVER miss a day unless I am out of town!! I am seriously that horse CRAZY! 😀 😀 😀

Seriously though, how can you not love her sweet face and I want to give them the best care!
Heading down the trails on my sweet girl! The best exercise for her and joyful for me!

As I am writing this I am realizing my horsey obsession has turned into a somewhat part-time job especially since I concede and help so many others. I am realizing I need to take back some control since it is eating into my horse riding time and if I am feeling frustrated because of this then it takes the fun out of my time at the barn. Talk about a juggling act! Sheesh! I am not old enough to retire because if I could retire then I could have this part-time horse care job. Something I will look forward to when that year comes to fruition. I am the type of person that tends to put the needs of others before my own, hence why I haven’t learned to say no very often (if ever) so the learning goes….. I need to be stronger, and put my needs first but for now I will just be very busy! Do you over extend yourself? or do for others to the point where it takes time away from your needs? I am curious as I can’t be alone! 😀

I’ll end with this sweet kitty. This is Evie, my daughter’s cat and she is so incredibly friendly. You know how I am with my crazy selfie photos, she was so fun to be with when I was visiting with my daughter in June. I had so much fun at the horse clinic and spending time with my daughter. She invited some friends over when I was there and we had an indoor barbeque on Sunday after I was done with the clinic. We had so much fun breaking bread and playing a card game. I have so enjoyed having coffee (or tea) with you this weekend and for filling you in on my busy schedule! Haha, it’s been crazy days and will stay that way for awhile!

Thank you Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare and if you would like to visit and read other shares you can click here! I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.

Super Busy Crazy Horsey obsessed Gal,

~Diana ❤

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 ❤

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 ❤