Tag: #horsestogether

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; A New Video With Murph, and Crochet Fun!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share26 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives!

Howdy! can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I don’t have any fancy pumpkin spice coffee but I have a nice breakfast blend I really like that tastes nice with my sweet Italian cream. I am enjoying my weekends and with that I mean I really enjoy weekends! I have not had every weekend off in about 20 years. I have been at my new job now for 10 months and I honestly am still feeling like I am on a super duper really long vacation being able to sleep every single night. I recently had one of those nights where my thoughts were running strong and I had trouble falling asleep, darn it all! But the sleep I finally got was good enough to get me through the next day. I use to struggle with sleep often, and just made it work when I was working night/graveyard shift hours. I do not know how I did it for so many years! So I am truly grateful for my new job and the swing shift hours I work! YAY! 😀

I am super happy I am almost done with this baby blanket I am making for a really good friend. She is actually my daughter’s best friend who had a baby girl some months ago and I am finally getting this completed. I think it is beautiful and am finishing up tieing off all the lose ends before I will send it to her and I thought I would share a couple of photos! I love to crochet as it’s relaxing and I so enjoy creating things with all this beautiful yarn!

It’s hard to get good lighting for the photos of the blanket. There really is a light pink in with the grey/tan variegated yarn!

I know the colors I chose are not the most “baby” but in person it is a pretty blanket. I added the soft rose pink around the edges to help bring out the subtle pink woven with the grey/tan/pink variegated yarn. It looks antique like to me and came together beautifully. I like to try different colors and my daughter said her colors in her nursery are pink and grey. I might have brought a little too much grey into the picture with this blanket, but I know she will appreciate it being hand made with Love! It is definitely my favorite baby blanket pattern as this is my fourth one I’ve made and no two are alike! ❤

Miss Chloe is enjoying some grass as she grazes after our trail ride!

I am enjoying trail riding on my girl Chloe. She is such a trooper and is definitely one of those horses that enjoys the trails. I am in no hurry riding Murphy out on the trails. He is too young at this time to travel out there by himself and I am having a ton of fun working on things with him in the arena. I will go out if there is a friend available at the barn to ride with me, but it is not something I am doing a lot of since he needs a lot of time in the arena learning important aides which help us both communicate. It really helps to have a good working relationship with your horse so that the trust and bonds are strong. I do have a video I want to share of Murphy and I in the arena!

He is getting better and better learning a little something every ride!

My hubby came to the stables to help with a few things and when he arrived I was riding in the arena. I asked him to take a video and he doesn’t take many videos and tried to zoom in and didn’t realize there is an easy button on the camera to just tap for a quick zoom. I tried a few times to edit the video and got frustrated and decided to just leave it so there is a little jumble in it where it zooms too close and then he moves it out a bit. I Love it anyways, and I can see the difference in just a month or so of him being at a steady speed and him and I looking relaxed and together each stride. Murphy is so FUN!!

Can I get you a refill? I have a few more photo’s to share as I just love taking photos of these ponies and I also enjoy sharing them with you all. I decided to ride one horse one day and the other the next which is working out great. There are some days where they both just get the day off which is good for them too. I can ride both every day but I only have so many hours available before I have to go to work at 2pm. It is working out well, with every other day. I turn out on the days they aren’t ridden. They are very spoiled horses, and I have to tell you they are fun to spoil! ❤

I just want to kiss his nose! He has the prettiest eyes, such big ears and beautiful head! And I tried a selfie! Haha, he was really curious about the phone when I snapped the selfie!

He makes me giggle, Mr. Murphy has such a personality. He is learning our routine’s which is so great as then we have a good working relationship. He is so very smart and it is fun to watch him grow. Today when I took him out he had a scraped up hip. He took off all the hair and it had a little bit of blood but not much. After examining it we noticed some red paint near the wound and after searching his stall as to what happened I found the hair on the barn stall opening heading out to his paddock. He had cut the corner too tight heading out back and scraped his hip on the side of the barn! YIKES! and OUCH! I put some silver spray on the wound which is like a liquid band aide that dries silver. It is superficial and I hope he is more careful going in and out of his barn stall! He is so big and tall, I am not too surprised and if he was in a hurry or spooked when heading out, that could be why he caught his hip. I hope he will be more careful, but he’s a horse and probably needs to be bubble wrapped! Joking, we all joke about that! 😀

Thank you for stopping by for the chat! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and I can’t believe this is the last week of September! WAIT WHAT? How did this month fly by! Thank you to Natalie who hosts our #weekendcoffeeshare link up.

Crochet Loving English Riding Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

My Last Ride of 2020!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life13 Comments
My pony sister friend took this photo of me and my pretty ponies! Yes, I have treats I am getting ready to give them. A very candid shot!

As 2020 came to an end I was able to enjoy the morning with my horses before work. This photo is actually from a few weekends ago but I thought it was a good opener as this is me, and this is what I do as I groom them and get them ready for a ride. I tie them to the hitching post and they are very well behaved. This is where I tack them up with saddle and bridles. Before I head out on a ride, I often turn them out either in the bigger arena or the small round pen to get them moving. With the nights getting pretty cool, they can get stiff and need some warming up and on this day the static electricity in the air was something I captured on the next photo or two!

I can’t believe how the light from the sun and the static electricity has his tail standing on end! Look at the shimmers, I’m so amazed!!
Hi Zack! He is body clipped and I decided to clip most of his hair except where the saddle goes on the top of his back. He is much more comfortable and easier to groom and care for.

Chloe’s tail was not spectacular like Zack’s. I am not sure why his was more static charged and hers was not, but her tail is black and would not be as dazzling in the sun. I get excited over little things such as static electricity and hair! Haha, It reminds me of when you blow up a balloon and then rub your hair and you can pull the balloon away and your hair stands on end going to the balloon. This just happened in the round pen when I was exercising them, so it was a strange sight to see!

It was a crisp morning New Year’s Eve as I prepared these ponies for my ride. It was calm and serene, no wind blowing yet and as I mounted up and headed out I can tell the horses had a nice step to their gait and were ready for the trails. As I turned the corner out to the trail and headed down the street, the horses were walking so well together it was as if we were all in sync and enjoying this beautiful, lovely day. I was able to put Chloe’s reins around the horn of my western saddle, and I looped Zack’s rope around the horn. Not too tight, just lightly looped so that I didn’t lose the rope and it was right there if I needed it and the remainder of the rope was in my other hand as I reached for my camera to record this last day of my 2020 trail ride.

My ponies know these trails so well. I was calm and very relaxed which in turn makes the ponies very relaxed. They can feel your anxieties, your nervousness, your breathing. They can feel you relaxing, your calmness, its their language to feel and recognize things humans don’t even think about. They can feel if you are “there” in the moment, or if your mind wonders and is somewhere else. They are always “in the moment” as they live their lives in the here and now. They are flight animals and it is their instinct to be aware of everything.

They see things you don’t. They hear things you don’t. They know with each step if it is safe or not to continue down the road. They have my life in their hoofs, as I ride on their backs as each step they carry me down the street and around the block in unison as if we are one and connected. Zack is right in step by Chloe’s side. Chloe is like valium to Zack. She brings him peace and calmness as she is the alpha mare and exudes confidence in each step. This is how my beautiful ride went on this gorgeous morning as we completed our ride around the block. I took a video of my ride and want to share it. In the video Zack is walking so nicely and walks up fast almost to pass Chloe! BUT he can’t because he needs to stay back a bit behind. You will see her as he puts his nose towards her, she will nip at him to get him back where he belongs. I don’t let the lead go to long and he will slow a bit and walk where he should. They are very mindful of each other and I try and be just as mindful back to them in our threesome wondering the Norco trails.

This is the best video I have made with two horses in hand. I hope you enjoy as I practice and am enjoying these ponies!

I am not to far into my ride when I made this video but to be able to do this with solid horses that feel confident is a testament to what I like to say “Time in the saddle” as with anything you do in life, practice makes perfect. I am so proud of my horses. They bring so much joy to my life and I feel truly blessed and thankful I can share my life with them. I thank my family for their patience and love for them as well. I have enjoyed many rides throughout this last year, and being able to go to the barn and enjoy this is how I have been able to survive the craziness of 2020.

Happy Trail Riding Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Sept. 23, 2020

On By DianaIn Horse stories, weekly smile15 Comments
Welcome to my weekly smile! Some teeny tiny flowers blooming today!

We do not see the seasons change much here in Southern California but I am excited it is now Fall. My tiny garden in my other container is done. I had fun growing my tomatoes and bell peppers this summer. We are not cooling off as much as I would like as we still are hitting 90F to 100F degrees high (32C to 38C) but getting down into the low 60’s at night (15’sC). I sure wouldn’t mind a rain storm to blow through, where are you rain? I am smiling as we head into Fall, what makes your smile? How about some horse fun, that always makes me smile! 😀

A cute little pot belly pig I passed by on my walk this morning!

Before we go to the stables, I ran across this cute guy on my walk this morning. As I walked by he ran up to the fence when he saw me, friendly little thing as its little tail twirled in circles and he was doing his little “oink” “oinking” noises. He had me giggling to be honest. I do not know the people who live here so I didn’t stay long at the fence and quickly took this photo to share. Haha, I could have a little piggy, or some goats and even some chickens living here if I wanted. But even though they are all adorable animals, I feel like its just one more thing to take care of so we don’t have any more than what we have ~ 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses, plenty! 😀

  • Miss Chloe is the same color as rusted tin siding! My Camouflage Pony! ❤
  • Further away, she blends in even more as she stands in the shade!

Funny story, my girlfriend was taking care of my ponies the other day and had them all lose in the big arena. As she was finishing up her chores over near the paddocks, she looked in the arena and saw Zack and her horse Gracie but she couldn’t see Chloe anywhere. She started to walk a little closer to the arena but could not see her and thought maybe she got out some how, But how? you never know, maybe a gate wasn’t latched? But as she looked through the trees and she could see Zack who was blocking Chloe’s black tail and Chloe did not look at her so she couldn’t see her white blaze! Haha! She blended right in with the tin siding! Especially when there is shade, Chloe just blends right in and we were cracking up with my bay roan who is the color of rusted tin! She is way prettier though! Haha!!

Fun day with the horses!

As I was riding Zack with my bareback pad (which has no stirrups) I thought how about going faster! Smiling here as the video turned out way better than I expected. My hand as I watched it was bouncing up and down when I was bouncing on Zack’s back as I was taking the video. But I guess my wrist and the phone didn’t jerk up and down like I thought when I played it back. YAY! And I have had in the past some people tell me I should buy a GoPro but I am just too cheap. These short handheld videos work just fine for me and what I want to share. They are enough to smile about right? They sure make me smile and giggle too! I ain’t no professional, just a pony loving gal enjoying my day.

I always have fun with these pretty ponies and I already thanked my girlfriend for a fun day. I will say this again, as I think anyone who spends time outside the weather plays a part of a great day. It was nice but I can’t wait for it to cool off. Thanks for visiting my Smile post! 😀

Riding and watching my camouflage pony!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Sept. 12, 2020

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, weekend coffee share31 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives with old friends and new. Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am enjoying a cold brew.

I drove in from the stables and walked into the front yard and the honeysuckle smells wonderful. I am getting so many blooms right now and even though the air quality is bad with all the smoke from the fires I can still smell the flowers! We are totally safe where we live and my heart and prayers go out to all affected. The visibility in our area is very poor. You can’t see the local mountains and when you look on the weather app on the phone instead of saying “sunshine” it says “smoke”. This morning it was not too bad outside so I will be heading to the stables. Can I get you something to go with your coffee or tea?

I rode Zack first in arena and set my timer for 20 minutes. Then I switched and got on Chloe and set the timer for another 20 minutes. Having fun with them together!

After I rode Zack mostly at a walk in the arena, I took my bareback pad and bit-less bridle and put it on Chloe for another ride. The walking and a little bit of trotting is really good for their joints and gets them limbered up. I say this because as I was riding Chloe after a few minutes she kept wanting to head to Zack. Silly pony, they love each other and she really wasn’t bad, just mostly wanted to herd him around. I decided instead of finishing up her 20 minute walk I would turn them lose together and see if they want to run around. The limbering up usually helps them really feel good. I will share a video of my ride and another video of them lose together! Such pretty ponies! 😀

Chloe and I riding around our nice big arena!
Running horses! They feel so good and I love it when Chloe runs and calls out!

Whenever they are turned out in the big arena I always try and give them the opportunity to run. If I left them alone, they may move and trot or canter around a little bit. I usually have to encourage them to move, horses unless spooked or frightened are usually pretty lazy by nature. They are older horses, so their energy levels have declined. But every month or so they get such bursts of energy and I am so thankful they have an area where they can run and stretch their legs. Today I am so happy I was able to video Chloe. So fun to watch! ❤

They are all tucked in to their stalls with a nice lunch after a nice bath!

So much fun bathing, grooming and taking care of these horses. I may have to video them getting their treats, especially Chloe who gives me kisses. They have such personalities, and of course bring me so much joy! It would be fun to share that with you all with videos.

He says, treat please? YES, I have a treat for you Zack. I have bathed Chloe and put her in her stall and forgot to take a photo. So it’s Zack at the end so nice and clean. They roll and get so dirty, as they itch and scratch from sweating from the heat of the day. When the bath is complete and they are all groomed, they don’t roll as they feel so satisfied and content. I’m a happy horse mom. Thank you so much for joining me for this coffee share! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Obsessed with my Ponies,

~Diana ❤

Horsing Around Fun!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories12 Comments
Miss Chloe says Hi! How are you today?

Welcome to my virtual barn where I will share photos of my barn friends Chloe, Zack and my girlfriends horse Gracie. These three ponies are the apple of our eyes. Yes, we dote on them and I have to admit I am rather obsessed with their care. I don’t often miss a day, even if it is just to check on them and make sure they have enough food and water. Even though we pay for their care at the barn we board at, we as horse owners like to check them daily if possible. I use to not go every single day, and when I was baby sitting my granddaughter I would take days off until she got big enough to go with me. I miss those days, since she now lives in Arizona. We fondly call our horses, our ponies. They are not ponies, its just a term of endearment. ❤

The last few weeks had some very hot days, although the horses didn’t seem to mind too much. We just turn them out on really hot days because it is still good to get them to stretch their legs and walking helps move their gut and keep the blood flowing. Just like for us, walking and exercise is essential for well being but when it’s over 100 degrees (38C) we do not need to over do it so we can avoid heat exhaustion. In the last couple of weeks I was able to take some videos I would like to share, along with more photos of the ponies turned out. I’m just a horse crazy gal! 😀

Zack, Chloe and I in the round pen. This is a small arena usually 24×24 round – this one I think is bigger, I’ll have to measure some day. It’s a great place to exercise them!

You might be wondering, two horses in a small arena? I wouldn’t try and do this with just any horses. It is a small enclosure to where if the two horses did not get along, there could be kicking or fighting or? but my two horses are a herd. Actually, all three horses are a herd with us humans being in the mix as well. They have been acclimated and turned out together for many years.

The funniest thing Chloe does is she will chase the other two when out in the bigger arena when these big horse fly’s are around (they are akin to deer fly’s in the East only bigger. I looked them up and horse fly’s are bigger than the common house fly, deer fly’s are in between these two for size. Both land on animals to suck their blood and only the female horse fly bite for blood to feed eggs. They are huge ranging in size from 3/4 – 1 1/4 inches long. They are not numerous thankfully!)

Anyways, Chloe will canter around (run around) the arena to escape these dreaded fly’s and when she does this she inevitably runs near Zack and Gracie which in turn run too. Some days they exercise themselves just getting away from the horse fly’s! (They are easy to kill, they are so huge you can hit them easy with your hand and they fall to the ground and then I step on them. Sorry, not sorry horse fly!)

A nice ride in the arena. It is a bit hot so we are just walking to get in our steps!

It was pretty easy to video in the arena. It is nice and safe except watch out for the tree!! Haha, I am happy they walk close to the rail (which is the fence line) and of course the tree isn’t as low as Chloe’s head as she heads near it and the branches are right at my height sitting on her back. You can see Gracie getting exercised by her Mom and Zack is next to me as I pony him to get him exercised as well. I call it killing two birds with one stone, since it’s so hot I did not want to take the time to ride them each individually. If I do ride Zack, I usually ride him in the arena unless someone wants to ride with me that needs a horse on the trail.

My girlfriend on Gracie as we head out on the trail!

I am so happy I have been riding on the trails for many years. Zack is 25 years old and Chloe is 16 years old this year. I have owned her since she was 2 so we have been together many, many years. I have had Zack for about 6 years now. He is part of the team, as they all fall in line with very FUN rides! Consistency and time in the saddle is key to calm trail rides!

They got a few baths in the last few weeks and I washed their tails and thought they looks so pretty! Zacks could use a little whitening on the bottom, but for a trail horse (not a show horse) they look pretty darn good!

I just LOVE to groom them. When I graduated from high school and before I decided to go to college I worked full-time for a horse trainer. He trained Hunter/Jumpers and I showed my horse with him all up and down Southern California. I worked for him for about 4 years, and what I learned was grooming is key to keep all the show horses coats glistening. I bring these years of grooming with me every day I’m at the barn.

I started with Chloe, I’m ending with Zack! Haha, He’s sending you a big kiss!

Love you Chloe and Zack!

~Diana ❤

Summer Trail Rides and Horse Fun!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories9 Comments
  • Miss Chloe waiting for Zack to visit with me in the turn out arena!

I have been wanting to share some more trail riding fun and as I get ready to go out on any given day, I always give my horses some time in an arena. It might be our round pen, which is a smaller round arena (usually around 24X24 round, but I think the one at this barn is bigger) where I make them trot around and stretch their legs. I may turn them out in our big arena where I will ask them to run and/or gallop to really stretch their legs! I have shared a video of them running in the big arena here. And sometimes I let them out in this turn out where there are trail obstacles permanently in this arena and so it is not a good place to make them run because there are all those big poles on the ground and I wouldn’t want them to run too fast in this arena and trip and fall. So this arena I let them do what they want, they often are scratching each others back as I let them mosey around.

UP CLOSE! HAHA! Chloe looking for a treat as Zack is photo bombing! They are not shy, not at all and she knows if she gives me a kiss (which I taught her to do) that I just may have a horse cookie in my pocket. Kind of a dirty nose, but then its the stables and they sniff and smell stuff and well, can be plenty dirty until I groom them and clean them all up. And then we do it all again the next day! Its a labor of love, and one I will never stop loving. I enjoy grooming them as much as they enjoy getting dirty! You have to love the outdoors and not mind the dust and dirt as it is EVERYWHERE! 😀

  • Out on the trail and I am all alone with both my horses!

Mission Accomplished!! If you follow my blog you will know that what I LOVE doing with my horses is trail riding. We have miles of trails in our town and I do not trail ride alone very often. But there are times where my girlfriend is working and so if I don’t want to ride in the arena, I have to trail ride alone with both my horses. They are very good on the trails having logged in hundreds if not thousands of miles over the last 12 years. I ride Chloe and pony Zack (which means I have Zack leading next to me with a lead line while I ride Chloe in my western saddle). Here is a photo of Zack walking next to Chloe.

I am so proud of both my ponies and I am proud of myself for finally getting out there and riding. It has been my goal after moving to this new barn to ride alone with my horses on the trails. I’m a happy cowgirl! 😀

  • After my trail ride I turned out my girlfriends horse Gracie. She is 28 years old, doesn’t she look great! She is still riding her on trail and going strong!

I decided to give both horses a bath and usually I spray them off kind of like a car. Not that the spray is really hard but it helps to spray to get the sweat and dirt off their coat. But today I just let the water run over them and boy how they loved the water just running off their backs. I took videos but because my hands were wet, I tried to dry them off and then for some reason I held my phone at an angle and both videos are sideways. I’ve been debating whether I should share, because it bugs me that I can’t rotate them so it’s not right. I suppose you can just turn your head and still see them getting this wonderful cool bath on a hot summer day! Okay, I’ve talked myself into sharing one video of Chloe. I have a video of Zack which I think you have to turn your head to the left to watch. Haha, I swear I had my phone positioned correctly – apparently not! Next time I will do better and have the video straight! It’s all a learning curve right? 😀

Goodness, I am talking kind of strange too… haha, I am just a crazy horse loving girl and so forgive the sideways video. For those of you who do not own horses I thought you would enjoy it even though you have to turn your head. At least it’s not upside down, I would not share if it was! Since I took some still photos I will finish up sharing those as this post is all about my summer fun with my ponies!!! ❤ ❤ ❤

  • Nice and clean, so soft!
  • Treat please!!
  • He is the goofy one – Silly Zack! He is nice and clean!

Thanks for coming along with me on my horsey fun. We turned out the horses, rode out on the trail, turned out my girlfriends horse and then gave Chloe and Zack a nice bath! It was a beautiful day, and I have been wanting to share. I will have to make another trail ride video soon. I have shared one already which is here if you missed it. Loving my big furry friends!

~Diana ❤

P.S. If you really want to see Zack’s video I can share on another post, let me know in the comments. It’s okay if no one comments. It’s the same watery fun only you have to turn your head to view! Lol

Upside down is Beautiful!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crazy, Horse loving Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Dec. 10, 2019

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Living life, weekly smile5 Comments
What makes you smile? This is my weekly smile hosted by my blogging friend Trent! Thank you Trent as I just Love to share!

Welcome to my weekly smile and for me this week my smile goes to something that we all Love I think and that is the sun. I am so happy to see the sun and the warmth from the sun just made me smile! I also thought that my ponies were enjoying the sun as well and yes, I just have to share as they were really relaxed enjoying the beautiful weather when they were turned out and you know, I just have to share!

My girlfriends horse Gracie! You can see I am along the fence as she is in the arena wanting a treat!
The trees were being trimmed. The row of trees are all pomegranate trees and the horses like eating them and Zack is rummaging for some goodies!

I am outside the arena fence taking this photo with Gracie right near me in the first photo. I decided to zoom in on Chloe as she is WAY in the back of arena in the corner which I found amusing as she just stood there for a long time. I later saw some cows in the adjacent field that I am sure she was looking at, I wonder what she was thinking?

I haven’t seen her do this before as she stood there resting her leg for a long while. Over 10 minutes which is a long time when you are lose in an arena!
Zack finally made it down to where Chloe was standing. I thought my zoom photos turned out pretty good! I can’t believe how clean and white Zack’s coat is as there is mud everywhere! I am a happy grey horse owner with his nice clean coat!

That’s my smile for today! Short, simple and sweet. What made you smile this week? it can be something really simple like having the sun warm your cheek. I actually took these photos yesterday, such an awesome day. Today it was actually colder and more dreary without the sun. The clouds were hovering for most of the morning and then the sun peeked out and I enjoyed a wonderful trail ride just Chloe, Zack and I – so peaceful. I hope you all have a great week and thank you kindly for visiting my smile!

Smiling Cowgirl,

~Diana

My Weekly Coffee Share; Keep Smiling, Life and Horses

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, Love being Grandma, weekend coffee share15 Comments
Weekend Coffee share is a time for us to take a break out of our busy lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? any weekend plans?

I LOVE this photo of my daughter as we shared coffee a few months ago. I also took a photo of just my mug that I got served with the “D” on it, how appropriate and what’s the odds that the server at this restaurant happened to serve me a mug with the first letter of my name? Ironic, and fun. I could not help but take these photos as it put such a huge smile on my face! I am missing my daughter and thought what better way to share my weekend but with this cool photo. How is your coffee? or would you like some tea? Hot or cold, I don’t know which I love more, coffee or tea? and I was busy today making something that I wish I could share with you all! 😀

With the cool fall weather I wanted to make ginger cookies. This is before the bake!
After the bake and oh my, so DELICIOUS!! I wish I could share with ya’ll!

I’ll be honest, when I woke this morning I was feeling rather blue. I know this is normal as we can’t always be upbeat and happy day in and day out. What a melancholy morning and with the clouds and threat of rain it just seemed so gloomy and added to my gloomy feeling. I know you don’t need a reason to feel this way but I can’t help but ponder why and I got to thinking that I truly miss my family. My daughter who I mentioned and also my Son, his wife and my granddaughter. We are approaching here the longest time I have been away from my granddaughter and my heart aches to see her in person. I just miss them so much! I will survive and I know I will be visiting them in about a month or so. I was able to keep busy today and thought I would really like to share my thoughts here so that is why I want to KEEP SMILING! I read that smiling for just 30 seconds a few times a day can help you stay upbeat. I know smiling can boost your overall health as well. It is helping lift my mood and it always makes me happy when I share and write my blog. 😀

Feeling a little frustrated with my granny square blanket. I will have to take 3 rows apart as I don’t like how I’ve sewn it together. I have looked at many ways to put together and I decided I like the closer squares pictured which I chain stitched together. The back rows I will take apart, they are sewn together. That’s what happens when you work with these projects, trial and error! 😀

I shared a photo of all the granny squares in a previous post and I am loving how it is coming together. I am trying to get it completed because I want to start on a project for my new grand baby coming next year. I know I could just set this aside, but it really is more than half way done and I still will have time to work on the baby project once I complete this granny square blanket. I must say that part of why I want to complete this granny square blanket is because I’ve never made one and I want to see what it looks like completed. I will share once done so you all can see how it looks. I’m hoping really good. I love all the colors of it so its just a matter of making it look great all crocheted together! I can’t wait, I’m very motivated!!

These next 3 photos are from about 4 years ago. I was going to share with a throwback post but just never did so I am going to share here as they just make me SMILE! I need to smile today!
This was from the same day, I should make prints of these pretty ponies! They did cheer me up earlier today, I go to the stables every single day. It is my second home I think! ❤
Just something about this photo! Another one I should print and frame to see it everyday!!

I am enjoying sharing my coffee with you today. I forgot to ask if you needed a refill? I will say that this blog has really helped me as when I want to share it helps me sort out my thoughts. What do you do if you are feeling blue? I will say that my lower back has been a bit sore so I did some yoga this morning. I know I need to do more stretching and walking and it helped immensely so my blue feelings are pretty much gone now. Thank you for your support and I can’t wait for tomorrow to ride and work on my granny square blanket. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! You all help make me smile. 😀

Life is too short to be sad, so happy smiles help!

~Diana ❤

Labor Day Weekend ~ Sept 2

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life5 Comments

It is Labor Day Weekend, What? I can’t believe it is September 2, 2019. As I am writing this I have the news on watching Category 4 Hurricane Dorian stalled along the coast of Florida, my heart and prayers go to all those that may be affected by this hurricane. I know we can have disasters here where I live, earthquakes and wildfires to name a few and am thankful they are far and few between at least in the location of my house. But what I wanted to talk about was the lovely weekend I had at the stables. I am so thankful for my horses and all the joy that they bring to my life. It is also helping me to stay grounded as there are new stresses at home, so the escape to the stables is a blessing in disguise.

Zack on the left, Chloe next and then Gracie on the right in the cross-ties. ❤

It is getting more crowded at the stables. We have always had the same amount of stalls, but sometimes they are rented to people that either don’t ride or don’t come down the same time as all the “trail riders” and so there is sufficient room when I am there to exercise my ponies. Now there are more and more woman that are riding in the mornings making things like hitching posts or cross-ties a commodity. So all the photos I am going to share today are my ponies after my trail ride this lovely weekend but I had to tie Zack to the side of the cross-ties because there was no where else to tie him. Thankfully, he ties REALLY well, so does Chloe for that matter and there is a place to tie him to the side of this cross-tie. I LOVE all the grass at this boarding stables, for many reasons and one of them is when I hosed off Zack I was just watering the grass, NOT making a mud hole since this isn’t really a “place” to tie your horse. It works, it works really well I think! I can see myself doing this more often in the future with all the new ladies at the barn! Lol 😀

A more candid shot. I like it! If you look closer, Gracie isn’t “tied” she is what we call ground tied. Just standing without being clipped to the cross-ties. She pulls back and does not tie, silly girl gets scared when tied to anything. But she stands perfect without being tied! ❤

We have had really FUN rides and it has been great bringing Zack along as I am getting more and more practice ponying him next to Chloe. I now have gone across our busy 6th street with no problems (I didn’t think it would be a problem, but I wanted to feel confident before venturing out on trails where there could be more for either horse to spook at and I am getting it done with confidence!). I am very proud of myself and all my riding experience is paying off as I train more each time I ride out with both horses. Today we rode out and on our ride a motorcycle came towards us down the road and Zack got really upset as he doesn’t like motorcycles or bicycles especially riding towards him and he jumped up and really bumped Chloe hard but stayed in my hand on the end of the lead rope really well. He calmed right back down and just started walking again with no issues. Chloe was a superstar as she always is and just took the bump and let him be up and scared and she just stood her ground. I was really happy how it all turned out, no ride is perfect and you just have to be prepared for anything. This all turned out fine.

A friend at the stables asked if I wanted her to try and get their ears forward? Sure I say, silly ponies!!
Finally, with a bucket of carrots Zack is interested and giving us that pretty look! He has lost hair around his eyes, this happens to Chloe too, from fly spray use during the summer! That’s why he looks like he has dark circles under his eyes.

I so enjoyed riding this weekend and every day I can ride. I am so very happy I decided to try this ponying thing, bringing Zack along on our rides and it is a great challenge and is turning out to be a ton of fun and also is a super time saver. I am “killing two birds with one stone” as they say, which with what free time I can dedicate to my horses always has me leaving one of them less exercised as the other. Now they are both getting a nice 1/2 hour to hour ride each trail ride we go on and I am a happy camper with my new found confidence and trail ponying abilities. ❤

I started out this post with a beautiful rose bud from my garden. To say good bye to summer and to say hello to fall. We can still have some summer heat through the month of September, I pray it will start to cool off soon. It does cool off at night so that is helpful, if you get up early the mornings are really nice. I will end with a photo I took as my son and I went out on a late walk this weekend as the sun was setting. I hope you all have had a nice holiday weekend and enjoyed this last weekend in August.

Pretty sunset, good bye August!

Happy trails with my ponies Zack and Chloe!

~Diana ❤

101 POSTS! My Favorite Thing – Horses!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, Love being Grandma6 Comments

I can’t believe I have written 100 posts and this is 101! I have been extremely busy the last few weeks and have missed my blog. I won’t go into all the boring details but suffice it to say that my job and my chores and responsibilities have me running around like crazy and so I just haven’t had time to write. I was so enjoying writing at least once a week and want to get back to that in the near future. I finally have time today to get pen to paper (or hands on my computer!) 😀

My Ponies this weekend as they scratch each others back! They so enjoy this time together!

I have a series of horse photos I am going to share as I absolutely LOVE taking them of my two horses and my girlfriends horse lose in the arena. I am taking care of her horse as she is visiting her granddaughter this weekend. Her granddaughter lives about 8 hours away where her son and daughter-in-law live up North. So she is like me and probably millions of other Grandma’s who do not live close to loved ones or extended families. I miss my granddaughter so much, and I want to move closer but it is a huge undertaking and will take some time. I write often about this and even though my girlfriend wish’s she could live closer too, it isn’t feasible for her either at this time. How many Grandma’s out there missing their grandchildren raise their hands? I will be visiting mine in 2 weeks as it will be her 4th birthday. ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Zack getting a drink and Chloe looking at me for a photo I’m sure! Haha!
Zack is always a challenge to get his attention and his ears up, Chloe is a natural!
I just LOVE this photo of these two! Something about the sharpness, makes me smile! 😀
The three amigos Zack, Chloe and Gracie. I usually have to make them move faster than a walk!
Gracie up close and personal! Haha, looking for a treat!!

I know I have shared a lot of photos of my horses, and here you go, more photos of my pretty horses. They are what keeps me grounded and keeps me focused as they need care and they so enjoy being taken care of and they make me smile. I have been able to ride but not as often as I would like and am hoping my crazy busy life right now will settle down a bit so that I can fit in more riding time. My rides are usually on trail but I do enjoy riding Zack in the arena. I am hoping to ride Zack tomorrow. I was able to ride Chloe today with another friend at the stables. What do you do that keeps you busy? I know many have hobbies like painting, crocheting and knitting. I bet there are those that have young children that keep them very busy!! Those days are way behind me, so now it’s taking care of young animals/pets and older ones too! It is enjoyable, but can be time consuming.

Chloe is my rock, such an alpha mare and SO SURE OF HERSELF! LOVE HER SO MUCH! ❤

I’ll end by saying that even though I’ve been a bit absent and missed my blog I have been trying to keep up reading and commenting on others! I had plans on sharing on the weekly smile, but have only shared one smile blog, more smile blogs are in my future! And I also enjoy sharing on the Weekend Coffee Share and I was doing pretty good for more than a few weeks in a row. I want to get back to that and will soon. I enjoy sharing my thoughts and feelings and instead of going crazy on this post (I have a lot of thoughts that have been ruminating in my mind) I decided I want to just share my LOVE of these ponies. I think staying on this track makes sense and as I enjoyed my day riding on trail today, grooming, fluffing new shavings in their stalls and giving them lots of hugs I feel refreshed to tackle next week. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! ❤ 😀 ❤ 😀 ❤

Happy Pony Loving Girl!

-Diana ❤