Thursday Evening, Continued....

Since tonight's blog would have consisted of mowing the lawn and hauling water, I opted to continue with last night's much more exciting storyline:

I get home last night and notice there's something amiss....


What's wrong with this picture, other than the escaped Polar Bear in the background?

Patience is missing her flymask. Her BRAND NEW flymask. Dammit! OK, I'll look for it. Here is my search area:


Yeahhhh......righhhhht........

So I look, and look, and look, and on about my 5th pass around the pasture, I spot something!


Could it?????

YES!!!! Score!!!


Crisis averted! Not sure how in the world Patience managed to get it off and somehow it was still velcro-ed securely closed. Maybe I should have called her Houdini?

I went ahead and took the fly masks off of everyone else. Especially this ridiculous-looking thing. Poor JJ--he acts like he can't wait to get this unfashionable thing off his face.


Bambi then decides to have some fun and scare the begeezuz out of Charlie.

Love that look on his face! LOL

Samson...

Samson closer....

Samson closer still....

Samson closest.

Did you know Great Pyrenees love to swim? At least this one does. I didn't get a good picture of him all the way in the pond, but he really does doggie-paddle all over in it. It's pretty funny to watch him toodle around out there.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the girls were having a bit of fun.

Sophie ran up to "help" them and they surrounded HER instead! Way to work as a team, girls!

Sophie soon gave up and decided to join Samson in a romp. I call this picture "Happy Dogs."

If it was typical July weather they would have been "Hot Dogs" but it's pretty cool out--not enough for "Chilly Dogs," though.

Most the time they're just "Corny Dogs."

I'll stop now.

I think it's time to sleep now. I "relish" the thought.

Dear Lord, please forgive me. That was wrong. And please bless the starving pigmies down in New Guinea.

Evening Glimpse

I took a lot of pictures tonight and have a story to go along with it that I will share tomorrow since it's getting late. I did, however, want to--no, need to--share a few special photos that turned out so nice, they just couldn't wait.

All of these photos have not had a single bit of touch-up. The lighting was just perfect and I just got lucky....

This is my favorite all-time photo of Samson (so far). Those are my boogie's eyes--so handsome! :)


These girls look so cute together I can hardly stand it....

I don't know why, but I really liked how this picture of Charlie turned out. The colors are so rich...

And Bambi. I can never capture in a photo how pretty she really is, but this comes close.

Jennifer's Gifts

When I got home this evening and checked the mail, I got a great surprise! My good friend Jennifer had sent me some goodies!


I've been friends with Jennifer since we were in the 1st grade. Ever since then, we've been more like sisters. We went to each other's college graduations, her whole family came to my wedding, Jennifer, her sister, her mom, and I all hang out together when Jennifer comes to town. We've been very good friends now for 27 years. We're so close that she's exactly one week older than I am (which I point out every chance I get, of course, being the good friend that I am).

Here's a picture of her on one of her travels. She's skinny, tanned, stylish. I hate her.

I can say that--we're in that place :)

Side story: One time we were in a restaurant and she said something to me and I thought she called me a 'ho,' so I started laughing so hard, it caught me off guard. She started laughing, too (it's contageous, you know) and asked me what was up. I said, "Did you just call me a 'ho,' you slut?" We both just busted up and were in tears we were laughing so hard. Finally the manager of the restaurant came over and we thought we were getting kicked out, but he offered us a free dessert instead! He apologized for the meal taking so long, but we hadn't even noticed. We were having way too much fun!!

So back to today--she sent me some goodies from her latest travels to Italy! First, this gorgeous hand-blown glass bracelet from Venice:

Then this pretty artistic bottle filled with Lemon Liquior:

And of course a fun note:

It was such a great treat to come home to! It's so thoughtful of her to bring me back something from her journeys. She always does...

Like this handpainted gourd from Costa Rica:

Antique horse statuette from China:

Absinth from the Czech Republic (notice still unopened--I'm a bit afraid of the green fairy):

A piece of rock from Shangra La:

This beautiful necklace from Thailand:

This Kashmire Pashmina from Prague:

This gold bracelet from Madrid:

And I didn't even get pictures of the embordered tablecloth from China or the cute handbag from Hong Kong!

I love these things, and not just because it's fun to get gifts (because let's face it, it is)! I love them because even though Jennifer is halfway around the world she still thinks to include me in her little excursions. I would love to go with her, but I chose my horses and therefore choose to be broke and home-bound. I love my kids and wouldn't change that for anything else in the world, but to have little pieces from all over the world given to me by my friend who I think the world of, well, that means more to me than all the tea in China :)

Random Notes

Just some random items tonight.....

First of all, how bad of a parent do you have to be to have your KID suspended by APHA? Screw up your own life and name, who cares, but what in the world would possess someone to flush their own kids' names down the toilet?! I'm still floored, although nothing should surprise me at this point! LOL!

Anyway, on to tonight--by the time I went to work, the grocery store, the feed store, came home, hauled water, took off everyone's fly masks and fed, I wasn't able to get a single picture!

My little new edition is doing great. She is out on pasture with her new pal Bambi and she is keeping up her weight very well. I love her temperament. I've decided to call her "Patience." She is truly the most patient horse, let alone baby, I've ever encountered. I think it fits her, too.

Anytime I ever hear the name "Patience," I think of the great old movie Westward the Women. Unfortunately they have yet to put it out on DVD. It's a Robert Taylor western, and filled with so much character and humanity I find it as entertaining and poinant as I did when I used to watch it as a kid. Here's a clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCvOulOZNZU

I talked to my friend Sandra, down near Diamond, MO and she has decided to offer Benz for sale. Benz is registered with APHA as LooknFabulous InaBenz. His sire is Hustlers Fabulous Too and his dam is Check Out My Mercedes, a futurity-winning granddaughter of Impressive. Benz is HYPP N/N, Overo with one blue eye and Sandra says he is HUGE! She'll be getting new pics soon. She just has too many prospects. He hasn't been gelded yet, but given he already is maturing quite quickly and this awful market he really should be gelded this fall. He'll be a super all-rounder, especially on the open show circuit! She's asking only $750 and will consider offers to good homes--just let me know if you'd like to be in touch!! He's pictured as a weanling below.

I've been thinking after I get Eddie home and things calm down I really need to get a commuter car. 100 miles a day on the truck costs a lot in gas and tires! I've been looking around to see what one might cost, but I just don't know about these mechanics around here....

Have a good night, everyone!

P.S. I broke down tonight and bought a new flymask for Miss Patience, so we're set! Thanks so much to everyone who offered to search their tack rooms for her. I just couldn't take seeing the flies on her face anymore. Now she'll fit in with everyone else and I can go to work in the morning knowing she doesn't have to fight those nasty flies all day :) ~J

I Can't Wait...

My boy will be home soon....


My big, fat, playful, ornry goober of a boy.



It's really amazing he's done so well, with his disability.



Traveling all over the U.S. keeping those silly broodies in line....


Keeping his little sister in line, too :)

It's been over a year since I've seen him. I can't wait! Only a few more weeks now....

Thank you so very much to Vicki Morgan for taking such wonderful care of Eddie. Really, you understood how much this guy means to me and took care of not only his basic needs, but you went the extra mile to treat him like he deserves--all those little extras he enjoys, like being hosed off on a hot day or playing tag with a jolly ball. It means the world to me that you did this for him and I. Thank you so very, very much!! :)

A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color...

...but there are plenty of bad horses with good color!

I have nothing against "color-breeders" in general. Actually, as a paint horse breeder, I'm somewhat included in that group, although I don't steer my program away from sorrels. I do appreciate a really nice dilute, double-dilute or homozygous horse when I do find one, though, so I thought I'd share a few really nice quality horses of color that I've found on the internet.

This boy makes my heart go pitter-pat :)

Skips Misty Cloud is a 2002 Cremello stallion standing at Brooks Paint and Quarter Horses. He is of the best Weiscamp breeding, top-of the line, and he RIDES. This stud not only produces non-sorrel foals, but he also has a job and competes in ranch horse competition.

I have always admired this horse:

A Tru Rolex has earned more points than any other APHA stallion ever! He has over THREE THOUSAND and he's homozygous both black and tobiano! This is really what color breeders should strive for--promoting their colored horse just as much as any sorrel (and this guy has clearly blown them all away)!

This one turned on the switch (to a new way of thinking):

Who said a halter horse couldn't be tobiano? Ima Switch Hitter went up against that stereotype and smashed it.

I'd like to make a toast to:


Champagne Cool. This is such a nice stallion. High quality and that always stunning champagne color...cheers!

Finally, a real gem:

Barlink Gold Rush is a old horse with a new color. They only recently discovered the Pearl gene, originating from the Barlink lines, which turns a dilute (in this case a palomino) into a very different, irridescent shade. This guy is gorgeous, proven, and has longevity on his side (something you don't see too often in halter horses anymore).

These stallions prove that there is much more to breeding (any) horse than just one aspect. Yes, they are horses of color, producers of color, but they also show that good conformation, promotion, showing, and producing more than just hay-burners are equally important qualities. Kudos to their owners and trainers for all their success!

Saturday Follow-Up

As much trouble as I had last weekend, this weekend has more than made up for it in good fortune. While today is still early so I should be knocking on wood, throwing some salt over my shoulder, and watching out for any black cats, yesterday was a pretty darned good day.

It started out going down to Rhodes Paint Horses near Mound City, KS. It was only a 20 mile or so drive, so I felt ok with running down there with the trailer, although I had yet to get my tires all fixed (sigh). I ended up working late all week, so that left no time to take care of these things.

So I went through Amsterdam.

No, not that Amsterdam, this Amsterdam.

And along the way I went by "The Barn," a local mechanic's shop and they happen to be open. I saw lots of tires and rims out front, so I turned the rig around and stopped in to see if they had a tire and rim I could buy for a spare for the trailer.

They did, and I also got a replacement tire for my truck (those 17" tires are so flipp'n expensive). They mounted and balanced the tire for me, put it on my truck, and loaded up both my truck spare and new trailer spare all for $80!! I was absolutely thrilled! A new 17" tire alone is well over $100, so I was very happy to find a good place to buy some used tires very reasonably. In a perfect world I'd have enough money to buy a brand new set of 4 tires, but when you're running a farm on a single income (and recovering from some significant economic setbacks over the past two years), you do what you have to to get you by.... All in all, though, it was great luck to find that place!

So, I went on down to Angela's from there to look at her beautiful show horses and this little girl.

"Glory" (registered as The Magic Question) is practically blue-blood. She looks a little rough, having been weaned AND went through the strangles we've been battling, but it's easy to see her overall structure is still very, very nice.

Her sire, Almighty, earned 28 APHA halter points in his short career (cut short by a stifle injury). He was a 2004 Honor Roll Leader and got 6th at APHA World in 2004. I've always loved this guy and he is now owned by my wonderful friend Darlene Worthington (Painted Prairie Farm-see link at left). Almighty's sire is the all-time leading APHA halter sire Mighty Awesome, and his dam is a multiple-champion producing daughter of the legendary Page Impressive, and out of a Do Do Chick daughter (some TERRIFIC west-coast breeding here).

Plus, Almighty has a great mind. Here Stana, 16 years old, is handling him. Can't beat a stallion with a show record, great looks, great breeding, AND a great mind!

Glory's momma, Molly, was raised by Rhodes Paint Horses. She's a daughter of Superior Halter stallion Dontcha Luv Magic.

Molly has a great production record, with an APHA World placer,


APHA Congress Reserve Champion,

and an APHA pleasure point earner!

So Glory came home with me. We're keeping her "in the family" so to speak. Truth be told, I wanted an Almighty baby so bad I couldn't hardly stand it. It's a LOT cheaper for me to adopt Glory (thanks so much Angela, for giving her to me, PLUS kindly providing some feed for her as well as did all her registration, shots, etc--so thoughtful of you!!), than to breed one of my mares and wait for something that I might end up losing anyway. I was incredibly impressed with Glory's temperament. Not only is she a high-quality filly, but she's VERY level-headed, calm, and forgiving. I need a lesson horse in the worst way, and while it will take a while, that's her future here. Having lost Larry left a big hole in my program and Paula will never have the patience that Larry did. I really believe Glory will, and she'll be a show-quality so I can take my students to local shows with her. I think she'll be very useful in my program :)

Here she is in the foreground, getting settled in and getting to know Bambi:

I got this shot of Laramie playing last night. Silly girl!!

Laramie has an abscess growing on the SIDE of her jaw now, darned the luck, so I'm pretty much counting out the 5-star this year. I hate to, but it doesn't seem meant to be. I'd better get things in order, anyway, and we can start showing early next year. It wasn't all for nothing, though, because Laramie and I have really gotten to bond, and she's come along by leaps and bounds in her training. We'll be CONTENDERS next year!! :)

So, today, I got a few more pictures for follow-up. Charlie enjoys staying inside during the day. He digs the A/C.

The boys after breakfast. JJ is feeling much better, now--thanks to everyone who wished him well. He sure took the strangles hard.

One more thing I had to show on today's post, is Bambi and Glory all settled in. Thankfully they took to each other and are out enjoying the pasture.

No, I didn't use special effects...


They really are almost the same height!

Glory is a decent size--not huge like her sis Ellie was but she is probably taller than average. But....poor Bambi....she really is a shrimp! LOL I love her, though, and I don't care--in my old age I'll need a horse easy to get on. I sure hope Bambi doesn't develop a complex, though. She's a little hard on poor Glory, and who knows if that's why. Don't worry Bambi, good things come in small packages :)

**Side note, if anyone has a weanling fly mask they can loan me just for the rest of this summer, please contact me. I don't want to buy one since I'm not raising any babies anytime soon. Or I can trade some older tack for one. Let me know. Thanks!!