Patch the Buck

This is the stallion that my sister is going to breed Tillie to this spring. He's huge! They are really hoping for a buckskin foal...

Slick Left Prints

I met this stallion last week. Someday I hope to be able to breed him to Tillie. The result would be a fantastic foal!

Good Morning, Tillie!

Remember last winter when I showed you how the horses' pasture is right under our kitchen window? This morning Tillie was standing right under the window and looked up at me when I spoke to her. She looks so goofy from this angle!

It's the hay guy!!

Tillie is waiting anxiously for her breakfast...

Snow, snow and more snow...

Yesterday's photo of Lily was taken in the morning, before the storm started. Compare it with this one taken in the afternoon! See how the snow has made a blanket on Tillie's back? It's amazing how well her winter coat insulates her! Her body heat doesn't even penetrate it enough to melt the snow as it falls on her. I don't worry about the horses during snowstorms because they are so well prepared. We did throw them some extra hay though, because the overnight temperatures dipped well below zero degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was really blowing hard, so I knew that they would appreciate extra munchies...

Muddy Horses

We got a lot of rain overnight, which made the pasture muddy. Apparently Kitch thought it would be a great idea to roll around and get dirty! I figure he's sticking his tongue out at me in response to my, "OHMIGOSH! You're a mess, Kitch!!" I don't think he cares. ;-) I thought it was funny how Tillie was just peeking up over him, hoping that I wouldn't notice how muddy she was too...

From my front door...

So sorry I missed posting yesterday - I've injured my back, so I'm confined mostly to the couch, with a little bit of walking around the house allowed, as I feel up to it. I was racking my brain, trying to think of something interesting to post, and came up with this idea - repeating my very first post! Compare the view out my front door today, with the view back in February...

Haley

Remember my 'Partner in Crime', Haley? Besides car rides, she LOVES to go trail riding with me. Here she is in the woods, where she runs circles around us, checking out every single scent! You can almost hear her, "Hurry up, will you?!" She wears a perpetual smile.

When we have to travel along a road, I tell her "Heel!" and she tucks herself right in beside Tillie.

When I'm riding Kitch or Lily, she'll actually put her nose right into their tail and walk directly behind. Unfortunately, she had an accident with Tillie last spring and doesn't trust her anymore. I can't blame her and am so proud of her for trusting me enough that she'll travel this closely for safety sake. I would HATE for her to get hit by a car, and if she wouldn't perform this trick for me when I ask for it, then she wouldn't be able to go on these adventures with me anymore. That would just be too sad. Actually, considering her injury last spring, no one can believe that she CAN do these adventures anymore! For an almost 12 year old dog to heal from that severe an injury is almost unheard of - she's quite amazing!!

Highs & Lows

After the day I had yesterday, this was the best way to recover - 2nd place in the Novice Division at the team penning at the Windsor Fair!! YEEEEEE HAAAA!!!!!!!

Last day of summer vacation...

Look at me on my own blog again! My older son wanted to practice using the timer on the camera. Which was just as well since I was holding the horses...and no, they're not really as close to the edge as it looks like they are, although plenty close enough. See how Tillie (big bay horse) is standing all hunched up? She didn't like being there very much! What a good girl to trust me!! What always amazes me, is that every time I ride the horses up there, they spend the first several minutes gazing around - I wonder how much they can take in and what they think of it all...

This is how the boys wanted to spend their last day of summer vacation. We hiked/rode up The Pinnacle, which is near our house. This huge ledge at the top of the mountain provides breathtaking views. We go up there a lot, especially when we have guests because it's a relatively short hike with gorgeous scenery, particularly during fall foliage.

Black-Fly Season

They're enough to drive a body insane, whether man or beast!! In Maine, we determine our outdoor activities based on when the fly season starts - you do not want to go camping when they are at their worst! Some people purchase head nets and wear them religiously whilst gardening. There are stories about deer and moose going crazy and wreaking havoc. Kitch has a particularly hard time dealing with them, since he didn't meet them until he was 15 and moved here from New Mexico. He always drops weight in the summer because he runs and runs around the pasture trying to escape the flies. (It's okay though because he always puts that extra weight back on during our lazy winters!) He also spends a lot of time walking through the underbrush, scraping bugs off his belly.


Tillie has it figured out though! And this blows my mind because it's a foal behavior and not something I've ever seen an adult do - she keeps her head in Kitchy's tail so that whenever he swats at flies, he brushs them off her head!! Brilliant, although she almost lost some teeth the first couple of times she tried it and he kicked at her....

Hey there!

Poor Tillie, the horse, really doesn't know what to think of Daisy, the lab puppy. Tillie was born on a farm where a couple of sneaky little dogs was always nipping at her heels. On principle, therefore, she hates dogs. Daisy would really like to be her friend and is always right in her face, which confuses Tillie. In the past, I have seen her pick Daisy right up by the scruff of her neck in frustration. Daisy, being a lab, didn't let that bother her and continues to try to befriend her. After all these months, I think that Tillie is figuring out that Daisy isn't a yappy, nippy dog and maybe they can be friends after all....