Back in the Saddle and Feeding the Fish

I have not ridden in three weeks due to a lack of time and some physical restrictions. I had to have a very minor surgery a couple of weeks ago and riding was on the 'no' list for a couple of weeks although after a couple of days I could do all of my usual farm work. The week before that I was busy finishing up the last couple of days of dental appointments and just generally busy. I was very happy to get back in the saddle today. It was another gorgeous day today and perfect for enjoying the horses. I hopped on Sky for a few minutes and of course had very low expectations after three weeks off. I was only on her for 15 minutes total.


Too my great surprise I had one of my best rides yet on her. She remembered everything we had been working on as far as contact, pushing from behind, lifting her back, being on the bit, it was like we had not missed a day. I mostly walked with a few minutes of trotting and two 20 meter canter circles. I was expecting we would regress in our progress so I was very pleasantly surprised. She had lots of patting and heard "good girl!" over and over. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to ride both Sky and Bonnie. We all know Bonnie does best with consistent work, but maybe Sky has set the tone and Bonnie will give me a pleasant surprise as well.

Sky lifted her head from grazing for a moment when I took her picture

Things have been pleasantly routine around the farm the last few days. In an interesting herd dynamic note MyLight has become the definite boss mare in her group. The mares and Cuffie are always an interesting and entertaining group, you will recall the pony wars they had a couple of months ago! Anyway, in a gradual transition over a few weeks MyLight emerged as the alpha mare and has remained solidly in that position for a few weeks now. It was not a dramatic change but rather a gradual shift. The only real difference is that she gets fed first, and on the rare occasion that she pins her ears at one of the others they get out her way pronto. I definitely wasn't expecting this as MyLight has typically been towards the bottom of the order in the past according to her mom.

The weather has been pretty spectacular the last few days. It has been great to have normal October weather again, 70's and sunny. I spent a pleasant 20 minutes or so at the pond yesterday afternoon feeding the fish. My dad keeps the pond stocked and feeds the fish regularly so they are trained to come up to the surface to get the food. When you start throwing the food in all of a sudden it looks like a tidal wave heading for you as the fish charge their way to the food. The fish actually know the sound of his Gator and head over to the spillway when they hear him coming!

Not much else to report here so it is time to sign off.

These pictures of the fish with their mouths open makes me hear the music from Jaws playing in the background.

Cuffie, Missy and Lily grazing quietly

I love this picture of Apollo; he is a great horse with a kind personality and I think it comes through in this picture

Levendi's totally adorable face

MyLight and Buffy

Teddy, Lucky and Mr. O'Reilly

Trillion and Winston are buddies

This isn't the picture I was going for; B-Rad was resting his head on Ogie's back but he moved just as I took the picture

Faune and Sebastian can often be seen right next to each other

Enjoying retirement