Pictures, as promised

It's been an eventful horse-week. I rode Zane and actually learned to "steer" him - and I was surprised at how comfortable and confident I felt on his back. Have to admit, however, that we did not go faster than a walk!

And we just got back from the 4-H clinic that E's group hosted. Whew! What a day! But I think that all went well and all the attendees left happy and knowing a bit more about their hobby.

But what you really want, I'm sure, are the pictures.....so here they are:

Here's Zane, my newest love...although, I have to admit that I've had a crush on him ever since E. started riding him over a year ago (he was the first horse she started out on).


A couple of close-ups, hairy chin and all!



E. was having fun, trying to be "artistic"with the camera:
Then there's our guy, Curly, wondering what all the fuss is about his neighbor Zane:


And finally, Q, who was not cooperative and just wanted E. to get that camera out of his face!

If you look closely, you can see a bald patch on his neck where they had to shave him for shots/IV during his surgery.

Dinner time...gotta run!

Officially a cowgirl!

Well, R. is now "officially" a cowgirl. During lessons yesterday her horse decided it was time to roll - and she successfully jumped off as he went to the ground. I'm happy to say that neither rider or horse were injured and R. hopped back up in the saddle and finished out another 40 minutes of riding. We all gave her a round of applause to celebrate her new cowgirl status. :-)

Zane is for sale and A. has given me first dibs on him. I will be trying him out for the next three weeks to determine if he is indeed the horse for us. As much as I enjoy being around the big guy, I need to be sure that I'll feel comfortable riding him as he's another high-energy animal like Curly.

And as for Curly, we will be trying out a corrective bit to "soften" his mouth. He has become so hard that we're thinking that poor E. will never have enough strength to fully control him. And besides, as a well-trained animal, he really should respond to the slightest hand movement on her part. I'll let you know how this all goes....

E's 4-H club is hosting a horse clinic this weekend so we have been helping out with that. The work for the club members really begins tomorrow when we start setting up. We know that at least 40 people will be attending, but the crowd could be substantially more. E. submitted an article to our local newspaper describing the clinic and another community service project the girls will be doing this month - and it was published in last night's paper! It's so cool to see your little girl in print. (Another perk of living in a small town!)

Oh, and I promise to post some pictures soon. All this text is getting boring to even me!