Last day of February

The time is just flying by. Last year at this time, I was driving a bus 50-70 hours a week -- now I'm back to my chosen career, technical writing. I like this much better, although I miss the wonderful people that I met, both children and adults, while driving.

As I sorted through some of my digital photos, I found some more horse pictures (what else?). Here's one of Sheba from the really cold days in February. She's an Arabian mare, quite pregnant, and gets cold if she doesn't wear a blanket some nights.

She didn't seem too perturbed when we went down to the field to fix her blanket, although she did have a tough time seeing clearly since the eyeholes weren't lined up properly. The culprit in all the blanket mayhem was Charlie, my 4-year old Appendix Quarterhorse (photo taken in Jan. 2007).

He's for sale for $5000 if anyone is interested - he trailers, clips, ties, and has basic walk/trot and lungeing training. He's incredibly calm and laidback, too. He stands about 16 hh and is good to handle in the field and in the barn. He's on hay and water, plus the occasional handful of sweet feed. He hacks out alone or with another horse without any problems, and even the dogs running at his heels don't faze him at all.

We got him in a trade in January - I traded my Canadian cross (Simon) for him as Simon needs to be worked harder than I want to ride - and Simon doesn't think that going out through the bush is a good thing - riding should be done in a ring or an arena. He's a princess, but doing very well showing in Toronto now.

Simon is very good when he works hard, and he's busy training students to sit up, keep contact, and winning ribbons in the Toronto area now. Considering we bought him just before he was heading back to the meat auction in Kingston in Nov. 2000 because he'd already failed as a school horse, I'm pretty proud of him. His new owners are thrilled that he's doing so well.

Other horses on the farm include Queenie, a leopard Appaloosa that we think is in foal to the stallion that we had here last summer, AA Decadence (a registered black Arabian - also the father of Sheba's foal). Her idea of heaven is a hay bale and sunshine...

I'll add pictures of Ti Buck (another boarder) later. He's a chubby 5-year old Canadian-type with very little handling. Since he moved to the farm a year ago, he's learned a lot, but he still needs a lot of work.

Day one...

Well, it seems as though everyone else does this, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

If you stick around, you'll get to see more pictures of horses, dogs, cats, cockatiels and knitting projects (in progress and completed). If you're lucky, you might even get to see a picture of me. Since I'm the one with the camera, it doesn't happen often.

If you're single, check out http://www.plentyoffish.com. You can find lots of singles in all age ranges all over the world there. Ottawa singles can participate in any of the Ottawa events listed in the Forums - they're great fun whether you're "fishing" or not.

I bought my pony, Sneakers, from Covenant Farm in Clarence Creek in 1997. He's 24 now and still a willing worker. Educated guesses put his breeding at Welsh x Icelandic or Newfoundland Pony. The last offer I received was for close to $20,000, but he's not for sale, ever.

Sneakers earned the Sneakypony nickname after he was caught crawling under the page wire fence to check out the grass on the other side - he had grass stains on his belly and a happy smile. He's affectionate, loves children, and has taught a lot of people how to ride safely. He babysits the yearlings and teaches them proper manners, and will watch over foals for any tired mare. Even though S'Heir is 4 now (and bigger than he is), he still protects her and chides her as if she was still a yearling.