Dork

Today Meatball decided to jump over both the trotting poles I was lunging him over at the same time. Dork.

Synchronized

Banana and Bean synchronized

And from another moment:

And yes, Banana's bell boots are on upside down. They're for her bedsores.

How Penny feels about winter

I want the grass back.

Snow here too

It snowed again, leaving the arena at the Taskmasters unusable till at least Thursday, more likely Saturday, maybe not till next week. I haven't been on a horse in... awhile. Between winter weather making the arena unusable and The Cold there hasn't been a lot of riding time. But, yesterday there was a Russian looking lady on my back porch:

What? You don't see the fur shawl and big furry hat?

We got about 2 feet, the mountains got more. Wolf Creek got 48". Unlike other areas of the country we rejoice when the white stuff falls as every bit of moisture means there's a slightly less chance of us catching on fire in the summer. Granted, if you talk to us in the middle of a bad winter we're all going slightly nuts.

Imagine this with several more feet of snow and that was the winter of '08 (you could only see the top rail of the fence.) This is the driveway. The trees are where the road is.

The ponies are happy, except as usual Condi was less than pleased to be stuck in the corrals while the storm was going on. I've stopped blanketing him. I was only doing it when it was really cold or snowing anyway. We're both happier with this arrangement.

Mud

The downside of the cold to warm to cold to warm to cold to warm winter... muddy ponies.

cough cough

I have The Cold. The cold that has been wandering around, that I had been successfully keeping away. Until the other night when my hip hurt so badly I had to sleep on the other side, forcing me to face my husband all night who, of course, had The Cold.

We'd been getting along okay, the cold and I. It gave me a sore throat, an occasional cough and need to blow my nose. Now? Oh god. And not only do I have The Cold I did something yesterday so my neck hurts. And my hip is starting again.

I don't recommend chronic pain as a lifestyle. You throw something like a cold into it and it sucks all the more.

So here I am on the couch today, cats arranged on the back, dogs beside me. I'm having a horse movie marathon. Right now I'm watching Sylvester and will follow it with International Velvet. Because, you know, the best way to make yourself feel less crappy is to watch people doing your sport at the top level and being sad because you're not.

Actually, I'm just having envy because they're galloping through fields and don't seem to have to worry about prairie dog holes.

Cuteness

Banana and Meatball

Banana likes to pace her pen, one of her less endearing qualities. I guess yesterday she was just pacing and pacing and pacing. So, today we decided we had to find her a friend to get turned out with. She and Meatball have gotten along pretty well over the fence, so we cautiously gave it a try.

No drama. Not even pinned ears.

After a bit they figured out they both like to run around, so they did. Meatball gave a couple of little kicks in her direction at one point, and pinned his ears a bit, but it wasn't even real dislike.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Check another one off the bucket list

I have wanted to ride sidesaddle for forever. Today, thanks to our awesome favorite saddle fitter, who brought down her sidesaddles, I got to. Bean was unconcerned. When I got on though she didn't want to move off, convinced I wasn't all the way on yet :D

Energetic Banana

Somehow, Banana has never worn a blanket in her life and she grew almost no fur this year. Therefore, now she has a blankie. I hate blankets and think the majority of horses wearing them don't need them. I will cave to the more naked or elderly though, hence her blanket. And blanketing Condi, even though he gives me a dirty look every time I put one on him.

She has some energy, my Banana. With Meatball and Bean if they're energetic it's harnessed in their obedience to their rider. I love riding them when they're full of it. Because Banana is so green her forward is a bit scary right now. It's nice that she has it and she'll have some serious XC speed, but oh I can't wait till she's more trained.