(One of) My Girl(s)

Cricket and I had a phenomenal ride today!!! We have not ridden for about 4 months, but it was a great ride! Not only that but I took her out into a field she has not been in before and we cantered all around the fields, it was great! She can be nervous, as I have enplained due to the missing eye, but she was good as gold today.
She has such a nice floaty canter (and trot) it is like sitting on a waterbed. She is my oldest horse (almost 17 yrs) yes she is most often mistaken for being one of the youngest. She is in great shape and she is very fluid and smooth in her movements.
Thats my girl :) I was also out on Phoenix today, but for some reason no pictures were taken of her....lol I will have to speak to the photographer about that ;)
See ya! We're off for more adventures!

Wanderings

Have you ever taken a real close look at what is living around you? I was wandering around the fields looking closely in the grass and among the trees. And I found a lot of different creatures living in and around these...

The first little creature I found was this little ladybug was just chillin' by the pool ;) Lucky, lucky ladybug that a horse did not come by for a drink....that might have been a little hairy for the ladybug.
Then I came upon this fella here. He was hidden pretty well in the grass and it took a few attempts before I could properly catch him in my camera focus to take the shot.
This deer came by the fields. She was very fast and Cricket spotted her and ran over to the fence to have a look and this spooked our poor deer friend who scampered off into the forest.
Yikes! I found this slithery fellow when I almost stepped on him. There are a lot of snakes out here, I have seen a few of then out sunning themselves. This is fine, I don't mind it at all....BUT I do not wish to have an upclose encounter with one.....and I definitely do not want to step on one...that might not be pleasant for me or the snake ;) (I love zoom lens....you can get close without actually being close).
Ha ha, just had to take a pic of this annoying fly who was resting on Cricket. Darn fly.

Uncle Jimmy Visits the Ranch

Uncle Jimmy came for a visit. He is very tall...Phoenix looks like a pony!!! lol
Buck would like the carrots that Uncle Jimmy and my Mom are feeding to Cricket.

City Dwellers Visit the Ranch

Some city slickers came to visit ye old ranch! Cher and her boyfriend Nick came out to see all the animals....it only took a few months of asking ;)
Nick and Cricket. Aw. Her photos would look better without the fly mask on but I have to protect her one good eye. Cricket is missing her left eye. Totally. Its gone.
Apparently Cricket was THE horse to pose with for pictures :) Well it might have had something to do with the fact that Cricket likes to have her photo taken and always hams it up for the camera!
Boys. What can I say? Buck and Nick get acquainted.
We are not really sure what is happening here....and we might not want to know what is going on ;) This picture has become an inside joke and Cher and I laugh everytime we think of it....Nick took a lot of teasing because of this picture. lol Its because of Ace's expression.....priceless.

Little Mr.

This is Little Mr. You have seen him before, he was born in the barn. He was being silly today and thought it might be nice to rest in the car on a nice soft cushion.....

He got kicked out of the car and back into the barn....
Doesn't he just look so impressed?!

Fun With Pheeny!

Phoenix is an amazing horse. She is willing to do pretty much anything. She lets people climb all over her, and do all kinds of things with her and she takes it all in stride. Ace is very much like Phoenix.
Pheeny and I have lots of fun together. She is one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Goofing around with Pheeny.
Riding with just a lead rope snapped to her halter under her chin.
Gotta love this horse.

Pheeny is going to have a baby next May! The stallion produces amazing foals, calm and well behaved (Ace) and Phoenix is an amazing horse who is very smart and kind. I have high hopes for the little one.

NEVER Provoke A Llama...

Ebony is the most timid llama ever...or she used to be. Then she realized that she can spit. Now who has the power??
Cricket really made Ebony mad.....
So Ebony chased her all the while spitting and frothing at Cricket.
Poor Buck was the next victim. He just edged a little too close....and WHAMO! Spit on by Ebony.
Phoenix is warned.......
And hit with llama spit. Yuck!

The horses have all learned to respect Ebony and give her space.....LOTS of space.

Herd Pictures

A favorite picture of mine. Blaze is not in the picture so its not perfect but I like the way they are all lined up and all eating. They look so relaxed and very comfortable with each other.

Here is everyone, almost, this time Kiwi is not in the picture. How come they can never hang out all together and close enough for me to take a picture when I have the camera!?! They do it all the time when I don't have one...
Aw everyone in the forest. Unfortuately they are all facing the wrong way! I only had one vantage point from which I could take the pciture with them all in it...if I went to the other side (and trust me I tried) they were too close for a picture. Oh well, I am glad to see they are using the forest.

Cricket is on her way back to the stud farm on sunday for a 3rd and final breeding this year. Really keeping our fingers crossed that she takes this time. Phoenix is progressing very well in her pregnancy :)

'Deer' Me

If you look closely to the right of this picture you will see a white and brown spot that is jumping..its a deer. The llamas to the rescue, they chased this deer aroudn the field for a few minutes until the deer was able to make an escape under a fence and get away.
Here during their deer chase they branched out around it to move in on it... llamas are certainly excellent guards...here they are saving grown horses from a deer :) I think they are adrenaline junkies and thrive on the thrill of the chase!!