Saturday, May 8, 2010

Spring in Northern Michigan

One day it's 80 and sunny. The next, you have a winter weather advisory! 2-5 inches of snow. I'm not kidding!

So today, I woke up to snow flurries (the 2-5 never transpired thankfully) and temps in the 30's. I kept thinking of all the young riders who would be getting their horses prepped for the first show for Stepping Stone Horse Shows. What a miserable day for them! Of course I had to go take photos...

I have a soft spot for little girls with their ponies. Maybe it's because I never had that opportunity, my family felt that horse camp for 2 weeks in the summer was enough.

So off I went -

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and this young rider was very serious about her ride and her looks. She had to match and it had to be pink/purple...

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She was not necessarily happy but her horse seemed fine!

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but she won a blue ribbon and her outlook changed

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and this young rider had her hands full and did a wonderful job. Seems her Clydesdale has the heart of a race horse and wanted to GO!

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and I thought this was the coolest coloring on a horse!

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Once I was sufficiently cold, I headed over to see my own guys who had to be cooped up in their stalls due to the inclement weather. They were happy to get out:

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And Ollie was a piece of work!

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But Toby will always be my regal man

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Sadly, I was a bad mom to Toby today. I took Ollie out for a ride. I had opened up the barn doors to let some fresh air in. Toby has the end stall, next to that door. I rode Ollie for quite awhile and he was a rock star once I got on him. It took me a 1/2 hour to get on his back because of him moving backwards at the mounting block. I told him I had all day and eventually he became bored with the game. Ollie was a joy to ride once we got to it. In the meantime, the wind was howling into Toby's stall. By the time I got to Toby, he was shaking like a leaf! Literally shaking! I put a blanket on him, put him under our heat lamp and made him a hot bran mash. It did the trick. But wow! It was something to see my big guy shaking like that! I was moving all the time and didn't realize how chilling the wind was and it was a strong cold north wind. Poor guy!

When I left he was snug as a bug in a rug while munching on a flake of hay. Poor guy! I need to be more aware of the needs of my senior citizen!!

So while I messed up, I think I made up and am back on his list as a good mom. Which is a good thing for this weekend. Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom's who read this blog. Even if you're only a Mom to 4-leggeds like me!!

3 comments:

  1. Happy Mother's Day to you, too!! I rode today, first time in six months (cleared by my surgeon ;o) I had a great ride, too, though my fellow was quite zippy too, and I opted to ride around my acre (inside the fence ;o) just in case. Discretion being the better part of valor and all that.

    How's your foot? I read part of a Blog about a first-time horse owner and her OTTB; she had a lovely hoof-shaped bruise on HER foot, too.

    Hope your foot is better. Must have been since you're riding.

    And weather--we're due for showers tomorrow and Monday, but I'm riding anyway. No chance I'll melt ;o)

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  2. Congrats on riding again! I bet that was good for your soul.

    Thanks for asking about my foot. The swelling is down and the colors are up. Very colorful... but I'm fine. I have to use laced shoes and lace them very loosely.

    Enjoy Mothers Day and your ride!

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  3. Thanks. Did enjoy Mother's Day and I rode out the gate, around the block a few times and we worked on NOT dancing on the way home. He gets to the corner of the housing development and for some reason, it's time to "bustamove."

    Ah, laces. Excellent to "lace them very loosely."

    Do check out arnica gel. I've had bruises disappear in a day or two (usually I bruise easily and the black and blue "look" lasts). Good to have it around since getting stepped on with/without boots is an avocational hazard ;o)

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