I just love the silence of snow.  I always amazes me how quiet it is while it is snowing and right after.  I makes me aware of how noisy the rest of the days are!  KC has experienced his first snowfalls.  He just loves it.  He ran and ran around biting the snow.  He was so cute!  The horses are not too fond of it.  Makes them have to work a little to reach the grass or what is left of the grass.  I hope all of the snow we have had early in the season isn’t an indication of a snowy winter.  I am better prepared than last winter but I still don’t want it!

We have baby squirrels in the back yard.  There are three of them.  They are so cute!  Yesterday they were running about together, jumping and running, leaping into the fence and trees.  I just wanted to run outside and pet one.   I will try to take some pictures of them.

Horses are doing well.  They had a few days of being over reactive.  I think it was because of the weather being cooler. A couple of weeks ago Oliver stomped on my right foot when his nose hit the electrical fence.  I am not sure if it is broken.  The swelling has gone down a lot but it hurts really bad and there is a lump.  If it doesn’t get better soon, I guess I will go and have it x-rayed.  So as a result, I have been lunging them.

Other happenings…I finally got the grass seed down.  Or mostly down.  I still need to do more in the back pasture.  I hope to have that done this weekend.  Then the worrying will start…hopefully they will not get sick from eating too much yummy grass!

Yesterday Betty called me to tell me that she and Al have made me a sign for the front of the property.  It will say Smiling Horse Farm!  I can’t wait to see it.  It should be here next week.  I will take pictures and post them.

This week we had some more visitors…Al and Betty came to the farm and visited with us.  They got to meet Oliver, Woodstock and KC.   It was really nice to see them and I am happy that they were able to come and see the farm.  They brought me a very cool flag with a horse on it for the front yard. I really like it. Will prepare a great lunch…baked ziti and a baked chicken alfredo.  It was really yummy!   I hope they will be able to come back again soon.

Not much of anything else happening…I am waiting for rain so I can lime and fertilize.  I am also heading north to check out some Timothy hay.  I am not happy with the last load of Timothy/Orchard grass that I bought.  It started out nice but has turned quickly.  The horses are now just picking through it and wasting most of it.   I am really amazed on the lack of nice hay in the area.  I didn’t ride this week either.

I am thinking about becoming a distributor of Chia Seeds.  I have had the horses on them for about four months and I have started eating them too.  They are really, really good for you…better than flax.  I have taken the horses off of flax too.  So about the Chia,  I will let you know what I decide.  I might take Smiling-Horse.com to a different format.  We will see…

Well…off to the store!

Today was very exciting for me!!  When I rode Oliver today bareback, I cantered him!!!  Yup!! You read right…I cantered Oliver without a saddle!!!    I have been wanting to do that for years and today I did it!!  I am so proud of Oliver for his kindness and willingness.  He is an amazing horse. I am also happy with my riding and have Bruno to thank!!   The last couple of days when I have ridden Oliver bareback, I have been learning how my position means the world when riding. Riding Oliver bareback has helped me too when riding Woodstock.   Several times I turned Oliver without the reins….just used my legs and butt!  Soon I will ride him with no bridle too! Some of the other things we practiced were shoulder in, haunches in, leg yields, half pass and turn on the haunches.  All without the saddle!  I am so excited!!!

And Woodstock is also coming along.  He steers really well now in the bitless bridle and has become much steadier at the trot.  Today I tried to canter him but wasn’t able too.  I am not sure if he has learned how to do that.  I will need to have some lessons with Bruno.  In an event, he is coming along really well.  I am excited about him too!!

Over the weekend I had a nice visit with Jeff and Cheryl.  The came over and spent the day with me.  It was so nice to have company.  Cheryl has been over before but this was a first for Jeff.  He met the boys and helped out a little.  They also took me out to dinner at the County Seat Restaurant in Powhatan.  Great food, great company and a great day!!  I hope to have many more visits!!

Now I just need to come up with a name for my farm…Any thoughts?

Well…I thought I could be better on writing on my blog…So much has happened the last few months that I have been so tired to sit and write anything.  Let’s see…I just love my KC, Oliver and Woodstock.  I am always amazed on how smart they are.  KC is growing up.  He is 41/2 months old and is so smart.  He has learned to sit, lay down, shake his paw, speak and now we are working on sit and stay.  When we are outside with the horses, he follows my hand signals on which way to go around Oliver when we are walking to and from the manure pile.  He is truly the best dog in the whole world.  I have some updated pictures of him under the pictures file.  KC has also helped me with teaching Woodstock.  I have had some issues with Woodstock breaking his cross ties.  Although I am not cross tying him right now, I have found that grooming him in his stall makes him be less anxious.  As a result of some slow and kind retraining, Woodstock has become very affectionate.  He really is a sweet boy.  He has for the most part learned  to steer in the bitless bridle and there are some moments when I think we are really connected to each other.  I hope to get to Bruno soon for some learning for me to help Woodstock along further.

And then there’s my baby Oliver.  What can I say.  Oliver and I have a very special bond.  Although there are some days that I think he is saying…what are you doing with Woodstock, you should be spending all of your time with me….he is so patient and generous to allow me to spend some time with Woodstock.   The last few rides I have ridden Oliver bareback.  I really think Oliver likes it.  We have been doing some trotting and I am getting up the nerve to canter bareback.  I will do it soon!

So besides riding and caring for the boys, so much has happened here.  My sister Christine came to visit.  My older brother Michael had planned to come but ended up not coming.  Steve from Cable Company, Clearing and Grading came and cut down three trees in Woodstock’s field, leveled the slope in his field, took one tree down in Oliver’s field and then took seven trees down behind the barn.  They also leveled the area too.  I was hoping to use that area as a very small arena.  I have been getting quotes but I think it will have to wait until my neighbors can cut down the trees next to the fence.  I have pictures uploaded too.  After the trees were removed, I divided the pastures so I can rotate and it will be easier to reseed.

Then there was the broken water pipe that brings water to the barn.  In trying to figure out what was leaking, I had to have the health department tell me where my septic tank was. So then while I was having the tank pumped, they fixed the water leak.

I also had Rinaldo come and help me will some pasture work.  He helped rake the leaves, sticks, and rocks from when the trees were removed.  He filled holes, weed whacked and got my farm looking really good.  I hope to have him back in the next couple of weeks to lime and fertilize the pastures.  He as been a tremendous help.

So you can see why I am not perfect with updating my blog.  A lot has been going on but now things are caught up and I hope to do better!

I just can’t believe that I have the best horses in the world!  My sweet Oliver greets me with the happiest smile on his face and whinnies to to say hello.  He remembers everything that he has been taught over the years.  This week I had to ride him bareback because he has a tick bite where the girth would go.  I decided to try the “pass” that signals the lifting of his front leg for the Spanish Walk and he just remembered it like we had been doing all the time.  I am always so amazed at him and how smart he is.  My sweet baby!!

Woodstock (aka Lil Brother) also greets me with a whinny.  I have given him the nickname because he wants to do everything that Oliver does.  If he doesn’t get to, he gets really mad.  So I have to be sure that I have time to do for both because if I just do for Oliver, Woodstock will get very upset.  I am still amazed at how flexible he is.  It is so easy for Woodstock to bend and reach various body parts with little to no effort.  I have ridden him now a few times a week.  He has gotten a lot steadier. We has been learning to steer.  I ride in a bitless bridle so he has had to relearn a few things.  Plus he has helped me realize when I don’t keep the outside rein.  We get better everyday.  He really is amazing on how quickly he learns.  He also has a very good memory.   Before he came to me, he was taught some of the natural horsemanship stuff.  I am not sure which method but I know that when I am leading him and I say whoa, he turns and faces me.  This can be a little annoying but I am glad that he stops!

I have the best horses in the world!!  My life will never be the same because of them and I am so glad for that!

Well I am happy to find out that though my pastures have some weeds and will need some work, they are not bad.  Eric from the cooperative extension office spent about three hours with me walking the fields for toxic weeds and identification of trees.  I do have some trees that will need to come down soonest.  I have a red maple, a few cherry tree, and trees of heaven that have to go.    In Oliver’s pasture there were a few horse nettle and lamb’s quarters that were identified.  After he left, I quickly removed them.  Oh…and in my neighbor’s field about three feet from the fence was a poison hemlock.  I was stunned.  That thing came out quickly.  I will have to monitor what is over there too.  Hopefully once they move in, they said they would clear that area so hopefully there will not be anymore.  Next week, Eric will be back to take soil samples so I will know how to proceed from there.  A little more progress!