Pictures!!

This is Stormy, Destino's miniature horse friend. Isn't she pretty?

This is a picture of the creek that runs through the 80 acres. Those are some more of the miniature horses.

Here's Destino, coming because I called him =)

The mini's coming back across the bridge. They were wondering what I was up to!

And here's Destino!

I know this one's blurry, but I like his expression!

Here's a close up of the bridge across the creek. I'm just so amazed that Destino will cross this!!

And of course my little Angus.

In this picture I had stepped across a little ditch that DID have water in it, but doesn't now. Destino was quite concerned and kept walking up and down his side looking at me... then he looked down at the ditch...
But he decided the couldn't cross... so he walked down the ditch about 300 feet and crossed at the dirt bridge, then walked down my side back to me. He is so cute!

Here he is just after crossing the dirt bridge.

I was done brushing him and scratching all he itches and turned to leave. He stood and watched me walk away, then noticed that his mini horse friends were across the creek, so here he is walking across the bridge to join them!

I'm so absurdly proud that he will cross this bridge! There is MOVING water under it!

Look at the dirt flying up behind him!

Running and running!

And here he has joined the little girls.

He's greeting his friend Stormy.

Then he looked up to see where I was. He is such an awesome horse!

This is a picture of the mountain range to the west of the ranch. I thought this was such a pretty shot of the foot hills and the mountains.

Visiting

Hubby and I drove over to check on Destino last week. He had been at the Ranch for 3 days and I wanted to see how he was settling in. He wasn't in the corral that I had put him in. He had met most of the horses over the fence and my Friend thought it was time to let him out.

She told us that the big horses were all gathered at the fence. Destino dove right through them and made a bee line for the mini horses. There are about 35- 40 mini horses out there. He ran straight up to them, then they started running and they had a big run fest for a little while.

When we got there Destino was still hanging out with the minis. It's a pretty funny picture to see a 15 hand Andalusian with all those little guys hanging out around and under his tummy.

I called his name and he came right to me. He had somehow made it across the big creek that runs through the 80 acres. They have a bridge and I have a feeling that he tip toed across it to get to the other side. His feet were not wet or muddy. I'm hoping that there will come a time that he is comfortable crossing water. My Friend says that it gets pretty sloppy around there whenever it warms up, so I'm thinking he won't be able to keep his feet clean ;)

He was relieved to see me, he kept pushing his face against me chest and followed me everywhere like a huge shadow. I went around and scratched some of the minis, the ones that I knew, introducing Destino to them. (My Friend bought quite a few of her minis from me and Destino had met most of them at one time or another on my farm.) By the time I left he had a little friend, Stormy was a mini that I knew, she had belonged to some other mini Friends of mine. She decided that Destino was alright and was shadowing him when Hubby and I left.

I'm thinking I'll head on over there today to see him as well. I'm crossing my fingers that he still remembers me! (I'm going to take a pocket full of treats and his favorite brush to joggle his memory...) I promise I'll take some pictures while I'm there!

Change

Well, change is in the air! I've moved Destino over here, closer to me. He is now on a ranch in Sheridan, MT until I can find a place here in Ennis to keep him. Annabelle went to a good friend's house in Stevensville. She feels that she can work her through some of her issues and use her! Cheers! Now I only have to pay board for one horse. I think I can swing that =) That's all for now!

As Promised!

Better pictures of Destino and Annabelle =)

Aren't they cute together?

I love this one with his ear cocked at Annabelle.

"Hello beautiful."
This one is so cute! They both stood so well at the end of their lead ropes...

A Little Video...

Every time we go into the round pen, Destino has to lay down and roll. He has to. It's almost impossible for him to pay attention if he isn't allowed his roll. Thank goodness he doesn't feel so strongly about rolling when we are out on the trails. That could get way too exciting!

I got some new blue barrels. He hasn't decided if he likes them yet. When we go one direction he will just push one of the barrels out of his way, so he can go through. Then when we go the other direction he'll jump with a little encouragement =) He is so funny! And way too smart sometimes...

He is so good about going in the trailer. Once he's in, I ask him to back up, when he gets close to the drop off, I touch his rear with my hand. That's his signal to step down. You'll see in the video. It's pretty neat! He is so calm about it, I can stop him half way out! He'll just stand there and stand there. I love how controlled he is when loading and unloading.

Here's what we've been up to...

Enjoy!

Destino Has A New Friend!

Look what Destino got... A pony!

She is a little miniature mare that my Grandma had. She used to be a driving horse, but had an accident in the cart and is now un-useable for driving. She has been in with big horses most of her life, so we thought she would be able to hold her own with bossy old Destino and so far so good! I think it works great that she is a mare. He thinks she is wonderful. Unless I'm out there then he spends his time keeping her away from me. But he isn't too mean, just a bit bossy, so I think it will work out well. It's a win-win for both Destino and AnnaBelle =)

I"ll get better pictures soon. I didn't think about it until this evening and got these through the window =) But they look content don't they?

Play

The other day I wanted to Play with Destino, but wasn't feeling well, coming down with a darn cold... so I was a little lazy. I decided to just go into his area with my stick (it's pink!) and play a little. I left the gate open out into the pasture, if he wanted to leave he could.

He met me at the gate, of course. I played Friendly Game with him, then stepped back and asked him to circle me. The Circle Game isn't his favorite. But he went around once, then looked at me and headed for the gate. I waited, he walked through the gate, immediately disengaged and looked at me. I obviously wasn't going to follow him, so he came back to me. I patted him and then asked him to circle me again. He went around at a nice walk two times with his ear on me. I asked him to disengage and back a few steps, then more Friendly Game, then I asked him to circle me in the other direction. He made it half way around then headed for the gate, went through and immediately disengaged again, saw I wasn't following him, and came back to me. I told him "Good Boy" and petted and petted him. Followed by some more Friendly Game. Then I asked him to circle me again and he did! Two whole circles, I disengaged him and told him "Good Boy!"

We were in the middle of his huge pen at this point. He was facing me and behind him a ways was the gate out into the pasture. So I pointed my stick at his feet, swayed it back and forth and did the YoYo Game, back and straight out the gate. I asked him stop once his body was through the gate and then asked him to come back to me. He did it all perfectly. AND during this time a friend of mine and her little girl were riding their horses down our driveway! I stood in the middle of his pen, with him beside me and whenever he would take a step forward I would ask him to back up and stand with me. He did this perfectly until they rode right up to his fence. And even then he didn't break from me to go visit the new comers!

What a wonderful feeling it is to have such an awesome relationship with him! I love the fact that he always wants to be with me. He is drawn to me and that is something that I can't explain with words. It leaves me grinning from ear to ear and feeling like we really accomplish something whenever I work with him!

Sigh, now if only I could train my Hubby so well =)

Tuesday September 22

Yesterday Destino had a small lump removed from his back. He's had it since I got him. I just thought it was a little owie that would heal over time, but it never went away. It was about the size of a penny, right in the middle of his spine, right where I sit. I talked it over with my vet a couple of months ago and he said that he would remove it in the fall, when I wasn't riding him so often. He'll need a few weeks rest.

WOW! He cut it off. Hubby said he cut about the size of a silver dollar off, then sewed it back up. I guess he cut open the lump and some clear stuff leaked out and it was full of hair. The vet is going to send it off for testing to be sure it's not cancer. What!? Destino is only 2! I pray it's not cancerous. He doesn't have anything else like that anywhere else, I've checked him over thoroughly.

He is pretty sore today. His back is all swollen and tight. I put some Geranium oil on it. It's an antibacterial. Poor Guy!

Oh My Goodness!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted! What's wrong with me! It can be hard carrying two blogs, and I've been posting over at Ladybug Farm, but nothing horsey...

Destino is doing very well. He is so handsome, I love just looking at him. I can sit out by him while he grazes and just watch him eat. I'm sure he loves all the googly eyed "staring" attention LOL!

He is a funny horse. Very smart and always looking for ways to use his brain, and his imagination. He can jimmy his gates, he tries to figure out how to undo the dog collars that I have wrapped around them too. Luckily he hasn't figured them out. Frankly if he does, WOW. It would be amazing, they buckle =)

He plays and plays with his balls, he talks to himself in his mirror, he watches everything that goes on. He loves it when I go out and play games with him.

We have been working on the circle game. He knows that when I point I want him to go around me. He starts to, then looks around and will walk in a straight line until the lead line pulls him back around the circle. It's so frustrating! He does the sideways game pretty well now, though HATES to do it with a fence in front of him. I don't know why... he's particular.

He trotted up the trail with me riding him the other day. He was following Hubby, Little L and Big B up the trail. They were hopping from rock to rock and jogging a bit. Destino was quite excited by them and trotted gaily up the rocky trail. He never took a wrong step! I was so proud! And WOW his trot it so DIE FOR! It's smooth as silk. Even with his head up and ears pricked forward. It makes me so excited to try his canter!

First we have to work on forward motion WITHOUT someone or something walking in front of him (he'll even follow Angus, if the boys or Hubby aren't around to follow). I've tried all my tricks and he just stands there, foot cocked, licking and chewing, yawning, and not moving forward. He'll back up, turn in circles, stand all-day-long, but no forward movement! Frustrating.

We have a lesson this Saturday at 9am with a Parelli Instructor. We've had several lessons with him and we love them! The lessons are so informative. I feel like an hour lesson tides me over for a month or more. I've saved up and am going to have a lesson this weekend, then another next weekend. Hopefully that will tide me over for a few months!

I'll let you know how it goes =)

Ta Ta for Now!

The Event

My Mom and I made the 3 hour trip up north on Friday to witness "The Event" and all I can say is WOW!! Rebecca Farms is an absolutely gorgeous place to be. As far as the eye could see were rolling hills, green grass and AMAZING jumps. The eye candy was by far the many many beeeeeautiful horses being ridden, being lead around, being jumped and doing dressage. It was just simply amazing. I can't wait to go back and hope that I can be so lucky next year. And as usual, I took LOTS of pictures. 250 to be exact. BUT I'll just show you a few =) Don't want to bore you or anything!!

Onto the show...

This is the second jump in the Training Level cross country course.

I'm not sure what number the jump above and below in the next two photos was, but it was somewhere in the middle.

What a handsome horse the above one is. He looks like an Irish Draft of some kind. Very steady...

A water jump! How fun!!

This jump was like a table. Not only was it about 5 feet tall, it was about 4 feet across!! Holy Moly!!

The above horse has a cute, curly mane. She must have competed in dressage before she ran this course =)

I love this appy! What a pretty jumper it was too!

I love this angle. I was enjoying getting the really close, close-ups.

A tail flip!

Oh, I just LOVED this big gray horse. His name had the word Granite in it. I think he is an Irish Draft as well. So steady and such a careful jumper he was.

I love this angle. I got some of my best shots here!

I believe the above horse's name was "In It To Win It". Love it!!

Here was the dressage. Such pretty horses. These same horses were the ones jumping the cross country course. In a three day event, dressage, cross country jumping and stadium jumping are all done by the same horse and rider. It's quite a test of athletic ability and communication.

I hope you enjoyed the photo show! If you live close by, you NEED to go to Rebecca Farms when they have "The Event" next year. Beautiful!!