Slideshow

These are all photos from 2010 with a few from January 2011 thrown in.  They are not in any special order.  The music is Bryan Adams from the Disney film "Spirit".  It's the first time I've tried something like this and I'm happy with the result.  Please let me know what you think! 

Well, Blogspot won't let this play here anymore because the songs are copywrited.  But... you can still watch it on the YouTube page, the link is in the upper right corner of this blog under "links".

Trail Rides

I've been working on a video, a montage of clips and photos from some of our rides this summer and fall.  All video was shot by me while riding either Jazz or Becca, so I'm afraid that it's sometimes pretty choppy.  It's just really hard to hold the camera still while riding!  Anyway, since it's the middle of winter I felt like we needed a "virtual" trail ride....  As always, if you can't view this here go to the DHF YouTube page (link in upper right corner).

Winter News

Hello Everyone - I decided to give Tapper a break (though she's been doing a wonderful job) and write the blog myself this time.  So here's whats been happening on the farm...

Snow!  We've finally got plenty of snow, we have had 2 big storms now, the last one dumped 16" or more on us.  So no more ouchy feet for the horses, yeah!!!  They've been having lots of fun rolling in it as you can see with Becca, Sassy, and Ketu.

Oh yes, speaking of whom...  Tony finally has a new name.  Carla was looking for something that reflects his personality and his color/markings.  He has a crescent moon shape white marking on his head.  It looks - especially with his fuzzy winter coat - like the moon about to be eclipsed.  So she thought about calling him eclipse, but that doesn't flow off the tongue well when you are calling him in from the field.  After going through more names than I can tell you about, she found (with a little help) Ketu.  Ketu (pronounced keh-too) is the descending (waning) lunar node. In Hindu mythology, Ketu is generally referred to as a "shadow" planet. It is believed to have a tremendous impact on human lives and also the whole creation. Ketu is often depicted with a gem or star on his head signifying a mystery light.  Astronomically, Ketu denotes the southern point of intersection of the paths of the Sun and the Moon as they move on the celestial sphere.  Eclipses occur when the Sun and the Moon are at the northern or southern (Ketu) point. The people who come under the influence of Ketu can achieve great heights, most of them spiritual.  So it seems to fit him quite well don't you think?

The other big news of the month is that all the mares are now together during the day!!!  The 2 that concerned me most were Tapper and Sassy because they both like to be boss, so I put just those 2 together at first.  They quickly battled it out and thankfully there was no bloodshed, and Tapper won that battle.  I then started adding in the other mares until they were all together - 6 in all, Tapper, Sassy, Becca, Starlight, Dolly, and Summer.  Since then, they've had a few more confrontations and Sassy has come out on top (still no bloodshed thank goodness!) so Sassy appears to have taken over the herd.  Tapper now stays away from her, and Sassy has been busy making sure the other mares all know she's boss.  So far the only one with any marks on her is Sassy herself, and quite frankly she deserves them!  They aren't bad, a couple of scrapes and a little hair loss, no big deal.  Why can't they be more like the boys and just get along???

When I put them together, Dolly and Summer immediately went into heat and fell in love with Ketu.  You can see Dolly and Ketu leaning on Summer's back making moony eyes at each other below...

Sometime this week (depending on the weather) Chance will be leaving when Viki takes him back to school with her.  We are going to miss both of them.  Chance (below) is a sweety, and Viki has been a huge help around the barn.  Maybe they'll come back someday...

Tapper's Resolutions

Happy New Year to you all!  It's me, Tapper again.  I overheard mom talking the other day about something called a resolution that people make this time of year.  It took me a few minutes to understand what it was all about but I finally got that it's like a promise to yourself to be a better person or horse.  Of course, there are not too many things that I should change, but I talked with the other horses and a few of the owners and they came up with a whole list of stuff.  Some of them apply to all the horses, some are more specific to certain horses (and you KNOW who you are!!!).  So anyway, here is the list we came up with...

I will NOT try to roll when my human is on my back.
I will NOT leap over or away from large nonexistent objects when the whim strikes.
I will NOT walk faster on the way home than on the way out.
I promise NOT to poop when you are cleaning my back feet.
I will NOT bite my farrier's butt just because it's there.
I will NOT wipe green slime on my human's clothes or blow my nose on my human.
I CAN walk and poop at the same time, I can, I can, I can!
I will NOT leave if my rider falls off.
I will NOT try to mooch goodies from every human within a 1 mile radius.
I will NOT lay totally flat out with my eyes glazed over and my legs straight out and pretend I can't hear my human screaming "Are you asleep?"
I will NOT grab my lead rope in my mouth and attempt to lead myself.
I will NOT have an attitude problem, I won't, I won't, I won't!
I will NOT pull my new shoes off just to prove I can.
I will NOT eat or remodel the barn or the fences.
I WILL accept that not every carrot is for me.
I will NOT do the Sneaky Teleport Trick when a bad/naughty/awful scary thing breathes at me.
I will NOT jump in the air and turn 180 degrees every time I see a bicycle, and I WILL understand that bicycles are not carnivorous.
I will NOT bite the butt of the horse in front of me dring a trail ride just to say "hi".
I WILL put my ears forward and cooperate when it comes to photos.
I will NOT come into heat every time I meet a new horse.
I will NOT try to kick anyone, at any time.
I will NOT mistake fingers for carrots.
I WILL believe my human when she tells me that the mailbox, trash bag, rock, stump, etc. will NOT eat me!
I will NOT find the muddiest spot in the paddock to roll in after my bath.
I WILL hold up my own feet for the farrier.
I WILL move when my human tells me to, without making them use a crop or spurs.
I will NOT try to choose the shortest trails home when my human is trying to go a different way.

So there you have it, our list for 2011.  We don't promise to accomplish everything here, but we  do promise to try.