Catching up...

Two weeks. Two whole weeks since I've taken the time to sit down and blog. How negligent am I? To be honest, I've been sick. Nasty, nasty cold. Still got it. In my chest. My nose ran like a faucet for 4 days...now I can't stop with the coughing. And talk about TIRED! So, I've been using what energy I have to run my daughter back and forth to rowing practice and spend some time with the ponies...

The family did come to meet Olliver. It was FANTASTIC! He was a good boy (of course). My niece adored him. I have officially given her "the fever." My brother hates me. Life is good :)

Emily got to ride Winchester...so did I. And my brother. And my sister-in-law. He was very well-behaved and minded his manners well.

Last Friday, T took the day off and we went riding. The weather was gorgeous (around 40 degrees). Got in a fair amount of loping. I almost fell off once though. Winchester picked up the wrong lead (he's kinda dumb about that)...the started weaving, and then threw in a couple of bucks for good measure. It was such a beautiful day...everyone was feeling good. Even the Old Man was running...couldn't believe he still had that in him.


We brought Nick home last week as well...a week early. We were dying to get him home and get the farrier to work on his feet. His hooves looked horrible. Luckily, once Larry the farrier got done with him, his feet look much better and he is feeling good.

Nick has some issues though. We need to put a lot of work into him. He runs if you try to catch him. He fights with Tubby like he's a stud. Squealing, screaming, kicking. He basically ignores Olliver - so I'm happy about that. Since he seems to have no idea that his name is Nick, we've decided to call him Talon. He just basically feels no use for or connection to us - time for the round pen.

Here I am...

I have been sooooo neglectful of the blog. It's winter. It's cold. I'm basically house-bound. And yet, I'm neglecting the blog. I promise to be better.

Olliver got to meet his new farrier last week. Larry came out on Thursday evening. Olliver got his pedicure. He was a pretty good boy. He did get a little wiggy, but overall he handled his trim quite well. Only filing...no clipping - which was great! Larry (who I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) couldn't say enough good things about my boy. Apparently he has perfect feet. Strong, hard, slow growing hooves. Naturally sloughing frogs. He had no bruising on his soles. Phew! Larry thinks he can fix some of the issues with the cow-hocking. Said Olliver's issue is pretty normal for his breeding at his age. Larry also breeds horses, trains (using Clinton Anderson's Natural Horsemanship) and he and his wife give riding lessons. Best part, he just lives a couple miles up the road from Traci. Traci and I are looking forward to spending LOTS of time at his place if winter ever quits.

Once Larry was done giving pedicures to the ponies....he and were chatting. He told me that it was very obvious that Olliver and I have a very strong bond already. He said that Olliver was instantly calm once I got to the farm that evening...and he responded really well to me. Larry totally made my night!

Sickeningly cold temperatures forecast for this week...along with blowing snow. We got about 5 inches of snow so far today. UGH! I'd give anything for a January thaw right about now.