A Favorite Photo of Indy

This is one of my favorite pictures of Indy:

Jessica, Sarah, and Maria Voutilainen 

The photo was taken at the ward 4th of July party in 1987. Maria's father, Jakki, was at the University of Illinois getting his DMA (Doctoral of Musical Arts). Her mother, Merja, was a horse lover and a far better rider than me. She loved to join me at the barn and ride. After Jakki got his DMA, they returned to Finland. Merja and I are still in touch (Facebook is a wonderful tool for that!) and she still rides.

Maria, like her father, also is a musician and has had several hits in Finland, winning one of the Eurovision contests which brought her to America for a tour in 2012. She lives in California and works in the music industry. She's married and her name is now Maria Kizirian. 

Indy!

Lisa is going through some old albums tonight and came across some pictures of my horse, Indy. I owned him while we lived in Illinois - he was a registered half Arab named Indabab's Image whose lineage traced back to Egypt.

I hauled Indy to the ward's 4th of July party in 1987 and gave rides to the kids. He was a HUGE hit! Here my friend, Lyn Tyler, also a horsey gal, gives me a break and is leading him. (Lyn lives in Arizona and has horses now. We're still in touch twenty six years later!)

The whole family rode Indy - even Craig! 

Indy had spirit (I NEVER wore him out - ever!) but he was gentle. So gentle that the Champaign Park District borrowed him and used him in their therapeutic riding program one summer. The News Gazette did an article on the program and included several photos of Indy being ridden by disabled persons in the newspaper. And, he was so gentle that I have a picture of me riding him while holding Curt who is a baby of maybe six months old.

I owned Indy from 1984 (or so) to 1988. When I got pregnant with Cole, I knew my season with Indy was over and that I needed to be mama full time. I brought Indy here and sold him to Steve Schuh of Horse Schuh Ranch (out in Shadeland.) I don't know what happened to him after that; I hope he went to a good home as he was a sweet guy.

An "Offended" Hokey

While Abby and Diablo were eating their carrots and apples, Hokey's nose got a little out of joint. He had been the first of the herd to come up for a visit, and I had given him three carrots before the other horses had ambled over. (They were downright pokey today - in fact, I did not think they were coming at all!)

So, when Lisa arrived with the apples, we didn't want to make him sick or give him colic. We did give him one bite of apple so he would not be left out, and then shooed him off.

He went over to the adjacent gate and put his head up, watching us (and those apples.) Doesn't he look like he is highly insulted?

Then he stuck his tongue out! (Probably he is just licking his lips, but it DOES look as though Hokey is going, "Neener, neener!" to Lisa, me, and the girls!)

Life is Good

Abby had a good morning, and she celebrated it with a satisfying roll while her BFF, Diablo, grazed nearby.

 What made her so happy? Well, Lisa got some really nice Fuji apples on sale and brought them out for the horses. Normally, she gets carrots or sugar cubes, and the occasional candy cane, along with an apple (or pear) CORE once in a while. But today, they got the real deal.

 Abby's eyes widened in surprise as she got her first bite.

Then, she, Diablo, and Hokey began chowing down on apples and carrots. A little along the lines of locusts, it seemed!

So much so that Abby's mouth was stuffed and she was having a hard time chewing it all. Bits of carrots got on her nose as she used the bars of the gate to help keep all the fruit and veggies in her mouth. (Notice that the bar to the right of her mouth is wet with apple juice.)

Who can blame a girl for wanting to roll after she's had such delightful treats??

A Longeing Lesson

Yesterday Lisa asked if she could ride Persuasion. Tim has offered repeatedly to let us ride any time we wanted, so I texted him to be sure he was still okay with it (he was) and off to the barn we went.

Since we were meeting my mother for a picnic lunch, we did not have a whole lot of time. And Persuasion proved fussy about her right ear - when I tried to slide the bridle over it, she would raise her head, shake it, and pull back. (Visions of a broken nose - mine, not hers - went through my mind once as she tossed her head!)

We decided to back off the bridling, longe her, and see if maybe after that, she might be more agreeable to being bridled. (I don't know her well, and did not know if she was just being obstinate or if perhaps there was something wrong with her ear. If it was obstinancy, then longing would take some of the extra energy and sass out of her.)

I didn't realize that Lis had never longed a horse before. She'd ridden while someone held the longe line of her horse, but she'd never been the one controlling the horse.

So, I got to give an impromptu longeing lesson - something I have not done in years.

 Persuasion circles nicely - she's very well trained.

 Circling the other way to ensure both sets of the horse's muscles are exercised.

 Learning to use the longe whip as an aid to keep the horse moving in a nice circle. (Many people think it is used to hit the horse - not at all! You never, ever hit a horse with it, despite it being called a whip. It's used as an "extra, long arm" to help guide the animal into what you would like it to do.)

We ran out of time and did not get to the next phase - attempting to bridle Persuasion and then riding her. We untacked her, brushed her, and then returned her to the pasture along with a carrot reward for a job well done.

Ears on Alert!

Horses' ears are very mobile and are often in motion. They will flick one your direction if they are listening to you, pin them back if they are angry, prick them forward if they are watching something closely, etc.

Having said that, check out this unusual picture of ears!

(It does rather make Dolly and Abby look rather mule-ish.)

By way of explanation, what is happening is this: Lisa is off camera on the left. I am holding the camera and am right in front of the gate. Both Lis and I have treats, and Diablo, Dolly, and Abby are VERY aware of that fact. What they don't know is who to choose to get the treat from. A simple choice - whichever one of us offers it first, but they don't know who that will be (although Diablo seems to have made her decision - Lisa.) 

So, the mares have an ear tuned to each of us as they listen for the sound of a carrot snapping or a candy cane being unwrapped. When that happens, they will head over to where the sound came from!

Clever girls!

A Pleasant Summer Evening

This evening I haltered Abby and took her out of the pasture to hand graze.

 The weather was warm but pleasant and the sun was still out even though it was 8:30 PM.

I plopped myself on Tim's flatbed trailer and she grazed around me, coming over to touch base occasionally.

Such a peaceful way to end the day - for both of us!

Broken Tile

The property to the east of the barn has a broken tile and the pasture is flooding as a result. Today Tim rented a backhoe and worked to repair it.

 He had to fence off several pastures in order to lay the pipes.

 And dig a ditch that meandered across those pastures.

Tomorrow Tim will lay the pipe and then cover it up, and hopefully the problem will be solved.

Horse-sitting Leslie's Herd

Since I am horse-sitting Leslie's herd while Groompa Camp is going on, I took the kids up to Brookston today when I went to check the horses.

Relaxing in the dirt seemed to be the order of the day!

 Beau enjoys a good roll in the warm June sun.

 TCPOTE (the cutest pony on the earth) also was reclining - in the manure pile! Oh well, I guess it was a soft place to lie down!

 Skippy and Trinity get acquainted.

Everyone got some sugar cubes and a good scritch before we headed back home.

Just Like Grammy

I remember doing this when I was her age:

A girl after Grammy's own heart!

Entitlement

Abby sure has developed a sense of entitlement - as in, if you're there, any and all edible handouts are hers.

She awaits her loving fans as they approach the queen of pasture ornaments.

 "Hey, both kids have peppermints - my favorite! Gosh, who will get theirs unwrapped for me first?"

"Oooo! Trinity is making good progress!"

 "But so is JC. Hey! Wait a minute!! Did he just give Trouble MY peppermint??"

At the End of the Rainbow

What's at a rainbow's end? Many people think there's a pot of gold.

Nope! I know what's there, and I have PROOF!!

Horses!!

(Of course! What else would be there??)

Who's the Boss?

Diablo is herd alpha - no doubt about it. Until it comes to my visits with Abby.

Abby munches while Diablo wistfully hopes for a bite.

Abby will pin her ears and chase Diablo off if she comes up while I am there. Diablo doesn't even argue with Abby; she accepts that, when I am there and handing out carrots, Abby is the queen. Any other time? Diablo is boss and they all know it. But not during carrot time.

Herd dynamics are a funny thing.