Christmas in July??

Nope! It's not Christmas in July; they're for something else.

Or rather, someONE else. 

Abby.

A young girl who rides occasionally with Tim shyly sought me out after Sacrament Meeting at church this morning and handed them to me without a word. I knew right away what was going on.

"Are these for Abby?" I asked.

Still not speaking, she nodded.

"Well, thank you! Abby loves candy canes, as you well know."

The girl nodded again and melted back into the throng of people before I could say anything else.

Hmmm, I think "Abby" will send her a thank you note later today.

A Morning Visit

I usually visit Abby in the late afternoon or evening, but Craig and I are sharing a car right now (his was church-owned, and since he's retired, he had to return it) and so I can't just pick up and go when I want to - I have to coordinate with him, too. (Although Craig is VERY considerate and easy to work with.)

This morning I was running errands and it was such a lovely morning (the air conditioner in the house is off and the windows are open) I decided to pop out to the barn and hand out the carrots early.

Time of day doesn't matter to the herd - if you call them, they come running!

 The boys led the way - I'll refrain from making any wisecracks about men, boys, and food.

 And, they will be chased off as soon as the girls arrive, so if they want a treat, they have to beat the girls up. But, I don't give them treats. Trouble gets very pushy, and Hokey was getting insistent, so I quit giving them hand outs.

 None of the mares have had any problem handling munchies, so they get them if they come up.

 Here they come, with Abby and Diablo in the lead.

 The geldings give ground as Diablo and Abby arrive at the gate.

 Abby, you are so beautiful!

 I just happened to catch some pictures of her in profile.

 When I brought her to the farm the day I got her, Tim was surprised at her quality. "She's not quite what I was expecting from a rescue horse," he said.

He's right - she's really got good conformation and color. I suspect she has registration papers, but my inquiries to The Appalosa Horse Club have been fruitless. Unless I DNA test her, she cannot have any papers.

But that's okay. I can enjoy her with or without papers, and will always be thankful that she came into my life.

The Girls and Me

I rarely get a picture of myself with the horses unless someone goes with me and takes the photos. Trinity obliged me when we were showing her cousins the horses last Monday.

A bar was down on the fence, so I stood in front of it, just in case the horses pressed against it too hard in their quest for treats and it came down, too.

I gave Diablo a little attention...

... and diva-girl decided to come to the other side of me and interrupt it.

She knows she's my favorite!

Thanks, Trinity, for taking the photos!

Groompa Day Camp Visits Abby

On Monday, we had Groompa Day Camp with Braden, Addie, and Corinne. At the kids' request, we took a field trip out to the barn to visit Abby.

Trinity worked as the carrot/sugar/candy cane handler while I stood at Abby's and Diablo's shoulders.

 Abby reaches for the treats Braden offers.

 Addie's turn with help from Dad and Trinity.

Abby hopes Trin has something for her, too!

An Almost Escape

Sunday when Lisa got home from visiting the horses, she commented that Persuasion had been separated into a paddock by herself. "That's odd," she said. "Why would Tim put her there by herself?

I responded that perhaps Dolly and Tanna were coming home soon and would be keeping her company and then didn't think anything about it.

Until yesterday when I realized just what was happening.

JC, Trinity, and I were out checking the herd in the afternoon. Suddenly, Persuasion ducked under a rope used to temporarily fence the horses out of an area Tim was letting grow. While I was surprised that she did that, I really wasn't worried until I realized that there was just a rope separating that field from another, and that the gate to the other field was being used to keep the horses out of another part of the pasture.

Which meant that, should she duck under that other part of the temporary fencing, Persuasion would be loose. And if the other horses joined her, we could have a bunch of horses to round up and catch.

Thinking fast, I ran into the barn, grabbed a longe whip and a lead rope, and dashed back to the pasture. I had Trinity take some treats down to the pasture the horses were supposed to be in with directions to call the herd, and then stationed JC with the longe whip at the spot where, if the horses ducked under the rope, we'd have escapees. His task was to wave the whip and shoo the horses away from that section of fence should they go that direction.

Normally the horses are quite willingly follow the food. And naturally, this would be the day when they did not. They stayed with me, despite Trinity's best efforts to entice them.

I hustled back to JC and grabbed the whip, then snapped it in the air behind the horses. That got them moving down the lane, and when they realized Trinity had sugar cubes, they were happy to hang with her.

Giving the longe whip back to JC (in case Persuasion, who was still in the verboten pasture, went his way instead of toward her herdmates) I stepped under the temporary fencing and approached her. She is a sweetie, and turned and walked to me as soon as she realized I was nearby, so putting the rope around her neck and leading her to safety was no problem.

Clucking and shooing, I got the horses back into the pasture where they belonged.

Except for Abby.

 Remember how she follows me around? And hangs out with me? She saw no reason to move on with everyone else.  I snapped the whip - not even an ear twitch. I waved my arms and told her to go on. Nothing.

I even pushed on her shoulder to make her move; she took two steps and looked at me patiently if a bit puzzled - I have never pushed her away from me before.

Finally, I got some sugar from Trin, showed it to Abby, and then walked out into the pasture where I wanted her to go. True to form, she ambled right after me, and after getting a pat and a scritch, finally wandered off to join her friends.
Quickly I pulled two gates together, fastened them into one, and the horses were secured.

I called Tim and let him know what had happened and how I had handled the problem, and he said he would be out in an hour and thanked me for taking care of the problem.

I sure am glad I had JC and Trinity with me - I am not sure how I would have taken care of things otherwise!