The Best Visits are the Ordinary Ones

The snow has mostly melted and the lane to the old barn is clear and not too muddy, so I was able to easily visit with Abby this afternoon. As soon as she heard my voice, she came over, softly nickering as she approached.

She's got some mud on her, but I don't mind that - she spends most of her day outdoors, after all, and is very happy. (Tim calls her love of rolling in mud her spa treatments.)

She's not a cribber nor does she chew wood, but she does like to lick the metal bars of the gates. It's an odd habit, and she only does it after she's had her treats.

 One of my favorite things about Abby is the pink coloring inside her nostrils.

Who'd have thought an animal's nose could be so pretty! It's super soft, too.

It was just an ordinary visit today, but those are the best. I drove home, remembering that gentle nicker, her happiness at seeing me, and thinking how lucky I was to have a horse in my life.

O'Boy, My Father's Circus Pony

Saturday I was at my mom's apartment helping her put away her Christmas things. As I opened a cupboard, I saw an old cigar box.

Not really a surprise, since my father smoked cigars and then saved the boxes and used them for storing things. Knowing that, I wondered what was inside and why she was saving it. So, I opened the lid.

Old photos! And right on top was this one.

A picture of O'Boy, the circus pony my grandfather bought straight from the circus for his kids!

"That's your dad's cousin, Betty Jean," my mother told me when I showed her what I'd found.

I shuffled through the pictures in the cigar box and there were all kinds of photos of my father's family that I had never seen. I was most interested, though, in those of O'Boy.

 Like this one of my dad galloping past the camera in 1936.

 Or my grandfather, Robert Martin, showing off one of O'Boy's circus tricks.

That's my father in the back and my uncle Bob in front handing O'Boy something.

As my father told the story, his dad surprised the family some time in 1936 by going to a circus that was in town and buying a circus pony, bringing it home unannounced. When my dad saw him, he cried, "Oh, boy!" in excitement, and that became the pony's name.

I have very little more information beyond that, and had only seen one picture of O'Boy, so I was very excited about finding these in that old cigar box tucked away in my mother's apartment.

I credit O'Boy with my own love of circus horses and ponies, and my horse collection features quite a few from Breyer, Hagen Renaker, Donna Chaney/Animal Artistry, and even a Freeman Leidy.

Winter Visits

Winter visits with Abby tend to be less frequent and short in duration due to the cold and snow. The horses winter in the old barn so I either have to hike through the snow and ice across a couple pastures to get to them or drive down an access lane/drive that is infrequently used and does not get plowed. You have to back up to get back onto the road, an added challenge.

But even if I don't get out, I know Tim or his son-in-law, Brandon, did, and that Abby was checked, has fresh water and access to hay day and night, and a warm barn she can choose to go in and out of. I love that she is able to live where she can come and go as she pleases.

 She has her BFF, Diablo, to hang out with.

And she grows a long coat that protects her when she chooses to be out. (I rarely blanket a horse and only in extreme cold and if the horse shows signs of being uncomfortable.)

 There is a lot of wildlife out where she is - here is a Cooper's Hawk up in a tree by the fence line.

 I keep Abby barefoot, too. Tim  trims her as needed, and her feet are in wonderful shape. (A far cry from four years ago when she was rescued and her hooves were slippered!) I check them carefully in the winter as the frozen ground can be hard on horses' feet, but Abby is an Appaloosa, a breed known for its hardiness and scrappiness. (Er, and just possibly its sassiness. Indiana Horse Rescue dubbed her Sassy.)

Hokey soaking up some rays from the weak winter sun.

All in all, it's a pretty idyllic place for a horse to live, and that is all I want for her.

More Good Grandmothering

I love kids. That's why I had a big family and why I am a teacher. And now, in my role of grandmother, I work hard to be a good grandmother and help to see that my grandchildren have educational toys, books, and other items.

 Like this birthday gift I just sent Julie for her second birthday.

It's a pony that projects actual star constellations on the ceiling! 

That covers developing her horsey side while introducing her to the wonders of science. Throw in that there are three color options for the projection of the stars, and you could argue there's some art learning going on, too!

Score one for Grammy!!

Krazy Kritters Ponies

While reading the Hagen Renaker book that I got in December, I was surprised to discover that The Little Shoppe, a place where I buy my HRs, had done some mini animals in unusual colors, targeting children. They were called Krazy Kritters, and apparently there was a kids' club of some sort with lots of the HR minis in funky colors.

Intrigued, I did a search online and found them. I've been all over that web site and never seen them, and it's not got a search button so even when I knew they had been sold there, I could not check that out.

They are teeny tiny, and not an HR mold I usually buy. But, I know enough about collecting to strike when there's an unusual opportunity, and these are SO odd, I'd never heard of them and never seen them on any saleslists!

Krazy Kritters Ponies in pink with blue and yellow with orange are now in my mini china hutch.

Ian Goes Riding

Yesterday, Ian's other grandparents took him to an indoor kiddie play place to give his parents a bit of a break. Baby Mila is a sweet baby, but any newborn is stressful and the parents can quickly become sleep deprived and need a bit of down time. So Nancy and Paul whisked Ian off for an evening of fun.

 I must say, I approve of their choice of activity! (Even if Ian looks a bit unsure.)

With some reassurance from Uncle Ryan, he soon was riding high!

UPS Fiasco

On Christmas day, Breyer ran a special for Holly and Ivy, red and green decorators on the Flash mold.

I was lucky enough to be able to order one (fingers were crossed for an Ivy, but either would have been fine), and happily anticipated its arrival on December 30, the date I was sent by UPS.

To my dismay, instead of a box that day, I got a revised shipping notice! Somehow the package, which had made it to my town, was then sent to Texas and Missouri before coming back a week after that!

Here's a scan of the tracking information:

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN, US	01/06/2016	12:12 P.M.	Delivered
Lafayette, IN, United States	01/06/2016	4:06 A.M.	Out For Delivery
	01/06/2016	1:27 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Indianapolis, IN, United States	01/06/2016	12:17 A.M.	Departure Scan
Indianapolis, IN, United States	01/05/2016	7:16 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Terre Haute, IN, United States	01/05/2016	5:40 A.M.	Departure Scan
	01/05/2016	2:48 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Earth City, MO, United States	01/04/2016	9:45 P.M.	Departure Scan
Earth City, MO, United States	01/03/2016	1:06 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Mesquite, TX, United States	01/02/2016	2:27 P.M.	Departure Scan
Lafayette, IN, United States	12/30/2015	1:00 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Indianapolis, IN, United States	12/30/2015	12:01 A.M.	Departure Scan
Obetz, OH, United States	12/29/2015	4:10 P.M.	Arrival Scan
Parsippany, NJ, United States	12/29/2015	5:10 A.M.	Departure Scan
	12/29/2015	1:03 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Saddle Brook, NJ, United States	12/29/2015	12:24 A.M.	Departure Scan
Saddle Brook, NJ, United States	12/28/2015	10:33 P.M.	Origin Scan
United States	12/28/2015	3:46 P.M.	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

The long wait was worth it, though.

 I love my Ivy!

And I would love to have more pieces in these colors.

Doing Double Duty

My family isn't overly fond of my model horse collection, and don't find much useful about plastic ponies.

I disagree.

When I am sewing and want to run the ceiling fan, the air currents blow my pattern pieces everywhere.

A Lady Phase anchors those bits of tissue paper quite nicely!

Mini Me

Big and living or little and plastic or china, I love horses. According to my mother, that love goes back to my toddlerhood. I started riding at ten and got Amy, my first horse at twelve, but I began collecting model horses when I was six. (Santa, you had no idea what you were starting...)

1,000+ plastic, china, and resin model horses later, I still enjoy finding new pieces to add to my collection and love to scope out antique shops, flea markets, and other places looking for horse shaped objects.

My most favorite piece, a Hagen Renaker Designer's Workshop Sherif, that I found at an auction for $4 back in the mid 1990s.

Rumor has it that my mother may have been in collusion with Santa Claus.

She has never confirmed nor denied that rumor. 

(This photo was taken in my horse room which also serves as my sewing room. She and I were sewing a quiet book for my granddaughter, Corinne, and this is one of the pages we were working on. She knitted the snowman's scarf.)

I love to read model horse hobby blogs and especially enjoy those who take their collecting hobby further and make saddles, bridles, and other tack for their models. Some go beyond that and make scenes with dolls.

Over the holidays I had a chance to try my hand at making a doll scene. I have NO ability to create, but I can go to Hobby Lobby and get some dollhouse miniatures or repurpose other things. Here's my first go:

The idea is a living room/sitting room set up. No furniture yet, but I thought this display case looked a bit like built-ins in a home. That was my beginning piece.

The Christmas wreath was one of a pair of earrings that I repurposed (yikes, the things we teachers will wear to bring the holiday spirit into our classrooms!!),  and the pot of flowers is from a jump set I had from one of my performance show set ups. The model horses were a gift from a student years ago, and the books (dollhouse props) are miniature classics (Peter Pan, Moby Dick, etc.) The railroad lamp, another dollhouse prop, reflects my own love of trains (I go by train to Colorado and Utah to visit our kids and grandkids).

The doll is an old Brenda Breyer - I hope to sew her some new, more in-scale clothes. And the beautiful sleigh bells are a favorite of mine and were made for me by Jennifer Buxton of Braymere Custom Saddlery - they are perfect replicas of Abby's sleigh bells!

So many things that reflect me and the things in my life are included that I dubbed the scene "Mini Me." And while there is obviously room for tweaking, it's a beginning. Best of all, it was a fun project.

A Gift for a Granddaughter

Mila Jo Isenbarger, our twelfth grandchild, was born at 4:20 this morning.

 Like any good grandmother, I began her training early...

... and gifted her with a pink stuffed pony!

Welcome to the world, sweet Mila!

A Sunny Winter Afternoon

The horses were gathered around the stock feeder munching on a fresh load of hay when I arrived to visit this afternoon. The feeder is on the west side of the barn, and while it was chilly outside (35 degrees) the weak sunlight took the chill off a bit.

Abby did her usual soft nicker when she saw me and stretched her neck out to me.

 I love how the sunlight is streaming over the horses in this photo. That's Abby, Hokey, and Trouble.

Another shot of the sunlight, this time on Trouble.

We've only had one significant snow this winter, but we have had rain, just like we did in the spring and early summer. The pastures are wet but not soggy or frozen, so with that and the milder (for an Indiana winter) temperatures, it hasn't been a hard winter for the horses.

Keeping my fingers crossed that that continues!