Yearning for a Horse

Yesterday my friend Mary contacted me with an unusual question. Her horse loving granddaughter had been doing a school project where she researched what horses eat, and then (with a little help from her mama) she had baked some horse treats. Mary wanted to know if I would like to have them for Abby since Charlotte does not have a horse.

This photo of the box of treats and Charlotte's little signature absolutely melted my heart.

A little girl yearning for a horse of her own? I was that girl, too. (I had a mason jar on my dresser labeled "Horse Money." Inside the jar was a note that said, "Dear Thief, This is for my horse. Please do not steal.")

I told Mary that I would absolutely love to have the treats and have invited Charlotte and her Oma to come with me and help me give them to Abby and the herd. I sure hope they can come.

Chalk Art & Family Fun

This past Saturday we had one of those perfect spring days. Even better, our son-in-love Todd, was in town and spent the weekend with us. Naturally Teacher Daughter Lisa and Local Son Curt and his family came over, too. We all took advantage of that beautiful weather and spent most of the day outdoors.

The morning was spent hiking in Purdue's Horticulture Park.

Curt helps Cowpoke Ian balance on a fallen tree.

Nash and Lukie both have an affinity for sticks of all sizes and tussled over several. Luckily there were PLENTY of sticks in the woods and they both were easily distracted with offers of "better" sticks.

After lunch, we played outdoor yard games. That's Craig and Todd playing bags; look to the left and you can see that we had croquet, lawn darts, and bocce out, too.

Pony Pal Mila graced our walkways and driveway with chalk art and she drew two special pictures just for me.

"This is Abby, Grammy," she pointed out. "I even put her spots on her."

"And here's Pepper next to Abby."

Unfortunately, we didn't out to the barn to see the horses. I'm struggling with more spinal issues and am scheduled for a second spinal fusion in April. After all that hiking and the yard games, I just was not up to wrangling horses, gentle though they may be.

Still, it was a wonderful weekend, and as you might imagine, I am hoping that we won't get any rain for a few days so I can continue to enjoy that chalk art.

What a Day!

I've been a fan of Sam Savitt's books and illustrations since I was a child. So much so that, after he passed away and I discovered that his family was selling his original artwork, I bought one of his original pencil sketches from his son, Roger. (Read about that acquisition here.)

It's small and probably just a doodle, but I couldn't afford the bigger paintings and sketches that were available.

I had it framed and it hangs over the window in my horse room where I can see it while I work on hobby things or sew and embroider.

Teacher Daughter Lisa was with me when I ventured out of the house for the first time in nearly a year to go antiquing. Thank goodness she was with me - I walked right by this really nice Sam Savitt framed Irish linen that was tucked in a corner behind a hanging light.  She spied it and pointed it out to me. 

It was dated 1980 and came from Ireland. 

I told Lisa that I had no place to hang it, but she felt it was something that I ought to have, so I agreed to come back and look at it when we were done.

As we wandered, I kept thinking about it, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it. 

I came back and took another look. We checked the price - $14 for a charming piece of custom framed Irish linen that is covered with illustrations by my favorite equine artist? Lisa lifted it off the wall for me and we headed to the check out counter.

What a day, indeed!

Just a Trail Horse

This was posted in Gals Over 50 and in the Saddle, one of my Facebook groups. The author is unknown, but it sure is worth a share.

My sister Leslie on her trail horse, Skippy. Skippy was blind but very, very rideable.

He's "JUST" a Trail Horse**

I can't count the number of times that I have heard the words "Oh you just trail ride" or "It's just a trail horse", especially from other riders who focus on only one discipline. And each time I have to smirk a little. To be JUST a Trail Rider you need a very special talented kind of steed for which many folks don't realize the expertise required:

- He needs to be as maneuverable as a Dressage Horse...to be able to place each foot exactly where and when you need because there is a steep cliff drop-off on one side and a wall of solid mountainside on the other. A sure-footed horse is a must to be a good Trail horse.

-He needs to be as bold as a Foxhunter....to go willingly where he is pointed, whether that is over a log, up a steep hill, down a gully, through rushing water, boot-sucking mud or bushwhacking through thick scrub.

-He needs to be as agile as a Show Jumper....able to easily twist and turn around trees and bushes, boulders and hop over fallen logs.

-He needs to have the stamina of an Endurance Horse....because a 7 mile ride can easily turn into a 20 mile ride if his "on-board GPS" (aka rider) takes a wrong turn.

-He needs to have the calm mind of a Rodeo Pick-Up Horse....because many horses can not hold it together under stress. But a good Trail Horse must be able to cope with the high emotional energy often coming from other horses in front, behind and either side of her. He needs to always be level-headed and sensible.

Me as a teenager swimming with Cee while on a trail ride. Just stripped off that saddle, hopped up bareback, and in we went!

-He needs to manage being squashed against others like a Polo Pony....because on some trails his nose might be pushed against a tail in front, or flanks pressed side-by-side with rider's knees banging against other rider's knees, or another horse breathing down his back. He needs to have patience and get along well with others.

-He needs to cope with bursts of speed like a Racehorse.....because if that "on-board GPS" (aka rider), stated above, turns the short ride into 20 miles you won't get home till dark if walking that whole distance.

-He needs to be a clever problem-solver with his mind and feet like a Cutting horse....sometimes his rider is gonna get him stuck in places that seem impossible to get out of!

-He needs to be brave like a Cow Horse because not only will he have to deal with protective mama cows and bulls out on the trails, but he'll also be faced with mountain bikes, ATVs, motorcycles, strollers, tractors, logging equipment, chainsaws, horse-drawn carts, bullet-riddled appliances, floating plastic bags and balloons, booming thunder and pouring rain with flapping slickers, loose wild horses and burros, and all forms of wildlife.

-And he needs to be cuddly and sweet like a Child's Pony....because he will spend countless hours exploring trails with his rider.

But hey.... He's "JUST" a Trail Horse!~*~

****Author unknown ****

Venturing Out

After having had my second shot of Moderna this week, I took a deep breath and ventured out into the community. It felt terrific!

Teacher Daughter Lisa and I went poking around for collectibles - me for HSOs (horse shaped objects) and she for Moon and Stars glassware and vintage Christmas ornaments.

There was a surprising amount of Breyers to be found.

While I have come across Breyers in the past,

usually I don't find so many at once.

But Breyers weren't the only thing on the shelves.

There were a large number of Hartlands,

especially the horse and rider sets.

I do collect Harlands but I am also beginning to think about downsizing some of my collection.

Still, these sets were nice and most were reasonably priced.

There were several Marx Thunderbolts available (I have developed a fondness for that big boy),

Melbaware,

metal horses and clocks (recognize that imitation Breyer QH Yearling?),

and lots and lots of horse themed items.

Lisa found a large amount of the Moon and Stars glassware, some priced to sell, others that made you put them VERY CAREFULLY back on the shelf and walk away.

Aside from curbside pick up at JoAnn's, a couple of quick runs into Walgreen's (while wearing not only a mask but gloves, too), and the barn, it had been a year since I'd done anything like that. It was wonderful, and I even came home with a couple of items.

More about those in a future blog post. Stay 'tooned!

Not Even Gonna Try

It's taken a while, but the ground is drying out despite all the snow melt and then heavy rains we have had. There is still some standing water in the lane to the trough, but it's almost drained away.

Abby looks good - from a distance.

And from head on, she looks fine. But when she turns to the side,

you can see that this girl has been wallowing in the mud.

Trouble and Hokey roll at times, but not like Abby. I know that if I were to knock that mud off her, she'd just go wallow again, so I am not even gonna try.

Ah, the joys of spring and horse ownership!

A Comparison of the Steha-Leha Circus Horses

Yesterday I pulled Beauty off the shelf and took some comparison pictures with my new Steha-Leha Circus Horse, Moonbeam. There were some surprising differences.

Just pulling Beauty out gave me the first difference besides the color - his flocking feels plush and soft, while Moonbeam's has a very dry, rough feeling to it. I don't know much about flocking - does it dry out if it's not cared for? 

There is a major difference in their eyes, too. Beauty has glass or plastic inserts while Moonbeam's are painted black dots. (Steha produced models both ways.)

Moonbeam is missing the green feathers that extend from the saddle blanket and out over the hips. I could easily replace those but with that white flocking, I don't want to risk adding something that might bleed onto the white. The feathers have been cut off by someone, and whoever did it also snipped a cut into the padding underneath that they were glued to.

You can see some of the green feather remnants on Moonbeam's back in this photo.

I would never have noticed that their hips angle up differently, Beauty's to the left and Moonbeam's to the right, had I not taken this photo. I put them together again to compare and see if it was an illusion caused by the camera angle and it is not. Their hips really are different.

Beauty's head is tucked a little lower and turned to the side a bit more. The spacing of the rhinestones on their tack is spaced differently, too.

The feathers on their headstalls are mounted in a similar fashion to a metal disk that is then inserted through the plastic of the headstall to hold them in place.

Four wheelies and no sticker for Moonbeam, 

and three wheelies and a Steha-Leha sticker for Beauty. (He uses a metal disc made by Robin Mangus in order to stand.)

Research on Steha-Lehas is difficult as there isn't much out there. There is at least one more circus horse in white who is in a different walking position and has its head up. I'd like to find that one and its counterpart in black if it came that way.

I'm pretty swamped right now fulfilling custom sewing orders for the Mercantile, but when I get a chance, I will pull out Circus Girl and Little Lynn and take some photos of them with Beauty and Moonbeam.

Stay 'tooned!

More Friends Helping Friends - A New Steha-Leha!

I love it when hobbyists help each other. Last week Shannon Call did just that and I am still over the moon about it. She emailed me Friday morning saying, "Thought this might interest you" with a link attached.

Did it ever! How about a Steha-Leha Circus Horse in white? For a very fair price?

I couldn't believe my eyes when I clicked on the link to Triple Mountain Model Horses. Stehas are flocked horses that were made by Steha-Leha in Germany and distributed by Breyer in the 1960s. It is tough to find one that is in good condition, has all its wheels, and with the original feathers.

Eleda, proprietor of Triple Mountain, is a hobbyist herself and knows how to pack a fragile horse. That was evident in the note she include on my receipt.

I had been concerned how those feathers would fare while being shipped, but Eleda was also aware that they needed extra protection and loosely put bubble wrap around them with a cardboard protector around that. She was very careful that there was no exposed tape that might stick to the feathers or the model and remove any flocking.

The saddle was too far back and I carefully unbuckled the girth, hoping that the old plastic would not snap or crack. I also wondered if there might be some damage under the saddle or girth.

Aside from a girth mark where the flocking had been compressed, there was no damage and while the girth clearly hadn't been unbuckled in a long time, I was able to unbuckle it without any harm.

I hope to get Beauty, my black Steha-Leha Circus Horse out later today and compare the two. In the meantime, I am so excited to have finally gotten this piece after years and years of looking for one in good shape and at a fair price.

Thank you so much, Shannon, for the heads up, and to Eleda for knowing what she had and packing accordingly.