It's Been a Year

It's been a year. A long year. A hard year. A year where often I felt adrift and horse-lonely. 

Originally I'd planned to commemorate today with a whole week of throwback posts and my favorite pictures. But I couldn't do it. When I'd try to write about her or look for pictures, the tears would start. Just as they have now. 

I simply can't.

So, here is my favorite photo of the two of us together, a gift from HorseyReader Trinity who embellished the photo with with silver metallic thread, framed it, and gave it to me just after Abby died. 

And my favorite video, one of Abby's pied piper moments. (Oh, how I miss those times when she would follow me all over the pasture!)

Rest well, sweet girl. I miss you terribly.

Bonus Post: And the Pack Follows

Second post of the day and just for fun!

It was kind of a quiet day yesterday around here despite the fact that Nash and Molly were spending the day with us.

With springlike temperatures and some sunshine outside, we took the dogs across the street to the park and walked down to the lake.

And then we came home and took some naps. (The dogs did, not Craig and me.)

Craig and I went into our offices to get some work done, but every time we moved, we had our own little entourage.

If one of us went downstairs, the pack followed.

And then they followed us back upstairs. This went on all day and actually made us laugh more than once.

Just thought I'd share. We sure love those dogs.

A Day Goes Awry - in a Good Way

I lost yesterday. My plans for the day got flipped around and went topsy turvy, but in a good way.

On the docket was spending a short while at the barn in the morning while out of town friends stopped by to see the horses, and then a late afternoon wedding.

Easy peasy, lots of time to get other things done, right? Well... can you hear me laughing about that assumption? 

I am an early morning riser, but not necessarily an early-morning-get-dressed-for-the-day girl. Luckily, yesterday I was. 

Those friends coming through town were early and I had to rush to the barn - I hadn't even started writing the day's blog post. (In their defense, they had said they'd be here early; I just did not realize that they meant quite that early.)

Lydia appears to be a true horse girl.

We spent time in the pasture with the horses, then went into the barn to see Tim's horse drawn vehicle collection. And we came back outside,

Lydia went right back to the horses and spent time petting them.

Abby loves people and will tag along and follow me wherever I go.

So she stayed by Lydia's side, and Lydia was thrilled! Abby even put her ears back a few times when the other horses tried to encroach on her time with Lydia. 

There were a few moments when Abby began falling asleep, she was so relaxed and happy!

Special moments with horses are precious, and Lydia was certainly having one of those. I could not bear to break that up, so I quit worrying about having time to shower and prepare for the wedding (it was out of town so there was a bit of a drive involved) and just let her have her moment.

Two hours later, Lydia and her parents were on their way home, Abby was a puddle of relaxation, and I was hustling home to hop in the shower and change clothes.

We made the wedding with time to spare

and I had a wonderful reunion with several former students on a very special day for one of them. 

More on that to come. Stay 'tooned!

Another Pied Piper Moment

I arrived at the barn yesterday afternoon to medicate Abby's eye and to check the herd - Tim had left town that morning and I am in charge of the barn while he is gone. (Which I absolutely love.)

To my surprise, the horses were waiting for me at the wrong gate. Tim had said that he'd put plenty of hay in the feeder to last during his absence; why had he then moved them to the east field and paddock when the feeder was in the other pasture?

Plans can change, so I put the antibiotic in Abby's eye, made sure everybody was fine, and went back to my car. But I still had a niggling suspicion that things weren't quite right. I decided to send Tim a picture and see if he questioned the horses' location.

I got this text from him just as I sat down at the sewing machine to finish up a haversack order.

I snagged Craig to help me and we hopped into my car and headed back out to the barn.

The horses were surprised to see me so quickly again, but came right up to see us. Before trying to move the horses, though, I wanted to be sure I knew where the problem was and figure out how I was going to fix it.

I walked down to the gate between the pastures and saw that it was standing wide open.

We had had heavy winds that day and I suspect a horse spooked or bumped against the gate and popped the chain off the latch.

Turning around to go back and get the horses, I discovered Abby had followed me and was standing right behind me, with Sultanna, Hokey, and Dolly behind her. That gave me an idea. I called Craig over to man the gate, then turned and walked back through it to the pasture the horses were supposed to be in.

Pied piper moment! Abby always follows me when I am there, and she followed me right through the open gate. The other horses followed her, and Craig closed the gate behind them. Easy peasy and no rodeo fireworks!

I did the chain latch, wrapped the chain around and slid a link into the latch a second time, and then used a lead rope to tie the gate shut for good measure.

Craig took a photo to send to Tim so he knew that all was well again.

The first day of barn watching is over; who knows what today will bring? I'll be going out twice a day since Sultanna is expected to drop her foal any time now.

Here's hoping that if there are any problems, they are as easily solved as this one was.

Playing Pied Piper

 Saturday was one of those glorious fall days when the temperature is just right, the sun is shining, and the leaves are beginning to turn red and yellow. It was a great day to be out at the barn with my girl.

I spent some time visiting with her, and then, turned to head home. As she so frequently does now, Abby walked me down the hill from the old barn to the gate by the new barn. 

(Barn hair; don't care!) 

She nuzzles my back in the very beginning as we walk along, and then she gives my "peppermint hand" one last good licking.

Abby started doing this in early summer, and now she tags along wherever I go. It's not for more treats - I always feed her those when I first arrive and she knows that there are no more coming. She just seems to like to hang out.

So do I. 

Today is the last day to be entered in the second giveaway. Post a comment if you'd like the chance to win!

The Pied Piper of Ponies

Here's a picture of some of Tim's horses, hanging by the gate.

I wonder what they are so interested in?

 Wait a minute! On the left! That's a human leg.

And now I see a head! (Er, a HUMAN one, that is.)

Yes, that's Lisa, socializing with Hoki, Dolly, Diablo, and Trouble.

 She finishes chatting with them and heads back to where I am petting Abby at another gate.

 Looks like of lonely, after all that horse-loving...

 But look! She's being followed by Hoki and Dolly.

Looks like she's the pied piper of ponies to me!