Portrait of Us?

Since I am always the one behind the camera and taking the pictures, I often am not in any shots. Tonight I thought I would try the reverse function on my iPhone camera and see if I couldn't get a picture of Abby's and my heads together.

I imagined a beautiful picture of me looking young and thin, while Abby's lovely face gently leaned against mine. You know, the idyllic and romantic "young girl with her horse" shot (despite the fact that the "young girl" is pushing 55 and the horse is a rescue mare with a limp!)

Yeah, right. Cue the harps.

Well, it didn't turn out quite like I envisioned. In fact, it was quite the process...

 Shoot! She ducked her head back into the round feeder before I could click!

Rats! Too late again.

 Um, definitely not a picture of our heads. (How did I even take this shot??)

 Almost! I held the camera at the wrong angle, but at least Abby's head is up.

Finally, after mis-shot after mis-shot, I gave up trying to get the two of us looking into the camera's lens together at the same time. I settled for this one of me leaning against her shoulder.

Hey, there's maybe a touch of the idyllic, romantic, girl with a horse in it after all!

The Spanish Branch Visits the Barn

As I approached the barn this evening, I noticed a lot of cars parked by the big barn. Maybe Tim's family was out for a ride on Grandpa's horses? Nope, it was Travis Horton, president of the Spanish Branch (and the one who hauled Abby and Coco for us when we adopted them) with his branch's Young Women, out for an evening ride.

Hokey and Trouble were saddled up, and to my delight, I noticed that Trav had grabbed Abby's Illini orange halter and put it on Trouble. Naturally I had to take a picture and needle Tim about it...

Other members had come out to join the fun, including my dear friends Betty Higareda (left) and Maria Cervantes (right)!

 Both women have served in the Relief Society while I was Stake Relief Society president, and Betty currently is the Spanish Branch's Relief Society president. They are two women of great faith, and I love them dearly and hold them in the greatest respect.

(A side note about Betty - I'd just had my knee replaced when her daughter came over for her patriarchal blessing. Betty wanted to see how I was doing and came back into our bedroom where I was in bed with my leg encased in the chiller machine. She tenderly made sure I was comfortable as I lay there. She does not speak much English, and I don't speak Spanish, but we still are able to connect and truly do love each other despite the language barrier.)

Betty and Marie both got a laugh out of Tim's mare being named Diablo (a MALE name!)

Egyptian Eyes

Maybe I should have named her Cleopatra!

More Shadow Play

Tonight I was hanging out at the round feeder as Abby munched on her hay. We hung out in companionable silence; she'd pull out some hay, munch it, then pull out some more and continue eating. Occasionally she would put her head up and check on what I was doing, then go back to eating. 

I noticed we again had some interesting shadows and so I began snapping.

 Abby raises her head and gently nudges me with her nose.

 Look! A two-headed horse!

Abby's still in the picture (that's her neck and head shadow angling down into the feeder on the bottom left) but the horse head shadow you see touching my head is Mason. He came over to see what was up.

Another Isenbarger "in the Saddle"

Proof that I am not the only one with a penchant for equids!

Curt, as a missionary in Brasil, 2006-2008.

Slippered Hooves

This morning I was going through Abby's papers and setting up a file for her receipts, papers, etc. As I read through the information that Indiana Horse Rescue gave me, they said she had come in with "slippered hooves." Not a term I am familiar with, although I recognized it when I saw the photos.

Here is what slippered hooves look like (they are not hers but images I pulled off the internet.)

Poor Abby! No wonder she still limps at a trot nearly a year later! I imagine the stress that those hooves put on her bones, ligaments, and soft tissues are what has caused the limp.

When I got her, she had been undergoing corrective trimming (it takes a while to fix something like this - hooves are growing tissue so you cannot just cut them off) but still had a flare. The flare is gone now, but the limp remains. I hope it disappears with time, but my guess is that it is permanent. 

Time will tell.

Must You Go?

Abby seems to be starting a new habit. She comes and gets her treat(s), goes off to graze while the other horses get theirs, and then, as I am leaving, comes back over to say good-bye.

Tonight was no exception. I actually hung around, waiting for her to come back, and even called her a time or two. She did not seem interested, and I did not feel like hiking across the pasture for a last hug - it was almost 10:00 PM and fast getting dark. I figured that tonight she was breaking with what had become a habit.

And then suddenly, up went her head and she quickly ambled over to me for a few sugar cubes and some rubbing on her face and around her ears.

But I don't think she was through visiting - when I began walking back to my car, she came over to another gate and stood there, watching me.

 I don't think she wanted me to leave!

Abby stood like this for quite some time, watching me, and was still there as I drove off.