Mary's blog

Mike Fell Down the Hay Hole

2011-12-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

This is my daughter, Mary Engle. This was her first ride on Tennessee Revelation aka Blue Jean.

In the life of a family there is many fun times. We probably had more than our share but also the usual amount of hardships and grief that goes with everyday life. It was one of those times the day Mike fell down the hay hole in my Dad's loafing shed. For those not familiar with the term, attached to the dairy barn was a big open barn that the milk cows could go into on cold winter nights.

I remember as a young girl growing up that we also had calf stalls in part of the loafing shed. The manure would continue to get deeper and deeper as winter continued its long journey to spring. In the spring the stalls would be cleaned by hand and hard work but the rest of the barn would be cleaned out with the tractor and loader. The manure spreaders would make trip after trip to the fields with the accumulated manure mixed with straw that was used for bedding.

The fields would be fertilized by the use of the manure and bedding mixture. For those of you who like your food grown without use of chemical fertilizers there it is. As natural as it gets.

As one drove in the spring with their windows rolled down (cars didn't have air conditioning)the rich smell of naturally fertilized fields would fill their acute sense of smell. It was not a bad smell to me. I guess I was accustomed to the smell of manure. It smelled like spring to me and the promise of the new growing season.

Soon the smell of manure would turn into the smell of new mown hay. If you ride through the country in hay cutting season the air around you will be filled with the sweet smell of newly cut hay. It is a scent that can't be reproduced by all the candle makers or the air fresheners in the world.

The barren ground would soon be springing to life with the fresh green sprouts of corn stalks sticking their heads up from the soil as they seemed to be testing the weather to decide whether to pop up or stay put. Of course with the laws of nature, they had no choice. They popped through the soil and started to grow as if they already knew they only had a short time to reproduce. Of course, with the way God created the plants they do know without knowing they only have a short time.

My cousin once said that on a hot summer night you could hear corn growing. I never tested that theory to see if it was fact but I liked the idea.

The newly planted gardens one would see would be springing to life as well. It was a time of planting and growing and keeping the garden free of weeds. That would soon give way to harvesting green beans and all the other produce in the garden. The kitchen would become hot and steamy with the kettles on the stove cooking the vegetable of the day. Soon jars of freshly canned vegetables would make their way to the shelves in the basement to wait for the winter months when no fresh vegetables were available. The freezer would start to fill up with corn, strawberries and peaches as well as many other fruits and vegetables. We were getting ready for winter.

Meanwhile in the fields food for the winter was being prepared for the numerous heads of livestock we had on our farm. Corn was harvested on the cob into the corn cribs for the hogs. The silos had already been filled with the whole stalk of corn to ferment for the winter into the nice smell of silage for the dairy cows. Alfalfa was cut and baled into small square bales weighing probably 80 lbs each. The barns were beginning to fill to the rafters with that sweet smelling alfalfa for the milk cows for the winter as well as for the beef cows we raised.

The barn was designed for ease of feeding. The aforementioned loafing shed had a big hay loft above it. It held thousands of those square bales of hay. It had an earthen ramp leading into the loft. The big trucks mounded with their precious cargo would back into the barn where the hay was unloaded and stacked high until no more could be stacked in the barn. Every available space had a protein rich bale of milk producing hay.

In the loft there were hay sized holes that we would carry the hay to, cut the strings and drop it into hay racks below where the cows would reach up and grab big bits of delicious forage.

My mother was sick and dying with cancer the summer of 1970. My sisters, brother and sister in law helped take care of her. The girls cleaned house, provided the meals, did laundry and kept mom clean and comfortable. Bob and my husband did the heavy lifting. We would call Bob or Bill if he was there and one of them would come in and lift our Mom for us to move her around when necessary.

Let me say this about our Mother. She was the sweetest kindest person I have ever known. She suffered but she did not complain about her suffering. Her only complaint was that she was causing us a lot of work. It was a labor of love on our part and a privilege to take care of our mother. She was a good woman and a picture of the saint waiting for the reward of heaven to come.

It was at this time that our boys learned to love the farm. We lived in the city, Jeffersonville Indiana in a house on a small lot. Although it was a big double lot it was still small to a girl that grew up on over 500 acres. We were frequently at Dad's farm caring for Mom. The boys were out with the men most of the time. They played in the hay loft, rode in the big trucks and helped in the fields where they could.

They loved going into the hay loft and helping throw hay down to the cows. They were young. Mike was 7 and Steve was barely 6 but they were big when they could help on the farm. It was in that setting that they were helping feed the cows.

My brother Bob was coming out of the dairy barn into the loafing shed ready to go to the loft to put down hay when Steve came down the stairs. Curious, Bob asked Steve where Mike was since they were always together. It was then the Steve proclaimed, "Uncle Bobby, Mike fell down the hay hole." Bob looked over to the hay racks and sure enough there was Mike setting on top of the loose hay with several startled cows wondering why he was sitting in their hay and disturbing their dinner.

There were many times we had funny stories to share after a visit to the farm. Kids can always add spice to any gathering.

The next January Bill and I fulfilled our dream of owning a farm when we bought the original farm from my Father. He and his brother had farmed together all their lives. My uncle had died a little over a year before and my Dad was ready to retire from farming. Everything had changed. In the space of nine months, he had lost his only brother and his wife. He was tired.

The next years of our children's lives were lived growing up on the farm I own .

We were feeding our cows in the field one afternoon in the spring. We were hurrying. The kids had a function at school. I saw a cow whom I had been watching for several days. I knew she was due to calve any time and that day she looked like she had calved. But we couldn't see her calf anywhere. She kept running around like she knew she was missing her calf but she didn't really know where it was. We looked and looked. She was distressed and we started to get frustrated the longer we looked.

Finally one of the boys spotted the calf in a sink hole. We walked all around that hole and didn't see it until we were right there. We had to be standing on the edge of it before we could even see it. There the little calf laid waiting patiently to be rescued. We pulled the calf out of the hole and finished feeding and got to school on time.

To me that is a picture of our lives at times. We unexpectedly fall through the hay hole or into a sink hole. Little by little we have positioned ourselves closer and closer to an unseen hole and we fall into it. What we do in those times tell the story of where are hearts are and where we go for rescue. Actually it is not the going, it is the waiting for the rescue. It is in those time we learn some of the most valuable lessons in our lives. The waiting patiently for God to rescue us. We stumble and we fall. Despite our best efforts. We pray and then we wait. In God's time and in His own way He comes to our rescue. There we wait, in the hole for our deliverance. Suddenly we smell the sweet smell of his presence. A smell sweeter than the smell of new mown hay. Our hearts are souls are filled with His presence more fully than the barn filled with stored hay. Filled with His loving presence.

Filled with His love and mercy. Filled with the joy of our deliverance from all the world puts upon us. Oh we are not delivered from the cares of the world by any means. Not until that day when we see his glorious face. But we become full of his grace and knowledge that he is our deliverer and the one who carries our burdens.

May you bask in His glorious presence this Christmas season and always. The season of celebrating God coming to earth to rescue us from our sinful natures. May He keep you in His loving care and surround you and those you love with the sweetness of His presence.

And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger"because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2: 7

Regards and Merry Christmas

With love in Christ

Mary Lipginski

I Know I Am in Trouble

2011-11-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

I know I am in trouble with some of my followers for my absence from the blog for the last two months. No excuses. But I do apologize to those of you who tell me you enjoy my blog.

There is always something going on around this farm. We have been hauling horses home from the trainers. We have been hauling horses to the breeding shed. We have been doctoring horses. There is always something going on with the horses. The better they are the more likely they are to get into trouble or hurt themselves.

Case in point..... Yesterday David went to feed the horses. We have two weanlings in the lower barn. It is a tobacco barn we have been remodeling. Of course, I am the gofer. Go for this and go for that. That has been my main job for several months now as we were getting ready for the ACTHA CTC. For those of you who don't know that is the American Competitive Trail Horse Association and CTC stands for Competitive Trail Competition.

But I am off track. All of that really has nothing to do with David going to feed the horses. Except we have two weanlings in the remodeled tobacco barn and two at the stock barn. The two at the stock barn were nowhere to be seen when David walked into the barn to feed yesterday morning. The gate was wide open and the two weanlings had escaped. One we have named WOF Watch Me Go. Melissa calls him "Phoenix".. The other is his sister WOF Whispering Hope.

David called me in some what of a panic telling me he had looked in all the usual places the horses go when they escape. He had looked in Mike's yard, in my yard and around the barn. I told him he needed to looked in the woods below the barn. It is right next to the fence that runs below the barn. He had looked there. So he hung up and went back to looking for them.

A couple of hours later, I received the following text message on my phone:

"BREAKING NEWS:

This just in, in a major horse hunt taking place in Spencer Co Ky, two suspects were just apprehended in the southern region of the Whispering Oaks Farm near a horse pasture. When asked why they attempted their daring escape, Watch Me Go aka Phoenix replied, 'we just wanted to see our mommies.'

I am David Luttrell reporting for WOF News."

Tell me this place isn't a million laughs a day.

But sometimes things are not so funny on the farm.

There was the day we went to feed in the morning and I noticed a terrible cut on Phoenix's leg. The only thing we could think that could have caused a cut such as that was that he cut it on the tin on the sliding door that opened into the barn. We have not used that door for years and it had rusted on the bottom. He must have laid down and when he got up he caught it under the door. It was a little thing that we had not noticed and it caused a big problem. We are still doctoring his leg. David changes the bandages every few days. We have had the vet with him several times. The first thing he did was stitch it up. It hurt me to look at it. But after several weeks we can see he is healing and will probably not have a scar.

Another happy experience we had lately was Flair for Fury's homecoming. This story will be in the next issue of the UMH magazine. You will be able to read that magazine on line when you go to www.unitedmountainhorse.org. The publication date is sometime after Christmas.

Bob backed the trailer up to the end of the barn and backed her off of the trailer. You could tell when the door swung open that she was excited. She was excited because she was home. She knew it in every fiber of her body. Bob led her to her stall and she didn't want in there. She called to the other horses. She paced, she jumped and she was ready to go out because she had been away from home since last March and she was ready to run free.

But we didn't let her out until the next morning. She was almost trembling with excitement when David led her out of the barn and removed her halter. She didn't run right away. She stood in the field for a brief moment and then she ran. She ran, she bucked, she jumped and then she would stand in the field and her nostrils would flare. She was smelling the sweet smells of home.

It is rather strange in a way that she considers this home. She was raised and trained at Van Bert Farms until after her second show season. It wasn't until the end of her Yearling Show Year that she was brought here. Then we brought her home and turned her out for the winter. It was just before her second birthday that we loaded her up and took her back to Van Bert's to put her under saddle.

She has freedom here that she doesn't have there. She surprised me this last spring when Brandon rode her down to the arena and she bucked some. It was still cool and she was feeling good but I really didn't expect her to do it. She didn't buck when the saddle went on her the first time and Brandon climbed into it. But last spring she had the winter off and now she had to go back to work. And she was feeling good. No big bucks just a few little hops. I suppose you couldn't really call it bucking.

So Flair is home again and enjoying her turn out time. She is looking nice and shabby. Her coat is getting thick ready for winter.

Code of Honor is also home and ready to be turned out. He now has four colts on the ground. The last one is a filly out of a mare named Dock's Darling. I think the filly's name will be WOF Bill's Lil Darlin. I have had several suggestions. Tell me which one you like best. WOF Bill's Lil Darlin(she was born on my late husband's birthday) WOF Code's Lil Darlin, WOF Maid of Honor, WOF Code's Hello Dolly, WOF's Code's Hello Darlin. All good names if you ask me.

Well it all starts me thinking of the homecoming that awaits us at the end of our life on earth. I think we will probably be like Flair. We will be so happy to meet Jesus face to face that we may jump for joy as Flair did when she got home. As we get older I think our thoughts turn more toward Heaven than we ever think about it in our youth. Why should we. We are young, we are full of life, we have so much energy and so much to which we look forward as we face the future. We are eager to see what life has in store for us.

As I get older, my body is tired, my feet hurt and my bones ache. Now more and more I look forward to rest. It is God's way of preparing us for our homecoming. We will be free of the worldly trails and tribulations. We won't have to go to the funerals of people who have died too young. We won't have to say good-bye to old friends. We won't have to worry about our future health. Will our minds leave us before our body gives up?

Those are questions for another day but today I am enjoying the thoughts of my family being here Sunday as we celebrate Thanksgiving. Today I am thanking God for the safe return of my son Steve who has been in Guam for several months and just landed in Gulf Port just hours ago.

God bless you Steve for your service to our country in these very trying times. Welcome home and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. I love you all dearly. I have missed you.

Also Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families. May God bless and keep each of you in His loving care. May He place his hedge of protection around you and those you love.

Regards

Mary

From Dear Abby (years ago)

God bless these dirty dishes

they have a tale to tell

While other folks may go hungry

We're eating mighty well

With home and health and happiness

We shouldn't want to fuss

For by this stack of evidence

We see God is very good to us.

Horse Shows

2011-09-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

David and Rockin Andi are ready for the World Show

Vanessa and Welcome to Paris

David is READY to show

Thanks to Kelvin Robbins for the lovely picture and his permission to use it. Paris won 2nd in the Breeder's Cup and then went on to win first in the weanling fillies conformation class and then to the weanling championship where she won by unanimous decision. She is a beautiful red chocolate filly by Sam I Am owned by Carol Woods and Clint Morrow. Her dam is Tobet owned by Van Bert Farms of Stanton Ky.

Paris is leaving for New York where she will be making her residence. I am looking forward to seeing her in the show ring in the future. She will make a beautiful mare.

Two more shows to go this year. We still have the Mountain Pleasure show later this month and then the KMSHA show in October. It has been a intense show season and the last two weeks of the World and International Shows have been back to back and now for a full week we have to get back to the real world and do the real world things of weanling the babies, preparing for our upcoming trail ride that will happen November 5 and 6. Hope you can all join us. I am looking forward to seeing Kelvin and Dolly at my trail ride this time around.

But back to the recent shows. The world championship classes were really great and the show was a great success although the weather was not. The first of the week found competitors, spectators and horses wading in mud. It was rainy, cold and of course everything any of us owned was wet and muddy.

We did get some clearing in the middle of the week and by the end of the week the weather was really nice for the grand finale. I can't name all the winners in the show but Van Bert Stables that train most of my horses were in the fore front with trophies and ribbons. Flair for Fury did the usual good job she is well known for. She gave my grandson, David a good ride in the pro/am class. Venture's Golden SATIN gave Bob and David a good ride in the pro/am Trail Pleasure Class.

I am so proud of David and Bob for the way they have worked together to get the horses ready to go from my farm in Taylorsville. They have worked to get the horses ridden and keep them looking great for the shows that we have been participating in this year.

This post looks odd. I am not on to the new format yet so I apologize for the odd way it may look when I post it.

Then on from there to the Rocky Mountain International Show. I think my favorite part of the week, besides Flair first two good classes in which she won the first place ribbons and ttrophies was the Celebration of Champions. No Celebration could ever be complete without mention Paula Morgan's great stallion, Choco Dock. Paula was there to see him make his grand entrance into the show ring as the first of the Parade of Champions. Many of his get were there to represent him in the Parade. I was pleased to see the sires of so many of my herd represented there. I had never seen Shepherd's Snowy River and I got to see him for the first time. My mare VBF's Once a Hobo is by Snowy and she looks just like him conformation wise and in fact her markings are very similar to him. Jason Stefanic had several champions represented that he has trained over the years as well as the Brummer's from EmDee's Mountain Horses with Chris and Stacy and Judy riding. Just too many great champions to remember and name but was an amazing parade of great horses.

My congratulations to all of the owners, trainers and grooms of all the the magnificent horses that showed this past week in the Rocky Mountain International Show. It was a great week with many fine competitors and champions riding into the winner's circle.

Of course H T Derickson and Blue on Black won more than a few of their classes and then the Rea Swan Award. Congratulations to all the Van Bert Farm riders and trainers for a job well done. I was proud of all of our horses.

You know as I often think of these wonderful horses God has blessed us with, I am in awe that I am allowed by God to own,ride and show these wonderful horses. All are so unique in their own way but also so much alike in temperament, ability and willingness to please their owner and trainers.

We should all take time out of our busy days and nights to ponder the wonder of it all. The earth and the beauty it holds. For the double rainbow in the sky that Leslie and I saw on our way to the horse show on Saturday morning. For the awesome things we see everyday and often see but done really look at. The beauty of the sunrise, the beauty of the sunset, the rainbows, the trees, the flowers, the horses. It is such an awesome world we live in. And most of all created by such an awesome God. Thank you Lord for allowing me to live in this time.

And may God who created the earth, hung the moon and stars in the sky and created our wonderful mountain horses bless and keep you in his loving care.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the earth.

Regards and best wishes for the next shows

Mary

mary@marysmountainhorses.com

http://www.marysmountainhorses.com/

To Grandparents Everywhere

2011-08-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Kailey with Uncle Bobby's cowboy hat. She has such a sweet face. The poem I wrote was about her sister, Stephanie when she was even younger than Kailey

Stephanie

by Mary Lipginski

for Steve

She runs in,

with face all smiles and says,

"Hi, Pa"

Her blue eyes widen

over peach jello

and pineapple bits,

She sits on books to make her

taller at the table,

and rides in Daddy's lap

to drive his blue truck.

Her curls bounce as she

searches the house

for Nanna and Daddy,

playing hide and seek.

Her laughter breaks the silence

of an empty house

as she echoes her Daddy's voice

of twenty years ago.

"Bye, Pa," she says

The door closes,

the house sighs,

and quiet settles once again

into the corners of the rooms.

A poem I wrote for creative writing class in 1987.

It's Almost Show Time

2011-08-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

The first picture is Butteryfly Kisses with Brandon in the stirrups. The second is WOF's Whispering Hope. She is out of VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl and by SC Code of Honor.

For those of you raised in a good ole Baptist Church you will recognize the name as the name of a popular song out of the Baptist Hymnal. Maybe other churches had it in their hymnal as well but I was raised Baptist and I sang a duet with my best friend and we sang Whispering Hope.

It is just about time for the UMH World Show once again and it is an exciting time for competitors. One show at a time and class after class we have been showing what our horses can do. Sometimes we win and get to go to center ring to get pictures made and sometimes we congratulate others as they do their victory lap. It is all educational and an opportunity to show off our beautiful horses to other competitors as well as show what our horses can do.

Of course there are the friends we have made and the friends we don't know yet. The World Show offers an opportunity to see friends we may only see once or twice a year.

Last year for the first time we had a progressive dinner. Every barn had an assigned dish to prepare. It started with drinks and ended with the dessert table. Yum yum.. It was also a poker run with a very nice prize at the end for the best hand. I started out strong with an ace but it went downhill from there.

The Breeder's Cup Classes is always a class everyone wants to see and especially to win. Last year my two year old filly, CGH Flair for Fury won the 2 year old trail pleasure class. For those who don't know how that works my trainer, Stanley Tipton, rode Flair in under saddle. He showed her just like a regular under saddle class. He rode her both ways of the ring at a walk and show gait. He then dismounted and his groom pulled the saddle off, brushed her out and then Stanley showed her like any halter class would be shown. It is an awesome feeling to have your horse win. It is not easy for a horse to be both good under saddle and conformation as well.

This year I will have a weanling showing in the Breeder's Cup. She is red chocolate and barn name Paris. Paris has already won two classes in conformation and we are hoping to keep the string going.

The first year I was involved in showing, I bought a weanling filly from Van Bert Farms named VBF Butterfly Kisses. I saw her on their website and I liked her immediately. She is a chestnut and that is not a well favored color in the mountain horses right now. It is all about chocolate with white mane and tail. That is fine but this filly is awesome regardless of her color.

Butterfly Kisses won her Breeder's Cup Class and then went on the win her regular conformation class. Stanley competed with her in trail obstacles where she placed 2nd. She made one mistake and lost to a colt that made no mistakes.

I sold her the night she won it all in the open conformation class. I made a nice profit on a horse I had owned only three weeks. I followed her scanty career and always admired her from a distance. I often asked her owner how she was doing under saddle and didn't really get much information.

Recently Larry Patterson called me and asked me if I wanted to buy her back. I said yes immediately. She is four years old now and she is almost full grown. She will be at the World Show is year. Let's see if the judges still like her conformation despite her color.

I don't get the big deal about color. Many owners advertise their stallions as having no red gene. It is necessary to give people the options they want. The option in many cases is no red horse. I understand the necessity of that since chocolate is the color buyers want. But the core problem is why do the buyers want chocolate and only chocolate too often? If one has a chocolate gelding it is worth more? Why not buy according to the way the horse goes and what the disposition is like?

Why are we breeding for color and not for all the other good qualities that a mountain horse has. I have a chestnut mare that I don't mind putting any child on. She is sweet and very forgiving. She will carry her young charges where ever they want to go and take care of them all the way.

I also have a chocolate gelding. He is everything a person would want in a mountain horse. He is chocolate, he has a sweet disposition and he has a smooth gait. My friends who ride him call him "the Cadillac ride". But I don't put children on him or riders who may not be able to handle him.

Whatever you want in a mountain horse, it is there. Why start out eliminating a horse just because of color?

It is my opinion as well as people I consider really smart that once you start eliminating color in mountain horses you may be inviting other problems in. For instance it is now known that breeding chocolate to chocolate will probably get a really white mane and tail but it also may get a blindness in horses. Do we want to make that sacrifice for the sake of a color?

What else are we breeding into the herd besides blindness? It is the law of unintended consequences.

I have been seeing chestnut horses in the show ring this year and I do hope Butterfly Kisses will once again make people set up and take notice of what she is and not her color.

Martin Luther King once lamented that he hoped "some day men would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin."

I want that as well but can't we judge our mountain horses by the same criteria. Isn't there room for outstanding chestnuts and sorrels the same as chocolates?

I hope to see you all at the World Show. The theme this year is "Light up the World" It is always interesting to see what various barns come up with for decorations to carry out that theme and who wins the competition for best decorated barn.

So be careful on the way to during and from the show. Good luck and best wishes to all of the competitors. I will try to keep you posted with blogs from the show.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care. My prayer is that God will keep each and every rider surrounded by his hedge of protection. May you each do your very best and may each horse behave in a way that brings honor to their trainers and riders.

And most of all may our humble efforts bring glory and honor to God who made us all and who created these awesome horses for our use and care.

Regards,

Mary

Back in the Saddle Again

2011-07-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

In the picture is CGH Flair for Fury. She is a three year old and has burned up the show ring every year she has shown. This is a post mark to my blog this time. I just rode Flair at last week ends show. Not as a competitor but practicing for another time out. Thanks to S T for this nice picture of Flair and me just after she won the CTP class at the Gaited Jubilee.

I can't wait to ride again. I still haven't gotten to ride. We have been busy getting the hay crop in for next winter. It is always a struggle. Our equipment always seems to break down when we need it most. Thank God for David, Bob and Mike that are keeping things going. I am pretty much the gofer. Go for this part and go for that part. The bush hog is a constant struggle. But we are making progress.

I was at the Doctor's office about a week ago and he said, "You can ride but BE CAREFUL". I really think he thinks I am accident prone. Why would he think that? I was dismissed from rehab last Wednesday with the caution to not come back.

Anyway it feels good to know that I can ride again and I know that Blue Jean is waiting for me. She is really a sweet mare. She is so calm and willing. She sometimes has a little stubborn streak such as when she wanted to keep taking Kailey to the gate. Kailey wasn't willing or able to get her to stay on the track.

Maybe the best horse I have for the children is Rosie. Her name is actually Blooming Rose but we call her Rosie. My grandchildren from Mississippi always want to ride Rosie when they come to see me. She is very willing to take care of the little ones. I trust her with them.

I have bought a lot of horses and we have several that have been born on the farm. Sometimes people will ask me what is my favorite horse. I try not to play favorites. I always like the one I am with at the time the most. Each one is a favorite for different reasons. Satin is so beautiful. She loves Bob and most of the time will work for him really well. Recently was an exception. She started out with a bang on trail obstacles but her performance soon fell apart. She was on her maiden run in the show obstacle class but has done exceptionally well in the Rocky Mountain Rated Trail Program. She also does well in the ACTHA CTC rides.

I love SC Code of Honor. He is really beautiful with a great conformation. He has been winning a lot in conformation classes. He has such a presence about him. His demeanor says "Look at me." And the judges do.

Flair for Fury is another conformation horse that has really done well under saddle. She thinks when they announce the winner in a class, she should be heading to get her picture taken with the blue ribbon. She is often right.

But honestly, the second horse I bought is probably my favorite. Her name is VBF Butterfly Kisses. I bought her as a weanling. Three weeks later she showed in the UMH World Show in my name and won everything she entered except for trail obstacles and she came in a close second.

I sold her at the end of the show on Friday night that year and have loved her and followed her scanty career ever since. I often thought I shouldn't have sold her but I did and I have tried not to look back. I really loved that filly. She was sweet and had a wonderful conformation as a weanling.

The next time I saw her was at the World Show. I think she was a yearling. She won third but had some of the other exhibitors looking a little worried. She still had a great conformation.

Recently Larry Patterson called me and told me he was with Butterfly Kisses. I thought he meant he was in Missouri but he said that he had her on his horse trailer heading to Kentucky. He asked if I wanted to buy her back. He was willing to meet me on I-64 and load her on my trailer.

I bought her on the spot. I also ask him to take her on back to their stable and put her back in training with them.

I got to see Butterfly Kisses the next day. Larry put a halter on her and she parked out like she had done it everyday of her life. He threw the rope over her neck and walked away. I hurried up to her and put my arms around her neck and loved on her and she stood there like she knew that she was not to move until Larry told her to move.

She is the same sweet horse that she was when she was a weanling in 2007. She has grown out with that same wonderful conformation. She has several months of training and S T tells me that she has a very nice gait. I am so excited to have her back.

I love every one of my horses. I am excited when they do well. I worry over them when they are sick or injured. My vets loves me because they know I will take care of my horses like they were my babies. It is not that I won't or can't sell them but as long as they are in my care, I think I should do the very best I can by them.

Our Heavenly Father entrusted animals to our care. He gave them to us for our use. He did not give them to us to abuse them or mistreat them. I think that as long as I own an animal it is my duty given to me by God to care for them and treat them well just as we care for and love our children. Of course, our children are much more important than any animal.

I read the sad story of a child that was locked in the truck of a car recently and died. Initially the grandmother, the aunt and uncle told the police that she was playing in the truck of the car and they didn't know she was there until it was too late. Later the story came out that they locked her in the truck to punish her. What did she do so wrong? She got a Popsicle out of the freezer without permission.

More and more we hear and read of children and animals that are mistreated and abused. It is unthinkable that people could be so evil as to take that which God has entrusted to us and misuse it in such tragic ways.

I suppose that I have really strayed from the main subject of how Butterfly Kisses has come back into my life but often I start thinking of one thing and my thoughts trail off in a direction that I often wonder "How did I get here from there". I suppose that many people do the same thing.

My point today is that we who have been entrusted by our Lord with much, have a duty to Him to care for what we have and do the best we can with our resources. Whether those resources is land, animals or goods. The Bible tells us that we are stewards of the land. It doesn't mean we should put animals over people but that we take care of it. It is our God given duty and right to use it for the benefit of people.

May the God who formed you in your mother's womb bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary Lipginski

Trail Riding

2011-07-12T20:15:00.001-07:00

The first picture is of S T and Code of Honor. They were in the practice arena. S T had been giving him a work out and he had dismounted to let my niece ride him. She loved the ride.

It is just one week until I will have the official word from my Orthopedic Surgeon that I can get back into the saddle. Then I will be riding Blue Jean.

This is my horse Blue Jean with Vanessa Crowe as she gets ready to give my daughter Mary Engle her first riding lesson.

Here it is once again time for the horse shows in White Pine Tennessee and I will not be going again. I have not been since 2008. I really like the White Pine show. It is fun. The facilities are really nice. I especially like the practice arena.

In 2009 my son, Steve and his family were here from Mississippi so I did not get to go to Tn. In 2010 I was still recovering from a broken arm and this year I will be going to Lawrenceburg to take Bob and Leigh to the KMSHA State Show. It is a good show but I will miss going to Tn. I will really miss seeing my stallion, SC Code of Honor and Flair for Fury showing. I love watching the two of them show. I will really miss seeing all of the people I know from showing with UMH.

I really like seeing all the horses, owners and trainers. I will miss getting to cheer on my favorite horse that isn't mine, Mercy Me. And of course watch H T and that beautiful stallion that he rides.

Once again I am nursing a broken bone. When I first noticed the stable name, Broken Bones Farms, I got the wrong idea about how the name came about. Of course, now I know it is owned by an Orthopedic Surgeon and thus the name Broken Bones Farm. I can surely relate to that.

My Orthopedic Surgeon sees too much of me. Or rather, I see too much of him. I always think that my doctor must like people who ride horses and those who are accident prone. I believe he thinks I am in the latter category. Really I am not accident prone. I don't think he will believe that however. He tells me very seriously every time I see him, "Be careful" as he finishes his examination of my latest injury. Then again as he walks out the door, he turns around and says, "Be careful".

Actually the last time I was at the Tn show, I had decided I would ride Mt Girl in a novice class. I was in the practice arena and having a really good ride. Mt Girl was giving me the best ride I had ever had on her. All of the sudden, she spooked at something. I don't know what. She jumped sideways and she went one way and I went the other. Some say the hardest thing about riding a horse is the ground. I can relate to that. However, that day the ground wasn't hard in the arena.

The footing in the arena was very fine rock and it was very wet. It was a soft landing. When I got up, I was pretty much covered with wet rocks. Jamie helped me up and walked me to the wash bay where they wash the horses and hosed me off. I then got into my truck, went to the motel and took a good shower. I had to wash my hair and of course put on a whole new outfit because I was pretty well covered from head to toe with that fine gravel.

So I watched from the spectator chairs as the rest of the show went on without me participating. It has been a struggle to get where I have enough confidence to ride and enjoy the ride. I am always thinking I will get thrown off again. And I have had an unscheduled dismount on three more occasions since then.

The next dismount was from my mare, Blooming Rose. Now, the children can get on Rosie and have the best ride ever. My grandson Stephen loves to ride Rosie and I think when he gets just a little older he will get to leave the arena and ride the trails. Right now he is only seven and really doesn't ride very much but he sits good on a horse and he is very confident. I am very proud of him.

That same year, 2010, I was riding J R, my sister's horse. I had been riding him in the winter and had a wonderful time on him. We rode a lot of days in the snow and it was really fun. I was getting more confident. I had ridden him on the trails through the woods as well. Sometimes he would do little crow hops and scare me some but all in all I was more confident on him than any of the other horses. I knew what to expect from him.

We participated in the trail ride on the Van Bert Farm last fall just after I was able to ride again after my broken arm. Which by the way was not from falling from a horse. There was a mud hole the horses had to walk through to continue on the trail. I was the last to go through with J R. Poor J R was struggling to get through the hole that had been churned up all day by horse after horse going through it. It was too much for him and he went down.

Of course, I went off once again and this time it was in a mud puddle. I was wet and muddy but I got up and got back on J R with Doug Spier's help and finished the ride.

I said at the beginning of the ride I had two goals for the ride. One was to stay warm and the other was to finish the ride. I am proud to say, I finished the ride and my score wasn't too bad. I had by passed one obstacle and I did come in dead last on the scores but I had pretty good scores on the obstacles I did complete.

My last unscheduled dismount was from Blue Jean. It happened like this. We had all gone out to supper after the last Van Bert CTC. There was about 15 of us and it was agreed that there would be a trail ride in the mountains the next day. Everyone was very excited about the prospect of riding in the mountains. Jamie ask me if I would be going and I said, "No I don't have a horse to ride." Jamie ask me if I would go I had a horse that was bomb proof. I don't believe such a horse exists but he offered me Blue Jean and I do know she is a very good horse.

So I somewhat reluctantly agreed to go. But as I got on Blue Jean and we started riding in the mountains I was glad I had agreed to go. The mountain ride was spectacular and scary all at the same time. We rode down some trails that was uncomfortable for me but all in all the ride was really good.

All went well until the very late in the ride. I could tell Blue Jean was getting tired. After all I am heavier than the children who had been getting riding lessons on her. She had been on a longer ride than she had been on in a long time. We were within fifteen minutes of being back at the trucks and trailers when Blue Jean went down on her front knees. I didn't know she was going down until I felt myself land on the hard ground.

Vicky, another rider, was off of her horse in a flash and telling me not to move. I looked up and there stood Blue Jean, patiently waiting for me to get back on her. What a sweet mare. Vicky checked me over and finally allowed me to get up. I didn't feel like I had any bad injuries but to make my brother happy and set his mind at ease, I went to the hospital emergency room on Monday, Memorial Day, and was xrayed. I had a broken collar bone.

So in just seven more days, I can once again get on Blue Jean and ride the trails. I have had a lot of suggestions. Bubble wrap, training wheels, an air bag and stay off of all horses are just some of them. I am really looking forward to getting back on a horse for the first time in a long time. It has been a struggle to get my confidence back but I know Blue Jean to be a horse that will not run off with me and I know what to expect from her. But thinking about it, bubble wrap does not sound like such a bad idea.

It is all about trust and confidence. I have not had those feelings on a horse since I was 18 years old but I have wanted to have them and ride like I couldn't possibly fall off. I can relate that to my spiritual life. I believe that I have that kind of faith and trust in God. I know I can fall and I can fail but God will never let me go through anything without his being there with me. I can fail but God has already forgiven me for my failures.

I have trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and thus I can never fail. Do you have that kind of relationship with Christ? If you don't, why not?

May the Lord bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

2011-06-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

I hope Vera will forgive me for lifting her picture from her blog but I am so impressed with H T and Blue on Black. I am thrilled I have a colt by Blue on Black in my herd. He is a yearling now and beautiful with a great conformation.

Blue on Black has recently been to Texas where he and H T competed in the ACTHA greatest trail horse competition. This September we will have a chance to see and voter for our favorite of the 100 competitors and their horses that competed for the title of America's greatest trail horse. I am so pleased that three of those horses and riders are people I know from showing in the UMH shows. Besides H T, there is Judy Brummer riding Legendary Lady and Mike Butler riding MX Wrangler. All three are Mountain Horses.

Why are the Rocky Mountain horses becoming so popular, you may ask? Think of the baby boomers that are starting to retire and many who are either thinking of an easier horse to ride or just now starting or going back to riding.

When I started thinking about buying a horse, I started doing research on the Rocky Mountain breed of horses. The first time I ever knew about that particular breed was reading a horse magazine. There was a nice article about Rocky Mountain horses and all the wonderful attributes they have. The article mentioned in detail about their smooth ride. They do not get to be overly large. 16hh is usually the tallest a Mountain Horse gets. Their wonderful disposition is another of their great attributes. They are intelligent and willing to please their riders. They are eager to learn.

I am what you may call vertically challenged (short). I do not want a horse that I have to hire a cherry picker to get on it's back. I do not want to bounce up and down, aka post. I do not have the energy for such things. I have old bones and old muscles and don't think I could ever get the hang of that posting thing.

So pretty soon I was looking for a stable that trained and sold Rocky Mountain horses. I googled the term and started looking. The first thing I knew I was on the Van Bert web site looking at their beautiful horses. Soon I was on the way to Stanton Kentucky to check out those horses. As it happened, the Stanton horse show was being held the very day I was at the farm. There I saw the most beautiful horse I have ever seen in my whole like. Her name is VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl. I was hooked and it didn't take me many days to make up my mind that I wanted to own that horse.

I was taking riding lessons at a stable near home and my instructor was trying to teach me how to post. Ever once in awhile I would get in time with the horse and would actually post for a few steps but invariably I would get into the horse's mouth and he would slow down or stop. I never did get the hang of that posting but it was not for lack of Lisa trying.

One day I went to my riding lesson and told Lisa I had bought a horse. She had been looking for me a nice Quarter Horse so she was disappointed that I went out on my own and bought a horse. When I told her my new horse was two years old, I thought she would have a heart attack. She told me I was crazy and I actually thought she might contact my family to have me committed. I suppose I did pick up some helpful hints through my riding lessons with Lisa but I'm not sure. She was committed to teaching me to post and I was committed to riding a gaited horse.

So we parted ways after it became clear it was not going to work out. She and I didn't have the same goals in mind for my riding experience.

Mt Girl won trophies two years in a row as the High Point Country Trail Pleasure horse for the year in the UMH show circuit. I still love that horse as much as any horse I own. I have now had two foals from her and they are both really nice. The first was a colt by Venture's Black Fury and this year's filly was by my stallion SC Code of Honor. She is a black filly with very little white on her anywhere.

Mt Girl and I have had some pretty cool adventures together. She spooked when Chris (her trainer) nearly fell over the fence in front of her and she went one way and I went the other. It was a young horse thing. She spooked in the practice arena in Tennessee during my practice on her and she went one way and I went the other. I landed in some really soft rock. It was all wet and mushy and Jamie helped me wash a lot of it off at the wash bay they have for the horses.

I quit riding Mt Girl for a couple of years and last year I was determined I wanted to ride her again. So I did. We didn't go out of the arena but I rode her. She was just as sweet as ever and didn't do anything foolish. She had grown up and raised a colt and had matured. She is a wonderful horse and beautiful too. I always say the most beautiful horse in the world. Michael Brummer disagrees with me.

My new horse is a 19 year old gray mare called Blue Jean. She was Al Pruitt's favorite riding horse. I came to appreciate her when I rode the mountains on her back at the end of May. Now many of you may remember that is about the time I broke my collar bone. Well, I was riding Blue Jean when that happened.

I felt no concern that she would do something foolish and get me hurt. I did have a anxious moment on the trail when we encountered a switchback. I did dismount and walk down. But Blue Jean did nothing at all foolish. I do not count it her fault that later in the ride she went down and I fell off. She is a very sweet mare that took such good care of me. She tiptoed down the steep hills and picked her way up the hills. She was gaiting like a show horse and was kind and gentle all the four hours we rode.

Blue Jean has been giving lessons to young riders lately and she was not accustomed to carrying people that weight over a hundred pounds. I am not saying how much over. She was also not accustomed to being out on that long of a ride. So it was not her fault and it wasn't my fault that I lost my balance and fell. I can hardly wait to get back on Blue Jean. She has completely restored my confidence. I have a saddle that has a deep seat and I feel good about riding her.

God certainly does answer prayers. I have been praying for, God has given me. I have been praying I would have the courage to ride and not be afraid. I sort of got cornered into riding in the mountains. Not really but in a way I did too if that makes any sense.

Sometimes God has to corner me into doing what I should be doing anyway. The times I do not listen to his voice, I regret it but I do know he is with me through whatever trials that I may encounter. I know he will bring me to the other side of trouble, even that of my own making, a better and wiser person.

I know that God is with me throughout whatever comes in my life. He promised that in his word. He told us to go and make disciples of all nations and that he is with us always. I believe that is not only a promise that he gives when we are out in strange lands preaching the gospel, but where ever we are living by his promises to us as believers.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care and may you learn as I have that he is with you in all the things in your life. I asked Bill one time if he thought God cared about the little things in our life. He told me that of course he is. Our lives are mostly made up of little things.

May all the little things in your life bring blessings to you and may you be blessed beyond all measure.

Regards

Mary

Horse Shows

2011-06-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

The first picture is of Chester Hale on his pony named Jocko. He has participated in the ACTHA trail rides we have hosted and rides we have been a part of. The second is of Melissa riding Blue Jean. Blue Jean's actual registered name is Tennessee Revelation but Connor started calling her Blue Jean and it has stuck.

My horses, Code of Honor, Flair for Fury, Ann's Mt Treasure and Rockin Andi are off to the show in Prestonburg this week end. I am at home once again. Broken bones and this year the hay has interferred with my fun at horse shows.

As of this morning the hay is baled. We have had a hundred different issues it seems. It is never easy to get the crops in without having a break down of some sort. It seems like we have had more than our share. The tie rod on the White, blades on the mower, a flat tire, and tractors that won't start. The level of frustration rises with every new problem. But yet the men here have perservered and the hay is baled. Praise the Lord God.

Even the man who does my custom baling has had his share of problems with his baler. But as of this morning we have about 150 big round bales of hay ready for winter. God is good and God is faithful to provide.

My mother, Lucy Rogers, used to always say, "God provides for the birds of the air but he doesn't throw it in their nests". She was telling her children that God provides but we must do our part.

Just a little wrap up. I started this blog last week end and didn't get it finished. My horses did pretty well at the horse show last week end. I would have liked them to do better but I thank God for what he blesses me with.

My sister, Eleanor who was here through her air conditioner crisis is home once again and seems to have her affairs in order for a while right now. I have my own bed back. Hurray. I do miss my bed after a week or so. I don't mind giving it up for a little while but I begin to hate the couch after about a week.

The hay is all moved off of the ground and the grass is growing again for the next crop. We had a nice rain this morning although it could have rained longer and it would have been appreciated.

So that is how it all is on the home front. We are getting ready for the next horse show tomorrow night. Bob is riding Satin today and getting her ready.

Until next time, God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

A New Rider in the Family

2011-06-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is my oldest daughter, Mary Engle rider the gray mare, Blue Jean and in the first picture the other rider on the chestnut mare is my other daughter, Debbie Zinsius. This is the first time Mary has been on a horse that she has actually ridden. Debbie grew up riding a sweet little pony named Tony. She and her brother Steve who rode a painted pony named Chico loved riding those ponies together. They rode all over the farm on those two ponies.

They showed them in the 4-H shows at the Spencer County Fair. We didn't have a fancy trailer to load them on so we put the cattle racks on the pick up truck and put both of them on the truck and off we went to the horse and pony club meetings and the fairs. They were not fancy but the children had more fun than you could imagine.

The Rocky Mountain Horses the farm owns these days are very nice horses with pedigrees that trace back to the original horses in the breed. They are beautiful slick animals that get shots on a regular basis, get wormed and seen by the vet on a regular basis.

God has blessed me and my farm with these wonderful horses. He has blessed the world with horses that are easy to be around and easy to handle. They are sweet and kind hearted.

I thank the Lord for all the blessing of this day.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Blue Jean and Melissa

2011-06-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

Melissa is riding the new horse I recently bought. Her name is Blue Jean. When I told her that I bought Blue Jean, she gave me the biggest hug I have ever had from Melissa. Sometimes she is a little stingy with her hugs but she was thrilled with Blue Jean. She had ridden her for a lesson with Vanessa.

Vanessa is like everyone else a Van Berts. She is very generous with her time and yesterday was really a busy day for all of them. They are not only getting ready for the big show in Prestonburg but they are also entertaining clients that come every day to buy horses. It is a wonderful vacation for the girls and me.

Today we are getting ready to go to the Stable. Guess who is taking a riding lesson today? The girl who said she would never get on a horse ever. It is Melissa's Granny aka known as my daughter Mary Engle.

I will write more on that later. There will be pictures to follow.

May the Lord bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

2011-06-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

The first picture is my dog Erica and she is the ultimate trail riding dog. She loves to go on every trail ride with anyone that mounts a horse on the farm.

The second is of WOF Saga of Snowy River. He is a yearling colt that is really showing up his beautiful color. This was one of his first bathes in a 7 months and it was no problem for him.

Just some thoughts for the day. we are hanging out at the Van Bert Farm in Stanton Kentucky. Do not worry, I am not riding. We are having the family girls vacation. We got as many as could get off from work for a couple of days and we are staying in the Van Bert cottage. It is beautiful. It is peaceful and I love being here with my girls. I wish Natalie and Chrissy could have been here with us.

I hope you are able to get your family together for such a time together.

Regards,

Mary

Riding the Trails

2011-06-05T07:36:00.001-07:00

The first picture is one of the first colts born on the farm this year. He is a colt out of Once a Hobo by SC Code of Honor. He is displaying the natural curiosity of a young colt checking out the big bale of hay that is in the barn to feed the horses that we keep inside. Second picture is a herd mate out of a mare VBF Rocky Top Rebel by SC Code of Honor. He too is displaying a natural curiosity. Momma is outside waiting for him to come out of the trailer but he is checking it out. The third picture is a filly out of VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl and also by SC Code of Honor. She is just hours old in this picture so she is curious but staying very close to momma.

Ever since I bought my first horse from Van Bert Farms I have wanted to go on a trail ride with H T and Wilda. They bring back some of the most amazing pictures and stories of their trail rides. Bob went with them last year after their Memorial Day ACTHA ride and talked on and on about the beauty of the mountain and the babbling brooks that hurry down the mountains on the way to the Red River.

I was at the time in the cottage popping pain pills and nursing my broken arm. Don't pity me. If there was any place to be with a broken arm the Van Bert Cottage is the best. I had friends stopping by having coffee with me and Connor and Larry stopped by with flowers. Everyone was so nice and I hated to leave the cottage on Monday to go back home with what I knew would be facing me. Somehow at the cottage it didn't seem like the break was so bad but once I got home, I almost knew that I would be facing surgery although I hoped and prayed that it would just heal.

This year I once again did not ride in the Ride for the Cure that Van Berts sponsored. I helped out the best I could with the ride. I really didn't have a horse to ride. We took VBF Venture's Golden Satin for Bob to ride. We took Chocolate Amigo for Vickie to ride and we took Hoosier for Leigh and that was it for my three horse trailer.

Bob came in second on the ride. Vickie did really well for her first ride. I am not taking anything away from Vickie but Amigo is so trail savvy that he can almost do the obstacle without much guidance. Leigh was racking up some good scores on the obstacles but Hoosier started having some problems so she took her back to the barn. So really Whispering Oaks Farm turned in a good ride even if we didn't take but one ribbon home.

On Saturday night we went to Cathy's for some of her wonderful food including fried green tomatoes. If you have ever been to Cathy's you will know what I am talking about. We were in a group of about 15 people and having a wonderful time when the subject of a trail ride in Wolf County came up. The group was all in favor of going to the mountains for a ride the next day. Jamie ask me if I would go too. I didn't have a horse I wanted to ride in the mountains so he offered Blue Jean. Blue Jean is/was Conner's horse. I was assured she was sweet, would take care of me and was sure footed.

I should have known better. May has not been a good month for me in recent years. Bill died in May, I had pneumonia in May and broke my arm last May. But I am not superstitious so I said OK.

The next day we awoke to a bright sun beaming down on us. The temperatures were to be 90 or above but heck we were going to be in the mountains with plenty of shade and babbling brooks. We got over to the barn with the two horses we were taking and found that my little mare Blue Jean was all saddled and ready to go.

We headed up to the mountains. We were on the Mt Parkway climbing the hills when we heard a really loud pop like a rock had been thrown down on the windshield or had hit the back glass. But we couldn't see anything so we thought we had blown a tire. We had to keep going. We were climbing the mountains and had no signal on our phones. We really thought it was a trailer tire but we couldn't tell.

We finally got a signal and let the others know we were getting off on Exit 40 to check it out. When we got out of the truck, there was no flat tire and it took a minute to discover what had actually happened. I carry tie downs in the back of my truck to use when necessary and one of the had somehow gotten wind born and hit the back glass by my ear. It was a wonder that it didn't break the glass. It was still lodged between the front of the truck bed and the back of the cab.

We continued our journey on to Wolf County and was looking forward to a day of riding. We all unloaded horses and those who needed to do so saddled up. There was by now 18 of us in the group. It was a fun group of people to be with. Carol and Phyllis were along and they are always a lot of fun. Of course, H T, Wilda and Jamie and Bob and Vickie. We were all looking forward to a wonderful ride and it was wonderful.

The trails were more than I had ever ridden but Blue Jean was really taking good care of me. She is sure footed and ever so careful about how she goes up and down hills. I feel in love with that mare within minutes of getting on her back. She does not do anything stupid at all.

Lunch was wonderful. We had stopped for drinks and sandwiches. We dismounted which worried me. I looked around and could not see a dead fall or a stump to help me remount but Jamie assured me I would get back on and he kept his word.

After lunch we continued down the trail with Blue Jean taking extra good care of me. There were steep hills to go down and a variety of switch backs to negotiate. And it was all going really well. We did come to one switchback that Vickie and I didn't feel comfortable with so we dismounted and Kaylee Tipton rode Blue Jean down. Bob ponied Amigo and we remounted and rode on. There were lots of places that when we looked to the left or right, it looked straight down. The scenery was stunning.

We crossed streams that were dancing their way down the mountain. The birds were singing their springtime songs and the trees were decked out in their best spring time finery. It was a beautiful ride. It was a beautiful day. I loved the ride and I think I will ride it again for sure. But only if I can ride it on Blue Jean.

Many of the horses had not been out on a long ride this year and all of them were getting tired. Blue Jean had a shoe that came loose and Jamie took it off. The next hill we rode up I could see Blue Jean was really tired. But we were now close to getting back to the trucks. We rode some more narrow trails and switch backs. We were close to our destination.

All of the sudden I hit the ground. I didn't feel her stumble, I didn't feel her going down. All I felt was me hitting the ground. Vickie was off of Amigo before I was hardly aware I was on the ground. She was telling me to not get up. I wasn't about to get up. I laid there while Vickie, a former EMT, checked me out. By now Blue Jean was up and standing there waiting for me to get back on. I love that mare. Bob was standing there holding the horse and looking like he was devastated. Vickie didn't find anything that felt broken and Bob helped me get up off of the ground.

I was perfectly fine to walk but I was not getting back on poor little Blue Jean. She had had all she could take for the day. H T and Jamie brought a truck up to where we were and rode me back to the camp. I would have been fine walking. But they wouldn't hear of it.

Monday I had xrays made and my collar bone is broken. It is a clean break and in alignment so surgery will not be necessary. I am tired and don't feel like doing a lot but I will heal quickly. Judy Brummer told me to drink plenty of milk and I do that.

So that is my mountain trail riding experience. Will I ride again? Of course. Will I ride that mountain trail again. I have no doubt. I will be riding my new horse, Blue Jean. Did I mention that I love that mare? We bonded right off. Connor is ready to move on to something else so as luck would have it, I was able to purchase Blue Jean. You may be seeing the two of us riding the rails this year.

God does work in mysterious ways, his wonders to behold. Does God have to prove that to us over and over? I have struggled with fears of riding. A friend of mine says I make the same mistake over and over but God has provided a horse for me that I can trust completely. I will bring Blue Jean home with me. I can't wait to get back on her. When I am able to ride again we will ride my trails here. We will go up hills and down hills and she will develop the strength and stamina that she needs to tackle the rails and the big trails. God has answered my prayers in the form of a little mare called Blue Jean.

What is it you desire or need? Go to the one who owns those mountains we were riding in. Go to the one who owns those wonderful animals--the horses. Go to the one who created all of it. It is all his and by his love and grace he has provided it for our use and to care for. Most of all he has through the sacrifice of his only begotten son given us the grace and forgiveness that is necessary to gain entrance into heaven. Not through our works or efforts but through Jesus and Jesus alone.

I will see you at the State Show. The Prestonburg show is out again this year because of another broken bone. But some of my horses will be there. So watch for SC Code of Honor, Flair for Fury, Rockin Andi, Ann's Mt Treasure and Lady Ace. They will be there giving the competition some anxious moments. (I hope)

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Mr Brookshire And The Tricycle

2011-02-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

This house is the house that I live in that was built by Mr Brookshire and my Dad in the 1940s. I vaguely remember them building the house. My Mom would often take lunch to the men working on the house.

This is one of the round roof barns built by Mr Brookshire, my uncle, Dad and the men that worked on the farm. Dad and Mr Brookshire put the ideas together and drew the plans.

Mr Brookshire was a carpenter in Spencer County. He was born and raised in our county. Those of you who were raised here will remember Mr Brookshire and his family. He and Mrs Brookshire raised a nice family of ten children. They were both very industrious people and God fearing couple who raised their children to love the Lord as well.

Mr Brookshire was a craftsman. He knew how to do his work so that he did not have to go back to redo what he had previously done. He and my father did a lot of work for the farm together. They were a good team. They worked together to plan their work and do make their projects happen. They built a huge barn for the beef cattle that had space for 3500 bales of hay in the loft. The barn was designed for the trucks to drive in to unload. The lower part of the barn was designed for a loafing shed for a large herd of cattle.

The roof on the barn was round. It was designed by my dad and Mr Brookshire. Dad may have seen the design in Hoard's Dairyman magazine which was a monthly magazine for Dairy Farmers. I can well imagine that in the northern part of the country there may have been barns like that but the two men did not have pre drawn plans so they came up with the plans and built the barn.

They also added a loafing shed for the dairy cows that was attached to the dairy barn. It also had the round roof. It had an earthen ramp in which to drive the truck to unload the hay in the loft. In this barn there was room for 2500 bales of hay. So both of those barns floors had to be stable and strong enough to hold a tremendous amount of weight.

Another building project that Dad and Mr Brookshire undertook was the building of the house in which I live. They were assisted in the building by men who lived and worked on the farms. My uncle also worked on it as well when the other farm work allowed. He and my dad worked together all of their lives. They owned two farm that amounted to over 1000 acres in Spencer County. There was two separate farms. One where I own and live now and the other which is owned by my sister Kathryn and her husband.

After my grandparents moved to the other farm from here, the house they had been living in burned. My dad always said it was caused by a cigarette that was left unattended. And that was probably what happened. So Dad and Mr Brookshire drew the plans based on the configuration of the house in which he and my mother lived. I was about 3 years old when my house was built.

Mr Brookshire helped build 3 tenant houses, my grandparents home on the other farm, the barns, a granary, my house and remodeled my parents home. He was a treasure. I do not know how much building he did around the county but I am sure if I started talking about building to natives of this county there would be volumes of building projects that he worked on in his life time.

Mr Brookshire was not only a master builder but he was a very funny person. He and Mrs Brookshire had ten children so I am sure a sense of humor was necessary to his well being. He really loved children and had a way with the Rogers children that endeared him to us.

My mother was a real farm wife. She cooked for extra hands that worked on the farm when extra workers were needed. Mr Brookshire always ate with us when he worked on the farm. My mother would send me to call the hands in for dinner. I would get on my tricycle and pedal down the hill by the house and to the work site. On one particular day she sent t me to call them in for dinner the next incident happened.

I got on my tricycle and rode down the hill by the house and up the hill to the granary that they were building at that time. I gave them them the message and we all started back to the house. The men were walking and I was leading the way on my tricycle. I suddenly got the idea that Mr Brookshire needed to ride my tricycle with me. I asked him. He said. "no" and I insisted that it would be best if he rode instead of walking. So he gave in to the worrisome little girl.

We started down the hill. He was standing on the back but worried that his weight would break my tricycle, he tried to stand to put the least weight on the front. It worked for a few feet but because he was leaning back some it caused the front of the tricycle to be lighter than the back so you can pretty much guess what happened.

The tricycle went air borne in the front and the next moment found Mr Brookshire laying in the road with a little five year old girl and a tricycle laying on top of him. He came to dinner on foot laughing at the whole drama that had unfolded with the ill formed idea of my giving him a ride to dinner (you city folks call it lunch, in the country it was dinner and the night meal was supper).

Mr Brookshire died when he was above eighty years old but his precious memory still lingers on in the minds of his children and of those who knew him and had the privilege of having him in our lives. The legacy of humor and workmanship will live on as long as this blog is online and his buildings are still standing.

When my own house was remodeled in 2007 and 2008 my contractor had the benefit of experiencing the craftsmanship expressed by my dad and Mr Brookshire. He was amazed at the quality of lumber in the house. It is built of real 2x4 oak lumber. The doors are real solid oak. The upstairs closets were amazing to him because they were built under the eves of the house and they were all within a quarter of an inch of being exactly the same size.

We all have God given talents and gifts and it is up to us as to what we do with them. We can be lazy and not use them or do a half way job of using them. Dad and Mr Brookshire used their God given talents and gifts to God's Glory. They honored Him by doing the best job they could do. They did not throw together something that would fall down next year or in five years. My house has stood as a monument to their skill and willingness to work in a way they would please their creator.

You all have a gift. Have you looked within yourself to find what they are.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Value

2011-01-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

The first pictures is a beautiful bay horse named Forever Amber owned by Allison Elizabeth Adams. I really like this mare. She reminds me of my horse, Velvet. The second and fourth pictures are of CGH Flair for Fury with Brandon aboard. She is a three year old mare that is ready to start her 4th show season. This is the second year under saddle. She was the high point winner for Country Trail Pleasure classes this past show season. She also won the Breeders Cup 2 year old under saddle and conformation class during the UMH World Show. The gray filly is Ann's Mt Treasure. She won the High Point Trophy for Yearling Conformation Filly. This will be her third year in the show ring.

I met some people in a feed store last summer and in the course of conversation I found that they were interested in buying a mountain horse. I invited them to come to my farm to look at my horses. I gave directions and went on home. From what I gathered in the conversation, these folks weren't going to buy a horse from me today and probably not any day but I still invited them to come.

An hour or so later they drove up to the barn and started looking around. Bob and I had brought a couple of horses in that fit the narrow description of the horse for which they were looking. In the feed store I learned they were looking for a horse for the wife. She was a tiny little woman, shorter than I am. (Hey watch out there, I am just vertically challenged). She wanted a horse that was not tall to make it easier to mount. I have a horse named Amigo. He is 14.2hh. She wanted a chocolate with white mane and tail. Amigo has a beautiful white mane and tail. She wanted a gelding. Again Amigo.

But then we started to talk about price. That's were the conversation broke down. I told them how I had him priced. (I wasn't taking less.) They did not want to pay that much but they came to see him anyway. They also had the husband's brother with them. So he was also an interested party.

I already how an idea they wouldn't be buying when they got out of the car. We had Amigo in, combed out and brushed to the point that he was almost glowing. He was beautiful. First of all they decided he had to be taller than what we said. I don't have a measuring stick but told them he had qualified for the 14.2hh and under classes. It didn't make a difference. They looked around the barn and ask prices on different horses. I had a chocolate filly that was a yearling that I priced really too cheap. Nope that was too much. So by the time they were looking at the weanling colts I price them at a price that was ridiculously low. Nope that was too much and didn't I have anything cheaper.

I call them tire kickers. Privately of course. They just wanted to come and look around. See what I had for sale and leave without a horse. They never were serious about buying a horse from me or they thought they could run on a well broke trail horse CHEAP. I love the ads on Craigs List. They go something like this. "I need a well broke trail horse. I want a chocolate with white mane and tail gelding. Must be 16hh. It has to be 9 years old and gentle enough to put children on. I only have $500 to spend but would prefer to have registration papers to be able to show if I decide to go that direction." Sound familiar. We all have experience tire kickers. I know all stables and farms have plenty of them.

Thinking of my experiences at the Van Bert's barn I know how to be gracious to tire kickers. I know it is never a wasted moment to be gracious to visitors. One never knows when someone will decide they will buy instead of being a looker. Or that they will go home and mention that Whispering Oaks Farm has really nice horses. Anyway my Granny who was really the smartest Old Lady I ever knew told me you could catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

How does one arrive at a price for a horse. It is really a hard question to answer. So the only way I know to price a horse is what it will cost me to replace it. How well trained is the horse. What is the breeding behind her? What if no one wants to buy it at the price I put on it. Would I hate to have to keep it. I had to answer all these questions when I started to price WOF Ann's Mt Treasure. Annie is the gray filly under saddle pictured above. Because of her color she draws a lot of attention. I have had people who ask for a price. I have made the decision and I am sticking by it. She is a wonderful horse and well worth what I am asking. She is the High Point winner for the 2010 show season in conformations. She is already showing a lot of promise under saddle. On the farm here we have watched her move at freedom in play and have gotten a glimpse into her heart.

Every once in awhile I will get an email from a friend that talks about the value of a woman. It usually asks if the reader knows the value we have as a woman. Something seemed off with that question. But to read on it enumerates the things women do that gives them the value they have. Have you ever really thought about your worth as a woman or as a man. How does one put a price on their worth. Is it your job and your value on the work marketplace that determines your value? Is it your value as a parent? A spouse? Is it your value as a sister or brother? Is it your value as a person who is a teacher, a Bible study teacher or a Preacher.

Although all those things give your life value as you live and serve in your work, home or in your community it is not your real value. Let me answer the question oF your worth and my worth. This came to me as I was hanging my clean curtains of all things. I don't know why. It just may be that God wanted to reveal this to me at that time. I realized I have a high value because Jesus died for me. He shed his precious blood to save me from having to suffer in hell for all eternity.

I am reading the book that George W Bush recently wrote. I am very interested in the section on how he came to a decision on the question of federal funding for stem cell research. He was thoughtful. He did research. He talked to many people including the Pope John Paul II about ethics and science and read every bit of information that was at his disposal. He was challenged between what is ethical and what could be used to relieve human suffering as a result of stem cell research. His problem with stem cell research is that human embryos would be destroyed to do the research.

You can read his book if you want to know all the finer details. You may remember that he announced that he would allow federal funding for embryo research but only on the lines that had been already started and on the embryos that had already been destroyed to do it. He would not allow funding to destroy more embryos because they were human life. To illustrate how he felt on the subject he had several "Snow flake children" present for the signing. Snow flake children are children that have been matured to a full term baby by implanting a frozen embryo into a woman to carry someone else's baby as if it were her naturally conceived child. The couple has "adopted" that embryo.

President Bush had to make a decision none of us will ever have to make. But he knows the worth of human life. He knows that Jesus who died for him died for all of man kind and whatever worth we have is the result of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and the price he paid with his precious blood.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that who so ever should believe on him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16

Horses and Snow

2011-01-21T16:51:00.001-08:00

The horses are all enjoying the fresh snow but none are enjoying it any more than my chocolate palomino, Dixie Belle. Dixie is a three year old and has been under saddle for several months. She is tall but still a growing girl so she is getting some time off. In the meanwhile, Flair for Fury, Rockin Andi and Ann's Mt Treasure have all gone back to work.

Middle left is Ann's Mt Treasure who has only been under saddle for a few weeks. She is doing really well under Brandon's skilled hands. To the right is her big sister, Flair for Fury who will be going into her 4th show season and second under saddle. They are both out of Rebel's Rock's Ann. Meanwhile back at the farm the horses are enjoying the snow.

When I worked at the post office in Prospect Ky, I was a Sales and Service Associate (fancy name for a window clerk). I didn't get paid more, I was just given a fancier title. I used to stand at my station when I wasn't waiting on customers and watch the snow fall on days like yesterday. I thought how beautiful the snow would be if I were sitting in the safety of my home watching it fall through the window without thoughts of driving home on slick roads with other drivers that seemed reckless to me.

Yesterday I was sitting in the sun room with Bob and Natalie watching the snow fall and it was really beautiful. There is something about snow (when one doesn't have to drive in it) that is peaceful. It may be the silence of the snow and everything out doors when it is falling. Yesterday the wind was still and the air was cold and all was silent. It was a storybook day.

This morning when we let the horses out that had been in the barn all night it was a beautiful sight. I snapped pictures until my camera card was totally full. Dixie was running and really putting on a show. The other horses were running too just for the sheer joy of the snow and life in general. The horses that had been in overnight had just been given a little grain and they were ready to play. Bob sometimes says the grain to them is like a good cup of coffee to us. They do seem to enjoy the grain as much as I do my first cup of coffee in the morning.

Tonight they were all eager to get to their feed buckets. They could hardly wait to get into the barn and then as they waited for us to bring feed to them, they were restless. Some do a tap dance on the concrete. Satin likes to paw the floor while she waits impatiently for what she knows is coming.

Dixie was at first skeptical of what we were putting in her bucket hanging on the fence but she has now learned it is pretty good so she also is impatient. My newest mare, Dock's Darling (a Rocky Dock mare) is not sure of what is going on in her life. Although she has been ridden and certified, she has not had a lot of handling. She is a big beautiful chocolate mare with a flaxen mane and tail. She has most recently been turned out with my stallion, S C Code of Honor, and is pronounced safely in foal to him. I know she misses him and is not sure of what is going on in her life right now.

Bob has not gained her trust yet. She knows we have provided for her. We give her good hay, grain 2x a day and all the water she needs to satisfy her thirst. She gets to go out to the field with the other horses where there is a big pile of hay to satisfy the need she has for forage to stay warm and maintain her body weight. She can run at will or lay down and roll. At night she stays in a stall with an ample amount of hay to get her through the night. She gets petted and made over. Yet she is suspicious that maybe it is some kind of trick.

She sees us providing amply for her but yet she has not given her heart to us.

I see people like that. God has provided for them so generously but in their pride they think they have done it all themselves. Perhaps that mare thinks that because she is there she has found the grain and hay on her own. I sometimes fall into that trap. I get to thinking I am smarter than I really am and that I have done something special and extraordinary. But then I snap back to reality and realize that it is God blessing me and I have done nothing special. Whatever I am, what ever I have is gifts from God.

I know I wrote about this yesterday but I just can't help thinking about God's goodness and how he has blessed me so generously. I can't help but think who am I that God even takes notice of me. I am just an average person but whatever talent I have or what ever good I accomplish I owe to him.

So I want to leave you with this thought tonight. Do you count your blessings? Do you think about from where those blessings come? We are all blessed. Even the poorest among us live lives that most of the rest of the world can't imagine. I consider myself blessed that I was born in the United States to Lucy and Frank Rogers on a farm close to Taylorsville. I am blessed to live in a country full of opportunity. I am blessed that I can go to church, read my Bible and live in a house that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

I am blessed to call all of you friends and loved ones and I pray God will bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.

Isaiah 66: 13

My Mattress Was In the Middle of a Busy Highway

2011-01-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

The first picture in this series is of WOF Mike's Rhythm and Blue. He is out of a Storm Warning mare and by Blue on Black. His sire was the UMH high money winner for the 2010 show season. Blue on Black was sired by Blue Man McGuire.

The second picture is of WOF's Rockin Andi. Andi was second place high point winner in the 2010 Country Trail Pleasure Classes

The third picture is a really nice colt out of WOF's Once a Hobo and sired by Sudden Impact. His name if WOF Saga of Snowy River. The two colts are yearling colts and along with a Venture's Black Fury colt are spending the winter at Whispering Oaks Farm where they were foaled last spring. All are for sale. Saga won blue the first time he participated in a Weanling Conformation class.

I just can't seem to help bragging on my horses but then there is a lot for which to be proud. God made them so special. They along with everything you and I have really belongs to God and He has blessed us by giving it to our care for our use.

I have been truly blessed by owning some of the most beautiful well bred Rocky Mountain Horses in the world. I was blessed to have received two High Point awards for CGH Flair for Fury and WOF Ann's Mt Treasure. Rockin Andi shown in the picture above was 2nd to Flair for the High Point award as presented at the UMH Awards Banquet last week end. Congratulations to the planners. Judy and the UMH board and all who was involved in the planning did a wonderful job getting it together. The dinner was really delicious and all aspects of the evening was really special.

My congratulations to all the High Point Award winners. There is too many to name and I would surely leave someone out. They are all important awards to competitors. I personally treasure every ribbon and recognition my horses receive but I am also glad to be able to congratulate all the other owners of the fine horses in our breed.

Having said all that now to get to the title of my blog tonight. I went shopping for mattresses for my two beds. I went to every place around Louisville looking for the mattress that would suit me at the price I was willing to pay. I looked for a long time. I did finally find the mattresses I wanted in Louisville. I didn't want to pay for delivery. After all I did have a pickup truck on which I could haul a set of bedding. So I bought the two sets.

They did not have the mattress sets in their store but I was told they would be in by the end of the week. I made arrangements to pick up one set on Sunday after Church and the second set on Monday after work. I was excited on Sunday when I got there. I was already feeling myself sleeping on the set I had bought for my bed.

I knew the sales clerk was somewhat dingy but I really didn't know just how dingy she was until I went to pick up the mattress sets. I had already told her that I would get one set that day and the other set the next day. I knew I could get one set secured where I wouldn't have any trouble getting it home.

But no.......... SHE INSISTED that I could haul both sets home on one trip. So despite my objections and serious doubts she and another clerk set about loading the two mattress and box spring sets. It didn't look very secure but while she sat on a chair behind the store and talked and smoked the other clerk was tying the bedding onto the truck. The clerk kept telling me all about her experience tying knots and how she knew just how to do it while her partner was busy tying . Of course she on the other hand was still talking and smoking.

I still had doubts about my load when I finally pulled out of the store lot amidst assurances that my load was as secure as a baby in it's mama's arms. I turned on to Hurstbourne Lane which is one of the busiest 4 lane highways in the city. I had no sooner gotten out into traffic before the top box springs blew off into the middle of the road. In other words, Momma dropped the baby.

I got out of my truck and by that time the man in the vehicle behind me was already out to give me a helping hand. We got the springs back on and he tied it more securely and after thanking him I got back into my truck and headed on toward home praying all would be well now.

I had no sooner turned onto Taylorsville Road (also a very busy road) until the box springs was once again in the road. I once again got out of the truck and was glad to see a Jeffersontown Policeman was already stopped behind me. He surely would be helpful. But no. Because of liability he could not help me load the mattress. He couldn't even help me pull it out of the road. So here I am yanking and pulling on the box springs trying to drag it out of the highway as one of our finest stood there watching me.

He was trying to be helpful and insisted he must call this mattress store and let them deliver the bedding for me. I could not persuade him to not call so while he was calling them I put in a call to my son-in-law Mike. Mike came to my rescue about the time the dingy woman from the mattress store got there.

She was less help that time that she had been at the store. She once again pulled out her cigarettes and lite one up as Mike and I pulled the springs back on the truck. Mike set about tying them on while she was telling him how unreasonable I had been in wanting to haul both sets home on one load. She explained to him that she had tried unsuccessfully to talk me out of hauling them both home at the same time.

Mike got my load tied down in a way that I was sure was going to stay and she insisted she would follow me home to make sure I got there alright. Mike told her very firmly that he would be following me home and her assistance was not needed. And Mike followed me several miles to make sure I would be alright. We stopped on the side of the road so I could hug him and thank him from the bottom of my heart before he departed to return to work.

That is why for a long time my daughter answered the phone "Thank you for calling the damsel in distress hot line. What is your emergency today." I often call Mike on other matters but start the conversation with "Mike, I am on I-64 and my mattress is laying on the road in the middle lane. How long will it take you to get here."

Our distresses is not usually about a mattress in the middle of a busy interstate highway. They can be a lot more serious than that and can't be fixed by a son-in-law that is so good and kind and loving that he will leave work to help. We can always ask for help from the God who created the whole universe. He knows the next sentence I am going to write before I know it myself. He knows how you will receive this blog. He already knows if you will laugh at my story as I have often laughed about it.

It is a great comfort to me to know that God knows all about me. The psalmist said it best. "What is man that God should be mindful of him" God created the moon and the stars. He knows how many grains of sand is on all the beaches of the world. He knows every cell in your body and every hair on your head. The Bible tells us that God has the hair on each head numbered. Isn't it amazing? He knows all the stars in the sky. He has them numbered too. We can't even count what we can see.

My God is an awesome God. I pray each of you know God and have accepted Jesus as your Savior. You can be no more secure that placing your faith in Him and Him alone. And when something worse happens to you than a mattress in the road, He will be there to comfort you and lead and guide you to safety.

May God bless and keep you in His loving care.

Regards

Mary

OH! I Think I Broke My.....................

2011-01-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

WOF Saga of Snowy River was a blue ribbon winner the first time he was in the show ring. He is now a yearling and still looking good. We can't set him up like S T did but he is looking pretty good anyway.

The first picture is a Venture's Black Fury baby born on our farm last year. His name is Duh Polish Fury in honor of our family name. (Lipginski) We are poking fun at ourselves.

I often write about things that pokes fun at myself. Someone once told me that their life wasn't as much fun or as interesting as mine. If you don't believe that your life is interesting and fun, open your eyes. Funny things happen every day all around you. All you have to do is look around and quit taking yourself so seriously.

Someone once said, "Life is too important to be taken seriously." I believe that Oscar Wilde was the one who said that. We can get so caught up in our self importance and worry so much about what everyone else thinks of us we can't see the humours side of life. It is liberating to let go and laugh at one's self.

This winter has been a bear with the snow and ice we have had. I am almost 69 years old and after breaking my arm this past year, I have tried to be careful not to repeat the experience. So I have stepped very carefully. I had been very successful until one Sunday just before Christmas. One of my weanlings had a bad cough and a very runny nose. There was really nasty stuff coming from his nose and I knew he needed the vet.

The vet came out and checked Little Fury and found he had pneumonia. He gave him some shots with the instructions that I was to continue to give him shots for the next week. He then ask if I still had penicillin. I started into the barn to look in the refrigerator and didn't watch my step and down I went. It hurt a little but I wasn't willing to admit that anything was injured except my ego.

I instantly thought back to a winter when Bill and I first got married. My brother Bob was about 12 years old. The ice froze thick on the lake on the farm that year. It finally got thick enough to trust it to ice skate on. We were skating around on the lake and having a barrel of fun. We weren't good skaters but we were having fun anyway. My sister and brother-in-law were there with their children and we were all laughing at ourselves and each other and having a great time in general.

Bob lost his balance and fell on the ice. He got up and said "Oh, I think I broke my........yo yo." He reached back in his pocket and pulled his yo yo out and tested it out. He threw it down and pulled it up several times and finally concluded his yo yo had survived the fall.

So now when some one falls we ask, "Did you break your yo yo." Or announce "Oh I think I broke my yo yo." Or "Oh, I hope I didn't break my yo yo." We have had a lot of fun with Bob over his yo yo as you might surmise.

We all had a lot of fun together as we joined each other for family Christmases, Thanksgivings and Sunday dinner. Then one day things changed and it all got very serious.

Our mother got sick. She had been teaching school several years by then. She was a kind wonderful woman whose children loved her dearly. The ones in the class room and at home. The doctor discovered a grapefruit size growth on one of her ovaries. The surgery went well and she recovered pretty quickly. She was still only 60 years old. Her recovery seemed to be on track when my Uncle died suddenly. He and my dad had been life long partners in their farming operation. My uncle had never married. I grew up with him being very close and a very near and dear presence in our lives.. We had barely gotten over the shock of his passing when it was apparent that our Mom wasn't doing very well.

What we feared was that this would be the last Christmas we would have with her and it was.

She was in the hospital again and the doctors told us the bad news. Her cancer had returned and had spread over her body very quickly. We knew it was just a matter of time when we would lose her too. That happened less than eight months after we buried my uncle. So we were once again grieving someone near and dear to us. It seemed our family never really recovered from our loss. She was the pin that kept the family together.

My daddy was a wonderful man but it was our mother who kept things working smoothly. It was our mother that kept the pot from boiling over. My family is made up of strong personalities. I bet your is too.

We all have different personalities. Sometimes things can get tense in a family with many members and so many personalities.

So what can we do? Well I tell you what we do. We can forgive each other whether it is a family member or a friend or an aquaintence that has wronged us. Some people seem to feel a need to go out of the way to make life unpleasant for others. I can't imagine what in their lives have made them so miserable as to want to hurt others.

So we forgive. And Jesus said we should forgive seventy times seven if necessary. I cringe when I hear some one say they will never forgive someone for what they did. Or that they hate someone.

Forgiveness is such an important part of the Christian life. It is a serious matter to me that Jesus said we should forgive each other even as He has forgiven us. I did more to cause him to suffer on the cross that anyone has caused me to suffer. How can I then go to Jesus and ask him to forgive me when I won't forgive others whom I think have wronged me?

You know God has forgiven you too. Today I ask you, is there someone you also need to forgive? A grudge is a terribly heavy burden to carry.

May God bless and keep you in his tender loving care.

Regards

Mary

Flair for Fury

2011-01-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

OK I am frustrated. I uploaded a picture of Flair and I don't know where it went. It was a beautiful picture of her in the show ring with S T on board in an under saddle class this past show season.

This is about Flair and me and our trail ride. We finally caught a good day to ride this past week.
Leigh was here and she wanted to ride Velvet. Velvet is her favorite horse right now. She canters across the field with Leigh "in the irons" as they say at the shows. I had never been on Flair for Fury but I was told that she was my kind of horse.

As if there was an explanation needed, Bob went on to tell me how easy to ride she is and just how laid back and sweet. I got on her and rode her in the round pen while everyone else was getting their horses ready to ride. She wasn't real fond of riding in there because we had pulled shoes for the winter and there were a lot of rocks that had not been smoothed down enough.

I started to get a feel for her and found that she is very laid back. To the point of being a little lazy. Yes she is my kind of horse. Unlike J R that has a stubborn streak, Flair is a willing filly. I did have to urge her on some in the round pen but out in the open she was really easy to ride.

We rode up through the fields and down in the woods. I sometimes get uneasy in the woods because J R will get a little eager to go down the hills and he is not careful to pick his way along the trail. If you don't watch him he will scrub legs against trees. He pretty much has to be ridden all the time. He is a gentle soul and will not do anything really stupid but he likes to test the rider once in awhile.

I remember when I was trying to get comfortable riding again after some spills, we were riding in the woods. I like to follow instead of lead and Bob had ridden across a creek. I followed and when we turned to cross the creek again, J R started doing little crow hops. It scared me. I wasn't expecting him to do it. So he had one over on me. He did it several times to me after that and I was totally frustrated. I was too scared to do what I needed to do to show him I was the herd leader in our little herd of two.

One day we were riding in the bottoms along the river and he decided he would do his little crow hops. He made me think he was going to rear up. I knew in my head he was too lazy but my heart was not convinced. And so it went with my riding. Some days I was ok and others I was almost terrified.

Then came May 28, 2010. I was not on a horse. I was leading one of my weanlings and I fell and broke my arm. It took me several months to heal and all the time the surgeon who operated on me was telling me to stay off of the horses. I was ok with that. I finally got to get back on in October. I started riding J R again and I found that I wasn't afraid anymore. If J R wanted to run down the hill, I was able to hold him back. I made him understand what walk meant. If he wanted to crow hop, I made his feet move. If he wanted to eat, I wouldn't let him put his head down while I was on him. He started being more obedient. I in turn got more at ease on him.

One day I decided to ride a mare, Rocky Top Rebel. Rebel is bred and she is not a happy pregnant mare. But it was early on when I rode her. I don't ride her now. She is not due until May but she is a very unhappy pregnant mare.

So the last time I rode a horse was last week and I rode Flair for Fury. Flair is two years old. She has had ten months of training. S T rode her in all the shows last season and she hardly knew what it meant if she was in a class and didn't go to the winner's circle. She won the prestigious Breeder's Cup for two year olds. Breeder's Cup for a two year old is both under saddle and under halter in the same class. The horse displays her or (his) talent with a rider. The saddle is then pulled off and she is shown in hand. It takes a good horse to win. Some horses do well under saddle and then come up short in conformation. So Flair is a good two year old without a doubt.

Not every two year old, even in the Rocky Mountain breed is right for a rider like I am. But Flair is a good horse for me. She proved it to me last week.

She didn't feel like she was going to take off and run with me to stay up with the other horses. I like my horse to walk. If she did feel like she was going to go a little faster than I wanted her to go I pulled her up a little and she immediately dropped back down to a walk. The woods was a beautiful experience. There is a lot of down hill trails and Flair so carefully picked her way down the trails. She didn't always walk on the exact same path the other horses walked on. The trails were muddy because of the rain we have had. She would often walk to the side of where the other horses had walked. She was avoiding the mud and the slippery slopes.

So on the first ride on Flair for Fury (she is out of Rebel's Rocks Ann and by Venture's Black Fury) I have come to trust her because I can see she is trustworthy. Isn't that the way our walk with Jesus is.

I learned to trust Jesus when I opened my heart to him and told him I needed him because I couldn't do this thing called life by myself. First of all, I needed him to save me. I couldn't do enough good to save myself. After all he had already paid the price for my salvation. He died on the cross for me and you. His precious blood paid our sin debt. He now leads us on our life's path.

Sometimes we do walk off the path and try to go it on our own. But he comes looking for us like in the parable of the lost sheep. There were 99 sheep safely in the fold. But one was lost. The shepherd went to look for that one. Like sheep we go astray. We don't have to try to find our way back, we just need to call out to Jesus to help us.

Like Flair who chose the safest path for us Friday, Jesus will lead us on the safest path. He may take us places we wouldn't choose ourselves but he is showing us the best way home. When we are in his care we can't be any where that we are safer.

When Mike was in Iraq, my customers in the post office would ask me how I slept at night. First, I couldn't take care of Mike in Iraq That would be ridiculous if I tried. But there was one who was with him at all times. He was in God's hands. And all that is the safest place anyone can be. So that is how I could lay down and not lay awake all night worrying. I prayed of course. I would have rather he was back in the states but I could not do anything about that. But I knew with God's care he was in good hands.

I am praying you are safely in the Good Shepherd's fold tonight. I pray you are walking the path beside Jesus and following his will for your life. If you have wondered off the path, ask him to lead you back to safety. It is his good pleasure to walk with each of us.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care and may your new year be abundantly provided for by the one who died for us all, Jesus Christ.

Regards,

Mary

"And Jesus said unto them 'What man of you having an hundred sheep; if he lose one of them doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost, until he finds it.'"

Luke 15: 4

The Grass is Greener

2010-12-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

This picture has little to do with my blog subject but it is so darn cute of my son, Steve and his granddaughter Alyssa. Alyssa is 14 months old and has had 3 open heart surgeries. Not so many years ago Alyssa may not have made it to 14 months old. But thanks to modern medicine her heart has been repaired and she is gaining weight and looking really good. But I also thank God for her health for he guided the hands of the surgeons. She hears better than they said she would and that is by the grace of our loving Father.

I like this picture a lot. Alyssa is flirting with the camera and Steve's face and eyes tell their own story.

I have heard it said all my life that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. If you have live stock you will know exactly where that phrase comes from. There has never been a farmer that hasn't encountered his livestock out of the pasture where they belong.

Michael you are going to love this blog. It is for you and Merry Christmas. Hope all is well in your part of the country.

I have my horses behind electric fence. The fence I have is safe for horses and it keeps them in pretty well. But we have large herds of deer and the fences get pulled down by deer jumping them and branches falling off of trees and landing on the fence. It is safe however and cheaper and easier than putting up woven wire fence. So that is what we have. We had a lot of woven wire fence at one time. We, of course, had to check it and cut trees off of it too. Unless the fence was just really down most of the cows stayed put and could be depended on to stay in their pasture. But usually there was one rogue cow. Sometimes it would be the bull because of his testosterone.

My dad often told of a bull they had that regularly went visiting. He would cross the river to get with another herd of cows. Dad told me about taking his shot gun and putting bird load in it and sending the bull back across the river. The bull seemed to have a pretty long memory of that unpleasant experience because he never crossed the river again.

We had a bull that did the same thing except it was across the fence into the neighbors pasture with his cows. The fence was never very good between this neighbor and us. They were absentee owners with other farms and they used their farm neighboring to us to run replacement heifers for their dairy. They didn't worry much about fence because the neighbors would fix it most of the time.

So Bill borrowed a page from Dad's book and took the shot gun and we went over to the neighbor's field and sent the bull home. It worked beautifully and he also had a long memory and didn't want to repeat the experience.

To built our herd and to have extra calves to sell, Bill and I bought baby calves from a cousin that had a dairy farm. He bred his heifers to beef bulls and he sold us the resulting calves. He also sold us his Holstein bull calves which we bottle fed and sold as steers when they got some weight on them. We happened to get a Holstein heifer from him once that we raised and turned out with our beef bull. She produced a big nice calf. She was a really good mother. It came time to wean the calves and hers was extra nice because of all the milk she produced. But in raising her calf, she really lost the weight. She was putting everything into her milk and it didn't leave much for her.

She wasn't a problem until we weaned her calf. Then she started finding her way out of the field we had her in. Suddenly the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. Often I would look out the kitchen window and she would be in the garden or in the yard. That really got on my nerves. We would put her back into the pasture and fix fence. A couple of days later it would be the same thing with another part of the fence. She was not only getting out of the pasture, she was tearing down fence to do it.

So drawing on past experience, I loaded the shot gun one fall afternoon and walked out to where she was grazing. I put the gun against my shoulder and pulled the trigger. The gun gave a load report and to my utter amazement, the cow dropped like a lead balloon. She was dead. I looked at her and I looked at the shot gun. I could not believe what had just happened. I was totally beside myself.

Now Bill was down on the river pumping a gasoline barge and we were getting ready to go to the field to pick corn. The children had just gotten home from school. The boys were getting a snack and changing their clothes and here I stood looking down at a cow I had just shot.

I did the only thing I knew to do other than cry. I called my Daddy. He said he would be right down to the farm to help me. The boys got the tractor and put the lift on it. Dad got there and we picked her up and took her to the barn. We skinned her out and hung her to chill. Yes, I know how to skin a cow. (Move over Sarah. You aren't the only one with a skinning knife) My Daddy bless his heart helped me do all that and told Bill he could see no reason that cow should have died from the shot since none of the bird shot hit anywhere that should have killed her. He maintained she had a heart attach.

Dad went home and took Mary Beth with him. Mike, Steve and I went to the field to pick corn. We came in about dark and Bill had been home for a little while. He had been out for hours so he went to bed and went to sleep totally exhausted. Debbie told us what happened when her Daddy got home.

The conversation went something like this.. Bill ask where Momma and the boys were. She replied that they were in the field picking corn. Next he wanted to know where Mary Beth was. Debbie told him she went home with Granddaddy. He asked why Granddaddy was here. She told him that Granddaddy came to help skin the cow. Well that was a surprise to him of course. So naturally he wanted to know what cow. Debbie in all her honesty and 7 year old voice told him that it was the one Momma shot. That was news to him. That was the first he had heard of a cow being shot and skinned.

To my surprise when Bill got up the next morning he said nothing about the cow that was shot and skinned and chilling in the barn. Two weeks went by and nothing was said about the cow. I wasn't talking about cows and neither was he. About that time we were at my Dad's house and I asked Dad if it was about time to cut the beef up and put it into the freezer. Bill innocently ask what beef I was talking about like he had never heard anything about it.

It was an incident that has followed me through life. Bill and I had several good laughs over it and my daughter, Mary Beth will tell the story every time she gets a chance, right Michael.

She does embellish and leaves out some important facts but her story always gets a lot of laughs. And she even tells her patients at the hospital about it to entertain them while she is working with them.

So as the grass that was greener on the over side of the fence led to that cow ending up in our freezer well before the usefulness of her life was over so bad choices can lead to heart ache and heart break for us.

I was recently in Stanton Ky to be at church when a dear friend was baptized. Her husband had also rededicated his life to Christ. It was a glorious day for their family and friends. But while there rejoicing over the turn around in their lives I heard about 4 young people that had lost their lives due to overdoses of drug they were using illegally. Somehow the grass looked greener on the other side of the fence to them.

Although not all lives will end like those, can't we all relate to the grass looking greener over the fence. A class mate has a bigger house, drives a nicer car has children that are successful and outwardly looking like they are living a life we may have dreamed of. But what is their heart ache. What has broken their hearts.

A friend lives in a big beautiful house, has travelled the world and has friends in high places. But they haven't been able to have children. That is a heart break for them but to look over the fence it looks like they have it all.

Sheep, cows and horses do not lay down in green pastures unless they have everything they need. A cow especially will not lay down and chew her cud if she is not full and content. So if we follow Christ and rely on God to give us all we need, we do not have to envy the grass on the other side of the fence. In Christ, we have it all.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God bless and keep you in his loving and tender care.

Regards

Mary

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters

Psalms 23: 1-2

2010-12-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

I must have been deep in thought. Bob snapped my picture when I didn't expect him to do it. Is that a horse magazine I was readig. Is there any other kind?

We had guests last week. Wendy is from Oregon and her son and daughter-in-law live in Indiana. They were really delightful people and by the time they left, I felt like I had known them all my life.

They had come to see the horses. That is itself makes for a good visit. It was cold then as it is tonight. We invited them in the warm house for coffee and some hot soup. There is nothing like sharing a meal with friends to make a day complete. I had made blueberry muffins and had coffee ready as well as a good pot of bean soup.

Of course the talk was mostly of horses and the horses we had just visited in the barn. It is a really good time when people come and admire one's horses. I was pleased to share pedigrees and accomplishments with them. Wendy was very knowledgeable on the breed and shared her stories of riding. It was a wonderful day.

But when it is all said and done we go back to the barn to feed the horses. The last two days have been terrible winter days. I look out the windows and see the rain falling and it is ice. I remember in January and early February of 2009 that the ice broke power lines and tree limbs and we were without electricity for nine days. So one just has to wonder if that will happen again.

Since then the power company has been here trimming trees back away from the power lines. So hopefully it is taken care of and we will be ok.

It is catch up time. There is a ton of paper work to do. Horses to register. Pictures to take. Papers to fill out and checks to write. It is time consumming but must be done. Soon it will be time once again to pull out all of the cancelled checks and receipts to file taxes. But for right now Christmas is just around the corner and pushing at the door.

Everyone ask the question, "Are you ready for Christmas." This year my daughter and granddaughter decided rather than spend money on each other and buy things none of us need, we would pitch in and buy gifts for soldiers that are overseas and away from home and family for Christmas. I think that was a good idea. I have so much that I really don't know where to put anything else. I have nicknack's that are stored away in boxes in the closet. I don't know what else I could possibly want or need.

But I have been Christmas shopping just the same. At church, we have a Christmas store. The members of the church take a shopping bag home. It has the age range of a boy or girl. We are to spend up to $25 for a child that age. The gifts are then placed in a large area and families can come and shop for their child. It is so much easier than trying to buy a gift for Sam or Sue age 12 or 8 etc. The parent gets to pick three gifts for their child. It was really a great idea that some one had to do it that way.

Our Bible study class has some men who come from prison for Bible study. One of them didn't get to put his children's names on an angle tree soon enough and ask for a little help for his youngsters. The class turned out generously for the family. I am very proud of what our class did for those children.

Our class is a kind generous group of men and women. Recently, we lost a member of our class. One of the members sent out emails to let us all know of his death. Soon Gloria had everyone organized to bring food for the family at the funeral home. Right after that, a member lost his mother. Once again Gloria went to work sending out emails and getting food brought for the family.

We get so wrapped up in what to buy for each other and decorating the house and preparing for a big meal that we can easily forget why we celebrate Christmas. Society has tried its best to take Christ out of Christmas. People get offended by someone saying "Merry Christmas" They have tried to get us to use "Happy Holidays". I am offended that anyone would try to take away my right to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

One of the best celebrations I had this year for Christmas was to go to church with dear friends and see one of their own baptized and profess Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Do you know how much rejoicing there is in Heaven when one of the lost is saved. More than we can imagine. We certainly rejoiced over her new birth and her husband's re-dedication of his life to Jesus.

As I write this the dogs are all over the house sleeping. I think my house has surely gone to the dogs. I have been allowing Mike and Natalie's dogs to come in to my house until one of them gets home from work. It is so bitter cold outside and they are more used to staying inside. So Erica is asleep on the couch. I lost that battle and I now just put an old quilt on the couch to save it from dog hair. Tex is at the foot of the bed sleeping on a rug and Cassie is sleeping out in the sun room. It is one of those nights out that Steve will allow his dog to come into the house.

God has blessed me with a nice home. The furnace is running and seems to never cut off but it keeps the house warm and we are comfortable. I sometimes just take it all for granted. Warm place to live in the winter. Cool house in the summer. Warm clothes to dress in to go to the barn. Warm socks and shoes. We have a little heater in the feed room and when we go in the feed room is nice. We can go in to warm up a little from the cold barn. I get into my truck to drive to the barn. It is warm. God has blessed me so abundantly.

If I did not have any of those things in life, I would still be blessed because Jesus died on the cross to cover my sins. If I could do enough good works to get to heaven on my own, Jesus would not have had to die the terrible death he died. But I can not do enough good or be good enough. I am blessed because I have been saved by grace through the precious blood of Jesus Christ my Lord.

St Paul was content where ever he was because he had the assurance of his salvation. So I will be content with whatever God chooses to bless me with. Where ever I am.

God bless and keep you in his loving care. May you pause to reflect on what Christmas is really about.

Regards

Mary

By grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves, lest any man should boast.

Romans

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T16:19:00.000-08:00

God bless our dirty dishes

they have a tale to tell

While other folks are going hungry

we're eating mighty well

with home and health and happiness

we shouldn't want to fuss

for by this stack of evidence

God is very good to us

From Dear Abby

Many years ago but still as true today as it was then.

Have a happy Thanksgiving

May the Lord bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Oh give thanks unto the Lord of lords for his mercy endures forever

Psalms 136: 1

Follow the Light

2010-11-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

The sun had already cast long shadows and darkness was beginning to take over the land when we realized one of the fillies was not with the herd. Bob drove around the field on the tractor and found she was on the hill side outside of the fence. She had found the fence down and had stuck her head through because the grass IS greener on the other side of the fence.

I grabbed the lead rope and we got into the truck to get as close to her as possible by road. We saw her up the hill and just outside of the fence. I insisted that I could get her and got out of the truck to climb up the steep hillside to where she was standing. I had just enough light that I could see the deer trail leading up through the thick brush and steep hill side.

It was tough going. I half crawled up the hill grabbing onto small trees to both pull myself up and keep from falling backward. Thorn's from wild roses grabbed at my clothing and caught my bare skin a couple of times. But I was able to slowly make my way up the hill to where Masissah was standing. She didn't wait for me to catch her. She bolted back through the fence and gaited to the rest of the herd where she walked over to the bale of hay. I found her there innocently eating hay like she had been there all the time.

I instructed Bob to unplug the fence and I walked a stretch of it putting wire back on the insulators to hopefully keep them in the field and out of danger. It was now completely dark. I was across the field from the house. I did not have to make my way back down the same hill. I climbed through the fence and walked toward home.

The night was quiet and peaceful. The only sounds I could hear was the sound of my feet as I walked across the field toward the comfort of home. Despite the darkness that surrounded me, I could see enough in front of me that I knew where to step to keep my footing. I had already noticed the lights at the house shinning through the darkness. It seemed they were there to guide me home.

Then I started thinking about the true light of the world, Jesus Christ, and how he lights our path as we head toward our home in heaven. Behind me was darkness and the hill I had just climbed. It was steep and had I not been careful I could have fallen and landed at the bottom. I had some light then but what if I had turned around and decided to take a chance on going back down that hill away from the light.

Isn't that what we do when we take our own path and decide we know best. Instead of following the light, we take the path where danger lurks at every turn. We take one step after another until we are on that hillside in the dark and not being able to see we fall. But even then Jesus Christ is there to save us. Even then we can cry out to him and tell him we need him. We need his light.

In this life we are walking in darkness if we try to live as if there is no God. Without Christ the world in a scary place. In our ignorance we say to ourselves, I can do it myself. I don't need Christ to save me. I am too smart to fall for that fairy tale.

Have you ever tried to put something together and not read the instructions. We usually laugh and say that when all else fails we will read the instructions. And usually we do find that we have to get the instructions and read them.

I have decided I want mail delivery out on our route. I get some mail addressed to my home address instead of my P O Box and sometimes it is a letter I would have like to receive or needed to have. So I bought a mail box. I thought I was surely smart enough to put the mail box together. Yes, some assemble was required. I put some of it together and found some things about it that I couldn't decide how it needed to be done. So yep, I got out the instructions.

We do that every day when we don't read God's instruction book, the Bible.

May your paths always be lite by God's perfect light and may you always be guided by the light that leads you home to Jesus.

And may God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Look deep into my heart, God, and find out everything I am thinking. don't let me follow evil ways, but lead me in the way that time has proven true.

Psalms 139: 23-24

For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.

Proverbs 1: 32-33

And Then There Is Rascal

2010-11-08T04:05:00.000-08:00

First picture is WOF Ann's Mt Treasure. She is a yearling filly and is getting ready to compete in trial obstacles at the KMSHA show. Second is WOF Dock's Velvet. Velvet is 3 years old and a daughter of Choco Dock. She is a beautiful bay mare. Third picture is Vanessa Crowe showing Dixie Belle. She is a beautiful Chocolate Palomino that is 2 years old and is just put under saddle last summer.

Rascal is the newest member of our family. He is not a horse for a change.

Now I don't mean to offend people who own and love cats but I really don't like cats for pets. They are too ___________. You know cats so you fill in the blank. It is not that we have never had cats for pets.

We had two house cats at one time. My daughter had gotten a kitten (thanks to her children) for a pet. They named their new kitten Bob. It seemed like a suitable name until Bob got older. Bob was part minx. As most of you may know Minx is a breed that has no tail. They are also shorter in the front than in the back legs. Bob was a beautiful cat. and Bob had kittens. So now we know Bob was not exactly the best name for her but Bob she was and Bob she stayed.

When Bob had kittens my grandchildren really thought we should have one of them. They were really cute as young animals always are. So I finally agreed to have A kitten. Not kittens but a kitten. My mistake was that I let Bill and one of the grandchildren go to pick out the kitten. They came home with two kittens. Some of the grandchildren liked the female cat that was calico color. She was long haired. Some of them liked the short haired white cat that looked like his mother. And he was a very beautiful kitten.

So Bill compromised and brought both cats home. So now we were a two cat household. We owned the usual cat stuff. The liter box, the liter, the little scoop etc. The cats eventually grew up as cats do. They had some lessons along the way. For instance, they wanted to sleep with us. They kept getting put off the beds in a very firm way until they learned their lessons. But they never learned not to get up on the furniture.

I had a nice feather duster that I really liked. One day I came home and the duster was turned into piles of feathers all over the floor. I guess they thought it was a bird and decided to tear it to pieces.

These two cats were good mousers. One morning as I was getting ready for work I heard a mouse in the heat vent. Before long the male cat had caught the mouse and he was very proud. I was getting my clothes on when I heard some growling in the dining room. I walked out of the bathroom and the female cat was growling like a dog at the male cat. She took his catch over and let him know it was hers. He backed off.

They had not been out of the house for their whole lives and I decided that they needed to go out. I was tired of the liter box and the male cat always managed to get in the box but he hung his back end over the box and missed it. So I was left cleaning up his mess.

My husband and daughter tried to put them out one day and they hung on the back door. It was so funny. Both cats hanging on the back door. So they came back in and weren't put out for awhile. One day they were sitting in kitchen window. I opened the window and pushed both cats out before they knew what had happened to them. They tried to get back in but couldn't jump high enough to reach the window. So they stayed out during the day but came in at night.

One morning I noticed fleas in the house. I sprayed the house and we gave the cats a bath. After that the male cat became known as flea bag. The female had already become known as hair ball because of being long haired she had the problem of hair balls. This was Bill's names for the two cats.

When we went on vacation one time Bill took them to the vet for boarding. They asked what their names were and of course he told them Fleas Bag and Hair Ball. They had a good laugh over that at the vet's office and promptly gave them more normal names but around our house they were always Flea Bag and Hair Ball.

Flea Bag liked our dog Hannah but Hair Ball hated dogs. Flea Bag would curl up beside her and they would sleep together. Hannah never minded him being there. Hair Ball would wait for Hannah to walk by a chair and she would jump on her and attach her. Hannah was very confused. She didn't ever know (kbb whjm mjj Erica is helping me write) why she was attack. And there was no reason she was mistreated in such a way since she never bothered the cats.

One day Flea Bag disappeared. We could only guess what happened to him but we thought he maybe got too friendly with Coyotes. We had Hair Ball a bit longer but one day she disappeared as well. So we no longer had cats and I did not want another cat.

And then just recently Lucy and I had a girl's day out and we went to Stanton to the Van Bert Farm. It just happened a little kitten had appeared from nowhere on that particular day. It had a broken foot. It was really a rather ugly kitten. He had been shaved around his neck and his hair was shorter there than anywhere else on his body. He had fleas and was under weight even for a young kitten. He looked like he should still be with his mother. But there he was in Van Bert's barn.

Vera came out of the office and announced that cat had to be taken care of because she was fearful the dogs would kill him. By then he was climbing up Lucy's pant legs and she was already hooked. But as she explained, she already had a couple of cats and she couldn't take another one home. So guess who got talked into taking the cat home. You guessed it. Grandma. But then I do have the coffee cup Lucy gave me that says "The most sweetest Grandma Ever!" So I guess I am pretty easy.

We got home with him and she gave him a bath to get rid of the fleas. We wormed him and put him in the milk room at the barn. Vera had given us cat food so we promptly fed him and tucked him in for the night.

He is such a sweet little thing that he worms his way into your heart. Mine included. So now I am once again a cat owner. I do not say "cat person". But I do like Rascal, as I named him. It really does suit him.

Well now you know how it is. When children and grandchildren are involved you can own dogs and cats you really thought you didn't want and they become part of your life and then you don't know what you did without them. (That is also how I got Erica) That is another story for another day.

There is a lesson to be learned from animals. Any animal if we look for it. I can always relate our relationship to Jesus from animals I own or have owned. The little kitten is not perfect. He was a rather ugly little thing when I first saw him. He had a broken foot and walked funny. He was wormy and had fleas. We took care of the worms and fleas and he is getting prettier. He has grown so fast with good food and TLC.

Jesus took us in at the point in our lives when we were ugly in our sins. He cleaned us up and forgave us unconditionally. Our sins though scarlet are wiped out by his precious blood. He has saved us once and for all by us just asking for his forgiving grace. We can't earn it. We don't deserve it. It is a free gift that cost him a terrible price. The price was death on a cross. Shedding his blood. He was pure and innocent but shed his blood for you and me. We are clean but until we die and see him face to face in heaven we will still sin. We will still have that broken foot, so to speak.

Do you know my Jesus? Have you told him you need him more than life itself? Have you committed your life to him. Have you accepted that free precious gift he died to give you?

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Blog from the Bog

2010-10-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

We just returned home today from Van Bert Farms in Stanton Ky. We had a wonderful time. The Van Berts always do things in a classy way. And this was no exception. We stayed at the Cottage overlooking the farm. I love that cottage. Vera has it decorated so cute. Of course there are a lot of horse pictures and the best is the view of the farm. Yesterday when we got up the pastures were completely covered with fog and the sun was barely able to peek over the horizon. The fog lifted as everyone started to gather for part 2 of the ACTHA competitive trail competition. Most of the horses and riders who had been there on Friday returned for the more difficult ride on Saturday.

I competed in the Friday ride but did not get to compete Saturday due to birthday parties for a couple of special girls. My granddaughter Lucy and great granddaughter Melissa.

Friends met Bob, Eleanor and me at the cottage on Thursday afternoon as we were about to unload the three horses we were using for the ride. Bob took Satin, Amigo went for Sheri and I took J R. He is Eleanor's horse. Bob, Tom (Sheri's husband) and Eleanor got on the three horses and went for a good ride on Thursday evening. They had a wonderful ride. I don't know who enjoyed it more, Eleanor on her horse or Tom on Amigo whom he calls the Cadillac. They rode for a long time and finally just before it got too dark to see, they returned to the cottage to show me how Amigo and Satin could come up the steep hill in the back.

Friday morning was cool and windy. I stated that my two goals was to stay warm and to finish the ride. I got it half right. I did finish the ride. I even made a decent score on most of the obstacles even though I came in last in the field. So what happened to staying warm you may ask. I was sure dressed warm enough. I wore a heavy sweat shirt and a wind breaker. I wasn't going for best dressed obviously.

The ride went really well. I had a couple of anxious moments when J R argued with me about whether he should be allowed to graze while we were waiting for Sheri and Amigo and Bob and Satin to finish one of the obstacles. But I did get his feet to moving and he didn't try eating again for awhile. We finished the witches fingers with scores of 8 for each of us. We did the cape with an eight for each of us. We did a good job crossing the river. And again scored 8s for both of us. And we made it up the hill just fine. All went well until the fifth obstacle.

The fifth obstacle was a downhill. J R was once again stomping and doing little crow hops. We were at the top of the hill and Bob had already gone down and so had Sheri. J R sometimes wants to go a little fast down hills and he was getting anxious to not be left behind. I elected to let someone lead him down the hill and I dismounted and walked down. Thus getting a zero on the obstacle. Doug Spier helped me remount at the bottom of the hill. So far so good.

That when it all happened. There was a narrow pass that the horses had to go through to get back to the river. It was wet and had been churned up by all the other horses that had already gone through it before me. It was not just wet, it was a bog. J R stepped in and immediately went up to his belly in the mud. He was churning his feet trying his best to get through it when he lost his balance and got over on his left side like he just laid down. He really couldn't help it.

I lost my seat and I fell off into the mud. J R regain his footing and bless his sweet heart stood there right by his fallen rider. I love that old horse. He is a good hearted gelding. Doug came over and helped me out of the mud. Someone else led J R out of the bog and Doug once again helped me mount. J R and I finished the ride. We were both covered with mud and wet. I was a little cold but pleased on two fronts.

That is the first time I have ever been able to remount when I took an unscheduled dismount. We finished the course. J R and I were working good as a team on the last obstacle that they called "stirring the witches brew". I had to pick up a broom and place it in the barrel and ride my horse around the barrel. I did not ride quiet far enough around so we both got an 8 on that obstacle. But we finished.

I got off in the barn and J R got sprayed off to wash the mud off of him. I felt I had over come a lot in that ride.

So the rest of the story. When the winners were announced for the Pleasure class, Bob won first and Sheri won second. They were riding horses owned by Whispering Oaks Farm so I had reason to celebrate besides both being friends and family. When best dressed was announced, Bob won that one too and he won the jackpot as the rider with the highest score that had contributed to the jackpot.

It was a good day for our group, the farm and for me. I have finally overcome a lot of my fear of being on a horse and riding. Going down the hill will come soon. I am better at down hills than I was last year. I started getting that under control last winter when we were riding around the farm.

First several rides, I avoided the hills as best I could. But I started getting braver and started riding down hills in places I could have just as easily ridden around. Like I mentioned before I still have some hang ups on that account but I will learn how to do it and do it well.

I stayed until the winners were announced and then I went and took a good hot shower.

I looked in the mirror and I sure was a mess. I was covered with mud. My clothes were muddy and even my helmet was muddy. I was very thankful for my helmet. It was new, never been worn and it now has scratches on it. That would have been my head had I not been wearing it.

But I got to thinking as I took that shower and felt the good warm water wash over my hair and dirty skin. We would look that way to God if we were not washed by the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ. God can not look upon sin for he is a righteous God and our sins separate us from him. But Jesus died for us and our sins have been made invisible by the blood of Jesus.

Today we went to lunch with H T and Wilda. Jamie and Carly and her daughter Angel were there as was Greg and Valarie. Before we left I went up to pay for our lunches. When I got to the cash register the lady told me we had already been paid for. When I get to heaven Jesus will say, "Her sins have already been paid for". I thank Jamie for paying for lunches but I thank Jesus each and every day for paying for my sins. Jamie paid with hard earned money but Jesus paid with his life and his blood which was shed for me and for you. So that when we stand before God and are accused by Satan, Jesus will say "Paid in full."

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Love to you all and thank you for reading my blogs. Welcome to my new follower, Steve. Steve is married to my great niece Crystal.

Regards,

Mary

For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whomsoever should believe on him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16

2010-10-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

The first picture is a tree root that has been exposed by water running through the branch. No water now. It is so dry but the water has washed away the dirt over the years and have left this root exposed. It is an interesting configuration. The second picture is Mt Girl and me. She had just had a bath and then her mane and tail were combed out.

The third picture is a view from the top of the hill on the farm. The barn is hidden from view but the silos are standing tall and proud from behind the trees that nearly block the view.

Our trail ride was a great success. We had pictures in our local paper and a nice story about the ride. I made sure it was a good story. I wrote it myself. They published it word for word.

Our day started with a brief rain that blew in. It was an answer to our prayers. It was hot all summer. I am sure no one has forgotten that. Bob and his grandchildren and my grandson had worked in rotation all summer cutting trails. Because of the extreme heat we had decided to get as much of our trails through the woods and in the shade as we could. About seventy five percent of the trails were in the shade. But the rain came through and cooled everything off several degrees and then stopped after about 15 minutes. Someone called and ask if we were going to go on with the ride. Of course we were. Rain was not going to stop these riders.

And rain did not dampen the spirits of the 35 people that turned out for our ride. The riders started off in small groups every fifteen minutes that took a hour to see everyone off. The first obstacle was a mail box. My friend Sheri with whom I worked at the post office was the official judge on that one. Almost no one connected the name on the mail box to the little house that sets across from it. The name on the box was "Wiley E Coyote" Think back to the "Road Runner" cartoon. We have often noticed the horses get a little uneasy when they pass that old house. So we have finally decided they smell coyote there. We have seen them around that house so it is altogether possible that is what is going on. Hence the name on the mail box and the letter addressed to same in the mail box.

The next obstacle was the drag. More people had trouble with that one than any other. I don't really know why but we had several that timed out on that one or could not complete it. It was two barrels set up with a rope on the first one. As the title indicates there was a block of wood that had a rope tied to it and the rider had to drag the wood from barrel A to barrel B.

The third was a gate. Even H T was temporarily stumped by that one because we ask the rider to open the gate from a different direction than usual. H T had to study that one for awhile. But many of the riders got it and scored well on it.

The fourth was maybe my favorite. It was a downhill ride and across a wooden bridge. The bridge was built just for that ride and is of course still there for riders on the trails to enjoy. I have not tried that one yet because the horse I have been riding likes to run down hill and I really have to hold him back. So I am hoping for more strength in my arms. It is really a neat obstacle and most of the horses did it. The judge on that one was amused because one of the horses walked down the hill and to the bridge so nicely and then turned and ran back up the hill thus refusing to cross the bridge. He said the horse made a perfect U turn. The rider dismounted and walked him down the hill and over the alternate route.

The fifth was a water obstacle. We had to haul some water for that one. We did have the rain so there was not so much water to bring to it as there would have been had it not rained. That was a huge success. The horses were suspicious of that one. Of course a horse will almost always think they will drown in a puddle. But many did the obstacle. Some refused it.

The last obstacle was the easiest. Not one refused the uphill. All that was required of all riders that their horse go up a steep incline. So it worked out nice that the last was the easiest. After a long ride, horses and riders were ready for an easy one.

Each first place rider was awarded $100 by Whispering Oaks Farm and the Lipginski Family. Second place received $50. Ribbons were awarded for six places as well as prizes awarded by ACTHA and local sponsors.

We considered the day a great success. God certainly blessed us with the quality of horses and riders that showed up for the event. The weather couldn't have been better. The farm was complimented over and over for how beautiful it is. I think the riders enjoyed the various scenery that they encountered. There was the woods, open fields and views from the top of the hills. The open fields had a fine crop of soy beans putting on their best show.

We plan to have another ride next spring. The trials are already cut and ready to have another ride. We will have it before crops are planted so there will be other trails and of course different obstacle.

I like trail riding the horses. It is training they can't get in an arena. We have already seen that my horse Velvet has a different view of things outside of the barn and the arena. She is fearful of my dog if she runs up behind her. Erica often does that and none of the horses that have been here and been ridden worry about her. Velvet will learn to not react over time. Other than that, Velvet is a very brave mare. She doesn't encounter anything that bothers her. She will climb piles of dirt and do any obstacle asked of her. She is a very nice mare that makes me proud to own her.

Velvet has learned over her three years that she can trust people. She has never been asked to do anything that would hurt her. Over these past three years her faith in humans have grown to the point where she will willingly do what is asked because she has learned that the person on her back is her herd leader.

In the Bible we are referred to as being like sheep. We need a herd leader or as in the case of sheep, a shepherd. Jesus is referred to as the good shepherd. We often see pictures depicting Jesus carrying a lamb in his arms. Sheep know their shepherds voice and respond to it. I have often said in these blogs that horses teach us a lot. They keep teaching. There is so much difference in each horse.

Some learn early to trust the herd leader. The human. Others have bad experiences in their formative years. They learn to distrust because of mistreatment. They learn to strike out and fight becaue they have learned this is what they must do for survival. Others have had no experience with humans.

So we learn from horses that they are many different kinds of reactions to God and his son Jesus Christ. Some learn early in life that God is their friend. He has sent Jesus to die for us. Jesus had a choice but he who was without sin and tempted in all manners as man died for us in obedience to the will of his father. We start by learning from our earthly father. But some are very unfortunate and have no human father who shows a picture of our heavenly father. Some are mean and abusive. They learn to distrust and believe if this man who is suppose to love and protect them is not a good person then how can they trust God whom they have never seen.

Still others have no early experience in church or with anyone who tells them about God the Father and his son Jesus who died for our sins. All of this we can see as we study and relate to our horses. Which one are you? I hope you are the one who had the earthly father that showed you a picture of a loving protective God the Father who loves perfectly.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.

Psalms 8: 9

Family Reunion and Other Things

2010-10-05T18:31:00.001-07:00

I got the same picture on here twice as you can see. How do I remove it? I don't know so there is the picture twice of some of the children.

The third picture is of one of the fire trucks that came to put out the field fire that started from the combine that was harvesting the crop of soy beans that was raised on my farm this year.

It has been hot and dry. Very hot and very dry and the residue from the beans was dry fodder for the sparks that flew from the combine.

The fire department showed up with several trucks and the fire was soon out. The man raising the beans apologized today for causing such an uproar during my family reunion that was by the way held at my house but I am sure the family at the reunion are still talking about the events of the day.

We had a really nice crowd at my home that day.

Our family reunion on Bill's side of the family was started the day of Bill's funeral. His nephew Brian opined that we only got together only when there was a funeral. It was true. The last time we had seen all of them was at Brian's Father's funeral. It is a shame to only see family you love and care about on those occasions.

So Brian and Theresa put together our first official reunion in November of 2007. They had a good event planned. They had a video of family pictures. They had t-shirts made for each of us. They made calendars with family pictures for every month. They did a really good job.

The next year it was here at my farm. I had a carriage ride and a hay ride for everyone. The carriage was pulled by my three year old mountain horse, VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl. She was amazing and everyone had so much fun. The day had some chill but it was sunny and pleasantly warm. That evening we had a big bon fire.

I had coffee cups made with the family reunion date and Whispering Oaks Farm with a horse on it for everyone who came. I also had ink pens made up with Whispering Oaks Farm as well as the same horse. Each cup was filled with wrapped candy. It was a huge success.

Last year my niece Vivian planned the reunion and she rented an old log cabin that had been made into a guest house. It was really lovely. It had old pictures, quilts and many other antiques in it. It had the old style kitchen with enough modern conveniences that made it very nice. And of course plenty of food.

This year we really didn't have entertainment planned and it had been such a busy time for us that I barely got the day together. This three times a week for Physical Therapy is taking a lot of time. Tomorrow I go back to the doctor and hopefully I will be nearly finished with Physical Therapy and doctors until my annual check up next spring. My family has already told me that I do not get to leave the house next May.

My husband died in May. I got pneumonia in May and broke my arm in May. So I guess I can see the logic behind their thoughts.

Despite the fact I didn't have entertainment planned the day took care of that. After dinner we were all on the deck visiting and having a pretty good day when someone noticed smoke. It was the combine fire. All the men got in trucks and headed to the field to help in whatever way they could. Most of it was stamping out fire to keep it from spreading. Soon the fire trucks came rolling in and the thick smoke started to dissipate.

Later we teased one of the nieces, Theresa whose birthday fell on our reunion day that the fire department had come to put out the fire caused by the candles on her cake.

We had a really good day together. Steve and his family came from Mississippi. Rita and her daughter came from Michigan and there were several who came from Indianapolis. So there were several who made an effort to be here for the day. I am thankful to God that we all like and love each other so much that people will go to that much effort to be here.

I had told my brother Bob one day that I had some unfinished business with VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl. I have been grooming her and I gave her a bath one warm day. I have worked on her mane and tail to make them pretty and she is getting some grain now to put extra shine into her coat. She is getting very pretty.

I told Bob that the last time I was on Mt Girl in 2008 I fell off of her. See my last blog. I said then I would learn to be a better rider and ride her again. She and I had some unfinished business. It has taken this long. Did you know that in the Bible the phrase "Fear not" is used 331 times? I have been trying so hard to overcome my fear of riding. I kept running into those two words. "Fear not".

I have prayed, read the Bible and tried to overcome the fear that welled up in the pit of my stomach when I mounted a horse. A friend observed my discomfort and told Bob that "Mary is not having a good time riding". I had an unreasonable fear that the horse would do something unexpected and I would land on the ground. I really dreaded getting hurt but my worst fear was that my family would have to take care of me.

I was really uptight when I got on a horse. Of course the horse knew it. I could feel the horse tighten up and I would get even more afraid. Last spring I confessed my fears to my friend Wilda and she and her family prayed me through the horse show in North Carolina. I had a decent ride but I was still fearful.

Bob, Lucy, Melissa and I went to the trail ride in Stanton in May. I was going to ride but I was pretty much uptight again. I had a decent ride the night before the actual trail ride but I was still fearful. I was on Rocky Top Rebel. She is really a nice mare and she was very calm even though I wasn't. I wasn't looking forward to the trail ride the next day.

The next morning Van Bert Farms put on a clinic. I was part of the clinic. I led my colt, Saga of Snowy River into the trailer and back out. He was well trained. He was doing what I asked him to do. Then we walked up on a small rise. It was actually used at one time to back a truck up to it to load live stock. The was an uneven spot on the ground and I stepped into it, lost my balance and fell really hard on my left arm. I heard it snap. I knew it was broken.

I didn't get to ride for four months. During that time, I had a lot of time to think. A couple of weeks ago I got back on a horse. It was J R. My sister Eleanor owns him. He is dead broke. But he can be hard headed sometimes. His favorite gait is walking and then only if he is chasing down some grass. I rode him in the arena the first time. He tried some foolishness with me but this time I was determined he would do as I ask him. So I used the dressage whip a couple of times and he started to get the idea that I would not be putting up with anything out of him on this ride.

The only anxious moment I had was when he ran down a little hill with me. I made him walk down the rest of the hills. He also tried to turn around and go back off of the trail. I again used the dressage whip on him. He jumped up off of his front feet a couple of time but once again I turned his head and used the whip and he got over it. He walked calmly on down the hill without further trouble.

Today I rode him about three miles and he walked down the hills and he went where I asked him. Once he did try to scrub me up against a tree but we settled that too and I am getting more confident in the saddle.

This afternoon Bob took Mt Girl on a long ride through the trails and she is getting better and better. I rode her in the arena and never had one twinge of fear. A couple of times she wanted to try me out. She thought she could stop when she wanted but that didn't happen. Then a couple of times she thought she would turn the way she wanted to go but I let her know that wasn't happening.

Why do I go over all of this. Many of you probably thought I was a fearless rider. I wasn't. I prayed for God to help me learn to ride so I could have a good time riding like everyone else that was riding my horses around here. I could tell God was showing me he would take care of me but I am really hard headed so finally God used my broken arm to show me that I could get hurt not even being on a horse. Everyone assumed that I fell off of a horse and broke my arm. I didn't. I fell leading a weanling because I was not watching where I was putting my feet and I fell. I fell in the barn on the concrete a couple of times. Once my yearling filly knocked me down when she ran into the barn. Even then I didn't get hurt.

Once one of the horses kicked at the dog and barely missed me. I knew God was taking care of me but I just couldn't get over my fear when I mounted. I saw others that overcame terrible riding accidents that were riding again. My friend Wilda for one and a lady named Sarah Patton for another and I couldn't see how they could do it.

So what is the moral of this story. The moral is what ever you want to see in it. There are a couple of ways you can go with it. But what I take out of it is that God does answer our prayers. It may not always be the way we want it anwered but it will always be for our own good. God used my broken arm to teach me that I could get hurt other ways than riding and yes my family may have to come and take care of me but they love me and they will.

I don't need to have a pity party because of it. No one is willing to party with me if I am throwing a pity party. And God is taking care of me.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care. And may you always trust God. May all your lessons be easy ones.

Regards

Mary

"I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."

Jer 29: 11

Blue Ridge MT Girl

2010-09-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl was my first horse. Since then I have bought several horses and I have had 5 born on the farm.

Our first born on the farm was WOF Stephen's Blazin Star. He is a son of Sam I Am and out of my mare by Storm Warning. Blaze is pictured here in the halter class shown by Natalie Wright and trained by Cool Shade Mountain Horses.

The second horse I bought was a filly named VBF Butterfly Kisses. And then there was WOF Dock's Velvet. I love all the horses I own and some I don't own but I guess my all time favorite is Mt Girl. Sometimes I just call her MG.

I rode MG when she was still showing and in fact rode her in a show. I was terrified I would fall off and make a fool of myself. I have since gotten over that. I have embarassed myself because of my lack of riding skills several times. But on with the story.

This year MG blessed me with a black colt by Venture's Black Fury. These Fury babies are really nice. While I was nursing my broken arm and staying in the house away from the horses, Bob and several assistants were teaching the two weanling colts to lead, load and do obstacles. He was separating the colts from their mothers for a time every day. He was giving the mares a break but also teaching the colts that they had an alternate source of feed and it came from him in a bucket a couple of times a day plus all the hay they could eat.

We weaned the colts a couple of weeks ago. They are doing fine and don't seem to miss the mares at all. Although one does whinny when another horse goes through the barn. Today he confused the gelding with his mother and whinnied to him. It was a case of mistaken identity.

But the main story is all about Mt Girl. She is a beautiful black mare with three white stockings. Two on the back legs and one on the front left. She has a really beautiful long mane and tail and a white star on her head.

I have had three unscheduled dismounts from Mt Girl. The first was at the training facility when her trainer almost fell over the fence. I was a bit too relaxed and when Mt Girl spooked because Chris lost his balance and was waving his arm as he tried to regain balance, she ran out of fear. She went one way and I went the other. It knocked the breath out of me.

My daughter was there with me. She ran down to the arena and started talking to me. Was I ok. I nodded yes because I couldn't speak. She started instructing me. "Breath Mom, breath" "In your nose, out of your mouth." She was talking in a rhythm when she suddenly stopped and turned to those around us and said, "I am a respiratory therapist. I know these things." We still laugh about that but I was thankful she was there to help me regain my breath.

The next time was a little more serious. MG and I were riding in the barn with a friend. The barn was a different design from most. The stalls are in the middle of the barn. So when we were riding around the stalls we would lose sight of each other. I had stopped MG and was backing her up and asking her to stand. In the meantime Sheri and Hershey had ridden around the stalls out of sight. When I gave MG the signal to go, she took off like a shot out of a gun trying to catch up with Hershey.

She rounded the curve at the end of the barn but I didn't make it with her. I fell and hit the barn door so hard I broke it. I must have been pretty tough because I didn't break anything although I did go to the hospital to get checked out to make sure. It isn't any fun to look up and see horse hooves going over your head. I was wearing a helmet. I always do. I don't know if it is true that a horse never steps on a fallen rider but she didn't step on me.

The next spill came a few months later. I was in Tn at an UMH show and was going to ride in that show. I was somewhat apprehensive about it but I figured I could do it. So I went down to the practice arena and was riding around. We were having the best ride of my life. MG was calm and she was gaiting around the arena. It was like sitting in a rocking chair and I was getting very comfortable. I don't know what spooked her. It may have been the dog that suddenly ran across the arena toward her but she went one way and I went the other. It was a very soft landing.

The very small rock that made up the footing in the arena was wet and soft and it was a soft landing place. Jamie helped me up and took me to the wash bay and sprayed all of the rocks off of me. I was covered with rock. Then I went to the motel room and showered and changed clothes.

So I have not ridden MT Girl since then. I have in fact had a very hard time getting on a horse. Then I broke my arm. Before I broke my arm, I think God was trying to show me I could ride and I should not fear riding. I kept running across scripture that used the phrase, "Fear not"

I felt shame. God was trying to teach me I could trust him when I rode and all I could think of was to not do anything to make the horse throw me. The more nervous I got, the more aware the horse was that I was nervous. That was counterproductive. Even J R got to where he was taking advantage of me. That was terrible. J R is an old gelding that is too lazy to do very much. His favorite gait is walking and he doesn't much like to do that unless his head in down eating. If he reared up, it would be in slow motion.

So now it has been almost four months since I last rode. I had a decent ride the night before I broke my arm. I was riding a mare called Rocky Top Rebel. She is a beautiful black mare that is very calm. We had a pretty good ride and she would even allow me to smack the flies that landed on her. She learned I was not trying to hurt her just kill those pesky flies. I rode a little while with my brother and then we headed back to the cottage. The next day I was planning to ride in the competitive trail competition but everything changed for me.

Many people ask me if I was riding. I had to admit I wasn't even on a horse. I was leading a weanling colt and stepped on uneven ground, lost my balance, fell and broke my arm. I hoped so much and prayed a lot I would not have to undergo surgery to fix my arm but I did.

On Facebook I wrote Roman 8:28. "For I know all things work together for good to those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose." I think that may be my life's verse. I cling to it often. I quote it to myself when I am going through something hard. It is written on my heart as a wonderful promise. It tells me that no matter what I am going through today, I am going to have something good will come my way even though I am having a hard time in that period of my life.

There is nothing that can happen to us that God can't use it for our good. Steel is tempered by the heat that is placed on it. It hardens it and makes it strong. Gold is purified by heat. Both of those metals are beautiful and useful. God doesn't promise that Christians will have no trouble or go through trying times but he does promise he will be with us.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Deuteronomy 31: 6

Today, I got back on a horse. I was not afraid and my stomach did not get tied in knots. I was not the bundle of nerves I often am. I was way more agile getting on J R. I am stronger now than I was before even though I still don't have the same range of motion. I will be riding again tomorrow. So because I had to have surgery and physical therapy I am stronger in my legs and arms than I was 4 months ago.

Now about MT Girl. I am grooming her and giving her a lot of attention. She follows me in from the field and still leads as well as she did when she was showing in conformation. She comes to me when I approach the gate. I will ride her again. She is in foal but I can still ride her for several more months. It has been my goal to get back on her. She hasn't been ridden in about two years. The last she was showed was in 2008. I know I can ride her. I know she will allow me but just in case you think I shouldn't get on her the first time myself, I will be letting my brother ride her first and then I will ride in the arena for awhile.

Life is a journey. We may not know what is going to happen to us tomorrow or in the next few minutes but we can be sure as Christians we are not on that journey alone. The God that made us, loves us and wants only the best for us. But we live in a fallen world. Bad things happen to good people. But the God who hung the moon and stars and fashions the rainbow after a rain is with us through it all.

May the God of love and peace be with you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy one of Israel, your Savior."

Isaiah 43: 2-3

I Got Fired

2010-09-20T20:19:00.001-07:00

I always thought there were some jobs I couldn't be fired from but I finally found one. It was from my own farm too.

OK picture this. Where have I heard that before. Oh yes, Golden Girls. I won't be nearly as funny as Estelle Getty but here's my story and I'm sticking to it. I've heard that before too. Humm.

We were at the World Show in Winchester Ky. I don't have stable hands like the regular stables. It is just my brother Bob and me. I haven't been riding in any of the shows this summer. Broken arm and all. But Bob has ridden in almost every show this year. He has shown Venture's Golden Satin. Oh yes that is another story. She was called SATAN in a couple of shows. I straightened them out on that one and they went back to calling her Satin. Last show they called her Venture's Golden STAIN. Hello out there, it is a very simple word. Satin. You know like they beautiful material wedding gowns are made of.

But I digress. I was talking about the job I got fired from. Well every one who rides in a show needs some help. Hold the saddle while the horse goes through DQP. Hold the horse. Adjust jacket for the rider. Brush off the coat, pants and boots for the premadonna on board the horse. They really do get big headed when on the horse. Especially the Amatuer riders.

Sable boy, in my case, girl has to know what the rider needs even before he or she thinks about needing it. Fly spray for the horse. Rag for wiping the shoes off. Leather punch in case it is needed. Bottle of water in case it is hot and it is needed. Extra shirt in case the premadonna gets a little stain from horse slobbers. The list goes on and on.

And let us never forget the all important cell phone.

The last of the show, I was doing my stable girl duties. I didn't think of the leather punch. I got the wrong shirt from the trailer, I didn't have a rag and had to borrow one from my friend Michael the ultimate stable boy. When our premadonna got to the show ring I was in big trouble. I had left my phone in the truck and he could not reach me.

Later I was crying the blues to my friend Michael and begging for lessons on being a good stable girl. I like to do everything the best I can. He was almost ready to give me classes until I mentioned I forgot my cell phone and left it in the truck. Now he won't even give me lessons. Later Bob came to the spectator area and told me I was a failure as a stable girl and I was fired.

I have fired him a couple of times but he has never fired me. And from all things, stable hand. I guess it is just not as easy as Michael makes it look. I bet he wasn't so good when he started out though.

Just recently I bought a beautiful Chocolate Palomino. She is a two year old and really something special. She is very naturally gaited and is going to be a really big mare. We have not shown her before the world show. Larry was talking about showing her in conformation and I agreed. I asked Bob if he would mind showing her. He said he would but I know he really doesn't like to show conformation.

I got a better idea that would work for him too. I asked Vanessa Crowe to show Dixie Belle for me. She readily agreed and was delighted I had asked her. Bob walked into the office just after I had asked her and before I could tell him that Vanessa would show Dixie Belle, Larry Patterson informed him that he had just been fired. They made such a big deal over him being fired. You just can't imagine two grown men crying and carrying on like they did.

So I guess world show was get even time for me when he fired me from my job as stable girl. It really didn't pay very well anyway. Michael gets a raise from time to time. Judy has double his pay a couple of times and he still make 0, zip, nadda. I guess he doesn't have to worry much about the tax on that pay check.

A New Day in Transportation

2010-08-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

I hear all the time about the new airport security. When I had surgery on my arm, I knew that I now had metal in my body that might set off the security alarms. So I took precaution. I took the time to go to the Doctor's office and get a card that said I have a metal implant to take to the airport with me. I was now confident that if I set off the alarm that I would just produce the card from the doctor and all would be ok.

I really did miscalculate that one. Sure enough I set off the alarm as I went through security. I was asked to step into a booth of sorts that had locks on it and I was told to set down in the chair. Of course I already had my shoes off. Remember the shoe bomber. I was beginning to worry about the underwear bomber and how that might relate to me now that I was getting extra attention. I very confidently handed her the card that the doctor's office had given me. I was told that meant nothing at all. "Anybody could get one of those", she said.

So she ran the scanner over me and the scanner lit up and made a terrible racket. I was sure everyone in the airport was looking at the new suspect. I sarcastistively mentioned that I didn't fit the profile of a terrorist. I was curtly told that "everybody fits the profile" I can understand that. The terrorist on the planes on 9/11 were after all white women in the late 60s and early 70s weren't they? Wait it is coming back to me. I remember there were no women among the group of terrorists of any race or age. So why am I a suspect?

But suspect I was. She assured me it would all be over with soon as she started scanning every part of my body. The buzzer went off as it passed over the rivits on my jeans and of course over my arm where I have the metal to put my arm back together as I told her it would. She asked me to show her where I had surgery and I started to pull up my shirt sleeve. Oh no, they didn't want to see any skin just point to the place where I have the metal. I was cleared and sent on my way with the good news that this was mild in comparison to what I could experience at some airports.

I found out what she meant at the Norfolk airport when I was boarding for my flight home. I once again set off the alarm as I walked through. I was once again directed to the "lock up" to be scanned by another charming lady that works for homeland security. My little card was once again rejected as being meaningless. This time I was treated to a complete pat down. I do mean complete.

I have learned about the new rules on flying to avoid trouble going through security. First I will never again wear shoes that tie. I will wear sandals even if it is below zero. That is a hassle. I will however continue to travel with my computer. It is too handy to have along even though I always have to take it out of the computer case. I don't travel with a bag that has to be checked. I won't travel with a bag with rollers. They have to be checked through.

I will not wear jeans. They always have a front zipper and rivits. It is embarrassing to be standing in a booth in full view of all the airport being patted down. I won't bother with the card the doctor's office gave me. That is useless. Sleeveless is good. They can readily see the scar and I hope to be more convincing. And last of all, I will no longer wear certain kinds of bras. You ladies know the ones. The one with the under wire. That was very embarassing to have a pat down because of my bra. Hope I didn't embarrass any men. Sorry if I did.

So I have thoroughly learned the new rules of travel. I already knew not to have a knife in my pocket or bring knitting needles to knit while on board. I surmised a Crockett needle would not be good news either and would probably be confiscated. Of course I knew that I would not be allowed to bring a gun aboard. That was a no brainer. I never thought my choice of bras would be an issue. It never occurred to me that jeans with rivits and zippers would cause the embarrassment of a pat down. And I will just throw that card away with all the rest of the stuff that is useless in my purse.

On my final journey on this earth I will not have to worry about airport security or embarassing pat downs on the most sensitive parts of my anatomy. I will be on that final journey with no airport security. It will be the journey everyone takes alone. I will however have a big welcoming committee waiting for me. I will have many loved one who have already gone on that journey before me.

Most of all I will have Jesus, the Son of the Living God waiting to meet me as I reach my final destination. I don't care what is said at my funeral as long it is about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and what he how he saved mankind from the pains of hell and the eternal separation from God. I don't care what songs they will sing as long as they are worship and praise for my Jesus. All I want to hear is the Lord of Lord and King of Kings say "Well done, my good and faithful servant".

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Motels I Have Known

2010-08-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

In my life time, I have stayed at a variety of motels. Some were very nice and the one I am staying in right now in very nice. We, my son Steve and I, are staying in the Hampton Inn in Virginia. We came here, he from Mississippi and I from Kentucky, thinking his daughter's baby would be having open heart surgery today. So we both flew in from different directions and met at the Norfolk airport and checked in here to stay.

But Alyssa's surgery has been delayed now until Monday. I probably won't be able to stay for various reasons. But Steve is making arrangements to stay as I write this. He knows he more than anyone needs to be with Sarah.

It has been a difficult year to say the least. I broke my arm in May and still in therapy to try to get the range of motion back. We have had several horses with various illnesses. We had one horse that we had a difficult time to get pregnant. I made the statement that if it had been a cow she would be on the way to the stock yards. But this is a valuable horse. So it was several treatments and vet bills and success, she is pregnant by my stallion, Code of Honor.

Monday I had a frantic call from my dear friend Sheri. Her daughter had gone in labor and went to the hospital to deliver her full term baby. The baby boy had no heart beat. So Jesse went to surgery knowing the C-Section she was about to have would deliver her son but he would never draw a breath of air. Sheri was asking for our prayers. Of course, she had that instantly. We already pray for her and her family every night by name. We had prayed for Jesse and Dave and their family as well. So Sheri and her family are going through the heart break and grief that only a family could know that has suffered such a loss. It is heart rending to go to the funeral of a new born baby. I have been to two and they were both my great grandsons. So my family knows from personal experience.

We were still praying for her family and trying to deal with her loss which was a loss for the community as well when I boarded a plane to come to Virginia to be with my son and granddaughter as her baby went into surgery. That was suppose to be today but now the surgery will be on Monday.

I was in the airport in Charlotte N C waiting for my connecting flight when I called my brother to give him the news that Alyssa's surgery was delayed until Monday. He was breathless, hardly able to speak. There had just been an accident on the farm and one of my boarders had an accident with a horse and was laying unconscious on the ground. My blood ran cold. She was stat flighted to University of Louisville Hospital. Her condition is stable but she still is not awake.

It was a sleepless night for several of us. Her family most of all I am sure. So we have several on our prayer list right now. Sheri and her family, my great granddaughter Alyssa and Debbie (not my daughter) who was the rider that had the accident.

But I was talking about motels I have known. I have stayed in some very nice motels and I have stayed in some really crummy motels. The one that comes instantly to mind is one here in Virginia. It was in Virginia Beach and Bill and I were here to see our son. We stopped at a Motel 6 on the beach and it was very nice but being on the beach it was very pricey so we went next door and checked into the motel. They had sign all over that said they were remodeling so without looking at the room we checked in. The lobby looked ok and it was pretty late so we were tired. And the price was reasonable.

We got to our room and it was truly awful. I repeat, it was awful. There were no safety locks on the doors. We put a chair under the door knob to make sure we had no intruders during the night and Bill slept with the gun under the mattress with his hand near it all night. The plumbing was exposed and ran on the outside of the walls instead of inside the walls. The paint was cracked and peeling. The carpet was dirty. I checked the bed really well before we got in and it seemed to be clean enough. But I still had my doubts.

But God gave us a beautiful sunrise the next morning. The sun flooded our room and when we got out of bed we walked to the door leading to the beach and the sun was just coming up over the ocean. I will never forget that sunrise. After taking in that breath taking sunrise, we checked out and never went back.

We also checked into a motel rather late at night in San Diego California that we thought was close to our son's Naval Base. It turned out we were close to the wrong base and we only stayed one night but during the night, I heard screaming and running and all kinds of unnerving noise. Bill and I decided to move on to another motel the next day. We found a nice Mom and Pop motel that was actually close to the Naval Base in San Diego where Steve was about to graduate from Boot Camp. It was very clean and nice and the owners were so friendly and we enjoyed our stay.

A near miss on my list of terrible motels was in Georgia close to Ft Stewart. It was when our son Mike was returning from Saudi Arabia after a very successful Desert Storm. Bill never wanted to make a reservation. It was his plan to always find a place to stay when we got to our destination. But that time it was a very bad plan. Everything was full. We even stopped at a place that would make the Bates Motel look nice. Debbie, my daughter and I went in to see if they had a vacancy despite our misgivings and we were both very thankful they were also full.

Debbie was 7 months pregnant with her youngest son. We ended up sleeping in the car and found a nice motel with a vacancy the next day.

Another near miss on a bad motel was when we drove to California to close Bill's Aunt's house after her death. We had our dog Holly with us. Bill was figuring that Holiday Inn would not let us stay with a dog so we stopped at this motel he figured would let us stay. I went in. It looked dirty even in the lobby. When I mentioned a dog, the lady at the desk sniffed and said, "no dogs". We ended up checking into a Holiday Inn that welcomed us and our dog. And it was nice.

Holly was always good to travel with. She caused us no trouble at night. She didn't bark during the night and she never made a mess. She just loved being with us. And we had a good night at a nice motel.

I know all of you have probably had some experience with motels that were not as nice as you expected.

This blog seems to be all over the place and nice motels versus bad motels doesn't have anything to do with our troubles this year with broken arms, lost babies, babies with heart surgery and injured riders. I don't know that they really do but this I know for sure. God is with us in all our affairs. I know he protected us in the crummy motels. He is with Debbie while she is unconscious in the hospital room. He is holding Sheri and her family close to his heart as they grieve for their lost baby. He is of course lost to us but he is with Jesus as we grieve his loss.

King David suffered a loss of his son that he had with Bathsheba. The baby was sick and King David was beside himself. He sat in sackcloth and ashes. He prayed for the return to health of the baby. Finally the baby died and his servant were afraid to tell him thinking the grief would be more than he could stand.

But to their surprise, David got up, washed himself and seemed to return to his former state before he was overcome with grief over the illness of his son. He told all of us that his son would not come back to him but someday he would go to his son.

God doesn't see our exterior. He doesn't care that we have beautiful faces or great looking bodies. He doesn't see the clothes we wear or the cars we drive. He doesn't care about the price of our house. He looks at our hearts. He asks that we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He tells us that when Jesus died on the cross it was for our sins. The price has been paid once and for all. It is better than going to a fine motel or restaurant and have someone say to us. No charge, the bill has been paid. The bill for our sins is paid in full. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and for you. Thank you for caring about broken arms, lost babies, people who are injured but most of all than you for dying for us.

May the God of love and mercy be with you all. May he keep you in his loving care and may you feel the warmth of his love in your deepest troubles. And walk close to him every day

Regards,

Mary

My Other Life

2010-08-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new follower for this blog. Glad you like my blog Jennifer and welcome. It was such a pleasure and honor to meet Jennifer, her husband Christopher and their three boys. The last Postmaster I worked for was Jennifer's sister, LaDonna Brown.

I admire LaDonna a lot. She is a person that is doing the very best she can in a very difficult job. I don't know just how many people are working at the Prospect Kentucky Post Office but there were 13 routes with 13 carriers and almost that many subs when I worked there three years ago. Plus there were 5 clerks and a Supervisor. That is a lot of people with that many personalities and more problems each than I could count. And then there was the customers. I could write a book about our customers.

There was a carrier that had to be on the floor constantly. She was the first one at work each morning, the last one out on the route and the last one to get in from mail delivery. She had a lot of difficulty staying focused to say the least. She had an issue with each and everything that went on in the office. She was definitely a busy body.

Then there was the drama queen. You know the type. Everything was high drama with her. She never had a simple problem. It was always complicated and it was all about her. Bet you know several like her. One day she encountered hunters out on her route. They were in an open field and had rifles. But she was sure they were going to shot at her. It was a complicated story to hear her version. It had all the little twists and turns and of course the obligatory high drama.

I also worked with a carrier with whom I still maintain contact. He is so much fun. He has a big male ego. He has a lot of big talk but he walks a more gentle walk around his wife. He adores his daughters and is so proud of them for their talents and accomplishments. My favorite story about this carrier is his run in with a dog out on the route.

It was during our window hours. There was a knock on the door and I went to answer it. This lady who was very upset wanted to talk to me about one of our carriers. She was nearly in tears as she relayed her story about the carrier that had sprayed her dog. I didn't really have to ask her where she lived. I already knew who her carrier was by the story she was telling. It seems this carrier had come into her yard to deliver a package to the door. Her dog was barking at the carrier and he sprayed the dog. It really upset her because her dog had cancer and the vet had removed one of his legs to stop the spread of the disease.

When Pat got back in that afternoon, I asked him about it. I told him he really shouldn't have sprayed a three legged dog. His reply was he still had all of his teeth and I should have seen how fast that three legged dog could run. Pat and I still laugh about that and with each telling of the story it gets better and better especially with the spin Pat puts on it.

Then there was a carrier that was forever pushing the envelop as some would say. This carrier was a very congenial sort but he always took every short cut he could to get finished as quickly as he could. He drove too fast and he didn't close the mail boxes which really made the customers angry. If it saved time you could count on him doing it. One day a customer called to complain about her carrier. It was on the route this particular carrier served. I asked what the problem seemed to be. We had a usual litany of complaints. Some carriers you could just count on what the complaint would be. We had a lot of complaints that a carrier didn't come to the door or didn't attempt to deliver an item and this carrier was no exception. But we often learned he really did just leave a notice or left a package out in the weather. ETC

This particular day the complaint was that the carrier didn't come to the door. I ask the usual questions to try to learn if he really didn't go to the door. Now the houses in that area are huge. I can imagine a person being in one part of the house and not seeing the carrier or not getting to the door in time. But this lady assured me he did not come to the door to deliver her parcel. I asked her how she could be so sure. I have heard a lot of stories but this one surprised even me. It seemed she was standing where she could see the carrier as he came up her driveway. She had a driveway that curved up by the door and without having to turn around one could go back down to the main road. She had seen our carrier come up the drive, throw her package which landed on the second floor balcony and drive away. I guess he really didn't go to the door.

My job was working the window. I was a "Sales and Service Associate" If you want to know what that means, I was a window clerk. I loved my customers. They seemed to like me as well. I had one who loved pineapple upside down cake. I found that out one day when I had made one to celebrate one of the carrier's birthdays. So I gave him a piece of the cake and he was thrilled. The whole neighborhood knew about my cakes by the time he got home. He was also acting mayor at one time and I made a cake for his birthday. The police department apparently got in on the cake too. I heard a lot about it and when I retired I got a bouquet of flowers from City Hall.

My customers also had the usual array of health problems and family problems. There were deaths in the family and new life being celebrated. I saw pictures of the new baby and often met one or the other of them. I grieved for those that lost loved ones and I often knew those people too. And they grieved with me when I lost my husband. Often one or more would come in and tell me they met my daughter when a wife or husband or other loved one was in the hospital. Mary Beth worked in oncology at Baptist East Hospital. They would tell me how wonderful she is and how caring. When she learned they were from the town I worked in she would always ask if they knew me.

The funniest answer she got was "Well everybody knows Mary" It was a sweet expression of the relationship we had at our post office.

I never thought that I had any thing special to offer our customers. I just treated them with respect and often admiration for their talents and abilities. I tried very hard to offer any help I could for those that needed it. I offered my God given talents to those who visited my window every day. I had a sincere interest in them and I did my best to show them the love that our Father in Heaven has for us. I wanted others to know my Jesus because they know me and in some small way I could introduce them to him through my actions.

I know I am not beautiful like a movie star. I don't have a figure that people envy. I have lines and wrinkles and gray hair. But more than a movie star figure, people value honesty and empathy. Most people don't want us to feel sorry for them. But they do want and desire respect.

God loved us before our parents even knew who we were. The Bible tells us that he knew us when we were formed in our mother's womb. Don't we have an obligation to spread the love he has for us to others we know and meet along the way. We are all strangers in a foreign land. Heaven is my real home. Life is awfully short and eternity is a long time.

May the God of peace and love and mercy bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Aladdin

2010-08-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

Many of you have heard about my rescue horse, Aladdin. This is Aladdin's story.

When I first moved to the farm, I only had one horse to bring here with me. But my friend Sheri had a horse named Hershey that I have boarded for her. So I did have two horses together. Hershey and my yearling filly, Velvet.

I loved watching them in the field. They really liked each other and they would run together. They often ran like they were a team. It was almost like they were tied together. One would turn and the other would turn too. It was pretty to watch.

One day Sheri called me and told me she would be coming after Hershey. She wanted to take her for a trail ride. I was a little concerned since that would leave Velvet in the field by herself. But Sheri had already worked that out. She said she would bring another horse to put in the field with Velvet so she would not be alone.

The day came for the transfer and Sheri pulled up in the driveway with the horse on the trailer. She opened the trailer door and off stepped a poor little half Arabian half who knows what. He was thin and he had not shed his winter coat. He had hair loss in some spots. I was assured there was nothing wrong with him that some good pasture wouldn't cure.

He did not belong to the farm he had come from but the farmer had allowed him to stay and had fed him grain everyday but he was not putting on any weight. I knew that farmer and knew he was doing his best to take care of him under difficult circumstances. Reluctantly I let him stay. After all it was only going to be until Hershey came back to keep Velvet company. But Hershey was pregnant. She had been misdiagnosed as being open and Hershey was within weeks of having her foal. So she had to be off of my pasture that has fescue in it.

I guess some of you are wondering what the fescue has to do with anything but it can cause the sack the foal is in to become too thick and the foal will not be able to get out at birth and death will occur due to lack of oxygen. It can also decrease milk production in a mare and even if the foal was able to escape there may not be enough milk.

So Hershey did not come back for a long time. Aladdin settled in after a period of adjustment. The poor little thing walked the 14' gate for several hours after he got off of the trailer. I got worried about him. But about dark I looked out the window and he was with Velvet and they were grazing. So I knew he would be ok then.

Janine is my granddaughter and she fell in love with Aladdin at first sight. So we started to work on him. We threw the grain to him, wormed him and brushed him until his coat began to take on a new luster. We bathed him and scrubbed until his pretty red color started to shine through. He still had some problem areas. He had scars from where he had been cut on one of his legs. It seemed a halter had been to tight on his nose at one time or another because he had scars there too.

Aladdin became very dependent on Velvet. He followed her where ever she went and was totally devoted to her. In the fall Aladdin had separation anxiousity when Velvet was taken to a stable away from here for training. But by then Hershey was back and he soon developed a close relationship with her.

It became so bad that if Hershey left the field he was beside himself. If we put him in the barn he would pace the floor until he was nearly worn out. Over the next couple of years I spent considerable money on him trying to keep weight on him. He would come out of the winter looking poor while the Rocky Mountain Horses would be all fat and sassy. The vet gave him shots, we wormed him, had his teeth worked on and all in all spent more on his maintence than most of the other horses I now own. Oh yes, I did get talked into keeping Aladdin as you may have guessed.

He was ridden some at first by Janine. Then she went home to Germany to live with her Oma there. So I was left with Aladdin and by then I had other horses to ride so he got left in the field.
One day Sheri came to ride Hershey. When she got Hershey out of the field Aladdin got out as well. She rode Hershey up through the field and over the trails. Aladdin followed every step of the way staying as close to Hershey as possible. They were a sight.

Recently Sheri called me and told me that she knew of a little boy that was looking for a horse. Would I consider letting Aladdin go. I told her sure and she gave his mother,Jennifer, my phone number. Soon a very nice lady was calling me to see if she could bring her little boy out to see Aladdin.

The day came and they drove up. Aladdin was in the barn and he had been bathed and polished and shinned as best as it could be done. Bob got him out of the stall and put a saddle on him. Aladdin hadn't been ridden in a couple of years so we really didn't know how he could act. Bob rode him around in the field and he was fine. So he took Aladdin and Nolan in the arena and led him around. Again he was fine. Nolan's little and big brothers got a ride as well.

Nolan was instantly in love with Aladdin and his mother and father liked him as well. I went over all of his faults and assured them that if he didn't work out he could be returned. I wanted to give Nolan the horse but his parents would not hear of it. He had saved $138. for the purchase of a horse and he had to pay for his horse to appreciate it. I immediately felt I was dealing with good parents.

So we decided on the purchase price. $50. It was enough to have him realize this was a committment and would have financial consquences but little enough that he would have money left to purchase some necessities.

So last Saturday, Nolan and his family came back for Aladdin. His grandpa came too. He is also a horse owner and he looked him over real good and approved the purchase. He was loaded on the horse trailer and headed toward the grandfather's farm to be there for Nolan to learn to ride and care for his horse.

But this wasn't the end of the story. Nolan had gone to Tractor Supply and bought a halter and lead rope. His grandfather taught him how to lead him around their arena. At one point Nolan dropped the rope. In her account of the incident to me Jennifer told me that Aladdin had stood right by Nolan as he picked up the rope and proceeded on around the arena.

Next came the gift from Nolan's grandparents. A new saddle, saddle blanket and bridle for him and Aladdin. Jennifer tells me that they tacted him up and Nolan was soon riding around the arena guiding Aladdin with the reins like he had done it all of his life.

I once thought this was where Aladdin would spend the rest of his days. He would just be a lawn orament in my pasture.

I viewed Aladdin as an old horse that would never again serve any purpose. That is the way that we see others sometimes. But thankfully our God does not see us humans in that way. If we truly looked at ourselves honestly and stripped ourselves of all the pride we have we would be humbled. The psalmist said "Who are we that God should be mindful of us." Who indeed. What do we have to offer the God of the universe. What does he need from us. He has everything. Yet he made us to commune with him. He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve.

All he wants from us is our love. I have such a pitiful little to offer to him. Yet he takes it and makes it more than I could ever give. For God is a God of love and he gave the only son he had to die for us so that we could have everlasting life with him. Our sins no longer have to separate us from God. Jesus paid the price and our sins are covered by his blood. It is a matter of humbling oneself and telling Jesus you need him more than anything.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except by me."

The Saga of the Yellow Cat

2010-08-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Eleanor has taken up bee keeping. As most of you know she is my sister and is 78 years old. She has kept bees for a long time so this isn't a new hobby for her just a renewed interest in an old hobby. She has a couple of hives that she had when she moved from my dad's house to her own house in 1993. She has worked with them off and on ever since then but recently she had a renewed interest.

Most of you have seen chipmunks. They are the cutest little things. Recently when my grandchildren visited here I was treated to the chipmunk movie several times a day over the course of their three weeks here. In the movie they are so cute but get into quiet a lot of trouble. Especially Alvin.

But life is not a movie and chipmunks can be pretty destructive. According to people who know about them, they can dig down along the foundation of a house and cause a lot of damage. So war with the chipmunks has been on Eleanor's agenda for some time now. Now this is a woman that shot a couple of raccoons for eating fruit off of her tree. One might say they were eating of the forbidden fruit. So the chipmunks are acting rather foolishly messing with her. And added to their list of high crimes is the fact that she thinks they are eating her bees.

But a chipmunk is a rather small target plus the neighbors get upset when she starts shooting at animals that cross over into her private domain. So Eleanor decided the best course of action was to get a cat. She told me of her troubles with the chipmunks and her decision to get a cat. She thought she had one lined up but the people never did get around to bringing the cat to her so I decided one day when we were at Cool Shade where a couple of my horses are trained that I would help her get a cat.

Those who have been to Cool Shade will understand why I thought this would be a good place. They have cats everywhere and of course there is always a new litter of kittens to be seen. Usually the cats sit in the loft to watch over their private enterprise. You seldom see them down on the main floor under foot. I mentioned to Franklin that Eleanor wanted a cat. He asked her which one and I told him which ever one he could catch.

So the chase was on. The cats sensing something was up that they wouldn't like scattered all over the loft. Little kittens, half grown kittens and adult cats all took out in every direction. But some of the kittens left the safety of the loft to take their chances behind various trash cans, boxes and even the refrigerator downstairs. We finally decided on one that seemed the most vulnerable and soon Franklin had it by the scuff of the neck but not before it gave him a good scratching for doing the unthinkable.

Since we had not planned on bringing a kitten home that day we still had the problem of finding a container for it. A feed bag was located and after some alterations to the woven plastic bag, the kitten was placed inside and the bag was tied with a piece of baler twine.

So having the little yellow kitten safely in the bag we started for home. On the way we checked on our little passenger from time to time. It was not hard to figure out how it was doing as it frequently moved around in the bag and made a lot of noise. We decided to stop and get some super at Steak and Shake. We checked on the kitten before we went in and after we came out and everything was fine.

We got to Eleanor's house and Bob picked up the bag the kitten was in but it was empty. So now I had a WILD CAT loose in my truck. So we started looking for it. We raised the seats up and sure enough it was hiding under the back seats. Bob, not wanting to suffer a similar fate as Franklin, found a pair of gloves. I was crawling around on the floor in the back to scare the cat over toward Bob. That wasn't particularly easy since I do have a broken arm. Finally he caught it and put it in the box that Eleanor had found. Milk and cat food was already in there to make it comfortable.

A couple of days pasted and she decided the cat needed to be out of the box. The cat of course was already out of the bag. So against what would have been my better judgement she let it out of the box. It promptly disappeared. She didn't see it for several days but she kept putting out food and milk for it that kept disappearing.

She soon discovered she had a mama cat and her kittens cleaning up the food she was putting out. Her kitten appeared at the neighbors several doors down. They somehow caught the frightened little thing once more and took it home to her in a regular cat carrier which she used for several days. So now she has her kitten and a mama cat and her litter living out in her garage. So what are the chances the chipmunks are going to survive? Slim I would say.

So that is how Eleanor saved her house and bees from being eaten by an out of control Chipmunk.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care. And may the chipmunks not destroy your house or interfere with your hobbies. If they do, I know where to find a kitten for you.

Regards

Mary

Busy Week

2010-08-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

Last week was such a busy week I have no idea how we ever got through it.

I had an old friend that contacted me that really wanted to see my horses. She follows my blog. Hi Judy. She visits my web site and she knew the names of my horses almost as well as I do. So I was honored to have Judy, her husband Paul and mother Sarah visit me on Wednesday. She recognized Venture's Golden Satin as soon as she saw her and ask about Rockin Andi.

It was wonderful to see Judy. She lives in Iowa and I don't see her very often but I still consider her a dear friend. Judy, Donna and I were almost inseparable growing up. Taylorsville was a small town and still is in many ways. We all went to church and school together. We went to slumber parties together and visited in each other's homes often.

Then we all grew up as people do. Judy married and lives in Iowa. Donna married and stayed in and near Taylorsville. I got married and lived in Jeffersonville Ind for 11 years before we moved to Taylorsville. Bill and I bought the farm I live on now. It has been in the family for 108 years and I hope it will be in the family another 108 years.

Saturday night was our 50 years reunion for High School graduation. We had a nice dinner at the Colonel's Lady Dinner House near Shelbyville Kentucky. It was wonderful to see so many people that I went to High School with and sad to know a few were no longer with us. We seemed to all have aged gracefully. As gently as 50 years can be to people. But it was good to catch up with as many people as possible.

We were also at the Summer Celebration Horse Show at the end of the week. I was also glad to see friends I have made there. Two of my horses came home with Blues. My niece won a second place in a very good class of youth riders. She rode my horse Rockin Andi and they really looked good together. Leigh is a good rider and she has only been riding for a short period of time. She has taken to it like a duck to water.

I was really pleased with the performance Rockin Andi gave on the obstacle course. She placed a very nice 4th place in a very good class of trail horses. It was her first time competing in an obstacle class. I can see her next year going for a versatility award. She is extremely talented with the Mountain Horse disposition that Mountain Horses are well known for.

Now here it is another week and my horses have gone to Ohio to the International Rocky Mountain Horse Show. They will all be there for a week. Code of Honor, my stallion, placed 2nd in a large class of conformation horses. He will be going back into the Championship. My weanling colt made a nice showing in a large class of 16 weanlings. He placed a very respectable 4th place. I have not heard any more news out of Ohio.

My brother is suffering from a cold and I have appointments every day this week with either PT, a doctor or the dentist. The doctor says my arm is healing really well but don't go back to riding yet. What? Does he think I will fall off of a horse? Anyway I have at least 4 more weeks of PT and then back to the doctor.

Our Competitive Trail Competition is less than three weeks away and the time is flying by. We have had a good response for that and I am getting more excited all the time about the ride. It is so hot here as it is everywhere else. Our ride will take horses and riders through the woods. We planned it that way to relieve horses and riders from the oppressive heat. About 90% of the ride will be in the shade and a large portion will be in the woods.

This is more like a news letter than a blog. But tomorrow, I will write a real blog about Eleanor and her new kitten. You will like that one.

Until then, may God bless and keep you in his loving care. He who knows the number of hairs on your head will watch over you and keep you safe.

Regards

Mary

The Story of Lilly

2010-08-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

We had a dog named Holly. She had several litter of puppies. The best dog we ever bred her to was a dog named Nash. The first breeding Holly had a beautiful litter of puppies. We had sold them all except for one female puppy I named Mandy. Mandy was yellow and a very sweet little female. She got to be a couple of months old before anyone wanted to buy her. Finally it happened. A couple called and came to look at her and of course fell in love with her.

I cried when we sold Mandy and even Bill hated that we were selling her. He had grown attached to her as well. But the new folks took her home promising to give her a good home and love her forever. I never quiet got over selling Mandy. She was my favorite of all the puppies Holly had given birth to.

So later when Holly came in season again, I thought we would breed her again. So I contacted Nash's owners and set up a date for them. I took her to their house but I didn't think the breeding worked and Bill decided we really didn't need for her to have puppies again anyway. So we didn't repeat the breeding.

Fast forward to 60 days later. Holly was in the corner of our basement where she liked to have her puppies and she was scratching around on the floor like she was making a bed. I told Bill if I didn't know better I would think she was getting ready to have puppies. But I thought, not possible. She had not come to her milk and she didn't look like she was pregnant. But I was puzzled as to why she was acting like she was.

I fixed Holly's bed in a child's swimming pool by putting an old blanket in the pool. She was satisfied with the arrangement. I went to work. When I got home that afternoon, she had one yellow female puppy. It was just what I wanted. A yellow female puppy. I waited and watched for her to have another puppy but no more puppies. The next morning I called the vet and took her in because she still acted like she was in labor.

He operated on Holly and found she had no more puppies. She was straining to pass the afterbirth not more puppies. So I had her spayed. She was getting some age on her and I didn't want to breed her again. While I was waiting I called my friends who owned Nash and told them about the one puppy. The female I wanted so badly and how God had blessed me with this one little yellow female puppy.

Ann thinking about Easter having just passed suggested I name her Lilly. It was a perfect name for her. Not only is it tied to Easter but there is a flower called "A surprise Lilly". Well she certainly was a surprise. And she was yellow and she was perfect.

Lilly didn't have a real easy time of it. I came home one day from work and she had somehow broken her leg. I never did know how but I went to the vet with her and he put a splint on it that was very unhandy for her. She drug it around and poor thing would flop over from the awkwardness of the splint. She went outside to answer the call of nature and promptly got it dirty and drug it off. Back to the vet. He re taped it and got it too tight. She has a scar from that to this day.

So the leg healed. Some time later I called her and Holly in for the night. It was October and the air was cool. I was outside calling her and walked past the neighbor's privacy fence. I heard all this splashing going on. I went over and looked through the boards of the fence to see what idiot was out swimming on a cold night in ice water. It wasn't any person, it was my Lilly. We fished her out of the pool and dried her off as best we could.

She would often be gone to visit neighbors and I would be out looking for her. I always found her and loaded her into the truck and hauled her home. Sometimes, I would be late for an appointment or work or even Church because I was bringing her home.

Today it has been terribly hot and tonight is not suppose to cool off and be any lower than in the 80 degree range. Bob and Leigh went for a ride today and the dogs followed along. When they got back Erica was with them but Lilly wasn't. They figured she would be in soon so they didn't worry at first. When I got home from the doctor, it was late enough that we got worried. We looked for her until dark. On the four wheeler and by horse back and on foot.

The Doctor won't let me back on the horse so I was the one on foot. We followed our trails and called her and called. But we found no trace of her. She has gone missing and the woods are thick and the fields are grown up so I have no hopes of running across her. The last time she was seen for sure was when the two dogs went into the water to have a swim. That area was searched completely and still no sign of Lilly.

So tonight I am rather upset. Lilly has been with me for several years. Over 7 to be exact. She has gotten too fat and her grandmother died of a heart attach. So yes I am worried. But she is in God's hands. God gave her to me and now if he takes her back it will be alright too. I just pray she doesn't suffer a painful death. God is good and will take care of our dog. Mine and God's dog.

My brother Bob is trying to make me feel better by suggesting she will come in tonight when it gets cooler. I know he is meaning to comfort me but I'm not buying it. I have called and whistled for her. If she was able she would have come.

So tonight despite all the blog material I have from the horse show and our busy week last week, I am writing a sad blog about the loss of another dog in less than a year.

But I am not alone. My friend Sheri told me about her dog Lando that was attach by a large dog recently and had to be put down because of his injuries. So I do not grieve alone. We have all had the misfortune of loving too deeply and caring too much for these wonderful animals God gave to us.

Where ever she is, she is in God's care and he will be with this animal I love. I know that because the Bible tells us that not a sparrow falls to earth that God doesn't know about. It teaches us from that that if God cares so much for the sparrow how much more does he care about you and me and the rest of mankind. It tell us that we are worth more than all the sparrows. After all remember God gave his only son to die for us so that our sins can be forgiven.

Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friend.

Jesus did that for you and me so that we don't have to try to earn our way into heaven by our good works.

May God who watches over sparrows bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Horses are Unpredictable

2010-07-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well now isn't that an understatement!! Has your horse ever done anything that you never thought he would do or not do what you thought he would do with no problem?

Congratulations if that never happened to you. Yesterday we went to Asbury University for their trail ride. There was several riders there and as I have found, they were all very proud of their horses. Even those that were less than fully broke.

Now less me say this about that. If your horse does not do obstacles, a competitive trail ride is not the place to teach him.

We took Satin. Again I did not ride. You know broken arm and all that. Doctor says "Stay off your horse" But Bob did a wonderful job riding Satin. Every one admired her and we heard numerous comments on how beautiful she is and how willing she is to do what is ask of her. It was a difficult trail. There was a long hill going down to the Kentucky River and then back up the same hill. Not only that but by the time they got to the last 2 miles, it was all in the open.
It was hot yesterday and both horses and riders were hot and tired by the time they got back to the barn. There was no shade in that last leg to shelter them from the heat of the day.

We had a long walk to the shelter where lunch was served and awards were presented. The lunch was really nice. It was a great menu and the food was plentiful. After lunch the scores were tallied and awards were presented. Bob and Satin got a 4th place in the pleasure division and that was really a good placing. There were riders there that had been riding all spring and summer so they were very experienced. I am excited that several of them will be also coming to our ride in August.

We walked the long road back to where we had the truck and trailer parked and Satin tied out. We had some discussion about whether to stay for a clinic they had planned or to go home. We decided to go home. Bob untied Satin and walked her to the trailer. He pointed at the trailer door expecting her to go on and load just like she always does. But this time it was "No Deal"
She absolutely refused to go on the trailer.

Several people offered to help. I think they had in mind they could push her on there. She is not terribly big, about 15 hh but that doesn't matter. She still weighs most of a thousand pounds. And 15 people may have eventually gotten her on by pushing and putting ropes behind her. You know the drill. But what about next time. Where are those 15 people then. No this had to be solved in such a way that Satin would remember it next time in a positive way.

So Bob did the only sensible thing. He drew on his Clinton Anderson knowledge. He had gone to a Clinton Anderson walk about tour with a couple of us and Clinton had demonstrated how to load an unwilling horse. Let me repeat. Until yesterday afternoon, Satin had never been unwilling to load on a trailer. Why she refused yesterday is any one's guess. But she got it into her head she would not load.

We tried coaching by putting a little feed in the door. She ate what was close but would not move her feet to reach what was out of her reach even though she knew there was feed in the bucket just a few feet away. That would not have been what Clinton would do anyway.

So Bob starting making her move her feet. She had to run from one side of the trailer to the other and then turn around and go back. She got tired but she continued to do the exercise until she was really breathing hard. She was sweaty and really wanting to get it over with. Then Bob asked her to step on the trailer. She put her front feet on the trailer and hesitated. But wait. "No" he told her. "Don't go on the trailer."

Some more running back and forth. Now let me add here that this was not unobserved by others. One man was sitting in front of his tent enjoying the show that was being put on. It may have been a better clinic than the one going on inside the arena. Bob once again let her get close to the door of the trailer. This time there was no telling her "No". She hopped on the trailer so fast there was not time to tell her "No". She ran up to the front stall and waited patiently while Bob walked in to pet her and tie her to the trailer.

The man by the tent saw that she had stopped going from side to side of the trailer so he got into his pickup truck and drove over and stopped by our outfit on the pretense that he was checking his rig. But he was looking for the horse that wouldn't load. He expected to find her standing at the back door eating feed or something, I think. He did not say a word however. He just observed that she was in the trailer. With that he got into his truck and left.

Why did this work? Because Bob made the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult. She wanted to stay outside of the trailer. So he put her to work. He made her move her feet and she had to hustle to do it. She figured out after awhile that it would be easier to just go on the trailer. She would get some rest there. So she decided to do it. It became her idea. She thought she had won this round. OK we will just let her win every time we want her on the trailer.

Another lesson from a horse. God must have made horses just to teach us a lot of lessons because they sure can teach us a lot. We think we are teaching them but more than likely they are teaching us more.

King David sinned against God with his affair was Bathsheba. God sent the prophet Samuel to show him what an evil thing he had done. As you may remember, David had her husband killed in battle to hide the fact that she was pregnant with his child. Bathsheba's husband died without knowing but God knew and sent Samuel to show David what a wicked thing he had done.

David's heart was broken and in Psalms we see him crying out to God to not take His Spirit from him. Just like Satin finally begged for rest in the trailer, David begged for rest in the God he loved. More importantly the God who loved him. We see David resting in God as Satin rested in the trailer. Both found the place of peace and rest and a place to be relieved of their burdens.

May the God of rest and peace keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Bring the Dessert

2010-07-23T17:54:00.002-07:00

I have written this one before but I keep getting so many requests for my banana pudding recipe that I am going to post it again.

Last year we had a pig roast at my house and it was really an event. Wow the pig was sooo good and every one brought their favorite dish. My table on in the sun room adjoining the deck was filled and over flowing with good food. We also had a desert table.

When we started planning the pig roast, my family started telling me I needed to make the banana pudding that they all love so much. Several weeks before the roast my son had friends over and we got to talking about the pig roast and desert. Brian, the friend, said he made the best banana pudding that was ever put in anyone's mouth. My family said "Not so, mom makes the best banana pudding ever eaten". So it was decided there would be a pudding "taste off". We couldn't have a bake off because I don't cook anything that goes into mine.

Later we invited my sister, Eleanor, to bring her banana pudding that she is sure is the best in the world. After all it is Mama's recipe. I hated to compete against Mom's recipe but mine is so easy and really good.

Here's what happened the day of the pig roast. First Brian called and said he would not be coming with his banana pudding because he sprained his ankle. Next Eleanor called and said she was coming but couldn't bring the banana pudding because she couldn't find Mom's double boiler. I suggested she could have done it was regular pans which I have always used when I needed a double boiler. But she insisted she had to have the double boiler. Hmmmm!!!!!!

I really didn't want to win by default. I know mine is the best. My son in law will no longer eat banana pudding at a restaurant because I have ruined it for him. Any you can ask anyone who has tasted it. So here is the pudding recipe that everyone loves so much.

This recipe was on the Eagle's Brand milk can years ago so it is not original with me.

1 can of Eagle Brand milk
1 1/2 cup of water
1 box of jello vanilla instant pudding mix

Combine these ingredients with a mixer until they are well mixed and set the bowl in the refrigerator for several minutes until chilled. About 5 minutes

Whip 2 cups of heavy whipping cream until peaks form.

Fold the cream into the pudding mixture until well blended

In a large bowl place a layer vanilla wafers and bananas and then cover with a layer of pudding mix. Keep layering until all the mix is used. It will make about 3 nice layers. You will want to end with the pudding on top. Sprinkle a little Cinnamon on top to add a little color and a nice favor. Serve and get ready for the compliments. If you like to be a little dramatic you can act as if it took you hours to make and you really went to all that trouble even after a really hard day at work.

I hope you enjoy it. It really is very easy and takes so little time.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

2010-07-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know any cute Frenchmen but I met this really cute Aussie back in February. The little girl is also very cute and she is my granddaughter, Kailey Lipginski. She is quick to tell you that she is going to be in the gifted class in the 2nd grade. It was March and they were picking flowers up by an old house on my farm. My grandmother had planted the start of those flowers over a hundred years ago and every spring they bloom profusely. The deer apparently don't like them.

I had intended to put some pictures that I had taken of a part of our trail that is being cut for our trail ride that is coming up in just a little less than a month. I just couldn't resist putting these two pictures on. My granddaughter Kailey has the sweetest face. She had played hard before this picture was taken and they had gone to the flower bed several times to pick flowers. Her face was still dirty from her play but I love her expression.

My friend Sheri Badgett and I had gone to the Clinton Anderson Walk-About-Tour in Lexington and we had the honor of having our picture taken with him. I found him to be very gracious. He stayed until the last picture was taken and the last question was asked. I know he had a hard two days and more but he was very kind and I can only describe him as gracious to those who wanted to speak to him personally after his demonstrations.

Real progress is being made on our trails for next month's trail ride. My brother's grandson, Robert and his friend Ethan have put in some really hard days with the chain saw, four wheeler, an axe and a machete. According to all reports and what I have personally seen the trails are really awesome. I had a friend over this afternoon that rode the trails with Bob and two of his grandchildren. She was very impressed with the trails and had only minor suggestions for improving them. It was what we have been needing. An uninvolved person to ride and let us know what their opinion is.

I think our farm is a place that people can come and ride in open fields and in heavy woods and really enjoy a ride with their trusty horse without feeling there will be areas that they can not handle. To test this out, Bob took his ten year old grandson on one of my mountain horses and rode him and his 15 year old sister on all the trails. Leigh is a good rider but her brother is not as good as she is and he was able to ride the trails with no problem. If that is any indication all of our riders should be proficient on these trails.

We are excited about the prospect of people coming here and riding and seeing what we love about the farm so much. It is one of the many blessings from God as well as those wonderful mountain horses I have been able to buy.

I hope you will be able to join us for a day of trails, prizes, food and contact with a lot of people who own and love their horses, whether they are mountain horses or a horse of unknown breeding.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Horses are Prey Animals

2010-07-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

The horses are finally checking out the new "predator" that is in their pasture.

The first thing a smart person learns about horses is that they are prey animals. This is the basis of all dealings with horses. If you act like a predator around your horse, you will never develop a trusting relationship with him. A horse will demonstrate this over and over to you.

Bob loves riding my horse, Venture's Golden Satin. He has ridden her miles and miles. We live on a dead end road that ends at my farm. Bob likes to ride her three miles down the road coming into the farm. The first ride out that way was very interesting. Satin encountered all sorts of new predators that she didn't know existed.

The first predator was a killer mail box. She no doubt could see the gaping mouth of this terrible thing just waiting to jump on her and eat her alive. Next predator on her new route was the killer garbage can. It was even bigger than the killer mail box and had a bigger gaping mouth to swallow her whole.

Poor Satin. All along the route there was all of these things that she just knew for sure was out to get her. She encountered the killer goat, the killer dogs that were chained in the yards. The river was also a threat even though it was 50 feet away she just knew it would suddenly swell up and take her under never to be seen again. There were donkey, cows, more goats, more mail boxes and maybe worse of all, the killer TV set. Some thoughtless person had thrown a broken TV set along the route and she spooked at that.

Satin is a very sensitive horse. Bob rides her on our 400 acres and she encounters deer and turkeys frequently. A turkey few up one day almost in front of her face and she turned to run but Bob had good control and he prevented her from bolting. She also encounters deer. She considers them a real threat. But Bob being a good horseman keeps a firm hand on her and makes her face her threats.

Since these first encounters with all the predators she found along the way, Bob has been teaching her to trust him. He make her face her fears. He encourages her until she will face the predators in her world. She has learned to face head on the killer mail boxes and the killer garbage cans and all the other predators in her world.

Which now bring me to the above pictures I have posted with this blog. As you can see there are several horses standing around a mineral feeder. Such a harmless piece of equipment. So you think. Not in the horse world! Bob and his grandson moved the mineral feeder into the pasture one day and it chased the horse all around their field. You and I know that didn't happen but we aren't horses.

The horses were beside themselves with that feeder that suddenly appeared in the domain. They would look at it for a moment and then run like a mountain lion was after them. Finally they would all stop as far away as they could get and watch it for a time. Then they would all suddenly take off and run like it had started chasing them again. This went on for about a half hour with them running awhile and then stopping to check it out. Then running again. Each time they would stop just a little bit closer. Finally the bravest of the herd got close enough to smell it. Then off they ran again.

It was really funny to watch. But what were they feeling. They were feeling threatened and fearful for their lives. They had no one they could trust to show them this was harmless, comfort them and make them feel safe. That is our job as we ride and train our horses. A horse depends on its rider to make it feel secure.

This once again is a lesson God teaches us by of our horses. How so may you ask. I am glad you ask because I am going to tell you. If we don't depend on God for our safety and to take care of us we find cheap replacements. Maybe alcohol or drugs. Maybe money or possessions. Maybe we become a collector of stuff. But none of it is ever satisfying. We have to have more and more money, stuff, alcohol, drugs or whatever we use as our security blanket.

I will never tell you that there will never be fears in our lives. But if we trust the creator of all mankind, the world and all that is in it, we can feel secure that no matter what happens in our world, there is someone bigger than ourselves that is in control. Like Satin has learned to trust Bob, we learn to trust God and know we are redeemed from our fallen state by his son, our Lord Jesus Christ by his death and resurrection, then we too learn we don't have to run from our predators, from the killer mineral feeders that live in our world.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care. And may you learn to depend on God for your seurity and safety.

Regards

Mary

As most of you know, I have a broken arm and have been dealing with it for about two months now. I have missed writing my blog and I have learned that many of you have missed reading it. Thank you for the kindness shown to me since I broke my arm almost two months ago. My recovery and use of my arm is slow but sure. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes

Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Psalms 34: 19

Is it the smell of their body as I hug their long neck or the scent only a horse has that I can't forget? Is it the depth of their eyes as they contentedly rest? No, it is just being around them tha I like the best.

Teresa Becker

from Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul

How Horses React

2010-05-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Top picture is a very pregnat Mt Girl. Bottom picture is L S Mountain Wind Socks with her daughter Mt Girl.

We had an interesting experience several days ago. I have a mare that is about 9 years old. Bob has been admiring her. She has a sweet disposition and is well endowed with beauty and conformation. She is black with three white socks. Her name is L S Mountain Wind Socks. We call her Wind Socks.

Wind Socks has been hard to get into the barn when we needed her for teeth work, vet work or the farrier. Therein lies the problem. We only got her into the barn for teeth work, vet work or the farrier. So when only unpleasant things happen every time she comes in, then why would she want to come into the barn at all?

Bob began to observe her attitude about being in the barn. So he decided that had to change. The first several times he wanted to catch her, he had a hard time. But soon she was in hand and walking with him leading her into the barn. Each time she came into the barn she was rewarded with some tasty feed. She also got some hay. Horses seem to like a little hay every once in a while even with lush grass.

Soon she was the first one at the barn door to get led in for her little treat of grain and hay. We would then turn her back out. I like to groom the horses so I set about untangling her mane and brushing her and combing her thick mane and tail. She loved the attention and it is easier to get her into the barn. So when the vet came to determine if she was pregnant, she didn't mind so much. The farrier came and trimmed her feet and again, it was really not a problem for her. She got her little bit of grain and was once again turned out.

So she now gets a little grain and hay fairly often. As a result, she doesn't mind being caught and brought into the barn.

One day Bob asked me if she had ever been ridden. Of course the answer was yes because a mare has to be certified to breed to be able to register her foal. The same is true for stallions. Certified to breed just means that a horse has to be ridden and show that they have the Rocky Mountain four beat gait.

So Bob started getting ideas. He wanted to ride Wind Socks. One day last week he brought her into the barn and put her into the cross ties. Before long he had her tacked up ready to go. Our arena has been such a blessing. My children were wonderful to build that arena for me. He led her out to the arena and we closed the gate. He ground mounted her. It is safer that way. She tried to back away from the mounting but he stepped off and corrected her and tried again.

Soon he was aboard and riding around the arena. She was doing pretty well. She seemed calm and not at all distressed by the person on her back. But all the sudden she decided to pick up the pace and she almost got away from Bob. He didn't really know what had happened.

I was intently watching and listening. I was a little fearful for him since she hadn't been ridden for several years. She was ridden briefly before I brought her home. I had purchased her for a brood mare from Van Bert Farms just over two years ago. She is a successful brood mare. She loves her babies and her last one didn't leave her side for the first several weeks after her birth.

No horse will dare mess with Wind Socks' baby.

But riding her is a different thing. Let's see how that turned out.

As I said Bob was riding her in the arena and she suddenly wanted to take off and pick up speed. Bob did not know what had happened. But I heard the whole things. We have a lot of birds around the farm, of course and some of them make a noise just like someone clicking to a horse to get them to pick up speed. That is what happened when Wind Socks picked up speed. She heard the birds clicking and thought it was Bob asking her to gait.

It was rather surprising. He was prepared for whatever would happen and did not lose control. But how did Wind Socks make that mistake? Well, Wind Socks did not recognize the difference between the birds making that sound and the rider. She is not familiar with her rider's voice. She just heard the click and picked up speed.

How like that we are. We hear what we think is the voice of God and because we have not learned what his voice sounds like or don't know how to listen for him we take off on some wild ride and we think we have heard his voice but it is an outside force we are hearing. It almost got Bob into trouble and we get into to trouble the same way. Not only do we get into trouble but we also take others with us.

Have you learned what God's voice sounds like? Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Have you confessed your need for a Savior and ask Jesus to forgive you and save you? That is the beginning of being able to listen to God's voice. God doesn't shout at us. He just quietly speaks. You will not know peace until you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It is a peace that passes understanding.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care. And may you know the joy of hearing his voice in your life.

Regards

Mary

Thinking vs Reacting

2010-05-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

Bob Rogers and Stephen's Blazin Star in the show ring at the April 24 show in Winchester. My friend Sheri Badgett and I had our pictures made with Clinton Anderson during his Walk about Tour in Lexington Kentucky in late Feb.

Bob and Blaze came in last in the Yearling Colt in hand class. In this picture Blaze is calm and looks like a champion. He has a very good conformation. His head is up and showing his nice neck. His ears are set in a nice direction and he is well behaved in this photo and looks like he is on his way to a blue.

So what happened to him on the way from this point to last place in a very nice class of yearling colts. What happened was he went from the thinking side of his brain to the reacting side of his brain. If you have ever heard Clinton Anderson talk about training horses, you know what it means to say "thinking side vs reacting side".

It occurred to me today as we were talking about a certain young lady we know who broke up with her boy friend this week. She was upset about it but she had come to the conclusion that he was not the right person for her to be seeing. He is older than she is but she seems much more mature than most girls her age. She has learned a lesson that will serve her well for the rest of her life. She has learned to use the thinking side of her brain.

Clinton Anderson says that horses being prey animals use the reacting side of their brains until they are taught to use the thinking side of their brains. He teaches people how to use and develop their training skills to teach a horse how to stop reacting so readily and start thinking. Of course a prey animal will react swiftly. I have learned that horses have the fastest reaction time of all domesticated animals. Bet you thought it was a cat. I did.

But if you think about it you will reach that conclusion even if you only know a little about horses. I have learned it several times over when my horse reacted more quickly than I realized she would. Usually I found myself eating dirt when I realized it. So I have become a student of Clinton Anderson's. I try to read his articles in different horse magazines and to watch his training DVD's to better understand how to teach my horses to think instead of reacting.

Let's tie that to our friend who broke up with her boyfriend. I met him. He was really cute. He was sweet and he seemed to like her a lot. This would appeal to many girls the age of my friend. But she was not reacting to his nice looks, good manners and fun loving attitude. She was listening to that inner voice that told her that this was the wrong person for her. She is wise and especially when you think of her age. She is a young teen. Yet she has developed a skill that takes some of us many years to learn to use and sadly some never learn. She has learned to listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit to guide her.

What happened to Blaze on his way to the blue in the class was that he completely blew his image in the line up. As soon as a judge approached, Blaze started using the reacting side of his brain instead of the thinking side. The judges were strangers to him. His reacting side said "Run these are predators" He had also had some upset as the class was starting when another colt broke loose from his handler and started running loose in the arena. He was upset and thus Blaze started reacting to his upset as something he needed to be concerned about as well. From then on it was a battle of wills. Who would remain in the most control? Sometimes Blaze won and sometimes Bob won. They did get out of the arena with no major disaster but with last place.

How often do we come up in last place because we don't really know how to use the thinking side of our brains. The side that God makes available to his children. When we make a decision to give our lives over to Jesus it doesn't mean we are now perfect or we make all the right decisions. We can still make dreadful mistakes because we disobey God's will for our lives or that we make decisions that we don't consult him on.

We need to listen to him through reading his word found in the Bible and listening for God to speak to us through that word. It is only with practice that we find how it applies to our lives. It is only by listening that we learn his will for us.

When decisions are made following the will of God, it doesn't mean instant wealth or even wealth at all but treasures we lay up in Heaven where they are safely awaiting us. Perhaps you are snorting and thinking what a bunch of nonsense and how will that do me any good here. If that is what you are thinking, let me tell you this. We are here on this earth for such a short time. So what if you live to be a 100 or even 110. That is such a short time compared to eternity. Eternity has no measure of time for it. It is just that. Eternity. A long long time to suffer the pains of hell and the separation from God.

So what will it be. Are you going to use the thinking side of your brain or just continue to use the reacting side?

May God bless and keep you in his loving care. May his face shine on you and may he give you peace.

Regards

Mary

For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16

Horse Show Season is Here

2010-04-26T09:59:00.002-07:00

Show season is here and now in full swing. We have already had two shows and God has blessed our efforts and our farm.

I have been glad to see old friends from previous shows. It is always a pleasure to me to see others do well in shows. Chris and Stacie show some really good horses besides my horse Velvet. Fury always comes to mind in thinking about those that stand out in shows but I would be remiss if I did not mention the Baker's horse, Heart of Motion. He is a fine stallion that is often in the ribbons in whatever class he shows in.

Of course there is Mike and Judy Brummer that are more often than not in the winner's circle. I was very glad to see them. It is always good to spend time with the two of them. They are always so gracious to those who win. Truly good sports and worthy competitors.

We see our friends at Van Bert's Farm often since they train several of my horses. Others we are always glad to see is the Lawsons and their clients. The Yarbers, Derick Tipton and the people at Fairwinds Farm. A couple I dearly love and whose friendship I treasure is Rebecca and Eddie Monhollen. There are many more folks we see at the shows that it is always good to see again after the long hard winters.

So the show season is now officially in full swing. I find I am glad to get to travel again and see all the horses that I have seen over the years plus the new horses that have come to the show circuit this year.

One of the classes it was fun to see was the Weanling class. They are so cute. Most are only a few weeks old. The one we had in the class was 5 weeks old. He is really a pretty colt out of a Shepherd's Snowy River mare named Once a Hobo and by Sudden Impact. S T Tipton showed him for us and the judges placed him first. It was a nice win in a good class.

Another class we won was the Yearling Filly Class showing WOF Ann's Mt Treasure. She is a beautiful gray filly out of Rebel's Rock's Ann (a Rebel's Rock mare)and by Homegrown. She gets a lot of attention where ever she goes. In the show ring she got enough from the judges that she won her class. It was a good win with a lot of nice fillies.

Last year's yearling high point filly from our farm was a nice filly named CGH Flair for Fury. She is now a two year old under saddle and she won her under saddle class. She has the personality that Mountain Horses are known for. She is a beautiful chocolate filly with a flaxen mane and tail.

We had several good wins and but we also had some other high placings that we were very pleased with. Velvet won a second in a nice class of 2-3 year old mares in Trail Pleasure. Second out of 12 mares was a very good placing. Velvet is trained by Cool Shade Mountain Horses. Chris and Stacie have done a wonderful job with Velvet.

A very nice place was won by my brother on VBF Venture's Golden Satin. Bob placed 4th in a very good class of 11. He has only recently resumed riding after many years of not riding. He has a real bond with Satin and she has come to love him and tries very hard to please him. We have washed her until her mane nearly glows in the dark. She is such a beautiful palomino. She is very sweet with a big motor. Even in a trail walk she can really cover ground.

All went well until a thunderstorm moved into the area. The show was delayed until after 5 PM and by that time it was raining harder. We packed up and went home at that point. The last class I was able to see was the 4 gait class S T rode Code of Honor in. He placed second in that class.

We really enjoyed the show and seeing my horses do well. I was disappointed that we did not get to finish the show It just seemed best to go ahead and leave at that point so we could get home for church on Sunday.

I will look forward to seeing all of your at the future shows. Next one on the calendar is the North Middletown show on May 8th. I hope to see all of you there. There are no halter classes but there are several under saddle classes we will be showing in

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Babie of all Sorts

2010-04-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

Once my brother, Bob, said that when he moved to a new community the first thing he looked for in housing was a neighborhood where his children would be safe. That set me to thinking. It is what most parents do and it is what animal parents do.

We can learn a lot from animals. If you want to learn about parenting watch horses. A mare can be absolutely vicious when her foal is threatened. We work with our horses every day. Each mare knows us and have come to trust us. We feed them twice a day in their individual stalls and as they eat we brush and groom them. Rarely do they ever get testy with us. But when the foal comes we know we had better watch ourselves.

A horse, cow or any other animal mother is vicious when it comes to protecting her young. Who taught them to be that way? No body did. It is their nature. God instilled that mother instinct into those mothers just as he instilled the mother instinct in humans.

But back to the neighborhoods that brother chose for his family. We have discovered in searching out information to help control our coyote population on my farm that coyotes also look for and find safe neighborhoods for their family. They have a pack instinct. Several females will share the same den to raise their pups.

Bob discovered such a den last week when he was running the bush hog. Coyotes seem to not worry about the tractor and bush hog for some reason. My dog Erika was following him and she was instrumental in drawing them out of the den. They chased her at first and then started playing with her. She didn't seem to provide a threat to them so they accepted her. Not good. She doesn't go out with the tractors anymore.

In looking at their den, Bob discovered a couple of things about it. It is impossible to slip up on them because it is positioned where an intruder can be seen no matter how it is approached. The wind on my farm is really funny. It seems to come from one direction in one location and the hollows act like a chimneys. In other locations on the farm, the wind comes from another direction. That too hampers hunting coyotes.

My nephew has gone to many web sites to get hunting tips. On one site he learned that if the pups are eliminated the parents move on to a better location. So we may have to approach it from that angle.

Now you may say, "Why bother them. They don't do anything to you." Well yes they do. We lost a calf last year and could find any reason for losing it except for coyotes. It totally disappeared from the field and all we found of it was some bones from the legs. We heard a pack of coyotes going for a kill on a neighbors farm recently. It was a hair raising, bone chilling sound. Eventually all was quiet. We knew that whatever hapless animal had fallen victim was dead and was now a meal for a pack of hungry coyotes.

But it is interesting that the adults move on if their pups are killed. That is animals protecting their young. That is their way. This sprig's litter may be gone but they are doing what they can to survive. They like my brother are moving their family to a safer neighborhood.

Horses also have a way of protecting their young. God gave them a different means but to the same end. If they even think there is danger they run. They may not see it or hear it but something in the wind makes them nervous, a rabbit moves in the bush, a dog comes up behind them and their instincts tell them it is a mountain lion about the pounce. So they run and the foal doesn't know why they are running but it runs too. One horse sees another running and away it goes too. They are looking for a better neighborhood.

Cows are like the neighborhood watch. I saw all the cows running at some buzzards last year when there was a young calf just born. Black headed buzzards are a terrible threat to baby animals. They will go after a live calf, foal, fawn or whatever and start eating it alive. So the neighborhood watch goes into gear and the bull and cows will run the intruders off. With coyotes there are so many the herd may not be able to protect all of the young ones. So they are easier prey for a pack of hungry coyotes.

It is so remarkable how God made each of us so differently but much the same. Most parents will sacrifice their own lives to protect their children. Parents will run into burning houses, jump into cold rivers, fight vicious animals or whatever it takes to protect their young.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

All things bold and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.

Horse Shows and New Babies

2010-04-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

Top left is Magic Rhythm and her colt just a few hours old. Top right is WOF's Stephen's Blazin Star. Bottom is WOF's Ann's Mt Treasure.

We just returned from our very first horse show that anyone from my farm actually showed a horse that has not recently been in professional training. It was just as much work as we had imagined. I never thought it looked easy watching how busy Van Bert's and Cool Shade are when they show. But being an adventurous sort we decided to take three horses to show ourselves this year.

Earlier we had decided we would take Satin, Blaze and Annie to this year's shows. Blaze and Annie are yearlings and are of course shown in hand. Blaze and Annie both turned a year old March 31. They are both a hand full and with this being the very first time I have ever tried to do any training, I have made many mistakes. Back in the winter Annie was working really well. Since then she has taken a turn for the worst. She and Blaze both are getting very pushy.

We started out at 5 AM on Thursday morning to go to Fletcher NC for a two day show. As Vera explained each day counted for one show and so to win on both days gave double points.

The first day Bob showed Satin in an open class which meant he was showing against anyone who wished to show. That also meant he would show against professionals. Out of seven entries he placed last but I was very proud of him. He rode well and was able to make a good show with her. Day two was a different story. He once again rode in the class showing against pros and placed 5th out of seven entries. His riding had improved a lot with just a few tips from Larry, Wilda and H T.

The next class with a class of 5 amateurs. He placed 4th and made a really good show. I was thrilled. I think he was rather pleased as well. That class is not populated with people who has just taken up riding. Most of the riders in amature classes have been showing for a number of years but do not fall into the category of professional trainers. So most are very experienced.

Meanwhile, I was doing some showing myself. I took my yearling colt into a class of 4 and placed 4th. He pushed and shoved me all the way around the ring. He ran around in circles and refused to park out. He acted terrible and I could not make that big thing do what I wanted. I told someone at the show I would either show him or he would show me. He showed me. The very next class was the filly class. I was showing a yearling named WOF's Ann's Mt Treasure. She is a gray out of a very productive mare named Rebel's Rocks Ann and by the stallion Homegrown. She behaved pretty well. She didn't crowd me and she led pretty well.

I was traveling in fast company showing against Larry Patterson and Derick Tipton. Somehow I managed to win a first place ribbon against two awesome trainers. Now I have beat two of the industry's best. Where could I go now but down. The next day, that is exactly what I did. I went from first to third the next day. So now there is a three way tie for high points in the yearling filly class. And this will be continued.

Meanwhile earlier in the week back on the farm, Magic Rhythm and Mt Girl both decided it was time for them to foal. On Palm Sunday morning we discovered that we had another colt out of Magic Rhythm and by Blue on Black. I don't know what color he is. Some say he could be a smokey roan except for the black on his top line and across his shoulders. But he is a nice foal and we will see what develops with him

On Tuesday the long awaited Venture's Black Fury foal was born to Blue Ridge Mt Girl. He is black. All black and completely black with no white anywhere. If he is true to his breeding he will be a nice foal. He is small right now. It is Mt Girl's first foal. But he will grow like crazy soon. He already is in fact. My brother Bob likes to say the foals are in a milk coma after they nurse and they lay down flat on their sides. So right now with the three babies, we are seeing a lot of milk comas.

There will be more pictures to follow so check back soon. I am having trouble getting pictures from my camera card. Soon, I promise.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live; And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

John 11: 25-26

An Arena

2010-03-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

This week has seen a new riding arena being built outside the barn to practice and to work the horses before venturing out on the farm on the horses. It is not as large as some I have seen but it is a size large enough to practice. The new colt is doing really well. We have put him and his mother outside in a round pen and he has started running and running outside.

The three boys who have been helping build the arena have been riding after the work stops in the afternoon.

It has been a very busy week. The family has been up from Ms this week. They have been on spring break and they come every spring during break whether my son can come or not come. He is overseas this year so they came anyway.

Dalton and his friend Shelton have been a tremendous help in building the arena. Dalton's dad has taught him a lot about building and doing projects around the farm. Mary Beth is the one who wanted to build the arena to have for us to ride. Her granddaughter, Melissa is riding and she wanted a place where she could be safe. Now her daughter Lucy is riding and it is going to be nice to have to start someone out riding. The arena is completely enclosed with two gates. A smaller one in front of the barn for the rider to come out of the barn to enter and a larger one for tractors and trucks that will have to bring rock into the arena for footing.

It has been a big job but with all the help they have had it has gone up pretty fast. Dalton has dug post holes and he and Shelton have tamped the dirt in around the posts.

This week they have been riding my Rocky Mountain Horses. Dalton rides Rosie, Shelton rides Rocky Top Rebel and Robert rides Amigo. They like to go out on the trails and ride the trails through the woods. The horses are getting familiar with all the ground around here. They have been over almost all the farm now with the horses.

The horses are getting better and better in the woods and going up and down hills. There are plenty of logs to step over as well as branches of water to walk through.

The boys had never ridden anything besides quarter horses but they are really appreciating the Rocky Mountain horses for their smooth ride and easy gait. They horses have taken them to places on the farm they may never have visited had it not been for the horses. They are teaching them confidence especially Dalton who had never ridden very much.

The little ones have had fun grooming the horses. Kailey, Stephen and Melissa were all surrounding my yearling filly named Celine and they were busy brushing and combing her. They were completely satisfied to get to groom the little filly and she was standing very quietly for them to groom her. Those three children are 6 and 7 years old. Celine was happy for them to be there and never offered to bite or kick. She stood even quieter for them than she does when I groom her.

Earlier today Kailey sat on Satin bareback and rode her. She has a very good seat. She held onto her mane while Uncle Bobby was leading her around. Kailey was very proud of herself for being able to ride the big palomino bare back.

So with so many people around the house and farm it has been busy and noisy. But aren't children a true blessing from God. When we say our prayers at night Kailey remembers her friend Elizabeth that has been sick for a long time and especially her daddy in Afghanistan. She prays God will bring him home safe and keep him safe while he is there.

With her sweet 6 year old voice it is precious to hear her pray for her daddy. She adores him and it is really tough on the whole family when he has to leave to go out of the country.

I pray every thing is well with all of you. All is well here and the horses are all doing well right now and we are loving the noisy peace and quiet of farm life.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Bad News and Good News

2010-03-16T10:26:00.001-07:00

Hobo and her new foal. He may be named WOF Saga of Snowy River. We are still thinking about the name. His grand sire on Hobo's side is Shepherd's Snowy River. He was only hours old in these pictures.

The sad news from here is that we had to put Cody down last Wednesday. The vet was here for shots and other herd work. When he saw Cody he called Gretchen and told her that it was his opinion that it was time to put him down. Of course we all cried. It was a tough day for all of us. We had been up and down over his condition. He was looking better some days and it gave us hope.

At Van Bert's last week, I was asked about Cody and I said I was cautiously optimistic on his condition. When I got home on Tuesday night everyone said he had worsened. He was not up as much and he was starting to injure himself when he was trying to get up. He was also getting sores from laying so much.

It was still hard to accept but Gretchen had given him a chance. She loved her old horse. He was born when she was 14 and she had been around him all his life. He was 18 years old.

Last Saturday, I had to go into town before feeding. When my brother, Bob, went to the barn he found that our mare, Hobo, had delivered her foal early that morning. But we had a problem. Hobo was so full of milk that she was hurting and she would not let the foal nurse. Well now have you ever tried to get a foal to nurse?

Here is the way to get a calf to nurse. You straddle it's neck and push it's head under the cow. A cow has bigger equipment and it is easy to get the calf to start sucking. The problem with mare and foals is that the equipment is shorter and the foal does not like to put his head down. So it is harder. I could not straddle his neck (too tall) so I put his head down under her udder but couldn't get him to get hold of the right equipment. So I started milking the mare. That's fun---not. Like I said she was sore so she kept kicking at me. Finally I started getting milk and put it up to his mouth. He started getting a taste of milk from my hand.

It took some time to get his mouth in the right region but he still was not actually nursing. I got tired and he looked tired so I let him go thinking he wanted to rest. But as soon as I let him go he immediately put his head down and nursed. It was a sweet moment. She had some relief by my milking her so now she was letting him nurse. I had to tie her up one more time after that to get her to stand still for him to nurse.

This is Hobo's first foal and she did not know where the relief from a full udder came from. She sure has a lot of milk. He starts to nurse sometimes and milk squirts out of her. He will grow good if she keeps producing milk like that.

Show season is going to be here very soon. We are nervous but looking forward to getting started showing. Bob is riding Satin and she is doing really well. She has such a nice trail walk and has settled down. Our two yearlings are looking good. It is amazing every time we look at Blaze. We can hardly believe how tall he is getting.

We are working hard everyday with Blaze. He is a lot of colt to handle.

We had a lovely day when Kelvin and Dolly visited us last week. Kelvin likes my gray yearling filly. It had already been a busy day but I was so glad to see them. It is always lovely to have visitors on the farm and especially when they are admiring our horses as Kelvin and Dolly did.

My vet loves my yearling colt. He even asked me about a price the first week after he was born. I am looking forward to getting him into the show arena. I am eager to see what the judges think of him and do they like him as much as I do. He is really a big boy and so full of himself. He knows he is a colt and he really likes the mares.

I think I need to turn him out with some of the mares with babies. I believe they will put him in his place in a hurry.

My daughter decided at Christmas that she would give me an arena for Christmas. This is the week the arena is getting built. This has turned out to be a family project. My daughter-in-law and grandchildren are here from Mississippi. They are on spring break this week and she comes every spring during spring break. Her husband, my youngest son, is in the Navy and right now they are deployed overseas. As it happens this is the week the mares are due to foal. We have two more to foal this week. (According to the calendar) The book says 11 months and 5 days. If the mares read the book and were on the right page they will foal this week.

But back to the arena. My daughter, Mary Beth wanted to build the arena the week the mares were due to foal. Mike has been drilling the post holes. My grandson, Dalton, took over that job when Mike had to leave for work. Robert, a nephew, has been here helping with the project too. Also a friend of the family has been here too. So there has been plenty of help on the arena and it is coming along with it.

It has been fun to have them here and they have worked hard.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the warmer weather. The kids have taken advantage of the better weather and have been riding the horses as well as working hard on the arena. Tomorrow there will be pictures of the arena.

God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

A Tough Decision

2010-02-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

I walked into the barn about an hour ago, around 10 pm. The smell of sweet alfalfa hay greeted my senses. The lights were already on in the barn for the visit I knew I would be making late tonight. The horses were all calm. The pregnant mares were still munching the hay we had fed them late this afternoon.

Satin was in a separate area with the two yearling fillies. She was munching on hay as well while the two fillies were already laying down for some rest. The barn was calm and quiet except for the sweet sounds of horses chewing their hay.

My eyes searched out the horse I was looking for. His herd mate, Thunder was outside the gate that divided Cody from him. Thunder was waiting for his friend to return to the pasture with him to go back to the bale of hay for the night.

But Cody wouldn't be going back out tonight and maybe he will never be able to join his buddy in the pasture again. The next few days will tell the story.

Today started out with the temperature outside being bearable. As the day wore on it became colder and colder. Eleanor had come to help groom the horses. On her recent visit here she noticed that we went to great length to groom the horses in the barn. We tie each horse and put their feed out to them. Then we start to groom each horse as it eats. Then they get their hay.

She hung around the house with us all day and finally left to go home about 5 PM. Bob had already gone to the barn to start the feeding and I soon joined him after she left. He was watering the horses and I walked over to talk to him. We were chatting when he suddenly said, "Look at Cody. Something is terribly wrong with him." I looked and sure enough. He was walking around but he looked more drunk than sober.

I rushed to the house to call Gretchen who owns Cody. I did not get her at first so I left a message and called the vet. Gretchen soon called me back and I relayed the message from the vet to her and suggested she call him directly to get his assessment of the situation. It was decided that Dr Thompson would need to come to see him. That is exactly what I would have done.

Dr Thompson drove up to the barn and we entered the barn as he was examining the patient. It was not good news. It is the vet's assessment that he has picked up a disease that horses get from possums. It is very serious and the treatment is iffy and expensive. So Gretchen is struggling with a decision tonight. Does she spend the money to "try" to save her 18 year old gelding or does she say "good bye".

When I entered the barn and walked around to where Cody was stalled tonight, he was standing but he was weaving back and forth. Doc had given him a shot of anti inflammatory and hoped that would give him some temporary relief. He is not in pain but his back legs are weak and it causes him to wobble.

Cody fell while Bob was leading him to the barn and again when the vet was trying to halter him. It is so pitiful to see. He is a big strong horse and I have feared his back feet from time to time. He kicks at the other horses over feed sometimes and once he kicked out at another horse and threw mud on me. That was too close for comfort. But to see him standing in the stall weaving back and forth breaks my heart.

Gretchen ask me what I would do. I could not tell her. I do not know if I would let him go or spend the money to try the course of medication that would in all possibility will not cure him.

It is an option we will all have to face one day. I have already faced it with Holly although that was much more clear cut than this one is. Worse yet, Bill and I went through the same thing when he was sick. Although there was no option for him, good or bad. He had a condition that ran it's course and took his life.

It is a situation we will all face one day in one way or another. Because of the fallen state of man, we will all face death. Sometimes it will be a beloved pet. Other times it will be a faithful friend that has carried us through trails and over green pastures. And then there will come the times it will be a good friend, a close relative and then our own turn to face the end of our time on earth.

It is something we don't want to think about but sooner or later we must.

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are saved and those who are not. Have you decided which one you are? If you are, you know it. If you aren't sure then you aren't. What are you going to do about Jesus? You either tell him yes. Or do nothing about Jesus and you are telling him "No".

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care. I pray you will seriously think about where you will be spending eternity.

Regards

Mary

For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever shall believe on him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16

More Snow

2010-02-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

Bob on Venture's Golden Satin and me on J R. on one of our rides in the snow. Shown with me is Erica, my two year old lab. If we ride 2 miles, she runs 6. She loves the trail rides.

I think everyone around here is getting pretty tired of the pretty white fluffy stuff that has been falling so regularly from the grey skies. The days are so bitter cold and the wind adds to the misery.

However, we have found a few days recently that were nice enough that we saddled up horses and rode in the snow. I invited a friend out a couple of Saturdays ago for a ride in the snow and she was thrilled. Sheri rode my gelding, Chocolate Amigo. She has taken him on trail rides before and he is an amazing horse for trail rides. He is afraid of nothing. He does stop at times and check things out such as the creek.

The next week we went for more rides in the snow. My nephew, Buddy, and his two sons have been working on cutting trails through the woods so we can have more territory to ride once crops are planted this coming spring. We rode in the woods for a short piece. Bob on Amigo and me on J R. They had not cut very far into the woods so we only went a short distance in. They had started a new path from the opposite side of where they worked yesterday.

We rode on around the fields and Bob rode down the hill to check out the path they had already cut the day before. Amigo got to the creek and didn't want to cross. The problem was that J R and I had not gone down the trail and Amigo didn't like being separated from J R. Horses are such herd animals and have such herd instincts that they do not really like to go off all alone. So rather than force the issue and take a chance on a spill in the creek, Bob brought him back up the hill.

Later he did cross another creek. He has been crossing the creek that we ride through to come back to the house. But this time he was in a strange situation and it was uncomfortable for him. So rather than force the issue and have a long wet ride home we saved it for another day.

The day came last week when Buddy got through cutting the trail through the woods. He came the next day and brought his oldest son. This was the day we were going to ride the new trail through the woods. There were five of us so it made a very nice group of riders for our first ride on the new trail.

It is a very nice trail. It has enough down hill places and up hills. Some flat spots and branches to cross. In fact we cross the branch about three times. With snow melting the branch is running pretty good. J R stopped for a good long drink of water. My two labs were with us and of course they both had a good time in the cold water.

I appreciate my nephew and his sons coming here to cut trails through the woods. It really makes a nice ride. It is a lot more fun that just riding in the fields all the time.

But Buddy assures me that he is not finished yet. He has more trails planned and intends to lengthen the trail he has already cut. He also has a favorite spot back on the trail. It was his get away from it all spot when he lived here on the farm. He has plans for a wooden bench and rail to tie the horses up. Then he is going to fix up a mounting block. It will be an awesome place to stop for a lunch or just for a short rest. It is in front of the babbling brook. A lovely spot to rest.

We have gotten several good days of riding in recently. It has been so much fun. Although I have been riding J R a lot, I finally graduated up to a more lively horse and I am now riding Amigo. Eleanor has been here a couple of days to ride her horse, J R. Bob has been riding Satin and various ones have been riding other horses.

It has been a lot of fun riding in the snow but I am glad to see it leaving. However, now we have a lot of mud to contend with.

Tonight we were checking the pregnant mares. They are getting very close to foaling. All three are beginning to make bag so the time is getting close. They have been in the barn through the worst of the weather. They are on a ration of good alfalfa hay and grain. They have a good life. Today though it was windy and not so good outside, they had enjoyed rolling in the big stall with all the fresh shavings.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

A Birthday, A Weddings and Snow

2010-02-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Jamie Dickerson on Venture's Golden Satin.

Shortly before my birthday I acquired Satin. She is here on the farm now and is doing well. She has had a period of adjustment as she searches for her place in the herd. This morning she was shivering and seemed really cold so we brought her to the barn and put a blanket on her to warm her up. Tonight she is stalled in the barn with the blanket still on her.

We had just fed the herd some hay and she didn't want to leave the hay to be led to the barn. She really tried and tried to get away from me. But when we got her into the barn she found out we were not trying to take her away from what she wanted but to give her more of it in a better place with some grain to go along with the hay.

It occurs to me that we are like that with God. God wants to lead us away from what seems like some really good things in our lives. He doesn't want to take the good away from us but he wants to give us something more and better. Yet we often balk and think we are losing out on what seems really good to us. We can't imagine that there is more and better for us when we follow God. He doesn't force us into following him as I forced Satin into the barn this morning for more hay, a warm blanket and some good tasting grain. Once there, she understood I was doing her a kindness. And once we are following God and doing his will and obeying him we find he is doing us a kindness.

The first picture is of my best friend, Donna and me celebrating my birthday. Donna is facing surgery and is in a lot of pain but she celebrated my birthday with me anyway. We have been friends since before we can remember.. Our parents took us to church and we met each other when we were still babies in our mothers' arms. My birthday was last Friday and we spent most of the day together just talking and laughing and reliving old times as well as catching up on what we had each been doing since our last visit.

The bride and groom are my grandson, Edward Zinsius and his bride Jennifer Warden. They are making their home in Dayton Ohio. This past week end Mike, Natalie and I traveled to Gatlinburg to attend their wedding. It was a good week end. The wedding was beautiful and the bride was beautiful. The groom was very handsome and everyone had a great time. The evening was filled with good food and fun as we celebrated the union of this special man and woman.

One of the fun parts of the evening was that most of the guests were thrown into the heated pool in the hotel. It is a tradition with the bride's family that the groom gets tossed into the pool during the reception.

I noticed everyone had gone to their rooms and changed into jeans and t shirts. I wondered why until I found out about the tradition. Thankfully the bride and groom had also changed into more comfortable clothes by this time. The bride also went into the pool. Almost all of the guests did as well.

This morning during the height of the snow storm here on the farm, we drove up to the back part of the farm. At night we often hear coyotes howling. It is a hair raising sound. It causes us to be concerned for our livestock. We keep enough horses in each field together to protect each other and themselves. On Sunday night we noticed the dogs had found a calf skin. It appeared to be from a small calf.

The next morning Mike went to check on our cows. All the cows and calves were accounted for so we knew we had not lost a calf. We heard a cow from the neighbor's farm bawling for her calf and we knew where the calf hide had come from. Coyotes are a recent inhabitant of our farm and county. They have multiplied since their first introduction into our region to where they are a danger to all livestock. There were a few here back in the nineties. But now, one can hear howls from all directions.

This morning we saw tracks where they had crossed the field but did not see any. Our horses shy away from a little house that sets in one of the back fields. They do not like that area and always act a little silly around there. It is our belief that coyotes must hang out around that area of the farm regularly. And my son in law has seen coyotes near the house.

All our horses even J R gets a little silly near that house. That is another clean indication they are in that area regularly.

As we were driving down from the back fields Bob captured the picture of the barn and silos during the worse of the snow storm this morning. It was a lovely picture.

May God bless and keep you in His loving care. And may He give you a good and peaceful night's sleep.

Regards,

Mary

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 26: 3-4

Rosie Had a Tummy Ache

2010-02-02T18:04:00.001-08:00

This is Blooming Rose. She is known on our farm as Rosie. Rosie teaches us about God and our relationship to Him. She teaches us about trust and today she taught us about faith.

The phone rang early this morning. Bob had already gone to the barn to catch Rosie and Rocky Top to saddle up and ride. I found Bob on the other end. He was worried about Rosie. She had laid down when he put the lead line on her to take her to the barn. I looked out the kitchen window and there he stood in the field and Rosie was laying down beside him. I saw her get up and walk with him toward the barn.

We knew something was wrong. Another call to the vet. My vet loves me. He is already thinking of which Ivy League college he will send his pre-school son to when he is out of high school. As long as I have horses, he will be financially well off. I am laughing and crying both.

The vet arrived within an hour. He examined her and said "Colic". This can strike fear in the heart of a horse owner. It can be anything from a farm call and some icky smelling medication to a surgery that would cost up to $7,000. Icky smelling medicine was the route we went. The vet kept saying "This may work." He also said I could bring her in to his facility and he could load her with fluids and work out the impaction that way as well. ($1100)

Of course, I was very worried. But I kept praying for God to intercede in her care. Now God has not given us a spirit of fear so I had faith that God would take care of Rosie just as he had last week when he took care of J R. As you may remember, J R was the horse that helped himself to the feed in the freezer. J R is doing well and took me on a good trail ride yesterday.

Dr Thompson left me with the suggestion that Rosie could use some fresh grass and offer her plenty of water. The impaction was probably caused from Rosie not drinking enough water because it has been so cold. So I spent most of today outside with Rosie. I walked her all over the field letting her graze at will. I tried to encourage her to drink more water by offering her warm water with sugar. She just put her nose in it and splashed a little. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink"

About an hour after the vet left, Rosie presented me with a nice little pile of manure. It was my first signal that she was going to be alright. I kept walking her around and letting her graze. I was really cold after a while and I tied her in the barn and came to the house for a little while. I was soon back in the barn and found that she had once again left a little gift which Annie had already cleaned up and it was another good signal that things were getting back to normal.

More walking and later some more manure.

It is funny sometimes that the manure is our lives mean so much to us. I guess you want an explanation on that one. We all have manure in our lives. I know we can all agree to that. But as it was today, manure is not always a bad thing. If things always go smooth, if the water is always calm, if the sky is always blue, would we appreciate it that our lives are going smooth. No it would just be another day of sunshine. We wouldn't appreciate the smooth water or the blue skies.

We don't really learn lessons when things are going well. But when the fires get hot, we are being purified. Gold is purified with heat. Steel is tempered when a fire is put under it. We don't know what God will do for us without the storms in our lives. Our faith in God does not grow when everything goes smooth. When things are really going good, we go on auto pilot and have the attitude, "OK God, I can take it from here". No it is through the trials and hard times that our faith grows and develops. We grow and learn more about God when hard times hit.

Do you remember the scripture in Acts chapter 8 that documents the story of Stephen? As you remember, Stephen was the first Christian to die for his faith. Things were going along pretty well in Jerusalem. The apostles were preaching and people were being filled with the Holy Spirit. People were being saved and baptized. Then along came some persecution. Why did that have to happen when everything in Jerusalem was going so good?

God had a plan. I don't believe that God wanted that to happen but He let it happen. And He used that event to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. If Stephen hadn't been stoned, the apostles would not have scattered. Phillip wouldn't have gone to Samaria and people would have not been saved there. They would not have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of the stoning of Stephen, Christians took the good news outside of Jerusalem.

What they were experiencing was a lot of manure in their lives. I don't think that is the way any preacher would express it but it fits with my thesis for today. Would I have had so much gratitude in my heart for God tonight? I would have been grateful for a good day but I have learned that God cares about the affairs of man. And the affairs of a woman who is trying to walk in His will and follow His guidance. I know I can't make this operation a success without God's leadership and without His giving me the wisdom to make hard decisions.

May you always turn to God to give you wisdom in all your decisions.

And may God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards,

Mary

For I know all things work together for those who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8: 28

Riding in the Snow

2010-02-01T17:18:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Judy and Mike who have signed up as followers to my blog. Judy and I are old friends from High School Days. This year will mark the 50th year anniversary of our graduation from High School. Where has the time gone. Anyway welcome to my son Mike and my friend Judy to my blog. I hope you enjoy my blog.

It is my humble attempt at writing something someone else would want to read.

Today was a better day than yesterday was. Yesterday, it was -2 when we got in the truck to go to church. It was really bitterly cold. The snow crunched under the tires as we drove down the mile long road from my house that takes us to the black top road. The trees were bright with crystals of ice that gave them a fairy tale appearance as the sun gave them a life of their own.

When we got home from church Mike was just finishing with feeding the horses for me. He said it took him some time to thaw the water hose to run water into the tanks for the horses. It did not get very much warmer throughout the day.

This afternoon the sun began to warm the landscape and I could see little rivers of water as they scurried down the hills on the start of a long journey that would take them all the way to the ocean. The sun made little shiny gem stones like crystals on the fields that were still covered with snow.

It was in that setting that we went to the barn and got three gelding ready for a ride. J R did some little snorts and throaty sounds as we picked our way across the snow and up the hill for a mid winter ride. The snow still covered the fields and once again I noticed that the sun made sparkles in the snow that make the landscape look alive with all colors of the rain bow. The fields looked like God had thrown hand fulls of precious stones on the snow. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds were all sparkling in the snow as our horses' hooves left their trail in the undisturbed snow on the pastures and hay fields.

The dogs were running and chasing and tumbling over each other on their quest to be the fastest and the first to arrive at an unknown destination. Amigo wanted to pick up speed and get into an easy gait. Annie would have let him except for the two riders with her. She was waiting for the two slower horses. J R and Romeo, Natalie's horse, was not in a hurry to do anything. J R does not get in a hurry for anything other than his feed bucket. Romeo only gets in a hurry to get back to the barn.

We rode saying very little. I think the other girls were as much enthralled with the beauty of the snow covered fields as I was. Natalie said at one point that she had been wanting to ride in the snow. It was I who had suggested the ride this afternoon for that very reason. I wanted to ride in the snow too. It looked like a fun thing to do. And it most definitely was.

We rode a couple of miles and brought J R, Romeo and Amigo back to the barn to put saddles away, brush down the horses and feed the horses for their night time feeding. It was almost 5 o'clock when we got in from our ride. The pregnant mares were not so patiently waiting for their hay. The yearlings were impatient for their grain and our three geldings were nosing around for their hay and grain.

It was a good day. A day with God's blessings written all over it. A wonderful ride, beautiful landscape and the temperature was mild (in the 30s) and comfortable. And those wonderful, beautiful Rocky Mountain Horses. Thank you God for those magnificent horses. One of your greatest creations.

My God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God

Psalms 147: 7

Rock on Andi

2010-01-30T16:39:00.000-08:00

The horse that we are all on is 3 year old Rockin Andi. Bob in the first picture, Eleanor in the second and me in the third.

Rocki Andi is a filly. Most people get confused by the name. Andi is my granddaughter and Rockin Andi is named for her. That is why it is spelled Andi instead of Andy.

Thursday found us at Van Bert Farm and riding Andi. Eleanor had been really wanting to ride Andi. Andi is not yet 3 full years old and has been under saddle since she was 20 months old. The first time I saw this filly, I knew I would have to buy her. I liked her the instant I saw her. I think this may have been pre-planned on Larry's part. He knew I would like the way she moved. I mean who wouldn't.

Andi has a wonderful gait and even though she is less than 3 years old, she has a wonderful temperment. She is easy to ride and extremely well trained. She is willing to work and willing to go. She is not at all nervous and carries herself and her rider in a nice even gait. I can not say enough good things about Andi. I have had offers to buy her but not enough to make me want to part with her yet.

After our scare this week with J R we are being extra careful. J R is fine. He had no ill effects from his foray into the freezer. We had a good laugh over it only after we knew he would be alright. A horse like him does not come along very often and it would have broken my heart to lose him because of Eleanor. But also because J R is such a special horse. J R is a horse that I don't have to worry about Eleanor riding out in the pasture. He is calm and he is lazy. I have never seen him jump or act startled in any way.

We had a big snow last night. We must have had 6-8 inches of snow. I was really glad we bought the horse hay home yesterday instead of waiting until today. I do not have hay that is grown on the farm without fescue so I have had to buy some clean hay for the mares in foal. The mares in foal need the hay especially when it is so cold. But they are also feeding a foal and need plenty of good quality hay. They are getting extra now. It is very cold tonight and will be extremely cold in the morning.

We are counting down the days now until foaling season starts. The first one should foal around March 14. About 43 days. We think that Magic Rhythm will be the first. But who can be sure. Anyway we will have the movie camera ready to see the foals hopefully getting up to take their first wobbly steps.

Hope you will attend church tomorrow.

God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8: 37-39

A Horse in the Freezer

2010-01-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

The first picture is of Bob riding Eleanor's horse, J R. In halter is WOF Celine's Shinin Star. Celine is a yearling born in May of 2009. She is out of our mare L S Mountain Wind Socks and by Sudden Impact. Sudden Impact is owned by Mark and Vickie Smith.

J R was in the freezer early this morning. WHAT??? Let me start at the beginning which I have found is a pretty good place to start. We had taken J R for a test ride last Saturday. More accurately, Lucy and Melissa had taken J R for a test ride. My sister Eleanor is 77 years old and although I know J R is a really calm horse, I had not seen him out on the farm yet. Eleanor has been craving a ride out on the farm with J R. I wanted to make sure he could be handled by anyone out in the open. I rode him one day last week when the weather broke a little and had a good ride. Then Lucy and Melissa wanted to ride last Saturday so they took J R out too. He behaved beautifully for both of them. Melissa is only 7 years old and it was her second ever trail ride as she explained it to her Granny, my daughter. And she added, she didn't even fall off.

J R is the most laid back horse on the farm and if one of the bossy horses wants his place at the stack of hay, they will take it. So he has some bite marks and I thought had lost a little weight. Not that he was showing ribs by any means but the weather has been so mean that I thought he could use a little TLC. So I made arrangements for him to be housed in the barn for the last several days and we started him on a diet of grain and extra hay.

J R has certainly enjoyed all the TLC he has been getting lately and he has looked forward to us coming into the barn and especially getting his grain.

Yesterday my daughter-in-law, Natalie thought the feed room needed cleaning. So she and Annie went on a cleaning binge. We had moved an old freezer into the barn where we could store feed and it would be handier. It also has a top and can be closed against rodents and nosey horses. It seemed like a perfect solution to keep the feed closer to where we needed it. The freezer is close to where we were stalling J R. Not a regular stall actually just an enclosure in the barn with a gate tied with baling twine across it.

J R must have gotten to thinking about grain during the night or perhaps it was that big stack of hay across from his enclosure. Anyway J R being smarter than the average bear (I mean horse), got to pushing against the gate and knocked it completely down. He then helped himself to the hay.

After a generous helping of hay, I suppose he started thinking about his grain. Now J R as I have already said is smarter than the average bear (I mean horse). He had very obviously watched us put his grain in the freezer and get it out of there for him. So he went over to the freezer and raised the top of the freezer up and proceeded to eat grain out of the bag. How did we know? He had left a lot of evidence to convict him of his theft. We figured there was maybe two scopes of grain gone from the bag. We certainly couldn't call him a pig over it because there were several bags of feed unopened in the chest freezer. And the open bag wasn't even empty. We could tell he had been into it by the droppings around the freezer and the mess in the freezer where he had dropped grain from his mouth.

But this horse is Eleanor's and he means a lot to her. I could not take a chance on his health so we called the vet. What happened to him next was not nearly so pleasant as his little foray into the grain supply. It involved a tube and his nose. Plus some nasty shots. The vet wanted to be sure we avoided colic and laminitis. We are still watching him closely. The vet says the next two days will tell. J R was most definitely in our prayers today and tonight.

Is it wrong to pray for an animal? I am sure you have your opinion just as I do. My opinion is "no it is not wrong". God cares about us and about what we care about. God provided J R to Eleanor through the generosity of H T Derickson. If God is good (and He is) and if He saw to it that Eleanor had a horse of her own that she could ride and be safe on then He cares enough to answer our prayers if that horse is in danger. And I believe with all my heart that J R will be alright.

I will keep you posted on how J R is and let you know from time to time about Eleanor's rides on the farm. There will be pictures. I am really getting ready for some sunshine and warmer days so we can get her on J R and let her ride on the farm. I know she is going to love doing it. She has been craving a ride all winter. She loves that horse and he is perfect for her.

I hope you are doing well through this cold winter. We had some snow this morning plus enough ice under the snow to make the morning commute tricky. I heard there were multiple accidents due to cars slipping on the ice. As it turned out, my commute to the barn was uneventful. Of course, it is right here on the farm about the distance of a city block from the house. I hope yours was uneventful as well.

My God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards

Mary

Here is advice Eleanor doesn't need.

"Always smile when you are riding because it changes your intent."

James Shaw

Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul

"Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy ways unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass."

Psalms37: 4-5

Flair for Fury

2010-01-21T17:10:00.000-08:00

S T displays the trophy that Flair for Fury won for high points in Yearling Filly Conformation.

But there is so much more to Flair than just a great conformation and a pretty face. We visited the Van Bert Farms this week and I took Flair to put back in training and get under saddle. She is now a coming two year old and she is awesome.

Last year she was a great conformation filly.

Larry handed the lead to Brandon and told him to saddle her up. She of course was being ridden with just a halter and lead instead of a bridle and bit. She didn't seem to know exactly what to do at first. As Brandon rode her around in the barn she started to catch on pretty fast. She immediately settled into a nice walk in the barn.

Larry asked me if I wanted to bet him $5. on whether she would do obstacles. I am not foolish enough to bet against Flair. Brandon took her down to the obstacle course. She crossed the wooden bridge, the sounding box, the poles and up onto the terrace and down again. He took her through the plastic streamers. She did it like a champion. He took her on the seesaw. Again no problem. Then Brandon had her to jump barrels. That was ok too. Next he ask her to go up the steep hill. Then back down the steep hill where she was almost sliding down on her rear end.

She is an awesome little filly. She is calm and she is steady. I think I will be riding her before summer gets here. She was so calm last year in the conformation classes that she would almost go to sleep. It almost became a problem.

What seemed to be a problem then is a blessing now. She is calm and trusting. She is a very smart and willing filly and understood just what Brandon was asking her to do. She is going to be a pleasure to ride. She will be started under saddle in a way that will make her the best she can be.

As I was meditating tonight, I started thinking about Flair and how trusting she is of Brandon. She has had a really good start in life. She started learning to trust those who handle her early in life. She started out with imprinting at birth. Lewis worked with her to teach her to lead. She learned confidence from him. He is kind and gentle, yet firm with his little charges. She has learned to obey. Now she is willing and confident that her rider is going to be fair yet firm.

What a picture of our relationship with God if we learn early in life to trust Him and obey His word. Our parents have imprinted us. Hopefully it is with faith in God. As a very young child hopefully we are led to Christ to trust Him as our Lord and Savior. In our lives we are asked to do some very hard things. We do not have all smooth trails because we are Christians. But we do know the one who guides our lives. Flair did not know exactly where Brandon would lead her or what he would ask her to do but she trusted him. That is a picture of the trust we should have in God.

We can learn from Flair and how she has learned to trust and obey so willingly. She knows from past experience she will not be asked to do anything that will harm her.

If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we should be as willing to trust and obey because we should know that He will never ask us to do anything that will hurt us and that He is guiding our paths. If you have never put your trust in Jesus, now would be a good time as our world seems to spinning out of control. We all need to be led by the Good Shepherd.

May God bless and keep you and make His light to shine upon you.

Regards

Mary

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.

Proverbs 3: 5-7

Two Days in Winter

2010-01-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

My brother Bob loves my new camera and he loves landscape pictures. I really like the one to the right. It is about what you see as well as what is in the shadows. The one on the left was a day just little over a week ago late afternoon and the one on the right was late this afternoon.

Welcome to two of my new blog followers. Liz told me this morning how much she likes my blog and I really appreciate her kind comments. It is always encouraging to know that people read my blogs and like them. The other new follower is Sydney. I hope I spelled your name right but I do welcome you and feel free to correct me if I misspelled it.

We are finally past this cold snap. The water hoses no longer freeze during the night. Life is getting easier. Of course now we have the mud. It is ugly around here. But one must be involved with farming to really understand what all of it is about. The seasons of the year are very valuable to those who till the soil and make a living from farming.

It is hard to not talk about God when we speak of the seasons. A friend of mine, Roger Brown, told me a couple of weeks ago that if it were not for winter, we would wear the soil out from farming it. He also said we would wear ourselves out quicker as well. That is very true. When we go out to feed the animals on a cold winter day the first thing we want to do when we get back to the house is get warm and rest. Then it is harder to go back out for the afternoon feedings. Winter is a time our bodies seem to want to slow down. I have often said of fall that my body feels like it is getting ready for hibernation. That may be partially true. But in any case God is giving us rest from our intense labors of the summer.

We had a wonderful ride yesterday afternoon. We rode all the way to the back of the farm. About a mile from the house. Bob rode Rosie, Natalie was on Romeo and I rode Eleanor's horse J R. J R is such a laid back horse. He is really one of a kind. Nothing bothers J R. If there is such a thing as a bomb proof horse, J R has to be it. Usually it is cluck to him, kick him and smack about three or four times with the dressage whip. He will trudge along and sometimes get into his show gait. He is really a wonderful horse.

Rosie was pretty full of herself yesterday as was Romeo. Romeo loves the barn. He know that is where he gets the feed and hay. Natalie hasn't quiet convinced him yet that she is the leader in their two horse herd. Someday she will get the message across and then he will be such a joy for her to ride. Bob had a good ride on Rosie. He and she are making a good team. And he really likes riding her.

I can't not write this blog tonight without talking about our service at church this morning. For those who have not remembered, the date of January 22 is the day in 1973 that the Supreme Court decided a mother could choose to kill her baby legally. Our country was turned upside down when the Court decided that abortion should be legal and available to every woman. Since then 50 million babies have been aborted. This morning Dave Stone of Southeast Christian Church where I am a member reminded us of that date in a powerful sermon.

Near the end of the service he invited us to watch and pray as 37 people came forward to lay a single rose on the table at the front of the sanctuary. Each rose represented a year of abortions and each rose also represented over a million babies aborted for that single year. The procession of people started with a man born the first year that abortions were made legal. The line of people declined in age as they came forward. The last few were children led by or carried by a parent to lay their rose on the table.

One little boy, carried by his father did not want to let his rose go. We chuckled at his innocence but maybe there was wisdom in his innocence. Perhaps he was symbolically saying no to the slaughter of so many innocent babies who did nothing deserving of death. The last baby to be presented with it's rose was still carried in the womb of it's mother who had chosen life for her unborn.

It was a very touching and heart rending service. I cried. Dave talked about going to the hospital to see a young couple that had lost their baby at 22 weeks. He entered the room and the young mother was holding her recently born baby in her arms. She asked Dave if he wanted to hold her baby. Like it was yesterday, I was sitting in the hospital room holding my 32 week Great grandson, Michael. I touched his soft little cheeks and I looked into his precious face and felt his sweet little hands and arms. They were still warm from the warmth of his mother's body. But he had already gone back home to be with Jesus. His mother did not choose to end his life. It was out of her control.

Thinking of that time, I wonder how a woman could choose or a man could pay for an abortion to take the life of one just as innocent as Michael.

It is heart breaking to see our country so deeply involved with the taking of Innocent life. Some want to make it a political issue and in many regards it has become very political. But the whole basic thing about abortion is that is it a moral issue whether people like it or not. And we are told in the Bible that "thou shalt not kill". We can not turn away as a body of believers from issues that are moral issues. We have to make our voices heard.

May God bless and keep you in His loving care. And would you pray this week for the end of abortions in this country and around the world.

With regards,

Mary

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me,, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19: 14