Progress!

I just had to write on here about my wonderful horse, Tonka.  We have made some serious progress in the last few weeks and have really become bonded as horse and rider.  Tonka does not like anyone else, but me, on his back (which is an appaloosa trait).  It is unfortunate, but he is extremely well behaved for me, which is all I care about for now. 

Tonight he was fighting the bit on the right side, so once we worked through it,  we decided he was bored and set up an obstacle course for him.  Wow did he LOVE that!  Out of all the times I have ridden him, I have never had him that tuned into me!  It was WAY cool!  We even trotted through the course some, but still have to work on how fluidly we move when we trot (mainly me...staying planted in the saddle and not bouncing).

We are spending most of our time still in the round pen, just working on our skills together, and I am trying to build confidence.  When he gets into the pasture, he wants to take off on me when he goes through the mud or gets too far from the other horses.  Although this is smooth, I am NOT ready for it yet and don't want to do it.  (And I didn't TELL him to go faster, so it becomes a control issue as well.) 

We are learning though...and I have great optimism for what the spring will bring!  We will continue working, through the winter!  :)

Here are some pics of him all saddled up!

It's been a while

Since Baby passed away, I have not been motivated to write here...and have been swamped with photography. In fact, I'm taking a tiny break from editing right now to write. Thanks for the many kind words and prayers in our time of pain. I am still healing and still miss that dog more than I ever knew I would. She truly touched my heart.

First things first.... Scrapbooking.

I attended the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention during the first week of October. It was awesome...and overwhelming. SO much stuff! And I learned about many new things that I just might share on here when I don't have photos calling my name. I will say that the most fun I had was the send off crop- I met two great new ladies who scrapped with me and even shared their dinner... It was awesome! Can't wait for next year!

Next thing...the horse.

The horse is BROKE! He is still learning little things...and that I am still the boss on his back, but, he is done with training. Now I have to be trained to properly ride. I've already made huge improvements...but man, riding is HARD. You see people do it, and it looks easy, but to do it correctly?? It requires lots of practice and SKILL. I am getting there...and can't wait to share some stories.

Last thing....the other animals...

Penny, Tory and Felix are all doing quite well! Penny got a strange illness a few weeks ago in which she kept me up all night with vomiting. But...$250 later after a trip to the pet hospital, she is all better. She had a bad infection, and I would have had to treat her for her to get better. But she feels great now. Felix will NOT stop growing! He is so big now! It's hard to imagine...just a short time ago, he was a tiny kitten!

Well..I will update again sometime soon. That's all for now.