I just read a good tagline:
“Don’t believe everything you think”
It made me think.
Everything You Think
Author Lynn Scott
Almost Christmas
Ours is a big family. I believe all are coming to Christmas Dinner and that means 30+ people. That is unless a cousin or two, or some neighbour that we find out doesn’t have anyone to have dinner with, wants to join.
I’m done shopping. Well, at least for the grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our own kids have been a bit difficult to give the “family treasures” and “things I don’t want to throw out” to. The only way I have found to get these things out of my care is to give them to them as “Christmas Presents”.
It is fun hearing the “Oh Mom” reaction when I hand them out but… I know them fairly well and in the end the “junk” I give them is at very least somewhat interesting or useful or worth a laugh.
Our Christmas Party is always full of laughter and I am so very grateful that all of my family treat each other with love and respect. Doubly important to me as I didn’t see that as a child.
The horses are out on winter pasture. The pasture is very good and some are becoming obese. In a couple of days the weather is going to be in the -20s in the daytime. They need to be fat and furry and have good shelter and feed when the Alberta weather is in an Arctic blast. Having watched horses in the natural winter pastures for many years, it never ceases to amaze me how well they can handle cold if given the right environment.
I still need to paint some Christmas cards. I’ll don’t even aspire to be a great painter, LOL, I just like doing it. In fact, lately I think I may be getting worse at it. LOL
Busy time. That is good and I am just grateful to still be able to be busy.
Lynn
“Though he’d be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly”
A Kid On A Horse – Again
It’s been a long time since I felt like a kid on a horse. Somehow falling off has become a much scarier thing. But I had a fun time this morning. Dave and I rode up to the north pasture. It is a beautiful peaceful place with a pond and forest and wild things. When we got back I thought I would move the horse herd to the mare pasture until the broodmares come home from the breeding farm.
Well the old retired broodmares got into the paddocks. They like to snoop about at the best of times and they found a pile of enticing hay in there so they weren’t going to let Eddie with me on his back chase them out. Funny thing but if it was Eddie by himself they would be moving toward the gate right away. Apparently they realize just what a handicap I am to Eddie compared to his solo herding work. We were galloping up and down the pens and it was all lots of fun but then they started kicking at us and I had to go get a weapon.
I thought that Eddie might react to me whomping on other horses with the “whip” but the very first time I smacked one of the mares on the butt with it and she jumped and ran, he was onto the game. Would put me in range and I would touch them with the end of the rope and they were gone. Still lots of galloping around but way more fun when you don’t have to worry that they are going to stop and kick.
Eddie loved it too. It is so fun to ride a horse that is truly collected and using himself. He was sweating when we were done but we were both smiling. My fitbit had 9000 steps on it. LOL
Probably not a game everyone would enjoy but reminded me of old times. It was like being a kid again and not being afraid of all the things that could hurt me. Not sure why it kicked in at this moment but I am sure glad it did. LOL
Lynn
Stallions We Remember – King Leo Bar
Over 15 years have passed since Jim Keith wrote this article for Northernhorse but most of it is still relevant. If not more so. He still shows up in the pedigrees of many of Western Canada’s performance horses. If you have any photos of him or his offspring that you would like to share, we would love to add them to this post.
Now to Jim’s post.
If you have been in the Quarter Horse business in Canada for very long, you’re probably wondering what more could be said about King Leo Bar; the most written about and talked about Quarter Horse that has ever made his career in Canada. Most every sale catalog across western Canada has one of his descendants and makes reference to his show and sire record. With this article I want to focus more on those descendants. I was always impressed with how many good King Leo Bar bred horses there were out there, but when researching this I was truly surprised at the number of excellent producers he sired. Continue reading “Stallions We Remember – King Leo Bar”
Camera Lenses
One day this week I took my new telephoto lens for my walk down the pasture. Sure enough the skies were flamboyant. Need more wide angle. So… next day took the wider angle lens. Yup. Beautiful flock of geese flew directly over the beautiful row of fall colored trees. A deer stood and looked at me for ages instead of instantly bounding into the trees but just a little too far away to be a good photo of a deer with that lens.
Unless I develop the ability to foresee the future or want to carry a heavy bag full of lenses, I guess I will just have to accept that some things are just for my eyes to enjoy. I’m resisting carrying more stuff.
Kind of like travelling. I like to bring all my toys. In the old days you could check 2 suitcases so full you could barely drag them along and take another smaller case and your big purse on the plane with you. Not that way now.
I’m kind of good with this. On a fully booked flight to Easter Island at Christmas time a few years back every seat had a person (for some reason there were a lot of large people on the flight) and there were bags and piles of gifts to the ceiling of the plane in the middle section. Lots of people ended up sitting on the floor or walking around during the flight. You could just feel that it all was too heavy. There was a lot of ocean between takeoff and landing to ponder on.
It took me a long time but I am finally starting to see the freedom that comes from not carrying a lot of baggage. LOL In more ways than one.
It All Depends
Sometimes when we go out west we see lots of different animals and birds. Sometimes it seems there are quite a few wild horses. Sometimes you wonder how they can so effectively hide in the forests. I’m not sure if it was the weather (there was a cold wind) or if it has something to do with all the traffic as it is hunting season but this week we saw few horses or critters of any kind. Seeing critters is a bonus but doesn’t define whether or not it was a great trip. There is something about a visit to the west country that fills up your soul.
The previous visit was filled with critters out enjoying a pleasant fall day. Just down the road from the ranch a beautiful hawk gave us a display of effortless flight.
The herd of wild horses that we encountered that day were taking advantage of the nice warm day to rest up and prepare for the winter that arrived today.
It is quite amazing how a little drive out in nature can be so refreshing and once again we were grateful for the beautiful country we get to live in.
A Life With Horses 