New music

I came across this group in my internet travels - I may put their albums on my own Christmas list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8h_6saZra8&feature=related

Still here...

We're still alive and well. Owen was laid off, then re-hired, all with the same company in the last few weeks. He's now working for the same manager as he did when we lived in WA, just back to working remotely again. Better to be looking for a job while you're currently employed.

I'm really busy, teaching approximately 7 lessons each week (Cole is earning not only his own groceries, but also Cecil and Samson's!) I found a new hay supplier that has good quality hay for about half the price I've been paying - delivered. About 100 lb bales, so still manageable size and I'm pretty excited to have cut my hay bills in half! I also currently have 4 horses in full training, plus Cecil and Samson. Miles is busy busy harassing horses, cats, and the older dogs, and we have a new barn cat scheduled to arrive to begin mousing in the next week or so.

Owen and I have set a new record for early Christmas shopping - we began this week! I know to some of you this is not exactly EARLY - but for us it's a herculean effort. We're getting excited to see all the nieces and nephews at the holidays and we're hungry already for holiday food.

Miles is getting bigger

Some new pictures of Miles. He's getting bigger, rowdier, now has his puppy school diploma, has been to many horseshows, and now he's neutered! Huzzah for a good puppy. He's turned out to be a better mouser than the cats.

How it all began

Here's a picture of me one Christmas receiving my first real stable. Oh, if only my parents knew what they were starting....

Absent Summer Pictures

I feel like it's not really a blog posting if I don't have pictures to display, but it occurred to me that people may be wondering is we're still around. Indeed we are, we have been busy, we have documented our adventures in photographs, but the technology for uploading pictures to the computer is not cooperating. Hence no photos.

Some of my activities include many many horseshows. I returned to the breed show circuit and went to an AQHA (American Quarter Horse Assoc.) show with a client horse. I don't know who thought of western show clothes, but it is ridiculous to me that people actually pay money to wear big rhinestone bedazzled collars and cuffs, ride in silver adorned saddles, and yet refuse to wear any kind of protective headgear. Even in the english classes. It all goes back to the staff member at the local tack shop who said, "if she HAD a brain she would want to protect it." The other, more local shows that are in my chosen disciplines are much more reasonable and fun. We've been cleaning up.

Owen got a bonus for being with the company for 5 years, and used it to buy a telescope. It's been on his wish list for some time now and he enjoyed researching the different kinds. Now he can see quite a ways, and he insists his new binoculars are for sighting stars and astronomical phenomena, not merely for spying on the neighbors. He's also been mountain biking a few times with Holly, but neither of them takes pictures so no documentation of that.

Our anniversary was a blast, I got Miles of course, and the actual day of our anniversary Owen and I went to a local open space area called Soapstone, Owen riding his bike and me riding Cecil. We did a 9 mile loop, most of it fairly fast since there were many free-range cattle on the prairie where we were riding and Cecil is still terrified of the horse-eating machines masquerading as herbivores. I would shout to Owen, "On your left!" as Cecil took off at a full sprint to get away from the cattle, and Owen would dive out of the way on his bike and catch up to us later. It was pretty exciting, and we had a blast.

More pictures to come as the camera is able to be plugged into the computer.

Smilin Miles

Miles is my anniversary gift from Owen - 7 years of marriage next week. I've wanted this border collie for years now and we finally have the property and lifestyle to tire out a dog with this kind of endurance! Here are his 7 week old puppy pics.



A snuggly puppy



"This rope is as big as I am!"



"Whoa, these horses are a lot bigger up close!"



"Are you sure I'm allowed to play with this?"



Play hard, sleep hard

Autumn Hill Dressage Festival

I took a client horse to the Autumn Hill International Equestrian Center in Longmont for the dressage show yesterday, the filly did really well! She rode the test beautifully, got a good score, and ended up winning the division. We came home with a blue ribbon and a large glass tumbler with a dressage horse etched on it. Here are some of Owen's documentation photos. And yes, this filly is for sale!