Horses in the Evening

Cecil in his fly sheet, hood, and mask, aka his "bubblewrap"

Garmin sporting his sunglasses

Major didn't want his nose left out of the photo shoot

Samson hanging in there with Major in the background

Lovin' Summer, Had Me a Blast

The view Southwest

Ponies and the farm West

Sunset

Dog Days of Summer

"Herding Crawfish"

 When Owen and I went to dinner last week for my birthday, this was the picture on the wall where we sat.  It's titled "Herding Crawfish".  I love it because I see this scene so regularly at home, the dogs are always trying to herd the crawdads from our pond (as well as the grasshoppers, the barn cats, and any unsupervised children).

Waiting to go to work - I like the shot of the trailer in the background.  This is the view I enjoy every day from where I tack up the horses at the hitch rail.

Are you ready for the trailride YET?!

Me and Owen at the fish restaurant, note the beloved picture in the background

Mini Golf on Saturday

 I got done with my riding lessons and appointments early, and Owen finished working on the lawn (aka mowing the weeds) early today, so we headed into town for some miniature golf.  Owen got a hole-in-one on the first hole, and I got a hole-in-one later in the game.  Of course Owen won, but I came in a respectable second considering how many times I had to hit that darn ball when it was mere inches from the hole!  We all chose ball colors that matched our clothes:  I was yellow, Owen blue, Rebecca pink, Noah green.

We put-putted the "fantasy course"

Here we are at Fort Fun - or is is Disneyland?  Me, Owen, Rebecca, and Noah

Noah is a very careful golfer

Paying no attention to that dragon behind the fence

Summer Soccer Warriors in Wellington

Goal!

 Owen plays soccer on a recreational team in Wellington, and so presented the perfect opportunity to test out my new birthday camera, a Nikon p510.  I spent some time studying the manual this afternoon, then took it for a test run at the game this evening.  For those interested in the particulars, Owen's team won 5-1.  His team is in the black shirts.

No shoving!

Tossing the ball in

Our friend Mike going after the ball

Owen's fancy footwork

Owen going after the ball

Aggressive Owen

Owen and the team organizer, Russ

Owen and our friend Trisha, who also rides dressage

This guy gives private soccer lessons, and he's heard to say, "pretend there's an anchor in your butt!"  I think this is what he means.

Trisha running like she owns the field

Sunset driving home from the game

It was a successful night of photography.  Turns out soccer is WAY faster when watched through the camera, but I was proud of my good photographs tonight.  More to come as the season progresses!

4th of July Parade

 We spent our holiday in Wellington, our small town North of Fort Collins.  Garmin was in the parade with me, Miles the dog in costume, and several of our clients.  We all marched through downtown, then returned to the library park to man our booth where Owen was sitting at our station.  Our tent was set up next to a startup company that makes stencils for decorating your horse, and they had specially made one for us with our stable name!  They let us use it and then one of my artistic students also stenciled some stars around our name.  Garmin really looked like a My Little Pony with the decorations on his buns!  He was quite popular, there were honestly hundreds of kids who looked at him and tried to pet him.  He was very discerning about who he let touch him - only the kindly and well behaved children got to touch. 

Marching in the parade, Kelsey, Kim, Garmin, Me, Kathy, Miles' buns, and Brianna.  Photo taken by Joan, another client who was watching from the road.

Garmin had ribbons in his mane, stars standing up from the ribbons, a tail braid and elaborate bow, and of course his My Little Pony stencils!

Just a small part of our Bit of Honey group, but a good shot of Miles' costume

Garmin's forelock was braided and tucked into itself, with a star poking out the top.  Owen was the only one to overhear one of the best parts of the day.  A little kid was awestruck, staring at Garmin in his pen.  She quietly asked her dad, "is that a unicorn?!"

Garmin was very popular among kids and adults

Adding the stencil to Garmin's decorations

I love this shot of the tail braid and bow

Another highlight was when we first arrived to set up our vendor space.  The woman who had been organizing and helped me to reserve a spot over the phone saw us pull up and shouted, "oh, good!  Our fun booth is here!"

I made Miles' costume from stars and stripes from the dollar store and remnants bins!