Serenity

Not exactly what it looks like out there right now, but we're grateful that it appears Hurricane Joaquin is going to bypass us!

A Grand Day Out

Some friends are down visiting for the weekend and we took them out on the boat yesterday. We love sharing the beauty of this area with friends and one of our favorite things to do is to see the Shackleford Ponies. We really lucked out this time as we were able to get a good look at a very new baby.

 Cape Lookout National Seashore has some really good information on these wild horses here: Horses of Shackleford Banks Click on some of the links from that page if you want to learn more.

Baby was so incredibly adorable and even put on a show for us...excuse the jerkiness of the video...it's hard to keep it steady when using the zoom and no tripod.

Spring Has Sprung

Know how I know?

 The shedding. Oh, the shedding! This is all from one grooming session. And it wasn't even as thorough as it could have been...there was still lots of loose hair on her that I didn't get off. Looking forward to when it's warm enough to do a good bath.

Now for more eye close-ups:

Happy Birthday Solana!

 My big, beautiful redhead turns 11 today!

Gentle & sweet...but with a goofy sense of humor...hard for me to believe it's been 11 years since I met that wee girl who struggled to peer over the stall door.

Love her to pieces!!!

Fall-Related

 I thoroughly enjoyed watching the lunar eclipse the other day. Tried to capture a few pix of that beautiful blood moon, but wasn't particularly happy with any of them. This is the best one...and it's admittedly not all that great.

On a different note, here's 'Mo's fall shot:

Handsome boy, eh?

Horse Yawn

Today was a good day. It was the first time I've been able to ride in quite some time. Solana was very relaxed. :D

Cape Shots

A few shots from a recent trip to one of my happy places:

Do-over

It's been brought to my attention that some people couldn't see the picture that accompanied my last post. I wasn't sure it was going to work right as it was an Instagram picture and I used html code to paste it in...for those that couldn't see it this is another attempt which I believe corrects the issue...let me know!

In response to a comment: yes, her ears are covered. We both have fly masks made for riding that cover their ears and all the way to their noses....they were much needed as the flies were pretty bad and would have driven the horses crazy without these.

Hoping to get in a long trail ride with a big group next weekend so expect more pix.

Today's random quote:

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
― Joseph Campbell

Happiness

Went on a trail ride Saturday. It was wonderful. Pretty soon it will be too hot and the bugs will get pretty bad, but it was just about perfect Saturday. It was just Solana and her stablemate, 'Mo. Rode through the woods and out onto the beach. Solana saw her first motor boat...and it freaked her out! :D Fortunately, she got over it and settled right back down. That's one of the things I love about my girl...she does LOVE being a trail horse!

Random "What are they up to?" Shots

Glossy Girl

What's there?

Oh, hi!

We're just playing with my favorite strip of paper...

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Hard to believe it...Solana is TEN!

Love that girl :D

Big & Little

Fabulous Friesians

We have some new horse neighbors.They're Friesians. And a mini. :D

 Gorgeous, yes?

 They're very sweet too!

On the Trail

Solana and best pal Geronimo (a/k/a "Mo") got to go on another lovely trail ride Sunday. Weather was so warm (dare I say hot?) that it was hard to believe we were only 3 days away from Christmas! (And that's not a complaint!)

This time we took the longest of the three equestrian trails. Technically, it just goes down to the beach and then loops back around, but we took a detour and walked down the beach a ways.

The trails we were on are in the Croatan National Forest in an area that's adjacent to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. The flight path goes right over the trails and I was very proud of both horses to not freak out over the planes. There were harriers practicing "touch and go's"...it got really loud! I was too focused on Solana when they were right over head, but later on captured them in a few pix when they were farther off. Look just over the tree line above my saddle:

That's right! Incidentally, you can also see how wooly Solana's winter coat is. She was really sweating by the time we got done :D

Walking through thick sand is tough work, even for horses and we spent some of the time dismounted and walking along with them.

Still have a few lovely colors in the midst of the green woods. :D

Altogether we were on the trail for about 3 1/2 hours and covered about 7 miles. It was a fabulous day.

Trail Ride

After a stressful and emotional week, it was rejuvenating to go on a trail ride out in the woods. Had a fabulous time and looking forward to making this a regular occurrence!

Grief

A dear friend had to put her horse down yesterday. That's a kind of pain that feels overwhelming...like ground glass in your soul....and it feels permanent when you're in it. Maybe in some respects it is. But at least it doesn't stay that sharp forever. I know of what I speak. In 1991 I was faced with making that same dreadful decision.

I still miss my sweet "Stranger." He got me through a lot of rough times. (Remind me and I'll scan and post some old pictures of him that Mom dug out for me the other day.)

Horses touch our lives in very profound ways. There were some very dark times for me this past year when I went through a bout of laminitis with Solana. It's horrible when we see our animals in pain. There were times when I had so much fear because I know how serious it was (is. She is doing wonderfully now, but will always be at risk and I'll always have to be vigilant.). I spent a lot of hours out at the barn...in all hours of the day and night and all weather conditions...and with a broken bone in my foot that I didn't even know was broken because I was so focused on her I didn't go to the doctor for 2 months. That may not make sense to you...unless you're a horse person...and then it makes complete sense.

My friend only adopted this horse about six months ago...but I know how attached she was to him. He was a sweet boy. So gentle, despite the fact that he'd been through a lot of awful things in his life. I may not know much, but I know he loved living with my friend. I know that he enjoyed his time there. I know that he knew he was loved. I found the following last night when looking for something to share with my friend:

If you bury him in this spot, the secret of which you must already have,
He will come to you when you call-
Come to you over the far, dim pastures of death,
And though you ride other, living horses through life, they shall not shy at him, nor resent his coming.
For he is yours and he belongs there.

People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall,
Who hear no nicker pitched too fine for insensitive ears.
People who never really love a horse.
Smile at them then, for you shall know some thing that is hidden from them,
And which is well worth knowing.

The only place to bury a horse is in the heart of his master

More Horse Shots