My first horse ride, 1968.

Wow, I will be dating myself here!! I started this blog, writing about all the horses that I have had.
Well I guess this one was missing! My first horse ride!!
My Mom was going through some pictures and found this great picture of me @10-11mo old!

This first one is the original photo! (couldnt lie about my age with the time stamp, "giggle")

                                     

 And zoomed in, arent I cute! LOL I even have the reins!!!! (Isnt that a sweet mare to give her head like that to a baby! Mom said she was a really good horse.)

Mom said I didnt want to get off the horse! I threw a fit! LOL
So this is where my love of horses started!

Old farm equipment, angles and shadows.

There is a lot of old equipment around the grounds where we attended our friends wedding.

They have a wind mill too. It does turn.

 A lot of the pieces are parked and used as decoration. Love the look of this old rake (?)

 Manure spreader. The rust, wood and moss, so cool.

 Dont know what this one is, but the textures and springs were pretty cool too.

Stuff from around the yard.

This year we had a pair of Black Capped Chickadees nest in this little birdhouse! Funny they are the first I have seen and it has been there for 12 years!!! LOL

 It was fun to watch the parents bringing grubs and bugs to the chicks. You could really hear them when Mom or Dad came.

 They would watch us before they would fly out!

 Alas the little family is all grown up and flown!!! Didnt get to see them come out.

 My most favorite petunias. Blue Daddy, they are called.

 And a couple of the first Dahlias of the year.

 This one a little out of focus. but the colors are pretty! Pink/orange/yellow.

My garden is huge now!! The first row of corn is 4 1/2 feet tall, I have picked 4 Zucchini!!! No tomatoes  yet. I have picked about 3/4 of a gallon of Blueberries, off of one bush!! LOL

I have ridden Emma, just hopped on her bareback. She has been stressing out a bit when I saddle her up. I think riding bareback and just walking around the pen, let her relax some, and do something undemanding. She has a lot of anticipation when I tack her up, and sometimes will bob her head and or grind her teeth.(she does this at other times to) I dont cinch her to tight, I have elastic western cinchas too. I think its a mental psych out for her. Silly girl. I really dont ask her to do a lot, and she isnt high strung. Still working on what is causing her anxiety. She really relaxed when I got on bareback, I got a lot of sighs and licking and chewing. I asked her to sidepass with as little brushing of my leg as possible and some backing. She seemed to really like the light cues. Hmmmmmm....

One of our oldest friends, get married!

One of Ricks oldest friends got married on Sat. Here my Hubby is in his "monkey suite" LOL

Hubby and the Groom. They met and have been friends since the third grade!

 Me and Rick! I think we have a picture taken together every few years!

 The ceremony. It was outside and the weather was good! Around 70F, still hot for those guys in their suites. Yes that is camo on her dress and the grooms vest! The inside of his vest is hunter orange!!

 Cut cake topper! They also had cupcakes, with purple and orange frosting!

 A cute little house to put the cards into.

 Making it legal!!! I have proof!! LOL He waited 45 years to find the right girl!!

 They are a cute couple.

Congratulations Art and Tammy!!!! Married July 21, 2012.

Bits and pieces, pictures from around Zumstein farm.

I could have spent all day wandering around this farm and taking pictures. The old tractors, the outbuildings. Fences, wind mill, BBQ sheds, hay fields surrounded by Fir trees, on and on....

There were a couple old tractors in this shed, lots of wood and equipment around.

 The wind mill from across the hill, we would eventually come around to it from the right side.

 It was gorgeous out! Just above that little snippet of road on the left, is the road where I took the last picture.

 Lots of old equipment, thats been around awhile.

 This tree house was so cool!

Very beautiful scenic place. Really enjoyed it.

Trail Trial, second post, Results!

Here is Carol starting into the Steep Hill obstacle.

 Down in the bottom was some mud, and after crossing you were supposed to trot up the other side. Easy didnt do good at this one! LOL She was worried about where Jazzy went and kinda trot/cantered up the other side!

 This is the Railroad, had to walk up between the rails and down the other side. This judge is a friend and saddlemaker. We had a nice little chat with him. He also has Rocky Mtn. Horses.

 The Steps, after coming down, Easy wanted to go around when we first headed down, had to encourage her to go down the center. The man in the red shirt at the top is another friend, from the Guide Dogs puppy club.

 Carol and Jaz crossing the Creek, she was so good and hardly hesitated!! This was their first creek crossing together!!

 Carol was so happy with her new girl!!!

 Balance beam, not a hard one at all....

 Easy got off on the left side and her front foot slide off, we made it halfway across and she scrambled across the end.

 Tired old mare!!

 Back at the house, waiting for results. They are inside that door, with a computer, adding up all the scores.

 Our score!!!  Great for our first ride!!!! 110 out of 120 possible!!! (To get a perfect score I would put a halter on under the bridle and lead in with a lead rope, on this Tack Check.)

We tied for third place!!! No prize, but I didnt need one!! The prize was getting out there for the day and riding my pony!!!
First was 114
second tied with 111.5
third tied at 110!
A successful and fun day!!
( I usually take more than one pic of things, because, like this I cut off the bottom! and Carols score, but I only took one this time.)

Here is a list of the obstacles that were offered at this ride.

I had so much fun, I think Carol did too! We will do this again!  

Trail Trials with Carol and Jazzy!!

The old mare and Jazzy waiting to be saddled. We got there around 10AM and our ride time was 12:15PM, so we had a two hour wait.

 Cute little Jazzy, this mare is turning out to be a gem for Carol. At coming 6 years old she did as good as my old mare today!!

 The start, which is a Tack Check. If I had had my halter on my horse, instead of in by cantle bag I would have gotten a perfect 10. I lead her up with the bridle and they deduct for that. I personally dont like to have all that on their heads, it hot enough, without adding a halter.

 People waiting.

 LOL my old horse trailer, in the middle with the red stripe and the black clover. Met Stephanie there too, she brought two horses to take through the ride. Steph is the gal whom I traded horse trailers with.

 I absolutely fell in love with these two!!! So cute!

 Carol convincing Jaz to move over to the trailer so she can get on!! LOL She did it, she is such a good girl!

 Behind Carol is Steph and her older mare she rode in the extreme class.

 And here we go!!!

 Follow the arrows and yellow ribbons.

 My beautiful view today.

 After Easy and I crossed the bridge, I turned around to wait for Carol and Jazzy. Jazzy took two steps onto the bridge and stopped and backed off. Carol encouraged her and she walked right across!

 This is their first ride doing anything like this.

 Third obstacle. Jazzy got lots of attention here! Everyone loves those Rocky Mtn. Horses.

 Hard to see, had to start between the two cones and step down in that hole and immediate left. Wasnt to bad at all.

 Across the field to the next obstacle.

 Carol and pretty little Jazzy.

 This obstacle is called the castle. Basically rooms built of plywood that you have to walk through. ( it is directly above the car.)

 Pretty trails.

 And my view behind.

 This obstacle is called, the Party. The two tents on the right, and 6-8 mylar balloons on the left. We had to walk straight between them.  Easy looked at the tents, and ignored the balloons! LOL

 Jaz needed a little encouragement but went through great!

More to come tomorrow!!! and results!! :O)