A Special Thanks to My Buddy, Eric!

I want to give a special year-end thank you to my good friend, Eric Clayton, who has taken so many wonderful photos of my horses this year. My blog would not be the same without his generosity since I don't have a camera of my own. Eric is such a wonderful person, always ready to lend a helping hand out at Shiloh. I can always count on him, and his friendship means so much to me. He is very loving and gentle with the horses, and treats my horses with the same kindness and respect as he does his own. Thank you, Eric, for being so darn awesome! God bless and Merry Christmas! (All of these pictures are from Eric, of course). Here is Wishes, running around with her boyfriend, Gus. She would have made a good Mustang! Oops, she almost slipped in that icy arena! And that's Colbert standing out in the snowstorm! Get under cover, silly!

Colbert Playing With Sadler

Sadler is a big Off-the-track thoroughbred. Look how he dwarfs my playful Colbert. Colbert looks like a young colt next to him.

Wishes Under Saddle pics by Eric Clayton

Friday, after Thanksgiving - 2008

As I came over the mountain pass leading into Sandy Valley, the entire valley was covered in a thick cloud of fog. It was so beautiful, and fun to drive through. The horses were extra frisky today. Colbert had a good workout, and I ended up throwing the saddle on Wishes, just to see what she'd do. She didn't seem to mind it too much, and when Eric double-dog dared me to jump on, I couldn't resist the temptation. Ha ha ha! Jeremy was able to join Eric out at Shiloh today, but I couldn't convince him to jump on Wishes - yet. Oh well, maybe in a couple of years, when she's actually old enough to be ridden, he'll change his mind. Cheril was out too, and I got this nice shot of her, grooming Moonshine.

November 15th and 16th, 2008

Saturday was great! I did some ground work with Wishes and she responded very well. She had gotten rusty because I was neglecting her in favor of riding Colbert. But, we worked for about 30-45 minutes and she did everything I asked her to do. She's so sweet. She growing into an elegant young lady. Later, Sabine and I went riding out in the desert. It was so much fun. I told her I'd go every Saturday if she wants. Colbert did spook a couple of times, but it was actually kind of fun, because he just bolts to the right and then freezes. He needs to get out more!

Sunday, Rachel, Dani, Grace and I all went out and the kids rode Colbert. I think he enjoys giving "pony rides" because the kids are so light, he can't tell they're up there. He just plods along lazily - probably happy we are at the ranch and not exploring that scary desert. Here a few pics! (That's Tanis strutting his stuff in the arena.)

Saturday, November 8, 2008

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog, but I had to post this picture that Eric took. Apparently, Colbert is having an identity crisis - he thinks he's Gus! Ha ha ha. I meant to take a few pics yesterday myself, but I got distracted with other things and before I knew it, it was time to go home.

Wishes is getting bigger every week, and I've been doing some ground work with her again. She's rather rusty, so I need to refocus on her training.

Rachel rode Colbert all over the ranch while I worked with Wishes. It was a beautiful, warm fall day, and the time flew by too fast!

Grace's First Ride

Yesterday, Rachel and I took Grace out to Shiloh. In the past, Grace never wanted to get up on a horse. Everytime I would try to get her to sit on one, she'd get upset - and I didn't want to force her - but yesterday she said, "I want to ride the horse!" So I put the helmet on her and hoisted her up. She loved it! She didn't want to get off. She rode 3 different times and loved every minute of it. I hope it's the beginning of a life-long love of horses that her mom and big sister (and aunts) share!

Wishes is getting big, as you can see from her picture. She now towers over the pony, Charlie. She's still just a baby, though.

Congratulations to Eric and his mom for adopting the Morgan/Arab cross - Sawyer (the artist formerly known as Sammy).

My Beautiful Wishes - pics by Eric Clayton

Labor Day - Eric's Pictures

More of Eric's pics from Labor Day

I'm just going to post a bunch of the great pics Eric took on Labor Day.

Happy Birthday, Gus! Love, Wishes

Wishes' boyfriend, Gus, celebrated his 2nd birthday Saturday (actual b-day was today - Sunday), and Wishes was in a partying mood, kicking up her heels as usual, and even donning a birthday hat. Eric has spent many long hours gentling and training Gus, and all his hard work is paying off, as Gus is turning into a fine gentleman.

Colbert gave me a bit of a scare first thing this morning, as I noticed he was not eating with the other horses, but standing alone, behind the trees. I brought him out, and he seemed rather lethargic, so I tried him on a small amount of grain, but he didn't want to eat that either. Sabine listened for stomach sounds, but didn't hear anything on one side. We gave him a dose of Banamine, and before too long, he perked up and passed some manure. Within 2 hours he was back to his old self, galloping around the arena with his friends. Whew! Don't scare me like that, Colbert!

Wishes Goes on an Adventure

I got out at Shiloh at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, and it was already horribly hot! I can't wait 'til mid-September when the heat will finally break. Colbert had his first lesson with me and Sabine. He is fantastic at a walk, needs to learn to balance himself at the trot and relax, and we won't discuss the canter for now. Let's just say 'he don't like goin' right' - as in: to the right. So, we will concentrate on those issues for awhile.

Later, Eric and I took Gus and Wishes outside of Shiloh's gates. It was Wishes' first time, although Eric and Gus are old veterans. She was completely relaxed and just had a great time hanging out with her buddies. Eric took a couple pics of us walking along the air strip. We were a bit worried a plane might come in, but all was quiet. Hopefully, I'll get some more pictures soon. Colbert has changed so much in less than 2 months. He looks like a different horse.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday, August 2nd, was my 43rd birthday, and what better way to start the day then spending time with my two favorite horses! When I arrived at Shiloh, they had both just gotten their breakfasts, so I took my bucket of brushes out to their new home (the boarder's pasture), and gave them both a good grooming while they ate. The flies out there were terrible! It was like being in the middle of a biblical plague, but a few squirts of fly spray and we were all a bit more comfortable. I had a riding lesson on Rachel's old horse, Storm Cloud. Then I took Colbert out and tried my bareback pad on him. He was so good. We walked all around Shiloh (away from the rocky areas) and he stayed calm and relaxed. It was so much fun. Afterwards, I gave him a nice bath and really washed out his mane and tail. He then promptly rolled in the sand, as horses love to do. That's okay, as soon as he was all dry, I brushed him again, and he looked very shiny and pretty. Wishes got a bath too, and enjoyed playing around with her favorite boyfriend, Gus, in the turnout.

Stormy Summer Day

Sunday, July 20, 2008 - I wasn't going to go out to Shiloh today, but since I love storms and I love horses, I couldn't resist! Wishes and Colbert both slipped in the muddy turnout, but I only caught Wishes on tape. Gus and Borrego joined the fun later, and Eric and I both took turns walking Colbert around under saddle (he's still a little sore, so we're taking it easy). Uploading these videos is taking too long, so check out my YouTube account - I'll try to save them there. Just type in "Mrskanej" in the search, and you should get all my videos.

Pics by Eric - July 12, 2008

Here are some nice shots that Eric took on Saturday. They are: me taking a riding lesson on Calypso; another shot of the riding lesson with Sabine looking at the sky (it was stormy). And Gus and Rookie learning how to get into a trailer, using some Parelli-type exercise equipment. Thank again, Eric!