I then went in to say that I want a horse. Jenn asked where I’d put it.

J “where’s it gonna go??”

P “outside?”

J “are we gonna live on a farm? Who’s gonna take care of it??”

P “fine, if you don’t want a big horse then let’s get…
…
…
…
a mini horse!!!
And it can help you plow a really small garden! And it’s small enough that it can be inside and hang out, put some shoes on the horseshoes! Because it’s mini! And it’ll be just as big, give or take a few pounds and inches, as a really big dog with less drooling. How great of a pet would that be!”

J “No.”

For the handful of people that read this blog, one of you has to think that that’s a pretty awesome idea, because that’s usually all I have are awesome ideas.

You’re probably thinking to yourself “that’s a really great idea!!!”

I know!!!

Just you wait and see…

This is pretty much what our pet count would look like. A small dog, a big dog and a mini horse the same size as a big dog

More mini horses

-’til tomorrow-

highlights:

- lazy weekend
- made home made ravioli
- did a bit of yard work

I hope that makes a bit sense.  I am writing ahead of time to make sure it is easier for that day.  I just have to copy paste and add photos.  So here are two collages I made for it:

This is the first one that I made.  I wanted to have an actual collage and cover the whole thing with photos.

This one doesn’t really have a huge photo in it.  I kind of made this one as an introduction to Colorings and Markings Week (CMW).  I think I like this one better.

I created two buttons, one was just for fun and I didn’t think much about when and how I should do it and the second one I created today and it was for “promotional” reasons.  Okay, not really promoting it, just a thing to put everywhere:

Do you like them?  Yep, you can tell there are going to be a lot of photos today.  I’m not finished yet.

Here is a cute story of a the little herd in the pasture:

So the pinto and bay were quietly drinking water and suddenly the palomino shoved itself between the two horses and began drinking the water.  The bay and pinto reached in to drink water. The palomino pinned it’s ears back and told the pinto to scat off.  The pinto tilted it’s head off to the right as if to stop.  However, the bay reached into the trough to drink.  The palomino turned to scat off the bay.  The bay turned it’s head as if to stop.  However, the pinto reached into drink. :)

Horses are so cute and funny.

Around Garrod Farms, you might see this adorable little miniature.  His name is Ryder and he is one of the cutest little horses you’ll ever see!:

Posing for the Camera

What's going on over there?

Looking cool, Ryder

B-b-But I want to eat grass!

Mmmmm...can we stay here all day?

Here are photos of some horses eating (from a while ago):

I guess that is it for now.  I hope you liked the photos :)

Look at these guys! All cuddled up! They are like teenage sisters - acting like they don't like each other but......

I quickly finished putting out feed for the mares and drove the Gator back to the pasture to check to see if I was right.  As I got closer I saw a big flash of white on the “something laying in the grass” and thought, “Yea!  An appaloosa hopefully.  Just hope it is okay.”  As I got closer I saw the tail swish and breathed a sigh of relief to know that it was indeed a tiny little appaloosa, and best of all alive!

His dam, Little America Color’s Mandy, is a six-year-old mare and this is her first foal.  She is more difficult to handle than most of our mares and I knew that I would have a difficult time catching her in the eighty-five acre pasture, but figured that I could carry her foal and she would follow us back up to the barn.  When I reached them the foal sat up, but didn’t stand, so I was able to catch him and examine him all over.  I found that he was very correct, tiny, bay with a star and snow cap blanket.  I also found that the lashes one of his eyes were inside his eyes, so I brushed them out and checked both eyes.  They were very red but that is not too unusual for a newborn.

I picked up the tiny guy and put him in my lap between me and the steering wheel.  Mandy started running around the Gator, but I finally got her attention and she located the foal, so we started driving slowly to the barn.  As we went along I started thinking about a name, first thinking of Little Man, but as I thought more, I decided on Little America’s My Color Man.  We generally use part of the sire (stallion/father’s) name.  Since his sire is Little America’s My Oh My, I used “My”.  His grandsire is Winner’s Circle True Colors, I used “Color”.  And since his dam (mother), I used Man.

Sire:  Little America’s My Oh My

Grand Champion at the Ft. Worth Exposition and Livestock Show in January 2012

Once we got to the barn I wormed Mandy since we worm all our mares within twenty-four hours which seems to cut down on foal heat scours.  I noticed that one of her hooves needed trimming so I trimmed a little on both of her back feet then took the pair to the foaling barn which is next to our house where we can keep a close watch on new babies and mothers for a few days.

When I put them in the yard I watched long enough to note that the dam was moving away every time that he tried to nurse.  Since this was her first foal and she was “ticklish” I guess.  I brought them into the barn and tied her up and held him to try to get him to nurse.  He wouldn’t try because be had been scared trying to nurse before I found him.  I finally decided that I had to get something down him, so milked the mare and luckily he took to drinking from a syringe quickly.  I was able to get about fifty cc of colostrum down him so that was a relief.  At first I had to put a twitch on her to get her to let me milk her.  This went on every couple of hours for about thirty-six hours.  Thank goodness he finally started nursing and she started letting him nurse and is now progressing nicely.

Here he is at six days: 

Introduction:

Welcome to Equine E-Letter Eps. 4=5!  Today’s EE will be packed with questions on riding experience, and miniature horse facts!  So enjoy reading today’s Equine E-Letter!  But before we begin, please take a few moments to take a short survey about Equine E-Letter:

Part 1-Random Question and Answer

IF YOU WANT TO SEE A CERTAIN QUESTION BEING ANSWERED…PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW!  I WILL RESPOND IN MY NEXT EE.
I’m adding extra an extra one because of the new views and comments I’ve been getting! :) Also, I know the trivia isn’t related to the questions!

Q: How long have you been riding?
A: I have been riding for about over a year…I think it’s almost exactly one year and three and months.

Q: What your scariest riding experience?
A: I haven’t fallen off, but I’ve gotten very close to.  I was ridding Annie as a test ride for a lease horse.  This is an excerpt from my post:

Since she was old and hasn’t been exercised a lot for a while, we let her take a break.  Then we changed directions, doing more jogging exercises.  Then we asked her to lope.  She seemed to be worse with this side, since she swerved into the middle, broke down into a jog, and then the lope again.

She picked up the wrong lead, she slipped, I lurched forward, lost my stirrups.  I slipped forward, but caught myself in time not to fall out of the saddle.  I rightened my self in the saddle.

To read the whole post, click here.

Q: About how old do horses start training?
A: Horses start training when they foals.  They learn ground manners and things like that.  Horses begin riding training at about the age of 2, when they are strong enough to hold a rider.  Most horses finish their riding training at age of 4 to 5 and become stable horses.  But whenever you are riding a horse, you are always training.

Trivia for you: (PROMISE ME NOT TO CHEAT AND I AM DEFINITELY NOT CHEATING ON MY OWN TRIVIA QUESTIONS!) What is an average horse’s life span?  Bonus: How old was the oldest horse?

Answer the questions by clicking here.

Part 2-Breed Intro

HERE IS A RANDOM BREED THAT I PICKED THAT I AM GOING TO INTRODUCE YOU TO!  IF YOU WANT TO SEE A CERTAIN BREED, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELLOW!

Today’s breed is…

Falabella!

Falabellas are considered horses rather than ponies.  Why?  Ponies have this distinctive look.  Ponies have large heads, short legs, deep chests and rather have thicker fur,  coming from places in Europe.  Falabellas are rather bred to have horse proportions but in a small size.

They are a rare breed from Argentine and were kept pure by breeding them.  They were descendants from The Andalusians and Barbs brought by the Spaniards.  Then the Spaniards defeated them and the horses were set free.  Inbreeding caused them to become even smaller than they already were.  In the 1840s they were found by Patrick Newell.  He began creating a herd with the smallest horses.  He selectively bred the small horses.  Newell passed his knowledge to Juan Falabella, who passed it to his son, who passed it to his own son.  That is how they got their name.

The registration group was created when Julio Falabella sent his falabellas to USA.  They were written about in several magazines and newspapers.  Many people (including famous people) bought the falabella horses.  During this time, the Falabella Miniature horse became an official registered breed.

Falabellas can be all sorts of conformation, depending on the breed that they resemble.  For instance, a falabella can look like a miniature Arabian.  However, they should have good conformation.  Falabellas have a sweet nature and are easy to handle because of their small size.  They can be used as a pet or a companion to someone.  They are strong for their size and therefore used as a driving horse sometimes.

Information from: http://www.falabellafmha.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falabella

Part 3-My horse life position

MY POSITION IN THE HORSE LIFE

I am trying to lease Prima.  (Trying REALLY hard!)  I am not getting any closer…but I really want just Sundays (someone started leasing her on Saturdays)

Part 4-A Web/Blog You SHOULD visit

MUST VISIT BLOGS!

http://returntothesaddle.wordpress.com/

A blog about coming back to riding horses!  I enjoy reading it and there are a lot of stories and cute pictures of a paint named Saffa and the pasture buddy, Ronnie (a cute pony!).  Go visit it! :)

Part 5-Shout out

THIS PART MAY BE MISSING DUE TO LACK OF VIEWS AND COMMENTS…AND PARTICIPATION.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

Thanks to Sarah for leaving comments and giving me on an insight on what it’s like in England!  You should visit her blog (the link above…Return to the Saddle)

Part 6-Poll

HERE I WILL PUT A POLL FOR EVERYONE TO RATE ON!  NO NEED TO GIVE ANY INFORMATION!  JUST CHECK THE ONE YOU THINK APPLIES TO YOU TO THE QUESTION AND CLICK SUBMIT!

Part 7-Blurt

THIS WILL BE ANYTHING RANDOM THAT I HAVE TO SAY

Do I have anything random to say?
I guess that was something random to say.

Ending

Thanks for reading my Equine E-Letter that I spent forever writing…but here is the reason why I posted this today.  I didn’t post on Saturday (which I ALWAYS post on!) so I guess I owed you this one! :)  Enjoy!:)

Pitkin loving on his brother and BFF, Walter.

More pictures after the jump!

Welcome

If you are a horse owner, or like us and are horse caregivers, one of the last things you want to hear is “your horses are out”.  I can’t describe the panic that comes over you when you hear those words.  We were having a quiet saturday morning working on the 3rd or 4th cup off coffee when our neighbors drove up the driveway with the dreaded news.  The horses were out of the paddock and on the road.  The whole house went into high gear.  It was a pretty cold morning so the Carhartt overhauls were flying on fast.  I chose my little slip on boots instead of my big snow boots because I didn’t know if I would have to run.  At the end of the driveway was a welcoming site.  The horses were eating a bale of straw outside of the hay tent.  They must of followed the neighbors down the road when they came up the driveway.  We got them in halters on led ropes and checked out where they had gotten out.  Our mouths were pretty much wide open when we saw the damage they did to the fence.

Broken fence

My dear husband was not happy.  He had built the fence when it was 100 degrees out last July and now would have to repair it when it was 15 degrees out.  The good news was the sun was out and shining nicely.  We thanked our neighbors for coming to get us and they replied ” we just watch out for each other out here.”  I’m so glad they did. Thanks Don and Jan!

The project for the day was suppose to be the chicken coop but after the horses decided to become escape artist our plans changed.  As my dear hubby worked on the fence our 15 year old came home from work.  She had called for a ride home just before Don and Jan came.  When we didn’t come and get her she called a family friend for a ride.  Thanks Greg.  She and I decided to install the new fencer.  The old one had burned out last week.  I was hammering in a nail and missing every 3 or 4 times so she wanted to do it.  She was missing every other time so we started to get the giggles.  Well, it is even harder to nail something while laughing so this project took us twice as long as it should of.  When we got done she looked at our mini and said “I think I should ride him”. I said “go ahead”.

Fat Chance

Here is a picture of her on our mini named “Fat Chance”.  The other horses didn’t think the whole thing was funny and kept running and kicking up their heals. Some times projects need to be put on hold just so you can have fun.  Boy did we have fun!  Did you get a project done or did you have fun?

Squeezes,

Laurie

Grace

Boomer

free

Our foaling barn has six foaling stalls and we have closed circuit TV so that we can watch the mares when they are moved into the barn.  Using Breeder Alert monitoring equipment we are awakened when a mare lays down flat for fifteen seconds.  The pager, which I carry during the day and attach to my pillow while I am asleep, alerts me to check the monitors which are located in several locations in the house, to see if the mare is in labor or just sleeping.  If she is in labor I will quickly go to the barn in case she needs assistance.  You can follow our foaling adventures as I plan to blog about it.  So stay tuned.

While you are waiting you can take a tour of the ranch.

Miniatures are great as pets/companion animals.  They’re smaller than “big” horses so they can be kept in the back yard just as you’d keep a dog or cat, and are lower maintenance than other breeds of horses.  They take up less space, eat less, make less of a mess, and don’t require shoes like many other breeds.  They can be handled by children (I started showing when I was 3), or by the elderly (one of our customers bought a mini for his mother’s 96th birthday).  Any age will do.  For people who are intimidated by big horses or had an accident with them in the past, or just don’t have the energy for them anymore, miniatures are the perfect alternative to still be able to enjoy the beauty of the horse.

At shows you can do anything you do with a big horse except for ride.  That might sound like a joke at first, like there’s nothing left if you take riding away, but boy would you be wrong.  The two major associations for miniature horses, the American Miniature Horse Assciation (AMHA), and the American Miniature Horse Registry (AMHR) and their clubs offer halter, color, liberty, showmanship, jumper, hunter, obstacle, driving obstacle, and costume classes to youth, amateur and open exhibitors at local, regional, and world level shows.

Many have probably heard about miniatures being used as therapy animals.  The seeing-eye-miniature horse idea got some publicity for a while there.  However, our favorite use of them therapy-wise is done by Hearts and Hooves.  Hearts and Hooves is a non-profit organization that takes miniatures to hospitals, nursing homes, and many other places to provide emotional healing.

Finally, miniatures, like many other animals, can be used as investments.  Developing a winning history in the show ring can increase a miniatures value, as can breeding.

-Lauren Greaves

Many appaloosas are born with lots of color while others are born solid and gradually acquire appaloosa coloration. It is very difficult to know at birth what color the foal from appaloosa parentage will be. Below is an example of a Xenon-Light Van’t Huttenest son that was born bay. When he was sold at four months of age he showed absolutely no appaloosa characteristics. He had no white hairs, no striped hooves, no scelera, and not even a speck of pink skin. Here you see him pictured at four months, three years, five years, and six years. He is Little America’s X- Skipper and is owned by Billie Lindale in New Jersey.

Here are some typical examples of appaloosa patterns. Pictured below are a snowcap blanket which is said to be homozygous, although currently there is no genetic test to prove this. The horse is Little America’s Tex Lil Feather, a son of Little America’s Sesquicentennial Tex. The next is a black blanketed app, Little America’s Tex Two Timer LHH, another son of Sesquicentennial Tex.  The next is a leopard appaloosa, also by Tex, named Little America’s Tex Kickapoo. I might add that all three of these colts were born the color that they are shown and have pretty much stayed the same color. By the way, the last two colts are out of solid mares with no appaloosa background!

Blue Roans and Grays

The A photo is a mature mare that is a true blue roan. You will see that her legs and head are black but her body is a mixture of black and white hairs making her appear bluish in color. When she has her winter coat she is mostly black.

The photo B is two grey fillies…. a weanling and a two-year old. The weanling was born black and the lighter one was born silver. Both will be white by the time they are eight to ten years of age.

The bottom five pictures are ALL OF THE SAME HORSE at various ages. C is at one day old. You can hopefully see that he shows some white on his nose and over his eyes. By the way, both his sire and dam are grey.

D is the same colt as a yearling. You will notice that he has lots of white hair scattered throughout his face (and also his body which you can’t see in this picture).

E is about three years of age… notice the dark at the top of his tail and his legs are still fairly dark. He is also showing dappling at this age.

F is about a year older … notice his legs have lightened and the tail is lighter. He still shows some dappling, but not as much as the year before.

G is age six… note the tail is almost totally white but he is still keeping some of the black in his mane but all the dapples has disappeared. He is now eight years old… sorry I don’t have a current picture. He is almost totally white… his mane has a slight greyish tint but the body is totally white.

The horse is NFC LA Egyptian King Rapsody…. by Hemlock Brook Egyptian King and out of Soat’s Lil Rapsady… Here is another dramatic example of the greying gene:

Visual symmetry check on a senior draft horse

In horses, however, many of us don’t give symmetry a lot of thought. Yes, we know we should ‘straighten the crooked horse’ and that our horse has one ‘good side’ and a ‘bad side’, but are we really paying enough attention to the implications of asymmetry in horses in our everyday activities? Let’s take a closer look.

Asymmetry as a CAUSE for performance issues in horses: As the horse is a quadruped, we need to look at asymmetry in consideration of the nature of the biomechanics of a quadruped.  Generally speaking, this means that any irregularity I find, I will want to connect with anything I find in the diagonal. Example: A horse has difficulty picking up the right lead. Due to the fact that the vet issues a clean bill of health, I suspect the horse has a biomechanical issue, an asymmetry or muscular tension that prevent him from using himself efficiently. During the course of several bodywork sessions (Masterson Method™), I discover that my horse’s spine seems permanently bent slightly more to the left. The right shoulder is bigger and the right hind is restricted. Through bodywork and proper gymnasticizing, the horse soon gains muscular comfort and starts picking up the right lead without further ado. However, since I became aware of my horse’s limitations, I now know what type of maintenance he needs in order to stay sound and performing at his best. This is a typical case for asymmetry as the CAUSE for performance issues. These types of issues are often addressed as training problems, causing the horse suffering and grief and the owner and trainer a never ending source of frustration.

Asymmetries as secondary issues, caused by other physical irregularities: This is a very familiar topic for many folks who have an anatomical asymmetry, which then leads to other issues. Example (human): A person with one shorter leg (physical irregularity), who  is unaware that one leg is shorter, may try to alleviate a crooked, painful back (asymmetry as secondary issue) for years, until the underlying issue – a slightly shorter leg – is discovered and treated. The same thing applies to horses: Horses can display asymmetries that are noticeable to the beholder that are not the root cause of their performance issues, but rather a symptom for another underlying problem.

Bodywork can often provide clues regarding a horse's asymmetry

This is where the example of the “Mini-Shank” comes in! No, I don’t eat Minis, any horse meat at all, actually, and not much meat in general, but I had so much fun handling this Minis leg, that I could not simply call it a ‘leg’, it became a ‘shank’.

The Mystery of the “Mini-Shank”

A few months ago I was up in Rosholt, working on horses at St. Francis Horse Rescue and Retirement home. Mary Hetzel, Director and full-time ‘Mom’ to over 30 horses, introduced me to Rosie, a 12-year old Mini mare, who was in foal with her 10^th foal and had recently been rescued out of a less than ideal situation. The mare showed an irregular gate and hopped a bit when speeding up, which had led the vet to suspect a locking stifle, at first glance. Rosie’s hip on the left was severely dropped (asymmetry) and her spine looked torqued. Her left gluteals were rock-hard and smaller than the right (asymmetry) and she looked quite ‘crooked’ in the hind end.

I embarked on my first Masterson Method™ bodywork session with a Mini ever and soon came to the conclusion (during the exercise ‘pelvic drop to the front’) that her left hind leg must be shorter than her right hind leg (underlying cause for the symptom of asymmetry). Mary soon after measured the legs hip to toe and found the left hind to be an entire inch shorter than the right! For a mini with leg length of under 30” that’s quite a bit!

You can see a short video of this exploration here: WATCH VIDEO “DISCOVERING ASYMMETRY IN A MINI HORSE”

What’s my point?

Asymmetry, whether as a cause for secondary issues or as a symptom of other underlying problems, must be assessed on an individual horse by horse (or mini…) basis. EVERY human and EVERY horse is slightly asymmetrical. Exploring and knowing your horse’s body like ‘the back of your hand’ will help you help him along, whatever his situation, physical make-up or training level.

Just like you know which is your weaker or stronger eye, bigger or smaller foot or longer or shorter leg, you should know your horse’s asymmetries. It will help you do the right thing for your horse and help you help him stay well.

One way to get in tune with your horse’s body and help him feel and perform his best, is to practice Integrated Equine Performance Bodywork™ (Masterson Method™), which is also a great ‘fact finding’ tool when it comes to your horse’s anatomical asymmetry. For a class schedule and more information (also about hosting a weekend seminar) please visit Jim Masterson’s website.

Be well and enjoy your horse!

Stefanie Reinhold

www.reinholdshorsewellness.com



Aw dang that horse be huge yo!

The tweet that sparked the hour long debacle among the twitterverse – from Indianapolis, to Charlotte, to little old Boone, NC – the epic question was answered, debated, and seriously considered.

This survey was conducted on March 22, 2010.  Participants have breached confidentiality by very nature of the survey and ongoing debates regarding this subject commence almost daily via twitter.  If there are more current responses to the question, I entertain a continuation blog post reviewing the most up-to-date literature/tweets available.  I will now take you through the evolution of tweets pertaining to this subject (original tweeters will not be cited as many have protected their tweets for privacy reasons).

First Responses

• Unicorn. Magical horn.
• Unicorn. cause that bitch next door doesn’t have one.
• Unicorns all the way. They are magical and have a cool horn.
• Unicorn… cause they have magic powers.
• Every little girl dreams of getting a pony for their birthday. No one ever asked for a unicorn except Lisa Frank.

unicorn

Second Wave – “Why no pony defenders?  What about a mini horse?”

• Ponies are lame.
• How mini? I’d want it like indian and the cupboard, fit in my pocket mini.
• A harder question is unicorn vs. pegasus. i’d have to pick pegasus.
• Yeah, ponies and unicorns are apples and oranges. You’d have to compare 2 magical animals.
• Unicorn vs centaur?
• It has to be substantially mini. But still work like a real one. Feeding it a blade of grass, etc.
• Unicorn kills pony, but where’s the argument for Pegasus? Winged horse > Unicorn > Pony.
• I don’t want any fake ponies! Itd have to be real. And tiny. To even compete with a unicorn.
• if we’re makin shit tiny, can i have a pocket Javier Bardem riding a pocket pony?
• What about unicorn ponies, as in baby unicorns… Could this be the answer?

that horse is small!

“What does a unicorn smell like?” and the evolution of skittles in relation to unicorns.

• Fact. Ponies smell bad. No one knows what unicorns smell like, but I’m guessing it’s like chocolate and daisies.
• I don’t know what rainbows smell like either, but may I suggest Skittles??
• unicorns smell like cotton candy
• I imagine a unicorn smelling like a puppy!
• More like…a freshly washed, soft dog.
• no, I think unicorns smell like soft, sweet, clean puppy fur. Hahahaha
• …and moonlight path from bath and body works.
• If I lick a unicorn will it dissolve?#lifesgreatquestions
• If you lick a unicorn it changes colors.
• Hypercolor unicorns!?
• What about the bicorn? It’s a horse with like.. two horns? I guess it’s really just a bull, but with a pretty mane.
• How did unicorns and licking get connected here?? lol
• Have you two been licking the #sachat stickers again?
• Because she said unicorns smell like cotton candy! I want to taste them, too!
• I’m pretty sure a unicorn tastes like skittles and smells like magnificent glitter.
• OMGzzz that’s so spot on. taste the rainbow, bitchez.

skittlez.

Existing internet resources (and how I came to have nightmares involving President Obama and unicorns):

• Best unicorn EVER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus
• When you have free time, do a google image search on Obama and Unicorns. You’ll laugh for hours.
• And, if you’ve ever wanted to date a unicorn, check this out. http://mingle2.com/dating/unicorn
• You may have enjoyed going to this high school http://ow.ly/1pEgD Their saying “Unicorn Pride is Justified”
• Unicorns in the Bible?? http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v2/n1/unicorns-in-bible

...obama?

Conclusion

While there have been many strong arguments for unicorns, there are only a few debates regarding ponies, either for or against.  I recommend further research in the field of ponies, especially seeing that the mini-horse evoked the highest response on the subject of ponies from participants in this survey.  Further research involving magical creatures like fairies, centaurs, pegasus (pegasi?) and unicorns is extremely valuable to the inquiring minds of the bored twitterverse on a Monday night.

sometimes, i get in these moods where all i want to do is google random shit. usually it starts with beagle puppies and it just sort of spirals from there. but today, today was a day for mini horses. because, really, can you get more adorable that THIS:

On that note, let me inform all of my readers currently out of the range of TV news that here in the southern Appalachian mountains we are experiencing inclement winter weather. 8″-15″ of inclement winter weather, approximately.

I didn’t move here totally unprepared for a mountain winter. I’ll have you know that I drive a big truck and it’s got big snow-crunching tires. Do I have the cajones to operate my big truck with its big tires in snow thick enough on the ground to conceal a miniature horse? No.

Don’t get me wrong here. A foot pristine un-played in snow is beautiful. Snow covered branches glistening in the sun are an incredible sight. That is until they crack and come crashing down on the power lines, inhibiting in a major way your access to modern creature comforts like heat and your buddy’s 47″ flatscreen.

Snow is fascinating. It’s a wonder of nature. It makes driving hazardous. I can totally get in to the first two, but that last part makes me cringe. It also makes my truck fishtail.

Later

Morgan

On Sunday, we attended the Richmond Fair horse show. They had a wonderful event, with 3 rings running concurrently. In one ring were the light horse English and Western classes. In a second ring was a miniature horse show, and in the third ring were draft classes. One of the highlights of the afternoon was the 8-horse miniature hitch. Putting together a hitch of eight horses, even miniature ones, is quite an undertaking. We watched as the teams were assembled.

Here is the first pair, the wheelers, being hitched in position. They were a well-behaved pair who stood quietly as the other teams were assembled.

The third mini gets a pat and some encouraging words.

The fourth mini is brought around into position.

Numbers five and six are added to the hitch.

Here is mini number seven.

Finally, number eight is brought out.

Many hands help with holding the horses and work on the harnessing.

Everyone is ready and they head for the show ring.

The team works both ways in the ring and then stands in the centre of the ring for inspection by the judge. The little horses fan to the right and back, just like the Budweiser Clydesdales do! After a wonderful display, they make their triumphant exit from the ring. What a great showing.