My beloved Andalusian mare "Tica" (short for "Patriotica"--she was born on July 4) has returned home after being in training with Linda Parmenter for six weeks. Linda kindly offered to make room for Tica after Dolly took me "manure-water" surfing on a sheet of ice causing me to break my arm. (See earlier posting "There's Nothing Humorous About A Broken Humerus) I drove out to Linda's Pinehaven Farm where I was able to take a lesson before loading her up. Tica's progress was simply amazing--stronger, straighter, lighter and just a dream to ride. I don't know what I would have done without Linda. In two and a half weeks
Tica and I head off to Saratoga, and I actually feel I might just be ready for our First Level tests.
It was great to have her home. Pictured here is Juliane Dykiel with Tica just yesterday. As you can see things can get quite casual around here:
And the informality continues: witness this youtube:
Tica was also glad to be back with her buddies. Here she is mixing it up with Nitelite!
Juliane is not only a talented rider, trainer and over-all wonderful person: She is a terrific artist surprising me yesterday with the gift of this extraordinary acrylic:
And here's this week's youtube of Dolly's training cut short by Mother Nature:
And next a youtube of Hanako Norton doing some round pen work with Kip, our ten-hand Shetland pony. (Hanako is half-Japanese and grew up in Japan and I lived five years in Japan so you will hear occasional lapses into Japanese)
Windflower Farm had the pleasure of hosting Girl Scout Troop #75088. We talked about Dolly's rescue, general horse care, and why being a prey animal causes horses to behave certain ways. The girls groomed the ponies before going on a bareback ride. We hope to see them again soon. Here they are:
This has been a busy week and next week is promising to be busier still so there will be an extra edition of the Windflower Weekly this Thursday. On Tuesday Dr. Craig Smith will return to Windflower fix the injuries Dolly incurred in foaling, and Jay Smith will also be on hand to trim her hooves. If she remains sedated long enough I'm hoping to give her still filthy tail another shampoo.
And what about "Fox News"? Quite a lot has been happening there and I will fill you in on Thursday. For now I'll leave you with a photo I took of one of the kits this past week waiting for his mama's return. Thank you for reading Windflower Weekly and we'll see you in a few days.
Ainslie
What amazing progress you have made with Dolly! She looks so much stronger and more athletic now, and the change in her temperament is a testimony to patient, loving, knowledgeable care. Very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you at Saratoga Ainslie!
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific thing you did to rescue Dolly, Ainslie. And what a wonderful teaching lesson for your students. Your students look sooo happy at your farm. That says everything about how you teach and what you do there. Keep up the good work! - Jeannie (who got to know and work with Star at BSF)
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