A year of war in Ukraine has passed, and no end in sight. A second year now underway. Here, we pray for victory for Ukraine, an end to the killing. We help where we can, and carry on with our auspicious lives, though grief is always near at hand. Slava Ukraini! We stand with those brave and unlucky souls, while we appreciate what we have here.
Wednesday, Fred came to shoe the horses, speaking of good luck. As a small operation, we are extremely lucky to have really good shoeing, which is a large part of keeping our teenaged horses sound. It was very warm, but just after Fred departed, a tornado warning was announced, and a violent rain blew in. We were expecting a change, and it was wild, but meteoric, gone before we could even worry. The horses stayed in the barn for a while as the weather came through, drenching halfway up the aisle. After the brief squall, the horses went out into the late afternoon sunshine.
Bart was very naughty after getting his shoes done. I took him to his stall, and let go of him at the door, and that bad boy ran out of the barn to graze on the greening grass. Luckily, I was able to catch him quickly, because once he got to the grass, he was not going anywhere.
Harry has been hard at work on a sculpture proposal. Competitions and proposals are the less glamorous side of an artist’s life. The artist himself is already looking much healthier and is gradually increasing his exercise regimen. Soon, he will be back in the saddle atop Stone.
The birds are always a pleasant distraction from thoughts of war. The first picture I got of the red winged blackbird was during the rain, but he continues to visit.
The birds are treasured, but so are the cats. Luckily, we have not seen any evidence of feathers indicating cat attacks. Rosie and Roscoe do enjoy hunting mice along the woods edge, but so far, they have ignored the birds.
Saturday, Jane and I went to a Dressage show at the NEC to watch Leah (who we last saw three weeks ago riding Minka in the Hunter Derby) ride in a Pas De Deux. The girls rode Freisan crosses belonging to a friend, Ana, who also showed and ribboned earlier in the day. It was fun seeing many people, especially exciting to see Marianne and her spectacular Liam under tack. The Dressage Show was actually oversold. There are many dressage enthusiasts these days, which is sort of a parallel universe to the riding we do. Jane’s sister was a top Dressage rider in England, so Jane is much more suited to dressage than I am. It was fun to be in a slightly different world to our own, where horses are much loved, as they are in ours.
Jane and I went home to our world, and jumped our Irish horses through a little gymnastic. As you can see, Derry and Oisin were not much impressed, but we had fun.
Cedar and Weedy rested with Harry. Meanwhile, at Jane’s house, Polly was missing, and was found in the dumpster!
The days have lengthened, but they are still too short. As the sun went down in the west, Bart waited for dinner.
Sunday was very exciting. Our friend, Brett, has a new horse. He arrived at Marshall Stables in Moro, Illinois on Saturday, having traveled all the way from The Netherlands. His given name is Crumlin NZ, and I was very interested to see him, since I had seen him at auction while Harry was having his ablation. Brett sent me videos to watch as a distraction. He is a bit thin, after a long trip (he is a youngster, only coming 5), and I am in love with him already! Too bad I am an old lady and have not won a billion dollar lottery. I feel so lucky to have a friend like Brett, who includes us in his equestrian adventures, which are always most entertaining. This gray horse is huge, sensible, and appears to be athletic. We only lunged him a little bit, to get a first impression, but it is favorable.
Harry took a dramatic picture this week of the pine tree on the north side of the house, which was a tiny seedling from the Missouri Conservation Department, just a few years ago.
I saw the moon and Jupiter as I walked to the house in the early evening mid week…
And we are frequently blessed with beautiful sunsets, like this one…
Be safe, be well, be grateful. Slava Ukraini! Peace.
That face! On Crumlin, kind, sweet and worrisome, a beautiful face. Interesting name, seems Crumlin is a place in Dublin. Is he Irish? Good Luck with him, Brett! And poor Polly, “Will anyone ever come get me outa here?” A sweet face. Good to see your equine adventures! And Bart’s naughty move, he’s ready for that grass!!
Wonderful seeing Harry looking so chipper.
Wonderful pics!!! I’m wondering if Friesans are good jumpers.
The cats look great! Well fed and smart!
I’m glad Harry is feeling better. Give him my very best
The sunset looks like the world on fire. Nice shot of the Moon and Jupiter. And what a beautiful horse. Ever so many years ago I remember BA occasionally had horse charters. I never heard of any difficulties but I imagine it must be difficult to get horses settled on an aeroplane. Crumlin seems to have done well!