Thursday 11 March 2010

It has been a long absence! January and February were tremendously hard months for me both with the terrible weather we experienced for such a long period and thus my mental frame of mind. It has finally started warming up after 5 weeks solid of sub freezing temperatures, snow and ice (not nearly as bad as some of our surrounding states ... but with 13 horses here and caring for 11 of my friends' horses 5 miles down the road it made it unbearable). We have gone from below average temperatures to above average temperatures in a matter of days. Indianapolis topped out at 72F yesterday, there are still patches of ice and snow all around despite the warmer temps which is a good indicator of how fast it has changed. Of course the mud has come along with the thaw!!! One can just never win LOL!

I put Gee and the two babies (Goldie who is now a two year old and Herbie who is 9 months old) out for the first time in a while the other day and they had a ball. Below is Gee, all 17 hands of her, elevated at least 2 feet off the ground!!!
(Click on each pic to see a slightly larger version)
She has such a joy for life, she is the TB mare who has boarded with me for the past 4 years. I love her to bits, she has such a wonderful disposition and mind for a racehorse! With Larry passing last year (can u believe it has been nearly a year) I havent had much time to bond with my little palomino mare, Goldie (yeah I know that is original but her Daddy is CK Sun, and I had just seen the most beautiful sunrise minutes before I first laid eyes on her that her name CK Golden Sunrise was a must), and have NEVER seen her roll. She rewarded me with a few rolls on this occasion, this one was in a drier area of the pen, you will see further along that she found the wettest, muddiest part of the area and promptly rolled there too! She is not going to be a big mare, might just make a horse but may still stay short enough to be a pony but she is a tank.

Gee just loves to find any water she can, paw it into a muddy mess and then roll in it. There is a small pool that forms at the base of this tree when it rains, and she found it and did her thing. You can see the results, oh yes she made sure she laid down in it on both sides!

Herbie found the Jolly Ball in the mud and had a bit of fun with that. He and Goldie are also best buddies, my next job is to get him gelded, poor boy. He hasnt displayed any studdy behaviour yet but then spring is young that could change quickly.

He also had to coat himself in the mud. It is one way of getting that winter coat to shed out, and when it does start shedding it probably itches like heck so they love to roll all over the place and when I look out in the pastures there are white and brown patches scattered all over LOL.

Here is a picture of the three of them after they had all had their bit of fun in the mud, you can see how muddy and wet Gee got and Goldie too.

I have hardly touched my camera in months. I was looking at my photos the other day and since the beginning of January I have only shot a few more than 100 frames. This is very unusual as I normally shoot hundreds every week. I am hoping that with the arrival of the warmer weather, my passion for photography and life will improve. It has been a long battle the last 11 months. I am still looking for a job and have no income so have become an expert at shuffling money between accounts in order to get the bills paid!

I am not going to aim too high to start with, hoping to maybe get a post a week up. I miss all my blogging friends. (((Hugs)))) to you all.

Lori
xx

Thursday 3 September 2009

Lisa and I had a very pleasant weekend in Rochester shooting the Welsh Pony and Cobb Show, (the weather was gorgeous), that I have been shooting for 5 years now, or it may be 6!!! Wonderful group of people, they always look after me and whoever is with me so well. Of course we both shot far too many pictures LOL, Lisa is WORSE than me LOL and that is saying something!! I have about 3000 proofs to post on a website so that people can go and look at their pictures and order if they find something they like.

On top of that I am still trying like crazy to get orders edited and filled from the show 2 weeks ago (Pinto) and to make matters worse I have another Pinto show the weekend after next! That will be my last show. Larry always used to get this up on my website and I never learned how to use the software and manage my website (lack of time and we would usually end up taring each others hair out because we frustrated each other LOL) so I am having to do everything the long way and it has been very time consuming. I spent a day trying to figure it all out then decided it was just not worth it, I need to get the pictures up asap.

I shot the picture above this morning about half an hour ago, as you can see little Mr Herbie has made great friends with Goldie and Gee, his mother is about 30 feet away to the left of the screen munching away enjoying the fact that she has two baby sitters I am sure (not the prettiest pic because of the electric fence and tape). He and Goldie have started getting really attached and he is starting to play with her like he does with his mother. She was another foal that grew up with no foals her own age to learn from and play with.

Goldie and Gee are already joined at the hip, so I can see problems in the future when I want to do something with just one of them and have to take one out of the group. I am planning on turning Wiggle and April out with them in the next few days so that it will increase the herd in the one field and hopefully get them more used to being around a large number of horses and not get too attached.

Unfortunately it normally works out that horses will pair off even in a large group, it is just a natural instinct and if there is an odd number of horses, one will always be left out and the rest of the herd will chase them off. This is what happened to Taxes when I tried to put him with the older horses at the beginning of the year, poor boy, but he is doing great down the road with the other 4 horses and is fat and sassy again. Will post pics of him as I get time too.

The shot above is of my one barn cat who was drinking out of the water trough last evening. I am always scared that he will fall in LOL but he and Sylvester the B&W barn cat are always drinking here. He is recovering from a really bad abscess on the left side of his face that blew up like a balloon and thanks to Michelle, who was able to get it opened up and cleaned out. I wont go into the details but it was gross and fortunately I wasnt here because he wasnt a very happy kitty, but it would definitely have killed him if it hadnt been taken care of immediately. I zapped him with a course of penecillin which I always have in the house for the horses.

Well there is tonnes more to say but I need to get to work, can't believe it is Thursday already, I have orders I need to get off to the printer so I get them back in time for the next show for delivery.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week, our weather has been very nice and another thing I have been fitting in is hay baling, which we will be doing again tonight, and have a great Labor Day Long weekend ((((Hugs)))

Lori
xx

Friday 28 August 2009

I spent the day yesterday thinking it was Wednesday!!! Dont have a clue why but that is just how my brain is or isn't functioning at the moment, so while I thought I still had plenty of time to prepare for the weekend photographing the Welsh Pony Show in Rochester, I in fact didnt!!

Herbie is only 2 and a half months old but is a very busy curious and rambunctious colt and his poor mother is really feeling the pressure. He is eating so well and yesterday I just decided that in order to get his little mind occupied it was time that he learned to socialise with other horses so that when I wean him from his mother he wont be like Taxes and Goldie were being only babies and unable to socialise with the bigger horses because I was worried they would get hurt.

His arrival with his mother in the field got all sorts of activity going, I put him with Gee and Goldie because I felt they would be the best to start them out with and Sonny protected her colt beautifully and we had no mishaps and it quickly got to the point where she realised, hey this is cool, that little monster that is always biting me and jumping on me has something else to keep him occupied because he headed straight for the other mares. They were very gentle with him and Sonny had a nice break from his attentions and didnt seem to mind that he was on the other end of the field from her just glad of the peace and being able to munch grass. Blogger as usual has posted the pics in reverse order so the one below is of Herbie when I first put him out, the one below is when they all got racing around, it is so cute, Gee always lets Goldie win LOL, now and again she will stretch out and run the full length of the field and outpace her by miles, the 3 on the other side of the fence are Cat, BB and Wiggle.

The first pic is of them when Sonny first started letting the other horses get close to her baby, she only chased them off once then just let him do his thing and he thought he was just the main man.

I havent had a very good few days, so have not been online much other than to do what I have to do and will be away until Sunday night. So I hope you all have a good weekend, ours looks as if it will be pleasant and cool. (((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Thursday 30 July 2009 - I'm Baaaaack

Who knows for how long, have been taking lots of odd shots over the weeks but just havent got to edit and post them.

Below are various pics of my new boarder Gee. I have had her boarding here a lot over the past 4 years and she is back and helping to pay the feed bills. I loved this filly the first time I saw her. She is a thoroughbred (bred for flat racing on a track) and a lot of these were taken very late in the evening after the sun had gone behind the horizon so with her dark color they appear a bit dark. She is a very tall horse, easily 6 inches taller than my tallest paint horse. Below is Kendal leading her out into the field, her surroundings are a bit strange so we are babysitting her until she gets used to the lay of the land.

April, Goldie and BB enjoying the fresh air and bit of grass amongst the weeds.

This is BB and April coming in for feed time.

These below are more of Gee enjoying stretching her legs. Boy she can run!!!!

Well that is about it, so much happening, some good some bad, just not enough hours in the day.

((((Hugs)))) to those of you hanging in and continuing to visit my blog.

If you like my photos, I am offering a very inexpensive way to have a small copy (trading card size) of them as collectors items which I am doing using my Etsy site or if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447 here you will find all sorts of goodies from my photo trading cards to crocheted dish wash cloths (which I highly recommend asonce you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else).

Lori
xx

Monday 11 May 2009 - Goldie's Debut

Well the light was a bit flat today so not the best for shooting the palomino who needs a nice golden light, but here is the brat, she is a year old at the end of this month, and apart from the umbilical hernia which I am not sure how I am going to deal with, I think she is gorgeous!!! Then I am barn blind. What do you think?

(Click on pictures to see larger version)

She still has a little bit of fuzz on her so I will have to wait another week or so until I have it all brushed out, but she is a livewire and a Handful with a capital "H". I don't know how I always end up with these naughty horses!!!!! The only sane one is Blue (who is in the background of the side shot of her). He has healed up really well and I had no problems with his gelding. Hopefully I can get him riding soon and in with the other horses so he can end his solitary life.

It has been a strange day today, I have been trying to visit my friends in Indianapolis for months now and every time we try to arrange it, something comes up and messes it all up!! I wanted to go visit today but I will see them this weekend at the horse show I am shooting I hope!! The problem with going to visit is that it would turn into an all day journey because they are about 60 odd miles away on the outskirts of the city (I think, I am a terrible navigator so it will be a miracle if I even find them LOL).

Praying for one or two more dry days so the farmers can get their crops in, but expecting storms Wednesday again so they better hurry and get those seeds planted who knows when they will get their next opportunity.

Well that is it, I am working furiously at my stock images, work is not an option around here so I have to find an income somehow.

Hope everyone is well, I seem to be coping for now thanks to a couple of very special friends. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori

xxx

Sunday 10 May 2009 - Mother's Day

Hi it is Mothers' Day here in the USA today and I think in the UK too. Hope all you Mom's had a happy Day.

I have been whittling away at all that needs to be done and am feeling better each day. Today's picture is of a little Robin who's nest fell out of one of our trees last night with the wind and it was hiding away in the grass. Momma was keeping it fed and I was just hoping that it would stay safe. So far so good, I daren't disturb it but at least she is feeding it, that is her with a beak full of worms in the picture.

My friend Pepper came over to visit today and I enjoyed her company, we let some of the horses graze on the lush green grass in my garden which needs mowing desperately. I hate it that the fields are just about bare and there is all this grass just on the other side of the fence. So we took a few out and also picked lots more and gave it to the ones that didn't get a chance to be out.

I am hoping to take 3 of the horses over to that pasture I use in the summer this week. That will relieve the load a bit more. Then it is just wait and see when babies arrive. Cat, the black and white mare is huge as usual! Her milk hasn't started coming in and I am expecting new additions any time from the beginning of June. She always goes overdue and has huge foals. The other mare is 19 now and has had many babies and she tends to be early. She is not as big but you can see she is carrying. I feel so badly for her, she is old and tired and I can't wait until I can just let her be a pasture ornament and live out her twilight years in comfort. I have no plans on breeding anything in the future or until the horse market has improved at least. I live foals but I can't bear to think that they are just unwanted and where they will probably end up.

I can then start working with Goldie (I promise I will post pics of her soon, she is gorgeous!! just need someone to hold her that isnt't intimidated by her spirit LOL), Blue and Wiggle and hopefully have two riding the trails this summer.

Well that is about it for now. It gets real lonely sometimes but I am pushing myself through it and trying to be constructive, I need to earn an income and jobs are just not available right now, so I am promoting my photos everywhere I can think of and sending to the agencies and magazines.

(((((Hugs)))))) everyone. Oh and Michael I could never have eaten that fish!!!! I am afraid I would never make a farmer's wife, I love all the animals too much, no I am not vegetarian but at least I am not on face to face terms with what I do eat although it is not much right now LOL.

Lori

xx

Sunday 3 May 2009

Okay so once every two days might be a good place to start LOL.

I have had the horses all in for weeks now because of the constant rain and mud but today it had dried up enough for them to be able to go out although it is still very wet. As you can see from this photo the grazing is nowhere near established, and of course Piglette did the first thing she always does when she sees a pool of water (even in the middle of winter) lay down and rolled in it!!!!

It has been a lonely weekend, Michelle and her daughter, Kendal, came over today to work with the horses that Kendal is going to show in 4H this year. I was working on photos and stock on the computer inside while they were here so didn't see a lot of them. It was a beautiful sunny day so it was pretty much wasted spending it inside.

Goldie has nearly lost all her little tangles of hair so it will be photo debut time soon. Her sides look as if they have dreadlocks on them, all matted, just waiting to fall off LOL. She is so naughty, I am going to have to send her to filly charm school I think because I dont know if I am going to be able to give her the direction she is going to need and she could turn into a little brat as she has a very strong will.

Nothing much else to report. I miss Larry terribly and never thought I would miss the constant stream of different Home Health Aides coming through the house!!

Hope you all had a good weekend, and those who had the lousy weather to deal with hope you all came through that okay too. ((((Hugs))))

Lori

xx

Monday 16 February 2009

It hasn't been a good day but here is a picture of my new kitten who turned up on my doorstep at about the same time as I got my palomino foal in the last post. What is really weird is that they are very similar in color and both the same in temperament, very jumpy and scared of everything. (okay the kitten is the third picture, blogger is reversing order on the pictures again)

I am going to make this short. The first pic softened the blow for the picture of what the kick did to my face, taken 8 days after the accident. It has been a month now and the lobe of my ear is still very painful but everything else is back to normal, just a bit of discoloration between ear and eye where the kick originally landed but that will go with time. I have been meaning to write a post about this incident and will so when I am in a better frame of mind. Hope the pic isnt too scary, what with my ugly mug, wrinkles and the bruising, it is enough to scare the bravest of souls LOL.

The first pic is of Stan's puppy, she is only 7 months old and loves the snow, catches snowballs. I have a lot more pics of her but have spent very little time with my camera and computer over the past month so haven't edited much.

Thanks to you all for your persistence and concern, I hope I am on the mend, just need to get my mind right. I have been doing a lot of crochet to keep myself relaxed and have listed a whole bunch of stuff on Etsy.com (sorry it requires you to register but is worth it if you like handmade goodies) a new website for home made items that a friend made me aware of recently. Check it out and let me know what you think. I am adding stuff every few days, I really need to get my photography paying for itself.

((((Hugs)))) to you all and I am trying to catch up on all your posts and pictures but it is going to take some time!!!

Lori

xx

Saturday 14 February 2009

Wow it is Valentines Day again, I have never really observed all of these holidays because I feel they are too commercialised. The picture above was one taken at the end of January of my brat Goldie who still looks like a teddy bear.

Thanks so much to you all for your concern. I have healed, I was very lucky. I am plannng a post about the accident but have been in recluse mode for a while. Now that the temps are changing again and hopefuly we are through the coldest weather and it has been cold unlike anything I have experienced before, I am starting to get my motivation going again. I have avoided the computer almost completely and have taken very few photos of any note in the last month but it is time for me to boot myself up the butt and get going.

Thank you all again. It is nice to know there are people out there that care, I know Donna and CG went through something similar recently. ((((((Huge Hugs)))))

Lori

xx

Saturday 3 January 2009

We have definitely not had photo taking weather recently so I havent got many of the horses, but we put Goldie out to run in the small field today. She is still very twitchy about her head so we have left the rope attached or we wont be able to catch her LOL, I havent spent anywhere near enough time with her but I am taking advantage of the break while Adam is looking after the horses to detach myself from them and when next month I get back into routine it wont feel like such a chore and maybe I can start enjoying my horses again.

As you can see she is just a ball of fluff, that is the only way I have seen her because she was already 4 months old when I got her. I can't wait until she sheds out all that hair and I can see what she looks like properly. Cyndie you asked if her legs were that straight, she does had vry good straight legs according to Larry but again with all the hair on her legs and around her fetlocks etc. it is hard to see LOL. I am not big into what is "correct" in conformation, which is bad with me being a photographer, they are all gorgeous to me and I love them all whether I can see their "faults" according to those that know or they are as ugly as sin.

She sure is a little firecracker though and it wont be too soon for me to start working with her because she is going to be a handful.

Nothing much happening today. Got a print order that I have been putting off for ages (just personal pics not orders) and got that done.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. (((((Hugs)))))) to all that need them, you are all always in my thoughts. I am going to try to learn to meditate I think, I believe it is very relaxing.

See y'all tomorrow.

Lori

xx

Thursday 18 December 2008

I finally finished a crocheted poncho that I started 2 years ago!!!!! I havent touched it for years and then decided I needed to keep my hands busy while watching TV and because I get anxiety attacks and this helps to calm me. So here is the finished product, she wanted something bright with a sort of African theme and this was as close as I could get.

(Click picture to enlarge)

Stan has been working in the area the past few days and as he passes the house every day decided yesterday to come and visit my baby horse Goldy. He had managed to get the halter and lead rope on her, she is a touchy and strong little thing and I wasn't getting very far with her. This is just a snapshot taken today of them, she is doing so well I am so pleased with her and am indebted to Stan for his time, he has three horses that we have bred and loves working with the babies so they hit it off immediately.

You can see from this pic that we have a lot of ice, the snow has all blown away and all of the white is our drive which is like an ice skating rink and you have to be really careful when you are walking outside. Expecting freezing rain snow and rain today through the next few days, so we are in for a marathon of bad weather.

Hope everyone is having a good week and hopefully we will survive the dreadful weather this weekend. ((((Hugs))))

Lori

xx

Friday 12 December 2008

I finally got all of my horses out for the day today. We were still well below freezing and it was a bit windy but I just had to get them out into the fresh air and will do so again tomorrow. On Sunday we are expecting it to rain again. They didn't go crazy running despite not having been out for a few weeks like I thought they might, for which I was grateful because the ground is pretty frozen and one could easily fall if they aren't careful. There isnt much outside for them but they kept themselves busy nibbling at what they could find. It actually snowed for a good part of the day but didnt accumulate much because of the wind.

The shot above is my new baby, Goldie, I have so few pictures of her and she isnt exactly very photogenic at the moment or since she came here, she still has her baby coat and got her winter coat on top of that so she is itching like crazy. She was born at the end of May which is a bit late, usually they shed their baby hair before they start getting their winter coat. She looks like a puffball. She is also very wormy, you can see that by her belly. I have wormed her already but need to find a wormer that will take care of tapeworms too because she is still looking bloated.

I haven't been able to get very friendly with this filly yet, it has been cold so I havent spent a lot of time outside and she has never been handled or even around people so she is very touchy, she almost acts like you are giving her an electric shock when you reach out to scratch her and she is very handy with swinging that butt in your direction and delivering a swift kick, little brat. I had to guess which halter would fit her and Stan got it onto her the one day last week (It was a bit big) but she won't let me near her head if I want to touch the halter. She will let me scratch her between her ears and on her forehead but runs like heck if I want to get any closer to her. I really need to start working with her or she is going to be too big to handle easily, even now she is too strong for me to grab the halter and be able to hold onto her until she calms down or I can get a rope snapped onto the halter. When I do I will leave the rope attached which will make it easier for me to get a hold of her safely. This is only the second time I have been able to get her outside since she came home and she stayed well away from me LOL.

As you know from a week or so ago, I lost my buddy Wild Cat which I was very upset about, but this little kitten has been hanging around the barn the past few weeks and is finally getting friendly. I am still not sure if it is a boy or girl but she/he is almost exactly the same color as Goldie!!!! How co-incidental is that? It is also about the same color as Wild Cat's mother was.

Well it is weekend again so hope you all have a great one, we are expecting it to be nice but cold tomorrow and I thhink I am going to try to get some photos around the farms here, old barns, the elk, bridges etc. I need to get myself inspired again. (((((Hugs)))))))

Lori

xx

Friday 31 October 2008

It is Halloween here in the USA, we don't celebrate it and being in the coutry we don't get any trick or treaters.

I drove past the Elk Farm today after I had taken the trailer back to Pepper (the owner). There were 3 nice males with big racks of horns but they were right on the fenceline and under the trees and I had nowhere to pull over, it is a busy road. I got a shot of the white elk and friends that I photographed earlier in the year, they sure have grown up, but they were basking in the sunshine. This is one of the males that I could take pics of but the horns weren't as big, the two behind him are in a depression which has a pool of water in it, they were standing chest deep in the water LOL.

Another shot of Goldie, I didnt get much time to spend with her today but will tomorrow again. She is starting to come around and is going to be a real little tyrant.

On Thursday I went through to the campgrounds where we ride with Val and Stan to drop off some wood and hay as they were going to spend 4 days out and needed the extra supplies This is their 3 month old pup who runs in the forest with us while we are riding, absolutely loves mud and water and keeps up with us for hours!! Her name is Shami. Before I left I snapped this shot of her sitting with them at the campfire they had started, if you click on it you will see a larger version and can see the flames jumping up.

Well that is about it for today, it has been a beautiful day we toppoed out in the upper 60s and it was lovely out, pity I didnt get to spend more of it out there or riding LOL. I find that I am regressing now that Larry has found the help, he has given him all the feeding and cleaning duties, that is what kept me getting up in the mornings so now of course I hibernate inside. I don't like the cold so it is easy to let him do it, but it is not doing my mental health any good. I don't mind the feeding, it is just keeping up with 16 horses and cleaning stalls and the hauling and maintenance work around here that has got to me. We will have to see what happens long term, the young man, Adam, who comes over is excellent with the horses and loves animals and the animals love him back and respond really well to him which is great. He has never been around horses before but has got all three of the two year old fillies halter broke, saddled and backed with no problems at all. He just has a very quiet laid back personality and they seem to respond to it well.

That is it for today. It looks like I am only getting a post done every second day, but that is better than nothing. I have just realised that I posted a picture in my last post which I have entered into a Free Study challenge on DP Challenge site, so please anyone who comes here and frequents there as well, I would ask you to vote the photo on it's merits, not because you know whose it is. Thanks ((((((Hugs))))))

Lori

xx