Before life with my parents, they were outdoor-only dogs that likely didn’t get much attention. We know they were often left loose outdoors when the previous owners traveled. Now they live indoors, travel everywhere with my parents, and have access to napping on various forms of furniture if they so wish. They are loved.

Jessie

This is one of my all-time favorite photos. Jessie is resting her head in my dad’s hand. It is a typical pose for them. She adores him. I think the feeling is mutual.

I decided to go with a winter theme this week in hopes of filling my mind with cool breeze thoughts in the never-ending heat and humidity of this summer. I hope it works.

Shelter from the storm

This woodpecker was taking shelter from the blowing snow and cold. Poor guy was attempting to eat sunflower seeds from the nearby feeder, but kept getting buffeted around from the wind. I actually took this photo through the window of the sunroom and was pleasantly surprised that it turned out as good as it did.

These are MY crabapples. Back off.

This mockingbird was my daily greeter each winter for two years in a row. I have a row of crabapple trees that line my driveway and every winter they are filled with dried fruit that the birds swarm over. That is, until this mockingbird discovered them. Then they became his and his alone. He protected that food source all day, every day, chasing other birds away that dared to attempt to help themselves to the crabapple buffet.

I know that many people consider them loud and obnoxious pest birds, but I absolutely love mockingbirds. They are a favorite of mine. This guy would let me come within a few feet of him and would just cock his head at me when I talked to him. I looked forward to seeing him every morning just outside my garage door.

One day in the middle of winter, a large flock of starlings overtook his domain and completely stripped all of my crabapple trees of all their fruit… and then they disappeared, looking for their next food source. This poor mockingbird was so distressed. I tried putting out raisins and dried fruit for him, but in the end he disappeared also. I can only hope that he found another food source elsewhere and didn’t perish that winter. He never did return and I’ve missed his presence and song in my yard ever since.

My goal when I take photos is to capture moments that touch me in some way. Usually, it is something I find beautiful, but not always. Most of them will probably be animal-related, although I know nature/place photos will find their way in too. In any case, I hope others enjoy them.

I’m starting with a few photos I took at a US-RHA show a few weeks ago, only because I don’t have my photo external hard drive handy at the moment and I had these stored locally on my laptop.

Shelby riding her cremello Lusitano mare Virgina in a US-RHA show in London, KY

Shelby is my horse’s trainer, my riding instructor and friend. She has worked miracles with my horse (many stories there to tell) and I can’t say enough good things about her. Plus, her riding is beautiful and the relationships she has with her horses is inspiring to witness.

Virgina is a cremello Lusitano mare (who happens to be my mare’s pasture mate) that belongs to Shelby and her husband David. This was her first real trip off their property and her first show. She was a star and not only won her classes, but received the show’s overall High Point Award. So proud of both of them.

Here are a few of the other competitors (some of them also friends) and their horses:

Kellie and her young Lusitano gelding Doc

Amanda and her paint mare War Bonnet

Renee and her Friesian/Appaloosa mare Willow

Shelby and her Lusitano gelding Quetero

Sweet moment before entering the obstacle competition

The child’s comment was the perfect ending, I thought. So beautiful. Enjoy.

One of these things I’d like to have is a pickup truck. Specifically, a 1997-2003 Ford F250 diesel 7.3L that can pull my horse trailer with ease (hey, I know what I want). A shell over the bed would be great also, so my dogs could ride in the back. I’m not picky, really. I just want it to run and be mine, thank you very much.

My sister and I bought our horse trailer thinking that the pickup truck she and her husband currently owned could do the job. Since then, that truck has broken down multiple times and is frankly just not powerful enough to do the job well. Plus, it isn’t mine… so I don’t feel like I can just go get the truck and trailer whenever I want.

I occasionally look at used trucks for sale online and think maybe I should just buy one, but the responsible part of my brain usually takes over and tells me I can’t afford to spend that kind of money on something I’m only going to use for pulling a trailer. Of course, meanwhile the trailer just sits there, mocking me. Sigh.

Is there such thing as a truck fairy? Maybe I could put in a request? I’m thinking of something along these lines…

Ooooh pretty

Yes, I know. Keep dreaming. I will.

My big mare Secret

Yes, that is me in the saddle. I realize my head is cut off, but this was the best shot of her I had to show her size. I look like a pea on her back, don’t I? Good grief, my legs barely come halfway down her side. But I digress…

My point is that she is BIG. She’s tall (16-3 hands) and stout. I am short (obviously), about 5’3″. When I come off her, it sure feels like a long way down. Plenty of time to think about how much it’s going to hurt when your body makes impact.

This time, it was an accident. She tripped on uneven ground, went down to her knees, tried to recover for a few strides… but by then it was too late for me. I somersaulted over her head and my head/neck/shoulders hit the ground. I was thankful for many things, believe it or not: the soft ground due to recent rains, the fact that she avoided stepping on me and my riding instructor was right there to help. But more than anything, I was thankful for my helmet. I don’t know if it saved my life or even saved me from serious injury, but I know it definitely would have hurt much worse if it hadn’t been on my head.

Please wear your helmet when you ride.

Here is Roxie, goofy Lab-extraordinaire, when she’s happy.  This is NOT how she looks when storms are in the vicinity:

Roxie running to me sitting on the ground... glad she chose to run around me instead of into me.

Things I’ve tried so far in my attempt to ease her stress:

• Benadryl. I don’t like giving my dog drugs, but when you’re desperate for sleep, it can help.  If I give it to her, I only give 1 or 2 pills of Children’s Benadryl and that’s it (she weighs 80 lbs).
• Thundershirt.  This seems to help take the edge off of her anxiety, but it hasn’t eliminated it.  I did make the mistake of getting a size too large for her though, so I wonder if it isn’t snug enough (the store where I purchased it wouldn’t let me exchange it).
• Lavender calming room spray. Smells nice, but I noticed no effect on her stress level.
• Putting the TV on and turning the volume up. This only fools her temporarily, when the thunder and lightning is still off in the distance.
• Trying to desensitize her by playing thunderstorm sounds in various “white noise” applications on the computer. This DOES seem to help, but it takes time and patience to gradually increase the volume (no, doing it all in one night doesn’t work!).
• Having her lie down next to me and just making sure I keep a hand on her or my arm around her. This has seemed to help her also. I don’t coddle her, but I do comfort her.
• Putting her in a covered crate. This can help if I can actually convince her to go in. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve crawled in there first and stayed there with her (hey, it’s a big crate) until she was calm enough for me to leave her there.

Something I haven’t tried yet is the DAP Dog Appeasing Pheromone Diffuser. It has good reviews and I’ve heard good things about it from a few people, but it is a little pricey for something that I’m not sure will help.  If anyone else out there has tried it with success (or has other suggestions), I’m all ears.