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Post by kdunham on Jun 13, 2008 22:13:54 GMT -5
Today was a fun day. My Mom called me last night and said my cousin and his family was coming into town and wanted to go riding with me while here. I said sure, he could ride my Paint and I would take him to Taylor Mt. in Issaquah. He has had horses all his life so I wasn't worried about him getting tossed. Later my Mom called me back and said his 15yr old daughter wanted to go as well and asked if maybe she could ride my old Arab Butterball. Well, Butterball is 27, has arthritis, tumors, and hasn't done anything besides eat grass for the last two years. So that was a NO. But I thought, well she could ride Fancy. I have about 30 rides on her and have been ponying her all over the place for the last year as well. I was pretty sure everything would be OK but managed to loose some sleep over the idea of Fancy's first ride with someone who wasn't me. The ride turned out great. I had my Cousin start off in front on the Paint, put Fancy in the middle and me bringing up the rear to keep an eye. Fancy was PERFECT. My cousins daughter kept saying how much she liked her. I'm so proud of her for being so good for a stranger. Pic from today-
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Post by kdunham on Jul 28, 2008 21:32:29 GMT -5
I have a couple new pics of my Fancy girl. One is from a trail ride I took her on last week and the others are me working her out in the pasture today. Had I know ahead of time I would have had a photographer I would have traded the tennis shoes for boots and taken off her halter...
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Buena
SAFE Volunteer
No horse will ever teach you as much as your first horse.
Posts: 1,929
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Post by Buena on Jul 28, 2008 22:10:36 GMT -5
Wow. She's a horse now!
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Post by kdunham on Oct 2, 2008 16:07:30 GMT -5
Last weekend I took Fancy and my Daughter on their first overnight horse adventure. A friend of mine hosts a large organized ride off her ranch in Plain, WA every year on the last weekend in September. She offered up her spare room for Nicole and I to crash in for the weekend, and her husband to babysit while I rode. There are miles of beautiful mt. trails right out her back yard. I thought it would be a good experience for Fancy. Usually I take my two geldings on all my camping trips but this time I left poor Apollo at home and took Fancy in his place. Of course, I brought along my Paint as well. I certainly wouldn't want to not have my hands full with 2 horses, a baby, and a dog to take care of! The weather was perfect and the ride was great. Fancy was a great Representative of how a horse should behave. She camped out very well. Didn't dig a hole at the trailer like most my young horses have done their first times camping. When the other horses were high as kites she was mellow. I rode her on Saturday and let a friend ride my paint and then took my paint out again on Sunday. It is nice at this point to have all three of my horses fit, well broke, and sound. It has been worth the winters riding in the rain and pretty much always ponying a horse so I can make the most of my time to get them in shape. Here are some pics of the pretty pony. Oh, surprise. We are keeping the dog! The famous KANDANCE and his owner. And My Paint and I with a friend.
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Post by Sara on Oct 2, 2008 18:35:18 GMT -5
Every time I see pics of mis FNJ I can't help but think she (and all of your animals!) have won the lottery living with you. Gosh, what a simpler world it would be every every horse owner were so responsible in the care & keepig of their equines!
P.S. Kandance looks fantastic!
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Post by schwung on Oct 2, 2008 18:51:01 GMT -5
So NOT a surprise about the dog! Look at his little coat! Not sure which is cuter, the baby or the dog!
Lovely photos as usual. Your horses truly do have a great life!
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Post by kdunham on Oct 3, 2008 9:51:36 GMT -5
Oh the dog. I don't think I will ever be able to run a rescue because I can't seem to part with the critters I find. Or maybe it is that the best darn pets I've had in my life have all seemed to be strays? I really didn't think I would be able to keep Little Victor. He is only 7lbs. I didn't think he would stay with me off a leash or be a good farm dog. Well, once he got neutered he really stopped the wandering. And when I take him and Riley to go see the horses every day he has a blast. He loves scrapping with my Mom's 100+ black lab Alvin. Its a comical sight to say the least. He really is a member of the family. And now I'm one of those people who buys clothes for a dog... Never say never! One day I would love to foster a SAFE horse. But the powers that be have to PROMISE not to let me keep it!
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Post by coconut on Oct 3, 2008 10:25:47 GMT -5
....dog clothes.... I said I'd never buy my dog clothes either but when you have a Jack Russel named Capt'n Jack....it's hard to resist the Capt'n Jack Sparrow Halloween costume...and then the coat "because he gets cold"
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Post by kdunham on Feb 6, 2009 12:27:24 GMT -5
Time for a FNJ update. She never stops amazing me! Everything I ask Fancy to do she excels at. She had the winter off from being ridden. I have been ponying her behind my Paint on all the rides I take him on tho. I was a little nervous the first time I put her pack boxes on her. No need, she took it all in stride. Even when her silly Mom didn't quite secure them right and we had an equipment malfunction she just stood there and ate a fern while I fixed it. The last few weeks I've been back on her and picking up the pace on her training. Before when I rode her I stayed totally off her face and just worked on the basic walk, trot, canter, stop. So far this year we have started lead changes (she picked that up no problem) and working off her rear end. I took a little lesson the other day to learn how to train her to roll back and spin / work off her hind end in general. She already has a great little stop. I don't have experience with reining or cow horses so, this is uncharted territory for me. The amazing thing about the little horse is she is so forgiving when I make a mistake and send her the wrong signal. She tries really hard. And of course when the trainer tells me she is talented the buttons burst of my shirt!
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Post by mymercedes on Feb 6, 2009 15:19:46 GMT -5
She's cute as a bug!
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Post by Sara on Feb 22, 2009 19:51:53 GMT -5
Kathleen was generous enough to invite me along to ride with her and a friend at Mt. Taylor today. Who could say no to that? How fun to ride this little girl, who's story I've followed from the very beginning.
Little Miss Fancy is totally adorable and *such* a good girl. For being just 4, she is so calm and level headed. Our ride today took us through many obstacles I dare say most horses would have a fit about (brush and sticks tickling along all sides, multiple creek crossings, mud and blow downs) but she didn't even bat an eyelash at any of it. At one point, when we were negotiating a blow down a bramble caught her leg. She didn't bolt, spook or spin...she just stopped and patiently backed up to free herself.
Nicole will be one lucky little girl to have FNJ as her first pony. Thanks again Kathleen!
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Post by kdunham on Feb 22, 2009 21:18:27 GMT -5
Thanks for riding with us today Sara! Come see FNJ any time!
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Post by kdunham on May 28, 2009 23:38:33 GMT -5
Its been a while since a FNJ update. Today we went to a cattle sorting. My friend Linda who I do a ton of Mt. riding and packing with was my partner for her first and our second time on cows. Fancy was great the first time in, we ran right in, sorted out our first cow and as I hit her with a spur as we ran the cow out of the pen she threw a little buck. No biggie, but then she kept bucking! She might have gave me 10 good bucks before I got her stopped. The whole time I'm thinking "what the hell, is Fancy really bucking? I wonder when she is going to stop... Well, this is embarrassing..." I realized when Linda pointed out my back cinch, that when she kicked out at my spur my back cinch went back and then got snugged up tight right in her flank. I guess I really do need that connector strap... We still did technically get a clean round seeing how we got the right cow in the pen as we were bucking along. After that we had some pretty good runs. Here are some pics from our fun day. Our fan club
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Post by winterlakesfarm on May 29, 2009 2:55:30 GMT -5
As much as I love Fancy the best pic is the one of your dad and your baby!!!! What a great fan club!!
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Post by kdunham on Dec 28, 2009 14:47:38 GMT -5
One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was a picture my sister purchased from the SAFE show photographer and framed for me. I didn't even know this picture had been taken. Anyway, I think its time to take down the 4 yr old pic of FNJ as a little weanling and replace it with this one. Fancy had a great 2009. We did lots of cow sortings, ponied training horses off her, rode the high mountains, and participated in her first show ever at the SAFE show and my first in 20 yrs. December 2005 August 2009
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