At The Ponderosa

While in Arkansas we were able to go and spend the day at Josh's aunt & uncle's house/ranch. They have 20 acres, 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 guineas, and 2 horses! I love it there!

Mamma, Carol, Meg, Troy, & Rita Kay rocking and swinging on the front porch.




Rita Kay & Phil adopted 2 rescue horses and have given them much better lives. Maggie & Hotshot have definitely recovered from their near starvation and are living the life as yard horses and the occasional saddle horse. Rita Kay & Phil made the mistake of telling me they would like for me to ride Maggie...that was all the encouragement I needed! She is a sweet mare, a bit set in her ways but is going to be great for them. After I rode her around the pasture a few times and made sure she wasn't going to act crazy Sam got on with me. Loved sharing that first ride with him!

That's right, we need some horses.

Mamma had the touch and put Troy to sleep after lunch.

After Sam and I finished our ride, Phil made his second mistake. He asked me for some tips on getting Maggie to mind. If only I had stopped with him...I felt the need to "help" everyone who forked their leg over Maggie.

I wonder if anyone else can relate...to have all this information stored up, mostly unused and then have someone ask you a question about it. I immediately had diarrhea of the mouth. I couldn't help myself...the information keep coming, and coming, and I could not stop it! I know everyone got fed up with it but I had no shut-off valve. I was telling them to keep their heels down, hands out of their stomach, the correct wrist angle for optimum bit function. And it wasn't just riding information it even crossed over into personal preference. I heard myself extolling the virtues of untwisted reins and having the buckles lined up on the bridle. I hereby apologize to everyone...I'll try to be better next time (if there is a next time).

While I was in my element and planning how to get some horses Josh was falling in love. He was driving all over the property in Phil's Kubota diesel RTV. What can I say...I'm about horses and Josh is about horsepower. We had some time constraints otherwise we would still be there.