Neighborhood horses

I've been taking walks with Baasha lately and even jumping on him at times cuz he feels so good. It seems he doesn't want to be retired, he seems to want to carry me.

He's never before aligned himself with stumps before I even asked him to. I was trying to figure out what to do with my camera whilst mounting, and before I could he sidled up to the stump. Almost as if he wanted me aboard so we could go at his chosen speed. Whoops, he starts tossing his head and lurching and leaping, Let's go! "Walk." At least he still listens.

This week I found a new loop trail around our neighborhood and we got to see a variety of horse breeds along the way.

First of all, I got my first good bokeh shot, woo! I still have not learned how to use my camera so I was thrilled to get this shot by accident.




Start/end of my loop. I saw a fox for the first time (here), it was like a coyote with short legs, but red, and its tail was so long and ended in a white fluffy tip. He didn't trot, he loped fluidly over the cut hay. Now I call that field fox field, and these woods fox woods.




Two Icelandics would have liked us to go say hi, but we did the other day. In this photo you can see a field full of solar panels, a field with hay lying in rows, and beyond that a field that has been baled. At the top is the water tower and next door is a Thai restaurant. Isn't that odd, a Thai restaurant in the middle of a bunch of fields? It was a sign that we were supposed to live here when we were looking for a home. We are definitely going there tomorrow, for my birthday.




Awwwwwwwww. So cute. There were three donkeys and a herd of 6 horses and I saw that they really do keep separate.




It looks like the little one could be standing on the mane of the grey.




He got out from under the pony and galloped to us. I wonder what kind of horse this is, with his dark legs and soft eyes. He sure is covered with scars. I don't wonder where those came from.




The Fjord wanted to be friends but I did not like that fence. His little pony friend stayed at his side the entire time.




There is something very odd about this pony. I wonder if you will see it too. I was baffled and kept taking pictures.




Awwww. Do donkeys have summer and winter coats? They seem to be pretty hairy.




Wait until Baasha notices them.




This photo shows the oddness best I think. Do you see it?




Baasha loves Fjords.




I love the stripey legs.




Then I saw this and got pissed off. What is the matter with people who don't take responsibility for their animals? If I knew who owned them, I'd ask if I could help.



Danger: longears!




Look at those dapples!




I don't think they make flymasks for Haflingers cuz they just don't need them: )




I stopped and sat on a bench and let Baasha graze and recognized a building in the distance. I zoomed in to see...




Hey, that's my neighborhood! The smoke on the right is from this big fire the guy across the street from us made that morning (and really scared me at first, I thought the field was burning). Our field and house would be visible in the very center of this photo if I were able to get up higher - we truly do live in a hole!




Baasha senses horse friends ahead.




Do you recognize this trot? Wow, what a beautiful trot Star Island has!




This is why I needed a good zoom camera. I keep walking by to see if the old man is there to ask about how the Standardbred is doing, but he's never there when I go by. You can see how I can easily sneak up on these horses from the woods - the Standardbred always notices us first and trots a circle around the Arab. The Arab is the boss, but older and laid back, while I think Star Island loves any excuse to move out. When he gallops, my gosh you can hear the earth shaking (though at this distance I cannot feel it).




I don't think he's a purebred Arabian but I sure like him. He needs a farrier visit as you can see.




Looking good. I see that both horses are nicked up a bit and have some sort of salve on them.




Ibn found a branch and was playing with it.




Then he started whacking him with it and chasing him around. You can see the hooves somewhat in this photo and they don't look too bad. They are still underrun but I see that the farrier is bringing the breakover back from his racing length. I really wonder if he's doing better and if I'll find the courage to climb up there again. His size totally intimidates me, but the tripping must be better by now. He has such a good mind I have to keep going back there.




Finally home.




I keep waiting for the sound of a tractor stopping at OUR gate. Funny, it doesn't seem like we live in a hole from here.

Thanks for coming along with me on our walk.