I Picked Rocks

That is not all I accomplished this weekend, but it feels like it.

The farrier called me Friday and asked if he could move my appointment up two hours on Saturday. I didn't get the message until Saturday morning. The time change worked fine for me, but it meant that if I was going to ride, it had to be after the appointment. Which meant riding might not be possible, because sometimes My Boy has tender hooves after a trim.

My Boy does not always get "owy toes," as my auntie Desert Rose calls them. Typically, he's just tender on his newly trimmed hind hooves, for a couple of days. Most of the fall and winter, his hinds are left unshod. This time, in prep for summer trail riding season, I had the farrier put shoes on the back hooves. I decided to ride anyway, but only at a walk.


After the farrier left, Paint Girl brought out and groomed Brandy, then we saddled up.

When we got to the arena, it seemed like My Boy was walking like he was wearing a brand new pair of stilettos that weren't broken in yet. He was very tentative. I think his toes were a little short. Am I babying him? Needless to say, we didn't get much riding in.

Luckily, I had longed him out in the arena right before the farrier came and he loped a lot, so he got his legs stretched.

Unluckily, I think the sarcoid might be trying to make a comeback. I could see the resurgence of tiny red veins under the skin, which is what happened last time it "fingered" off from the original site a month ago. So, on again went that rust-colored Xxterra.

If I am just seeing things and the flesh is normal, the Xxterra won't do anything, so I'm mostly being prudent. I'm just hoping this doesn't become a chronic issue. If it does, I'll have to have the vet out again to reassess and implement plan B. Whatever that may be!

Indian ponies, checking out the stick teepee.

I didn't ride Sunday either, just to let him stand on those hooves another day. I brought him out for grooming, walking, and grazing. He seemed to be more comfortable. I also picked rocks. Since the pasture has dried out, it's easier to see how the "Painted Creek Rock Breeding Program" has been doing since last summer. It looked pretty successful! I rounded up the rocks and prepared them for shipping (tossed them over the fence.)

Wow, the winter hair is really starting to make itself scarce! My horse is roaning out and what was once copper is turning more of a liver chestnut. I love when their faces and legs loose all that long yak hair. My most handsome boy is back!

Lastly, you might have noticed on my sidebar- I started another blog. Mercy, what have I gotten myself into? It's a place just for my photos. With the new camera, I find that I am taking a lot of pictures. I hate to have them just sit in the files on my computer and they aren't always worthy of a story on their own. So, stop on by and see what you think. I think I am learning more and more with every click of the shutter.....but have many more clicks before I have it all figured out!

One thing I want to do is get the photos to load into a post at a larger size. The quality of the photo is also not as good when at a reduced size. They look great on my laptop, but when loaded into the post- not as good. When enlarged (by clicking on the photo in the post) it looks much better. I've heard some people use Flickr, but I am confused as to how you get the photos from Flickr to the post? Any other suggestions? Thanks!


UPDATE: I played around on Flickr and figured out how to load the photos using code. Now they are nice and big (except for one, which I had forgotten to load into Flickr.) Now when you click on the photo, it goes to my Flickr account. I'm not sure I like this?