A Big Sparkley Weekend

Yesterday I was out to the barn THREE times. The second I ran out to give a horse some meds, then I came home and Bill was texting me that he wanted to go out and see Jim at night. I got flax seed and started soaking some for Jimmy, so Bill wanted to go out and feed Jimmy his new treat - or so I thought.

We got to the barn and I walked out to get Jimmy & Bill stayed in the barn. I walked into the aisle and was feeding Jimmy his flax seed in a bucket, walking backwards. I stopped and was petting Jimmy and when I turned around, Bill was on a knee and said "Will you marry me?" :-D OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! He said he wanted Jimmy to be there since he is part of our "family" too :-) Here are some photos of us and of course, THE RING!!!!




Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!? He had his best friend Lisa help him pick it out. It's absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. I am so excited, and so happy. I cannot wait to take the next step into becoming husband and wife :-D

In other news: Jimmy stayed in today, bitterly, at that. When I got there with Bill we picked out his feet and put him in the round pen to hang while I got my new project - more on that later - ready. He was dead quiet the first 15 minutes he was out there and the second I stepped in to the stirrup on the project, Jimmy went wild. JEALOUS MUCH, JIM?!? He cantered, galloped, bucked, and squealed the whole 25 minutes I was on the new horse. What a pud! Thank goodness the new guy isn't as much of a chicken as they said he was. Good news though: Jimmy looks GREAT. Already from not being on the hard, muddy, uneaven, rocky field and having bute + packed feet he feels better. All together now: *SIGH OF RELIEF*

NOW the NEW horse!!!!! His name is Pepe. He's the barn owner's horse and I'm not sure how she accumulated him, but he's an 8(ish) year old TB (we think - no tattoo). Rumor has it he's been a wiener for any woman who's ever tried to deal with him and chucked them to the dirt....scaring them enough that they never came back. So the polo trainer at my barn worked with him about 4 months to try and make him a polo horse....No luck. Word is he's too much of a chicken to handle all the commotion of polo. Those horses are pretty "rough & tumble" if you ask me, so I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to be a polo horse either!!! So, now he's fallen into my lap, to see what he really wants to be. I like to think I have a good eye and heart to place horses into jobs that they enjoy and I'm absolutely looking forward to working with something while we continue to nurse Jimmy back to health. I didn't particularly miss riding, because the horses I'm always asked to hack are pretty broke. Not that it's not an honor - but I really just love a good challenge.

So Pepe and I got to know each other a little today. He tacks up great, stands on cross-ties, pretty much picks his feet up nicely, and doesn't mind fly spray. YES. Lots of things I DON'T need to work on. However, he's nervous about being mounted. He's very uneasy as soon as you sidle up to him and situate to hike up from the ground, and when I stood more than 10" off the ground, he was verry concerned, and continued turning his butt away from me. Bill watched for the first time as I had a heart-to-heart with a green horse, and even he said "Whoa, that was pretty good, babe!" because after about 15 minutes Pepe stood like a kitten, let me put my foot in the stirrup, and step onto him. He stood there until I picked up my reins, and gave him a rub. Lots of "big sighs" from this horse. He is very emotional, and SUCH a quick learner. He also has a kind eye.

He needs all the basic work, from the walk on. Doesn't really steer, barely understands lateral aids, and really anything other than kiss and kick makes no sense to him at all. I am pumped for the challenge. I love turning "not much" into "impressive". He's got a lot of potential, I'm definitely looking forward to our twice-a-week sessions :-)