The Ranch Life.

 A cornucopia of Ranch life pictures.  The horses basking in the fall sun!

Pigeon greeting me as I arrived to fill grain bags.

One rainy night, Sid and I decided to venture out to the ranch.  She was kind enough to walk Levi over in the dark and rain, so he could hang out in the indoor arena.  It was such a good experience for him, as the indoor arena can be very scary with its mysterious sounds.

Every time I question my sanity in owning two horses, Sidney sends me one of these sneak pictures.  Yep, she is a master manipulator.

I have been starting to teach Levi to give horse hugs during his daily stretching exercises:).

Sidney decided to tie Levi to the Barbie poll and saddle him up like a big boy.  He was definitely not sure about this.  Sidney spend plenty of time swinging the saddle and pad around until he realized it was not going to bite.

He is really doing well under saddle.  We have been having more short sessions with him.  Sid is pretty sure he has more woah than go.  I would agree.

Sidney had the privilege of joining Noel on a couple trips to the facility of one of the best cow horse trainers in the area.  His facility was amazing and Sidney had a lot of fun watching.  She even got to sit on one of the horses and ride around a bit. 

Well, I decided to order a halter and lead rope from one of my favorite brands.  I ordered it through a local trainer and received the wrong color.  I wanted olive green and received hunter green.  I was bummed, but was not so bummed that I was willing to return it.  

Here is the insane thing.  I had just boarded the plane on my way home from Chicago and I decided to call Sid to say hello.  She handed the phone immediately to Noel.  I thought that was super strange.  Noel said, "Sidney is afraid to tell you what happened."  Uh-oh, that is never good.  As it turns out, Sidney was riding Levi under Noel's direction.  They decided to tie him up and work with some other horse.  Unbeknownst to them, there was a broken hook where he was tied up.  Levi got his halter caught on it.  Thankfully Sabrina and Emma (one of the vets) was close by and saw it.  Noel also rushed over to help, while Sidney held the other horses.  They tried to untie him, but it was too tight.  They had to cut the halter off.  Sidney was worried that I would be mad that the new halter was ruined.  First off, NO.  The situation could have ended so much differently!  I hate to even think about it.  Secondly, It gave me an excuse to frivolously buy the color I had been wanting.

I was a bit concerned that he would be afraid to be tied out again.  Noel, being the awesome trainer she is, already had him tied at the patience poll and was keeping a close eye on him.  She said he was doing awesome, but he might have a sore neck for a few days.