Still here..chugging along

I'm still here, winter is still here, you get the idea...  ;-)  We've been having a freak warm spell where it is 7C and sunny (L William's trick tells me that is approx 44F! You double the temp in C and add 30).  I've been enjoying snowshoeing on the weekends out in our back forty - well more like back 14, but still, it is fun and the fresh air is nice. The dogs love it too, so we all benefit.

I've been watching lots of tv, getting lots of cuddles with the pets and reading some horse-related books.  I'm trying to decide if I'll do a review or not...stay tuned for the exciting outcome of that decision.  lol

Archie likes to watch Nat Geo shows while lounging on the dog. My legs are somewhere underneath both of them!

The sun is setting later and later and has made for some pretty wicked sunsets lately.  There is a hint of spring in the air  - the horses have just started shedding a bit on their faces.  Not quite spring, but we are heading in the right direction now.

So purty.

And best of all, we went to the US to pick up a special delivery for a certain AQHA mare.  The deed was done about 9 days ago, so we have to wait until at least 14 days to ultrasound again to see if she caught!!!!  Keep your fingers and toes crossed!  This mare has had 2 foals before and has been easy to breed, so we are hopeful it went well.  

V. special "sample"

And Fred is doing well. He is continuing to eat me out of house and home! I think he might have hollow legs...lol  He also seems a bit bum high lately, but I'm hoping it is just my eyesight and he really isn't growing any more.  He is around 16.2hh and I'm sort of afraid to stick him.   I'm keeping his weight in an ok place and am now ramping up his 2nd cut hay amounts to help put on some more weight.  

Nom nom. Fred, probably.  He is standing a bit funny here with his back legs way underneath...

I haven't started working him yet, but tomorrow is day 1 for him.  I'm going to start using some exercises from the book 55 Corrective Exercises for Horses (Jec Aristotle Ballou) where I can, since I don't have hills (boo) or good footing due to the snow/melting/more snow mess that we have.  I can work on backing him, getting him used to a surcingle/ground driving lines, carrot stretches and some walking through the snow.  It won't be much to start, but it will work on stretching out his muscles after not doing much all winter.  He has definitely lost muscle tone over the winter so we need to start working back up to a basic level of fitness so he is ready to do more when the footing permits.

I'm hoping to show him in late June, so we are working towards that date now!