Harses, Harses, Harses!

Here at Forty Acre Farm, the pace has picked up a bit these last few days.
By that I mean we've begun to pay much more attention to our equine friends.
As of this past Saturday, we had two resident horses, Bella the large, black quarter-horse and Trixie our little Welsh pony.



Bella is lame, but is papered with a great lineage. We hope to have her bred, sell the foal, and Bella. She has the most wonderful temperament but her days here are numbered. It's just not practical to keep her.



We bought Trixie, our little white Welsh pony, last fall. And as ponies go, she was every bit as stubborn as we were warned she may be.
But Tim has done an excellent job in working with her and encouraging the girls to ride.
I have been so pleased with the progress that our little Trixie has made along with both girls learning how to ride.



Early on in their training, (both the girls and the pony) one daughter was thrown, but her love for horses was not to be deterred and she immediately got back on. I've admired her dedication and at the end of this month she will show Trixie at our county fair.



The whole family is excited but there is still much to be done as both girl and horse are still in training.
Of course, with only one pony and two girls wanting to ride...there have been some moments when one girl had to be left out. Not a big deal really, but this past Saturday that little difficulty was remedied when I received a phone call from a friend that was at a horse auction.
She told me about a deal that was just too good to pass up. I headed out into the hay meadow where Tim was swathing (cutting hay) and we conversed. With Tim's blessing and an ultimate bid the kids and I headed to the auction so I could get a gander at this little pony that I was called about. Wonderfully, there was a gentleman there, a friend, that has all the horse sense necessary in judging a horse of worth. He declared the little roan mare to be sound and near perfectly "put together." I valued his judgement and prepared to bid.
With temperatures above 100 and the auction being performed in full sun we waited for the little mare to come up for bid.
Once she did, the bidding went fast and we had a horse.



I was told by another gentleman there that he believed the little horse to be a mixture of Quarter-horse and Welsh pony. I can totally see that as our little Strawberry (the name we've given her) is very quick-footed like our Trixie.
Another thing she has in common with our Trixie is stubborness.
So we've begun training our little roan Strawberry to have good manners and to get used to having a saddle on her back.
It definitely hasn't been easy but we're already seeing progress and it's encouraging that she's obviously very smart.
So that's what's up here along with a multitude of other things...just like your place, too, I'm sure!
Hope your week is going great!
Julie