Great Rides and New Things

After having so many great days to ride, sometimes getting finished up just before the big rains, today I am just catching up.

With all the mowing, yesterday I was able to sneak in mowing of the 'jump' field, or a major part of it, so that we could use it today, but it rained all night and all morning, so tomorrow I'll get to ride Harry there.

Saturday and Sunday, I was able to ride out around the perimeter of the farm, on the dirt road, which was exciting for Harry. He was really well behaved until we saw a deer streaking across the newly emerging corn field. He was pretty good, considering it only took a few seconds for me to redirect him and remind him that we were just going to continue our ride. We took a turn up and down the alfalfa field on the path we are able to use, and the hills are good for him. As I reminded him on the first time down the hill, at the bottom, there were some irregular areas, and please pick up your feet, when he decided he wanted to bobble in the dust. I had to laugh at him, and from then on, he marched along and paid attention.

Later Sunday I delivered my new inventory to the Gift Shop, and had a great Panini, compliments of Andre, the chef.

I worked on adding new items to my Ruby Plaza shop, six pairs of great new Sterling Silver earrings, hammered and formed. I made the earring hooks as well. The top pair are my favorites, I called them 'Half Pass'.

New Sterling earrings for my Ruby Plaza shop

http://www.rubyplaza.com/shops/capriciouscrowns998

Now I have to return to my studio and finish all the blanket repairs for delivery.

Today I finished up a new earring stand out of 6 gauge copper wire. It will be a great addition to my photos, because I can hang the earrings on the rod, so that it will give a more natural view of how the earrings will look when worn. It was quite a bit of work to get it to stand and hold the rod, and since I am a fan of the Arts and Crafts era, I hammered out leaves on the ends of the rod and the holders. I had to anneal the rod several times, because it was very thick, and it took quite a bit of hammering to make the leaves, turn them, stamp them, and turn the base and hammer that. Here are photos of the start and finish of the stand.

Copper Stand Rods after annealing.

Top of Copper stand for displaying earrings.

Left side of stand.

Right side of stand.

Finished Stand.

MORE METAL STUFF!

After a great ride on Harry, I added some more items to my growing list of inventory for the gift shop.

The barrettes took me longer to figure out what and how to put together and finish than sanding and hand filing the burrs and grinds of the pipe! Here is what I finished yesterday:

Brass and Copper 2 1/2" Riveted Barrette

Brass 3" hammered Barrette

Hammered and Riveted Man's Ring-Size 11

NEW ORDER FOR A RETAIL GIFT SHOP!

I'm so excited that I got an order for a popular gift shop and started working on it yesterday. I found a 3' long, by 3" diameter 14gauge piece of copper pipe, and new I could do something with it for my artisan shop.

A friend of mine who is a farrier, and has great horses, was having his lesson with Valerie after mine, so I took the pipe up when I went to watch his lesson. He cut me off some pieces of different widths, and on the way home, I formulated some ideas.

Here is two photos of the pipe and the cut pieces.

It took a lot of filing and sanding to get these clean. I finished two of them, one for a guy or gal with a larger wrist, and one for a woman. I'm restricted by the 3" diameter, but I can make it smaller by indenting 3 or four areas. I took some old barn beam pins, that fit nicely inside the 3". I used masking tape at the top and bottom, covered it in a piece of leather that would fill in the gaps, and that would also allow me to hammer into to make the indentations.

I realised that the piece had to be filed, sanded annealed to soften, and then stamped and marked. Since I had work hardened it, I had to anneal it again before I slipped it over the beam pins. The first time, I loved the shape, but it was a bit too indented to fit me, and so I softened the indentations a bit on the leather sand bag with one of my chasing hammers.

Here are photos of the bangles:

Copper Hammered Clover Mark

Four Leaf Clover Hammered Bangle

Plain Hammered Copper Mark

Plain Hammered Bangle

Copper Anticlast Triangular Bangle

Copper Hammered and Riveted Bangle

Today I also had a great ride on Harry. It was really nice to know we hadn't forgotten everything from yesterday, and we ventured out further into the large arena using it all for our trot and canter transitions. He had a 'moment' which sometimes he likes to do, but I quickly turned him round and that's when we started our canter work. I laughed because it was almost as if he was telling me he really wanted to do something other than trot transitions. Silly horse, it's all good stuff.

SUNDAY LESSON WITH VALERIE KNIGHT

What a great lesson. Valerie was very happy with our progress, and we have a plan for the next two weeks to continue to build up Harry.

We are getting much better at the connection, and Harry is finding it, more often than not, to be lighter and not hanging. Of course, my job as the rider, is to focus on this, and on my position and not to get into that position in the first place.

Our walk was much nicer. It's really important, when you don't have mirrors or someone with a correct and critical eye to keep you both on task. His walk opened up much more quickly, and he was overtracking in the working walk more consistently.

I had some difficulty with keeping a connection at the trot, especially as he tends to fall in on the open side of the circle. The better my focus and relaxation in my hips, the easier it was. He did not tire as quickly, and since we kept the work time shorter with more transitions to walk, and back to working and medium trot, we had very good results. From the walk into the trot he was to go forward into a joggy trot keeping the connection and keeping the tempo. Speed was not the issue, regularity was, and until he was steady and soft, we were able to lengthen and shorten the steps on the circle. He was more regular more quickly than ever. Once I had the plan for this part of the lesson, we moved on to the canter work.

Once we established the working trot, we got a good transition into the canter which was balanced and quiet. Just as important was the down transition from canter to the short bouncy trot, and back up to canter without diving down to the ground. Until we had the same results to the right, we did not go to the stretching. When we did, I felt him really come up through my seat, didn't power off or lean, and was a joy to ride.

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW

Today the forecast was for rain and wind.....well, nothing new for our area, so I fed Harry early, and an hour later we were in the sun and calm winds, and having a super ride. I had not planned to work more than thirty minutes or so, and not on much more than what we had been focusing on all week.

He had such great energy, and since the gnats hadn't quite crawled out of wherever they were, we worked the whole arena, spending time on keeping the circles 20 meters at the trot. We did lots of transitions to walk and back to trot, changing direction and bend through the center of the circle. We worked on quarter line to center line and back at the walk, taking some breaks, and then picked up the trot again, working on maintaining tempo and rhythm.

As I was concentrating on keeping him out on the circle, keeping my inside leg on the girth, and my outside leg a bit behind to keep him going, he suddenly realised that it was easier if he kept himself lined up, no nose in or out (caused mainly by the rider), and following with my seat became easier as well. For a split second he became lighter and the stride became more regular and his ears started flopping. It's his sign of being relaxed. I didn't push the issue, and came to a walk allowing him to take a break.

I made the decision, since tomorrow we have our first lesson with Valerie Knight since November, it might be a good idea just to have a little canter about. Instead of starting to the left, which is his easier side, I went to the right. We trotted, he picked up the canter where I asked for it, on the circle, and stayed out for two circles. IT WAS AMAZING! I can honestly say these were the most energetic yet relaxed and soft circles we had ever had. I did not push the issue further, came back to the trot and walk, and proceeded to the left. AMAZING!! They were so close to being the same I almost lost my balance, but managed to make the transition without him falling on his forehand.

We finished with our trot to halt, which was very square and he got his puffy treat. We took a walk around the fields for about 10 min., and he got a lovely warm rinse off, just in time for the rain to start.

What a day! I even got an unexpected order from a retail shop for earrings, bangles, barrettes and a few necklaces. I'm finally going to be busy! Now if I could figure out how to cut that 3' 14 gauge 3" diameter copper pipe I have! Obviously my hack saw isn't going to cut it.........I think a trip to the machine shop will be in order for Monday! Everything jewelry related, hammers, drill press, grinder, buffer, plate, wire and forming stakes are out of the horse trailer, except for my 85 lb. NC Anvil. That is just a bit too much for me to schlep up the steps and into the studio.

TIME TO CHOP THE ALFALFA

Last night when I was closing up the house and turning off the lights, I saw lights in the alfalfa field. Those crazy farmers (thank God for them though), were out there at 10pm cutting the fields and rowing them.

Since I new I'd have trucks running in and out this morning, I thought I'd better keep the ride short-so much dust and groaning suspensions.

We worked at the walk for 30 min, and got a great deal accomplished before they started and I took these photos.

We worked on shortening and lengthening the stride, leg yields from the long side to quarter line and centerline to quarterline with turns on the forehand and haunches in between. Harry was really marching along, even when we started our shoulder in work, so that was a big breakthrough. We ended with our most excellent halt, and he got his Red Bird Puffy mint from me before I dismounted.

Hopefully tomorrow we can get in a ride before the rain.

Harry in the pasture with his bird friend.

Trucks, trucks, trucks, Harry has never been very worried about them, as evidenced here by his attitude: "Don't bother me, I'm eating....."

MAY 20TH ANOTHER GREAT RIDE!

What a wonderful day! Calm winds and sun made a great day just beautiful. I rode Harry for about an hour, and we worked on just a few things. Connection, Suppleness, Straightness, Tempo.

Feeling full of himself as he sometimes does, his walk was nice and regular, as was his trot. We spiraled in and out on the circle at the walk and the trot-both directions, and surprisingly, most of the time he stayed on the outside connection. We made tons of transitions within walk, and trot. We then did some trot halt trot transitions, and taking small breaks but with a connection. If I leave him 'unattended', he manages to divert his attention to a piece of equipment rolling by, a police car, or a blade of grass. He has a bit of ADD. LOL

With the trot, I was very pleased to feel how regular he was. His halts were right there. I focused on keeping him under my seat and not putting up with his arguing. He gets praise when he does well, which is more often than not lately, and I attribute that to me paying attention to my position and my connection with him. I have to be relaxed and supple just like him. It takes two to dance nicely. His halts were especially nice from the trot, and he stepped under and was square. It was really great that both of us are working towards a common goal.

His canter work is coming along to the right, and he's staying out on the circle instead of making a 20 meter circle turn into an egg shaped figure. His canter to the left has always been much easier for him, and some days, we do a bit of cantering before the trot, which seems to help both of us.

Before I knew it, we had been out about an hour, and after a few stretching circles, which I was able to sit to easily, in either direction, I brought him back up with my inside leg, and we halted. He knows this is when he either gets his treat from me while I'm still on him or not. LOL

He had his first warm rinse off since November in front of the barn, which he loves. After drying his legs and turning on the fans, he is hanging out for a while inside before I turn him out again. It's fortunate that he can go in and out of his barn when he wants.

AFTER DAYS OF RAIN AND WIND AND MOWING......

I was able to ride today!! I mowed the large arena, and created a small arena next to the house, but with all the rain, we decided not to use it, and go straight to the large one. With large farm equipment rolling by, wide loads and flapping tarps, we managed to have a wonderful ride.

Harry was so supple and almost too quiet at the walk, but found the necessary energy to march on up around the logs in the back field and back down to the mowed area. Joan's treatment was amazing. She adjusted the air in the saddle and then gave him a great treatment which gave him more freedom in his shoulders, and he was nice and through with his mini flat tire of the right hind. He felt amazing! He trotted around so nicely and when we were finished, the 40 min. went flying by, he gave me a PERFECT HALT!

We have our first lesson with Valerie Knight this Sunday, and hopefully I'll get a short video or some photos to share. What a fabulous day.

I can't let the opportunity go by to give kudos to Joan A. and her amazing insight into what horses need. Please do a favor for yourself and your horse and visit her website and blog for some great information and articles.

http://www.bestsaddlesolutions.com

We made it home without incident, and after cleaning out the Winter from our barn, I turned Harry out for a while. He was so happy, trotting and cantering around his paddocks, investigating all the new grass and dandelions. Here he is standing under one of his four fans just glad to be home.

On the way home, we stopped in MD to have Joan A. adjust our saddle and give Harry a much needed treatment. We stayed at Sunset Hill Farm, and it was fantastic. Here is the entrance:

We were only there for two days, but it was so much fun. Joan came and adjusted the saddle while I was riding Harry. He was so happy and full of himself, we all were laughing at his antics. When we finished up in the ring, Joan gave him a great treatment. The horses in Kate's barn loved the music and were sleeping by the time she finished. Here are photos of Harry and Joan discussing his treatment:

Proj. 4 Clip of Lesson

THE WINTER THAN NEVER SEEMED TO END

After waiting for 10 days to leave, we finally left on the 11th of January. It was a fairly smooth ride, despite the roads, and when we crossed the mts. in PA, and started down on the flats of Rt. 15 with the Susquehanna River to our East, I knew we would be fine.

I won't bore you with the details of the Winter, just suffice it to say that I learned some new things..........

1. Find as much as you can about the person(s) you will be working for. You can never investigate too much. Take nothing at first interview. Actions speak louder than words.

2. Make sure the barn where you are keeping your horse has warm water, and a toilet available. Having to drive 7 miles to find a toilet and having to buy something to use it is NOT an OPTION.

3. Make sure that where you are staying is NO MORE than 15 miles, at the most.

4. Make sure the footing is safe and the fences are sturdy for the horse.

5. Make sure that your pet (my dog Tutti) does not have to stay:

a. in a pen all day

b. tied up all day

c. sitting in a car all day

6. INVESTIGATE, ASK MORE QUESTIONS, GET IT IN WRITING

OK, now that's out of the way, I can tell you that by the fourth month of

a. putting more than 100 miles a day on my truck and working 60+ hours a week

b. sleeping on the floor

c. not being able to just ride out in good footing, being able to relax, and even teaching some great people, and being able to actually use your jewelry tools and equipment, and your sewing machine to repair blankets.

I was able to find a great barn right across the street from where I was staying for my horse that was safe, clean and happy. I was able to spend the last month in a place where I could sleep on a futon, cook my meals instead of having to buy breakfast sandwiches and tomato sandwiches for supper from the local gas station.

Fast forward through to May 2010.............

I was able to take two fabulous lessons from Lani Tigchlaar, clear up Harry's balance issues, his legs and feet, and have a great start when we got home.

Riley is in a New Home!

The angels were certainly following Riley for the past two days. He's now at a new barn, where he looks like he's 9 instead of 40.

Riley in his old place, not very happy.

The closer he got to the new barn, the better he stepped out, because he knew now he was going to be cared for by a wonderful angel named Dawn who owns Renaissance Farm.

From the moment he left and started down the hill with Liliya, his owner, he was calm, happy and relaxed.

Best Friends-Liliya and Riley

Oh, I know this is a good walk to someplace safe

Riley sporting his newly refurbished blanket with a waterproof cover!

As soon as they walked onto the property at Renaissance Farm, he was greeted by new friends.

Welcome new guy!

Oh, where did he go?

We LOVE new friends!

Here are the photos from his Epic Journey today. His owner searched until she found just the right place, with the right attitude, and the right care for Riley. His accommodations are just right for a big horse. A wonderful stall with nice fluffy straw, lots of it so he can lay down if he wants, or just wants a nice roll. Beautiful hay that is clean and fresh water for him.

Thanks MOM!

Here, horses don't go out in the ice, or the pouring rain, or blowing snow where you can't see. If it's bad, then they stay in, have clean stalls, plenty of hay and fresh water. I've seen this place in the Summer, and the pastures are beautiful with lots of lovely grass and plenty of shade trees.

THE HORSE COMES FIRST-A Visit to a Barn

Today I went to visit a local barn to meet a horse that I'm going to be checking on while the owner is away for the holidays.

It's a very nice barn, fairly new, indoor, 20+ stalls, paddocks. From what I could tell with all the snow, from the outside, it looked very well laid out and workable. From what I could see, all but of few of the horses had heavy winter turnouts on. It was very muddy, snow was accumulating in their feet, and they were tottering around. The roundbale holders were practically empty, it was 2:00pm, and they come in around 4:00. The temperature was -6, and the winds were stiff. Only a few paddocks had small sheds.

The owner of the horse showed up and we went out to bring him in. He had 4" of ice underneath both his front shoes and a thin turnout. He had full pads under full bar shoes with a heel wedge underneath the heel of the leg that had a bowed tendon. He was still recovering, a 22 yr old 17.2 hand warmblood. He was cold and couldn't move. I stepped inside the round bale feeder to try to get some hay for him. There was about 1/2 a flake left and there were 3 horses in his pasture. No shelter, no trees, the other two horses, 39 and another (not sure of age), were in there as well.

A hoof pick wouldn't budge the ice block. Liliya found a rubber mallet and I carefully tapped, to remove the blocks. There was no warm or hot water in the barn. Not an ideal situation for horses. We got him into the barn, and he was quite sore, some residual heat in the injured leg from standing on this block, trying to walk in the mud, teetering his large frame to get hay.

The stalls, with mats, were not cleaned-it was 3pm. The buckets were filthy, the bedding was pellets that were straight out of the bag and less than an inch. Not a very comfortable bed to lay down on.

The Barn Owner entered, and seemed pleasant enough. Her ignorance of the situation was stunning! Not only did she launch into defense mode, she spoke so fast you could barely keep up with her.

When Liliya, the owner of the horse, asked her why her horse was not blanketed with his heavy blanket the response was, "he's fine" "he has a thick coat". The fact that the horse was shivering, and Liliya was grooming him and trying to get his circulation going, went unnoticed. The horse owner asked if the horse could please have his heavy blanket on for the next few days. The barn owner said: "I don't have time", put something on him and it stays until you change it." When the horse owner said: "I'm leaving Friday, and I won't be here until Jan. 3rd. Dinah is going to come and check until she has to leave, but may not be able to be here every day."

"Well, it costs extra for me to take off or put on a blanket." (On top of the charge, which is out of line for the care given, that was nonsense.) The blacksmith was coming over tomorrow and Liliya wanted Riley to stay in tomorrow morning until he had his snow pads. Again, the barn owner said: "Well, that will cost extra. It means I have to clean the stall twice, and it's a lot of extra work, more hay..." "That's fine" said the horses owner, "whatever it takes, I want my horse to be comfortable, safe, and healthy."

I have owned and operated everything from a 30 stall barn with an indoor, to an 8 stall facility, and a 6 stall facility. I never charged extra for changing the blankets, giving supplements, leaving horses in, bandaging injured horses, holding them for the farrier or vet. It was part of the board cost. I always had a waiting list at my facilities. With me THE HORSE COMES FIRST.

I had to get water for the horse, Barn Owner threw in 2 flakes of hay, and wandered off-muttering to herself. Rileys owner was practically in tears. She was overwhelmed, in a new place, a new state, in the middle of exams at University, and worried about her horse. I took his sheet home and have washed it and will repair the holes, lengthen the surcingles, and stitch a rubberized cover over the top to protect him from the snow, ice and rain. At this barn, the horses are out every day regardless of the weather, and here we get some very nasty Winters-pure laziness on the part of the barn owner.

My advice to the young woman was to do all she could to get her horse moved BEFORE she went home for the holidays. I offered to move the horse, and the rest was up to her. When you have an animal you are responsible for, and they are not in a good situation, particularly if they are older and have lameness problems, and are not being cared for, then you need to deal with that situation. You can always take an extra few days or a week and go later, but an animal does not have those options, or the ability to make his life better, they have to rely upon whomever it is that is taking care of them, good or bad. Horses are pretty resilient creatures, but they have ways of letting us know when they need help. Sometimes it's pretty dramatic and pretty direct. Be a good listener, and treat your animals like they deserve to be treated.

Got a Day! Weather Not Cooperating

Well, my friend should be settling on her property tomorrow Dec. 16th! Yea!! But the weather--is definitely not cooperating with the trip. Poor Harry finally got outside in a restricted area for a few hours last Friday, and by Sunday he was able to get out for most of the day. Today we are back to the 'okay, so I have to stay in the barn----again!!' routine.

Well, for his safety and my piece of mind, after I finished cleaning out the barn and putting up pieces of tarp in the eaves, he is happy not to be out in the driving wind and sleet.

I decided to take this opportunity to finish up last minute work for Christmas presents for my sons and my sister and niece. The other day I made some 8 gauge Sterling silver riveted bangles. I was able to find some 8 gauge copper wire at an electrical supply store for the copper ones, and a long piece of hardened brass.

These are the copper and sterling bangles-8 gauge for Silver, 14 ga. for Copper

I have to tell you, working with Silver and Copper, annealing and shaping is involved, in order to get everything lined up and finished, but the Brass is a totally different animal! That stuff is TOUGH and takes a great deal of annealing and hammering and forming to make it work. The end result is beautiful, because it's nice and heavy and shines beautifully, but it will be a long time before I tackle that metal again. The material was 6 gauge brass, and I had to put all of my weight into bending it around the anvil just to get the pieces into the pickle pot after annealing it.

The photos below are of the brass by-pass bangles I made

Two large ones for my sons-smaller one for me.

I stamped stars on both side of the edges and put my mark on them.

I managed to make an over the hand by-pass for each of my sons. Since they are 6'3" and 6'5", and have big hands, I thought this would be the best solution. It's hard to think of things they'd like from their mom, but in all honesty they'd be happy with whatever I made for them, I believe. Such good sons. I'm very blessed.

Waiting on the Word

Well, I thought we'd be already in VA by now, but we're still here. That's fine, because the weather has been cooperating to an extent, and I have more time to actually get everything finished in my studio.

I have some blanket repairs to finish up this week, and have taken on two new students. They have wonderful horses, and need some eyes from the ground to help them. One thing I have found with some students, they have been pushed so quickly along, that their training has come to a screeching halt, they are suddenly timid and defensive and their horses are weak and yet a little bullish and pushy.

Once the riders and horses see that relaxation is the most important theme of their first lessons with me, both of them start to relax and you can see a nicer walk, a softer eye, a more relaxed jaw, less tension in the horses back and poll, and the riders are less apprehensive about their perceived lack of ability to ride.

I keep saying that, at this point, we have all the time in the world. We are not on a fast track to compete, we are not in a hurry to learn 'tricks', or to hand ride the horse into a 'frame'. These are things that we do NOT want for our horses and riders. Taking the quick route to training is a disaster that takes more time to 'undo' than the temporary 'look' some riders aspire to have.

The Winter is now upon us here in western NY. Soon, the footing in the arena will be hard and snow covered and filled with potholes of crusted ice. Horses will be searching for blades of left over grass they may have overlooked. Blankets will become stiff and yet a welcome relief from the cold winds and snow and sleet so prevalent here. I encourage my customers to keep those blankets washed on a regular basis if possible, so that when I get them in the late Spring, they are not outlined with salt in the form of the horses body. This not only is uncomfortable for the horse, it can and does rot the threads and lining making the repairs difficult and costly.

I have been making blankets for horses since the mid 80's. I always prefer to allow the horses natural coat be there best protection. However, young horses, old horses, horses that have been clipped or are in regular work should have something on them. If they are going to be outside day and night, need a shelter they can go into, and protection from high winds, sleet and freezing rain. I've never been one to put horses out at night in the Winter because of the unsettled weather patterns of western NYS. Others have different schedules and as long as they are protected and safe, that is fine.

It's preferable to have two blankets for each horse at the very least. Layering is best, and with a mid weight blanket, a liner underneath will make it appropriate for the coldest days. If you put a thin lined (meaning without a filler) wind sheet over the top, most horses will be just fine. Blankets need to be taken off every day to check the horse, the skin, any problems that may arise from rubbing on the shoulders, or hips. Check the fittings, hardware, leg straps and binding. Call your blanket person to repair blankets before the problems get beyond control. I've gotten blankets in shreds in a bag. I've repaired them, but it would have been much easier if they would have been proactive.

Tail covers seem to be tantalizing to pasture mates. It's easy to grab ahold of it and 'rriiiiip', it's gone. Tears in the withers or rump area are favorites of horses who 'play hard'. Remember to check the base of the horses ears to see if he is warm enough. Shivering is not something you want to take place, it can set up a whole litany of other serious problems. Make sure there is enough hay. Make sure there is enough water. Make sure there are more 'hay piles' than horses and that they are far enough apart, that horses don't get pestered or attacked by pasture mates.

Good quality hay, not necessarily high alfalfa, but good first or second cutting Timothy and fresh water need to be available to them all the time, but especially in the Winter when they do not have grass to nibble. I keep hay available to my Harry all the time. He does not get grain, so his hay is paramount to keeping his digestion moving along correctly, and keeping him warm and occupied. Since he has free choice to come into his barn or stay outside, he will monitor himself. His patterns seldom change. He gets breakfast of 1/2 cup of no molasses beet pulp with 1/2 a carrot and 1/4 of a cut apple, cored. He gets changed into his outside clothes.

At night, since it's been very cold here of late, and he is by himself, he gets his heavy wool liner, a puffa liner and an unlined sheet all layered on. In the morning after he has his breakfast, he gets a light grooming, and gets a medium weight turnout with a wind sheet over top, his bell boots and out he goes. He generally goes into his larger field to have a roll, and then makes his tour around all of his paddocks. If it's too wet, I can close off any of the paddocks and open them when they are dry.

He has a hay bag on the front of the barn that blocks the wind and is warmer for him. He has 4 buckets of fresh warm water to choose from, and by the time I check him at noon he has eaten most of the hay and 2 buckets of water. I give him new water and keep an eye on the hay. Since he also has a hay bag in the aisle, and one in the grooming stall, he can come in for a while and rest, although his favorite place to take his snooze is in front of the barn, where it is warmer and less windy.

Photos to follow...

November 2009-New Season

Harry and me at home on a Fall day.

This is from one of our Sunday rides at my friends indoor. Harry is getting used to his saddle and is so free in the shoulders and having fun, it was almost hard not to collapse in laughter! His topline has developed radically since using this saddle. Truly a WOW experience!

I'm really excited about this season. The last four weeks it seems as though I've been on the road forever. First it was the jewelry convention in Providence, RI. I had a great time, sold lots of my designs, and vintage jewelry and brought home some new tools and stones.

I was able to stop and visit with my niece Muriel in Wallingford, CT twice! She's getting started with making some jewelry, and has a great eye!

Here are some shots of my VFCJ Convention table and my friends.

Linda Kripke from CA and me at the Saturday night dinner. I'm wearing a necklace and earring I made from Fine Silver, Copper and Brass. My other jewelry is shown here:

Some of my jewelry I had at the VFCJ Sale.

Ruth Kampke, Head Designer for Eisenberg Jewelry was our Surprise Guest~I was thrilled to spend some time with her and talk about her work. She's a lovely lady- smart and sharp as a tack.

Here is a close up of the set I'm wearing for the Saturday night dinner. Everything is made by hand, cut from sheets of Fine Silver, Copper and Brass, formed, forged, rivetted and took me about six weeks. Most of it came from making sure the design was wearable and all worked together.