Pretty Shield is ready for a new home

Jun 262011
 



Pretty Shield (Sasha)
SMR 3977 ~~ 14 hands
(Chato’s Shadow x Shinie Eyes)
Born 8/3/1999 at Caballos de Destinos in Pringle, SD, bred by Sharron Scheikofsky.

Sasha is available to a good home. She is quite sensitive, knows natural horsmanship type ground work, lunging, ground ties, loads well, handles vet work and trimming. She has had 120 days training with two trainers, the most recent being Kitty Lauman several years ago. She will need retraining with her undersaddle work. Along with her being sensitive and watchful, she tends to be anxious when alone. She needs the chance to bond with someone and gain trust. Sasha is sweet and wants to please. I would love to see her with an intermediate or advanced owner that would give her a chance to see what she can do. She has a great, moving out trot and a very smooth looking canter (video at the bottom of this post). She would certainly have the soundness and stamina for endurance. She’s not taken a bad step while I have had her. She’s done great ponied out on roads, over bridges, with traffic, bicycles and on trails. She is up to date on shots, deworming, trimming and dental work. She has two blemishes, a scar on her back (shown in photos below) and a dent in he neck. My vet thinks that it might have been an abscess from vaccination. He legs are straight and clean.

She is very nicely bred to foundation SMR stock and could be an excellent addition to a broodmare band. Sasha is heterozygous for LWO and SB-1. She likely also has splash in the mix, but there is no test for that yet. She is a striking grulla medicine hat with two ice blue eyes, and a long, silky double mane.

If you are interested in talking with me about Sasha, please email. Price is negotiable to the right home and would only be to recover some of her rescue costs.

Yesterday, I gave Sasha her first soapy bath and took photos. She stood really well to be hosed. It was clear that someone had trained her on this. The barn owner was using a tractor in the area, tilling and moving compost for a new garden bed. Once Sasha saw it and had a jump, she settled down and was fine with the noise and movement. We just had to stay out of his way.

Somehow I ended up with a lot more good photos of her near side and very few of her off side. She’s not as good at posing as Lily is, so I just took tons of photos and culled to a few good ones. I can ask Lily to stop when she’s 20 feet away and she’s stand there and pose. I haven’t had Sasha long enough for her to know that she is a constant photo subject.

Here are all the beauty shots, with a few of my Lily thrown in at the end.




After her photo session and a nice trot in hand down the road to dry off, we tried her out in a new pasture with two geldings. There were a few discussions between them and the two next door, but it does seem that she may work out well there. She’ll have a bit more access to grazing than in Lily’s dry lot. When I put a horse in a new pasture, I walk them around the fence line first, so we did that after the initial nose touching. Then I did a little work with her over the obstacles in the pasture. She knows how to ground tie too. This photos was just before I turned her loose.

There are some interesting herd interactions and body language to watch. Sasha is eventually yielding, but she’s also doing some dominance posturing as well, almost snaking with her head down at times.




Little things

May 202011
 


This morning the sunlight hit my dining room curtains in a way that made them glow. My photos didn’t really capture it unfortunately. The way that our house is situated doesn’t allow a lot of direct sunlight. While this does keep it quite cool in the summer, it also means that sights like this are rare. I enjoyed the few moments before the sun moved farther up into the sky and rays no longer came inside.


What is less rare is this wonderful yogurt that my husband makes. I know how to make it, but he’s usually the one taking the action to actually do it. I love it when it comes out solid like this, with a bit of whey around the edges, like custard. It’s very tasty and makes a great breakfast with some ground flax and maple syrup. We also had some with our subzee and roti last night. Yumm!!


I am glad that what started as a weekly post a few years ago has become a much more regular practice for me. When I started my Thankful Thursday posts, I was going through a bit of depression. It was really helpful for me to gain perspective and see how much wonder there really was in my life. I suppose part of it could have been me coming close to middle age. I’ll be turning 50 in just over 3 years. Maybe it was my children growing up and finding their own way in the world. Either way, my posts helped me. And I’m grateful that they are less needed, just welcomed. Enjoy finding gratitude always, not just on Thursdays!

Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

How:

  • Sit back, take a few deep breaths, and consider what you have to be thankful for. Listing three to five things is nice, but one will do.
  • Post about gratitude on your blog. If you don’t have your own blog, go ahead and write about what you are thankful for in the comments here instead.
  • If you blog, please link back here or leave a comment.
  • Feel free to tag other bloggers, if you like to do that, but it’s not necessary. This is not a meme that obligates you to do anything, but look for gratitude. Oh, and link back, and comment, that’s all I ask.

    • Visit these other blogs that often participate in Thankful Thursday:

     

  • Tired Dog Ranch
  • Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch
  • Earth Dancer Spanish Mustangs
  • The Pony Expression
  • From the Horse’s Back

    • Thankful Thursday again!

    May 122011
     

    Homage (work in progress)


    It’s been a long time, far too long, since my last TT post. I was riding Lily down below Mt. Pisgah last week, thinking about a time over twenty years ago. I had moved to Eugene and used to come hike up the mountain here, all the time wishing that I could be riding. Now, I can. And with summer coming, there is more light in the evening and better weather. Lily is relatively sound now and needs the riding to gain fitness. She’s enjoying it too. It’s a simple pleasure to ride out alone with my good friend and partner, my mare.


    This painting here is an exploration in using acrylics. I don’t think that it’s finished yet. This was a first pass. The contour of the hill came from my memory. Without thinking of it, the shape is very similar to Mt. Pisgah. I see it nearly daily while driving towards the freeway and work. It’s often shrouded in fog or clouds and sometimes lit from behind by the rising sun. It’s very often a spectacular and breathtaking view. I guess it’s burned into my visual imagery.

    More about my painting exploration can be found on my art blog.

    Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

    Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

    How:

  • Sit back, take a few deep breaths, and consider what you have to be thankful for. Listing three to five things is nice, but one will do.
  • Post about gratitude on your blog. If you don’t have your own blog, go ahead and write about what you are thankful for in the comments here instead.
  • If you blog, please link back here or leave a comment.
  • Feel free to tag other bloggers, if you like to do that, but it’s not necessary. This is not a meme that obligates you to do anything, but look for gratitude. Oh, and link back, and comment, that’s all I ask.

    • Visit these other blogs that often participate in Thankful Thursday:

     

  • Tired Dog Ranch
  • Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch
  • Earth Dancer Spanish Mustangs
  • The Pony Expression
  • From the Horse’s Back

    • Spring transitions

    Apr 022011
     

    We have been working on our house for the last few weeks. Part of that included pulling everything from the built in bookshelves in the living room. In the course of pulling them down and stacking them, I found all sorts of treasures.

    Some of my favorite childhood books went off to a book conservator for repair. I want to be able to read them to children in the future, just like they were read to me. Most are by Maud & Mishka Petersham, but there are also my early editions of Alice and Through the Looking Glass with the original illustrations. I am so glad that I have carried these around through the years.

    My husband picked out a small book that I must have bought at a used bookstore somewhere. It has interesting construction with each page folder over on itself like an accordion. It was published in 1926 in Boston. The illustrations are reminiscent of the Craftsman period with art deco sort of curves and flourishes. The title is The House by the Side of The Road by Sam Walter Foss. What follows is the text from the first, middle and last pages.

    “There are hermit souls
    that live withdrawn
    In the peace of their
    self-content.
    There are souls like stars,
    that dwell apart
    In a fellowless firmament;
    There are pioneer souls that
    blaze their paths
    Where highways never ran;
    But let me live by the
    side of the road
    And be a friend to man.

    I see from my house by
    the side of the road
    By the side of the
    highway of life,
    The men who press with the
    ardor of hope
    The men who are faint with strife
    But I turn not away from
    their smiles nor their tears
    Both, parts of an infinite plan,
    Let me live in my house
    by the side of the road
    And be a friend to man.

    Let me live in my house
    by the side of the road
    Where the race of men go by
    They are good, they are bad,
    They are weak, they are strong,
    Wise, foolish — so am I
    Then why should I sit in
    the scorner’s seat
    Or hurl the cynic’s ban?
    Let me live in my house
    by the side of the road,
    And be a friend to man.

    I have a feeling that this year will end quite differently than it has begun.

    Sasha – first month

    Feb 042011
     

    Sunday 1/16 – I took Sasha for a walk down the road to Three Cedars arena to show her some new sights. Lily called for her, but Sasha was fine. She was alert and a bit nervous, but behaved very well. We stopped and chatted with people; I hosed off her muddy legs in the hot water wash rack and lunged her a few turns in the arena. There were people and horses around and she took it all in stride. Next time we go to Three Cedars, she will have a saddle on. :)

    Saturday 1/22 – Rachel and I went out and I ponied Sasha for the first time. She was a gem. She’s obviously done this before. Lily was full of energy and I had to pay more attention to her than Sasha. We mostly walked, but trotted some too. I hardly had to think about Sasha back there. We went down the road with traffic, over the bridge with the Willamette rushing below, barking dogs, yahoos spinning gravel in the trailhead parking lot and she only spooked once.

    Well, I didn’t get to finish this post in time to get it online in week three of her being with me. Instead I’ve been consumed by another project. We have decided to redo our kitchen, along with a bunch of other smaller home improvements. Our cabinets have been slowly self destructing over the years, so it’s high time. We should have new, custom cabinets soon, so demolition will be in order this week. After the cabinets are in, I’ll be doing the counters and tiling myself. All this means that I don’t foresee a lot of horse time.

    I tried to tell Lily why I haven’t been around so much, but I don’t think that she understands kitchens so much. She puts her head down for me to rub her ears and sighs. I’ve been to the barn maybe twice a week lately and not ridden since our ponying session. I don’t think that the girls really mind. They have food, good care, daily turnout and the company of each other.

    I have worked with Sasha a couple more times, just things like catching and grooming her, seeing how she is with clippers (great! – she lost her long chin hairs.), and taking both mares out for a walk and grazing. She still doesn’t like me to catch her sometimes. Though I think that she is getting used to having me around.

    Here are some shots of her modeling my bosalito … and dirt.



    I am really looking forward to getting more beauty shots of Sasha this summer, when she is shed out, clean and has picked up more weight.

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