Happy Belated-Birthday Chester!

This is a SUPER late Birthday post for Chester!



                                      Happy 22nd Birthday Chester!

Chester's birthday was on Sunday the 13th. April 13th 1992, my horsey friend was born. And not for another three years would I be born and then not for another sixteen would we meet each other and become friends. God knew all along that my first horse would be Chester. And I am so glad I waited for the Lord's timing and for the right horse. You have brought me so much joy Chester!
Here are some of my favorite pictures. 

                                                                      Sleepy pony...

First time ever tacking him up!

                              

                                          One of the few action pictures I have of him.

This last picture is from our first photo shoot together. When I was getting the camera he rolled in the snow. He hadn't rolled all morning when I was at church; he had to do it right before we took pictures! =) (That's why that one side of his neck is wet.)

Oh Boy....I'm Sorry!

Wow, I'm so sorry I have been such a slacker on blog posting! I will admit....Instagram as gotten the attention instead.
We have been having some nice weather recently. (Where the sun is shining and the air is warmer.) Which means things are drying up. Like, the round pen!! Last week I worked him three times and rode him twice! (I am so excited for this summer!) Just after working him four times, (really only two main times, the other two were really "short workouts") Chester is loads better! He is much calmer now, not as hyper and is respecting me more. There was a little bit there where I was very nervous about taking him out of his yard. Because when I did he would get really energetic and there was a couple times he got so excited about being out and had so much energy that he started bucking and kicking. Not aggressively, just out of pure excitement and joy.
Don't get me wrong, he still has lots of energy, but isn't having those bucking "episodes". Which I am very happy about as those scared me. I tell you, he is in Great shape for an older guy! =)

I was so happy to get on him and ride around. It's been awhile since I had a ride like that. I have to say though, I have only ridden him one other time this winter. Besides practicing jumping up on him bareback. =) 
I was going to work and ride him the other day but was pleasantly reminded that a little rain around here goes far! We had gotten a little rain the night before so the round pen was just a little to wet to work in. He slid around while trying to trot on the lunge line. So since I already was doing good with him that week having had him out twice-worked and rode him- I figured it would be fine if we called it a day and I let him pop all the heads off the dandelions that have sprung up recently. :)

Silly Fun

I love this picture right now! It's clear, it's unique, he's not in a "perfect" stance, I put a filter on it, and it just looks so good! I LOVE it! =)

This one is just a fun goofy picture. I got the idea from Kalin. (Thanks Kalin!) ;) I think it's fun to have some random photo shoots with your horse. Whether nice pictures, goofy pictures, fun pictures or even everyday pictures. =) They help keep those memories and fun adventures alive! You all should know by know that I LOVE pictures! I take tons of them! I can't just take one! =)

Here's the first try at it and it didn't turn out as good. I think it's kinda fun that he has his tongue out though. =)

Do you guys have any fun ways or pictures you take with your horse?

Oh, and by the way, I changed my instagram account to @wind_sparrow. Do you guys like that? For the life of me, I could decided on a name! I didn't know whether I should go goofy, serious or something that has to do with my name. Too many choices! :) I'm sticking with wind sparrow for now though.

Sunny Spring Days

Spring is here and so is spring grass! This is the time of year when we all watch our horses to make sure they don't eat too much. Around here, the grass is growing fast and it's sweet and fresh! Spring grass can = colic or founder to many horses.
I put up a little fenced area for Chester and let him eat for a little bit. It was a beautiful day and quite warm! He enjoyed it and gobbled that grass quite fast and yet very alert to what was going on around him. The way I put up the fence, he could go back and forth from his yard to the little grassy area. He ran in once when he got spooked because my mom was pulling some blackberry bushes out of a tree. But I went and got him and he happily went back in and started munching again. Silly boy!

On Sunday though....I let him out again and he did much better. He did run back into his yard when a big noisy truck was trying to get into someones driveway. But after that he got so comfortable that I couldn't get him back in his yard. =)

                                 Here is the biggest tree on our property. It's a biggy!


                                                          Beautiful thing, aint it?

There's my fat pony...he's gained a lot of weight this winter. And I'm very happy about it! =)

As you might guess, he loves to roll in the mud. But what horse doesn't? I have yet to meet a horse that doesn't.

                          Ya, he's dirty. Dirty and happy! He's been much worse though....

Right behind him, you can see where he can go back into his yard. This is just a little temporary area where he can get used to eating and what not. I'll take it down soon. (My mom doesn't want the yard to turn to mud. I agree...) =)

                                                              Look at that belly! =)

                                                         This is just SO goood!

Here are the goats right below him.

"Hey, I thought you were taking pictures of me!" I was Chester, but I have to give the goats some attention too!

Here you can see it all in perspective. That's his trailer and the main gate I use to take him out of his yard, is to the right of that over turned black bucket.

                                                          This is from the drive way.

The round pen is almost dry. When it is, I will hopefully be doing lots of ground work and some simple riding. Chester has lots of energy so it will be a bit of a challenge to work him, plus, he needs to remember to respect me. I'm so excited though to get back into riding and working him! =)

A Little Randomness

I did it, I got an instagram account. I have been thinking about it for awhile and finally decided to do it. It's not just horse stuff, but I will be posting lots of horse stuff on there; so if any of you are on Instagram, I would love a follow!
Right now it's called bitbybits but I am thinking of changeing it...not sure though.

Ya'll have a great safe weekend! I have some fun posts coming up with lots of pictures!

Sunday Pictures!

The farrier came this morning; SO glad that it's done for another two months! You know what's weird though, is that when you have something scheduled for two months away, those two months fly by!
It's crazy how that happens. It seems like he comes more often then six times a year. Which, he could if we did seven weeks instead of eight weeks, here or there. But anyways! =)

Chester did great! He hadn't had breakfast so he could have been a little more patient. But he did really good. I haven't before, but today I decided to stick some peppermint treats in my pocket to give him while he had his hooves done because he hadn't had breakfast. He really enjoyed them and gobbled them up! At one point, since I wasn't giving him any more, he started giving me kisses and wouldn't stop. He was trying hard to get more treats and he knew that normally if he came me a kiss he would get a treat. =) He was so cute!

One Sunday I went out with my sister and took some pictures with Chester. We didn't really have a nice camera so a lot of them were blurry. Yet, we did get some good ones and thanks to Fotor I put some tints/filters on some of them and that really helped! =)
First I'll get the selfies out of the way! You gotta have those! (Actually, a little side note here, I didn't take selfies until I had a horse...hmm.) =)

                                                  "Can I please have a treat, mom!"

                                            Cheese! "Does that camera give treats?"

                                             See the mud? Uh-huh. Yep. Washington.

That's my boy! Tongue is always out! =) Right there he looks like he was licking and chewing. Sometimes though he just leaves it hanging out. (He's SO cute!)

                                                         " Hey there...I'm cute!"
                                                             

Annies Asteroid

I have been a slacker....I know. But when there are horse adventures to be told, I will tell.
I did have someone over the other day that wanted to brush up on their horse grooming and tacking skills. Chester did great! He did try to sneak off when I was busy talking to someone....but I saw him. ;)
I "weighed" him the other day with my weight tape, and he has gained about 100 pounds since the last time I "weighed" him which was maybe a year ago? I can't remember. =)
He actually doesn't like the weight tape. So after he ran around his yard not letting me get within twenty feet of him, I set down the weight tape and got his halter and he submitted to me. When he has his halter on he switches from a free roaming pony in his yard, to, a pony that's like, ok what are we going to do?
I do groom him free though....I don't always put on his halter when I'm doing stuff with him in his yard. Anyways, back to the weight tape. Once I had him standing there I put the weight tape around his heart girth area and lined it up and what not. I wasn't sure what numbers to look at so I read the directions out loud while holding the tape on him. He wasn't super comfortable but he was standing there quietly and being a good boy. As I was reading the directions a loud I came across, "make sure the horse is not holding it's breath." I looked at Chester and asked, "are you holding your breath?" He was looking straight ahead, not moving a muscle, eyes open a little wider then normal and wasn't blinking. I told him, "I think you're holding your breath".  He did great and I was able to finish and when I was done gave him some peppermint treats. (Actually, before I "weighed" him, I gave him a peppermint treat in the same hand that I was holding the scary white thing.) =)

I then went on to de-worm him. He did great for that too. I'm not an expert at giving him stuff orally. He was totally relaxed about oral stuff when I got him but has since taken to not liking it. I think it might be because I'm "newer" at it? It's not that hard to do though....so maybe not.

Alright, you are probably wondering what Annies Asteroid as to do with this post. Well, I wanted to share a game with you all! It's called Annies Asteroid. My dad made it! You can down load it for free off Itunes. It's made for a phone or Ipad, so if you don't have one I don't think you can get it. (If you don't have a phone I totally understand. I just got my first phone a few months ago, and I'm eighteen.) =) If any of you check it out or get it, let me know what you think! Go Here to see it.
 I think it's really fun and can get addicting once you get the hang of it. Please pass on the word! Enjoy!