natures beauty

i love fall...

and the country side beauty.

and the barn..

and this magnificent lovely lilly



some action shots as lilly was running towards me.

i have been riding since i was three years old. my mom fastened me onto a horse, gave me a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and sent me on my way. i've never been thrown (knockonwood) and i've never ridden a horse i couldn't handle. lilly is our sixth horse and probably the best one yet.

ronnie, our first horse was a WILD, dapple, fiery arab who was not the ideal first horse for a child, but we made it work.

butch, the second was even worse. he was a HUGE 16 hand, dark bay, american quarter horse who was $3,000. we traveled to indiana to go get him. when i was little andrea ratike and i were riding him and he decided to roll. we had honestly just jumped off in time to avoid the horrible injuries he would of inflected with his 1000lbs+ body.

quincy, the thrid was another expensive bay, american quarter horse who was LARGE and naughty. he used to brake the horse trailer and back out of it with his extra large ass. he broke many lead ropes and crushed my toes plenty of times.

catch was my first horse. he was very old and actually had cancer. he was the perfect horse for me, fast when needed, but slow and steady. he was so trusting and so patient with me. we ended up giving him away to a farm with young kids where he could live out the rest of his years. PS- my mom gave him away without telling me... i'll never forgive her for that... annnnd i let her know all the time.

tyrnnery-lilly's mama was my favorite. she looked so similar to lilly.. and as crazy as lilly is too. she was the fastest horse but so mild. she did everything i asked her to, climbed up sleep rocks, swam in many lakes and rivers and bore to little fillies. sadly, tyrnnery was infected with west nile and had to be put down. watching her be hauled off into that trailer was one of the hardest things i've ever done.

and that brings us to lilly. my mom and i have raised her since she was born, doing her imprinting, working with the lead and now we're working her to be better than the best. she is now six years old, a dapple quarter horse-arab who is as spunky as the day is long. she can move as fast as lightning and can throw her hind end up in the air higher than i've ever seen. she is amazing. she's been trained with the amish down south to ride and pull and will continue her training this spring in howard lake. i look forward to hopping on her two times a week this spring and making her all she can be. i looove her!