Went to Deerfield fair and it rained and it rained and it rained..... wasnt much going on .. a lot less competitors this year I think due to the weather for the whole weekend ..... RAIN. But then by the time we got back home it had cleared but still humid, so I saddled up Bandit and rode him and worked on sidepassing, which we have trouble with, then I just let him have his head and we went for a leisure ride out back, I was just going to ride him out thru the back field but he turned down the trail into the woods (where he has only been once) (what a memory) and we went for our short trail ride in the woods. A good ride!
We were supposed to go to fair again tomorrow with Buckshot but I think we have all decided that its not worth getting soaked for when there probably wont be anything going on due to weather and slippery ground for horses.... good day to curl up with a book.

Its almost the end of September and its 75 out here today, whats up with that? Going to Deerfield fair tomorrow, and of course its going to rain, oh well, going anyway.

Bailey was thirsty!

My name is Bandit, give my "mom" all your chocolate and noone will get hurt!

Today is my birthday, went shopping last night and bought myself a chocolate cake and took it to work today to share with friends and co workers. It was actually pretty good. It was busy at work today, cool weather is finally here, Yahoo!

Put the horses out this morning, cleaned Bandits stall, ate breakfast, got ready for work, worked from 10 am -6 pm. Home by 6:45, brought horses in around 7:15, they were a little sweaty. It was hot and humid here today. Put the fan on Bandit , his back end was sweaty again, I hope he doesnt have something going on.... Farrier comes tuesday, will ask her some questions about it, also may need to see if he needs shoes on his front feet. He paws so much that he wears down his "toes" on the front feet. Hmmm.... boys!!!

Well, Bandit seems fine and this morning he was ready to go out! So I am going to blame it on the weather change. I dont know where he originally came from so I am hoping he will grow a good winter coat this year. What a beautiful moon out tonight!

Planned on riding Bandit after work, but got home, had to clean stalls, scrub and refill water tubs, bring horses in and then my friend Deb and I went to Strafford farms for dinner to celebrate our birthdays. Mine is this month and Debs is in November. Looking forward to going to Deerfield fair next week.
Kinda concerned about Bandit tonight, i noticed when i was filling water tub that Bandit was a little sweaty around his hips, I just figured it was from him running around in 82 degree weather in September! But... still tonight at 9 pm he was still sweaty and warm but he had already pooped twice, and had an appetite and his gums are nice and pink.... will check on him later...
Got a nice letter from Jung In today. She is back in school in WA and doesnt like the gloomy rainy weather. I miss her and Linda alot!

Bandit enjoying his hay after being so good for me.

backing and pulling sled but it tipped on me but we got the job done anyway

weaved poles, crossed bridge, went over logs, weaving backwards was a little harder but we made it.

kiddie pool with water and plastic bottles, no problem, rope hanging with bells and stuff, no problem after doing our 3rd one, a good day all around

Bandit did really good today at trail challenge. Had a good time. will post pics tomorrow...

What a week! Last thursday when i left work I could've sworn i was working 2-10 on tues and wed, well, tues morning came and i got a phone call from work asking where i was, i said home(obviously if i answered the phone), they said i was supposed to be at work for 10am, it was now 10:06,... I made it there at 10:35. I think i did pretty good, seeing that i wasnt ready at all and Fred had taken my car which meant i had to drive his truck... then wednesday night i had 4dollars in canadian in my pocket that i had cleaned off my coffee table. I cashed it in along with a 5 dollar bill from a patron. Turns out i put the whole 9 dollars into my cash tray instead of giving myself back my 4 dollars aaargh!!!! Oh well, i guess the turnpike can use the extra, but that will also make my account off!!! Thankfully last night went much better! We will see what tonight brings.
I am going to go play on Sunday with Bandit at another versatility challenge in Saco. Should be fun to see what they come up with for challenges. Must go clean stalls now and then to lunch with Pete and Deb, Peter is making fish chowder, yummy!

Went to Oxford fair today, not too much to see, enjoyed talking to a lady doing pottery and a man that was 90 and had just celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary. He was quite a character to talk to. He was or is still a blacksmith and he also does some woodworking. He used to have 6 draft horses and he used to do shoeing some time ago. I was walking around fair in a short sleeve tshirt and other people there had sweatshirts and jackets on. This is my kind of weather!

Had a good ride on my dirty horse, what long legs he has, after ride, hosed him down and of course he had to find some dirt in pasture to roll in.

Wild flowers:weeds. Fred bringing in Bandit, Bud stretching for carrots.

The many faces of Fred.

Bailey looking for a cookie, Bailey resting while we cleaned stalls.

Got to ride Bandit today out thru the trail in woods, he did very good, walked the same pace going in as coming back out!

Friday... Yahoo! Got up and put the horses out, had my usual muffin and choc milk. Friends ..Kristen and Scott came to visit, Kristen helped with finishing cleaning the stalls. Got my haircut, went out to lunch with K and S and Fred. Went and got grain for horses, fuel for my car, dessert for my body at Strafford Farms, grocery shopping and then home and put the groceries away, i hate that part of it. Played on computer, brought horses in, Fred got mad at me cause I got mad at him for always feeding the horses cookies while I am trying to halter the both of them and possibly being squished cause they both want to be at the gate with him and i kept backing them up. So, he says next time you bring them in by your self, I said fine if you want them to walk thru the fence then so be it. I also threw at him that if he was that concerned about how i handled them , I asked when the last time was that he groomed his horse?? No answer. Hmmm! So... needing therapy, I put Bandit on crossties, gave him a good grooming, brushed out his mane and tail, picked his feet which he is getting better at picking them up for me. Put him in his stall then brought Bud out and gave him the same treatment. Had to put some cowboy magic in his tail to get the snarls out... fed them their hay and went back to house. Cleaned kitchen, peeled potatoes, made beef stew in crockpot and went to sleep after midnight sometime.

Saturday, nice and cool this morning, loving this weather! Walked both horses together up driveway to another pasture. They behaved very well. Came back in and had my muffin and choc milk. YUM! Lazy morning, now i must get my butt in gear and get something accomplished!

well, its soon to be thursday, my seventh day in a row of working then..... i have 4 days off.. YAHOO! Hope to get some riding in this weekend, probably on Bandit. Loving this cool weather, although today reached 81, hopefully no more of that... Thunder and lightning this morning when i got to work. If you dont like the weather in Maine , just wait a minute or hour and it will change.... so long....

I know i have said I would not ride Bud again, but tonight I got on him , first time since spring and my last fall off of him. Had him walk and trot and then did a little canter but it hurt my back. Fred bought him a different bit, something like his driving bit, so I wanted to see how much more he would pay attention to it. I just need to learn to relax on him cause i am so afraid of coming off of him again. My back cant take another fall. When i dismounted tonight I jarred my back bad and was in a lot of pain, but I will make it thru it. The weather is so nice now, I am loving it!

Hurricane Earl you wimp, what happened?? Hopefully what ever comes will bring the temps down. I am so ready for fall weather!!!

Took Bandit up to the local tack shop and had the owner check his saddle fit. Buds draft saddle fits him the best, then my Wade tree, the one i had for Ginger is pinching his shoulders and i think that is why he started tossing his head everytime I would saddle him. He was expecting pain. I also learned I was placing the saddle too far back of his shoulders, so once the cooler weather gets here, hopefully this weekend, I will try positioning the saddle better. I also picked up a breast collar to hook to the saddle. This winter I want to try skijoring with him or pulling something or someone behind him and I dont want it pulling the saddle back. Hopefully next year I am going to try to teach him to drive. I need to ride him some more and work with leg yields, side pass, etc... Hopefully it will be a mild winter and no ice so I can get some riding in...