Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Today my favorite school horse and first horsey love, Terlago, goes up to heaven. He is a 33 year old, 14.1 hand gray Arabian gelding who stole my heart the first time I laid eyes on him sixteen years ago. He was a halter champion in his younger years but found his true calling as a teacher; helping children, adults and the disabled fall in love with horses. He was a versatile guy who could go English or Western, but he loved the challenges of Country English Pleasure, jumping and gaming and was a showstopper in a dark blue native costume.

Here is the only photo I could dig up of Lago - this is he and I at a barn schooling show in 1997. He is the very foundation of my love of horses, as well as my enduring appreciation for Arabians. His passing leaves a huge hole in my heart and I know he will never be replaced. But it is his time to go home now, and be relieved of the infirmaties of old age. We'll miss you, handsome boy!


In the quiet misty morning
When the moon has gone to bed
When the sparrows stop their singing
And the sky is clear and red,

When the summer's ceased its gleaning
When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure's lost its meaning -
I'll be homeward bound in time

Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow

If you find it's me you're missing
If you're hoping I'll return,
To your thoughts I'll soon be listing,
In the road I'll stop and turn

Then the wind will set me racing
As my journey nears its end
And the path I'll be retracing
When I'm homeward bound again

Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow

Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow

In the quiet misty morning when
the moon has gone to bed.
when the sparrows stop there singing....
I'll be homeward bound again

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Had to post photos separately for some reason...











It's getting tougher and tougher...

It's getting really hard to be at the barn these days.
I get tired SO easily, it's hard to get anything done with this tummy in the way, hardly ANY of my barn clothes fit and...well...sometimes I get really bummed out. It's tough to watch my friends, my horsey family, carry on with riding and training while I am stuck on the sidelines. I try not to be too much of a downer, but sometimes it feels like what I imagine a recovering alcoholic would feel like if he or she went into a bar. Maybe that's a weird way to think of it, but *shrug* there it is.
It's made all the more difficult by Keenan's attitude. I love that horse to death but MAN has he gotten cranky with me! Actually, it's not so much cranky as impatient. When I go out to see him, it's as if he can't decide whether he misses me or he's angry at me. It's actually kind of funny to be around him - he's trying to nip my shoulder and cuddle up to me at the same time. He wants to be loved but he also wants to punish me for "abandoning" him. He glares at my tummy, too - he's not sure how it works, but he knows that we haven't gone for a ride in over three months now, and that that bump has something to do with it!
Thankfully, Rapper is going about all this in exactly the opposite way. He's totally seeing this from a glass-half-full perspective. Mom's not riding me? No problem, I get to play outside more and torture Anna and Sophie! Mom's only visits once a week? No problem, I have Armando to annoy! He's happy to see me but he's not being a drama queen or trying to convince me that his world is coming to an end. Thank goodness!
I'm about a week and a half away from my due date and, pardon the phrase, chomping at the bit to get this pregnancy over with! For one thing, I am getting extremely uncomfortable - for another, IT'S ALMOST HORSE SHOW SEASON! I spent all last Friday at the Mother's Day Classic here in Eugene and it was wonderful/heartbreaking. I can't wait to ride again OR to show off my adorable baby boy to the rest of the Wilsonville gang!