Happy 15th Birthday to my mare Rayn! (newsletter)

Happy Saturday friends!

Ahhhhh...spring, ups and downs, beautiful and crazy weather. Wait...isn't it March that's supposed to be in like a lion and out like a lamb? Maybe in the south that's May?

We do get gorgeous 70-80 degree days:

And then this the next moment:

It was hot so the horses were happy to stand out in the rain and cool off. Not the donkey though. That is a SAD donkey. Loyal to the core, he wouldn't leave his herd, even though he was miserable, soaked to the skin, and there was lightning popping all around. FYI, they could have gone into their barn!

Speaking of the barn, it's now in working condition, I'm coaching again! Hip hip hooray! If you're local (Triangle are of NC), or would like to fly in for a coaching intensive, shoot me a text or give me a call 720-635-7015. First session is just $100 ($25 off!)

B-Rad worked so hard these last few weeks getting it ready, including through that icky, humid heatwave.

The base of my coaching area is hard packed clay, then "screenings" which is very fine gravel. He had to put in a layer of clay and pack it down by rolling over it with the tractor, then the final layer of clay was packed. Same with the screenings, except there was another step of leveling and putting in a very slight slope so if any storm water came in, it would shed off.

Of course the forty eight, 100 pound mats had to be installed on the hottest days. If you ever have to move mats, these little blue "handles" make all the difference in the world:

This is about half of them installed and waiting to be trimmed to fit exactly. It was super awesome for B-Rad to find out that while these are all said to be 4x6', some were actually 4x6'2" Gawd. That would have driven me nuts! Being 3/4" rubber, they are pretty hard to cut. What a chore.

After the floor was finished he created a stall door:

There aren't yet stalls on the other side of that door, just a huge 12'x40' run in. We don't yet know if there will ever be "stalls" but we have the ability if we need to. It sure is nice to switch out horses or the donkey in with coaching clients, or bring the girl goats in from their little attached barn. It's all in one space, and just perfect for what I do and how I work!

ART:

I've been painting again! This is a new commission, meet cute little Rocco, the Boston Terrier:

FUNNY GOATS:

With all the rain, this tree has drooped over into the buck's pen: 

If you ever want to freak yourself out, check out this black horned goat just walking casually around on his back legs!

Dancer was her crazy self this week! She's continuing to jump on all the goat's backs and I guess they are just getting used to it and standing there letting her do it:

I guess it was Angel Kiss's turn to be the "horse." Dancer's mom is at the bottom of the picture rolling her eyes and saying, "Better you than me."

And THEN the little Wild Child took on Aunt Denali!

I actually heard her yell, "Bring it old la-a-a-a-a-dy!"

Denali (who is only 5) was NOT amused:

The little button pusher wouldn't stop so Denali told her who was boss:

Didn't make a hill of beans difference to Dancer though:


And then there's Charlotte. She's so...quirky lol

I don't know HOW she does this. She always has though. She heard we did goat yoga and thought it referred to HER.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY TO MY RAYNIE MARE:

Rayn was born May 26th, 2007 and is mostly Andalusian. Her father was a grey (white) and her mom was chestnut (red). Together they made this little light bay (reddish body, black legs, mane, tail) filly. For her birthday she coached with me and was so loving :-)

I bought her in 2012 as a 5 year old. She was a green horse, meaning she hadn't had much training and I was a green rider, being 43 and not having my own horse since I was a teenager. Everyone told me, "Green and green equals black and blue." But we knew when we met that we were supposed to be together. At this phase in her life her color was known as a "dappled rose grey." Dapples are the lighter colored circles in her coat.

Meeting my brother for the first time in 2016. Continuing to get lighter.

In 2018 at a retreat for moms with special needs kids—still had dapples but they were starting to fade into the white hair a bit:

Rayn now. I would guess she will probably always look like this, with little flecks of the red through her coat. I don't really see her dapples anymore darn it, that was my favorite version I think :-) This coat is called, "flea bitten grey," and Raynie and I don't like that name lol

ODDS AND ENDS:

I got to meet this beautiful creature twice this week and both on days I was coaching! I thought it was a good sign. It's called a Rough Green Snake and it's diet is insects and spiders—my kind of snake. It is the skinniest snake I've ever seen, not much bigger around than a pencil and about 2' long. Apparently you can pick them up, they are very docile. Don't be surprised if you see me with a snake in my hands in the future! I just love this picture, it's so cute, like a Disney snake :-)

When I think of snakes, I think of change. I hopped on over to my favorite animal totem site and one of the things that caught my eye was this passage since I was just talking about metamorphosis and tree frogs a couple weeks ago:

In the keen Celtic mind, snake symbolic meaning of transformation came from the shedding of its skin. Physical evidence of leaving its form behind (casting off the old self), and emerging a sleeker, newer version made the snake a powerful symbol of rebirth and renewal.

It all fits right? As my business begins to grow, I'm for sure shedding off old ways of doing things and I like the idea of emerging as a sleeker version of myself and my business.

I can't get through a post without giving you a little update on the babies. Still 4 of them. Still doing great. Brad finally came up with a theory about how these parents managed to hatch out babies when none of the others could. He saw them one evening, walking through the lower pasture, going under the fence, and marching along in single file out into the forest. One parent in front and one in back, babies sandwiched in between. There is another pond way back in the woods and we think that's where these babies were born:

I don't think it's ever going to stop coming out of her:

Don't worry, she's inside in the air conditioning during the day. I think she loves my mom so much because mom knows that Tessa is a princess, NOT a dog:

This baby though, she hardly sheds at all. It's lovely:

See? It's best when you DON'T make the bed:


More new wildflowers I've never seen before:

I particularly like Tessa's hair stuck to this one:

I know you wanted to see these wet donkey ears! His summer coat is coming in, you can see how smooth and soft the base of his ears are now:

MEMES OF THE WEEK:

Or goat...

I can't stop laughing about this one:

And while this isn't funny, my Inner Voice said to include this, which means someone who reads this newsletter needs to see it:

GIVEAWAY:

This is a two week giveaway, the winner will be announced next week!

See all of the prints of my original watercolors in my Etsy store!

Thank you for reading :-) My blog is reader-supported—that's you my wonderful friends! The best way to support my work locally (Research Triangle area of NC) is:

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