New Ponies and ART SALE!

Nov 02, 2024

Happy Saturday friends!

The ponies are here! The ponies are here! Yippee!!! Here's the story!
I had heard that Jordan (the chestnut (red) gelding) could be hard to catch but Sara the boarding facility owner was able to get them both haltered up without an issue:

They both hopped onto the horse trailer like it was no big deal at all! If you remember back in Colorado, I used positive reinforcement to teach the Rayn and Wynter to get on the trailer and I wondered which it would be in this situation: if I would have to come back with these two and train them or if the communication I had been having with them would have them wanting to come with me? Whew. It was a 45 minute drive home and then they hopped back off the trailer and walked calmly down to the pasture.

Their first meeting with the herd, over the fence:

The larger chestnut is a new boarded mare, "Cash." She's 25 and typically calm—although she did want to show some dominance over Tori (my pinto pony, also a mare) who couldn't have cared less. Cash kept reaching out with pinned ears and teeth but Tori would just walk away.

Cash and Jordan struck up a quick friendship over the fence:

These are American Shetland Ponies (I talked about the differences here) and the minis are just shrunk down versions of this breed from what I understand. I really like their size! Tall enough to easily groom and not have to feel like you need to squat down, small enough to look in the eye when you're sitting:

Pretty girl Tori is mine. Jordan's mom will keep his ownership with her because she wants to make sure he's okay. He's had a couple of crappy situations in the past–starvation and neglect. He's a sweetheart, hard to imagine anyone hurting him in any way.

On Sunday B-Rad, ManChild, and I took the dogs and the ponies out for a walk around the pond and then because they did so well, we went down to make a big loop in the forest. They just walked along with us like it was no big deal again. I'm so interested in their ability to take new stuff in stride!

I'm so happy with how much ManChild loves these two! He loved our first farm, he was 9 when we moved there. At 10, while helping with chores, he was kicked by a boarded horse. A glancing blow thank goodness but he ended up with bruised ribs. He continued to love the goats but stayed away from the horses from that point on. He loves the mini donkeys too but the bigs are just too much. I get it. I've not been the same since a big horse mowed me down 5 years ago.

I was able to brush them both, easily and brush out Tori's mane and tail. Jordan didn't want me messing with either his mane or tail, so either extra sensitive or someone wasn't nice to him. You can see in the photos that his bridle path is overgrown and sticks straight up. The bridle path is a shaved area that some horse owners do and is just behind the ears like this:

Makes it so the mane doesn't get tangled up when you're putting a halter or bridle on. It doesn't matter to me and shaving is just additional upkeep but since Tori's is already done, I'll probably keep hers shaved. What do you think? Should I shave Jordan's or just let that Mohawk section keep growing until it falls over?

His mane was a little disheveled, long sections, shorter sections, and some dredlocked sections and I didn’t want to mess with it yet, I figured I’d just take it in bits over time. Then Bonnie came on Thursday and Jordan stood still and let her brush it completely out! Bonnie has the magic touch :-)

She also sent me a photo from when she got to hang out with him while he was resting:

So, here's what I re-learned/remembered: Positive change is good and dopamine is king. I've always been someone who has had a piece of me that wanted to stay home and "kiss the walls" (as Mom would say about me) and another piece of me that likes the new, different, challenging (like whitewater kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, barefoot running, cycling, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs. I mean dogs could be their own complete section: flyball, agility, clicker training, learning to work sheep with my Border Collies.

A couple of years ago when I learned I had ADHD I finally could put a brain difference down for the reason all of the above is true. This year, when I learned I was autistic, I finally could put a brain difference to the other half of me: the wall kisser, the lover of sameness and routine.

Both parts are valid and important in my life, I can’t live just one way—not happily anyway. Is it sometimes frustrating? Yes but knowing the “why” has been super helpful. These two new additions have brought a lot of happy to the farm this week both because of their sweetness but also because of the new and different, the positive change which gives me a lovely dopamine boost! I have to find a way (good NLP Neuro Linguistic Programing says: I WILL find a way) to remember this feeling and keep incorporating positive change in my life. Otherwise the sameness of life will just depress the hell out of the half of my brain that is ADHD.

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Oliver (Parsley and Rosemary’s father) has been sold and went to enjoy new girlfriends on a farm in Durham. He left Sunday. We are one step closer to getting our other buck, sweet Poppy fixed and living with the girl goats!

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As I was writing this newsletter Thursday afternoon, I was sitting out in the pasture with the ponies. They hung out with me for a bit:

And then they left me to write:

Wynter was standing with his head over the fence as far as he could get it, he was desperate to be introduced for real, not just over the fence. So during evening chores I put the three of them in the upper pasture together, absolutely nothing happened and they were fine when I checked late that night too.

I wonder how long it will take for me to feel safe enough to introduce the donkeys to the ponies? All I can think of is the first time the donkeys met and that was a little frightening.

But then...when we went out for morning chores things changed. I'll start with: everyone is fine, no one got hurt! I walked out and called to Wynter and the ponies and they all came trotting up. Suddenly Wynter turned and chased them away, luckily the ponies are fast and being small can turn on a dime—and Wynter being a draft cross is neither fast or able to turn quickly. He kept chasing them for about a minute and even reached out with teeth once! OMG! When I went to the gate, he came right over and I took him out of there. Jealous maybe? I was shocked! He has always been so wonderful with the mini donkeys!

They are happy enough in their little pasture and barn for now:

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B-Rad caught a few pics of me and Tori:

See how perfect her size is? She fits right under my arm:

There is a feel to Tori...she feels familiar. Yes, a little like Rayn but...something else...maybe I knew her in a past life :-) Or, maybe, like my friend Katie says, she's of the same spiritual lineage as Rayn? Whatever it is, I just feel thankful.

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CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER!!!

Who do you have to buy Christmas presents for this year? I mean, YOU of course ;-) But who else?

I'll post more art this week: goats, dogs, cats, bears, rabbits, pigs, elephants, cows, mice, squirrels, deer, and more!

I'll start with horses in this post. This first section are all originals. I will put the info underneath each image:

Andalusian Stallion, original 12x16", watercolor on watercolor paper, $250.
Gicleé print: 9x12", $30

Two Andalusian Stallions, original 12x16", watercolor on watercolor paper, $250.
Gicleé print: 9x12", $30

Dreaming Girl on Horse, original 12x16", mixed media on watercolor paper, $250.
Gicleé print: 9x12", $30

Mind Meld, original 12x16", mixed medium on watercolor paper, $295.
Gicleé print: 9x12", $30

Oracle Horse2, original 12x16", mixed medium on watercolor paper, $250.
Gicleé print: 9x12", $30

Justice, original 30x48", acrylic on canvas, $1,600. (My signature is on the side. This piece is a fully wrapped gallery canvas that is about 2" deep and can be hung as is, with no framing if you'd like.)

Mimi, original 6x9", watercolor on watercolor paper, $125
Gicleé print: 6x9" $20

Sweet, original 8x10", watercolor on watercolor paper, $185
Gicleé print: 8x10" $25

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This next set are prints only, info under each image:

SunGod, 12x20", signed and numbered gicleé print, $125

Infinity Blue, 15x45" signed and numbered gicleé print, $275

Angel Horse, Heart Chakra, 11x14", gicleé print, $39

Angel Horse, Root Chakra, 8x10", gicleé print, $25

Beachy Friesian, 8x10" watercolor, gicleé print, $25

Breathe, 8x10" watercolor, gicleé print, $25

Fuzzy Foal, 6x9" watercolor, gicleé print, $20

See something you like? Just call, text, email me and I'll run it over to the post office! Yes, if you're local, you're welcome to pick it up here!

MEMES:

Saw this on Instagram: "Tonight after I thought all the trick or treaters were gone, a boy about 12 years old came to the door. He was dressed in all red and instead of saying 'trick or treat!' he said, 'I'm your period. Sorry I'm late.' He got the rest of my candy and restored all my faith in his generation." 😆

A friend and fellow coach posted this and isn't it the truth:

And I saw this on the Tesla Diva facebook page, my favorite group! She is a woman after my own heart:

This is a true statement, there were days at my high school (East Wake High School in Zebulon, NC) where you couldn't see the heads of kids in the quad. So gross: