Le Dude, part 2

I had a great afternoon visiting the little pinto and playing with him for about an hour. He is just as cute as ever and getting quite bold as far as crowding into the handler's personal space. I don't know his 'horsenality' at all, so my play sessions are like getting to know you events, where I play friendly games and then see how he responds.

He tends to anticipate being asked to go into circling game and at times would take off on the circle, pulling all the rope through my hands till it got to the end and I would let go.. After a few times of doing that I would interrupt his running off pattern with a big wiggle of the rope and he would immediately come in and stand next to me -after trying to bulldoze me with his shoulder first. I would porcupine him back a step or two then he would stand calmly and lick and chew a few times. It was interesting to watch how he would calm down quickly after being so fired up. Then after the calm he'd get frisky again.

The circling game and friendly game that I mention in this post are two of seven games used in the Parelli Natural Horsemanship methods. My brief definition of the games is this: they teach us to communicate with horses in a respectful manner in a language they understand.

August 2005


July 2006


October 2006


April 2007


The B side
All photos taken by my friend KM ☺

What Pattern is My Brain?

Your Brain's Pattern

You have a tempered, reasonable way of thinking. You tend to take every new idea in, and meld it with your world view. For you, everything is always changing. Each moment is different. Your thinking process tends to be very natural - with no beginnings or endings.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

"You have a tempered, reasonable way of thinking.
You tend to take every new idea in, and meld it with your world view.
For you, everything is always changing. Each moment is different.
Your thinking process tends to be very natural - with no beginnings or endings."

Thanks to PoopeeShmoopee for forging the way to this website. Now that I know what kind of pattern my brain has I'm going to sleep.. I will dream of green, softly rounded bumps. :)

And now... The Dude

Last year I wrote about this sweet pinto warmblood that my friend K and I dubbed "lil' dude". I posted two pictures here along with a short blurb about how I fell in love with those long eyelashes, and cute face. One year later I took the second photo. Later today, 4-27-07 I am meeting my friend K and going to see "the lil' dude." I took my lead rope and halter home with me so that I can play with him while K plays with the other foals on the farm. After all this time "the dude" hasn't sold... I don't know why.. but shhh, maybe it's happening so that I will end up with him. K has been telling me "you should buy him" since I met him August of 2005!! "You should buy him, you should buy him." Meanwhile his price tag continues to grow higher as his owner is paying for board, farrier, and health care. Oh my little nugget horsey... I don't know what will happen.. I only know that if it is meant to be it will be.☺☺☺

Reliving the Best Saturday Ever

Saturday November 19th, 2005 is known to my friend K and I as the best Saturday ever. We STILL talk about that day and reminisce about the entire two weeks we spent at the Parelli ISC in Florida. Since we didn't have class on the weekends we were free to do whatever we wanted after feeding our horses and cleaning their pens. Rather than going sight seeing and exploring Ocala and its environs, K and I decided to stay with our horses and take full advantage of the facility. We took walks, lazed about on the grass while the horses grazed, and played in all the beautiful pastures and play areas from one end of the campus to the other. K and 'Rocky' ended up playing in the pond at one point, while 'Aristoitle' and I stayed dry and explored the log maze, car wash (two large vertical poles with a horizontal cross beam from which hang large, plastic strips that one can walk through), and small log jumps.




Stay tuned for more pictures from the Best Saturday Ever.
[middle and last photographs taken by KM]

I'm Happy

I found out this afternoon that this self portrait I took last fall recently won 1st place in the amateur category in which it was entered.

Go For a Run

Are you feeling slow, lazy and uninspired? Watch these guys and feel worse :P ... really though you should check them out.. and if you want to see more go to Youtube and make a search for Parkour you'll never look at the city-scape in the same way again.

Memory Eternal

In November 2006 construction of a small chapel was finished and dedicated to the thousands of people who died during the Red Terror 1920- 1921. So many people were murdered that the streets ran red with blood. My great-great grandmother is buried here in the forest. The dedication and consecration of the chapel was Saturday November 11th 2006

Here is the chapel. It is located in Bagreevka, Yalta.





"In this place rest approximately one thousand people victims of the Red Terror years 1920 and 1921 Princess Nadegda Alexandrovna Baryatinskaya, nee Stenbok-Fermor 31st July 1846, General Ivan Sergeivich Maltzoff born 1st February 1846, Irina Vladimrovna Maltzoff, born Princess Baryatinskaya 18th February 1880, Captain Lieutenant Sergei Ivanovich Maltzoff, born 17th February 1876. ALL WERE KILLED HERE TOGETHER 22ND DECEMBER 1920"


The depression in the forest floor to the left of the cross is the site where my family was shot and buried.

Celebrating with Apples

Don't adjust your monitors or get your eyeglasses.. these pictures are blurry. Aristoitle had a low key celebration which included a nice grooming session, massage, pedicure, and we shared several apples.
Here he is looking at me with that sideways glance because I've just reached into my pocket, and that nearly always means something tasty is on the way.



Operating the camera and feeding a horse who plunges in for the apple on my hand at the same time isn't an easy task, I tried a few times to capture the moment of the bite..

strike one


Steeerike two..


Strike three... but I got a good nose shot which I thought was a keeper.

That's it for the low quality photographs. I was pretty busy getting dirty with the grooming and trimming and all, so I didn't take out my camera except for the apple shots.

I am always pleasantly surprised by the way the horses interact with me when I come to see them. If you have read my long post about the company I keep you know I try to spend as much time hanging around with the other horses as well as with my own. The mare in the field is at the top of the hierarchy, followed by Aristoitle, and Desperado. When I step into the picture I assume the top position and keep the mare away from Aristoitle and keep Aristoitle away from Desperado if he happens to come up beside me. Imagine two horses standing facing one another with me in the middle petting one then the other. Sometimes the third horse comes into the picture and now there is a circle of three noses facing into the circle and I am at the center - keeping everyone a polite distance apart. The minute I step away they are making cut-eye looks at one another and rearranging the herd structure back to where it belongs when I'm not there.

I think my relationship has come to the point where I can trust the mare and Aristoitle if I want to sit on the ground near them while they graze. Desperado can get a little frantic if the mare chases him off and I worry about him running over me. Aristoitle always knows what's going on around him in that hyper vigilant sort of way, and the mare just knows. There is nothing quite as nice as having a horse come over while you are sitting on the ground and lick your forehead. ☺

Aww no photos tonight..

I'm having trouble loading the photographs from today's visit with Aristoitle... The pictures are small file sizes, so I don't know what the hang up is. I'll try again tomorrow. :(

Aristoitle and I haven't celebrated his foal-day yet.. but I think I'm bringing champagne to the party now ;-P
While you wait for celebratory photographs I leave you with some squiggly drawings.. nearly all continuous line. These masterpieces of scribble are a product of my insomnia a few nights ago, so they are extra wobbly because of the way the sketch book was propped up on my stomach as I lay in bed.

Belated Birthday Wishes to....

ARISTOITLE! 22 Years old this April 14th.. I'll be celebrating with him later today (bran muffins will be involved) and will post current photos, but in the mean time enjoy this older picture of him modeling his Parelli bridle.

How Do I Love Thee?...

Dearest Pop-Tarts® how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to your depth and breadth and height
which measure 5mm x 7.5 cm x 10.3 cm


thank you for inspiring me Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806-1861