Adjusting A Speedy Horse

Adjusting a speedy horse sounds like it should be an easy enough task.  Not so with Dusty.  Don’t get me wrong, I love finally having a horse with a good forward motion, but sometimes she can take it too far.  Most of the horses I’ve dealt with had to be pushed along to achieve any pace at all, so it is refreshing to ride a horse that wants to go.  And go she does.  Even at the walk her speed is Mach 10.  We rode with Grady again and she overtook him at the walk.  He wasn’t very happy about that so he upped the ante.  She passed him again with a little head tossing thrown in to show him who’s the leader. If I ever do decide to go to a show (very doubtful at this point) Dusty’s the girl for the job.  Her competitiveness would certainly shift into higher gear.

In the meantime though, I’ve got to work with her to teach her how to adjust her speed before we go onto more complicated tasks.  A horse without adjustable speed could be dangerous under certain circumstances.  I should add here that Dusty’s speediness is not due to any physical problems, poor saddle fit or teeth issues.  She’s simply a horse that likes to work and is always on a mission, mostly to show me how it’s done.  She doesn’t necessarily know where she’s going, but she’s making good time ;-). For now we’ve been walking, trotting, working on bending and balance.  On our last ride I decided to take her over some cavelletti at the walk, but no trotting yet because I didn’t want to get her over-excited and quick.   That’s where the speed-control issue comes in.

I set up four cavelletti in a row in the center of the arena.  Then we would trot down the long side, ride the corner and the turn up the centerline in a nice bending balance, get straight to the cavaletti, come back to walk and then walk the cavelletti. 

Her first time through she was not paying attention, causing her to bang her foot, though after that she walked through them carefully and did not touch another rail.  Then we would walk to the end of the arena in a consistent gait and alternate left or right turns then trot out of the corner down the long side again.  When she picked up speed I gave a slight half halt and slowed my posting. I feel taking her through the cavelletti gives her a focus and helps teach her to slow down a tad and be careful where she’s putting her feet.

We’ll keep doing this and rearranging the cavelletti into different patterns for a while until she decides it would be a good idea to listen to my cues.  Eventually, we’ll move on to trotting the entire exercise and continue working on maintaining and adjusting her speed with different exercises as she masters each one.

Dusty does think she’s smarter than me—and maybe she is—but since I’m the one with the license doing the driving, she needs to pay attention since she’s only got a Learners Permit at the moment.

Until next time

Quote for Today
Just knowing we have both learned something when I have finished riding is enough for me!

English vs. Western

"Pictures of the Grand Teton's my daughter took last week on a ski trip"

" Elk Herd"

" Eagle "

" Big Horn Sheep hanging out by the side of the road"

" Beautiful Scenery "

I’ve been considering a vacation this summer to a ‘dude ranch’ in Wyoming for my birthday.  This ranch is located near the Grand Tetons and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Viewing the landscape from the back of a horse meandering along the trails would be my preferred mode of transportation. That said, I seem to have a problem: I can’t ride in a Western saddle to save my life.  Put me on a horse with an English saddle and (knock wood) I can usually stay on even during  a buck or over jumps.  But put me on a horse with a Western saddle and I’m like Raggedy Ann, flopping all over the place.

I did some research on the difference between English and Western riding principles at http://equisearch.com/horses_riding_training/training/beginning_rider/english_western102200a.   This article was a little helpful, but it only reinforced what I already knew about the basics of Western riding.  As I said, my problem is figuring how to ride securely and not slip around in the saddle.

You are probably wondering where I’m going with this post so here it is:

How do Western riders adjust your stirrups?  Do the stirrups hit your ankles, or is your leg straight out in front of you as I’ve often seen?  Do you sit in the middle of the saddle or brace against the cantle?  Do you post the trot or just go with a sitting trot at the jog? 

I think I get the one hand-neck reining and only hope I can try not to steer with both hands.

What sort of clothing is appropriate?  Jeans and half chaps?  Full chaps?  Would Blundstone paddock boots be safe in the western stirrup, etc…?  I have a western style helmet, so I’ve got my head covered, literally. 

Before I decide whether or not I want to take this trip and trail ride in a western saddle, I’d appreciate any helpful tips from my Western-riding friends on how to stay secure in the saddle. And of course how not look like a complete greenhorn from the East.

Until next time

Quote for Today
If you don't know where you're going, the horse will decide for you.

In Quest Of A Balanced Seat

" Blue - waiting for a  balanced rider "

One of the perks of knowing how you are supposed to ride is being able to tell when you are riding badly.  Of course, knowing and taking the right steps to correct yourself are two different things.  In the good old days of my youth I rode two horses a day, sometimes more.  As I’ve aged I’m not as driven to achieve perfection, for showing or whatever reasons I may have had then.  Where I used to be almost too much of a perfectionist, I’ve now developed a more casual attitude about my riding.  However, this isn’t necessarily a good way to be either because if I let myself get sloppy it could compromise safety.  So I’ve put together a list of how to correct my bad riding habits.  I find that if I actually write corrections down it’s easier for me to reinforce what I’m supposed to be doing and help me to remember.  This lesson to myself is about maintaining the proper balance in the saddle.

When I’m unbalanced I tend to stand in my stirrups, relying on them to keep me balanced. Obviously, this is the incorrect way to maintain balance, as my trainer has told me time and time again. Being properly balanced requires you to distribute your weight evenly through your seat and thighs and not to carry your weight too much in either your stirrups or your, uh, posterior.  Your seat in the saddle should rest on the three-point “tripod” formed by your pelvis.  You should not rely on your stirrups to hold you in place; they should be there only for additional support and to provide a platform on which to rest the ball of the foot while stretching into the heel, which when done properly, helps position and strengthen the riding muscles in the legs. 

  

To counteract the problem of using stirrups for balance, I try to “picture” my stirrups like opposite seats on a see-saw, and balancing on them means a constant struggle to not tip the whole thing over every time the horse takes a step or goes through a turn.  That’s a pretty precarious position to be in on a horse, and I, for one, would feel a hell of a lot more secure if I was relying on more than just a see-saw to stay with my horse. Being on a horse is a little more dangerous than being on a playground (except for that kid who always got off the see-saw when you were up in the air!)

It stands to reason that a rider who is balanced is fundamentally a safer, more secure rider and riders who are unbalanced may often find themselves in jeopardy.  Just a quick note here for those of us battling the bulge; being a balanced rider is what dictates whether a horse can comfortably carry a heavier rider and a heavier rider has a greater responsibility to the horse to stay balanced. Then again, even a light rider can easily disrupt the horse’s balance and, not only is that not fair for the horse, but many may lose their confidence in their rider if they have to worry about carrying around something awkward enough to throw them off kilter or even cause them to fall.

Having a balanced seat means your weight should be distributed equally on either side of your horse.  In a full seat, an imaginary plumb line falling from your ear should intersect the point of your shoulder, hip and ankle and, though this changes somewhat in a light or forward seat, it’s a good place to start.  Distributing your weight evenly from one side of the saddle to the other, sitting relaxed and straight, and making sure your shoulders are even is the foundation for achieving a balanced seat. I’m sure everyone has seen pictures modeling the correct way of sitting in harmony with your horse’s center of gravity. 

A “rule of thumb”: if you wouldn’t be able to maintain your riding position while standing on the ground, it’s not suitable for horseback either.  Balanced is balanced, in and out of the saddle.

One of the simplest ways to adjust your leg position and keep the proper muscle groups of the inner thigh in contact with the saddle is to roll your thighs.  Sitting with the ball of your foot in the stirrup, reach down and grab the fleshiest part at the back of your thigh and pull it back and out. Finding a fleshy part of my thigh shouldn’t be a major problem. This exercise will roll the flattest muscles of the inner thigh against the saddle resulting in a much more secure seat. Not the most graceful looking exercise but it works. Once you do this manually a few times to get the feel for it, you’ll be able to do it without having to grab a hunk of thigh and put it where you want it. With practice you will find a more secure seat comes more naturally with less effort.

A good point to remember is that stirrup length strongly affects your balance. It’s virtually impossible to attain a balanced seat if your stirrups are the incorrect length, either too short (which can force you behind the horse or into too forward a seat like a jockey) or too long (there’s no support from your stirrups and your ankle, knee and hip angles are too open to have good control of your legs.)  To find the correct length, let your feet hang relaxed out of the stirrups.  Then push your legs straight down, heels towards the ground. The stirrups should hit you no lower than just below the anklebone for a “dressage” seat, at the anklebone for an all-purpose length, and above the anklebone for a more forward seat.  You can go a little higher for galloping and jumping, etc. as needed.  This is the easiest way to find the correct length for your stirrup.  

I’ve also used this procedure for a rough guestimate from the ground: while on the ground facing the saddle, with your fingertips touching the stirrup bars, adjust the leathers so the iron just reaches your armpit.  If you were going to be riding in a forward seat that day, adjust the stirrup by making a fist with knuckles at the stirrup bar and iron to armpit--that should be roughly the correct jumping length. It seems to work most of the time; fine-tuning adjustments can be made from the saddle.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Keep one leg on one side, the other leg on the other side, and your mind in the middle.

Weekend Report

" Blue "
"  How do I get myself into this stuff, I should have hidden behind the shed "

Friday was the most gorgeous day, sunny with temperatures in the 70’s.  Of course, due to prior commitments, I didn’t get to ride.  Saturday started out cold and windy with temperatures in the low 30’s.  This is the day I get to ride after not being able to mount up for over two weeks.

" If you want to ride, you better get a brush"

 Saturday

Dusty was pretty well behaved although she was a tad over-enthusiastic and had to be brought down from a trot bordering on canter more than once.  A canter would have been fine except I wasn’t exactly asking for it.  All of the horses need to be brought back slowly after a miserable winter and sporadic work.  Everyone is out of shape, including me.

Next up was Blue.  I asked my daughter to ride him first as my “crash-test dummy,” since he hasn’t been ridden all winter either.  And due to the Wild West rodeo show he put on while longeing him last week, I thought it was in my best interests to have younger bones test the waters.  Turns out he was the Blue we all know and love; he’s one of the laziest, calmest, safest horses in the barn.

" Grady "
" I'll just be good and do what you want "

Sunday

Sunday morning was also cold with temps around 20-25 to start with.  I opted to ride Blue first since you really need a lot of leg to keep him going.  Although he looks like a pudgy quarter horse (and he is at this point) Blue has a big, athletic trot and is prone to throwing you out of the saddle with every stride.  My new saddle fits him like a glove, which is good, but it is still slippery and the panels feel like stiff cardboard. I found it very hard to stay tight with my thighs and drape my lower leg with little contact and pressure.  One of my worst habits when I get tired trying to maintain the correct position is to simply stand in my stirrups, relying on them for balance.  Not the correct way to ride, but I find myself falling into this trap once in a while.

Blue is trained to do just about anything that is asked of him, but he’s no push button pony by any means.  The minute you lose a soft following contact or pull on him in any way he will pull down on you and revert to going on the forehand and relying on you to hold him up (as any horse worth his salt should.)  I was treated to this little idiosyncrasy of his while trying to keep my balance in a slippery saddle a few times. We did a lot of circles and change of bend at the walk and a few trot circles and called it a day.  He was a little winded.  Small steps are the order of the day with Blue until he’s in shape.  When I dismounted my legs were Jell-O, which later turned into outright pain.  Blue is the perfect horse for getting your legs in shape if you can take the agony.

Next I took Dusty in the arena and my daughter rode Grady.  He’s such a good guy.  Well trained and sweet. I’m of the opinion Dusty was showing off for him.  She was an angel (yes, I did just say Dusty was an angel) and never took a wrong step, but did everything asked of her.  Which leads me to believe that she knows exactly what I want, she just doesn’t do it if she’s not in the mood.

We had a good laugh when we realized that, although Grady is 18 hands and Dusty is all of 15-1 hands, she wouldn’t let Grady outdistance her.  Obviously, he’s got a huge stride and was trying hard to keep up, but even at the walk Dusty overtook him with her normal enthusiastic forward walk. 

I’m glad she was well behaved and comfortable because by now my legs were not in any sort of shape for horse antics.  Thank you Dusty.  And thank you Blue for being you.

Until next time

Quote for Today

When riding my horse I no longer have my heart in my chest, but between my knees.

Good Habits

" Dusty & Me "

I thought I might list the good habits I use to counteract my (sometimes) bad habits from my last post and perhaps to redeem myself somewhat.  

·      There has never been one time that I did not wear a helmet when riding a horse.  I’ve never let anyone on the property not wear one either.

·      I’ve always worn the proper boots when riding, a tall boot or paddock boot with a heel for safety’s sake.

·      I’m obsessed about having the gates to the roads/driveways shut and secured.

·      There is always the possibility of startling a horse so I always let them know I’m coming into their stall by speaking to them first. Or when they are on cross-ties I’ll let them know someone is behind them etc.

·      While riding I will always reward my horse for doing the right thing.  Usually by patting the neck gently or rubbing the mane with a verbal “good girl/boy.”  One of my pet peeves is watching someone who just had a good ride over a course or in a dressage ring slapping the crap out of their horse’s necks.  This isn’t a reward to me; it’s a smack.  Standing as a spectator during a show, a young girl was next to me and asked me why the riders were “hitting” their horses; “were they being bad?”  This statement brought it home to me how we must look to “uneducated “ horse people.

·      I’m diligent about checking out my tack.  This includes proper fit for each horse and cleaning it on a regular basis.  Having had a rein break loose from the bridle over a jump once and a stirrup disintegrate another time, creating a dicey situation, it’s in my best interests to check my tack for wear and tear.  You’d be surprised at how stitching can breakdown and it’s something not many people think about before mounting.

·      I feel if I wouldn’t want to wear a dirty, sweaty blanket why would my horses want to wear a filthy saddle pad, sheet, cooler, wraps or blanket.  So I do try my best to keep them clean.  Although, some of our better mud rollers make this a real chore.

What are some of the good habits you use around horses?

Until next time

Quote for Today

May your belly never grumble,

May your heart never ache.

May your horse never stumble,

May your cinch never break.

" Happy St. Patrick's Day "

" O' Grady "

Being from Ireland himself O'Grady would like to wish all his friends Irish and otherwise a very  "Happy St. Patrick's Day."

He'd also like to share some of his favorite Irish sayings with you: 

“May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.”

 

 “May you have the hindsight to know where you've been, The foresight to know where you are going, And the insight to know when you have gone too far”

 

 

“May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks, may your heart be as light as a song, may each day bring you bright, happy hours that stay with you all the year long."

 “May those who love us, love us; and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts; and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.”

 Until next time

 

Quote for Today

  “May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.”

 

  

Bad Habits

" Dusty"

Do you find yourself getting into bad habits around your horses?  I sometimes do. Even when I know the correct way to do things, I find myself cutting corners.  As of yet it hasn’t gotten me into any major trouble due to the mostly laid back personalities of our herd.

Case in point: the other day when we were turning out, we had a bit of an incident that could have been a lot worse than it was, but we were lucky.  Sometimes if the weather is rainy/snowy or especially hot, we don’t put halters on the horses because the horses get rubs under wet or sweaty halters.  It’s a short walk to the paddock, so normally we’ll just put a lead rope around the horses’ necks and walk them to the gate.  They all know the routine; they walk out quietly, the gate opens and they walk through as the lead line slips from their necks.

However, on this particular day, Dusty was next to go in and, as I opened the gate, Mellon made a face at her when she was half way through the gate.  I had already let her go and, before I could do anything about it, she backed out and trotted down the driveway.  Apart from the inconvenience of trying to catch her without a halter, there was no harm done.  As soon as she realized there was no grass to be had she took herself back into the barn and into Blue’s stall on the end. Her stall is on the opposite end of the barn.  So if she’s not dyslectic, I imagine she wanted to check out his feed bucket.  She should know better, Blue never leaves a crumb behind.

Now, lest you think I’m a total moron, I know the correct way to turn a horse out: walk through the gate with the horse, turn the horse around to face the gate and, while facing the horse, unlatch the lead.  Simple enough, but when you’ve got seven horses to get out through a muddy entrance and chores to be done after, you sometimes get a little lazy about the rules.  Will I do the same thing again?  Probably. Do I know better?  Yes I do.  So what’s the point of this post?

Nothing really, just a reminder of things to put on my list of how not to behave around our horses I guess.

My Idiot-Proof List

* Don’t leave Dusty (or any horse) unattended in the aisle.  Even though she stands politely waiting outside the tack room for her after-ride treat, she could leave.

* Make sure the gate is latched securely when bringing in from turnout.  Some of our escape artists know how to push the gate open and let the rest of the herd out with them.

* Always give Mellon his night check treats first or pay the consequences.

* Close Mellon’s door while bringing horses past his stall or risk a bite on their butts.

  

* Never feed Sami until his ears are up and he’s not threatening for his feed; now that he thinks he’s a big shot, he has to wait politely to be served, no matter how much of a hurry you’re in.

* Always unbuckle Donnie’s halter and don’t try to take it over his ears.  The same in reverse is applicable when putting said halter on.

* Our horses are actually very polite if you’re late with morning feed, but make sure you’re not even five minutes late turning out after they’ve finished morning feed or there will be a rebellion and a bunch of hostile faces and pawing hooves facing you as you enter the barn to turn out.

These are some of the things that come as second nature around the barn.  Maybe I should put them on a typed list at the barn entrance or at the very least write it in indelible ink on my palm as a sort of crib sheet on how to behave around our horses.  Because when you get older you start to forget things so writing them down helps... then you just have to remember to actually look at the list.

" Blue "

Until next time

Quote for Today
Leave a horse's gate unfastened and he'll be knocking on your window in the night.

Observations From The Fence

" O'Grady "

O’Grady is our newest addition to the herd; he’s been with us for over a year now and is one of the sweetest horses we’ve ever met.  Grady stands at least eighteen hands, also making him the largest horse we’ve ever had.  His personality reminds me of the new kid in school, a bit awkward and shy, on the playground with no real friends.  He wants desperately to fit in, so he’s always looking for an accomplice to get into some trouble with him.  Blue is his stablemate on one side and Donnie resides on the other.  We put them in these stalls in hopes they would bond.

Because I have nothing else to do, here are my observations from the other side of the fence monitoring this interchange between Blue and Grady:

Grady:  “Hi Blue, whatcha doing today?”

Blue:  “Nothing that would interest you.”

Grady:  “Want to play or groom or something?”

Blue:  “No.”

Grady:  “Blue, you’re like the coolest horse in the whole barn.”

Blue:  “I know.”

Grady:  “Want to be friends?”

Blue:  “Uh, no.”

Grady:  “Aw, come on Blue, nobody else will be my friend.”

Blue:  “How’s that my problem?”

Grady:  “Want to see me roll in the mud again?  I can get super dirty!”

Blue:  “Good for you.”

Grady:  “How about we go check out the back field?”

Blue:  “No, that’s a long walk for no reason; there’s no grass back there yet.”

Grady:  “I’m bored.”

Blue:  “Yeah, I’m starting to know how you feel.  Why don’t you go play with that little brown
 pest.”

Grady:  “He’s not my friend.  He’s always biting me and it hurts.”

Blue:  “You’re a big guy, stand up for yourself.”

Grady:  “I can’t, I don’t want him to be mad at me.  No one else will play with me!”

Blue:  “I can’t imagine why not….”

Grady:  “I’ll give you my lunch hay….”

Blue:  “Hmm, now you’re speaking my language.  What did you say your name was again?”

Grady:  “It’s Grady, can we play now?"

Blue: (Sigh).  “Maybe after lunch we can do a little thing I like to call ‘halter tag."

Grady:  “Yay, I just got a new halter!  Sounds like fun!!!”

" Blue "

Until next time

Quote for Today
Be wary of the horse with a sense of humour.
    - Pam Brown

The Last Straw

It’s official; this winter goes down as the worst on record, in my book anyway.  Sunday we were treated to an ice storm with howling winds. The frosting on the cake wasn’t the inch of accompanying snow but the fact that we lost all power at the farm at 11:30 p.m. No problem, we were sure it would be back on in a few hours.

In the morning after a call to the power company a few hours was apparently a fantasy. We were told maybe Friday or Saturday would be more like it. Two entire counties were hit by this storm.  There were numerous wires, trees, and telephone poles down as well as flooding. It would take days to fix this mess.

Shelters were opened for people with no heat or power in another town not hit as badly. We told them we had seven horses with no water, they told us to make alternate plans.  Like what? Should I bring them to the shelter?

Luckily, we have a small generator that will provide enough power to heat the house and allow us to run water. No lights, stoves, hair dryers etc. We have automatic waterers inside the barn and out in the paddocks that work on electricity. So it was down to the garage to search for the troughs and water buckets.

The horses seemed to be in a panic to get out because they had no water all night and then discovered there was no water outside either.  Dusty was mauling the waterer and the rest of them were galloping around spooking. I should mention their hay nets were coated with ice and when they tried to take a bite it would crack and set them off again. Their smaller nets were found, filled and hung on the fences. There were also frozen limbs breaking off trees and hitting the ground on the property tree line.

Since there is no window to light the bathroom closest to the side door we put candles around the rim of the tub and sink. How romantic, filling buckets by candlelight. Meanwhile, outside the herd decided to play with the empty trough or beat it into submission, I don’t know which, but it was wallowing on its side in the middle of the paddock when the rescue troops arrived with water. After being retrieved it took 22 buckets to fill it. Then we filled 8 more to put in the barn: seven for the stalls and one to top them off.

The next day was a repeat of the water brigade except we enlisted the help of the Kawasaki mule to transport water buckets and left the wheelbarrow in the shed to recuperate. As we loaded the 30^th bucket onto the mule the garage lights came on. So without further ado we had power again. We hung the water buckets in the stalls just in case the finicky power gods shut us down again. The trough was filled to the brim and we scrubbed the automatic waterers. The crowd cheered, but quietly, you never let on to the power gods how much you really depend on them.

Here are some pictures of the ice coating the trees. The photos don’t do justice to how beautiful it looked when the sun hit the crystals and turned them into rainbow prisms.  If I wasn’t so exasperated I might enjoy the beauty of this landscape nestled in front of a roaring fire with a glass of wine.

" I thought you said winter was over "

Until next time

Quote for Today

You never get the pleasure of owning a horse; you only have the pleasure of being its slave.

Indoor Antics

" Blue "

We’ve still got snow covering the paddocks and the horses haven’t left the catch pen for months. It’s their decision, but it seems they prefer to stand around and eat out of the hay nets.  Although… I did notice one set of hoof prints leading to the next paddock and a pile of manure by that pasture’s waterer.  My guess is the herd sent out a scout to reconnoiter and report back whether there was any grass poking through the snow yet.  If I had to make an educated guess, I’d pick Blue as the scout since he is our resident adventurer and a highly motivated grazer.

This morning we decided that, since the horses were so bored and the weather was decent--if a slight bit rainy, we’d start getting the herd in shape with some longeing. Blue and Grady were first up for some walk and trot on the longe.  Grady behaved himself and Blue, who is the calmest laziest horse on the property, was a wild man.  I asked him to “walk on” and he did so beautifully for about three complete circles and then turned into a squealing, bucking, cantering bronco.  Blue’s good training and personality brought him right back when asked but we repeated this scenario five more times. He was also setting Grady off. 

At this point we decided it would be a better idea to turn them loose and let them have some fun.  We weren’t getting anything accomplished with their pent up energy from months of standing around. We took them by two’s just like Noah’s Ark to the indoor. Here are the results from the horse show they put on:

•        Mellon wins the blue ribbon for most rolls in one day, and he did jump a cavelletti.

•        Dusty wins the red for not galloping around but trotting at a controlled pace, although she did toss her head quite a bit to show she’s still a wild pony. She also walked over a cavelletti to show the others how it was done properly.

•        Grady garnered the yellow for best floating canter.

•        Donnie received the white for staying out of Nate’s way, trying really hard to not get too carried away, and being a cutie in general.

•         Blue took home the pink because he was squealing like a little girl and he looked very handsome doing an extended trot.

•         Nate wins the green for most obnoxious behavior and flat out galloping, and he left the most manure to be picked up.

•         Sami was awarded the purple because he refused a jump (he came to a sliding stop in front of a cavelletti--very impressive, but still a refusal) and he tried to bite Mellon on the butt while he was down rolling (not very sportsmanlike, I’m afraid.)  Sorry, can’t make any exceptions for cuteness.  He’ll just have to be happy with last place this time.

So ends our eventful morning.  I’ll be dragging the ring to get the footing in shape again.  Dusty and I have a riding date later this afternoon.

Until next time

Quote for Today

A little horseplay... the way best to enjoy any day!