count all the bees in the hive

This afternoon was mild with a warm breeze and sunshine and bursting with the promise of spring. I think the most difficult thing in the world is to love two horses. Who do you choose to ride on a day like today? It was Pie's turn so I rode him, but I think I saw a glimmer of sadness in my little Sovey's eyes when we headed out. I need to learn to pony the boys. Then no one will be left behind.

Pie was very calm and curious about everything. Now that the snow has melted, all our trails look different to him, I think. He really seems interested in taking it all in.

At one corner of our property, the neighbors whip dog poop into our field. Yuck! Pie is so funny there. He always has to leave a manure pile right in the middle of the dog stuff. Of course, my head gets filled with the song, "The Horse at Pooh Corner" - lol.

The boys had their vet check and shots yesterday. All is well and they walked in perfectly. The last time the vet was out they would not walk into the barn without balking. This time, they were so good and I was very proud. I am filled with love for them!

that's the way I've always heard it should be

Yesterday was warm and sunny so I coerced Brian to ride with me! I have been riding the boys everyday so I knew they would be good. I apologize in advance for the quality of these photos. I have said before that I don't know how you bloggers are able to ride and take pictures. Pie will not stand still and our scenery is very brown this time of year. I am not complaining - at this point, brown is better than white!

Brian looks like he is on a tiny little horse in this photo. Sovey is over 16 hands, but I am high up on a tall building taking this photo - ha! I am high up on a tall Pie-Pie!

Here is a shot of our (brown) trails and Pie's muddy mane and ears!

This one of Pie's head makes him look all ratty and wild. I do keep his mane and foretop long, but this is too funny! All those years of showing and having a perfectly clipped and bathed horse has made me go too much in the other direction. There is no bridle path and long whiskers. I brush out both boys' manes and foretop everyday, but they were so muddy when we went to tack up that it took us a long time just to find a place to put the saddle! I forgot to brush Pie's mane! Every time we would brush them, a dust cloud would puff up - Brian said Pie was like "Pig Pen" with the dust cloud following him!

This one would have been so great if I hadn't smeared the lens up trying to wrestle the camera out of my pocket! This is right after Brian had to re-mount! He had an unscheduled dismount - no he didn't fall off! Pie was leading the way and we came to a branch that was too low to get under. Pie started backing up to turn around, but little Sovereign boy would not back up! He just plowed through the trail to another side trail. The branches were too low over there. I told Brian to dismount. Of course, Pie was acting like there was a huge monster over there even though we could clearly see it was Brian and Sovey! Brian has no problem getting back on because his stirrups are so long. (I can never re-mount in the woods because my stirrups are way up high on the saddle like I am a lead-line pony rider.) We continued on and had a fantastic ride. As we were grazing after our ride I tried to explain to Brian how lucky we are to be able to just hop on these boys and go for a great ride on March 7th. I don't think Brian understands that Thoroughbreds have a reputation of being nutty. We are very spoiled and our luck is not lost on me!

Custom Horse Posters!

Hooray!!! I am so proud and excited to unveil my new Custom Horse Posters! I have always loved vintage posters. My favorites are ski posters and circus posters. The vibrant colors, the foreign phrases, the fonts! I took this love and combined it with my love of horses...and voila...introducing Honeysuckle Faire Custom Horse Posters! The lovely Lilly, of Bay State Brumby, and the courageous Lazarus, of Sweet Horse's Breath, kindly shared their equine beauty so I could practice designing a few posters. And...their sweet and amazingly helpful owners critiqued my work and allowed me to mail them samples so I could get their opinions on packaging, poster paper/cardstock weight, colors, etc.

Here are the results! Above, you see the adorable Lilly. I made the photograph into a flat poster image. I chose a pink border because I know that pink is a Bay State Brumby favorite color. I added the name of the farm where Lilly lives, her name, and her blog name. The French phrase "douceur de vivre" (sweetness of life) completed the 11" x 17" poster!

Next we have Kristen and Laz. These two are bravely facing a difficult battle, but there is so much good news in Kristen's recent posts! I used Kristen's blog background color, blog name, Sweet Horse's Breath, and Lazarus' birthday to design the sweet boy's poster, above.

This time I picked a pink (fuchsia) for Lilly, and a fun circus font! The poster has Lilly's registered name and her parents' (dam and sire) names too. If you click on any of the posters, they will enlarge, and you can see that the photo is no longer a photograph, but a flat image.

Here Kristen is riding Lazarus, her "joie de vivre" (joy of life)!

I was feeling a little Breakfast at Tiffany's when I designed this one of Lilly.

Lazarus, the brave boy.

That indefinable something of dear Lilly!

Below is a screen shot of Honeysuckle Faire Custom Posters.

And a screen shot of my new etsy shop, Honeysuckle Faire.

I am offering custom horse posters on my Honeysuckle Faire website and in my new etsy shop. Both sites explain how to have an 11" x 17" poster made of your horse or pony using your favorite photograph, favorite colors, fun phrases and dates.