Rainy Day Reminiscing

Windy, rainy weekend ... seemed like it would be time well spent getting together what I need for my income tax return. Luckily, I came across some old photos instead :). This sorrel Quarter Horse gelding, Leo Mano, was my first "serious" horse, and we did everything together. I got him when he was about 7 years old, I think, and I was in my early twenties. He was a direct grandson of the famous "Leo", and had been used at stud himself before he became available as a riding horse. I think he did his ancestor proud. Leo had a fabulous disposition, never refused what I asked of him, and was competitive enough on the horse show circuit to be a lot of fun; I continued to show for many years. He certainly inherited his speed from his famous grandfather, and left many challengers watching him from behind. Because he had been left as a stud for so long, Leo had all the musculature normally associated with stallions, the heavy neck, fore and hindquarters, but was always a gentleman. I owned a number of horses after we parted ways, but I never had another horse that meant as much to me. He was a great friend, and a great horse.



Although primarily ridden and shown under Western tack, Leo could extend his gaits and moved just as well going English.



The branded "4" on his shoulder was still common practice on the bigger ranches in states like Texas.

Meena, Growing Up

I took my 7 month old hopeful - "Anamchara Aminata" - to her first show this past weekend, a Sheltie Specialty just north of Toronto. I did not expect anything more than to have a good time, and to make Meena's first show experience a really good one. I think it was a success, we both had a lot of fun, and it's always great to see fellow breeders and admire their dogs. I will now likely wait until she grows up a little more before taking her out again. I believe she will be well worth waiting for!

More [G]Nash

For different reasons, I hadn't been able to get out much lately to do any shooting, and of course Sunday came along and was picture perfect, the moon and stars were all aligned, but **THE** hockey game was starting at 3:00, so I didn't want to stray too far. The dogs were feeling the benefits of such a lovely day, too, and it didn't take very long before they forgot about me and the big black thing sticking out from my face and turned to some serious fun. Dogs being dogs, sometimes the most fun comes from simple things, like chewing on a stick, or on a plastic table leg, or a little game of tooth-to-tooth combat.

Here's Rustle gnashing away on a stick.







And Nash doing the same on an upturned piece of deck furniture ...




He stopped long enough that I could get this prettier photo of him.




Rustle giving Meena the evil eye ...




... and gnashing it up with his two best buds.




Taking a break inside, Meena and Nash continue their pretend fighting games ...




Rustle ... all this gnashing fun has made me sleepy ... time for a break.