You've Come A Long Way, Baby....

They all look so sweet when they're sleeping!  5 x 7 oil on panel, sold.

Maybe it all started the day he was conceived - I took Twine up to be bred to Strut the Stage (standing at Colebrook at the time), baby Gracie at her side.  They didn't heed my warnings that she could be tough, not taking proper precautions, and she double-barreled him in the chest.  Poor Strut! I'm sure that did nothing for his self-esteem!  Anyway...about 338 days later, she had a cute little bay baby boy.  This colt had the slickest coat I've ever seen on a foal - clearly he thought he was landing in Florida, not Southwestern Ontario. He made me drag the vet out to tube him his first meal, because he couldn't figure out how to nurse in an acceptable time frame. And so began our series of adventures, which included a black eye for me.  Well, at least he didn't break my nose, like Hugo!

Lean, mean...well he wasn't mean...and fell a little short of being a racing machine! At Woodbine in 2013.

Close...but not quite (he's the one on the outside).

At the track, Leo started off showing promise...though he turned in to a wildman as a three-year-old.  More exploits were added to his list of accomplishments, like running off with his trainer, who gallops her own (the clockers even got a time on him!  No question he was fast!), escaping from his stall and running off down the shedrow, and antics behind the gate on race day which included dropping his rider and taking off, through the barrier and onto the harness racing track.  His best effort was a second place finish where he just missed winning, but then he hurt himself, and was retired.  And for some crazy reason, I said I'd take him.

That was a year and a half ago.  This is Leo today:



First day jumping from a canter!  Just goes to show you - never say never!

The Other Half of the Entry, 2008 Version!

Gracie and Billy then..."Boy Meets Girl," 8 x 16 oil on Raymar

Well, I can't talk about Gracie's birthday without recalling the arrival of Billy the following day.  Gracie and Billy were opposites in a lot of ways.  Sweet little filly, big, tough colt.  Billy was a real challenge from day one. Fortunately he's grown up to be a wonderful young man, now progressing beautifully in his new career!  It's so nice to see the babies grow up.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but Billy is now known as Parker,  and you can see what he's been up to on his new owner's blog, A Filly's Best Friend.   I'm hoping Gracie and I might be able to take a field trip this year and have a little reunion of the Foals of '08!  It would be fun to see them together.  Gracie has caught up to her old friend size-wise, but I think she might be the one who is a little more of a challenge now! *cough*chesnutmare*cough* 

Happy Birthday Parker!  Looking forward to seeing great things from you this year!

Handsome baby boy!

Well You Didn't Forget *Her* Birthday, Did You?

"Fire Filly," 8 x 10 oil on canvas

You're right Leo.  You're right.  Perhaps that has something to do with Gracie's birthday falling on the same day as a holiday a lot of people seem to celebrate, but yes, I don't tend to forget Miss Gracie's birthday.  Gracie's birth was kind of a big deal, because her mom, Twine, had aborted he first foal, so the safe arrival of a particular little chestnut was extra-special.  I guess Gracie was just extra-special from day one!  I finished the above painting yesterday, of the big mare on High Goblin Alert. ;-)

Minutes old.

Tiny filly has grown into tall mare, but lost none of her playful, gregarious personality along the way.  Happy Birthday to my favourite chestnut mare.  :-)

All photos are copyright protected. The foal pictures are copyright 2008 EJKimaging.

A day and a half old.

"I'm sorry 2014, We Seem to Have Gotten Off on the Wrong Foot, Can We Start Over?"

"Hello, I put in for a transfer to Florida, did you receive it?"

That's how I've been feeling these days.  January has been somewhat of an uphill battle, through snow no less (literally, as of yesterday, as well as figuratively!).  I really don't like to whine about the weather - yes, I know, it's January, this is Canada, we get winter - but this year I admit I'm finding it hard to ignore.  Why did I stop spending winters in Florida, again?

I had a project for January - I moved Jubie, the last of the broodmares seeking a new career, to a boarding stable so I could get on her and better her chances of finding a new home.  Started off with a couple of days on the longe line, then we got hit with the first cold snap.  Sorry, but my craziness doesn't quite extend to getting on a mare who hasn't been ridden since she left the track in 2008 (and had quite the reputation) when it's -16 C (or less!).

Put it off for a couple of days...then the lights in the indoor arena weren't working. As I was getting there after dark, well....again, not going to get on said mare in the dark, thank you!  Next day I arrived while it was still daylight – of course the lights were also working by this point.  :-)

Jubie was a superstar, very sensible, no silliness. Yay!  A few days later....another cold snap.  Okay, the words POLAR VORTEX were being tossed around with abandon on the news.  There go a couple more days of riding.  Next – my stomach gets hit with something.  I think I've decided it was the medication I started taking for my bad ankle, but either way, it was a rather violent reaction that sent me crawling to my bed in between trying to manage the horses and doing stalls.  After about three days to recover from that, I felt strong enough to get back to riding!  Two days in a row, before....a return of that -20-something weather!

Swishy knows how to deal with the Polar Vortex.

By this point I'm just feeling beaten up and spit out, and desperately locking my eyes on that predicted high of -6 for Saturday the 25th.  Naturally that's when the predicted 2-4 cms of snow turned into about 20cm...so Saturday was spent moving snow, getting hay, and the usual horse chores.  I still felt guilty for not getting up at the end of the day to ride.

I did, however, managed a bit of painting, which, needless to say has been rather hit-or-miss this month, for no good reason.  When I decided on Friday afternoon to hit the easel, I really didn't mean for that to be literal – but yes, I managed to whack the back of my hand on the edge of the piece of plexi that rests under my palette - hard enough to actually cut my hand.  It kind of felt as if the easel was telling me, "You're not worthy, come back another time!"  Yes, okay, winter is doing my head in.  ;-) I decided to fight back and try painting with my left hand.  I did end up working with my right (dominant) hand, but it was an interesting exercise I should try more often.

Left hand....okay so you can at least tell it's a horse!

So, here we are, with a week left in January.  The weather isn't looking to be a whole lot friendlier this week, but I hope I manage to get a few rides in.  Perhaps I'll even manage to paint some more.  But who is with me, come January 31st....what say we celebrate the Chinese New Year and start over?  :-)

Back into the comfort zone....dominant hand...working title "Fire Filly!"