Snow

No, it's not snowing here, but it has been in Santa Fe!  (The photo above is from the snow we received here last December.)   I received a great video from Jackie, at Cimmaron Sky Dog Horse Rescue, of her mustangs in the snow and wanted to pass it along to you.  Just click here (it will take you to a new page, so you will have to use your back button to get back to this page) to see the video.  Below are photos I have taken of these same horses on my trips to the sanctuary.  Remember that you can click on the photos to see a larger version if you wish. 

"Whiskers"

"Eye Shadow"

"Wondering"



"The Gang"



"4 in the Sunset"

"Golden Dreams"

"Wet Kiss"

"Wisp"

"The Secret"

"The Kiss"

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and safe Holiday Season, and.............keep smiling!

The Great Christmas Monster.........

is coming to get you!   It strikes fear in the hearts of all - young and old, men and women - no one can escape it's grasp.  The faint of heart can be seen running away from it's scary call.  However, it has been known to give a pretty "mean" riding lesson..........

Photo by Sam Newell

OK - "It" is yours truly, with my Christmas Antlers on - how professional looking is that?  And especially with the girlie boots on, too.  Guess that's what the holidays (and rainy weather) do to you.

We're getting in the Christmas spirit here around BFF.  We've started doing some stall decorating.....

and people and their horses are getting dressed up "In the Spirit" for their lessons - especially the leg-wear.....

I think Linda's horse Mel gets the prize for fanciest leg attire........

Look at the action of these leggings!

We even had two impromptu sessions of Quadrille - a surprise to those who had never done it before - but everyone did a great job, and had a great time!

We still have 2 weeks til Christmas, so I'm sure we'll find more Christmas Cheer at the ranch!

"At least she didn't make us wear the flashing red noses again!!"

 

Good News!

  I recently entered some images in a photo contest being held in my favorite (next to my own ranch) place to shoot photos, Santa Fe, and I won a 2nd place and an honorable mention!  My second place winning image is known to many of you - it's "Tesoro" (which was shot in Santa Fe)...........

Click on the image to see a larger size

And the honorable  mention went to an image titled "Away", an image I shot in my own backyard of a horse named "Snuggles".

Click on the image to see a larger size

There is going to be a showing on January 7th in Santa Fe at "Collected Works Bookstore" of the winning pieces, as well as pieces from the judges - Tony Stomberg, Gregg Albracht and Lynne Pomeranz.  Tony and Lynne will be doing signings of their books ("Spirit Horses" and "The Forgotten Horses" by Tony, and "Among Wild Horses" by Lynne) as will Jackie Fleming (the host of the show) of her books "Sky Dog" and "Cimarron".   Part of the proceeds of the sale of the images will help to support Jackie's "Cimarron Sky Dog Horse Rescue".

Wow!  I'm actually going to have some of my works hanging in Santa Fe!!  Anyone want to go ???  :)  

A Walk on a Foggy Day

Yes, foggy days are cold, and the horses are fresh - but they sure are great days to take photos!  So, camera in hand (even during my lessons) I made a fun day out of the recent fog.  It was difficult to see Victoria  and "Draco" enter the arena for her lesson

and even tougher to see Susan and "Annie" leaving after theirs!

Find the hidden horse and rider! Click the image for a larger view

I love how the fog makes little water droplets on the horses whiskers..........

Becca came "out of the fog" on her rounds from the back pastures....

and the pumphouse looked pretty cool.........

The goats always wonder why I'm pointing the big black eye at them...........

Maverick was having fun in his pasture.........

then he settled down to have a look off into the distance........

I made my way to the vineyards - my favorite haunt this time of year -

I thought this looked like a swallowtail butterfly (if you use your imagination, that is!).........

......and this old piece of vine had water trapped inside it...

Then I wound my way up the back lane towards home, and into a nice warm shower! A fun day, but BRRRRR !!!

Vineyards, Horses and Autumn Days

Sounds pretty good to me!  This is my favorite time of year - the dust, heat and flies are gone...........yes, it's now getting cold and muddy, but I'm not tired of that - yet.  We've had some glorious days in between our early fall storms, and last Sunday we took advantage of such a day .  Joe brought his Lipizzan team  over to Blue Fountain Farm, along with his gorgeous show carriage.  We were given permission by Mike and Diane Naggiar to take a drive through their vineyard, so off we went.  We, in this case was me, Joe, his son Joe, his grandson Little Joey, my folks, (Wally and Dotti), and Rolf and Carolyn Laessig (Rolf is doing great in his lessons of driving Ash - more on that soon).  Joe and I went ahead in the Bobcat, Rolf, Carolyn and Joey were in the carriage with Joe, and my folks were bringing up the rear in the golf cart - quite a procession!

The day was sunny and warm, the colors were outrageous, and we made quite an entrance !

We all pulled up to the Naggiar Tasting Room, and disembarked from our respective vehicles.  We were hoping that Mike and Diane would have time to go for a ride with Joe through their vineyard, but they were busy hosting one of their private wine tastings (see my post on the tasting we did last spring).  We'll have to go bck again to get them in the carriage!

  I did, however, find two ladies who were very excited about the prospect of a ride, so off they went with Joe, while we sat on the lawn in the warm sun and had some wine.

They had a great time, and Joe was in his element!  Joe got a chance to enjoy a little wine,

and it was great to see three generations of Kaszas enjoying some time together.

It was finally time to go home, and I couldn't resist a shot of the horses and the carriage seemingly buried in the vines.........

The team did their job well, and got everyone home safely. 

On to today........... the clouds parted from yesterday's storm, so I took some time to grab my camera and take advantage of the beautiful colors and the great lighting.  This view is from the house, looking out over Maverick in his pasture to the vines............ 

Then I went into the vineyard, and got a shot of our house from a different perspective.............

I think  you've got to admit, Vineyards, Horses and Autumn days have something magical about them!