Aric Visits Sixteen Hands With Me

Aric took his day off to spend the day at Sixteen Hands with me.  He even drove us down there.  I love this season of life, where my kids are old enough to do things like that for me.  Although the one day he did warn Nathan and I if we didn't stop fighting he would turn the car around and go back home.

He seems to have a natural touch with the horses, so I love it when he comes with me and visits them.  It was great to see the horses too.  I am so used to being here, when I can't be here I miss the horses something awful.  I like to think that maybe they miss me a bit too.

But then again, maybe not!

Short Trip Back to Peace River

I am having so much fun in The Villages, that I think the only thing that could get me to leave would be the horses at the horse sanctuary that I volunteer at.  The owner took a much needed vacation, so I agreed to come down and help our group of core volunteers cover while she was gone.  I was happy to be greeted by some of my favorite horses as soon as I stepped out of my car.

I was also happy to see all of the horses looking healthy and happy.  Even Joe, who is still recovering and underweight was much better than a month ago.  Dixie, the newest mini, was walking around well.

Chevy, who makes my heart pitter patter like no other male beyond Nathan, was an handsome as ever.  His gorgeous side kick was as feisty as ever.

There is a beautiful storage barn for the hay.

In fact, the only thing that wasn't wonderful while I was there was this:

We had an abundance of rain last summer, but we have much more flooding from it this year.  I think the horses are as sick of it as we are.

I did get lots of exercise the four days I was there.  I normally walk a lot while there.  In fact, I wore my pedometer one day and this is how many steps I logged during that day:

Now factor in many of those steps being in the mud, and you can imagine how tired my legs are right now! I have blisters all over my feet and legs.  My shoulders and arms ache.  Luckily the horses make every minute of the hard work worth it all and then some!  I love spending time out there, and I love each and every horse.

Living the life in wet and muggy Florida!

Gearing Up for the Holidays

Every year when it hits November, I kind of hold my breath a bit, bracing myself for the coming holidays.  I love the holidays.  I am really geeky about holidays in fact.  But they are also tiring because of all of the "extra" they add to life.

Adding to the holiday busy-ness is the reality that work is going to get much busier.  It will get downright crazy in fact.  We will also have more people around us that we want to spend time with.  Pickleball will be in full force.  And I will love it all.  And I will be ready to crash when it ends because it really is exhausting to juggle so much in such a short time.  So on days like today, where I spent most of the day at Sixteen Hands...I soak up the peace and quiet while I can.

I enjoy the pace of the horses.  I pay attention to the small details, like Dancer's jingle bells.

I laugh at the silly faces Patriot makes while he camera hogs my view.

I marvel at Gracie, who is one of the wild mustangs here.  I appreciate her patient and gentle spirit with us as we try to attend to so many horses needs.

And I spend as much time as necessary to see that Cherokee gets as much food into him as he can handle today.

I get down to the basics when I am here.  All the things that nourish living souls.  Nothing more.  And it is exactly what I need to keep me grounded.

Living the life in FL!

My Favorite Kind of Day

Since we spent all summer in Florida, and Florida in the summer is a dreadful experience temperature and humidity-wise, we are really enjoying the cooler days.  We went out to Sixteen Hands and spent the day there alone because everyone else went to an event.  It was just a lazy kind of a day.

  The horses are starting to really know Nathan now.  They greet him and then go and do their thing.  Well, except Patriot who believes "we" are his thing.

Gypsy girl shows us how she multi-tasks by drinking and bathing at the same time.

And Chevy bravely walks over to me, rather than running away from me.

It was a good day!  Hoping for more of them over the next few months!

Living the life in FL!

A Horse is a Horse...or Not

Nathan has decided if you can't beat them, join them, and now goes out with me on the weekends to Sixteen Hands.  Today I grabbed my real camera and grabbed some shots and we discussed how different the horses are from each other.  I didn't know how distinct the "horsenalities" of horses were until I spent time here.  They are all unique and all bring their own flavor to the sanctuary.  As someone who had a lot of kids, I love this about the sanctuary.

For example, Willow is a deep thinker.  She watches what is going on and seems pretty mellow, but she is as strong willed as they come when pressed by something she does not like.

 Dakota is Mr Personality, winning over the visitors with his stunning looks and friendliness.  I call him Mr Hollywood because I have to fight to get a shot of anyone else when he is around.  He is ALL about the camera and will circle around with me to be sure I am taking pictures of only him.

Cherokee is our wise and gentle soul.  He is pure, unadulterated love.  If I am feeling down for any reason, five seconds with Cherokee is my favorite cure. 

Dallas is one half of what I call the Dynamic Duo.  He is energy, fun and joy all rolled up into one.  Just watching him race down the track makes me smile.  He is not really afraid of people so he can be quite pushy at times.  He is smart as a whip and curious about everything!

 Nova is a classy lady.  She is above most of the foolishness that the guys engage in, but can hold her own against them if she needs to.  I always imagine after she kicks the guys with all her might, scaring the living daylights out of them, that she walks away disgusted that she had to break a sweat in order to do it.

Most of the horses here have unique "issues", being rescued from abusive or neglectful situations.  So they have baggage, just as most of us humans do.  They are also able to still show us who they are, when they get to the point where they feel safe and trust us.  Again, like most humans.  It's a really interesting thing to be a part of that process and I am grateful each day I spend time there and learn more about it.

Living the life in FL!

Flooded Fields Are Not Fun

Since I knew nothing about taking care of horses before spending time at SHHS, I could write daily blog posts just on that topic.  Some lessons are pretty minor in the daily scope of things and some are major.  Flooded Fields Are Not Fun would fell closer to the major end of the spectrum in my book.  It just makes everything you go to do, that much harder when you deal with lots of water and really deep mud.

I'm not a fan to say the least.  Yes, the grass is nice and green.  Yes, we always need rain in Florida so I am grateful for it.  But I'm tired of trying to take steps forward only to discover I left my boot behind in the mud.  I'd like a happy medium please!  The wind is not so pleasant either.  It does make for nice, dramatic manes and tails for pictures though so there is that.  Along those lines, I have found that I love my smart phone when I'm out working here.  I can capture so much more than if I had to wait until I had the real camera out!

I was able to grab this shot simply because I had my phone in my pocket.

Then I was able to share it with the world instantly via Instagram and Facebook.  Gotta love the digital age for those kinds of things! 

See how quickly I can get distracted and go from whining to joy?  Dallas understands that trait since he tends to shift fairly quickly along with me!

Living the life in rainy FL!

Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary

 

Back in 2009, thanks to my niece Lauren, we stumbled across a horse sanctuary.  Diana asked that day if I minded if we stopped to check it out for Lauren's sake.  I did not mind at all.  We got out, talked to someone and made a decision to come out for a day to do some work.  I blogged about that day  here: Helping at the Horse Refuge.   What I did not know that day was how much the place would stick with me and draw me back for more.

Last year, as soon as I realized that we were in fact going to stay in one spot for a bit and that my last child was leaving home, I decided I'd better find something to do that would help me adjust to both things.  I remembered how much I loved the "feel" of Sixteen Hands and started there.  Then a series of health issues and a computer crash halted my attempt.  Still, I knew I needed to get going with something or it would potentially be a very ugly scene when Austin did in fact move out.  I thought maybe I should find something closer, something I had experience with, something that fit our lives when we started moving around again.  So I looked around at my options.  And kept coming back to Sixteen Hands.  I'd tell Nathan that I still wanted to do it.  But just did not get around to doing what I had to do to make it actually happen.

The first week I set up a booth for Thousand Trails at Friday Night Live in Wauchula, I see the lady next to us setting out items with horses on them.  I say to Nathan, "I still want to do volunteering at Sixteen Hands" and then set out to go be friendly and talk to my neighbors just to make nice.  I get to the front of the booth and am shocked to see it is Sixteen Hands.  I most likely overwhelmed them with my excitement as I talked to Robin and Diane.  I get the information again and this time, I know I'm going to follow through no matter what.  I do.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

 I always knew I liked horses, but was not what I'd consider a "horse person".  I wasn't obsessed with them like my niece Lauren or my Mom.  I thought I'd enjoy being around horses.  I had no idea I'd fall head over heels in love with them though.  Or that I'd want to spend as much free time as possible with them.  Or that I'd talk endlessly about them until poor Nathan's eyes rolled back into his head from sheer boredom.

I still love the 'feel" of Sixteen Hands.  Probably more so than our first visit, because I know all that is involved with what creates and preserves that peaceful environment.  I'm honored that they let me come out, completely green and stupid in all ways, and so patiently allowed me to find my way during this new chapter in my life.  I'm guessing you will see lots about the horses and SHHS because it is where I spend a good bit of my time while we are temporarily planted!

Living the life in FL!

Helping at the Horse Refuge

Today we all went to the Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary , which is the refuge that we came across yesterday. Ambir and Santos drove up and met us there so our entire family was able to spend time there together. We went to volunteer some of our time, but I think we took away far more than we gave.

One of the things I hoped for my children to experience when traveling was to see that we can all make a difference. In a society where the stars can draw most of the attention, I wanted them to know that it is important to do what you can to help, no matter how big or small. I hope they saw some of that today.

We were honored to meet and spend time with people who demonstrate this principle in their lives each and every day. These selfless heroes, Robin and Dutch, run a horse refuge and have rescued most of the 30 some horses here. They have provided a "forever" home for these animals and have also provided a safe place where they are not only cared for, but deeply loved.We were humbled to see how much work they invest each day in order to commit to this mission of theirs. It was also fascinating to hear some of the things they do using a natural method developed by Pat Parelli to handle the horses.

I was impressed with how hard Austin, Lauren and Josh worked today. Austin never stopped working the entire time we were there:

Rambo isn't sure what to make of Miss Royal. They were intrigued with each other:The guys working hard, pushing a wheelbarrow of horse manure:Another gentle soul, thriving under their care:I think out of all of us, Josh amazed me the most, he worked as hard and as long as the grown ups did:The horses seemed to love Nathan:Austin seems right at home here, doesn't he?What could be sweeter than horse kisses:Feeding one of the newer arrivals some apples:
We had a great time here today!

Please consider donating to this great place. You can click on the link at the top of this post to get more information. They are a non-profit organization and can use funds, items on their wish list or if you live close enough-volunteers. You can make a difference too! It doesn't have to be some huge thing. Just consider what you can give and then do it.