{Note: I wrote this post when it was hosted on another service – moving it here seems to have created some formatting problems-actually I suspect it might be the template – but anyway, it has caused the picture captions to be in the wrong places, it should go pretty much picture caption picture caption in sequence, looks fine in edit mode so I don’t know how to fix}

Ahhh, Spring is in the air.  When you spend time around horses at this time of year you will notice something else in the air too, hair.  Depending on the breed of horse, sometimes a lot of hair.

I always dread this particular two or three week window of time.  If you take any shortcuts in grooming before going for a little ride you will find weeks worth of work when you’re finished – everything is coated with hair.  To avoid this (or at least cut down on it), a good, thorough grooming is needed before you throw that saddle blanket on the horses’ back.  In my case, I have a horse who grows an exceptional winter coat and sheds an exceptional amount of hair come springtime.

To quote my husband, Sebi looks like a furry stuffed animal when the hair loosens and tufts of it are sticking out everywhere.  It also looks pretty uncomfortable since it’s bound to be very itchy for him as all that hair loosens.  Take a look at these pictures I took yesterday when I gave him his first big, grooming during the shed out (we’ll have to do this a few more times before all that loose hair is finally gone for the summer).  There was enough hair on the ground to build another horse.

Also bear in mind we just got over a stretch of wet weather and Sebastian just loves to roll on the ground.  So in addition to the shedding hair he had tangled his mane pretty badly (the rolling twirls the hair around and makes some pretty nasty tangles) and looked like he’d been in a mudslinging contest.  I thought this would make for some really strartling before and after photos.

Sebi before the big grooming…

You can see the hair coming out, doesn’t it look itchy?

This close up really shows the mess he was in…

Just touch him (or even stand downwind of him) and you’re covered in hair

But it got better pretty quickly.  Here are the after photos, the time stamps show the elapsed time from before to after.

It took a little while but oh what a difference, the sad thing is a few days from now it will be all tangled up again, the price of a long mane and free roaming spirit – Sebi is loose in the pasture and rarely stays in his stall.

And the hairy aftermath….

Now for comparison, here’s Mick, he doesn’t create near the drama when he sheds out, but he also doesn’t grow near the coat Sebastian does…Mick hadn’t been touched with a brush or shedding blade recently (he got his turn after Sebastian and after this photo was taken)

The cat watched all of this with interest…this is Ramses…he’s the barn mascot of sorts, he used to hang out on the ledge of the stalls on cold days when the horses were inside.  Now he just gets underfoot when something’s going on at the barn (just in  case someone decides to add more cat food to his bowl). Ramses joined us a year ago this past December.  I picked him up on the side of I-65 one night a couple of weeks before Christmas, just south of Cullman, AL. He acts like he’s been here his whole life.

He’s wondering who is going to clean up all that hair!

While you’re here don’t forget to visit us at our website, there is a link to this blog and I’ve added several more features including a “Links” page.  Check it out!

Bye for now, Lisa Isbell.

For years, I have prayed for God to use my natural talents in a way that would allow me to really make a difference in helping someone else.  Over the years that prayer has seemed to attach more to finding a way to help children on a grand scale.  Maybe parenthood caused the honing in of the purpose, I don’t know.  At any rate, I believe I’ve found the perfect fit.

Recently, I attended the Greater Shelby County Chamber Luncheon and happened by the booth of the Spirit of Hope Youth Ranch.  I had briefly noticed their newsletter at another function and made a mental note to find out more about the organization a few months ago but at the time the holidays were near and I’d just assumed a new role at work so it just dropped off my radar.

I called some time later and struck up a conversation with Joy O’Neal, the group’s President and expressed a desire to get involved and help.  Incidently, the changes I experienced at work put me in a much better position to help than I was in when I first became aware of Spirit of Hope.  God at work perhaps?  I’ll leave that to you to decide.

So what is Spirit of Hope and why is it such a great fit for us horse lovers?  It addresses two problems and allows a natural love of horses to place you in a position to effortlessly help kids who really need someone to step in and just be there.  Spirit of Hope takes in abused, neglected and abandoned horses and puts them to work through a riding program for children who have been in the same predicament as the horses that have found homes here.

We can help this program grow so easily by volunteering to help out.  The ranch needs experienced horse owners to help supervise the kids as they get familiar with the horses.  They also need volunteers to help care for the daily needs of the animals.  Feeding, watering, grooming and the long list of other small tasks we all love so much that go part and parcel with the keeping of horses.  Since these tasks are mostly a labor of love for “horse people” you can quickly see how this truly is the perfect way to give something wonderful, not only to our community but mankind in general.

If you want to find out more, please get in touch with me at www.whiteoakattic.com (contact us page) or contact the ranch directly http://wwwsohyr.com.

I’ll be talking more about some specific ways to promote the ranch and the services they offer so stay tuned.  What I have in mind will ask for your input but don’t worry it’s all free and will likely fit right in with what you’re already doing!

Talk to you soon, Lisa I.

In my last post I talked about our ride, here are some pictures from that day in December 2008…

Here’s Kaylee and Mick as we prepared to leave

We struck out and went across the road from our house and up the mountain.  At the top we took these pictures…

Here is a photo of Me and Sebi at the top…

…..an old barn we explored on the way back in

Here is some of the bramble we had to forge through to get to the top of the mountain and to get to the barn to take a few pictures…

plus, some of the meaner stuff…

Another view of the old barn

I just liked this view, the power company recently cut this pathway to clear the way for the power lines, a good spot to ride since all the bramble and tree branches have been cleaned up. Referring back to my earlier post about Kaylee suffering her first trailblazing injury – those experiences are why these kinds of views get my attention – nice clear path to ride down, no tree branches smacking you in the face and no thorns digging into your hide

You get the idea, we had a good time, saw some mundane yet photographic sites and we were just gone maybe 2 or 3 hours tops. A relaxing way for mother and daughter to bond!

Well it’s now nearly 11pm ( 12/21/08) and I’m happy to say Kaylee and I took that ride today.  We had a spectacular time in spite of the gloomy weather.  We didn’t go all that far, just across the road and up to the top of a small mountain.  That put us in a great spot for looking down over one of the many rock quarries in the area.

It suddenly occurred to me as we entered the clearing at the top of the mountain that it was hunting season.  What a stupid thing that was to forget.  I’m happy to report it was only a realization and we didn’t suffer any actual consequences but it did jar me when I realized it.  I thought of it when I saw a tree stand at the top of the mountain we decided to visit.  That cut our ride short as I made a hasty retreat back down to the public roads, passing a small pile of shell casings as we descended.

Kaylee suffered her first trailblazing injury today.  She was scratched on the neck as we fought our way through a less than friendly spot on the path that had become clogged with overgrowth.  Just a small spot, but one we had to plow through and as we did, we found some of the bramble included the thorny variety.

I’ll post pictures from today’s ride in my next post, just too late tonight.  There is a view from the mountain top, a variety of other pictures we took today and photos of an old barn we briefly explored.  I’ve been trying to get over there to look in that barn since we moved here.  Just idle curiosity since it has stood empty for countless years now.  I also included some photos of those wicked little thorns and the tangle of growth we clawed our way through to get to the mountain top.  It felt like Everest to Kaylee

It was a thrilling day.  Sometimes it’s the little things in life that seem like a big treat.  Not having had the time to ride in the recent past has made me really appreciate even small excursions like today.

Happy trails.