Throwback Thursday

Yesterday, I was sitting at the dining room table paying bills when Ryan came up the stairs and plopped his backpack down on the chair next to mine. A familiar shape caught my eye. I looked closer. Sure enough, it was Takeshi!

"That's Takeshi!" I exclaimed. "How....?"

"Kylee gave it to me," he explained. I must have still looked confused, so he elaborated, "At the Jennifer Show."

"Oh, that's awesome," I said. "Has it been on your backpack this whole time?"

"Yeah, people ask me about it, and I tell them it's some weird horse fish hybrid."

"You should tell them it's Takeshi," 

"Okay, Mom."

Twenty four hours have passed, and I suspect Ryan's already forgotten Takeshi's name. That's fine. It's enough that he keeps the pin on his backpack. I'm glad he has a tangible reminder of that wonderful weekend and the big part he played in its success.

It's also a reminder that I never shared one of my absolute favorite Jennifer Show pictures. This was taken by Beth McCarley and shows Ryan hanging out with Heather Malone's longtime partner, Josh Wesner, at the announcing/technology table. Officially, Josh was our announcer, but really, he and Ryan ran the entire show. 

Thanks again, Ryan and Josh. We really couldn't have done it without you. Thank you also to Kylee, for Ryan's Takeshi and everything else.

Hakuna matata

Jose has been going through a rough patch.

He was betrayed by someone he thought he knew. 

Things got bleak. 

Then the raccoon left. 

Something had to be done, so Jose went to the animal shelter and adopted a dog.

Her leash manners need work, but Jose doesn't care.  

 He loves her so much, he named her Precious.

Long live Jose and Precious.

Hakuna Matata!

Jumanji!

I'm not a WalMart fan.

I don't usually shop there at all, but this year I have been lured in because of the WalMart exclusive blind bag Mini Whinnies. 

Although I haven't managed to find those locally, I accidentally discovered another enticing WalMart exclusive toy line: Jumanji animals.

I have a long standing policy of buying affordably priced, properly scaled items whenever and wherever I can find them.

These most definitely fit the bill.

The lion is the least appealing of the bunch. He's fine, but nothing special. 

I love the bald eagle. He'll be a perfect addition to a Colorado trail riding scene, and I want to sculpt half a prairie dog for him to hold in his talons!

The bear...

and cheetah are also really nice.

I've wanted a 1:9 scale cheetah for years. This makes me very happy.

But it's the warthog who is my favorite.

Look at this face! I'm going to have a lot of fun with the warthog!

I'm really not a WalMart fan, but these animals are great. I'm glad I found them!

Not so small

Earlier this year, I discovered the World's Smallest line of toys.

I immediately bought myself a wonderfully tiny Gumby and Pokey.

A couple weeks later, Lauren gifted me a pair of My Little Ponies.

Last week I was perusing the World's Smallest selection on eBay, and I noticed there was an Elf on the Shelf. I thought that could be a fun addition to my 1:9 scale Christmas collection, so I bought one. It arrived today... and it's huge.

Somehow, I never saw this coming. Everything I'd seen in this line has fit nicely within the 1:9 scale range. It never occurred to me that this would be a different size entirely.

To make matters worse, he doesn't even ride well. His arms and legs move at the shoulder and hips, but they don't bend at knees and elbows.

I still love the World's Smallest line of toys, but this elf is entirely too big for my shelf. Next time I'll be sure to check the dimensions! 

Snow shoes

Today I went riding with Diana. 

It was a fun ride, and also, a snowy one.

Both Stealth and Guaranteed are blessed with good Arabian feet. They're both barefoot for the winter, which provides them with optimum traction in the snow and greatly lessens the incidence of snowballs forming in their hooves. 

A snowball under Santana's foot. I took this picture after our big October snowstorm. He's now safely outfitted with snow pads.

Mary Jo's horse Scarlett isn't as lucky. She needs to wear shoes year round. To prevent snowballs,  Mary Jo has her fitted with snow popper pads during the winter months. These went on in November, and Mary Jo posted a photo essay about the process on the Old Cowgirls Never Die Facebook page. I thought it was interesting, so I'm reposting it here today. Hopefully, some of you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Scarlett's Winter Shoes

by Mary Jo Stark

I have been asked several times about the snow poppers I put on Scarlett during the winter. She doesn't grow a lot of heel, so barefoot is not an option. This is the first year I have had to put them on so early, usually I do the last week of December. 

First the old shoes are pulled and the hooves are trimmed.

Trimmed feet and a beautiful pose!

The shoes are forged and fitted to her hooves.

This is a snow popper pad. It is fitted and centered to shoe.

It's then riveted into place.

The nail holes are drilled into the popper pads...

and the rough edges are filed smooth. 

The popper is filled with ground leather and hoof pack to prevent thrush.It's hoof pack. The main ingredients of the hoof pack are iodine and turpentine.

Finally the shoe is nailed into place. 

We are ready for winter riding!

Friday favorites

Last year, Australian artist, Franceyn Dare wowed the hobby - and me! - with what was quite possibly the cutest holiday pony ever.

That's a hard act to follow, but it turns out that Franceyn was more than up to the task. This year, she released not one but two holiday ponies, and both of them are just fabulous!

The first is "Sugarplum." 

Sugarplum is a customized Breyer Stablemate Highland Pony, now wearing a sculpted cloak with fur edges and four green Christmas socks.

One of the socks has fallen down just a little bit, a detail which I find utterly charming!

Franceyn's second Christmas pony is "Flight."

Like Sugarplum, Flight started out as a Breyer Stablemate.

In the words of her sculptor, "This little grey pony mare is being delicately lifted off the grassy ground by a bunch of soft pearly, pastel coloured balloons tied around her little body with a pink ribbon.... the things that little (and big) girls' dreams are made of!"

I love this so much!

Flight is currently listed on eBay. Her auction ends tomorrow, so don't wait too long if you want to buy one of this year's most adorable holiday ponies.

Congratulations, Franceyn, on another wonderful holiday offering. I'm already looking forward to your 2020 creation(s)!