Critter-ville...

Some of my blogging friends asked me to tell a little about our farm. This is our young horse Jackson who recently traveled to Ohio to show at the Quarter Horse Congress. Here he is posing in the paddock on our farm. Jackson is a two-year-old bay roan gelding. Our old red roan mare Peaches is his mother, and she also produced a 12-year-old gelding Freckles (below). So Jackson and Freckles are half-brothers. Freckles was born on our farm here in Florida, while Jackson was born in Aiken, South Carolina, where Peaches now lives in retirement. Retirement.. except for the fact that she also gave birth to Jackson's full brother Smarty last spring. Smarty looks much like Jackson.

Here's Jackson under saddle in Ohio. He's a Western Pleasure horse now, but as he matures he may also be shown in English classes as he's fairly tall. He's home now from the Congress and enjoying some well-earned R&R on our farm. In this photo, my husband Jack (who Jackson is named after) was leading him outside the practice ring where our trainer was preparing to work him.

While this isn't a great photo, we could not resist this early morning shot of Freckles a few weeks ago when the moon was full and there was a mist over the paddock. If you can see the detail and are wondering, Freckles is wearing a fly mask that covers his eyes and part of his head. Looks strange, but it helps protect the horses. Jack showed Freckles successfully throughout Florida a couple of years back. Now he works with him here on our farm each day and trail rides around our area some. People ask me if I show or ride the horses. I took some lessons years ago, and can ride some, but it's not my passion. We've decided that I don't make Jack sew and he doesn't make me ride. Works out nicely! And he never complains about the supplies and tools I purchase for making quilts. He says it could never add up to the cost of having horses! He's loved them since he was a teen, so we feel very fortunate to live here in "horse country"- the Ocala, FL area.

Ever-curious Lily had to come and see what we were up to when taking the photos of Freckles. Lily is the kitty we found a couple of years ago on a remote section of a bike path. We couldn't just leave her out there, so she's part of the family now.

And it's been just about a year since Scooter found his way to our farm, too. He was a 12 week old pup I found sitting and shivering at the entry of the barn one morning. Of course we were not looking for a dog, but since he chose us he got to stay, too. He's bigger now, but it's hard to get a photo of him because he's on the move so much. And we no longer have our little Cairn Terrier Jesse who lived till the age of 15. So that's the family down on the farm! A great bunch.