The music is, Late Winter, which was composed by my friend, Daryl Lunsford. Daryl is working on an album that will soon be available for purchase. I'll post as soon as the album is finished and published. Also, included are two songs from Chris Botti's Christmas album, Winter Wonderland and Let it Snow.

Danny's First Snow

We had our first white Christmas in over a decade...maybe two. Snows are rare here in the Southeast and Christmas snow is even rarer. The past two years have yielded more than the average snow fall though and since this Christmas day surprise was so sparse, I'm dreaming of a few white days in January now.

This was Danny's first experience with snow. We did have a few flurries about week ago but this was the first time that the white stuff actually stuck. As with most things, Danny's demeanor remained very calm and laid back. 

This photo was taken on Christmas morning. I'd expected the usual playing and behaving more like excited children than horses that I'd gotten from the two older boys last winter but everyone was concentrating on their food instead of the snow which had just started to fall when we arrived with their hay.

Maybe I should be feeding them more energizing sweet feed but they are quite round and well padded with just the high protein teff hay that we grow. It's very fragrant and sweet like alfalfa and the horse eat as if I'm serving them double fudge chocolate cake....or maybe like I would eat a double fudge chocolate cake if I could.

The day after Christmas, the ground was covered with snow. It wasn't very deep but it was still beautiful. I walked over with my camera and camcorder hoping to catch some action but once again, they were thinking more of the food than the snow. Danny did steal a glove from my pocket while I was film the other horses. Through the camera's viewfinder, I saw him slinging something about but I had no idea what he was playing with until I reached in my pocket and missed my glove. There is evidently some larceny in his breeding since his brother Django is just as much of a mischievous thief. Don't know what I'm going to do with these two. 

Today is a landmark day and not just because of the snow. Today, Danny will begin his solitary confinement as we wean him from Mouse. I know, we are late doing this. It's ridiculous to see him nursing poor Mouse when he's only an inch or two short of being as tall as she is. He'll be eight months old on New Years day. I wish we'd already weaned him on Thanksgiving as we'd planned to do. If we'd done that, he'd already be out playing with the boys again and I wouldn't be looking at spending my days confined in a stall with big Dan for the next few weeks...what? you didn't expect me to leave him in there all alone, did you?

Finally, some very sad news. Grey's Stud Mouse, Mouse's sire, passed away three weeks ago. He'd developed lameness in both front hooves. The vet could not diagnose the problem but after trying to treat the condition unsuccessfully, the difficult decision was made to put the wonderful 21 year old stallion down. He will be very much missed especially by Donna and Dale. 

Merry Christmas!

From all of us to all of you, wishing you the merriest of Christmases and the most blessed year in 2011.

Wow! Seven Months have Come and Gone

And now it is almost seven and a half months since we welcomed Danny into our lives. It's so hard to believe. The time has passed so quickly and that tiny little foal has turned into a beautiful young horse. I know that I'm very biased but he is so gorgeous and so sweet. The weather has been unusually cold for East Tennessee over the past few weeks so I haven't been working with him as much as I should have been. Yesterday, it was a wonderfully warm forty degrees....comparatively.....and I decided to take an hour midday and play with Danny for a while. He ran across the pasture, walked up to me and went into his halter relatively easily but then he threw a little protest. It wasn't until I got him calmed down and tied to the big post that I realized that, in the two weeks since he last wore it, the weanling halter has gotten very small....must have shrunk. It was extremely short and tight. I loosened it as much as possible and Danny was a lot happier. He stood there patiently while I groomed him and then Steve came up to help. Danny didn't fuss at all and no pawing. When I removed the halter he actually stood there for a few moments before calmly turning and WALKING away instead of bolting like he usually does. Jealous Django was waiting in the wings. When Danny walked off, Django quickly stepped into his place so that he could receive the attention that he knows he deserves.

And a Hardcover Edition

This is not the same book although the subject is the same. Revised and re-written with a few different photos and a deluxe hard cover!

Preview: