Three Pines Farm

Ally's been just itchin' to try out that flaming bareback pad setup, so Sunday we gave it a whirl.

They walked for awhile...

And when she felt confident enough, they trotted for awhile...

Next thing you know, there they are...

....cantering!

What a good team!  That girl has really got a solid seat, and that ol' Joe will just do anything she says.  I left them in a halter/lead combo instead of the bridle because I half-planned on her coming off the first time he turned at a trot and I didn't want her forgetting to let go and hauling on his face, but as you can see, they did great.  And I think he's shaving off a few pounds in the process :).

Before I start, I'd like to ask that we refrain from 'flaming' the owners of these horses.  Regardless of the horses' condition, the owners did voluntarily sign them over in order to get them the help they need, and they do deserve some credit for that.  These pictures are the cell phone pics brought to me Wednesday night that kicked things into gear; I will have more posted later this weekend on these guys' own section on the "Project Horses" page under "Petersburg Rescues 8-21".

I'll give the whole story on their page when I get it built later today/tomorrow, but for now let's just say that there are 3...a pony and two others that are supposed to be 2-year olds.  The pony is about a 2 and the horses are a 1 on the Henneke body scale (google it, I'll put a link up later); all are covered in rain rot, at least one has a fungal infection on her legs, and all are so full of worms that they still have patches of their winter coat.  Their teeth are horrid; these little guys/girl are going to take a LOT of TLC and $$ to get back into shape.  There is a lot more to the story as well; check back for their page to get the whole scoop.  Keep these little ones in your thoughts and prayers!

Drifter thinks that when he jumps, he has to make it huge, EVERY time.  Even the tiniest of dried-up ditches must be cleared by a mile.  Here's Ally and Joe, doing their thing over a 6" wide dried-up 'ditch' in the back of the field (it only has water in it from highway runoff when it rains, but Joe thinks it's the Grand Canyon):

Yes, I am aware that the saddle is way too big for her; her preference.  After a few minutes, Justin and Ollie decided to join in, with Ollie demonstrating a landing that looks positively bone-jarring:

I won't bore you with the rest of them.  Well, not at the moment anyway, I'm out of time :).

Looks like once Ollie has found a home, Tyla's situation is resolved, and finances get back on track, we might have another project waiting in the wings.  While we have permission to be on the land from the gentleman who owns the land feeds this mare, we have yet to be able to establish contact with the actual owner.

Hard to see much in the pictures, I know, but the cell phone was all I had at the moment.  She's not starving, but she could definitely use quite a few pounds and a good, slow worming.  She's also rubbed her face raw in spots from the flies.  She wears a neckrope that she's had on for who-knows-how-many years.  Her 'pasture' is scarcely the size of my corral; mostly weeds, rocks, trees, ditches, and a truck.

This is the sorry excuse she has for a shelter.  Yes, the roof has fallen in; and yes, that IS a creek running through the middle of it.  The far right corner is where she stands, and the creek is her drinking water.  I stepped in and removed the boards on the ground that had exposed nails.

How she stays in this pen I'll never understand.  This is her feed bucket; the fence has been pushed down to the level of the top of the bucket (under knee-high), yet she never steps over.

I've gotten close to this girl and I don't think it would take much time to get a halter on her and teach her some ground manners in order to bring her to the farm and find her a proper home, although details and logistics will have to be worked out first.  In the meantime, I would like to get a roof on her shelter and get some real feed and feed-thru wormer to the guy who feeds her, and a load of fill dirt or tiny creek rock to re-route the creek out of her stall.  If you would like to help, please email me at firebird96ta@peoplepc.com .