I'm back with my Buttercupgirl!

Here are some conformation shots, they aren't the best b/c she was looking here there and everywhere!

But now you can get a better idea of how she looks!

I am also trying to decide if that dip behind her withers is the start of a sway back or if its just a lack of muscling along her topline. Both are real possibilities since she is aging and since I've gone west 7 months ago she hasn't been ridden.

What do you all think?

I'm Going Home!

In 5 days I will be back on Maryland soil and will get to enjoy some quality time with the Buttercupgirl.

I'm so excited!

I think I might go for a light trail ride with her, nothing too major.

Be ready for lots of pics!

We have a picture!

What a difference a good diet makes!
Here's her 'before' picture:

Doesn't look so much like a pudgy pony anymore does she? Now I just need to get some ride time in so she can build up some muscle. Our farrier said he thinks she looks the best that she ever has, albeit out of shape.

Makes me happy that my girl is doing well despite the fact that I am 3,000 miles away...

Where have we been? A Buttercup update.

Caring for a horse when you are 3,000 miles away is different. It was never my plan to be supervising my horse’s care while out here in Oregon but sometimes it just works that way. Sometimes the best laid plans fall apart. You just pick up the pieces and move on.

And so it goes. My parents’ (Good bless them) have taken on full time care of the Buttercup girl. They do a good job, my Dad has followed my feeding instructions to the letter and I am happy to report that Buttercup has shed a lot of her excess weight. She is actually down to a decent size but is in need of muscling and conditioning. She is nothing but a pasture ornament at the moment.

She was supposed to go stay with my cousin, but family issues have prevented that so far. I was really hoping he would have taken her by now. I don’t want her to spend the next 2 years bumming around the pasture. She is still rideable and it seems a total waste to have her stand around doing nothing.

I looked into local leases but no one was interested in her. They all want “packer ponies” that will bring home blue ribbons for their kids not some old mare that is good on trails. What ever happened to riding for fun, exploring trails and hanging out with friends? Why does it seem that anymore all that matters is another blue ribbon to hang on the door?

Oh well. Their loss.

And so, my mare stands in the pasture. Getting treats from my family and visiting with the cows. Not such a bad life really but there has got to be something more for her. I’ll be home for Thanksgiving and if she is still on our farm will re-evaluate my plans. She won’t be sold. That is not an option. But I may start pushing a little harder for her to move to a place where she can get ridden. The roadblock keeping her from my cousin is plain stubbornness, a “well it wasn’t my idea so you can’t do it” kind of stubbornness but it’s what we have come to expect from this person so I guess it is nothing new. So my cousin and I sit on opposite sides trying to figure ways around this silly roadblock that won’t make either of our lives miserable.

Anyways, I will try to get some pictures of her up sometime soon. My parents’ do good with my feeding and grooming instructions. I am not about to press my luck begging them to take conformation shots for me!

Sandy the day we weaned her... June 1997

Not a bad looking filly!

One Last Suprise... The Story's End

Winter turned into Spring and our little Sandy girl was growing. She was quite the little trail riding buddy for Buttercup and I, scampering alongside us wherever we went. Even causing a few "loose horse!" scares amongst some of the contractors who were working on the farm.

She was turning into a real cutie. My whole family adored her, but secretly my Dad considered her "his girl". He would never admit it, but each morning when he arrived at the barn he would get out of the truck and yell "Hey Sandy girl!" And she would faithfully answer in her high pitched whinny and come trotting over to visit and be loved on. My Dad's a real softie with animals... but you'll never hear him admit it.

We loved her creamy buckskin color and I anxiously awaited for her to shed her winter coat, so I could brush her to a real shine. I went at her with the shedding blade and this is what happened...

Surprise!

My creamy buckskin was no more. The few stray hairs hung on as if to taunt me. But my dream of owning that creamy buckskin was gone for now. But hey! She was still a nice looking little horse and we still loved her to pieces. And too this day my family laughs about our 'magical" color changing horse. I guess I should have known it was coming, after all she did have raccoon like circles around her eyes.

Looking just like Mom...moving like her at least!

Our corgi using her as an overpass to cross under...

We didn't keep Sandy girl, I was a freshman in high school and had plans for college. There would be little to no time for me to train a young horse, let alone the fact that I had no training experience!! She was sold to a couple who trail rides with us. She is their baby girl.

I visited her a few years back (sadly without a camera) and she is the spitting image of her mother. She is well loved, they renamed her Baby Girl. Her pasture is right outside their back door and every morning she gets her share of sugar cubes and lots of attention. She lives with their two retired geldings... life can't get much better!

I have told the couple on numerous occasions that if they ever decide to sell her I want to be the first to know. I wouldn't hesitate, our Sandy girl would come back home. Back to where it all started. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Two For The Price of One!

I spent the next six months pouring over book and magazine article I could find on mare care... I was determined to do this and do it right. I wasn't going to be caught unprepared.

What I read scared the heck out of me... so many things could go wrong. What if Buttercup didn't make it? What if she had trouble foaling? What if the baby had contracted tendons? What if Buttercup hadn't received the proper nutrition in the early stages of her pregnancy?

Oh the what ifs!!

But I swear my Mom-Mom was watching over us, just two days after Christmas, our little bundle of joy arrived. We had been checking on Buttercup every hour, but missed the alarm for the 4 AM check and Buttercup foaled unassisted and without any problems.
It was a little girl and I was over the moon. She was ADORABLE and as I'm sure you can tell from the photos, fuzzy like a little teddy bear. Best of all, she was a buckskin! I always wanted a buckskin!!Our two for one deal was working out quite alright. I was learning more about horses than I ever thought I would. I was going to get to raise a foal! My friends were jealous, I mean how often do you get a chance to play with a foal?! They would all come and ooo and ahh at her and she ate up the attention.

She needed a name, as any prospective parent does, I had accumulated a list of "potentials." At the top of the list was Sierra... I thought it to be a pretty good name but standing in the stall looking at her I just knew she wasn't a "Sierra."

She was special, and therefore needed a special name. Something with significance. We chose to name her after my grandmother, because if it weren't for Mom-Mom, I wouldn't be experiencing this. So she was named Sandy's Surprise*. We called her our Sandy girl. We soon found out that she would live up to the "surprise" in her name...

Sandy Girl at 3 months...

* Buttercup's "show name" was Sandy's Secret and I thought Sandy's Surprise would be a good pairing of names.