natenkellnfamily: More stuff

With everything going on in our house this spring, we decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to get baby lambs this year. I had a hard time with that decision, but it ended up being a good idea. We still ended up with plenty of animals.

This is Nathan's dad's horse Gwennie. She is staying with us for a while.

We decided that we couldn't be running all over everywhere this summer. The past few years, Jo has done soccer, but last year she turned 8 and is now old enough for 4H. We told her that she needed to decide what she wanted to do. She decided to do 4H with horses. A guy in our ward is the leader and she is already learning a lot. We haven't had horses for a while and decided to get a horse for Jo. Nathan's brother knew someone who was thinning down their herd, so Nathan went to look at horses. Their horses weren't very old, or very seasoned, but they had two that we thought might work. Jo decided to get the less seasoned one that they wanted less for. We found out that it hadn't been named, yet. When Jo was little, that same brother had given Jo a HUGE stuffed horse that he had won at a carnival. She would ride it all over the house. It was as big as she was. She named it Short for Short. We never have been able to figure out where the name came from, but she loved it. She was so sad when all the stuffing finally came out and we had to throw it away. Nathan and I always talked about how we should name a real horse Short for Short one day. So, we've named Jo's new 4H horse Short for Short.

Here he is (in the front).

Then, Nathan had a trailer that he was trying to sell. One of his vendors at work told him that he wanted the trailer, but all he had for trade was a horse. Nathan was great with that. It was Nathan's understanding that the horse was a 3 year old gelding. When he went to pick up the horse, it was really a 2 year old filly. Suprise!! She too didn't have a name. Zoey came up with Sally and it stuck.

Introducing Sally.

Nathan has always been partial to dapple grey horses. When he went to go check out horses for Jo, a different horse caught his eye. He kept trying to talk himself out of the horse, but it was meant to be. He is a beautiful horse and he's very good. He is not as trained as Shorty, but very gentle and calm. Zoey and Owen have both been on him and he's great. He also didn't have a name and we (Nathan) came up with Car Mel Dapple.

We usually just call him Mel.

Here is another shot of Mel and Shorty. Mel is definitely the top followed by Shorty, Gwennie, and finally Sally.

I am very impressed with both Jo and Shorty. As I said, Shorty is not seasoned. I don't think he'd been ridden for a year before he came here. Nathan's brother rode him when he first got here and said that he'd need some work before she could ride him for 4H. A few days later, another brother rode him on a trail ride and had a few little issues with him. Nathan had a hard time getting him to go through 10 ft. gates, but there wasn't anything glaringly wrong with him. A little less than a week after we got the horses, Jo was finally able to get up on Shorty. I was pretty nervous. I knew she hadn't been on horses a ton, but Nathan's brother had worked with her some last year and said that she had natural ability. A few minutes after Jo got up on Shorty, Nathan called on his cell phone to tell me that they were made for each other. Shorty was listening to her better than anyone else. I looked out and Jo rode Shorty through a 3 ft. gate. They both definitely have some work to do, but they are both young and it looks like they will be able to grow up together.

When I was out taking pictures of the horses, the other animals kept trying to get my attention. So, I decided to show them off as well. Mostly, this is for my sister and her kids. I love that they love my animals. But, feel free to look as well.

Abbie - she's really growing up.