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Our greeters. They're paid in carrots! And turnips and strawberries and broccoli... |
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Freedom (behind) welcoming another horse into the ranks. |
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No tough-guy image here! Gideon's just a big squoosy marshmellow about kids! |
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The herd is on the move. |
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Spreading food and providing "destinations" fosters the natural instinct to travel. And this can be accomplished on as little as one acre! |
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Mijo discovering his love of Gatorade! |
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Mijo's first tangle with a Jumping Cholla cactus! Here Christin and I work to extricate the barbed, stinging needles from a very tender nose. |
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Closeup of the Cholla in Mijo's nose. OUCH! He was so patient and kind, not even fliching while we "yanked" the fish-hooked barbs out. |
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Gideon is a little hard on his fly masks! |
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Who said barefoot horses can't tackle super rocky trails like this?! Our horses contradict that myth every day! |
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Here, Mijo stops for a much-deserved snack before continuing on to plow over these rocks like he was walking on grass! |
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Notice the mildly abrasive and firm surface under Gideon's feet. This surface allows the horses to develop vital calluses for tough, healthy feet. |
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Here you get an idea of how thick these hoof walls are, and notice the rounded "mustang rolled" toe. |
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The boys enjoying a rainy afternoon |
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Heading (or BEheading...) off on a Halloween ride. Didn't the headless horseman have a big black horse? I guess a litte brown one will do in a pinch! |
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Zorro and Minnie Mouse ready for the Halloween ride.We didn't get all the riders in a picture :( |
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Christin doing her favorite thing in the whole world :) |
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Placing rocks around water sources is a great way to allow horses to self-condition their feet. |
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Overflowing the tank to create "mud puddles" keeps feet pliable and moisturized |
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A very rare group naptime! Freedom is the one standing guard.This was early on, the stalls behind them hadn't even been finished yet. |
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Synchronized pawing in an accidental lake. |
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Imagine my surprise when I came out one morning and found a lake in the pasture! And some very smug-looking horses gleefully playing in it. After I stopped laughing and turned the geyser off, I couldn't help but notice, that broken pipe had horsey teeth marks on it. Hmmm... I have to admit, they did a fabulous job making that lake!
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Group ride in the San Tans |
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Group trail ride pit stop |
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Rebecca and Aaron on Mijo and Blondie |
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The Original Grasshog. Patent pending |
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Beatutiful San Tan Mountain, only a short trailer ride away! |
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I thought this was a neat photo of horse and human footsteps. Everyone's barefoot here, even me :) |
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Aaron and Koalah in the SanTans after a nice long walk. Koalah loves running with the horses and keeping his alert doggy- eyes on them. |
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Pandah, our resident senior, says an election sign found blowing down the road would make a fine dog toy! |
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After 15 joyful, beautiful years, on May 24th 2010, we had to say goodbye to our precious baby, Pandah. She will live in our hearts forever. |
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