Winter Wonderland

Well well well it's been forever since I posted and so much has happened!!

I've been working at the horse barn, school, friends, and of course hanging with two horses, Cocoa and Dixie. :)

Today I took Cocoa out with Michelle and Ace and we went for a lovely ride on the backroad and the trails. We didn't see a single snowmobile and the trails were groomed. Ace and Cocoa got along great this time and they had a blast cantering through all the snow together. Had a lovely cantering stretch on the way home. :D

Then tonight I took Cocoa out for a moonlit ride. :) It was AMAZING...and amazingly cold. I just hopped on bareback again..but left her blanket on and we just rode all around the neighborhood and on the backroad. Lots of fun! :)



Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Horsie Update

I've been riding Cocoa quite a bit lately! Decided to get my priorities straight this last week..horses before homework. lol :) We've gotten some really great rides in! I've been taking Dixie for bike rides, walks, and for runs with me.

Working on the weekends at a horse barn! Keeping me busy!

Halloween tonight! ;) Trick or Treating for the Food shelf! :)


Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Hello!

Well..my goodness time sure flys when one is busy busy busy. I realized I have been really neglecting my blog lately and finally decided it is dang time I do a post, if not just a quick update.

School has officially begun and is in full swing that is for sure. Bring on the homework. My college classes are definitely keeping me on my toes and up to my head in homework and assignments.

I've been working at Joni's. She has four horses, Sy, Suni, Ben, and Steele. I clean stalls, drive the BIG GREEN TRACTOR (love it!), and get to help feed and bed, etc. I really love it! Joni is the best!

I've been riding Cocoa quite a bit and when it was warm we were making many trips and venturing down to play in the river. Lately, however, the weather has been rainy and cold! Last weekend Michelle got a new horse that she is trying out, Hannah, and Cocoa and I braved the elements and rode in the drizzling sprinkle then rain with her and Hannah. It was fun but chilly! I'm just glad I didn't get sick. Dixie is doing great! I've been riding her a little bit and just taking her for walks. I bought the girls a Jolly ball to play with but they haven't shown much interest towards it.

The girls really miss me. I feel awful. School has kept me so busy and I would much rather spend my time with them. I'm trying to balance everything but it is definitely piling up. I need to trim both the girl's hooves so that is on my list next now that my foot is healed from my fall while taking Cocoa for a walk and tripping in a gopher hole. lol Oh my. But it still hurts sometimes..and I haven't attempted to over stress it much. Ugh..why did I have to trip and hurt it? What a pain.

That is pretty much what has been happening...

I work tomorrow..bright and early...be there at 7:30 am..yep I'd say it's about time to call it a night! :)


Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Riding in the Rain

Decided to take Cocoa out for a nice ride cause I thought the rain was done...lol I was wrong. We got totally soaked..on the way home. I had to put my phone in my boot to prevent it from getting wet and ruined. Nice ride though..other than the getting drenched part..

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

More riding...Dixie highlights!

Michelle and I went out for a ride today. It was just beautiful out...Cocoa and Ace did so well. We had a lot of fun. I went through a berry tree and got red berry juice all over!! We had a nice gallop on the stretch of the trails.


Later, I rode Dixie to Anna's to pick up Fran's sweatshirt. Justin biked along with. Dixie did AH-mazing!! We stopped and visited a little kid that was so excited to see a 'pony'. Dixie thought my hat was so cool when we stopped and I was standing by her. She kept trying to eat it off my head. On the way home Dixie and I raced Justin at a nice canter ALONG the side of the road!! He insists he won..but I believe Dixie would say differently. I even RODE her across the bridge.

That's my little three year old. She just amazes me more and more each day. ;)

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Riding with Wendy

Got to go hang out with Wendy, Ginger, and Rusty! We had a fun time hitting up the dirt roads and the trails. The horses were so good!!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

....

Dixie and Cocoa checking out Storm and Cloud's feeder...

Cocoa and Dixie butts!

Dixie sniffing noses with Ty. She liked him. ;)

Dixie and Tyrone

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Picture's Galore from our Trip!!

Cocoa jealous that Dixie is paying Ty so much attention.

Gabbers!!

Cloud and Storm

Cocoa and Dixie. SO shiny!!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Trip to Joan's!!

Dixie and Cocoa snuffling along.

Dixie and Ty. She wasn't sure what to think of him at this point...

Cocoa and Me, Dixie and Joan Just ARRIVED! ;)

Ready to go!!

Cocoa checking out the view from her trailer window.

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

...And they're off!

Woke up a bit late today...Whoops. Stayed up too late working on a wolf woodburning. ;)

I took baby Dixer's out for a walk/ride! We boogied out and I just walked with her for a ways..the bugs were horrid. Then after letting her munch for a while I hopped on her bareback. We cantered a good stretch and then just walked, trotted, and cantered along the highway. She's pretty dang good about traffic! :)

We played with stopping..man is she getting on her toes with this. As soon as I use my seat to stop...she stops! That's my baby! Turning is a little harder for her to grasp..she's a little heavy yet. I need to teach her to neck rein..that should be interesante. Other than that..I haven't been focusing on riding with her that much..so for her to be doing this well..I'm super pleased. No bucks..

On the way back we met up with mom who was biking. So Dixie and I trotted to keep up with her...and then she offered a super slow canter along the road. It was beautiful. ;)

I'm so proud of the baby she's really growing up!

Trimmed both the girls today. That's 8 hooves! I had to wear long sleeves and gloves..the whole works because I didn't want to take the chance of getting posion ivy. Have it already and hate it. That took a while..and it was hot out today..of course..I should have done them yesterday when it was unusually cool out.

Brought the trailer up front again..the horses were whinnying like crazy...not sure where they thought they were going to get to go?!? lol

Packing for tomorrow..for Joans! I'm so excited to get to trailer the horses up there..and then have my girls visit with Ty, Storm, Cloud, and little Gabby! This should make for an interesting week. Cocoa knows them...but Dixie's never met them before. I'm really hoping Dixie and Stormy hit it off and romp around the pasture and PLAY! :)

We're trailering out and leaving bright and early tomorrow morning! :)


Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Babysitting little Theo!

Bounce Theo Bounce!

Happy baby!

He can sit up!

Sleeping!

Babysat Theo for a couple hours today. He's gonna be a little horse guy before we know it. :) Michelle hopes his first word will be "Pony!" :) He's a cutie.

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Extremely Long Trail Ride...

I woke up so early today!! haha 7 am on the dot. Let the girls out and they got to eat in the pasture when it was nice and cool. Then I grabbed Miss Cocoa and we headed out on the trails. The loggers were back there again....taking all our trees..and messing up the trails! Ugh..

We went SO far! All the way to Ann Lake...and had to follow the highway back. I was starved so I ate wild raspberries...hopefully I won't die from that...lol


Later on I rode baby Dixie. Unexpected ride! :) Found a birdie....

Will expand later... :)

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Riding with Michelle!

Me, Cocoa, ponying Dixers along, and Victory and Michelle. Ace had an abcess and had to stay home. :(

The girls were suddenly fascinated with Vic...the look on their faces just made me crack up. :)

I love my girls!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Mechanical Bull Ride

Wow..what can I say...I've decided I love mechanical bulls. That was a heck of a ride! So fun yet so short! lol

I rode 'Cletus the Bull.' He was mechanically controlled by some dude. We even got clothes and everything to wear to hang onto the rope. The bull had lit up red eyes and was silly looking..it was in the middle of a huge blow up thing.

I rode it on Friday and got a 29 seconds. And then fell..

They let me do it again tonight...and I got 49 seconds!! :) Very pleased. I was so dizzy when I got off and my legs were shaking. I was gripping that thing pretty hard! lol

I decided I want one..lol haha

Pics. and video eventually!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Hot Hot HOT!

Super hot and sunny out today! A bunch of friends and I got together and chilled at the beach....and played sand volleyball!

Unforchantly I itch like crazy since I got jiggers from the lake yesterday..but I still went in again today anyways!

Haven't done much with the horses yet today...they are just chilling in the shade.

Spudfest the rest of the week...so Battle of the Bands tonight..and then parades and stuff all this weekend!! YAY!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

River Adventure

Took Cocoa out for a spin about 3 pm. It was hot out..and the sun was beating down so I thought let's go to the river and play!! Well we get there..and this is just how much luck always works; it gets all overcast. Always..does this. Well we just chilled and Cocoa munched on all the river grass. Barely made a dent in the grass there...it is so lucious.

Ventured down through the mucky bank on my side and into the water. It was so warm! Lovely! Wasn't quite as murky today as it was yesterday with Dixie. I rode Cocoa all around in it. She even had to swim a little bit when we followed it farther down. She was having a lot of fun. So slippery all wet though since I just rode in my jeans and swim suit. Then the bugs got to us so we continued to the road and to the trails. We made it to the warm up trail and heard some construction going on. They had HUGE machines in there to cut the trees and drag them. Cocoa and I kept going and she didn't mind them at all..I was a little worried we'd get stuck in there. We did quite a bit of cantering and I got her to collect. It was a very nice and fun ride!! It didn't even seem that hot out and Cocoa didn't seem to be overheating. We eventually turned back and went by the loggers and headed home through the river. We just beat the rain. A couple minutes after I put her in it just let loose and started POURING!

Fun day with Cocoa! She was happy to get out and about!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Dixie to the River and Cocoa biking!

Biked with Dixie down to the river. Even got pics..since mom came later and met us down there.

Dixie was being pokey today when I was biking with her. I was wondering if it was just because it was so hot out, she wasn't feeling good, or tired from yesterday? hmm..

We crossed the bridge when a huge semi went by. What impeccable timing I had. Dixie didn't blink an eye. That's my baby! :) I was nervous! It was a SEMI..I mean come on..and the bridge is not very big or gives us very much room on the side.

The bugs were pretty bad down at the river..and the posion ivy. Uh oh....I hate posion ivy.

She got to eat a ton of grass. Even got a little startled when some people walked down to the river and surprised us!

Dixie went right in. And immediately started splashing up a storm again...She loves to splash and soak me! She didn't lay down today like she did yesterday though! She still stuck her head under the water..past her eyes. And she blew bubbles too...I literally saw her thinking.."hmm..if I stick my nose under the water and blow...ooohhh...pretty...BUBBLES!" She did that numerous times! I taught her how to paw on cue...cause she just loves to do it. And she started doing her Spanish Walk..paw paw in the water. :) hehe It was cute.

We went pretty deep up and down. She kept wanting to go farther. When mom was taking pics. I stood still for too long cause something brushed past my ankle and it wasn't Dixie. I screamed...it totally freaked me out. We were down for the day after that...I've gotten leeches from that river..and see fish up upstream all the time! Yikes!

It was a fun river day especially since it was so HOT out! Dixie totally cracked me up with her antics. She's so silly.

We biked home and she got to eat in the yard for a while before I took Cocoa out.

Cocoa was feeling left out..so I took her out for a bike ride on the backroad. We did a lot of trotting and cantering. She is so good about cantering right beside me and I can touch her and pet her while I bike. :) She got to eat a lot of grass. Then since we moved the trailer to the back by the backroad we did some trailer loading too!!

After that I tied her in the ditch while I got the wheel barrow and collected all the grass they cut in the ditches. The horses loved that...but I think I got poison ivy now. And I roasted doing that...it was so hot out!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Appy Pastel

Finally was able to load this pic up! :)

Appy pastel I entered in contest! I love this one!! It's HUGE too!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Update

Been busy with the ponies. Fran came to visit the other day! So that was a special treat! Wish she could have stayed longer. We went to Nita Jo's for a clinic.

I've been taking Dixie for bike rides. Cocoa and I have been going down to the river A LOT to eat the green lush grass and to play in the water. The bugs haven't even been that bad down there! We went on a super long trail ride the other day and have just been milling around and riding through all the developments and to friends.

The horses have been getting to eat in the yard just about everyday while I work on my art projects and they've been getting baths to keep them cool!

The other day some roofing people came and parked along the ditch. Dixie walked right up to his truck and stared at herself in the window and then went back to eating. She is such a goof!

Played with Dixie in the roundpen the other day! She's been ah-mazing! We've started doing more liberty. She's doing great with that! Stick to me and change of direction is going really good!

Cocoa's been spunkier! I love it! :)

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Pony Express and River Rat

Took Cocoa out for a ride a ways! Delivered a b-day present Pony Express style of course. Got there in one piece..but I didn't Guarantee or Insure the package! lol

Cocoa isn't feeling the best still. Having a hard time walking on gravel and pavement and not feeling into going real fast. So we just took it easy. Was an interesting ride. Saw a lot of people we knew... :)

Got home and biked with Dixie to Birch Lake. Made it all the way there and there was too much commotion and dogs running...(what are the chances..nobody is ever there.) so Dixie was a little nervous. Didn't get in the water for too long...thought some lady was calling the cops on us for having a horse in the lake...lol

Stopped at my friends then we headed home. Dixie got a good workout! Lots of trotting and she is definitely traffic safe..we went along the highway the whole way...got some funny stares...Girl Biking Her...HORSE! haha I can see it in the papers now! It's gonna be a new sport..if I have anything to say about. Now I just have to master Unicycling while leading Cocoa...and Dixie. :) Summer project. ...we'll leave it at that!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie

Oregon Trip

Me and Ingrid

At the Coast.

Brr..the water was Chilly!

My wonderful cousins!

Me and mommy!

The rest of our Oregon trip consisted of hanging out with cousins and family.

Sat. - Saturday Market...that was cool! Then we went to the OCEAN! Now that was ah-mazing! Cold but sweet!

Sun - Church and Graduation and PAR-TAY!

Mon - Go back home...long flight. :( I didn't want to leave. If I had brought the girls with...I just mighta not came back to MN. Seriously they have NO bugs there...just slugs. Ick!

The horses were happy I was home. They got to get out and eat grass! Finally!

Savvy Out,
Olivia, Cocoa, and Dixie