Although her registered name is "Grey Lady", I couldn't bring myself to call her "Lady" on a daily basis. She's not the least bit Ladylike and, frankly, I felt it too nondescript a name for a gray female horse. She's large and practically glows in the dark, has her own gravitational pull. So Luna it is.

At the trot:

Sometimes it is hard to get photos of Luna because she follows me so closely. Unless I tie her to a post, she follows me around and I can't get enough distance between us to take a full-body photo of her. Sure, I can get close-ups of her face and nose all day long. If I try to run ahead, she usually runs after me. With a little perseverence I can get shots of her like the one above, far enough away to get her whole body in the picture, but always approaching head-on. Side-views are nearly impossible unless she's distracted by edibles or some commotion in the distance.

The following photos were taken of Kelly and Luna on December 31st, 2004. Kelly has ripped up some grass for Luna, who is very excited about it. She chases Kelly up and down the fence that separate them. Later, she gives Kelly a kiss and then, after I let Luna out into the main pasture, gallops madly after Kelly, who (understandably) shrieks and flees. Unfortunately, I did not manage to get Kelly in the frame on that last one. But you can see the eagerness on Luna's face. She thinks Kelly might have some more grass.

Here are some photos taken of Luna and me on the second day of January, 2005. These first two are Luna and I at a lope or canter or gallop or something. It's faster and smoother than a trot, but also makes her prone to buck and go a little loopy with glee. It's fun and hazardous.

The next two photos are of Luna and me after having crossed a shallow ditch, twice. I often cross this ditch on Luna, half-hoping, half-fearing that one day she'll leap it instead of sort of slithering down one side and lurching up the other. In the first photo, you can see the small ditch behind us. We did not jump on this day.

Nice photo of Luna and me and our shadow in the unusually cheerful winter sun. Luna's hind feet are stretched under her because I had her pivot a little to face the camera.

The last photo of this batch is one that is washed-out and blurry but I feel inclined to include it nonetheless because neither of us is doing something foolish, which is rare. I'm sort of hauling in on the reins because at this point in the afternoon she'd gotten warmed up and spunky and wanted to go go go go! Jeez, I'm looking forward to getting a saddle.

We went down to the pasture to play with Luna. As we drove slowly down the long, snow-covered driveway to the pasture, we saw Luna far out in her pasture. We stopped on the driveway and she took notice of our car. "Are those my people?" said her pricked-up ears and attentive posture. "It IS my people!" said her eager canter to the fence. "Haloooooo!" she called across to us. We hailed her in return and continued to admire her dappled form against the snowy pasture. She became impatient and paced up and down the fence. "Hurry up!" she whickered.
At the pasture, Scot and Bo investigate Luna's frozen watering trough while Luna supervises. Unfortunately, the camera was still a little foggy from the sudden transition from warm car to cold outside, resulting in a foggy photo. A few hectic minutes of drafty mayhem and frolic follow and we fear for our lives as Luna shows her heels to the sky, sometimes a little too close for comfort. In this photo, Scot is beseeching Luna to please calm down a little. Then Bo gets Luna riled up again and they run away across the pasture. The kids get the cabin fever out of their system and amble sedately back to Scot and me.
Scot's size 13 print and Luna's size "ohmygawd" print, side-by-side. Also, looking at this photo as I crop it and rename it, I realize this is a rear hoof print, which is smaller than a front hoof print. Yikes!
Scot offered luna a snowball. Accustomed to snacks fed from hand, Luna immediately took it from his palm, then spat it out again. "A trick! Argh!" said her ears. Bo then offered Luna another snowball. Luna took it just as quickly, then spat it out too. "Another trick! Damn you!" said her wrinkled nostril.
In this photo, Luna watches Bo warily askance with one eye and one ear because he has already tossed several snowballs at Scot's chest. Each time a snowball hit Scot, Luna tossed her head in alarm, then watched with pricked-up ears to see Scot's reaction. But each time, he calmly brushed the snow off his chest. Finally, Luna had enough of people throwing things and getting away with it, and turned away in disgust.
Luna's neighbor, the little Shetland, looks very much at home in the snow.
One last photo of Luna out in her pasture before adjouring to the stall for some much-deserved hay.

With the assistance of financial contributions from Amanda and Mom and Mike West (thank you, thank you!), I have finally acquired a saddle for Luna! After falling off twice in one day (Luna was all whacked on mare hormones and spooked out from under me), I finally bit the bullet and ordered the saddle I'd had my eye on for so long. I'd been waiting for it to appear for sale on ebay, you see. They do, from time to time. But the hundred dollars I would have saved by purchasing it off ebay, rather than off the retailer's web site became much less important in the face of potential GBH and very real manifest aches and pains.

The saddle arrived on April 5th, about an hour after I first began feeling the effects of a pinched nerve in my back. When UPS drove up with my saddle, I was unable to straighten beyond a forty-five degree angle. The idea of going to the hospital was being discussed, with me on the "no" side of the discussion and Scot on the "hell yes; whether you want to or not" side of the discussion. Unsurprisingly, Scot won. After some poking and prodding, the doctor prescribed me some painkillers and a muscle relaxant. The next day I woke up feeling 90% recovered but refrained from pressing my luck with horsey activities. Instead, I pottered around the pasture, working on the fences. The day after that it rained like crazy all day, with thunder and stuff. I moped around the pasture, cleaning the tack room and railing at the sky.

FINALLY, on April 8th, everything came together. The sky was gloriously clear, Luna was covered in fresh mud. I spent two hours grooming her, while she ate a large breakfast of timothy hay. My first ride in my new saddle was grand. My second ride, on the 9th (the day I am writing this) was even better. I punched more holes in the stirrup leathers and off billet and made some adjustments based on the results of the previous day's ride. It was fantastic!

Here is a photo taken last night of Luna in her new saddle:

Scot took these on April 10th, 2005:

Here I am demonstrating to Scot something Luna had done earlier... I am NOT falling out of my saddle, thankyouverymuch!