It just isn't safe to ride in a skirt!

*A word of explanation: I was recently asked to write an article about riding safely in skirts. This is the result.  I hope it is encouraging!

     We girls were out with Daddy for our annual Christmas shopping trip - which is really just a nice opportunity to go out for the day with him since we don't usually buy much. We headed into Barnes & Noble to get some coffee and stood near the front door, enjoying our special treat, when an older, sloppily-dressed lady came up to us. "I just wanted to say that I like the way your girls dress," she began in a forceful tone. She looked from Daddy to each of us.

     "Well, thank you," Daddy said.

     "I don't dress that way because I ride horses and it just ain't safe to ride in a skirt, but I like the way you dress."

     All my sisters - except Anna Frances, who was distracted - looked at me. I smiled and said, "Actually, I have horses too and ride in a skirt all the time."

     "Well, you can do that, but I ain't gonna be caught dead in a skirt! It ain't safe!" she said.

     This lady held to a common misconception. All of us who wear skirts have probably heard it at some point or other and many ladies who prefer to dress modestly feel that wearing skirts or dresses would restrict them from riding. This simply is not true, though. Riding in a skirt can be done safely - but it does take a certain amount of thought and preparation. For the purpose of this article, explaining how to ride safely in a skirt, I'm going to skip all the wonderful reasons to wear skirts. Those of you who are reading this are probably already familiar with these reasons and the Biblical basis for them.

     I have been riding in skirts for eight years or so and have never had a skirt-related accident yet. Not to say I never will have one, but I haven't to date. I have also done a lot of other things in skirts, including climbing trees (a lot), swimming, hiking, bicycle riding, climbing rocks, canoeing, dog training, and working around the house and farm. 

This is what many people think of when they hear of riding horses in skirts.

Hello Again!

A word of clarification:  This is a really long post because it is a compilation of several posts on my farm blog, hence the emphasis on farmy subjects.  Still, I hope it is fun to skim through the pictures and get an idea of what we've been up to.

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I have been away from blogging for so long.  It seems like over the course of the last few months I've been so busy doing things that I haven't had time to write about all I've been doing.  Well, it's good to stay busy, but it is also good to keep up with my blogs, so this week I have tried to focus on sewing and computer work.  So far, this is the first computer work I've done, except for a little writing on my current book, but hopefully I will be able to pile quite a few more languishing computer projects into the next few days.

If you have subscribed to my newsletter, you are already aware of what has been going on in our lives; it's been a lot!  Two siblings have been married, two calves have been born, one goat is due to kid soon, and Cleone is ready to be bred for her first litter of puppies, to name a few!  If you are not subscribed to the newsletter, you can sign up now via the form on the right hand side of this blog.

Below are a few pictures of life on the farm.  Enjoy the update!
Warning:  There are a ton of pictures in this blog post, so if you are not interested in looking at a long pictorial record of our year, then you may want to stop reading here.

If you are game for an update:  Welcome to January!

The sun rises on a new year...

Book/ Radio/ TV Series Review: The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger Rides

By Fran Striker

Rating:  4 out of 10

    Hold onto your hats as you read this rip-roaring tale!  Filled with intrigue, action, and gun-slinging cow punchers who use colorful language and bleed freely, this story will keep you on the edge of your seats!  Look out for the blazing six-guns as you--- but wait:  is this the kind of book Christians should be reading?

A Derby Day Surprise: Fannie's Filly!

After supper tonight, I went outside to do the last few chores.  LilyAnn and Emaline tagged along, wanting to check on some new goats we bought today.  When we got to the barn though, I was immediately distracted from the goats as I noticed that Fannie was lying down on the other side, looking at me around the corner.  "That's funny", I thought.  "She always stands up when I come out.  Maybe I'd better check on her."

Well, when I came around the corner, look what I found!

Some Cute Little Cowboys

Savana took these photos for an Etsy listing last week, and I think they are just too cute not to share!  (Of course, the cute pony helps a lot!)

To order a custom-made shirt like the ones these boys are wearing, or see the other sizes/ styles Savana makes, please visit Pretty Modest Shoppe on Etsy.

A New Addition...

Ever since I got Fannie, we have thought it would be great to have another horse so that I wouldn't have to ride alone.  I always said that a large pony would be best- one big enough for any of us to ride, yet smaller than an average horse so he would be less intimidating for the younger ones to ride.
Well...  It seemed a little bit impossible for us to get another, but the Lord provided one.

April with the Feldmans...

This April has been a whirlwind.  We have had something, or several things, every week this month, and have been on the run a lot. 

Early this month, we visited a small Paso Fino farm to look at a stallion.  I had been considering breeding Fannie, and when I got online to see if there were any good stallions around, I found:

Jesse el Rubio

Sometimes I thought this day would never come...

There were times when I thought this day would never come.  Some days the longing would be as much as I could stand; on other days, I would almost forget about it.  But never completely.

To feel the wind whistling by,

To hear the rhythmic pounding of hooves,

The feel of powerful muscles surging and rippling under you,

To have the full control over, love and respect of an 800-lb animal that could easily overpower you, but instead obeys your wishes willingly...

On the trail... updated

As some of you may know, I have been a horse- lover ever since I can remember- an affinity which my sisters shared.  This year we finally had the opportunity for which we've longed, prayed, and hoped for so long.

Tammy Faye

Strawberry

Wampum

       Our neighbor, Mr. L., owns three paint horses, Wampum, Tammy Faye, and their four- year old filly, whom we dubbed "Strawberry".  This spring, soon after I got back from Haiti, we began walking up to their pasture and petting them, feeding them treats, and eventually brushing them six days a week.  Well, actually, we were focusing on Tammy and Strawberry since they are our favorites.  For several months we worked with them- making our own rope halters, and halter- breaking Strawberry, who had never been trained at all since she was a couple weeks old.  We gave Tammy a much- needed refresher on leading and longeing.  We taught them to stand tied.  Before this stage, we began bringing Savana and LilyAnn, primarily so that they could video us working with the horses, or take pictures.  Savana began working with Wampum, primarily grooming him, but occasionally leading him around as well.  I was sort of "head trainer" and would introduce a new concept to the horses, or deal with them when they were being difficult.

A screenshot of Strawberry's first reaction to pressure on her mouth from the bit.  (BTW, this is actually less dangerous than it looks!)

     We got permission to put the saddles on them, but were not allowed to ride, due to Mr. L's concern that we would be injured.  T. and W. had not been ridden for over a year, and S. had never even been halter-broke when we first began working them, so this concern was valid- especially since we had only been on a horse a handful of times.



     Finally, their owner was able to ride Tammy, and within a few days we were allowed to as well, provided that we stayed in the round pen under his supervision.  He also got on Wampum, and eventually Strawberry as well.  In those initial rides, Strawberry actually reacted the best (or rather, the least).  Tammy did not appreciate all the weight on her back, but responded well to the bridle, Wampum didn't care a straw about the weight that I could see, but was stubborn about moving forward and turning.  He didn't obey the bit well at all.  But Strawberry was, as we put it that afternoon, "twice as good with the weight as Tammy, and twice as good with the bit as Wampum".

Strawberry during her very first ride.

A screenshot of my first real ride on Tammy.  Hooray!

  Then we were given permission to ride T. even when Mr. L. was not there, and about a week later, he said that we could ride the others as well.  Finally, we went on our first real trail ride with all three of them.  Unfortunately, the photos were accidentally deleted from the camera :(  Daddy went with Farrah and I, and he said that it was the most fun he'd had with us all year (even if his legs were really sore the next day.)  We rode all the way to our house, after taking lots of little back roads and trails around Mr. L's property.  Daddy got off at the house and Evan rode Wampum back with us.  Farrah and I cantered our horses (Strawberry and Tammy respectively) for the first time.

     I'm so thankful to the Lord for giving us all that he has-  a very generous neighbor, who considers it a favor that we ride his horses, a wonderful family who have supported and encouraged us, and of course, the beautiful world we live in, and the magnificent animals we ride!

    

Here's a few photos from our last ride:

Evan on Wampum.

Riding by one of the many ferneries around here...

Farrah on Strawberry.  This filly is doing great for being so "green".  She used to have a phobia of branches coming near her head, but now we've ridden her through the woods and under low-hanging boughs without a problem.

Trailing in the woods.

Me on Tammy.

At the house.  Russel was so excited that he repeatedly tried to escape from the porch and come see the horses.

LilyAnn trotting.  She's going to be a really good rider.  Tammy had spooked and jumped sideways only a few minutes before, and she stayed on pretty easily.  That little episode made me much more comfortable taking LA with us, as it showed that she wasn't easily unseated.

A pretty flower I picked as we rode by the bush it grew on.

LA hosing Tammy down to cool her off.  She also untacked her by herself (took off the saddle and bridle).

Leading Tammy and Strawberry back to the pasture.

Feeding carrots...

And there's nothing like a good roll!