We had some fun with the horses today -- I grabbed the camera as Mark was bringing everyone out to the paddock and we had some posing and photos. Then we had a game of tag, first with Ray and Rusty, then Stevie and Pete. (The mares got into it too, but with Mist having suffered a laceration to her eyelid last week, we tried to keep them from getting too worked up -- we don't want her to get any dirt or snow kicked up into her wound, which thankfully is healing well).

Photos are on the Stallions page, since they mostly feature Ray -- I haven't gone through all of them yet so the pics of Stevie and Pete will follow.

I'm not blogging much lately -- no time, really, and it's easier to do quick updates on Facebook. But I scrolled down through the posts just now and realized that we'd come a long way since my "momentous decision" in 2009 -- the post where I announced we were throwing in the towel as horse breeders. Since that nadir, things have gotten better -- they're not fantastic, as the economy still sucks and horses are still something of a losing proposition, but we're starting to see some hope for the future, and for the Lippitts we love. I think it's likely we'll find a buyer for Stevie next year, particularly given that he's going to get further work with Robyn in the coming weeks, and we're seriously considering breeding Ray to Mist in the spring (something that seemed impossible even six months ago) and potentially adding another mare to the fold, given that breeding Maggie, at 25, is something I am just not willing to risk even though the vet feels she could still handle a pregnancy. I swear that mare looks 5 to 10 years younger than her years, but she is getting a little gray around the muzzle and it's not as though she hasn't contributed her fair share to the gene pool... so it would be better if we simply found us another younger mare to take Bessie's place in the herd, and let Maggie keep her role of lady-in-waiting and babysitter extraordinaire. Overall, though, I feel a great deal more confident about everything related to the horse farm, all the way around.