Pretty Horses and Such

These two brothers performed for us yesterday when we visited Sunshine Acres Arabians near Spokane.  It's always fun to watch Arabians strut their stuff, and these guys did a fine job of showing off for the visitors. 

In my mind, one of the joys of life is admiring beautiful horses, and that's pretty much why I keep my horses.  I love them and do ride them---not as much as I'd like---but both Lefty and Lily are pretty too, which leads to continuous joy. 

And, they occasionally put on some nice shows in the barnyard and the pasture, often causing me to drop what I'm doing and just stand there and behold the beauty of it all. 

Twas a nice visit to the Arabian farm, and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive back through--- uncharted territory for us---the farm country north of Spokane.  We saw lots of pretty farms, and with the service berry bushes and other flowering shrubs in full bloom, it was a beautiful trip. 

Today is not looking so good around here.  It's kinda dreary, cool and wet BUT once this system passes, back to a summer kind of spring with a whole week in the mid-70s.  

Our spring is starting to remind me a lot of last year's, and I'm really hoping we don't have months of hot weather again.  Besides, when May comes and all the blossoms have come and gone, that kinda puts a damper on the usual beauty of May. 

In other news, today is Throwback Thursday, and since I've featured horses above, I might as well include one from the past. 

His name was Ponderay Fancy Pants, and Toby I was his sire.  His mother was my mother's first horse in Sandpoint:  Adare's Countess Largo.  She was a bay Saddlebred-Morgan mare with a very plain head but beautiful body. 

So, the combination produced a big, tall colt with a big white blanket and spots.  Fancy was an impressive horse.

My folks campaigned him all over the region, often having our family friend, Bill Cross, do the showing. 

Mother and Harold kept Fancy around the place as a stallion for a few years and then sold him to a member of the old sale yard family and horse trader, Bob Spahr.  

Bob ended up trading him (for several horses) to one of Harold's wrangling friends over in McAlister, Montana, in the Madison Valley of Montana.  Kenneth Parent raised a lot of foals from Fancy up until he was struck by lightning. 

Fancy was born in 1955, and I'll never forget how excited Harold was when he went out to the corral and found that adorable little blanketed colt out there which had been born overnight. 

Lots of good memories of another phenomenal horse in our family history.  It's always fun to go back and think of those days and the horses that plodded along life's happy trails.  

Well, the rain is pounding on the roof now, so it looks like indoor project day, but the sun will shine tomorrow, and that is good. 

Happy Thursday.