Apple Blossom Time

This last weekend was the local Apple Blossom Festival, and this year it earned its name as the apple blossoms are really abundant right now. Cowboy and Dexter aren't particularly impressed with the blossoms, but they sure like eating the grass that grows under the trees. This is the tree behind my house, where they get to graze under supervision as they only thing keeping them there is that little string in the picture. Sure it's electric but it still wouldn't hold them back if they really made a break for it!

Got an exciting Facebook connection today--Cowboy's breeder! I'm still not sure exactly how or why she found me but I got a friend invite. It took a while before I realized why the name was familiar, but sure enough, she was Cowboy's first owner and in fact, still owns his mother and 2 of his siblings. She is going to try to find his baby pictures which will really be fun! Sounds like he's always been a fun, friendly kind of guy.

He's doing well under saddle, so I think the saddle fit is good. Getting a nice relaxed canter on both leads. So I'm starting to work on our Parelli Level 3 Freestyle, and if we can pass that, we'll be official Level 3 graduates. We've passed most of the self-assessment, although I'm not quite ready to try 4 laps at a canter with just carrot sticks. He's not that relaxed! But I did drop the reins a few times to see what he'd do and he maintained his gait better than I expected, so we may be close.

On a sad note, my kitty Patches has been diagnosed with cancer. She's on excellent "comfort care" thanks to Dr Laura, although it means I'm risking life and limb by giving her 6 pills a day (anyone got a Band-Aid?), but it's pretty clear that we're looking at a short window of time for the Princess. She's been my faithful little buddy for almost 13 years so this is a tough time.