Good ol' Kentucky

So this is chapter 1 of our summer vacation. Steve took his Step 1 exam which consisted of 8 hours of testing and the next day we took off for Kentucky where my Aunt Esther lives. She owns 100 acres of land. most of which is her back hill that has trails to ride on that never get used so its pretty over grown. I love my aunt's farm. We helped with chores and rode horses and just had fun. Its kind of like going into a warp zone out there. Being so cut off from everything else makes time fly.

So chores at my aunt's has always been fun for me. (Probably since I go out there so rarely) We got to feed the rabbits and goats, chickens geese, cats and a mare and foal. I wanted to teach Steve to milk the goats but my Aunt hadn't been milking them since she got surgery on her arm. Se la vie. Riding the horses on my aunt's farm is actually a lot more work than one might think. Before you can even think about riding you have to call the horses from the pasture and catching them is always interesting when they are so obstinant, but I'm determined so they don't stand a chance. One day we helped with the ferrier so we had to catch all the horses. That was a long day but we got to ride after so it was worth it. (A ferrier is the guy that trims the hooves and shoes the horse.) Anyway we loved it and had so much fun.

Here are a few pictures from Thoroughbred Park in Lexington. We couldn't resist pretending to ride the horses. IT started to rain before I could get on a jockey horse.

This is Catboy who kept stealing Sophie's bed. She's sucha chicken that she would just stare at him til she gave in and laid down on the porch next to the bed. The only cat there she liked chasing was one of the few black cats. (My aunt must have like 30 cats and keeps adding more. since she had 4 kittens when we were there.)

This is a picture of the riverfront restaurant. They keep a this flood pole up to record how high the water gets each winter. This year it made it all the way to the stairs. I think the worst year was in the '70's.

My aunt told us that year they went canoeing in their front hay field since the water was so high. This year it messed up her hay field pretty bad but it was fast crazy water that would have been suicide to go out in.

Isn't Kentucky pretty. I love all the horse fields with pretty fences and old barns. Its just breathtaking.

Steve learned to ride on Orchid, who is half percheron (which means BIG). Shes actually really gentle for her size and a personal favorite. Steve was actually a good rider. We rode with a mom and daughter one day and the daughter was a beginner and her horse was kinda stubborn so Steve was good enough to give her Orchid and he got to push around a smaller horse. That is really awesome progress for a beginner.

I got stuck on the iffy horses most of the time so I could feel them out for my aunt. Its not as fun but makes for an interesting ride.

Of course this horse wasn't cooperative and tried to kill me. She decided to rear and then came down against my cousin Monte's truck. So weird that it didn't even bruise me especially since where the horse and my leg hit there was a big dent left behind. I'm just lucky I guess.