Stable Days

"THE CLOUD AND THE GREY CAT" BY AVERY

Once upon a time, the sun came up and it was a bright blue day, and puffy white clouds were floating in the sky.  And kids were playing in a big green field at the park.  Some were swinging and some were doing monkey bars, and some fell off and some stayed on.  Well, that blue morning a little grey cat was climbing up a tree.  While he was climbing up the tree, a dog started to bark at him and a squirrel followed him up.  When the dog stopped barking, the cat went down and got some food.  Then he took a little nap.  Then he went down the tree and went for a walk.  When he looked behind him, he didn’t see his house.  He realized he was lost.  He said to himself, “Why not go to the beach?  They might find me there.”  He thought it wasn’t that far because he had gone in the car, but now he had to go on foot.  So, he looked at the familiar green hills and started to walk up them.  They were so hard to climb, but in the car they had seemed effortless.  He realized he was a small little cat and he wasn’t that fast of foot.  He said to himself, "Maybe I'll rest on this tree and play for a while.”  So he dangled his front paws over the tree and swung himself back and forth.  He almost fell when suddenly something caught him.  He stepped on it and thought it must have been another tree branch but it was actually the very special cloud who was interested in this little cat.  She watched every little step he took … she watched him in the tree, climbing the mountains, every little step he took.  The cat walked on until he found the nice beach he was looking for.  The cat dug a little cave in the sand and the cloud followed him inside.  She said hello but the cat couldn’t hear her airy voice, because of course she was a cloud who lived in the air.  Then the cat jumped at what he saw … a little puffy cloud speaking to him with big blue eyes and big bushy lips.  When he saw the cloud, he was surprised because he thought the air would only keep him up, not down.  He carefully said, “What are you doing down here?”  The cloud said, “I saw you watching the kids playing, climbing up the mountains and I followed you everywhere you went.  And I knew you needed some company so I couldn’t wait for you to stop so I could talk to you.”  They talked for a while until a little girl came to the beach.  The cat cried, “My little girl’s back!”  He ran over to her and she stroked him on the head.  They went back home in the car and he was happy she came for him.  He climbed back up in his tree and he said to the cloud, “Good-bye, I will see you tomorrow.”  And that’s how the cloud and the little grey kitten met.

A MAMA AND HER BABY ... TOO SWEET FOR WORDS!

Hi Horse Pals,

Our friend sent us these adorable photos today and we wanted to share them with all of our Horse Pals.

This is a newborn offspring of Taskin, a Gypsy Stallion owned by Villa Vanners that was born in Oregon.  These pictures were immediately after his birth on April 6th.  The mare laid down and then the foal trotted around and crawled right up into her lap.

How sweet!  Your Horse Pals,

Araya and Avery

ANIMAL ACRES: SAVING ONE CUTIE AT A TIME!

Avery and I had an opportunity to visit one of our favorite places for photo club recently: Animal Acres.  It is a wonderful animal sanctuary that is home to many beautiful farm animals.

This trip, we met a new baby pig named Jumper who was six weeks old and sooo cute!  We got to play with her in her pen and get many great photos of her.  It was hard to get a picture of her because she would always move around her pen.  Here is the cutie:

{Isn't she cute!}

Next we visited the goats on a little mountain.  There was a baby and her name was Faith.  She was a few months old and absolutely adorable!

Oh, I have a funny story about a goat!  A goat on the hill started to come down and it went in between a mom's legs and it looked as if she was riding the goat down the hillside backwards!  She had to hold her camera up so it didn't drop!  Too funny!

Here are a few shots of the goats:

{Little Faith}

{This is the one that gave the mom a ride}

Next we saw two adorable baby cows!  Their names where Cassanova and Sunny.  Cassanova is the one with more brown and Sunny is the one with more white.  Sunny was more shy than Cass but was really sweet and Cassa was really playful.

Cass tried to eat Avery's shirt!  Avery said it tickled:)

They were soo cute!  Our friend Denise got to feed Cass with a bottle!

She had to hold the bottle really tight because they were really hungry!  

{Cass is sucking Sunny's ear}

Then we went got a behind-the-scenes tour up a trail where we met some more cows and two donkeys.

They were so beautiful!  We got to pet them and there was a BIG bull!

Near the cows, I caught and then released a lizard.  It was a blue belly.

As you can see, Animal Acres is a paradise for farm animals.  We always really enjoy our visits there and can't wait to go back and visit our farm friends.  

If you want to learn more about this special place, check out www.animalacres.org. 

I hope you love this post!

Your Animal Pal,

Araya

ODE TO GUINNEVERE

Hi Horse Pals ~

I know a lot of you call your barn your "home away from home" and we definitely see our barn pals as extended family.  We recently lost my favorite Hanoverian at the barn, Guinnevere.  She was a beauty and well loved at our barn.  I'd like to share with you a beautiful poem our friend, Donna wrote in memory of Guinn.

"Camelot"

Hush, Listen

was that another bell?

The clouds make it hard to see through, 

but,  am sure the sound was true.

Another precious soul has come to us today.

There she is,

there is the beauty we have been waiting for.

Oh, joyous being come closer.

Bounding proudly, free spirited flame,

the wind blows through heaven bearing your name.

And those who rose before you

Line up to welcome you here,

the lovely, gentle lady you know as

Guinnevere.

Shoulder to shoulder the company stand.

These dames and these sires - all royalty meet.

Cavorting and snorting in dance they do greet.

Secret exchanges through breath soft and sweet.

A circle binds them together as one supreme,

in the castle Arthur built awaiting his queen.

For Kelliann and Isabelle by D.M. Bion

RECYCLE AND SAVE THE PLANET AND HORSES, TOO!

I recently wrote this article that is featured on www.ecology.com.  It's an awesome site and they have a great kid's section ... check out the Kids Corner!  

Kids' Recycling Effort Helps the Planet and Funds a Favorite Cause

Hi, my name is Araya, I’m 10 and my sister, Avery is 7 and we are passionate about animals and nature.  We live right next to a wildlife reserve and we love to hike there and bird watch.  We have seen really beautiful birds and it is so pretty there.

One of our very favorite things to do is horseback ride.  We LOVE horses!  Last summer, we decided it would be fun to start raising money for a horse rescue so we did some research and chose this great organization called Adopt-A-Foal located in Texas.  It is run by this really amazing couple who rescue foals and place them for adoption.  You can check them out at www.adoptafoal.org. 

We started thinking of ways to raise money for Adopt-A-Foal and decided by recycling we could save horses AND the planet!  We started a recycling company called Earth Wranglers and we have been recycling ever since.  We have asked friends and family and even the barn to save their recyclables for us, and it has been really successful.  We found a recycling center that accepts all types of glass from pickle jars to spaghetti sauce jars to juice bottles along with plastic and aluminum.  We have a weekly pickup where we collect all of the recyclables and then we sort them by type and then drive them to the recycling center.  There we put them in plastic bins and mesh baskets where they are put on a big scale and weighed.

This is a fun and fabulous thing to do and it feels really good to be able to give back to animals and Mother Earth.  So many people have thanked us for recycling for them – they say they had no idea how much they were wasting and they now feel so good to be doing their part to help the environment.  It has been really fun to help educate people about recycling.  We hope you will consider starting a recycling program and help your family, friends and neighbors recycle.  We can all help out Mother Nature by donating money to our passion and helping out the planet at the same time.

I hope you'll visit my blog at http://stabledays.typepad.com/.

Araya

"DIABLO AND THE PONY" BY HORSE PAL DONNA MARIE

Our friend, Donna from the barn wrote this story about her horse, Diablo.  We hope you all enjoy it!  Thanks, Donna for sharing it with our Horse Pals.

Blackie is a small pony about three feet tall, almost as tall as my son, Billy, and shaggy as our sheep dog, Mike.  

In a pasture lives a big red horse named Diablo.  A little girl owns him and hugs his neck every day after school.

Today, as my son and I were walking, we heard a loud, shrill nicker.  Diablo was standing in the corner of his pasture holding his head high, wailing at something in the distance.

Way out on the hill stood a little black dot.  Then, a tail swished.  It was Blackie!  He was on the loose and running toward the pasture gate!

Blackie saw us and kept running.  The closer he came, the more excited Diablo got.  He paced back and forth and screamed at the pony.  And the pony started screaming, too. Something was going to happen soon and all of a sudden, it did ...

When Blackie reached the pasture, he jumped clean over the fence and into the pasture! "Wow!" we said.  The little pony tossed his head proudly and Diablo stood still like a stone statue.

Then, he saw Diablo.  He might as well have been in with a bull.  Diablo lowered his head and pinned back his ears.

Suddenly, the little girl ran in yelling, "Diablo!  Diablo!"  That mean ol' bully begged for forgiveness.  She cradled his head in her arms.

The pony wanted to join them.  He strolled over to the pair but was stopped by a menacing snort from Diablo.

Turning to us, the little girl shouted, "Bring me the rope."  My son grabbed it off the gate and ran to her.

While she placed the rope around the pony's neck, Billy stroked his soft fur and combed his fingers through his mane.  They were in heaven.

Alone and getting no attention, Diablo let out a great sigh.  He was not happy.  I yelled at Billy to come along.

As the pony was led back to his stall, my son and I continued our walk.  Diablo grazed happily in his green kingdom.  Horses, like most animals, live in the moment.  For Diablo, all was as it should be.

The little girl waved good-bye.  I hugged my son and smiled.  What a day we had!  What a story we had to tell! 

THE END

"PUP PASSION" AN ANIMAL STORY BY ARAYA

Hi Horse Pals,

I wrote a story a while ago and I wanted to share it with you.  It was one of the first stories I ever wrote and illustrated.  I hope you like it!!!

PUP PASSION                     

One Spring day, there was a puppy named Cutie.  He lived with his mom Duchess.  Today Cutie felt a strange feeling, he did not know quite what it was... and then it struck him, he did not have a PASSION!!!!  

On that Spring day, Cutie went to the dog park to see if his friend Turkey was there, and he was.   Cutie asked Turkey if he had a Passion and Turkey replied, "Yes, I LOVE to eat!'  Cutie said, "That is not a Passion!"  "It is to me!" exclaimed Turkey.  "Oh, that is a funny Passion to me," said Cutie.  " You know Cutie, every Passion can be different, and mean different things to each of us."  "Good point Turkey," said Cutie.

After Cutie left the park, he went back to his dog house to think about his Passion.  He knew he could dig it out if he just tried!  

"Cutie," called Duchess " Can you please come pick up all your balls?"  "Sure Mom" exclaimed Cutie.  Cutie ran to go fetch his balls when he suddenly realized ... that's it!! My Passion is fetching Balls!  " Mom!! Mom!!" barked Cutie," I found my PASSION!!"  " That's great Cutie." howled his Mom, "What is it?"  "Fetching balls, big, small, polka dot, I like them all!"  Cutie was very happy!

First thing the next morning, Cutie ran off to meet Turkey at the dog park.  Cutie then told Turkey his Passion, fetching balls.  They fetched all day!!

THE END 

"ODE TO HORSES" BY HORSE PAL CAYCE

Here's a poem that Cayce wrote and wanted to share with you all ...

"Ode to Horses"

Horses are beautiful.
Horses muzzels are soft.
Horses are a girl's best friend.

Thanks, Cayce, keep them coming!  

FIRST HORSE PALS' FUN POEM

Thank you to Stevie and Rebecca for our first Horse Pals' submission.  It's a great one!!  I hope you like it as much as we did!

Hi Araya and Avery,

The blog just keeps getting better every day. Stevie wanted to send a poem so here we go,
 
Horses are friends,
as people are too.
My love for animals
will always shine through.
 
In good times and bad,
especially when I am sad,
I think of all my friends
and know our friendships will never end.

Love Stevie and Rebecca 

Stevie's ready to give Marshall a yummy apple!

CREATE YOUR OWN ANIMAL TALES

Hi Horse Pals ~

As you know, I love to read and I thought it would be fun to create my own horse story.  I've been writing for the past few months and I add to it whenever I feel inspired.  I'll give you a little taste ... the girl's name is Victoria and her horse is Speed Racer and it takes place in a beautiful setting.

Let's make a place on the blog called Horse Pals' Animal Stories and share stories here!  You can send in any animal stories or poems you've written or anything else you'd like to share with our Horse Pals Club.  How fun!!  I can't wait to hear all the fabulous stories!

You can e-mail them to me at araya@stabledays.net and I'll post them to the blog.

Happy trails and happy writing,

@raya