For the Horse Lovers & Death by Gravy

"Hast thou given the horse strength?  Hath thou clothed his neck with thunder?  Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?  The glory of his nostrils is terrible.  He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength:  He goeth on to meet the armed men.  He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.  The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.  He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the strumpet.  He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." (Description of a war horse).  Job 39:1

Monday night, our preparation day, we went to the stables where a member we meet with regularly for scripture study boards her 15-year-old horse named Tee Jay.  Though she has owned him for eleven years, she said she hasn't had the courage to ride him because he is so big and powerful.  She is 100% in love with Tee Jay and he is treated like a king.  He gets a visit from her every day when she stops after work to clean his stall, feed and groom him.

There is a woman training Tee Jay so he knows proper commands and gaits.  The trainer said he was bred to be a working horse, so being on grass and rarely ridden is making him rather flabby instead of having muscles.  This horse lives in horse heaven, I suppose, not doing much but eating in a lovely green pasture of clover and grass, then hay and goodies in his stall at night.   Tee Jay has a friendly temperament and anyone could ride him without a worry of him ever spooking or baulking at anything asked of him.

Before going to see Tee Jay, we ate at a carvery.  The best places to get a good meal is in pubs, which have the carveries.  It is called a carvery because there are usually three choices of freshly roasted meat available, which is carved and served when you go to the counter.  Gravy is a staple at many meals in England and it is poured on almost everything.  When we go to tea, we often have a plate already packed up for us with food and gravy.  Below you will see Elder Blain's typical plate at the carvery.  It shouts clogged arteries.

The chef comes out and takes the covers off of the vegetables.  At the far left end the meat is carved.  All the carveries look much the same.

Below are the pictures taken at the stable we visited.

Tee Jay. the Irish Cob, in his pasture heaven with feet shaved for summer.  His mane is growing out from a shave.

Tee Jay with his owner--or does he own her?  No matter, they enjoy one another.

That IS some lovely rear end.

 Here the trainer is working Tee Jay through his gaits.

He didn't particularly like his picture being taken, though he didn't make a fuss--just gave that look

Maybe if I ignore her, she'll go away

This is a real bull pen full of nothing but bulls.

This evil-eyed bull was pawing up the ground and throwing stuff over his back.  He was ready to take me on!

tails are not always bobbed on lambs

Notice the handlebar mustache on Cowboy here?

Tee Jay has a mustache too!

Irish Cob

What you looking at?

Pretty Pony

Me working with Tee Jay on his standing.  Notice the mounting platform?  The English make it so much easier to get on a horse!

This German Shepherd was watching the girls ride.

This horse kept doing this when I tried to take a picture

What a character!

Pretty is as pretty does--notice my halo?

Shiny guy

Little crusader

Had enough horses?  For you horse lovers--probably not.