Sonny Likes Being a Trail Horse!!!!

This is the original. Which do you like best? Sonny and I were just back from a trail ride.

This picture caught us totally unaware. I had no idea that anyone was taking a picture. It was taken by Chelsea Lucas. I am not normally a fan of black & white, but this one is interesting with the shadows and the tallllll horse. HMMMM I wonder what the color version looked like. Nice job on the composition on that photo.

Last day of October

Ella & Alissa

Abby & Ginger
Bobby in his new sheet.
Sherry & Reo


Abby & Autumn

Our Barn Party Costume Parade!

This year we decided to have a barn party costume parade! This was the one time everyone could dress up even though it wasn't a horse show. Lots of the students did not get to go in any horse shows this year. So dressing up for the pure fun of it seemed like a a great idea!! (At least until I got started trying to get the horse outfits on the horses! Then I wasn't so sure!)

First in line in the parade were Peek A Boo and Flyer. Peek A Boo was dressed as the young horse and Flyer was dressed as her "Granny". Arlene rode Peek A Boo and Lisa led Granny. Many thanks to Lisa for helping with Granny. Anyone who knows Peek and Flyer know that were Peek A Boo goes Granny is almost always close by. Granny even stayed at the vet hospital last year when Boo was getting surgery. Granny was getting ready to take Boo on a field trip to South America, Boo even had her bag packed. We played a game later where the participants had to guess what Boo had packed for her trap.



Boo has made Granny's hair grey! It is a chore sometimes keeping up with this young horse!

Here is Kathleen the only one of the three Musketeers that could make it to the party. She is riding "Blue Sky", whose old registered name was "Bold Intimidator" that name seems appropriate when he is dressed like this!


Here is the new kid, Andee Ixe Storm. She just moved back from Pittsburgh and judging from her chef outfit she is planning to cook her way into popularity with the other horses. Marina is her proud owner!


This is Julie's first opportunity to dress up her horse, Kolt (Cypress Moonbar). I guess that since she wanted a horse for Christmas last year but had to wait until New Year's day to get him she decided to go with a "Father Christmas" theme.

Here is Kathleen ready to conquer the party.




Julie and Kolt
Here is cowgirl Ashley with her cow pony Luke!
Here is our Hippy Friend Alyssa riding Long Legs. Peace Out!



That is a view of the parade. A total of 13 horses participated! What beautiful fall colors.
Here is Buddy Berry riding his "cow" Reo. Their theme was a cowboy riding a cow.
Here is Abby riding Autumn. Autumn is a hula dancer with her Island rider Abby. That straw hat was real challenge to keep in place!
Abby and Cincinatti are a vision of spider webs and spiders. I was shocked that someone who is as afraid of spiders as Abby is would chose this for her costume. However Cinnci thought the web was itchy!

Here is Chelsea with Cameo. They are dressed in an Arabian horse native costume. Cameo is an Arabian and Chelsea wanted to show her off in her traditional garb! Chelsea and Sherry made the tassles by hand.

Krystal also did an Arabian native outfit with Buddy who is also an Arabian. I think this pair is very nice.


Brittany makes a nice statement with her outfit. She is riding Sundance Bob.
What's cooking Andee? I was getting really hungry by this point.
Here is Sweet Valentine. She had her 35th birthday last month. So we sang her happy birthday and I fed her carrots. She was purchased for me originally so I insisted on presenting her carrots. I sure look different now than I did when I was 9 years old and saw her for the first time!


Afterward we played what is in Peek A Boo's purse and ate lots of good food at a Potluck Dinner! I hope we have even more participants at the next barn party.

Welcome Andee and Marina!

Andee Ixe Storm used to live here and now she is back! Welcome back! We are so happy to have her back. Marina its great to have you around to!

Riding Fun in Montana

Below is Daniel riding Salta. These are pictures of the grandchildren during a visit out there.




Here are Ruth, Andrew, and Suzanne with the miniature "Classy".



Below Daniel is riding "Classy".

Veterinarian Articles On Gusty Wind Acres website

These brief articles are not written by a vet. They document various interesting procedures or cases that are related to the horses that reside here. Please enjoy and comment if you would like more information.

Small article about moon blindness and a photo of an eye ultrasound that shows a cataract

Article about shock wave therapy and its application to hock arthritis

Ultrasound of a horse eye showing a cataract

One of the horses at Gusty Wind Acres Riding School has a condition called uveitis which is more commonly called "moon blindness". Uveitis is an inflammation of the uveall tract of the eye. The problem is that it tends to flare up repeatedly through out a horse's life and it can ultimately cause the retina of the eye to detach and complete blindness to occur. A horse who has this condition is very sensitive to light especially sunlight. The Ultraviolet Rays in the sunlight can cause "flare ups". So horses with this condition should either be kept out of the sunlight or should wear special fly masks (Guardian Fly Masks) that have circles that protect the eye from rubbing and provide ultraviolet light protection. They are available at www.horseflymask.com. Bute is commonly given to prevent the inflammation in the eye.



Horses with Uveitis are prone to cataracts. This horse has 1 cataract in each eye. This photo was taken at the Fox Run Equine Center where Dr. Burks did an ultrasound of her eye. If you click on the photo you can see where the cataract is. This photo is of the ultrasound as it was shown on the screen of the ultrasound machine. This article is purely for educational use and was not written by a vet. Please do not depend on it for decision making purposes, but consult your vet if your horse is having eye problems. Thanks to the horse owner for allowing this photo to be taken.