Happy Birthday, Mr. Tall, Blond and Handsome!

The sky is gray and cloudy.
The air is moist and foggy.
The ground continues to be white...a fresh coating of snow fell over night.


And so winter continues....

I thought, since it is his birthday,
that today would be a great day to dedicate to my favorite tall (relatively), blond man.
He's the strong, silent type...
not overly affectionate, but just once in a while he will surprise me with a little tenderness.
He's a paradox for sure...
one moment big and clumsy,
the next graceful and quick.

Have you figured out who he is?


Why, he's Moonbeam, of course!
This month, my gentle equine friend turns 14 years old.


It's hard to believe that I brought him home to the farm 8 years ago...
from a local Amish farm where he had worked pulling carriages and farm equipment.


I was impressed with his disposition from the start
as I watched a family of small Amish children climb all over him.


From the moment he arrived on the farm, he fit in with the herd..


which, at that time included a quarter horse, Briggs,


and our pony Donnie Brasco.


Over the years, we have had some wonderful adventures together...
trail rides and lessons. 


He was never formally schooled in riding, but rather his past accomplishments were in the world of driving.


As a riding horse, he is slow and steady.  That is until he decides he is finished...
and then the back legs go up in the air and he starts bucking like a wild man.
When this happens, one of two things happens to me...
I either ride out the buck and end up peeing my pants (seriously),
or I fly off.
Luckily, this has never happened on the trail...just in the arena.



I am sure that all of this could be fixed with lots of work and patience,
however, I have decided that I don't need to ride to be happy.
I love caring for him and he is such an integral part of our equine family that I could not bear to part with him.


There are so many activities that I enjoy, and so much work that needs to be done...
so, an injury from flying off of Moonbeam would most definitely cramp my style.



We have agreed to just be friends on the ground.
He is very sound and very quiet and extremely willing on the ground.


He lets me do absolutely anything to any part of him without complaint.


I trust him completely and don't hesitate to allow Tyler and other children around him.
He has never, ever kicked or nipped or even shown any aggressive tendency.


Aside from that one bad habit, he is an utterly perfect gentleman.



Happy Birthday, sweet friend...you have a forever home here at Bee Haven Acres!



PS...
Yesterday I received an email to me personally asking if I would be interested in the following:

"NOW CASTING!!! MAJOR NETWORK “FEEL GOOD” TV series  LOOKING FOR ALL TYPES OF OUTGOING, DYNAMIC, LOVING FAMILIES/FARMERS  THAT DON'T ALWAYS SEE EYE TO EYE ON FINANCES! 
Those chosen to participate will be PAID for your participation.
Whether one of you is the spender, saver, thrifty or over the top, if you ever disagree over finances, we want to talk to you!
Whether you are presently dealing with issues related to finances or JUST have very strong varying opinions on each other's spending habits, we want to hear from you! I have included the general information about the show below."

Of course I am not the least bit interested in participating, but thought the email rather comical.  After all, Hubbs and I agree on just about everything....so we would be a rather boring family!

Did I ever tell you..... years ago I received an email asking if I was interested in being on the show "Wife Swap"!  They were looking for a goat farmer/goat farm to swap wives with a city family.
Needless to say....I wasn't interested in that one either!  True story!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Happy Birthday handsome boy. I hope you are treated with an extra ration of something tasty!

Those wife swap shows sound so silly; I can't understand how they manage to find anyone to participate

Kathy
colleen said…
Moonbeam is so handsome and it is so touching that he has such a gentle disposition. I'm not sure if you are meant for tv or not (hope not. need you to write this blog forever) but I know one thing..the picture of you with the brush in your hand deserves to be on a magazine cover. Love your outfit right down to the hat!! I'm thinking you made it, am I right?
jaz@octoberfarm said…
happy birthday moonbeam! you are one handsome fellow! you found a good forever home!
Lynne said…
Moonbeam looks so gentle in the photos.
Love the photo of you and MB . . . you with hat, tanned arms and pinafore.
Wife swap you say . . . I'd be "not interested" too . . .
Bee Haven Bev said…
No worries there...I am definitely not TV material!! Yes, I did make that pinafore and trimmed the hat to match. Thanks!
Patsy from Illinois said…
Thanks for telling us about sweet Moonbeam. I always wondered if you rode him.
Junebug said…
Oh those reality show, or they think reality! I never doubted you would say NO!!! They are about the farthest from reality there is!

Happy Birthday Moonbeam, you are a tall, handsome, blonde!! Such a gentle spirit you have. Love to all this morning!
Kathy said…
Happy 14th to beautiful Moonbeam! I also owned a horse very similar to Moonbeam's coloring, named Sunny who had somewhat of the same "issue!" Only when we were out on the trails and he had had enough, he would turn and gallop back to the barn! Barn sour may be the unofficial term for that. Needless to say, I had some wild rides on him before I got him stopped! Never fell off though! He was a gentle, sweet guy in every other aspect and lived until the age of 30. He was my first and my only horse and he taught me a lot!
Anonymous said…
This month my horse, Jake, turns 36 (vets best guess he was 20 when I got him, 16 years ago) I have never ridden him. I got him dead lame and very roly poly from a polo farm. He suffered a knee injury no one bothered to treat. He was able to be ridden by small children as a pony ride, but once he had enough, he'd rear, which most kids loved, the parents, no so much, so I retired him fully. We had a lot of health ups and downs as he aged and lost teeth etc. I wouldn't trade him for the world. Many people have asked why I don't put him down, because of the financial strain associated with an Ancient horse. Well, he's healthy, he's happy, and he makes me happy. What's not going out to dinner or taking that awesome vacation when you have the unconditional love of a horse? I'll make sacrifices in my life to make sure he's happy, because that makes ME happy. Happy Birthday Moonbeam! Here's to many more years!!! =-)
Country Gal said…
Happy 14th Birthday handsome boy ! You two look great together love your photos of the two of you . Have you ever thought about getting a cart and hooking him up and go for rides ? . Moonbeam is a Haflinger isn't he? they are gentle horses bred that way good for beginners or as just companions , my sister had a few . When I was a kid my pony a welsh gelding always would drop and roll whilst I was riding him he wasn't used to the saddle and tryed to get me and the saddle off that way I got my leg pinned under him a few times but we worked on that as he was a cart horse when I got him and I trained him to be ridden and how to turn with out the cross walk like he was still pulling the cart . I also trained him to jump and entered in a few fairs lots of work but it was fun , Oh those were the good old days on our farm lol . I would love to have a few horses here just to have them because I love them . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !
An American in Tokyo said…
Happy Birthday, Beautiful Moonbeam!!

Those TV emails cracked me up!!
This N That said…
For a minute there I thought I had forgotten someone's birthday. So we have another March baby in the family. Happy birthday Moonie! you are still very handsome. I hope you get a little extra hay today.