My Weekend with Animals

Mr. Gorgeous was one of many beasts on my agenda!

I just wrapped up a busy four-day weekend that resulted in lots of animal photos! It started with my final horsemanship class and a photo-tour of the other animals that live at the park and ended with several sunny days at the home of my collie friend, Mr. Gorgeous. I took more than four hundred "artistic" photos during those four days that I have yet to go through, but here are the ones from my weekend involving animals!

There's something very nice about horse eyes.

Lacey preferred her friend to me.

So Thursday found me once again trying to convince Lacey to do things that she did not want to do. This started right from the moment I went to get her from the paddock where she had just finished lunch and was standing in the sunshine with another horse. They were affectionately nibbling on each other's necks and Lacey found this activity much more to her liking than the one I suggested when I showed up and put her halter on. She voted with her feet, as they say: in this case, she planted them and wouldn't move. It took me a while to figure out how to get her going! I was rather surprised, then, when she showed an inclination to trot when we experimented with an increased tempo toward the end of class! Walk? Not so much. Turn? Only if the horse in front of me is turning. Trot? Yes! I must confess to be rather eager to ride a different horse. Lacey really tested my skills in the realm of equine persuasion (and my ability to not become frustrated when she resisted my efforts) and I would like a chance to get on a horse that walks and turns willingly! However, before any more trotting goes on, I will need to build up a great deal more knee-clenching ability. After Thursday's class, I have an good idea where each and every one of those muscles are!

Despite Lacey being a bit of a disappointment in the forward motion department, I still had a wonderful time in Horsemanship 101. She may not have wanted to walk, but she wasn't mean and she clearly enjoyed her grooming sessions nearly as much as I did! I am definitely going to keep hanging out with and learning more about horses. I'm currently in the process of lining up my next set of lessons and hopefully it won't be long before I have more horse news and horse photos! (Click here to read more about my experiment with equine therapy.)

Happy on horseback!

Pig snout!

The city park where Lacey lives also has a number of other farm animals, so after my lesson, I did a tour of the enclosures to photograph the inhabitants. I was quite taken by the snouts of both the mini pig and the big pig. They are truly strange and amazing things, far different in person than one's mental notion of a pig snout, so much more moist and flexible and hairy! I took quite a few pictures trying to perfectly capture the mini pig's schnoz. I also enjoyed photographing the chickens. I'm not into chickens. They're a big thing now, of course, but they don't do anything for me as pets/livestock. If I were to have any urban farm animals, I'd go with pygmy goats. I find goats tremendously charming. Chickens? Not so much. But taking pictures of the chickens was fun, especially since they had some of the showier breeds in the flock, and the rooster was downright handsome.

Golden Polish chicken.

A silkie, I think, though lacking the typical bushy topknot.

Silver-Laced Wyandotte rooster

Speaking of handsome...

So good-looking!

Spring sunshine at last!

Once I was done photographing the farm animals, it was back to Mr. Gorgeous' house, where I was engaged through Sunday. After weeks and weeks of abysmal weather, the wind died down and the sun finally came out. In between photographing practically every square inch of my canine host's yard (okay, that's an exaggeration, but I took full advantage of the sunlight illuminating the interesting landscaping!), I also took His Handsomeness on after-dinner walks at various nearby parks and collected a number of pretty evening sky photos. Oh, and I took 38 pictures of Mr. Gorgeous himself. It was quite the camera-happy weekend!

Beautiful sunny days at Mr. Gorgeous' house...

...were followed by beautiful sunsets.

A coot convention that assembled near the dock.

Mr. Gorgeous, his silken tresses spread out on the grass around him,
keeps me company while I take pictures on his property.

A sliver of moon hanging over the sunset, as seen from the back deck.

Mr. Gorgeous, who turns ten next month, has started to slow down a bit.
He spent much more time sleeping this weekend than he has on visits past,
though you might argue that a dog this large and this handsome would
need a great deal of beauty sleep to keep up the good looks!

My exertions have left me quite exhausted, so it will be several more days before the many macro photos I took are fully sorted. Hopefully, they'll be finding their way into albums on my c.creativity Facebook page and into listings soon! Also, there's more to come on the mental health front in this blog this week (I hope). I always intend to do work when I'm at Mr. Gorgeous' house, but I end up just relaxing, taking pictures, admiring the view, watching animal shows on TV, and, of course, looking after my favorite collie. It's good to have a break from one's routine and usual responsibilities ever now and then!

www.ccreativity.etsy.com - www.silvermouse.etsy.com

www.facebook.com/ccreativityphotography