Thankful Thursday--Boarder Edition

For any of you readers that have been with me for the long grind that is this blog, you might remember my Thankful Thursday posts. We have found that with having a youth ranch, all kinds of wonderful things happen to us and for us on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. Thankful Thursday is a way I can showcase the many wonderful people that are making this ranch a reality.

Tonight I'd like to thank Mike and Steph, our Galloping Grace neighbors, for taking in three of the our horses for the winter while Max recovered from heart surgery. This was no easy task. They had to move panels around, build pens, move tanks, etc.

Black is one of the older, if not the oldest, horses at GG. Steph wanted to be able to keep an eye on him throughout the winter. Buck was another one that needed more attention. Last winter he had a terrible time with the cold and could barely walk. Instead of joining the rest of the herd at our family cattle ranch, they ate warm mush and listened as Steph whispered sweet nothings in their ears all day. Spoiled, spoiled! (And when I say spoiled, I mean really loved!)

Steph and Mike also kept our little problem child, Poncho. Poncho wouldn't survive 10 minutes at the Wade Ranch with his bad case of little man's syndrome. Poncho has spent the last few months acting obnoxious and annoying Mike and Steph's mini gelding, Yukon. Let's face it--Poncho doesn't know how to play well with others! (When will someone please come out and fix his little uh, um, problem. The stud needs to be gelded and how!)

This was Buck the day Brooke brought him back to GG. I bet he was crying to himself the whole time wondering why he was being dragged from the Crown Plaza to Motel 6. The room service is not near as grand.
This is the pen Mike and Steph set up for us on our place! Yep, Mike and Steph set it up for us. They are such great friends and neighbors. Mike wanted to help Max out when he was suffering with his bad nerve pain.

Max needed the pen built to separate two of the horses from the rest of the herd for feeding purposes.

Would you believe there are more incredible boarders in this here par-tic-u-lar post? Not to be outdone in the wonderful department we have Roy and Beth. Roy is seen here carrying one of the bags of feed they donated to Flame and Galloping Grace. (Why do some people tell you that they will let you reimburse them for hay and grain and then decide to be nice and donate instead? Should I put up with such kindness??!) Roy is one of Max's big brothers and Beth is our fab sister-in-law. They volunteered to keep Flame at their place to try and fatten him up--he has super bad teeth and requires extra care. Roy and Beth, thank you so very much for having Flame spend the winter with you. He looks so good!

Look at this picture.

That is Flame telling Roy that he is so not interested in leaving his place. It took some convincing, but he finally loaded. We really couldn't blame the old guy--Roy and Beth are pretty special folks. We enjoy hanging out with them ourselves.

Once Flame was safely back at GG, Max and Grant walked over to Steph's house to get Black.
Now these two old men are peacefully sharing a pen and all the senior feed they can eat. (Calm down horse people--not all they can eat.)Roy, Beth, Steph and Mike--thanks again for being there for us. We love and thank you all.

Anyone notice I didn't post any pictures of Poncho being back at GG? There's a reason for that. I told Steph that we'd like to show our gratitude for all they've done for us by gifting her that ol' lovable teddy bear. For some strange reason, Steph is showing resistance accepting our present. Trish even joined in and said how happy they'd all be together. Silly Steph keeps saying she can't accept our incredible (hee hee) generosity. We'll keep trying. In the mean time, I'll extend the offer to you. Who thinks they deserve that little angel? That perfect little studly specimen? Make us an offer we can't refuse. We beg you.

Happy Friday to all.