We spent a couple of hours hiking around the Circle B Bar Ranch Reserve today, There were a ton of people there but there was also a lot of nature to photograph.
Today we drove over to Myakka City to watch the Lipazzan Horse's practice, Every Thursday and Friday at 3pm and Saturday at 10am they open the practice sessions to the public. This isn't a refined show but a training session for the new horses and riders, older horses and riders are mixed in to assist with the training. Today they introduced 2 horses that have never appeared in front of an audience or with the music playing on the speakers, it was fun to watch their reaction to the crowds and applause.
The horses are all born black or very dark gray, as they age they start to change color to white and by the time they are adults they are totally white, so most of the horses in the pictures have black or gray tails and mains.
It's a little hard to find out in the middle of nowhere, so pump this address in your GPS or check their .
Web page. 32755 Singletary Rd, Myakka City
The first time we visited we had the privilege of meeting Colonel Ottomar Herrmann, if you read up on their history you will see the role he played in bring the horses to America and how General George S Patton saved these magnificent animals during WWII.
There is no charge but they do pass a bucket for donations.
If you're in the area take time to go see them and if you happen to be around March 11th, they said that they are going to do a full dress show that day.
After the Colonel died and his daughter took over she stopped the branding of the horses, they now have microchip implants, and added the Brand to the saddle blanket.
Learning the rear kick, used for when they were in battle.
This maneuver was important in battle, the horse learns to hold this pose for many seconds, this allowed the General to see over the troops so he could tell how the battle was going.
And yet another one that we haven't been to in years, a beautiful place to spend a couple of hours just wandering around the grounds. The thing I love about this place is the collection of trees.
It's been about six years since we were last here so we figured we would see if anything has changed. The nice thing about this place is that there are volunteers everywhere and they can answer any questions you have and they provide all kinds of interesting facts about the animals and the facilities.
Located in the parking lot
The Rays were racing each other around their pool. If you go here wear a bright blue shirt, Cathy did and all the animals would come towards here when she was at the side of their areas. Found out that the feeders all wear bright blue shirts and they thought that Cathy was going to feed them.
A snail moving his house to a new neighborhood.
One of the sea turtles
NORMAL FISH
UGLY FISH
They told us that all of these fish can be found locally in Tampa Bay, so think of that the next time you're wading around in the water along the beach.
