but first...

...a couple guilty pleasure pics.

My husband runs ultra trail races and rides mountain bikes.

So when I heard he was looking at a race at Grayson Highlands State Park,VA

and that they have WILD PONIES, I was EAGER, eager to tag along.

We were there for three lovely days,

and the race was on the morning of our second day.

I so enjoyed watching the ponies interact with the racers 

that I couldn't resist capturing these moments.

The girl in the cowboy hat said that she wore this outfit

just so she could get a picture with the ponies. 

LOVE IT!

"pfft!"

Wild Ponies????

Puh-leez!

Okay, so they are...technically...w-i-l-d,

but they certainly aren't skittish.

Let's say they have a healthy awareness

of us humans, and getting close

isn't as difficult as I feared

(though I still wouldn't encourage you to pet them.)

Stay tuned for more images of the wild ponies

at Grayson Highlands State Park, VA.

a filly's first morning

"Up staggered the foal,
its hooves were jelly-knots of foam.
Then day sniffed with its blue nose
through the open stable window, and found them--
the foal nuzzling its mother,velvet fumbling for her milk."

- Ferenc Juhasz, Hungarian poet

happy "birth" day, little one

Being born is exhausting.