Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Home Away From Home

I am home. I left My Boy at the beginning of a thunder and lightening storm. The weather took a change this evening. But we had great horsin' around weather all day. We got in a ride in the late morning, before it got too warm and muggy.

I worked on side passing. My Boy side passes well to the right, but has a tougher time going to the left. Which, coincidentally, is the side he is stiff on. Something to make a note of.

Here we are lined up over the log, ready to begin.

Can you see my short left leg just pushed into his side? Sometimes I feel like my legs are nothing but wet fettucini noodles pushing into a brick wall.
I am thankful my sister snapped these series of photos. Look at how my upper body is completely leaning to the left. Which way is my horse side passing? To the right. Which way should my torso and seat bones be leading him? To the right!

It was a good, mellow ride. The warm weather always makes my horse a bit lazy.

Did you know we have a tree that watches us while we ride?

I am sorry if you are having flashbacks of those scary trees from "The Wizard of Oz" right now.

This part of the arena fence line is starting to overgrow with temptation. How My Boy passes this section of rail without snagging a bite, is beyond me. But he does. Good boy.

After I rode, I hosed down My Boy and began to suds and condition his tail. I decided to wait on doing the full body bath until right before our guest ranch trip in August.

After air drying, I detangled My Boy's tail then took him out to graze. The grass in "the meadow" is about 4 ft. tall and beginning to seed right now.

The goats had been tethered out all day to enjoy the spring grass, as well. Later, I helped my sister put them away. It is always fun watching her do goat round-up, while I man the gate so the horses wouldn't escape. Last night, I tried helping with goat round-up and failed miserably. I had Ralph on the lead rope and he took off running towards the pasture. Goats do not stop when they are on leadrope. I should have let go but held on and then hit a hole in the grass and bit it. My sister said she wished she'd had the camera. I'd prefer that my less than stellar goat-wrangling skills not be caught on film at this point.
I visited with Edgar, one of my favorite goats. I love his little goat beard and his one nubbin horn. He is very personable.

Edgar has very interesting eyes. They are amber yellow and have a rectangular shaped pupil.

It was a productive visit to the Painted Creek. My sister and her boyfriend take good care of me. Yesterday I got a burger, fries, and chocolate shake for lunch. Homemade omelet for dinner. Today, a Butterfinger ice cream bar for a hot afternoon snack. And tonight before I left, BBQ baby back ribs and homemade fried potatoes with those little crunchy onion toppers on them. Goodness. With all the good food and my most favorite spotted in the world horse up there, why wouldn't I want to go back? Oh yes, heat up the waffle maker, I'll be back for the 4th of July!

13 comments:

  1. It sure was a busy few days! It also is the first whole week of good weather to get all this stuff done! Now the thunder is rolling, the lightening is striking and the rain is falling! Hopefully some of that dust will go away.
    One day of rest tomorrow than back to work we go! For me anyways! I am pretty sure the dogs need a day of rest too. They are really pooped out from playing non stop and the heat sure doesn't help when you have an Australian fur coat on!!

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  2. Oh yeah, one more thing....you got to experience the "goat round up" yesterday! Wasn't that a sight to see! That is one moment I wish I had my camera on me! Darn! I always miss those moments! I need to start carrying my camera with me more often.
    You might kill me for this but...Pony Girl puts goat on leash, goat runs, Pony Girl runs behind goat, Pony Girl trips on rock, goat keeps running, Pony Girl falls to knees, goat keeps running....ok, at least Pony Girl wasn't hurt but for a couple of scratches.
    Just another day on the farm! It can be a little rough up here sometimes! :)

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  3. Love the looks of My Boy! You two seem to have a great relationship - keep up the good work. I think I would have liked to see a video of your goat wrangling mishap. ;)

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  4. Thanks for the visit! I have already saved your site, cause my girls are gonna go nuts over your horse! How awesome are your pictures.

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  5. It gives a whole new meaning to "Nanny Slamming" now!

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  6. I agree with Linda-new meaning to "Nanny Slamming!" LOL!
    Glad you all had a great time!
    Oh and most horses will side pass to one side better than the other!
    HOpe you all have a safe and happy 4th!

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  7. Awww goats are so contrary sometimes! MyBoy's tail looks terrific..I have to go wash my palomino's tail now and try to keep up with you.

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  8. How much fun!! It's so neat that you have a sister to take pictures!! Sitting a side pass is hard, I tend to lean a little too!! :) His tail looked fabulous!! That goat round up sure sounds like fun!!

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  9. Sounds like you had a great visit...and here you were worried about not getting everything done during your stay!!! Aren't we lucky that we have sister's with horse "sanctuaries" for us to escape to? I LOVE goats--we had them when I was a kid--and I have vowed to my children that we will get some, when we move back out to the country. The food sounds excellent! It's kind of like you got a head start on the Fourth of July :)

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  10. my son is sitting on my lap drooling over your horses!! he was telling me to pack my bags, we are going on a trip to ride them! he is in love, and when i say in love... i mean it, with paint horses! oh- he just asked me if you were selling any? i asked him where is his $$. i think now you have a new blog stalker and it is my 7 yr old son!!

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  11. Cool side pass photos. Your sister did a nice job. I really need to train my husband to photograph horses better. Last time he got a lot of my horse's automatic composting end.

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  12. Great pix..and you are lucky to have your sister so close and to be able share in each others lives!! sounds like you don't need to go home and cook either! Why not just share meals with them, that is so much more enjoyable!

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  13. I absolutely envy you about how much you can work with MY BOY.
    That tree is way too funny.
    That picture of he meadow grass and MY BOY's butt, wow... great shot!

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I love hearing from my readers!! I truly enjoy all of your feedback, advice, helpful tips, and stories. You all make me laugh and I learn so much from you, too. I will try to post replies to your comments as often as I can.

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