Is this not...

Eyore

...the cutest face?

Sunny at the trailer - he's keeping a weather eye out for Eyore to go by again. He wasn't too sure what to make of the little guy. But once M got on Sunny decided those long ears didn't make him a horse-eater.

Friday night barrels

Last night we headed out to the rodeo grounds to watch a friend run barrels. Unfortunately for her (and her pony) last week in Pierre the ground was really muddy & sloppy - it was pouring when she ran - and her good gaming horse overreached and yanked a shoe loose. That would have been bad enough, but he also developed an abscess in that foot, darn it!

So last night she was running one of their mares. Bubbles had about a month of barrel training a couple of years back and has been an all-around using/roping horse since. So when she hit the arena, she was looking for a cow (grin!). For all that, they did pretty well - not enough to be in the money, but only a second off. The first barrel wasn't real pretty, the second one was better, and the third turn was pretty.

They were running 4-D, and had a good turnout in spite of the 90'+ heat. Clouds moved in by 8 o'clock or so, and it was a bit more comfortable. They were raking the heck out of the arena, but the ground must have been packed & slick underneath, because there were a lot of slips at the first barrel, and one horse flat out sideways at the second. Nobody hurt though, which was good.

K's dad asked me to video her run with their camera, which looked close enough to mine to be familiar. Unfortunately, it had a record button that I didn't know about, so what she ended up with were some not-to-great stills. Oops. Should have just used mine.

I was informed I should have brought Sunny or Rufus along and had a turn or two myself - gulp! Sunny and I had a few playday outings the year he came back from the trainer, and actually he seemed to really enjoy the whole deal. But with no place to practice and no real desire to run him, it's not high on my list of things to do. I enjoy watching, though. And I am kind of curious to see if Rufus has gamed. My guess is yes, but who knows until we try?

Anyway, it would be kind of fun to get one or both of them patterned, but I don't know about running. I've always thought barrel racing is sort of like falling off a cliff - it's not the fall that gets you, it's the sudden stop!

Sunny on the road

I was going to post some pictures of Sunny and of M riding the donkey from the other night, but I seem to have left my camera in the truck. Since it's currently at work with T, pics will have to wait.

It's been a hot two weeks, and I haven't gotten to ride as much as I'd have liked, but I guess that's life. We rode for a couple of hours the other night, although we didn't cover too much ground. T and I planned to alternate riding & walking leading M, since he really wanted to come along. So for the first mile I rode Sunny while T walked leading Rufus with M aboard. Sunny - in strange territory - was being a perfect gentleman.

Unfortunately when we traded off, Rufus decided to display the barn-sour, herd-bound side of his personality, and balked about every 100 feet for the second mile. His new girlfriend Bubbles wasn't along, and he didn't think Sunny rated notice, I guess. Led Rufus was fine, which was why we had no problems for the first mile. But when T got on, with no one at his head, Rufus decided he did NOT want to go any further.

I suspect Rufus's been allowed to get away with that type of behavior in the past, and he'll continue to try it when it's convenient for a while.

Balking and backing up were about the worst of it - his front feet didn't leave the ground. We were both careful to spin him rather than backing him when he balked. And he doesn't (thankfully) run away backwards, a good thing, since there were ditches full of stagnant, two-foot deep, mosquito-harboring water on both sides of the road!

Rather than let Rufus get away with being a twit by putting M back on and leading him, T and I just took turns riding Rufus and Sunny ended up with the easy task of packing M.

With both of us consistently winning the battle, by the time we turned around to come back Rufus'd mostly decided to give in and go the direction he was pointed. But I expect we haven't seen the last of it yet.

So, I didn't get to ride Sunny much that evening, but on the plus side, he left his herd without fussing, loaded (alone) into a strange trailer, hopped out and stood politely to be tacked up, went merrily down the road packing M without paying the slightest bit of attention to what Rufus was up to, ignored the accompanying dog (and, for the most part, the miniature donkey that was in the yard when we unloaded him) and then loaded up and went home with perfect equanimity. For those of you that haul routinely, that may not seem like a big deal, but I haven't trailered Sunny anywhere since last year and even then he went with other horses, so it's good to know he's retaining his on the road manners!

Friday Book Review - when the best man isn't

I'll readily admit it - I read a lot of fluff. I like to be entertained :) This week's entertainment I picked up at a yard sale for $.75, and I think it was definitely work the expense.

The Best Man by Maggie Osborne

Cattle baron Joe Roark carved his ranch out of the Texas dirt the hard way, and he's not plannig to pass it on to anyone who can't, or won't do the same. But four wives and three useless daughters later, he's pretty sure he's doomed to die without a male heir to take over where he left off, and he writes his will accordingly. The conditions are simple: if his three daughters, with nine hands to help them, can't trail 2000 head of cattle to Abilene, Kansas then his latest wife, Lola, gets it all.

For three pampered, polished, petted women who've never so much as picked up a dirty dish, the trail has one or two challenges in store.

With only two weeks to learn ride, shoot, rope, and in one case, cook, the situation looks pretty grim. Add in the fact that the only trail boss who'll sign on is an ex-drunk, and that one of the sisters is in a wheelchair and "hopeless" covers it well. But all isn't lost, and as Lester, Frederick and Alexander (dad really wanted a boy) learn to work together, the odds may not be quite as long as they seem.

I was actually expecting something fairly shallow - but Osborne did her research. Her heroines aren't in for an easy time of it. There's plenty of dirt, determination, and a lot of challenges to overcome. And romance, of course.

Not technically a horse story, but I like a well-done western - a steady diet of Louis L'amour, Zane Grey and Luke Short will do that to you - and this one's not bad at all.

Vacation!

It seems weird to have just started and have two weeks off, but my contract is for 11 months, so I'll take two weeks now and two in May. Not a bad thing, just weird timing. There's a ton to do at work before classes start, but I'm determinedly not feeling guilty about it.

And we rode yesterday! I'd say about 8 miles, although I didn't end up riding quite all of it. I could definitely tell Sunny hadn't been ridden in 3 weeks when I first tacked up, but he settled quickly enough - too lazy to do much else, silly boy.

T and the vet trailered over. M came along, too - I wish I'd remembered my camera. He didn't show too much interest in the horses last year, although the year before he was really excited about riding and did lead-line with Sunny. Probably the only kid in CT that has a blue ribbon in lead-line from the South Dakota State Fair. We were lacking a horse quiet enough for him to ride by himself, so he rode behind T for a bit, but that didn't last too long. His legs were getting pinched by the saddle - conveniently so, given the grin he was sporting. Ultimately we ended up rotating who walked and led him.

It was a goregeous day for a ride. Who'd have thought it would be August 1 and only 75'! Just enough breeze to keep the bugs off. Today's supposed to be much the same, and I think we're all going again.

After we rode we collected some big buckets and picked choke cherries. We ended up with almost 4 gallons, so T and I were up 'til nearly midnight boiling and straining. We have lots of juice for jelly - YUM! We missed the choke cherries last year. You have to get them quick, otherwise the birds get there first. But with all the rain this year the crop is bumper enough to feed everything.