Monday morning respite

We had another busy weekend, and I'm back to work this morning.  Our weather has cooled and we even had a rain shower last evening.  Nothing significant, but the first rainfall we've had in over a month, maybe even 6 weeks.  It felt nice and refreshing, and I didn't have to do any watering for a change.  So, I'm back to work, where I can rest and recoup after being so busy.  These pics are from the weekend before last. We traveled to a lake about 17 miles from where we live, called Barney Reservoir.  There are no facilities, but the water is cool, clean and inviting.  Surrounded by lush forests, this lake is a quiet place to go and enjoy some downtime.  The dogs had a blast, and were in the water in record time.  This is where we went woodcutting last year.  The forest service sells permits each year beginning in October, and the last two years have been in this location.  We decided to get a head start on our wood gathering efforts this year.  We cut and brought home from a private land owner, about a cord of maple.  Did I mention that I'm resting and recuperating today?  I was exhausted last evening when we finally got home.  We fed the horses, cats and dogs, filled water tanks, removed fly masks and headed inside.  I took a nice, long soak in the bath tub and emerged feeling relaxed and refreshed.  I lounged in my chair watching a movie until bedtime.  

We also watched some of the teens and mustangs finals.  I was so impressed with the work that these young people had accomplished with these young horses.  Just amazing!  The teens are selected from a questionnaire, and the chosen competitors are then given 3 months to take a wild yearling to gentle and train. The event was the culmination of their efforts.  They are asked to compete in body conditioning and an in-hand trail course highlighting their achievements.  The course included sidepassing a dogleg of poles, walking over a dogleg bridge, trotting over diagonally placed poles elevated about a foot off the ground, opening a gate and passing through it, going past a giant, black cat with lighted eyes and bobbing head, and loading/unloading into a horse trailer, then trotting to a covered gazebo-like contraption.  After this, the teens were allowed a 5-10 minute timed "freestyle" to showcase their specialty.  Many were saddled, laid down, exposed to flags, tarps, jumping barrels, beach balls, lunge lines and a host of other ingenious and expressive feats of accomplishment.  They were also required to ground tie their horses and then one by one, lift and hold each foot.  It was just amazing how well these kids had gentled and taught these horses in such a short period of time.  If you ever get the chance to watch these competitions, I highly recommend it.  It's a wonderful program which showcases not only these young Mustangs, but also the teenagers who have put in many, many hours of effort working with these horses.  Afterwards, there is a public auction held and many of the Mustangs are sold to the highest bidder.  If you're looking for a solidly started young horse, this is a good way to go.  I can only imagine how difficult it would be to let go of a horse that these kids have obviously bonded closely with.  There are however, a lot of the kids that choose to adopt their horses for themselves.  Mustangs continue to impress me with their sensible minds and their ability to adapt and learn.  Just amazing horses!!

Well, it promises to be another busy week.  I've got peaches to preserve, berries that need to be picked and a whole bunch of zucchini that I'm hoping to shred and freeze for later use.  There's also a huge pile of wood that needs to be stacked in the woodshed.  In between, as always, my work with Eagle and Ladde continues.  Friday night, my husband mounted and sat on Eagle.  There was a flash of fear in his eyes and he looked quickly in my direction, seeking security.  I reassured him that he was okay, asked him to relax, and he visibly did just that.   I do believe that it was a man who mistreated Eagle in his past.  I wish it wasn't so, but we just need to keep moving ahead and reassuring him that abuse is something that won't be in his future.  Next up, hopefully me...

I also learned how to read freeze brands at the Mustang event.  Eagle's papers from BLM are missing the last digit in his brand.  Interesting.  He's a 2000 model.  It was a good year.  :)

Blessings everyone,
Lorie @ Cingspots