Had a weird moment of discord yesterday when I realized the new horse is in fact a new horse who behaves differently than the horses I've known for years. Flailed around for an hour wondering if I was ever going to feel confident in my horsemanship, and then went back outside and had a lovely time with Trinity. I forget, over and over again, that ( Read more... )

I can't believe the new pony has been here a week already. In some ways I still can't believe she's mine - I see her bright little blaze face peeking through the round pen rails and it's a thrilling little shock. And yet, in other ways, she feels profoundly familiar to me. She feels like a horse I've always known, on some level, even though we're ( Read more... )

Wild Pony (who still doesn't have her true name, yet) came home Wednesday night and I am totally smitten ( Read more... )

I have confirmed with the wonderful wranglers at Elm Creek, Nebraska and - dogs willing and the creek don't rise - I'll be picking up my newest mustang this coming Wednesday, as soon as the facility opens in the morning. Google calls it an 8 hour drive, but we'll be passing through construction zones and towing a 6 horse stock trailer so I'm ( Read more... )

Today, as I was feeding/watering/shoveling/brushing/picking feet out in the corrals, it occurred to me that in just a couple of weeks there will be a new horse here on my farm for the first time in years. And, I mean, of course there will be! I spent three weeks filling out paperwork, moving fences, studying horses, tweaking my budget, and ( Read more... )

I am ready and willing to add another mustang to my herd ( Read more... )

The corn is dying, hour by hour. Two months without rain have curled the leaves, yellowed the stalks, and filled our fields with the dry rattle of disappointment yet again. It still feels like summer - glaring bottle-glass skies, oppressive heat and so much humidity you can feel the air turn to water when you breathe, feel it slick upon your skin ( Read more... )

Can't wait. Hope all goes smoothly, and that none of us get sick or hurt. Should be quite the adventure: almost two weeks of hiking, riding, river tubing, and exploring in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. More details when we get back ( Read more... )

My ankle continues to be problematic. We have ruled out tendonitis - it would have healed weeks ago - but PT guy is surprised it isn't responding better to treatments based on the new diagnosis (nerve damage from compression). It seems better - until I try to jog, and then the whole thing blows up like a puffer fish and we have to start over. If it ( Read more... )

It never, ever, ever ceases to amaze me that a mustang - a wild rangebred horse, canny and quick and totally self-reliant - would let me climb on her/his back and carry me into new adventures.