Archive for the ‘Wintervale Ranch’ Category
Not Proud
Out of respect for the whole truth, I must report that it isn’t always sunshine-happy-roses here at Wintervale, despite all my blissful stories. Yesterday afternoon, Cyndie got out of her car after work, hobbling on a sprained ankle. She reported that it happened as she was squeezing out time before work that she didn’t really have, trying to walk Delilah one last time before leaving. Delilah ran off with gusto, pulling Cyndie off-balance.
With me trying to help out, doing more of the walking chores, we headed down to the barn to invite the horses into the paddock for their evening grain. I don’t know where he had been rolling, but Hunter arrived with dirt covering him, head to hoof. He was an absolute mess. Regardless the hindrance of her painful sprain, Cyndie wanted to try to clean him up. She worked her way into the paddock, with brushes and cleaning supplies.
He wasn’t interested.
She turned to Legacy, who had a fair amount of dirt on his back, giving him the option of being groomed. He didn’t seem to want to hang around, either. As we stood at the gate, after exiting, Legacy appeared to want to give us one last message. He presented his backside and lifted his tail. Message received.
We left the sorry-looking geldings to strut their muddy body art.
I dropped Cyndie off at the house and headed around back to retrieve Delilah from her kennel. Yes, she is still behaving like a puppy, despite our impression that she should be beyond portions of it now. For the second time in three days, she has ripped and de-stuffed articles of bedding. I found her insulated blanket torn open and puffs of white stuffing spread all over the place. It is so frustrating, especially when she presents such an obvious look pride for her “accomplishment.”
On Saturday, Delilah was confined to her crate in the house, while we entertained guests. She made quick work of the bed Cyndie had tossed in there while cleaning. Ever so quietly, Delilah pulled the green stuffing out of it to surround herself, before lying down to nap.
Shortly after coming inside with Delilah yesterday, as I brought a cold pack for Cyndie’s ankle, while she propped her foot up in the living room, I stepped in a pile of poop Delilah had covertly dropped on the rug the day before. That afternoon was when Elysa was over, and both she and I smelled something, but weren’t wily enough to follow our noses to the source. Discovery was delayed for 24 hours.
Maybe we can blame Delilah for all the flies in the house. There has been an epic population explosion of flies around here this summer, and now that we have an unending supply of manure, the flies are thicker than ever. With Cyndie on the couch, pointing them out, I swatted at flies in a fruitless effort to curb the infestation.
This was not one of our proudest days.
Loosely Planned
Our Sunday was rather loosely planned, and ultimately, I wavered away from focusing on our priority of creating drainage channels around the paddocks. I did start the day on that project, but after cutting through sod outside the end of the small paddock, nearest the hay shed, I decided to wait until the work to replace our culvert gets done.
Did I mention the culvert here yet? We need to provide a way for water to drain beyond our new driveway loop, and a plastic culvert was buried beneath the gravel. Shortly after it was installed, I discovered it had collapsed and cracked open, filling with dirt. The contractor is switching to a metal culvert.
When that gets completed, I will feel more motivated to attempt to construct a final version of drainage waterway between the gravel of the driveway loop, and the first paddock.
Around the time I decided to take a break from the drainage ditch, our daughter, Elysa, arrived. After a little lunch, Cyndie wanted to take advantage of the extra hand, and Elysa’s knowledge and skill with horses, to take pairs of horses for another walk around our property. I claimed the role of gate handler.
Our little herd of four are quite the unit, and the two horses that get left behind during walks make a big fuss. After closing the gate, I hang around to offer calm confidence to the anxious horses. It is little consolation to them, and they fidget and call out until the horses out walking finally emerge into view again.
It was while we were completing this little exercise that my project shifted. I had been standing next to the round pen, and could see it deserved some attention, to continue working on getting it level. At the same time, Cyndie decided to pick up sticks, branches, and roots in that area, and also to rake up some of the dead grass piled from our previous cuttings, to use as a ground cover in some of the muddiest spots in the paddocks.
Elysa agreed to pitch in and help and we enjoyed some wonderful time together, laboring away. In no time at all, the afternoon disappeared on us and it became time to feed the horses. It is so wonderful to have an extra person available for these tasks, especially one who knows horses.
As I puttered with moving wheelbarrows through gates, and picking up rakes and pitch forks, I watched the actions of Cyndie and Elysa in the small paddock with all four horses. Cyndie realized she hadn’t finished picking up the manure in that paddock, so I brought two tools for the job, enabling them to double up on the task. A few minutes later, the horses came over for some attention, and Elysa dropped her scooper and obliged the group. She is smart about priorities.
I saw Legacy grip the handle of her scooper and pick it up. They reported that he was being mischievous with all their stuff. He certainly doesn’t hesitate to check things out.
We had a wonderful day of tending to whatever captured our attention, and it was a big bonus to be able to share it with our daughter. That can be a benefit that results from a day that is loosely planned.
Rain, Rain
The weather here has taken a turn for the wettest again. In the last 3-days, we have had over 3.5 inches of rainfall. After being so dry during the second half of the 2013 growing season that our hay-field couldn’t produce enough growth to justify a second cutting, we now have plenty of water at the time when the things that grow are in transition toward dormancy to survive the harshness that winter will bring.
We knew we would be facing some challenges in the paddocks during wet periods, especially during the springtime, but we decided to just get the horses here and deal with it as it comes. The horses have quickly been able to show us what we are facing. Managing this is now our next priority.
My long-term vision was to carve drainage paths to direct water to flow around the paddocks and toward a main ditch that will direct water to the edge of our property where there is already a waterway in place. The immediate need to address this has led me to quickly try a test of the drainage grade to see if the water will flow. In two different spots around the paddocks, I have been pleasantly surprised, and am optimistic that my idea can work.
It will take some time, and repeated attempts, to create drainage paths that are durable and stable. Ideally, there will be grass growing in them, and it will take a while for that to occur. In the near-term, just getting channels created will greatly reduce the amount of water that makes it into the paddock in the first place.
We will probably still need to add some gravel to our paddocks, and even though we were told we can’t put gutters on this barn, we will be investigating a way to do that.
In every project we consider here, we tend to solicit as much advice as we can. I am always amazed at how often the responses we receive are at odds with each other, often completely opposite with regard to what is, or isn’t, possible.
Luckily, Cyndie likes to dwell in possibility, and I am learning to trust my gut instincts. Eventually, we come to solutions that work… rain, or shine.
Featuring Cayenne
To my admittedly untrained eyes, of the four horses, Dezirea appears as the least sure about the new environment, but Cayenne has been the more difficult one for me to connect with thus far. We have interacted a few times, but more often than not, when I come around, there is something more interesting to her in another direction. Maybe she is playing hard to get. More likely, her behavior is directed by the interactions with Hunter and Dezirea, as they continue to work out the pecking order in their new location.
Each horse is definitely special in their own unique way, but Cayenne strikes me as having something exceptional simmering within her that has yet to fully blossom. She is a daughter of Dezirea, but has already outgrown her mother.
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Several times, I have spotted the herd split into two, and thus far it has always been as two mare/gelding pairs. However, they haven’t always been in the same pair. I was told that Cayenne and Hunter grew up together, so they certainly are familiar with each other, but I think it is nice that they aren’t an inseparable pair. She seems equally comfortable meandering with Legacy to graze.
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I caught this funny shot of Cayenne picking her head up high over a gate when Cyndie’s parents came out to meet them for the first time. It shows that Cayenne is not so vain as to avoid allowing herself to get caught looking silly on occasion.
Hmm. She reminds me a bit of myself in that way. No wonder I sense something exceptional in her!
New Me
I spent most of my life in the carefree world of not needing to take care of a pet. Yesterday afternoon, as I fed four horses, then our dog, and finally, two cats, it occurred to me how much things have changed. Luckily, it seems to fit rather seamlessly into the days here, especially compared to my old life during the years we lived in our previous home. I didn’t want that kind of commitment back then, but it is proving to be a natural extension of our new routine.
The part that doesn’t fit anymore is my sitting in front of a television watching sporting events, or any program, for that matter. Lately, it has also meant not playing my guitar or mandolin, or doing much in the way of bicycling, but I hope to reclaim some of that time in the days to come. Our days are now filled with managing operations on our 20 acre ranch of fields and woods.
I miss being able to play soccer in the mornings with my friends, but I am reaping the rewards of all those years of that brilliant exercise, transferring the stamina, strength, and breathing capacity I acquired into the physical work done around our property.
The new routine appears to be burning more calories than I am consuming, so I am actually in better shape now than I have been in years. I’m hoping I will notice the difference when biking, in that I won’t be hauling as much weight up the hills.
Last night, as I moved the horses into the paddock from the open field, I had an opportunity to put into practice something that I learned from Cyndie and our friend, Dunia, at the Epona seminar they led in Arizona. The horses were loitering just outside the open gate as I arrived to encourage them to come in. Legacy, the leader, acknowledged my arrival, but made no motion to enter. If he doesn’t come in, the others won’t either.
I knew I was talking to the right guy, but he wasn’t buying what I was selling. Conventional wisdom would be to use a treat or bucket of grain to entice him to approach, but I learned another method to inspire a horse to follow me. I walked an arc in front of Legacy, back and forth, increasing my energy as I went. If you walk far enough around the horse, they will be inclined to move a hoof in a step to keep you in view. That step is the one I was looking for, because if you play that first step properly, it will lead to another, and then off I went, walking into the paddock up to the grain I had set out for them, and Legacy followed me all the way up.
On Sunday, I put into practice another essential lesson I learned at the Epona seminar in Arizona. When you approach a horse, the horse gets to set the boundary. When the horse approaches you, you get to set the boundary. When I unexpectedly found myself facing four horses running right toward me in the open field, standing with nothing but my camera in my hands, I remembered what Dunia, Cyndie, and the other leaders taught about setting my boundary.
I motioned with my hand to display an arc of my boundary in front of my body. Legacy, leading the group charge, suddenly came to a halt, just short of that virtual line I was projecting.
The person standing on that hill with those four powerful animals was not the guy I remember from a year ago. That is the new me, tending our property and caring for all our animals. It is feeling like a pretty good fit.
Other Things
There are other things than horses for us to deal with around here, even though the new herd is commanding the majority of our attention. Last Saturday, we did sneak away long enough to attend the “booya” hosted by our fencing contractors. There was plenty of good eatin’ to be had, but what really made the night for us was a trio playing blues music of a quality that could headline any venue in the city of Chicago. In a pole barn in the countryside outside of River Falls, no less! It was a wonderful surprise, not that I hadn’t been warned, but this was way better than I had expected.
Over the weekend, our trees came to life with the colors of fall. Each morning we would find that it looked like someone had been up all night painting leaves. I was walking Delilah in the evening when I spotted the setting sun through the trees. It made for a nice picture.
Yesterday was my weekday that I stay home from work, and I did some catching up on chores that have been neglected during the final preparations to get the horses here. I sorted through the pile of clothes that were pouring out of my closet and put away items that were clean, and washed things that needed it.
It was a perfect day for hanging laundry outside to dry: warm sunshine and gusting winds.
We have been here over 11 months now, and I had yet to ride my mountain bike on our trails. I think that is a function of how much the projects to get us ready for horses have dominated the bulk of our time. Well, no more. With the horses now here, with things pretty much in order, I felt the need to address some of the areas that have been suffering from neglect. I pumped up the tires and lubed the chain for the old bike’s maiden voyage around Wintervale.
The trip was made even sweeter by the company of our dog, Delilah. This will be a great way to get her some exercise that will burn off her energy. With her little orange vest on, we headed into the woods, down the steepest hill.
I don’t think she knew what she was in for, as we went from zero to high-speed in an instant. She loves to chase, and I made the perfect “rabbit” out front to encourage her to sprint after me. As the grade changed to flat and then eventually to up-hill, my speed dropped to near zero. Delilah would pass me by and go running ahead on the trail. It is kind of deflating to have her out front, pausing frequently to look back at me, as if to ask, “Are you coming?”
Or maybe, with my wheezing and panting, she was asking, “Are you going to be alright?”
Since it was my first ride in a long time, I made it a short one, to save my legs and lungs for other pursuits, and then went to the paddocks to let the horses out into the big field. After that, I needed to mow the lawn, as we have been neglecting this chore for weeks.
It was a day for tending to things not directly related to the horses, and by evening, I had brought some order to the chaos. It was a good way to wrap up September. The month that vanished into thin air.
How the heck did October get here already?
Horses Run
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Get out and run, they did!
We accomplished some significant steps yesterday, and that allowed us to open up the front field to the 4 horses.
First order of the day was to finish covering the old existing fence on the far side of the field. The type of fence that previously existed around that field, which we kept intact along that back side, has 4″ squares of woven wire. We were told we should cover those to keep a horse from putting a foot through. It took several days, with Elysa’s help, to finally get it hung the full length
, working our hands raw through a variety of weather, running out of material part way, and negotiating the tangle of old growth along the entire length.
It was a major milestone, and key to feeling comfortable opening the space up to the horses.
Before allowing them out there on their own, Cyndie wanted to walk the horses, two at a time, along the inner perimeter of the fence-line to familiarize them with the border. That causes a bit of a stir, because those who are left behind make a big fuss. Cyndie and Elysa took the horses for a walk,
and I stayed behind to watch each of the remaining pairs calling out to their missing herd members.
The final thing we did prior to letting the four of them out together was to energize the electric fence. It wasn’t immediately needed while they were initially in the paddocks, but we want them to learn to respect our fences, especially around the front field, so this was the time to finally turn it on.
They didn’t go near it while we were around, so we haven’t witnessed whether they have received their first lesson or not. When the gate to the big field was opened, they stepped out a short distance and immediately began to graze the new territory. It was a little anticlimactic.
Slowly, they increased their range of movement out there, eventually getting out of sight over the hill. My curiosity got the best of me and I headed up the hill with my camera to look for them. They were doing great, grazing in some really lush grass. As I lifted my camera to capture the moment, they spotted me and came running. It was kind of funny, looking as if they thought they weren’t supposed to be there, or something.
As I walked back into the paddock, they decided to follow me, so we closed the gate behind them and I went back to finishing the chore of wrapping the trunks of the two trees there, so they won’t chew them up.
At the end of the day, they seemed pretty happy with their situation here, having gotten a taste of that grass they knew was on the other side of their paddock fence.
Needless to say, we are pretty happy, too.
Important Play
On the fourth day of adjusting to their new home, the horses appear to be working on their pecking order. Well, three of them seem to be working on it, as Legacy stands by, unfazed by their activity. His leadership is not being challenged. The rest of the group had us laughing at their game of following each other in circles around the water trough, each one trying to influence the other.
Elysa and I were describing to Cyndie how Hunter seemed to be seriously focused on keeping Dezirea away from anything she wanted. First, the ears pull back, then strategic positioning of increasing threat. Cyndie explained how their exercising roles of dominance are a form of emergency response drill. Just like we practice fire drills, they are practicing to see who can drive others from harm’s way, regardless their interest in going.
If there is a threat, a leader needs to move the herd, even when they are unaware of potential harm and would rather just eat. By showing another horse that it can be controlled, no matter what, dominance can be established and a leader will earn its role.
Now that the horses are becoming comfortable with their surroundings here, they are able to play around with the hierarchy of their herd. It looks playful at times, and like serious business, at others. It is important play that establishes who can be trusted to take necessary action when the time calls for it, which allows the rest of the group to feel at ease and commence with their grazing.
Today, we intend to put them out in the big field for the first time. Since it has been so dry the second half of the summer, we didn’t get enough growth to justify a second cutting, so we will graze the horses out there to let them eat the grass that did grow. It will also give them a chance to be out in open space, and increase their familiarity with their new location.
No doubt, it will also give them a chance to hold some emergency response drills, practicing the leadership roles they appear to be experimenting with since they moved to our place.
Main Attraction
In an instant, the horses transform the atmosphere of our space here, and immediately become the main attraction. That’s as it should be. For months it has felt strange to pull up the driveway and see all the infrastructure in place for horses, but not any animals. Now we have the icing on our cake, and the horses have quickly created a pull that brought our first group from the Cities out to meet them.
Cyndie’s niece, Althea, brought friends, and the horses happily soaked up the affection.
It is nice to see all the attention that the horses command takes nothing away from the rest of our paradise here. Indeed, they add to it. One of the first-time guests repeated wonderment over the beauty of our space. Yes, the horses truly do make this special place even more spectacular than it already was.
It is an honor to be tending it, and a joy to behold.
Welcome to Wintervale Ranch.
Featuring Hunter
Last night, Cyndie had a dinner date in the cities, so it was my first night alone in charge of the horses. I sat and watched them graze for a long time, then collected some apple treats for them, from the stash on our trail. After that, I wandered away to retrieve Delilah from her kennel.
Lately, the usual routine for me letting Delilah out, involves her rushing to the front yard to grab a toy for me to toss around. Not this time. Interestingly, she showed a very distinct interest to head the other direction around the house, toward the trail that leads to the paddocks. She led me right back to the horses for a visit.
Before Cyndie left for the evening, she had described her day with the horses. Cyndie and her friend, Mercedes, had walked pairs of the horses around our property, to better familiarize them with their new surroundings. The route included a stop at Delilah’s kennel, where the horses were now on the outside of a fence, looking in at the dog, in contrast to their previous meetings at the paddocks.
I’m wondering if Delilah’s immediate interest to go see the horses stemmed from their interactions at her kennel earlier in the day.
I had my camera with me while I was sitting to watch the horses graze earlier, randomly snapping varieties of their positioning. Upon review, when I got the images displayed on my computer, I discovered that the horse seemingly always in the front position was, Hunter.
He’s certainly not camera-shy.
Dezirea had a swollen eye, so earned a fly screen mask to give her a break from the unrelenting harassment of the winged beasts.
Identifying them in this last shot, from left to right is, Legacy, Cayenne, Hunter, and Dezirea.
Relative Something 