Posts Tagged ‘Legacy’
Time Again
As predicted, this morning was warm enough that snow was sticky and melting. There was plenty of moisture in the air, but it wasn’t exactly foggy. There was something of a spooky feel to the ambiance of the ranch.
Delilah didn’t seem to care, as she pulled hard against her leash in a rush to get to the next scent that was always just beyond the one she just checked. The horses were out of the paddock, milling along the fence between the hay-field and the back pasture. They weren’t on the same side of the fence, which is nothing new.
Last night, Legacy was in the pasture and the other three were in the hay-field. This morning, Dezirea was alone in the hay-field.
Suddenly, a loud crack from a rifle echoed between the hills and the horses nervously adjusted their positions in response. I discovered that the pans of feed that I had set out last night were left untouched under the barn overhang.
A couple of the chestnuts had obviously been through the paddock to change their location, but apparently they didn’t bother to come up to the barn. It’s that time again. Deer hunting season started this morning at sunrise. Gun shots started last night. I guess they were making sure their guns worked.
More shots rang out. I’m not sure how far the sound carries, but it gives me the impression there are a lot of hunters in action in a relatively small area around us. How do they keep from shooting at each other, I wonder. And, are there really that many deer out and about right now?
If our horses are on alert, I expect the deer are just as keen to notice the sounds and would be inclined to make themselves even more scarce than usual.
I walked Delilah through the paddock toward the horses in the pasture by the round pen. Legacy responded to our presence and approached the closed gate between us. To accommodate their skittishness, I opened that gate to save them walking around to the one that we leave open. I guided them toward the hay feeder and then walked around to do the same for Dezirea from the hay-field.
More gun shots. The horses let the lure of the hay override their urge to flee. I wandered up to the barn and shook the feed pan, which initially startled their panic response, but then drew them up to eat, albeit in hurried fits of anxiety.
Delilah took full advantage of the all-she-could-eat-buffet of manure droppings that were reappearing within the melting snow, as I just stood calmly to assure the horses that they were safe. At the edge of the pine forest across the road from us, a lone figure in blaze orange appeared to be standing sentinel. His jacket must have been old and dirty, because when two figures appeared across the snowy field from him, their outfits outshone his to the point of looking electrically illuminated.
No sign of any hunting success. From the sound of all the shots being fired, it wasn’t for lack of trying.
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Grooming Session
The horses were long overdue for some serious grooming, and yesterday Cyndie was able to give each of the 4 of them a thorough cleaning. Of course, this morning a couple of them have already found ways to grind in some new dirt. Apparently, they won’t have a chance to roll in dirt tomorrow, because the ground will be covered with snow. Weather forecasters have updated their prediction to a high likelihood of a significant snowfall event tomorrow.
Looking at the weather this morning, I don’t get any inkling of the impending mayhem. It brings to mind the deadly storm that occurred on Nov. 11, 1940, the Armistice Day Blizzard. Thank goodness for the improvements in weather forecasting that have evolved since that time. If you want to see some in-depth detail of what is being forecast (as of 10:14 p.m. last night) for our region tomorrow, check out this post on my favorite weather blog, Updraft, from MPR news. It paints a pretty dramatic picture of what to expect.
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As I toiled away on my projects yesterday, moving dirt and pea gravel around the paddocks, Cyndie focused her attention on the horses. It was a treat to see how much they seemed to relish the attention. It was so calm and quiet I almost burst with appreciation for the pleasantness of the moment.
Delilah was restrained on a leash nearby, and when she started barking for attention, I moved her closer to the action. That seemed to satisfy her needs and she laid down in the mid-day sun to regally observe the activity. The horses alternated between lining up for the grooming appointment and strolling down to graze along the fence outside the paddock or out on the hay-field hill.
Most of all, it was blessedly quiet. The air was filled with contentment, …a striking contrast to what is predicted to befall our little paradise tomorrow. Now I need to go batten down some hatches. There’s a storm a comin’!
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Big Strides
Today we have reached a milestone of 2-years since the day we stood in the suburban Verizon store making a purchase of a mobile device to provide internet access at our new home. I know that because our 2-year contract ends on the 17th. That step was the first of many we would be making to transfer our lives from Eden Prairie, MN to rural Beldenville, WI. For some reason, I have a solid memory of that Verizon event, probably because it was the first. Most of my other memories are much more vague.
With the daytime temperature yesterday soaring into the 70s, it was a banner day to get things done around here. I finally finished getting the bird feeder re-built and re-installed in its old location outside the sunroom. It feels great to have that off my list.
I spread out just enough of the pile of gravel in our driveway to see there would be enough to put some down as a base in the round pen. That is another goal we have wanted to achieve for a long, long time. Cyndie is home from work for a couple of days and she was able to help distribute the gravel that I was bringing with the tractor.
She also asked for my camera and took some action shots while I was manning the controls. You can see I left the wood chipper attached to the back, to serve as a counter-balance, but that was a nuisance because it inhibited my maneuverability inside the limited space of the round pen.
Luckily, she didn’t get pictures of me panicking at the start when I realized I left a gate open and the horses were getting into the area I intended to work. I had removed a panel from the round pen and laid it down, and then propped open the gate into that pasture area. Then I headed off to get the tractor. As I was driving over to get access to the gravel pile from behind the barn, I spotted the horses milling about in the area I was planning to work.
I stopped the tractor and rushed over to remedy the situation, but did not check my energy. They picked up on my anxiety right away and started their own mini-panic. Two of them reacted correctly and rushed back into the paddock. The other two turned the opposite direction, extending my problem. I didn’t know which way to go, back to close the perimeter gate I had propped open which would give them a complete escape, or to the paddock to contain the two who had moved inside where I wanted them.
My hesitation allowed the two in the paddock to come rushing back out where I didn’t want them. In their hasty flight, they cut right through an area of composted manure I had spread to create a viewing plateau. Legacy slipped in it and smeared his entire right flank with a huge tattoo of blackness, but kept his momentum going and continued on with the rest of them.
I eventually restored order and got on with my task, but they were all amped up and continued to sprint around the hay-field and back into the paddock a few times before finally settling down again. Cyndie said that they were getting some good exercise out of it.
Between their energized running and our finally accomplishing the goal of getting a base layer down in the round pen, it was a day of truly big strides.
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Legacy Captured
Looking toward the fall sunshine when I captured this image of Legacy led to a great combination of light-streak and shadow. It’s as if his inherent horse wisdom is beaming out into the world from his eye. I’m particularly fond of the motion captured in his reaching leg, mid-step, and flow of mane and tail. Alternately, the bold shadow is able to make a strong statement, yet also works in a sublime way to offset him being the center of attention.
It is a great representation of our herd leader.
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Same Story
It’s the same old story around here lately. We’ve had three days of rain, totaling over 2.5 inches for the period, and the paddocks are a mess. It’s ironic to have the loops of drain tile tubing and the pile of pea gravel here, but it has been too wet for the landscapers to do the work of getting it installed.
They now hope to start on Monday. I am wary of what they will run into when they start digging. If they dig a scoop out of the ground and the hole fills with water, like happened to me when I recently tried to dig a post hole, will they be able to proceed? Since they are ultimately digging a trench, maybe they can dig all the way to the drainage swale and see if the water flows. It would be a good test of the concept, I expect.
If we have to wait much longer, the ground is gonna freeze. We were already threatened with snow overnight last night —which I slept through if it actually happened. It was sure cold enough. For the second night in a row, we let the horses spend the night in their stalls in the barn. The rain, wind, and cold temperatures are too much for them this soon, as they haven’t yet fully grown their winter coat.
Cyndie moved them in late, after we finished watching a movie. She reported that they were eagerly staged at the barn door, waiting and hoping to get inside.
I have been spending my time between rain showers the last few days cleaning up the last of the old hay-field fence in preparation for its removal. Doing so has affirmed my decision to spend the extra money to have this done when they come to install the fence we’ve been waiting for all summer that will enclose the pasture beyond. The posts of the old fence had really begun to lean. It is a metal fence and we hadn’t been able to electrify it because there was no isolation from ground, so Legacy had taken to messing with it, too. That’s behavior we prefer to discourage.
It will really clean up the look of that south side of our property. I’ll need to keep it clear of overgrowth, but that works to our advantage because we will then finally have a riding path available that we have long envisioned around the perimeter.
We left the horses inside this morning, awaiting the arrival of our neighbor and farrier, George, who will trim their hooves again. He tells me somewhere around 8-weeks is the period to shoot for. It always looks to me that they need it a little sooner than that. Probably because the nasty conditions they endure in our paddocks.
Here’s hoping their footing improves greatly out there in the near future. We’re tired of the same old muddy mess, over and over again.
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One Year
A year ago today, our horses arrived at Wintervale. It feels like an awful lot has happened in the year since that day. 
One of my favorite memories is of the day Hunter laid down to chill next to me while I raked the paddock. They have done a great job of helping me to feel comfortable navigating in their space.
That thought takes me back to the previous May, when I traveled to Arizona to attend Cyndie’s final session of Eponaquest training, where I met Dunia and had my first lessons on interacting with horses.
That weekend gave me confidence that allowed me to quickly adjust to becoming a caretaker of our herd of four. I recall that on the first day we opened the big hay-field to the horses, I walked up to the top of the hill to check on them, and their reaction to my sudden appearance was to immediately gallop in my direction.
It surprised me, and I suddenly became aware of being in a precarious situation. Instead of succumbing to panic, I relied on the knowledge gained during that weekend session in Arizona. With my energy and the wave of my arm, I projected my barrier distance, which they instantly respected. I was not trampled by the stampeding herd, despite the possibility.
Even though I have grown a lot in the year we’ve had them, I feel as though I barely have started to learn about horses. I am lucky that they are so patient with me. I think they understand that I mean well, despite my sometimes fumbling methods.
Another shot from the previous year… Couldn’t help but chuckle when I spotted this as I scanned through the image archives. Poor things. This was not one of their prouder moments.
It is our hope to accomplish a variety of improvements this fall, intended to alleviate the muddiness they were forced to deal with in the spring.
We prefer to see them basking in the comfort of a dry surface. In that regard, a little sunshine goes a long way…
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Great Starts
Our fall colors are off to a brilliant start. It was a little foggy when I woke up, and became thicker as time passed. It made me wonder what the dew point temperature was. In checking, I discovered it was 44°(F), which is what the air temperature had reached, so we were at 100% humidity.
I could see the sun rise over our horizon, and instead of burning off the fog, it became more obscured as it climbed. When it finally burned through the milky soup, the changing leaves began to radiate color at maximum glow.
My week got off to a magnificent start of its own yesterday, because the excavator finally showed up to create a better defined drainage swale across our pasture! Of all days for my cell service to go wonky, I didn’t receive the call that he was on his way. I was working down in the woods, clearing trail. I dragged a few branches out into the open to toss on the brush pile, and immediately caught sight of him up on our driveway. It was a very happy moment.
We briefly discussed a plan, which started with me moving the horses out of the way, into the pasture to the north of the driveway. Of course, I was wanting to do this quickly and placed the halter over the first horse that allowed. That happened to be Hunter. He did fine, until we reached the pasture gate. Then he became hesitant. I succeeded in getting him inside and headed back to get Legacy. Next, came Dezirea who was showing a little extra nervousness. The sound of the excavator’s skid-loader may have contributed.
When we arrived at the pasture gate, the rambunctious boys were crowding our path. I grabbed the handle of the web-line that creates our “gate,” and opened it to guide Dezirea in. As I did that, Hunter took advantage of me and hopped over the web as it sagged, getting himself loose outside the pasture.
In that second, he gained all my attention, but I had the gate handle in one hand and Dezirea’s lead line in the other. Luckily, he simply started grazing in the grass out there, giving me a chance to release Dezi from the halter and secure the gate before going after him. It was the classic opportunity for me to be in a hurry and him to not want to be caught. I know how that exercise plays out, but I felt pressured to get the last horse out of the paddock and open gates for the excavator. After a couple tries to entice him into the halter again, which he rebuffed instantly each time, I resorted to just getting the lead line over his neck.
It is not very secure, but he begrudgingly allowed me to force his return using that method, getting him back through the gate again and inside the pasture. It took some effort to relax my energy by the time I made it back to the paddock for Cayenne. She was her usual angelic self, and with the horses all together in the north pasture, I could focus on facilitating the excavating.
It was a joy watching the skill of the operator, Andrew, as he worked to create the gently sloping channel across the width of the south grazing pasture.
Now I have a time-sensitive need to get some grass seed planted. It’s so close to too late in the season that I had given up thinking about that part of the project. However, the weather prediction indicates there could still be enough time to get some growth.
Anything that starts growing now will be helpful come spring, when the flowing water could cause significant erosion if we don’t do anything.
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Special Day
September 19 is doubly special to Cyndie and me. Today is our 33rd anniversary, and it is also our son, Julian’s 26th birthday. Happy birthday, Julian. Happy anniversary dear.
We had a bit of a scare yesterday with the discovery that Dezirea was ill. Coincidentally, or if you believe in the power of energy connections, not a coincidence at all… Cyndie woke up with gastrointestinal upset that kept her home from work. That was a great relief for me, in that I wasn’t alone in trying to deal with the situation.
I sensed something was amiss after I served the horses their ration of feed first thing in the morning. Dezirea didn’t appear to have eaten, and was standing with her head down. It wasn’t a normal look for her. I felt that something was wrong.
Back at the house, I checked on Cyndie to see if she felt able to go down and assess Dezi. Luckily, that was within her ability. By the time she got there, Dezirea was down on the ground. Cyndie made a call to our veterinary office and waited for them to call back. When I made it back down, I was shocked to see Cyndie standing over Dezirea and Dezi flat on the ground with her head down and legs straight out.
Looking in the horse’s eyes, I saw a total vacancy. There was no stress or anxiety, she just looked gone. It was a very stressful few minutes, contemplating the possibility that this was going to be her time to go.
Then suddenly she reappeared. While I was looking right at her, I saw life return to her eyes and she sat up again. I had to run to the house for something and when I returned, Dezirea was up and walking. Cyndie said Hunter came over and started biting her neck and pulling her mane. Legacy had been nudging her and gently mouthing her hind quarter, but Hunter’s actions were more insistent and that is what she responded to.
The vet arrived and provided something for pain (she required a second dose), an anti inflammatory, a sedative, and about a half-gallon of mineral oil to treat colic.
There are a variety of possible causes for colic, none of which are glaringly obvious probabilities for our situation. Maybe she wasn’t drinking enough water. Maybe she found a little too much clover in our pasture. It’s hard to say.
There is also the possibility that there is a twist in her intestine, which will seem more likely the cause of her problem if she doesn’t get better today.
I took this picture while the vet was asking if Legacy was her companion. Looking back into the paddock, Legacy was standing at the gate, closely watching us, while the two younger horses were ignoring our activity and giving each other back scratches.
After the vet left, I got a chair for Cyndie to sit in and Dezirea put her head down in Cyndie’s lap and took a little nap. Her snoring made me giggle. We were supposed to keep her from eating, but after the short duration meds wore off, she was behaving as if nothing had ever happened and she wanted to join the herd in the pasture and eat.
By evening last night, she was looking a little off her game again, but nowhere near the severity of earlier. We are hoping for the best when we get down there to check on her this morning.
The alternative is not something we want. Thank goodness I had Cyndie home to help yesterday. I tend to believe that wasn’t a mere coincidence.
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Delilah Games
One night last week, when I was taking the memory card out of my camera to download the day’s photos to my computer, my finger slipped when I pushed on the card to eject it. The card popped all the way out and went sailing past me to the floor below. Delilah scooped it up the second it landed. I could hear the sound of the hard plastic clicking against her teeth as she checked it out.
In a panic, I scrambled from my stool and pushed my fingers around her jaw and into her mouth. I wiped off the saliva and inspected it for teeth marks. There were none. Disaster averted. Thank goodness for dogs ‘soft grip’ ability.
What a drama one slip of the finger can create.
You know, that gentle touch with her teeth reminds me of the amazing prowess that horses have with their lips. I was watching Legacy yesterday, while he rushed to graze some clover greens from which he seemed to anticipate I would pull him away. We were on our way over to the north pasture, but I was in no hurry, and actually was happy to have him trim the growth along the side of the gravel driveway loop. So, I let him have at it, and studied his technique.
There was a dead cottonwood leaf that seemed to be right in the way, and at the rate he was going, I expected it to get sucked right in with everything else. With an impressive combination of motion between his head and lips, that leaf was manipulated out of the way several times as he gobbled up all the greens on every side of it without ever slowing down. Talk about having touch.
Anyway, back to Delilah; Miss Quick. She’s a dog. She likes to chase and retrieve. She is also very fond of playing keep-away with us. She will keep bringing whatever the toy of the moment is for us to grab, so she can shake her head to pull it away. Even more, she loves to be chased and shows off her incredible athleticism with dodges and direction reversals rivaling an NFL running back.
The problem with this is that her game of keep-away wrecks the game of fetch. I throw something once, and she brings it back for an instant game of keep-away.
Having neglected to properly train her to drop things on command and play the game I want, when I want it, I instead devised a work-around. I bring two, or sometimes three objects for the game of fetch. Her compulsion to chase, overrides her desire to play keep-away. If I have another object to throw, she is more than willing to drop the one she has in her mouth.
Of course, that simply led to her upping her game a level so that she drops the first item farther and farther away from me, hoping to pick up the second thrown object and then beat me back to where the first lies. It was funny watching her struggle to fit two balls in her mouth at once, until she eventually perfected that skill (thus my solution of bringing a third…).
To mix things up, sometimes we throw discs for her to chase, instead. She loves leaping for them, when we get the throws right. She makes us laugh when she scrambles to try to pick up both discs at the same time. I expect she will hone that skill, too. I might as well start looking now for a third one of those, as well.
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Joyous Horses
We are currently experiencing an outbreak of ‘October’ around here, as our temperature has dropped 20 degrees, the clouds are hanging low, and the chilly north wind is gusting mightily. When this kind of weather strikes in September, Cyndie and I always think back to the year we were married and how cold and wet it was during the week before our outdoor wedding. We figured our plans were doomed, but luckily our special day was classic September with warm temperatures and a crisp, clear blue sky. Just the type of day we envisioned when we chose the date.
It always gives me hope that we can still have some spectacular warm fall days even though conditions may have drastically shifted toward the coming winter.
Yesterday afternoon I spotted the horses cavorting around the arena at high speed, kicking up their hooves and romping around. It occurred to me that they might be feeling the chill and wanted to generate some internal warmth. I finished the fence on the north side of the driveway, and I’m pretty sure they were growing anxious to get over there, so maybe they were venting some of that energy, too. They have spent a lot of time in the last two days grazing and standing as close to the direction of that new gate as their usual confines allowed.
Even though it was after 6:00 p.m. when Cyndie arrived home, I had patiently waited for her before giving the horses their chance. It helped that Cyndie had decided to put a pot roast in the slow cooker in the morning, allowing us to eat a rushed dinner as soon as she walked in the door. Minutes later we were marching to the barn for halters.
I mentioned to Cyndie that Legacy and Cayenne were hanging out together most of the afternoon, so we selected them as the first pair to make the short trip over. All four of the horses were still pretty amped up, and the dance to get two horses out of the gate —the two who had been selected— and only those two, was a bit precarious. Hunter and Dezirea went a little nuts over being left behind.
The heavy gusting wind was feeding their nervousness, so introducing them to this new space involved a bit of jumpiness. They seemed a little conflicted over the desire to be cautious, the ample supply of lush grazing, and the urge to check out the full breadth of their new pasture. We left those two and returned for Hunter and Dezi.
When the four of them were safely reunited in the new space, we were presented with a beautiful parade of prancing joyous horses, Legacy leading the way. They alternated between grazing and running for a brief time before settling down to mostly grazing, while Cyndie and I decided to do some tree trimming.
As darkness was about to descend, I headed over to put some hay out for them in the paddock, hoping it might provide some small consolation when we ask them to leave the pasture. It wasn’t needed. As I walked back toward them, Legacy and Dezirea were standing near the gate, ready to return ‘home.’
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Relative Something 