horses – Page 4 – The Hermits' Rest

Do I Have the Blues?

It looks like I do. I made a drink from one of Kathleen’s little flavor packets and ended up with the blues: blue drink, nails, hair, and glasses. I will point out that I had a brown shirt (with a blue Roadrunner on it).

Good thing the light washed out my hair.

On a more serious note, I shared this story on Facebook this morning:

What a morning at my birding platform. First, I was just sitting here, watching Baltimore Orioles flying around, when I heard a Green Heron. Then I saw it, flying toward me, aiming directly over my head. I thought how pretty it was, but wondered what would happen if it pooped. Then a big white glob came down! Thankfully it landed just inches off my concrete pad. My blue hair is safe!

Then, after measuring yesterday’s .02” of rain, I gazed over at the fence. Oh my gosh, something was hanging from one of the chrysalises I’d been watching! It was a fresh, new Gulf Fritillary. It’s our most common large butterfly, since we have lots of sorrel vines that they love. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a butterfly emerging in the wild. What a privilege!

The humor and beauty carried me through an intense work day just fine! A meeting ended early, too, so I had time to give Vicki some slightly old frozen meat to make into dog food and exercise the horses. Neither horse was into it. I think I should have let them rest.

They were peaceful on our evening stroll, though. It’s hard to get them all in one photo.

Just a little relaxation with the animals prevents the psychological blues from coming over me, though. Watching the dogs play in the long grass at sunset was a great way for me and Lee to wind down. They don’t get out much, but for once they stayed with us and didn’t run off to roll in poop.

I’m thinking about so many of you all, dealing with what comes your way as best you can. We are in this together. As my friend Kathy just reminded me, we’re all under the same moon!

Noisy Times in Rural Texas

What? You don’t know why it’s noisy here right now? Get out your Texas Parks and Wildlife hunting regulations booklet! Right there!

You see, it’s always a little blam-blammy on the first day of any season, but dove season is extra loud because they just keep shooting. There are lots of doves: Mourning, Inca, Eurasian Collared, White-winged, and Ground Doves are here in Milam County.

No doves are harmed on our acreage, so we won’t run out any time soon. The harvests keep the numbers in check.

After the early morning festival of shooting sports, Vicki and I took the horses for the lesson that was postponed from yesterday. The weather was pretty nice, and only Apache got overly sweaty.

Here’s why he got sweaty. Tarrin made him canter under saddle after much previous canter work.

Apache’s just doing great, even improving on his leg yields. He now has to do three circles in canter on the ground, too. The good news is he’s happy to do it.

This is cut off because it’s supposed to be a photo of how nicely he stopped.

Suna has also improved! I was able to get him to canter off my aids instead of only doing it after a jump. I appear to be getting more comfortable going fast.

Trying to catch my breath after my triumph.

Drew is also showing good progress. He had his best lesson with Vicki so far, and she had him trotting so beautifully! They are moving forward in getting used to each other. I’m proud of them both.

Vicki may start him back on his pain medication now that he’s working harder. I should have thought of that!

With the new month comes new color fun for me. My hair became smoky sapphire today. It should fade nicely.

Nails will be dark blue this month. I like the sparkles I put over a Greek blue. The extra layer helps my one broken nail grow out.

This was taken by the blue pool, while bluebirds were singing. Very thematic.

Hey, everyone gets to have a frivolous hobby if they want to! And it cheers me up! Back to a busy work week tomorrow. I’ll be all blue!

A Meteorological Respite

Ah. Today we got beautiful rain, over 2” but I won’t measure until the morning. It was another great day to read on the porch!

I was sorry to miss my horse lesson but we’ve rescheduled for tomorrow. Let’s hope tomorrow’s rain is not between 10-1 or at least not heavy. I can ride in light rain. The horses spent the day blissfully cool. Once it wasn’t raining hard, they were out enjoying the “low” temperatures.

I didn’t take horse pictures, so here’s another porch view.

I, too, appreciated having a day without drips of sweat in my eyes and sopping wet bras. I did try not wearing a bra, but the sweat running down to my wisdom belly was also unpleasant. I’m not gonna sit inside all day like a delicate creature, though. Knowing it will be more pleasant in a few weeks gives me hope.

The other thing I liked about this respite from blazing hot sun is that sunsets are so pretty with clouds in the sky. I enjoyed today’s sunset by the pool while I watched nighthawks eliminating excess insects.

I guess the best part about staying inside most of the day was that I got a lot of comforting reading done (Braiding Sweetgrass), got my August birds added up, crocheted almost all of the August section of the temperature blanket, and got my journal ready for September. What that really means is that I played with all my toys: books, colorful pens, paper, washi stickers, and oh yes, yarn! My indoor toys sometimes get neglected when I’m outside all the time.

Looking north at sunset. The bright light is just a reflection of the sun.

Good Progress

Just a quick note to say how much fun Vicki and I had with our horse lessons today.

I have finally gotten Apache back in shape enough to run like the wind, or that’s how his fast trot feels to me. That led to cantering in the round pen again. Neither of us liked going through the weeds in the pen, but we did it. I’m sore and I bet he is, too.

He got to wear his new accessory today. Snazzy.

And Drew showed big signs of improvement and glimpses of his old personality. Just working a bit more consistently with Vicki has helped lots. She’s really good with him and today let her see his potential. We were happy riders today.

No photo of Drew, but here’s a pretty late afternoon sky.

And we got to meet a new puppy. She’s a little bundle of curious Rottweiler energy! I look forward to getting to know her as lessons go on.

The older dog is thrilled to have a young playmate. (Picture from Tarrin)

I’ve been resting and thinking about many people I care about. I’m enjoying every pleasant moment.

Little Things Add Up

I woke up this morning struggling with some of my “areas for improvement,” and I wasn’t feeling well at all. I’m grateful that I e trained myself to find the good around me, and after adding up all that fine energy, I ended the day with a smile on my face.

This heron caught something tasty in the middle of this pasture. That’s a good little thing.

I struggled a bit with what I was working on this morning, thinking it just wouldn’t do. But I went to lunch with my friends and ended up enjoying two new people, and chatting with them about their lives helped me out of a downward spiral. Another good little thing!

It was slightly cooler, so I enjoyed my morning bird walk without becoming soaked. Small win!

I went to a meeting after lunch and was able to brainstorm solutions to a problem and then got help on what I was working on. Just a little feedback and collaboration and I felt more confident. The collaboration and support we give each other in this job is gratifying!

The soapberry trees are blooming now and they smell great. Another small thing.

I sent my draft document to the person who’d requested it, and he liked it! I got quite happy about then. Plus I heard that (after much effort by me and my nurse-practitioner) my thyroid medication was approved by my health insurance, and I managed to figure out why I couldn’t enter my expenses from my trip and got that done! Win win win!

Green Heron preening. It was joined by ibises flying overhead today! Wow!

And to top off the list of small but good things, Vicki came over and we rode horses together. The weather was unbelievable for August, very pleasant with light cloud cover. Only the horses got all sweaty.

Apache was in good form and practiced all his tasks very well. The best part for me was that because we went to the round pen so Vicki could ride Drew with some boundaries, Apache and I had lots of time to practice our walk-trot transitions. At some point I realized we were having a great time together. Drew was a challenge, but Vicki handled him very well. She is far more confident than I am on him.

I could have ridden for hours in that lovely weather, but we ended at a successful point. I even practiced getting correct bends with Apache on the way back.

Oh, one more Apache story. Today I figured out why he was refusing to jump over the cavalettis. After he refused three times again today, I went over there and found a large Yellowjacket nest. He was trying to tell me! There was also a nest on the mounting block, and I eliminated both nests. Moral: listen to your horse.

I’m glad I paid attention today! Those were so many fine little things.

It’s Very Smooth around Here…the Bur Saga Continues

You may remember that for the past couple of years we’ve had a problem with cockleburs in the horse pasture. I spent hours and hours removing them from manes and tails, and had a horrible time with Drew, given his dislike of being touched on his head.

This year we Hermits’ Resters have decided to do our utmost to rid the pasture of these plants, which weren’t here before. Step One was me going around with loppers and getting rid of most of the plants around the horse pens. More came up, but I’ll get them this week.

You can see them by the gates. Made it hard to open gates.

Step Two got interrupted when a piece broke on our shredder (a mowing apparatus pulled behind a tractor—you may see them on roadsides and median strips. Part of the hill created when the pond got cleaned out hadn’t been de-burred when that happened.

However, yesterday Chris braved the heat and made the repair (welding in a Texas summer is brutal) and he was able to finish shredding as much of the “tricky” parts of the pasture.

That left Lee with the job of finishing the job and shredding the rest of the pasture. Goodbye to burs, dove weed and ragweed. The horses eat giant ragweed, but not the small kind.

This project takes a ranch family village to accomplish! The next step will come next month when broadleaf killer is applied. Carefully. I don’t want it on my wildflower areas.

What are they doing here? Grazing in the few areas the tractor couldn’t get to. Burs are still there. This calls for loppers.

Then a few weeks after that, seed and fertilizer will be applied to get the pasture back in shape. I’m hoping to get grasses that are more native, but the horses’ need to eat may mean some sacrifices. Luckily we still have all the yard and field in front of the house that still has good natives.

I’ve also been asked to do some horse moving, which will happen next week. Some lucky horses will have new grazing areas. Poor Apache and Fiona will stay in the area with worse grass, due to their metabolisms.

That’s good with me, since I like going over and hanging out with Apache multiple times a day. I think we both enjoy each other’s company. Today we hung out a lot, because I was so happy with how well he’s doing with his ground work and trail walks. It’s so much fun.

I know I post lots of pictures of him, but he’s such a fine equine friend.

I repaired his new breast collar (Vicki helped) so tomorrow I may try to put it on with his saddle to see how it looks.

Hmm, this was not my planned topic. Oh well, I hope you enjoy my horse pictures as much as I enjoy the idea of a bur-free winter.

Searching for Treasure and Scowling at Sheep

What did you do today? As you can guess from the title of this blog entry I did at least two things. Both were fun.

I also looked at some flowers. This is *Sida ciliaris or bracted fanpetals.*

First thing this morning, neighbor Vicki and I went to College Station to a fun Horseman’s Market Fay hosted by the Brazos Valley Driving and Riding Club. This is like a giant garage sale of horse stuff. I had no idea there were so many moldy saddles and bridles, not to mention very used halters, bits, and blankets. But I also saw some beautiful used tack and true treasures.

Each of us saw people we knew (yes, I know a couple horse people, too) and even found a woman who lives in Ben Arnold and knows where we live due to Vicki’s sheep and matching pony.

We did find treasures of our own. I got a baseball cap that says Cowboy Hat, a horse thermometer, a come-along string (green), a funny shirt, and a bunch of hoof picks with silver accents that I will donate to Tarrin for show prizes.

They list for $12 and I got them for $3.

The most fun thing I got was a really pretty leather breast collar with silver accents and black-and-white leather detail. I just loved how it was elegant but not gaudy. It will go with Apache’s saddle.

If you don’t know what this is, it is decorative and also keeps the saddle from slipping when climbing steep hills. If I’m able to replace one hook on it, I’ll show it to you on Apache.

I couldn’t find a good photo so I had to AI one.

After we had each found our horse equipment treasures, Vicki took me to see border collies doing herding trials. This was in a nice arena with air conditioning and lots of large bags of wool. I think she said they also grade wool there.

I met some of Vicki’s herding dog friends and had a great time watching the dogs staring at the sheep.

The reason we glared at the sheep is that they were pretty weird. They spent most of their lives so far eating grass under solar farms. It’s a good gig. Lots of shade.

The problem is that they didn’t know much about anything except eating grass. They didn’t realize they were supposed to be intimidated by dogs, so once they were let out, they just stared back at the gate they came out of, not paying attention to the dogs. Occasionally one would stomp its hooves.

Many of the dog/human pairs just gave up, but a few of them got those sheep going in the right circles, separated one from the group, and got them all into a pen. That was really impressive.

This dog watched intently from the stands.

I hope I get to go to more of these in the future. I’m very impressed by the hard work both the dogs and humans have to do to move the sheep!

Nothing exciting like that at home! Just moving slowly

I relaxed most of the rest of the day, which featured suffocating heat. You can get overheated so easily!

Human Bodies, So Frail

I’d avoided it all summer, but today I finally got overheated. I should have know there’d be an issue when I couldn’t even take sitting in my birding chair more than a half hour this morning. Ugh. At least I managed to see the pretty white rain lilies that appeared today.

Brazos rain lily *Zephyranthes chlorosolen*

Vicki and I had a horse lesson today, and of course we worked to stay hydrated as we groomed Drew and Apache. I got through my lesson and felt a bit tired but okay. I think what got to me was that Apache acted like he had to pee and so I just sat on him with the August sun bearing down on me and got too hot.

An earlier pee time when he made us wait.

By the time I was trying to unsaddle him I felt bad. I HATE getting all messed up by heat and having to make people stop and take care of me. I ate into Vicki’s lesson time, too. Human bodies can really let you down sometimes.

Trying to look perky after I cooled off.

Sorry to whine about my body not doing my bidding. It could be a LOT WORSE and I know that. But I really do try to not overheat, though that’s a challenge in August. That’s one reason Apache and I are trying to stay in shape but not overdo it. It’s a fine line.

The moon cheered me up again, as it will.

Still, I’m feeling my grief over losing our friend Gail settling down to a more reasonable level, but I remain saddened that someone I admire has gone into hospice. I know I’m at the stage in life when friends start to pass on, but it’s worth honoring them all and sharing stories.

While I try to regulate my thermostat, I’m glad I have flowers to enjoy.

I’ll continue with memories as I get through another travel period starting tomorrow.

The tarot card of the day is the 3 of Cups/Water.

I’m happy to see more fun otters from the Gaian Tarot. The card tells us to have fun with friends. I did that today, with both friends and family. I’m so relieved that I’ve been drawing happy cards except on sad days!

Investigating Near and Sorta Far

Today was hot, but otherwise a fine Sunday. I started the day by listening to birds, as usual. I felt like getting some exercise, so I took the long walk to the cemetery. It looked very spiffy, and the birds were happy with how nice things looked, both there and at the old school/church property.

I found out later that whoever the Walker’s Creek people are will be holding a picnic there next week! Maybe it’s people with plots in the cemetery—they do that at other cemeteries in the area. what a nice tradition.

While I was there I noticed many Black Vultures gathering in two of the grand dead oaks adjacent to the old “town center.”

I also heard lots of dogs barking and a familiar voice telling them to stop. Were they barking at me or the birds? I went around the corner to Vicki’s house to find out. The answer is that her dogs really don’t like those birds, or they DO and are enjoying themselves. Since I was already there, I paid a visit (so un-hermit-like) and checked out an Australian saddle she’d bought to try to use with Drew.

And, since I was there, I got to go inside and see extremely cute Sheltie puppies. They are very fluffy and bounce around most charmingly. They are destined for great things, given their lineage.

They are very wiggly and hard to photograph.

I had so much fun being a new stimulus for them. Much tummy rubbing and fur ruffling occurred. I also got to see the brand-new puppy whose mother is a national reserve champion herding dog. There was a lot of dog beauty and skill in that house!

The little black girl was too fast to photograph

I dragged my self back home for a shower and some rest. I don’t know why I showered, since I was soaked with sweat after working with Apache and dealing with the water trough Spice had managed to overturn. She, Drew, and Mabel seemed mighty pleased to have done that. At least Apache was good. He’s really getting used to the paths in the front field. He likes the Johnson grass and goldenrod and I like the shady areas.

No horse photos today, so here’s a tired Spicebush Swallowtail.

But, I’m out of sequence. Before horse time, Lee and I took one of our random drives, since he hadn’t been exploring all weekend like I had. We saw lots of crops, which we have in this area because we are east of Interstate 35. The soil is completely different on the west side, because the road follows a fault. Fertile farmland to the east, and alkaline karst formations to the west. Anyway, we saw feed corn being harvested, cotton in bloom, and to my surprise, a rice field. It was irrigated by the Brazos River.

We ended up in Calvert, Texas, which is fairly close to Cameron. Lee saw that some of the antique stores there were open, so we stopped by one, which is in the tallest building in the town. The building was erected by the first Black millionaire in this area as headquarters of a benevolent organization. This is probably inaccurate and no doubt a local person can set me straight.

Picture of a woman teaching a little girl to knit.

The shop had lots and lots in it. Luckily there wasn’t much of what I want, but I wished I had a space for this embroidered screen. It’s very cool. I’d love to restore it.

The screen is tall but I just took pictures of the embroidery.

I did end up getting a planter with pansies on it. I’ll show you once I get it set up. I didn’t get these. They had two similar pairs.

The Queen of England and her spouse as bedroom slippers. Classy.

Enough blather about my day. But I investigated many things, ranging from cute to weird!

Don’t Complain, Spontane!

I didn’t write yesterday, even though it was a good day, all in all. I felt useful at work and had a good time doing horse stuff with Vicki (other than getting stepped on by Apache when he was in a “spooky” part of his path). Walking on the paths was a great way for Vicki to practice leadership with Drew, so I’m glad we did it, even though Drew wasn’t thrilled.

Laughing because we were trying to get Drew to look cheerful.

Today I had no plans, Lee had a sore toe, and we were just blah. So, he said, “Let’s just go!” And we spontaneously went somewhere. Spontaining has a lot going for it! We drove around Texas to see what we could find.

One thing we found: free-range cattle. That’s Texas.

First we drove to Buc-ees because I really wanted one of their sandwiches for lunch. I also got over-priced watermelon but it was so good! I got a new large water holder to replace the previous one whose straw disappeared then the lid shattered in one of my more-frequent “accidents.” I’m pleased.

Then we meandered our way through the dangerous roads between Temple and Copperas Cove, Texas. You are inevitably passed on all sides by small, audibly-enhanced sporty vehicles driven by young people with very neat haircuts. Those would be folks starting their military careers at Fort Cavazos who have purchased their dream vehicles and want to go zoom zoom. We survived and made it to our random destination, a “metaphysical shop.” There are actually TWO in the area, down from three.

My souvenir was a cutting of a fascinating pothos plant with curly leaves. The shop owner has a jungle in the back of the store.

This store has all kinds of fascinating stuff in it, like dead things in jars, homemade spell candles, and what I think were some homemade oils. This was not one of those goofy crystal stores. They are serious and have some interesting classes one could take. I liked their tarot candles, so I got one for me and a Hermit for Lee. Lee gave me a VERY nice Bridget goddess statue to go with my collection. This makes me sound very woo woo. I assure you, I’m just out here sending Lovingkindness.

After chatting about dogs, horses, and plants with the proprietor, we headed for our next destination, which we picked at random. Mostly we enjoyed the drive through rolling hills and (recently flooded) river valleys. We ended up in Lampassas. We tried to go to a nature park, but it was closed. That was a theme for the day, thanks to the floods on July 4.

My big discovery in Lampassas was a huge factory that makes Ajinomoto. That’s MSG. I always thought it came from Japan. I stayed clear due to my sensitivity.

We saw a sign for Colorado Bend State Park, so we decided to go there and check it off our list. It’s a good thing, since it turns out our RV would have no place to go there.

Flood-damaged bridge to get to the park. Had to drive very slowly.

Much of the park was closed, but I did get to go on a little trail walk in a meadow with Ashe Juniper trees and lots of silver bluestem. I was hampered by my footwear choice of shiny sandals, but remember, I didn’t know where I was going earlier today.

The weird thing about my walk was the eerie lack of birds. For most of the time there was one persistent Field Sparrow, who sang very well, it all alone. At the end I finally heard a Bobwhite Quail, a Cardinal, and a Red-winged Blackbird.

We then drove to the camping area, which was the only riverside area you could get to, and there were normal birds there in usual numbers. Whew. I’ve never been so relieved to hear wrens, titmice, and buntings.

We left the park and for no good reason drove to San Saba, another typical town of the region. I enjoy the town squares and small shops you find. The big business here is pecans. Some of the pecan businesses have beautiful buildings. Of course, a pecan plantation is also lovely. Wish I had a photo.

The nearest place we could find to get a free hotel on our Hilton points was in Brownwood, so off we went through more scenic byways until we suddenly were there, not the way we came here last time when camping. The best thing about this Home2 Suites is that it’s next door to a Tractor Supply store, where I need to go to replenish horse food.

It’s almost like we planned the day!

A good day needs no plan when you can spontane.

Tomorrow we get those supplies then see if this is the town with the amazing Japanese restaurant that used to be Pizza Hut. If so, that will be lunch before hitting a different bunch of Texas cow-towns on the way home.

Crude map of trip. We live due east of Temple 40 miles or so.

Tarot card of the day

Yesterday I drew the 6 of swords, which is about having a supportive community. I drew it right after chatting with my supportive Friday morning friends. I forgot to take a picture.

I didn’t draw a card today, but was impressed to see that the woman in the metaphysical shop was doing a good business with readings. Interesting!