A Few Spring Breezes

Today I wasn't sure if I would make it to Bill's. First I had to wait for a Floor Guy to come and give us an estimate for getting the bedrooms refinished. Right after he left, Jackie called. She was already at Bill's. I hung up the phone and rushed right over to get my brumby out. The weather was great! The sun came peeping out once in a while and even a few drafts of air felt on the warmish side!


OK, so maybe it is still pretty wintery. But It did feel warmer! This is where I found my brumby: hanging out with Ruby who is now alpha mare since QTee is up in the paddock. My brumby is trying to get in good with the new head mare. She is like one of those high school girls who must be on top of the heap.


I thought Ruby might get up as I came crunching over in the snow. She is so secure in everything she didn't budge. Just kept lounging there with her feet looking so cute. Do you see my brumby's tongue in this picture? Two cute mares. These days I am trying to learn French. I just leaned the word for mare is jument. The word for mane is la criniere. Oooh, Lilly, tu as une belle criniere! Tu es une tres belle jument!


Down in the ring, Pokey and Lilly were prancing around on high alert. The kept peering into the woods, looking for something. We thought it might be the fox who has been coming around. In the end, it was merely a cross-country skier on the snowmobile trail, and her skis were making a swish swish swish noise which was new. We almost never see crosscountry skiers back there. This photo is of Jackie taking a phone call from Bill who is in New York with his family. Magically, he called right when Jackie and I were in the ring. Bill said he was in Times Square. Jackie told him that Pokey had just tried to kick at her. Jackie also told Bill he'd better hurry back because we were doing whiskey shots and then galloping around the ring. (We don't want Bill to get too comfortable in the city after all.)


We weren't really doing whiskey shots. Or galloping. What we were doing was trying to choreograph a short routine with Lilly and Pokey. Kind of like a tiny drill team without the flags. I have always LOVED watching drill teams. They are so fabulous. Each time I see them, I think: I want to do that! So Jackie and I enthusiastically got started.

Too bad we were so undecided about our pattern that we ended up trotting around in a lame, confusing formation that did nothing but make Pokey and Lilly start to think they had been transported to HateLand. Pokey even gave a little buck! So we had to regroup and start over. Plus, I realized I wasn't even incorporating the Boob Rule!

The good news is that we did get one sequence down. It lasts perhaps 30 seconds. But it felt good, the horses didn't act sour and I remembered to point the way with my boobs. Tomorrow we can do it all again.


With Bill away, it doesn't take long to realize how much he takes care of in one day. It is nerve-wracking making sure each animal is safe, sound, fed and properly accommodated. This weekend, Jackie is the one in charge. I helped her distribute hay and change QTee's gooey bandage. Here is Louise getting her grain. All of the animals were waiting for their food. When an animal is hungry, it watches every move you make. The cow actually came cantering through her pasture when she thought Jackie was getting the food out, only to fall on her face in the slippery paddock. It seems like a farm can fall into mayhem in a very short amount of time!

Down in the pasture when Jackie threw out the hay, my brumby decided that the horses beneath her in the pecking order were not going to get their hay easily. If you'd like to see how she defends her hay pile, then you can watch this video. (Just ignore my wailing half-way through. I sound ridiculous. ) And as you can see from this picture, no one ends up going hungry.

Whew.

See you tomorrow!