....and then there were horses
And there they are: Little Red (aka "Beep") and her new "companion" (very Jackie O don'tcha know) Oscar Rudolph. Today was monumental. Two horses showed up at La Bella Vita!
That's cause to celebrate and don't any of you worry; I'm celebrating now with a my favorite bottle of Cabernet and some Sicilian olives. Everyone, raise your glass!! Tink!
What a day. I woke up at 5:30 and listened to public radio for an hour. I was running through my mind all the things that I needed to do before 9 am. I was supposed to leave for the (now) old barn at 9 to load up Sir Oscar but before that I had to string up the temporary fence to block off the newly seeded pasture. All went swimmingly. I got the fence in then got the call from Cathy to say that the pony loaded fine. Then Keith called and said he was on the beltline. I was ready: completely caffeinated and sitting on "start." I hopped in the car and got to the (now) old barn and got Oz out of his pen. He grazed for about 5 minutes in the yard before the trailer pulled in. Oscar is an easy-to-load horse but when the trailer door dropped and Beep neighed that sexy pony "hi" he waltzed in. Sucker.
We pulled into La Bella Vita at 10am sharp. I walked Oz off first. He looked around and gave an excited kick. If I read him correctly (and I belive I did) his kick said "hot dog, REAL GRASS...!.. now where's the chick that was in the trailer?"
So then I brought out Lil Red. They did a two second sniff and went trotting up the hill together. Oscar bucked the whole way, hind legs about 5' high and happier than a dog with a stolen hamburger. They walked about all morning, with me checking on them every half hour.
In between, I was working on other chores with Joe. The stall guys were working hard and so were me and Joe. Can't remember exactly all that I did but I know I didn't stop until 30 minutes ago!
Here is what the stall's looked like going in.
In case you are wondering, that's a pig feeder
on the right side of the stall partition. Joe
had to get that thing out with the skid loader. It was heavy!
Here's a photo of Joe taking the pig feeder to the "pit" which is the farm version of a "dump" for you city folk.
As it was going down the road the artiste in me was thinking "is there anything I could DO with that thing?"
I had to admit to coming up empty handed but I'm sure the image of the pig feeder will haunt the artiste reaches of my mind at some point and I'll wish I'd of saved it.
Oh well. Even in its demise it became part of a nice photograph of a skid loader heading east on Muller Road, into the afternoon light with a pig feeder in the bucket.
So the horses are in their barn eating hay. The light is gone and I'm starting to fade too. I heard the Packers won today. I'm so out of the regular world but I'm glad to hear my old team won.
I'm not sure what to do now. Take a shower comes to mind. I have grass seed in my shoes, my hair is a mess and I probably smell like a horse.
Ahhhh. La bella vita.
ciao ,
b
20 comments:
Oh my golly! Becca, you really have "stepped in it"! Wadda life!
Horses, wine, shower, bed - PERFECT!
And tomorry you can have even more.
Bet you cant wait for the sun to come up ... so you can take more pictures, maybe? Wow! Wish I were there.
I wish you were here too!! I was just out in the barn checking on the two of them. It's true; I should have been a farmer only I'm glad I wasn't because now I appreciate it!
I am soooo happy and this farm is a happy place.
Now, seriously, I must take a shower!
(note: Oscar just gave a little squeal so all's normal in the barn...)poor pony!"
cheers,
b
Hey you tell that horny brute to lay off my precious Beep! He ain't her type!
Yo, Becx:
Congrats. Your dream lives. this is a great day for you and your farm. I was gonna phone today but you would probably have been too busy, considering all you wrote about here.
B.
Hi Brian!
I can't wait for you and Erika and my nephew to get out here! When are you coming??
We can teach Simon how to brush the pony.
Speaking of brushing, I went out this morning to see if everyone was still here and they were and it looked like both of them went out in the rain, then rolled in dirt then came in to dry off. Oscar is brown and the pony is, well, filthy. Ahhh, now I get to brush them out. Come on out--we'll have chat and brush out the horses!
And really, tell me when you all are coming again, I forgot and want to make sure I have everything ready for you.
And you poo poo'd putting them in for the night "just to keep them clean"!
Who's laughing now!
I'd brush them out for you - I'm just jealous that you get to do it and I don't.
It's going to take me an hour to get them somewhat clean. Oscar's white mane was mangy!
Well, it sure is nice to have them there. I stood in the barn last night, watching them eat hay. the sound of them chewing was really soothing. Just me, Red and Oscar having a quiet moment.
I am reminded though that horses poop. A LOT. Bloody hell! that same quiet vista of last night was full of manure this morning. I had to scoop first thing to get the mess out!
Well, its too sad that the flip side of anything so wonderful as Beep and Oscar peacefully munching away in your gorgeous stone barn is anything as inglorious as mud and poop!
I tell you! Just what in heaven was The Great Maker thinking? Was he trying to teach humility or sumthin'? Didn't he know that shavings for bedding and a close-tined shavings fork make very light work of the poop issue - oh yes, and closing your horses inside the barn at night keeps 'em clean? Tee hee! But I'll happily come shovel, you can brush 'em and I'll do the hugging.
But, do you think maybe the two of them taking a mud bath was about the skeeters? I still say you should bring my pony inside. I was always under the impression that ponies are entitled to see the inside of the house. Mine came in for Christmas. And the very first pony I borrowed to take home got a whole new kitchen for my mom when Daddy was surprised to see a fat black pony drinking from the kitchen sink, didn't spot me, and smacked him on the rump. Oh, it was a splendid show! First, he charged forward til his chest hit the sink, then he scrambled backward until his rump hit the cabinets behind him. When he sprang forward again his hooves slipped on mother's shiny clean floor and sent him alternately sprawling and picking himself up, zig-zagging forward and backward until he finally reached the door at the far end of the room and escaped...leaving a tangle of broken boards and pots and pans in his wake. It WAS a little tough explaining to the trustees why the parsonage suddenly needed all new cabinets; but, while I was just happy Dad didn't lose his job, my mother secretly thanked me.(Speaking of the flip side of things)
The moral of the story is - keep the pony on the carpet.
Oh, I am so envious!
I love that story!! I will bring Beep inside one of these days in the near future-how about when you come to the farm?? !!
It took me 30 minutes with the metal mud brush to get Oscar to a "passable" state and by the time I was done it was dark! I cleaned the barn and called it a night. I've been out of cat food since Saturday and Spider left me a half eaten chipmunk to remind me to go to the store so that's what I did.
All's quiet tonight. I might even get to watch a little tv. What a concept!
I'm SO ready for a visit!
Yesterday I discovered strangers had AGAIN been in my "Water's Edge" house (The one that was just broken into and burglarized) and the library chairs and table had been mysteriously moved, judging by the fresh indents in the carpet. So I called the sheriff to investigate AGAIN and today the locksmith will be changing all the locks and I feel like I'm under siege.
I notice the crime stats in your town are really, really, decent and life on a farm full of rotting hog feeders, horse poop, escaping chickens and elephant sized skeeters is becoming more and more appealing - even despite your area's towering black thunderstorms.
PLEASE post more pictures so we can at least vicariously enjoy the (albeit sometimes only imagined by those of us sadly on the "outside") peace and quiet.
Hahahahaha! Good pony-in-the-house story! I'll remember the moral well - finally, a moral that makes sense! What a good way to start my work day. I say let them doggies get dirty! To watch a horse grind fine dirt and mud into their manes and stain their beautiful big quarters with grassy green manure during an ecstatic roll in the pasture is one of life's great pleasures. I remember that Oscar takes great pleasure in rolling. When Cowboy would come back to the pasture after a little bit of work, Oscar would roll and roll with him - just to share the pleasure. Besides, all that mane combing will thin Sir Oscar's locks o' dander tangles!
Seriously, though, horses evolved to be moving nearly all the time. The more they're out, the happier and healthier they'll be. Unsolicited advice of the day: Keep them out whenever possible. Good for feet, good for joints, good for the pocketbook, good for brains.
hear hear on the horses being out; their door is always open so they can come and go as they please. I need to get a hay feeder for out in the pasture to elevate it a bit. I tried the tire but I'll admit to being a little too fussy for the "tire look."
Barbara, are you sure it wasn't a realtor who moved the chairs?
Oh yeah! First person I called was the Realtor. I assumed it was her until she told me no. She has the ONLY key out that I know of and the house is NOT on lockbox. She must show it personally and she didn't. BUT it occurred to me today that when I was in the hospital with the spider bite, I gave the tile guy a key so he could finish. Now things may be falling together some. He COULD have made a copy. He WAS taking forbidden photographs of my copy written work.
But I LOVED the "master locksmith" who came... and hardly charged me enough to buy his lunch. I think I have found the "Joe" of the locksmith world. First person with a brain I have met in Florida. He was discussing the science of miracles with me and I now have a couple of books to find. AND now I have only ONE key for all the locks on the house. GREAT!
Are you taking good care of my pony today, Becca?
And can you hardly wait to see her, Sara? You can give her a hug for me. And one to Becca too, until I can get out there and have a girls' overnight with wine and cheese and gossip and all the good stuff.
Whew, glad you had a good and intelligent locksmith.
And your pony is just fine, except she was distracting Oscar tonight. I was taking OScar on his FIRST RIDE through the farm. We were trotting around and we got a little ways away from the barn and Red nickered and Oscar started to turn. I kept him going under protest then turned him around but it makes me think that this is not good; Oz needs to be able to go to work. Well, I can always tie up the pony next to the arena and let her graze while I work Oz. She got a nice brushing tonight and a walk. I have to say, I think she's looking leaner already. The Oscar Exercise Plan seems to be having an affect already. They are so bonded; they eat hay together and run around the pasture together. Oh, and I put a lead rope on the pony and led her as I was riding Oscar. It was a little awkward but we'll get the hang of it. Life is good here!
You remind me of the good old days when my daughter had her big gray hunter and would drag "Mommy's Folly" behind her on a lead line all over town singing Randy Newman's "Short People". Lovingly.
Here are the lyrics:
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live
They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet
Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Round here
Short People are just the same
As you and I
(A Fool Such As I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It's A Wonderful World)
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
To love
They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That go beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin' peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time
Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
'Round here
PERFECT PONY SONG! Dontcha think?
So there's two things to remember - you gotta keep her on the carpet and sing this to her.
Ahhhhhhhh. And maybe shut her in her stall when you and Oscar go to work?
That is a great song for a pony. Especially a pony being ponied! You could drag her around for a good conditioning singing that song, put her back in the pasture to go and do real work and I'll bet she'll keep her lil mouth shut.
This thing about calling back and forth is something that happens often with small groups of horses. I've dealt with it a couple of different ways. The easiest is to deal with the horse that you are on. Horses really only concentrate on one thing at a time so your goal should be to occupy his mind with the task at hand. When she starts calling, work an exercise that is challanging but that you know your horse can do well. Think not so much about getting your horse to ignore the distraction Beep is creating but more on your requests. If you cannot get him to focus on you, you can try to the opposite tack - take him over to the fence where the pony is fussing and work him very, very hard in as small a circle as he is capable. Then walk away on a loose rein. As soon he gets uppity again trot him back over to the pony and put him to work doing something very, very physically demanding. Again, walk away on a loose rein while you pet him. This approach is called "making the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy." But I like the former approach better. Chase, my big red QH was terribly herd bound like that and he worked through it in just a few sessions.
Omagod this is SO educational!
Now I have a good method to work with if I EVER again get involved with a mayun.
You guys keep the pony on the carpet and sing "Short People" and I will make the good things easy and the bad things hard, (so-to-speak, of course)for some poor guy. (NOT!)
Actually, I never had the problem of horses calling another back. New England equines have fancy full-time closed stalls. Horses there are clean and probably very, very, bored. I like the freedom idea better too. Sara is very smaht! Tell more!
Omagosh! I just re-read what I said above and I didn't mean it the way it came out - AT ALL. Gheesh! (so-to-speak)
what are you talking about Lady B? you are the best!
We take no offense, Barbara. We know what you mean. Besides, midwestern horses are the best because they are tough, der hey. And dey know dere places, jah.
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