Sunny Saturday - Nail Salon and Ride Time

Last Saturday KC lost a shoe. Already scheduled the farrier appointment, no need to have her out for an 'emergency' visit. After the Friday night excitement it was good to get back to routine, even if it does smell like Skunk. Up early, boys in their stalls, hay cleaned up from the barn aisle, tractor tucked away.

He had a task at our old house, taking the down-time

to accomplish that. He returned sooner than expected, so we took advantage of the bright fall day and hit the trail.

We parked at the Agriculture Museum and Farm Park, which was hosting a Blacksmith demonstration. We stopped in to see the goats and their care-taker, Cindy. She has some great goats, gently raised by 4-H members. These goats are very friendly.

She let us know that someone fed two of the goats chocolate on Halloween, they had to be neutralized. He thought she said 'euthanized,' but she meant they were given a peroxide antidote for the toxic chemicals in chocolate that horses and goats cannot consume.

The boys enjoyed several children petting them and hand feeding them clover and grass. The trails at the Ag Park are in terrible condition; big trees down, Multi-flora Rose flourishing, etc.

When we got back, Sprite and Lil Fred were down in the corner of their paddock, near the Skunk carcass. Sprite came up to see us, but Fred was still at the fence, so I walked towards him to check the status of the dead vermin. A buzzard flew up, spooking Fred, who did a roll-back and high-tailed it out of there.

Homicide

Might have mentioned before we have a resident Skunk. This would be great except for the odor. The sulfur smell can be overwhelming at times. We've not been able to keep the windows open at night. Lately, also, the boys have smelled like a Skunk.

Earlier in the week, after he had relamped all the exterior fixtures with clearer, cleaner light, and while tucking the boys in for the night, I realized the Skunk was really close to the boys and me. He was going about his business, doing Skunk things in the pasture. But he was only about thirty feet from me.

KC is notoriously food-aggressive. Takes no imagination to envision him chasing anything that threatens his hay pile, except for Skip. I've seen him chase cats, dogs, birds, and other horses. Very territorial. No stretch to see him doing that to a Skunk and getting sprayed.

Saw the Skunk again, in the pasture, close up on Thursday.

Saw the Skunk on Friday evening - only about 20 feet from the water trough. I called him on the phone, 'come out and see the Skunk, he's so close!"

He came out with a .22 Rifle.

He shot the Skunk, and then finished him off with the pitch-fork. Threw the body over the fence, south of the burn pile. The stench still lingers.

Halloween

Ride Leader - Community Service

Some time ago we got tapped to lead a trail ride in the park closest to our house. We should know the trails, right? You'd be wrong. We get misplaced frequently in this park, not because it is so big, but because it has numerous trails going this way and that, but leading nowhere, or into someone's back yard.

In years past we have spent, literally, days clearing trails - some tasks done 'illegally.' In our parks we are not allowed to use mechanized devices or chemicals to clear trails, only hand tools.

Confessing to using lawn mower, weed-whacker, Weed-Be-Gone, Round-Up, a pole-trimmer, various chain saws, hedge trimmers, etc., besides hand nippers, pruners, and saws. All to no long-lasting conclusion. The non-native plants continue to come back, better than ever.

The weekend before the scheduled ride we mapped out and rode the planned route. It was slow going because we had to trim, tag, hack, saw, and prune our way through, sometimes trimming the wrong path and having to re-tag the intersections.

He then did almost half the route the following day, on foot, to straighten out a lot of our handi-work, using a battery-operated chain saw. Don't tell anyone.

I am always anxious about my duties as a ride leader, my most favorite job was as a ride leader at a lesson barn, but it doesn't pay enough to actually support you, so now I push a desk around for income. I also know that it isn't always fun; I could tell you stories of melt-downs, parental interference, equipment failure, and extenuating circumstances.

On this day there are two rides: both have the ride out time as 10:00 a.m. One is slated to be 'walk only' for a 2-hour duration. Our ride is 4 hours, with lunch on the trail, walk-trot-canter. That is precisely where it fell apart.

We got up early, being the selfless volunteers that we are, and arrived more than a half hour before ride time. I signed us both in, filling out the necessary paper work for the Coggins verifications. We tacked up, ready to ride 15 minutes before we have to go.

The ride coordinator had tea and donuts for the group, and there are other riders there, not part of any group. The cow pasture was filling up with rigs. I allow KC to graze, he brakes for clover. No one says anything about him or me not wearing a helmet.

The ride coordinator confirms we have four riders joining our group. That is a manageable amount, and only two horses are gaited, all the riders are women. We proceed into the woods at the bottom corner of the cow pasture, along the planted watershed Pines and Maples. Following our green-tagged route, he's serving as the drag rider, I turn right down the gradual hill, looking back to make sure everyone is on the flat and cluck to KC to trot. This is the precise instant I should have stopped and asked her to hurry back to join the walk-only group. Right then. I didn't.

She had said that the walk-only ride was too short, she wanted to get her green horse more miles, and he walks too fast to go with the walk-only group. They all would be trotting to keep up with his walking-horse walk. When I started trotting she squealed out in protest, wanted then to go first, and passed me without asking. She said she had worked too hard on this horse to have him ruined with this trail ride. She wasn't familiar with the trails, so there you have it. Some people just get what they want, by being a bully or presumptive. She never asked, anyone, if this was ok.

She should have joined the other group, gone alone, or gone home. The most unfortunate revelation was finding out she is the defacto president of one of the organized groups that was sponsoring this ride. O boy.

She continued to sand-bag or otherwise slow us down and she continually hung on this poor horse's mouth the entire four-hour ride. She couldn't relax and she wasn't going to let him, either. We really were hoping this 'fast' ride would have weeded out the fearful horsewomen, but it did not.

Ride Time

I would say we had an uneventful ride (no equipment failure or mishaps) but KC shook down a hiker for his 'Smarties™' and we saw two young deer with unusual markings. At first I thought they were goats, one being mostly white with brown spots and the other was roan. Then KC lost a shoe close to the end of the ride.

We had just left the Woodstock Inn, traveling at a good pace, but slowed for the rocks that are like a tombstone and a shark fin, dead center in the trail. Anyone that rides these trails know the exact spot. There were a couple of hikers, one had a cane, the other a big camera around her neck. They both left the trail, opposite sides of the trail, to let us pass.

As we walked past them, saying our how-do-you-do's KC turns right into the man standing on the left. He had a cane. KC is known to be a 'people-person' and loves to stop. He might just like to stop.

The man says he has candy in his pants. KC is all ears, straight-up and forward. He pulls out the package of Smarties™ and crinkles the wrapper. O boy.

KC is very gentle, and eats most all of the Smarties™. The man calls the woman over, saying she would love to pet the horse. She has a camera but never used it. KC is a shameless pan-handler.

Closer to the League we saw the deer that looked like goats, with their momma. Strange colorations on those two. When we got back to the trailer, while picking his feet, I noticed he now is missing a shoe. We have a ride tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., Sara the Farrier is due out November 2. O boy.

Let Me In!!

Won't deny that I can be thick-headed. We all can, especially when we have pre-conceived notions that we humans have superior intellect, and the internet to back it up.

I have long claimed that KC communicates with me subliminally, by sending me pictures to my brain. Like when he wants a drink, I'll get an image of the river in my thoughts. I know it sounds weird, but I swear this happens regularly, and has never happened with another horse ever in my life. I swear I am not a space cadet!

Skip also lets me know what he wants, and most times we consider this acting out. I believe he knows we care for him, as we demonstrate with actions every single day. He does not send images to my brain, he points, while making a giraffe neck, running the fence line back and forth, and leading with his chin.

It's all about the weather, and lately we've had a serious dip in the overnight lows. Two nights, not in a row, have been below freezing. The first frosty night I kept them in. I could have blanketed them both, but it is only mid October. The second night the temperature was in the high 30's, however, the breeze was picking up, creating a wind chill effect.

On this second cold night, I came out for last call and Skip was running the fence line, head held high in the air, chin pointing to the barn. On a typical 'last call' Skip and KC are loitering around the run-in shed, waiting for me to deliver flakes of hay in the usual spots. This night KC was leaning on the gate, and Skip was going back and forth, like an old-style manual typewriter. LET US IN!

By Jove, I've got it! I can research the weather forecast, different providers, but the real plans come from the boys.

Hay