The wind is too much with us; late and soon,
Grabbing and spinning, it lays waste our hay:
Little we see in nature that the wind doesn't blow away!
It would blow even our hearts away, if we wore them on our sleeve
This wind that bares our bosom to any who can see;
The winds that are howling at all hours,
And we are up-gathered by it like dead flowers;
For this we are out of sorts.
It moves us plenty.--Great God! I'd rather be
Out standing in a quiet lea,
Than have glimpses of tumbleweeds going by;
At the rate of four to the seventh power.
Well, that's a poor imitation of William Wordsworth, "The World is Too Much With Us," but it sure fits. That wind has just been brutal the past two weeks. I guess it wouldn't be Wyoming without the wind.
I can't believe I've been early retired more than a year now. Where has the time gone? I think of Henry David Thoreau and his WALDEN: "Where I Lived and What I Lived For." I keep asking myself what I am doing this for. I feel like I'm just putting one foot in front of the other. I guess such is life, but I surely thought I'd have accomplished a lot more by now. Oh well, there's another year. Thoreau lived at Walden for two years.
My son should be home this fall, so I won't be out here alone anymore. I thank God for my little church in Lance Creek. I don't know what I'd do without the fellowship of the believers. I think I'd go mad.
It's a boring little church. We go, we all sit in the same place every week, we sing songs of praise to God, listen to a sermon, then dash out the door, unless we happen to be having pot luck. I guess it's easy to get in a rut, and I know God wants us to sing His praises, plus just being there is a witness to unbelievers in the community, of which there aren't many. Lance Creek is not even an incorporated town in the least populated county in the least populated state in the U.S. Many people are surprised we even have a church. Ranchers come in from about a 70 mile radius and there are normally 25 or more people in the pews on any given Sunday.
Some of the ladies that live way out started bringing baked goodies and someone puts a pot of coffee on before we get there. Ranchers bring eggs and milk to swap with their neighbors. I said that gives a whole new meaning to coming to church to get "fed."
Pastor is just an old cowboy who preaches in jeans and boots. He's a good preacher and you sure don't go to sleep in his sermons. You never know what he's going to say next. We've seen many hardened old ranchers come to Jesus since he came, because he makes the rounds with his horse, helping with gathering, branding and weaning. Next thing you know, some crusty, formerly hard-drinkin, old rancher that no one ever thought would come, takes their place in the pew. So I guess habits are good when it comes to passing yourself by the Lord's house on Sunday.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Horse Sale Weekend
It was horse sale weekend in Colorado. I hustled around Saturday morning to get all the ones I should have been taking to the sale fed before going. I had really planned on having at least one ready to go, but my knee and the weather has prevented me from doing much riding since I got back from visiting my grandson.
A friend of mine had two horses cataloged in the sale, so I wanted to go see what they brought. Well, I could have found that out later, but it was a HORSE sale. I had to go. It's business-deductible. Besides my horse lovin' niece and her horsey friends were going to be there. No matter that it's 450 miles round-trip in a day.
I got there just as the last horse was showing on the preview. A little late, as usual. There were horses of every size, color and gender. Big horses, little horses, paint horses, speckled horses, grulla horses, black horses, blue horses, gray horses, palominos, duns and lots of plain sorrels and bays. There were pregnant mares, stallions, geldings and fillys. Whatever you could want in a horse, you could have found it there. There was an own grandson of Peptoboonsmal and a son of Shining Spark. These are horses that command $10,000 stud fees. The Peptoboonsmal horse sold for much less than his stud fee, I'm sure. He was a beauty, a blue roan, very correct, two years old and still a stallion. If I did not already have a stallion, I would have been bidding. I couldn't believe they let him go for the $3900 they were bid.
The Shining Spark son was no-saled through the ring, but the auctioneer was interested in him, so there might have been a deal made out back. He was a seasoned show horse that had won championships at some shows, although he did have some age on him at 13. He only garnered a bid of $2,000 in the ring.
The sales were all over the board with not much rhyme or reason that I could see, although I was busy visiting with all my friends and not paying attention like I should have been. Gray seemed to be the in-demand color. Should have taken Gracie! Maybe next time, if her foot gets well.
My friend's horses didn't sell very well. We were all sad. One of them was a very nice own grandson of Two Eyed Jack, and those are getting scarce. He was well, well broke by the kid that trains some for me. The horse brought $2000, which is about half what he should have brought. Mark, the guy that owned him, is a paraplegic who raises horses. He just hooks his bumper-pull trailer to his van, loads them up and takes off with them.
"That chair doesn't slow you down much," I told him.
"If I let it, I'd never do anything," was his reply.
Great attitude.
A friend of mine had two horses cataloged in the sale, so I wanted to go see what they brought. Well, I could have found that out later, but it was a HORSE sale. I had to go. It's business-deductible. Besides my horse lovin' niece and her horsey friends were going to be there. No matter that it's 450 miles round-trip in a day.
I got there just as the last horse was showing on the preview. A little late, as usual. There were horses of every size, color and gender. Big horses, little horses, paint horses, speckled horses, grulla horses, black horses, blue horses, gray horses, palominos, duns and lots of plain sorrels and bays. There were pregnant mares, stallions, geldings and fillys. Whatever you could want in a horse, you could have found it there. There was an own grandson of Peptoboonsmal and a son of Shining Spark. These are horses that command $10,000 stud fees. The Peptoboonsmal horse sold for much less than his stud fee, I'm sure. He was a beauty, a blue roan, very correct, two years old and still a stallion. If I did not already have a stallion, I would have been bidding. I couldn't believe they let him go for the $3900 they were bid.
The Shining Spark son was no-saled through the ring, but the auctioneer was interested in him, so there might have been a deal made out back. He was a seasoned show horse that had won championships at some shows, although he did have some age on him at 13. He only garnered a bid of $2,000 in the ring.
The sales were all over the board with not much rhyme or reason that I could see, although I was busy visiting with all my friends and not paying attention like I should have been. Gray seemed to be the in-demand color. Should have taken Gracie! Maybe next time, if her foot gets well.
My friend's horses didn't sell very well. We were all sad. One of them was a very nice own grandson of Two Eyed Jack, and those are getting scarce. He was well, well broke by the kid that trains some for me. The horse brought $2000, which is about half what he should have brought. Mark, the guy that owned him, is a paraplegic who raises horses. He just hooks his bumper-pull trailer to his van, loads them up and takes off with them.
"That chair doesn't slow you down much," I told him.
"If I let it, I'd never do anything," was his reply.
Great attitude.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Amazing Grace
Ok, where’s that global warming Al Gore’s been talking about. I’ll take a little of that. I swear, if this keeps up, I’m going to have to buy some more long underwear. I only have two pair and I’ve had one or the other of them on for the better part of two months now. At least, the wind stayed down today, and I was grateful because I had to go cut more firewood.
I have a cute little Quarter Horse filly that has been in the doctoring bay for a while now. Her everyday name is Gracie and she is gray in color. She turned up lame last spring. When the farrier came to trim hooves, he noticed a lump about the size of a hen’s egg on her forepastern. I made an appointment at the vet for her, but before I could get her in, it had grown to the size of a goose egg and she was lame.
They did an x-ray and found she had a bone spur growing in there amidst all those ligaments. The vet said there was nothing they could do. There is little besides bone and ligament in that area, so surgery was out of the question. Even if they could do surgery, he said the bone spur would probably just grow back, because a bone spur is a response to a trauma sometines.
I had a bone spur on my heel once. It was very painful, so I went to several doctors, trying to get some relief. My Orthopedic Dr. gave me a shot of cortisone and that helped--for about two weeks. He said he couldn’t give me another one for six months. So I went to a chiropractor because one of my friends said she’d had one cured by this same chiropractor. The chiropractor told me I’d have to sign up for at least twelve treatments, so I did. Each time she’d massage my foot, it would feel better for about an hour. Finally, I figured a Podiatrist was what I needed. The Podiatrist thought I needed wedges for my shoes at a cost of $1,200. I wasn’t thinking, or I would have rolled up dollar bills to make wedges and saved myself some money.
Nothing worked. I was starting to get a spur on my other heel, too. Desperate, I decided to try those magnetic insoles, because my Orthopedic Dr. had told me the bone spur was an arthritic condition caused by a shortening of the Achillies Tendon. I had heard those magnets were supposed to be good for arthritis, so I figured it was worth a shot. They worked. Within two months, I went for another x-ray and the largest spur had decreased by half and within four months, it was just a little bump.
So I decided to try magnetic therapy on Gracie. I put a magnetic wrap on her leg in August and she wore it until November. The bump had receded to the size of a hen’s egg again, but the wrap was rubbing sores on the front of her pastern. She is still a little lame on it, but I just got a different kind of wrap that I hope will not cause sores. Here’s a recent picture of Gracie. She’s coming three years old and has excellent bloodlines, so would make a good broodmare someday. Gracie’s for sale (cheap) with, or without, the bump. I hope it goes away soon.
I have a cute little Quarter Horse filly that has been in the doctoring bay for a while now. Her everyday name is Gracie and she is gray in color. She turned up lame last spring. When the farrier came to trim hooves, he noticed a lump about the size of a hen’s egg on her forepastern. I made an appointment at the vet for her, but before I could get her in, it had grown to the size of a goose egg and she was lame.
They did an x-ray and found she had a bone spur growing in there amidst all those ligaments. The vet said there was nothing they could do. There is little besides bone and ligament in that area, so surgery was out of the question. Even if they could do surgery, he said the bone spur would probably just grow back, because a bone spur is a response to a trauma sometines.
I had a bone spur on my heel once. It was very painful, so I went to several doctors, trying to get some relief. My Orthopedic Dr. gave me a shot of cortisone and that helped--for about two weeks. He said he couldn’t give me another one for six months. So I went to a chiropractor because one of my friends said she’d had one cured by this same chiropractor. The chiropractor told me I’d have to sign up for at least twelve treatments, so I did. Each time she’d massage my foot, it would feel better for about an hour. Finally, I figured a Podiatrist was what I needed. The Podiatrist thought I needed wedges for my shoes at a cost of $1,200. I wasn’t thinking, or I would have rolled up dollar bills to make wedges and saved myself some money.
Nothing worked. I was starting to get a spur on my other heel, too. Desperate, I decided to try those magnetic insoles, because my Orthopedic Dr. had told me the bone spur was an arthritic condition caused by a shortening of the Achillies Tendon. I had heard those magnets were supposed to be good for arthritis, so I figured it was worth a shot. They worked. Within two months, I went for another x-ray and the largest spur had decreased by half and within four months, it was just a little bump.
So I decided to try magnetic therapy on Gracie. I put a magnetic wrap on her leg in August and she wore it until November. The bump had receded to the size of a hen’s egg again, but the wrap was rubbing sores on the front of her pastern. She is still a little lame on it, but I just got a different kind of wrap that I hope will not cause sores. Here’s a recent picture of Gracie. She’s coming three years old and has excellent bloodlines, so would make a good broodmare someday. Gracie’s for sale (cheap) with, or without, the bump. I hope it goes away soon.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Stuck!
Today I got stuck for the first time this winter. Well, the second time if you count the tractor incident. I should take my own advice in my eHow on how to drive in snow. You can always break out a drift going uphill, but don't try to break one out going downhill, especially in reverse. Going uphill, you can always back out and get another run at the drift. Not so going downhill.
I had loaded up the mares' daily ration of hay and headed out to feed. Here's a recent picture of the mare herd after feeding.
I've been trying to feed down in the draws so the wind doesn't blow too much of the hay away. Today I decided to be tricky and just drive into the corral to put the hay in bunks. Whipped up the bank with no trouble, but then the truck wouldn't quite fit through the gate, so I began to back out. Didn't quite get in my tracks on the way back down and, whump, I was stuck and already in 4 wheel drive.
I'm grateful I wasn't far from the house, because the outside temp was -5 degrees with a little wind. It was probably -15 with the wind chill factor. My feet got cold walking from the barn to the house to get the chain. It was either chain up, shovel snow, or get the other 4X4 to pull the stuck one out. I was also grateful that 2003 Chevy had not sold when I advertised it for sale last summer! It's good to have two.
I put the big V-10 Ford into neutral. It has an automatic transmission, which makes pulling a little dicy, and you don't want to do too much of it. I had to yank on it pretty hard several times, then it popped out, and rolled back down the bank until it contacted the Chevy! It whanged pretty good, and I said, "Oh, dear!" But with that steel flatbed on the Chevy, there wasn't any damage that I could discern. Thank You, Lord.
So I finished feeding, then walked back to get the other truck. When I had everything all straightened out and got back in the house to warm my toes up, my friend that owns five of the horses I'm feeding showed up. I was kind of glad the mess was all straightened out. He would have teased me, and told everybody, which is what I just did, come to think of it. Somebody close the gate.
I had loaded up the mares' daily ration of hay and headed out to feed. Here's a recent picture of the mare herd after feeding.
I've been trying to feed down in the draws so the wind doesn't blow too much of the hay away. Today I decided to be tricky and just drive into the corral to put the hay in bunks. Whipped up the bank with no trouble, but then the truck wouldn't quite fit through the gate, so I began to back out. Didn't quite get in my tracks on the way back down and, whump, I was stuck and already in 4 wheel drive.
I'm grateful I wasn't far from the house, because the outside temp was -5 degrees with a little wind. It was probably -15 with the wind chill factor. My feet got cold walking from the barn to the house to get the chain. It was either chain up, shovel snow, or get the other 4X4 to pull the stuck one out. I was also grateful that 2003 Chevy had not sold when I advertised it for sale last summer! It's good to have two.
I put the big V-10 Ford into neutral. It has an automatic transmission, which makes pulling a little dicy, and you don't want to do too much of it. I had to yank on it pretty hard several times, then it popped out, and rolled back down the bank until it contacted the Chevy! It whanged pretty good, and I said, "Oh, dear!" But with that steel flatbed on the Chevy, there wasn't any damage that I could discern. Thank You, Lord.
So I finished feeding, then walked back to get the other truck. When I had everything all straightened out and got back in the house to warm my toes up, my friend that owns five of the horses I'm feeding showed up. I was kind of glad the mess was all straightened out. He would have teased me, and told everybody, which is what I just did, come to think of it. Somebody close the gate.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
More Snow
I love being retired. I am able to do all kinds of things that I have always wanted to do, but never had time, like making big bead tapioca pudding. You have to soak the beads overnight, and I would always forget to do that when I was working. Some people call it frog eye pudding, and it does kinda look like frog eyes, but it is yummy. I can't wait for my grandson to move closer and I will make him chocolate chip cookies and frog eye pudding.
Also, I have time to go to family gatherings that I could not when I had a job. Today I went to Crawford, NE, to my cousin's 50th wedding anniversary. When I got up this morning, it was about 15 degrees and no wind, so I didn't hurry around too much to go feed. When I went out to feed, it was snowing and the temperature had dropped to about 5 above zero, but still no wind, so it didn't feel too bad. Got things fed, then almost changed my mind about going to Nebraska, but I really did want to go. I waited until the last minute and it quit snowing. Still no wind, so off I went.
My cousin about fainted when I came in. Even some of the family that lived in Crawford had not come because of the weather. My cousin's grandson was shot by a policeman last fall, and I wanted to be there to continue to show my support for them. The policeman has been indicted by a Grand Jury for the shooting, and has been removed from his job. But emotions are still running high in little old Crawford.
It was snowing in Nebraska and the wind came up while I was there, so I decided I'd best get headed for home, or I might be caught in a ground blizzard. The roads weren't much worse coming home and there was still no wind here, but it had started snowing again, and everything was covered with about a four-inch blanket of snow. Beautiful, and still not any colder, still no wind, thank God. It's pretty treacherous underfoot out there now, though, because we had a layer of ice where we had packed the snow from before down, and now fresh snow on top of it. A person could fall and bust their.....well, you know.
I’m glad I went and cut more wood last week, I was almost out. Looks like I’m going to be needing it. We heated our house with wood when I was a kid, and I hated it, the constant cutting, splitting and fetching of wood, plus the mess from the ash and soot, but now I know. There's nothing like the warmth you get from burning wood, or the feeling you get when your wood shed is full.
Also, I have time to go to family gatherings that I could not when I had a job. Today I went to Crawford, NE, to my cousin's 50th wedding anniversary. When I got up this morning, it was about 15 degrees and no wind, so I didn't hurry around too much to go feed. When I went out to feed, it was snowing and the temperature had dropped to about 5 above zero, but still no wind, so it didn't feel too bad. Got things fed, then almost changed my mind about going to Nebraska, but I really did want to go. I waited until the last minute and it quit snowing. Still no wind, so off I went.
My cousin about fainted when I came in. Even some of the family that lived in Crawford had not come because of the weather. My cousin's grandson was shot by a policeman last fall, and I wanted to be there to continue to show my support for them. The policeman has been indicted by a Grand Jury for the shooting, and has been removed from his job. But emotions are still running high in little old Crawford.
It was snowing in Nebraska and the wind came up while I was there, so I decided I'd best get headed for home, or I might be caught in a ground blizzard. The roads weren't much worse coming home and there was still no wind here, but it had started snowing again, and everything was covered with about a four-inch blanket of snow. Beautiful, and still not any colder, still no wind, thank God. It's pretty treacherous underfoot out there now, though, because we had a layer of ice where we had packed the snow from before down, and now fresh snow on top of it. A person could fall and bust their.....well, you know.
I’m glad I went and cut more wood last week, I was almost out. Looks like I’m going to be needing it. We heated our house with wood when I was a kid, and I hated it, the constant cutting, splitting and fetching of wood, plus the mess from the ash and soot, but now I know. There's nothing like the warmth you get from burning wood, or the feeling you get when your wood shed is full.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A Lady and a Baby
Great God in heaven, it's cold out there. I just got in from feeding and trying to keep my digits from freezing and breaking off. The radio said it's -30 degrees with the wind chill factor. It actually warmed up in the night. Yesterday outdoor temps hovered around ten above zero all day. This morning the thermometer said plus 15.
The animals all seemed grateful for the hay. Digestion of forage helps them keep warm. Many people feed too much grain. Digestive systems in horses and cattle weren't designed with grain supplements in mind. They do much better on a diet of just vegetation if it's good quality grass or hay.
I have four mares that are due to foal this spring. This is my flagship mare. Her name is A Painted Lady. She is twelve years old and 16 hands tall.
Lady is one of my mares that is carrying a foal. I have been watching her carefully due to a mishap I had with her a few years ago when she aborted her foal just a month from her due date. She was boarded out at that time, during my hiatus from the ranch while working in Cheyenne, so I wasn't able to check her every day.
She's due around May 1, so about March 15, I plan to bring her in to the barn where I can monitor her very closely. I'll let you know how that goes. Somebody close the gate.
The animals all seemed grateful for the hay. Digestion of forage helps them keep warm. Many people feed too much grain. Digestive systems in horses and cattle weren't designed with grain supplements in mind. They do much better on a diet of just vegetation if it's good quality grass or hay.
I have four mares that are due to foal this spring. This is my flagship mare. Her name is A Painted Lady. She is twelve years old and 16 hands tall.
I bought Lady at a sale in 2002. She was raised by the people who were my surrogate parents when I was growing up. I was impressed, not only by her color and conformation the day of the sale, but the rider was able to do just anything he wanted with her--even throw a rope. Since I knew the couple that raised her, I knew she had been handled correctly. She had four colts for them prior to the sale, and they said all of them had been paints.
Lady has only produced one colt for me, also a paint. He is almost her double--same coloring, same coat pattern, about the same size. Even I get them confused if I'm not paying close attention. Here is King Sweet Bee, her offspring.
Lady has only produced one colt for me, also a paint. He is almost her double--same coloring, same coat pattern, about the same size. Even I get them confused if I'm not paying close attention. Here is King Sweet Bee, her offspring.
King is for sale. I actually traded him off as a weanling in return for having the ranch house and garage painted (a paint for a paint) then wound up getting him back when he was a three year-old. The kids had kept him and fed him for two and a half years, had him gelded, paid a professional trainer to start him under saddle. He's very gentle, but I haven't had time to ride much since I moved back to the ranch, plus he's even taller than his dam--about 16.2 hands--and a bum knee has prevented me from desiring to climb to those heights. King is advertised on Horsetopia.com.
Lady is one of my mares that is carrying a foal. I have been watching her carefully due to a mishap I had with her a few years ago when she aborted her foal just a month from her due date. She was boarded out at that time, during my hiatus from the ranch while working in Cheyenne, so I wasn't able to check her every day.
She's due around May 1, so about March 15, I plan to bring her in to the barn where I can monitor her very closely. I'll let you know how that goes. Somebody close the gate.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Writing and Dreaming of Little Cowboys
Ok, it’s a new year, and I’m back to my writing activities. I am working on the eHow project with Writers Research Group, which is working under the auspices of Thompson-Gale. I write short how-to articles on a variety of topics. I have written over a hundred of these since August. Many of them have been on the subject of horses, which are very easy for me to write, having been raising, training and showing horses for most of my life. WRG considers me a subject matter expert on the subject of horses. So I snap up any titles I can with horses as the subject.
Only thing is, I don’t get credit for these articles, only paid, which is an ok trade-off. I can come up with my own subjects if I want, but these have to be approved by eHow, and I get paid a little extra for originating the title. Since my creativity level gets less and less with age, I like this arrangement, because WRG feeds me titles. I just have to be fast and on the ball when the titles come out, and claim all the good ones I can. I have written articles that run the gamut from throwing a branding party to playing with a salamander to home improvement to how to be born again.
It doesn’t pay very much, but it’s probably as good as I could command by driving 60 miles a day to a job in town, and I get to stay home and “surf the web.” Plus, I can be on the ranch to respond to whatever circumstances arise. It keeps my mind working and my hands busy, so maybe the old-timers disease won’t set in too soon, and you can just leave the gate open.
Only thing is, I don’t get credit for these articles, only paid, which is an ok trade-off. I can come up with my own subjects if I want, but these have to be approved by eHow, and I get paid a little extra for originating the title. Since my creativity level gets less and less with age, I like this arrangement, because WRG feeds me titles. I just have to be fast and on the ball when the titles come out, and claim all the good ones I can. I have written articles that run the gamut from throwing a branding party to playing with a salamander to home improvement to how to be born again.
It doesn’t pay very much, but it’s probably as good as I could command by driving 60 miles a day to a job in town, and I get to stay home and “surf the web.” Plus, I can be on the ranch to respond to whatever circumstances arise. It keeps my mind working and my hands busy, so maybe the old-timers disease won’t set in too soon, and you can just leave the gate open.
Speaking of old-timers, I am a new grandma. My grandson is on the right coast, though, and much too far away from the ranch for me to make him a little cowboy. Here’s a recent picture of the adorable little guy. 
I got to spend a week with him when he was about four days old, but I feel I am missing out, as he is growing and changing with every picture his dad sends my way. He’s the spittin’ image of his dad when he was that age, so I know what his parents are in for the day he turns 2! You’ll be a payin’ for your rasin,’ son. I hear he already rules the household from a mole I planted, but I expected as much. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
Hopefully, his dad will be leaving the service and moving closer to Wyoming this fall, then I can begin his cowboy training. Must get those chaps and cowboy hat bought.
Hopefully, his dad will be leaving the service and moving closer to Wyoming this fall, then I can begin his cowboy training. Must get those chaps and cowboy hat bought.
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