It's All About the Grass

B-  Howdy Ranger.  How's my old horse?

R-  Hello Beel.  I am good.  I would be better if I got some grass like the neighbor horses got.

B-  Yeah, it was another round up, Buddy.  All 40 of them got out and took off.  At least until the grass and weeds that bloomed this spring distracted them from their escape. It was pretty easy to convince them to go home and re-hook the panel they pushed open.

R-  I heared you call them bad ducks.  They are horses Beel.  Not ducks.

B-  Yeah Bud, but the tourist season is in full swing.  Ducks is about all I could think of to shout at them that was... okay.  Speaking of bud, grass, weed and tourists, lately we've had dozens of people show up at the lodge looking for the "Bud  Depot" marijuana dispensary.  I finally asked one of them why they thought we were dope dealers.  He said "I have an app on my phone that sent me here."  "Really?" I asked.  "And what makes you think that the app is any less f---ed up than the guy got while he was researching it?"  We just don't sell grass or weed here.

R-  Why would the peoples want to buy grasses?  They grow out of the ground.  You just eat them.

B-  Can't tell you Buddy.  They do seem kind of confused, though.  Maybe I could sell them a zip-lock full of dandelions.  "Here's your weed.  That will be $50."

R-  I like dandelions.  They taste good.  I would still like some grass like the neighbor horses got.

B-  Here you go my friend.  No charge.

Fence

B-  Good mornin' Ranger!  How's the old horse doing today?

R-  I see you Beel.  I am good.

B-  Glad to hear it.  Sorry I haven't been by in the last day or so.  Family picnic at one of the kids' houses.I burned the burgers.  What have you been up to lately?

R-  On one of the days before today one of the next door horses knocked their fence over.  The neighbor horses all runned away and went to the scary road next to us.  Peoples I do not know stopped their little stinky rolling boxes and chased the neighbor horses back off of the scary road.

B-  Yeah, Ranger, I was here when that happened.  The folks came by the lodge and asked us where the people that ran the livery were.  I told them "They've been in my kitchen talking with my wife for the last 5 minutes."  I guess the ponies were just waiting for an unsupervised moment to make their break.

R-  I remember now.  You and Waneeta camed and helped the neighbor peoples chase them back in and set up the fence again.

B-  It was great that those people stopped their cars and helped get them off the highway.  Lives may have been saved.

R-  Then on the day before today I saw the neighbor lady put up a biting wire.

B-  Yeah, I heard her say she was going to put up a hot wire.

R-  I seed one of the bad horses start to walk up to the biting wire to smell it.  The other bad horse pushed him out of the way and touched it first .  He was not happy.  He was not happy all day.

B-  I don't think any of them have ever had experience with electric fences before.  They really smart when you touch them.

R-  He is smarter now.  Just not happy.

Miss Communication

R-  It is after time for night food Beel.

B-  I know Ranger.  But now that all of the neighbor herd is caught and back in their corral, we can feed y'all.

R-  Beel we all tried to tell you that the neighbor horses were out and eating my grass.  Before night food.  You did not listen.  That Mare kicked the food holder.  I yelled.  The Kid ran around like a crazy dog.

B-  I know buddy, but you always holler at dinner time, and Jesse usually kicks the feeder if we are too late at feeding you guys.  And Washoe is always running like a nut-case.  It didn't sound much different to us.

R-  I always say  HAY at dinner time.  This time I was saying HEY.  You must not listen very well if you can not hear the difference.

B-  Right you are, my equine friend.  I sometimes miss the subtle inflections in your incessant shrieking at dinner time.  I will try to listen to your caterwauling more closely.  Every night.  And every morning.  And every night...

R-  Good.  They were all out eating my grass.  I do not like that.

B-  Yeah, 30 or so horses will eat things down in a hurry.  But they were so well behaved, even when I saw them eating grass out of the window, it took a moment to realize something was wrong.  Then I suddenly understood what was happening and hollered for Juanita.  I think it scared our guests when I yelled and ran out the door with a halter in hand.

R-  It scares the neighbor horses when you drive the many van and jump out yelling at them.  I like that.  They stop eating my grass.

B-  Well, eat your dinner now Ranger.  They are all locked up for the night again.

R-  Good.  Now it is time for hay.  Not hey.  Listen better.

Daydream, Interupted

This is Ranger.  The horse.

On this day I standed in the sun and thinked about morning food.  It was good but it is gone.  So I thinked about night food.  Then all of the neighbor horses runned out of their yard and away.  Waneeta telled Beel to get in the many van and off their heads.  Or something.  All of everyone was very excited and running very fast.

Then the neighbor horses comed back to the yard.  Beel was in the sock-her-mom-tack-see following them like a old mare.  When the fence hole closed again everything was not excited so I could think about my night food again.

Waneeta gived me new food on a day before this day.  It was very good food.  It is special food only for me.  That Mare and The Kid do not get any.  Not even a taste.  This is good.

My new special food is from Spain I think.  Waneeta says I might have spainish barbs in my blood.  It does not hurt.  So my new food is called   Señior Ek Wine.  It is maked by Pure Reena.  It is very special and fancy.  It has good tastes.  And it is easy to chew.

I hope I get some more with night food.

Add-e-ohs   a-me-goes

Ranger.  The horse.

They Tried

Sophie the Lodge Dog is getting old.  She's on anti-seizure medications that make her kind of dopey, and affect her ability to "hold her water".  She needs to go out every four hours.  Or less.  So we let her out before we go to bed, and then get up and let her out in the wee hours of the morning. (Do you suppose that's why they call them that?)

This morning after I let the dog back in at 3:am, as I crawled into bed, I just barely heard something.  I couldn't quite identify it, but it sounded familiar. I looked out the window to see if I could spot what was making the sound.

I saw a sight I had never seen before.

A half dozen horses had escaped from the livery across the street, and were TIP-TOEING DOWN THE ROAD.  This is no mean feat when you are wearing steel shoes, but they were managing it.  I will normally wake from a dead sleep when I here a  horse walking on the pavement, but these clowns were very quietly just shuffling along, trying to keep from waking anybody that would catch them and make them go home.

Early in the ensuing round-up (which soon involved an additional half dozen horses breaking out and having to be turned back to their corral), Juanita stopped to check on our horses to see why they hadn't raised an alarm, as is their want when the neighbor horses get out.  Our horses were still asleep, and when she woke them up they were sort of bewildered as to why we were out at that time of night.

After we got all of the escapees back in their pen, we headed home.  As we went in the lodge,  I abruptly realized that the horses weren't trying to sneak past me.  They were sneaking past our horses.

Nobody likes a snitch.

I Am Not Happy

This is Ranger.  The horse.

I am not happy about the neighbor herd.

In this morning I was standing in the sun waiting for first food time.  Standing in the sun is my favoritest  thing.

The neighbor herd left their yard.  You are not supposed to go through your fence if there are no people telling you to.  It is the rule.  But they pushed over some of the fence in their yard and walked out.  They left their yard and started eating the grass by my yard.  They should not eat MY grass.  If they eats MY grass it is gone and I can not eat grass.  And eating grass is my favoritest thing.  So I watched them mean.

Beel ran out of the people barn and up to the neighbor herd.  I think he thinked they were going to run away.  They did not run.  The neighbor herd just stood and ate MY grass.  I watched them mean.  Beel just watched them.  Waneeta came and watched them too.  Maybe they do not know how to watch mean.  The neighbor herd pretended they were not there and ate MY grass.  After a long long long time Beel and Waneeta got big and watched them mean so the neighbor herd wented home.  The neighbor herd stooded on the hard dirt yard for a little time.  There was no grass so they runned away again.  Beel gotted into the sock-her-mom-tack-see and drived to farther than the herd to stop them from running away more.  But they had already stopped to eat some grass.  MY grass again.  By the people barn.

Waneeta finally catched one of the mares in the herd and they all followed her back to the neighbor herd yard and wented home.

Now it is almost first food time and that is good.

First food my favoritest thing.

Ranger.  The horse.

Free at Last!

This morning a little after 5:00, a commotion outside woke me up.

Crud.  Horses loose on the road.  All 40 or 50 livery horses were out.  Only the 2nd time this year for an escape (and one of those times only 4 or 5 got out).  Last year by July 9th, the herd had gotten out for the 4th time.

The wranglers and I put on a show for our early riser guests and got them all rounded up and back home.  Leaping in front of a running herd, waving your hat and making a loud PSSSSSSSH'ing sound will either turn the herd, or get you killed.

The herd turned.

Our little herd was still pretty riled up.  The greys, Jesse and Washoe had been running/bucking/f@rting the whole time the others were out.  Didn't see Ranger, though.



B  Hey buddy! Where are you?

R  I mm em hr  Beel.

B What's that, Ranger? I can barely hear you.  Where you be?

R    I amm in the scary shed Beel.

B  Oh, there you are Buddy!  Why are you hiding in the shed?

R  There was too much excitement Beel.  All of the neighbor horses were breaking the rules.  That Mare and The Kid were running around being crazy like dogs.  It is safer in here.

B  It's safe now, Ranger.  Come on out.

R  Okay Beel.  Can we eat now?

They got a snack.

We talked with the guests at breakfast and one of them told us "Where I come from, we NEVER get awakened by a stampede."

Sad.  So sad.

Bill

Down and Dirty

Three or four days ago I was leading one of our horses by the livery across the street, when suddenly a young, good looking dun gelding ran up to me and my horse and said " Hey 'ya guys!  What's up?"

There was nobody near this horse.  He was just wandering around sightseeing, I guess.  I dropped the other end of my lead rope around his neck and took him back to the livery pen.  A top rail of the cross buck fence had been knocked to the ground.  Turns out that the dun, "August" (Auggie) was new to the livery and didn't play well with others, so the remuda (working herd) was beating the sap out of him.  He left.

Auggie spent the night alone in one of our pens that night so he would stay home.  The next day, the folks in the livery started seeing how he behaved under saddle.  "Poorly" was the verdict.  He had been saddle broke as a 4 year old, but then lived as a somewhat pampered pasture pet for the next couple of years and found himself in charge.  Didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body, but wasn't about to pay any attention to what the people had to say to him. "Look! A squirrel!" was about the best you could hope for from him.  Not too safe with a thousand pound animal.

The next day, I was heading out to check on our horses, when I saw the whole staff of wranglers across the street lying down in the round pen.  Then I realized they were lying down on the horse.

The technique is call "laying a horse down".  And that's what you do.  Tie up one leg, lay the horse down, and sit on it until it relaxes.  It can be easy.  It can be hard.  Depends on the horse.  When the horse "gives it up" easily, it is quick, effective and painless for all involved and the horse realizes that people are in charge.  They may have you do strange things, but everything works out okay.  If the horse does not give it up easily, it can be a particularly counter-productive event.  Because the horse realizes he is in charge.

THE HORSE MUST NOT WIN.

I have never been a big fan of this technique, because the horses that need it the most, are the ones most likely to win.

Seeing this "dog pile" of 4 young ladies and one guy in the round pen, I trotted over to add my weight to Auggie's head.

The horse lay quietly for a minute or so and then seemed to realize "Hey!  I weigh more than all of these fools put together!"

VIOLENT KICKING THRASHING PAWING ROLLING TWISTING KICKING for a minute or a thousand, and suddenly the horse was standing quietly, looking down at all of us. 

(Me kicked in knee, wrangler has glasses driven into nose. Much blood.)

"Hi guys!  Look! A squirrel!" says the horse.

Damn.  THE HORSE CAN NOT WIN.

 Again the leg up.  Again the dog pile. VIOLENT KICKING THRASHING PAWING ROLLING TWISTING KICKING. Again the horse wins.

(Me kicked in head, another wrangler with partial dislocate of shoulder, no blood)

"I think I'll stand up a while!" says the horse.

Double damn.  THE HORSE CAN NOT WIN.

Another neighbor shows up.

Leg pulled up.  People on. VIOLENT KICKING THRASHING PAWING ROLLING TWISTING KICKING  People off.  Horse up.

(I'm okay this time, but 3 chipped teeth on another wrangler and neighbor has a flatter foot)

 "Hi Guys!  That was fun!  When's dinner?" says the horse.

Horse down, head TIED to front feet. Six people, (six injured, PI$$ED people) sitting on the horse.  Horse struggles, but stays down.  Horse struggles again, stays down. Horse tries yet AGAIN, stays down.


"Okay gang, I think we've got him.  Untie him and step off on three. "

"One, two, THREE!"

Horse just lays there.

"I think we've killed him"

"Nope, he's still breathing"

"His eyes are open"

"He's just not moving"

"Get up Auggie!"

"Let's roll him over"

"HE'LL KILL US!"

"I don't think so, he's not doing ANYTHING"

"Okay, roll him on three"

"One, two, three and OVER!"

"He's still breathing..."

Okay, finally the horse gets up.  The very subdued horse gets up.

"Umm... what can I do for you?" askes Auggie.

So, the last couple of days August the horse has been working, taking out rides, and behaving with the other horses in the herd.  Still bright eyed and bushy tailed, but more focused on the people than the squirrels.

But the rest of us are somewhat beat up and not working quite so well.

I think I'll just sit and watch the squirrels.

Bill

The Neighbor Horses Got Out

This is Ranger.  The horse.

The neighbor horses got out this before night meal.  They are not supposed to do that.  It is against the rules.  You are supposed to stay behind the fence until you are invited out by your peoples.

That is the rule.

But the BIG guys next door walked through the new wood fence and went to eat OUR grass.

That makes me so mad.  It is our grass.  We can not eat it because it is on the other side of the fence.  And our peoples do not let us out to eat it.  But it is still ours.  Because we can see it.

Beel and all of the peoples next door telled them to go home.  They wented home. They did not eat too much of our grass.  That is good.

They have big butts.  And big heads.

                                            They are big butt heads.

They should follow the rules.

And leave our grass alone.


Ranger.  The horse.

A Post Christmas Tail

Tis the 'morn after Christmas, and all through the inn,
not a critter is stirring 'cause we're sleeping in.

When the phone by the bedside clanged with it's bell,
and I jumped from bed yelling "What in the...heck?"

The caller was Ida, boarding each and 'ery horse,
and if a problem arises, she calls us, of course.

"Some one driving the highway saw a horse out the fence"
Nita and I said to each other "Only Jesse's that dense."

So we jumped in our boots, and piled into the truck,
and drove down to the pasture to find the dumb...horse.

We found prints where a horse had jumped 'oer the gate,
and run down the road, but turned back none to late.

We hiked down the fence line following the horse track,
and found where it jumped to finally get back.

We trudged a bit further, and found our whole herd.
Ranger, Estes, young Washoe, and Jesse, the turd.

Bill


9:00 a.m. The phone rings.

B: “Hi Ida.” (Tone of voice changes) “Oh….we’re 15 minutes away. We’ll be right there.” (hangs up phone and turns to me)

B: “Ida said a neighbor called her. A gray horse was out on the road.”

Bill and I looked at each other – it could be none other than Jesse, who always had to prove she could get out of any fenced enclosure (even if it was 80 acres). We donned warm clothes, muck boots and pockets of horse treats, dashed for the truck (which already had their halters in it) and headed for Hwy 72 and the wayward horse. As we neared their pasture area, we watched for hoofprints in the snow, but saw nothing. We made a pass of the entire area and saw no sign of horses – inside or out. Hmmm.

We parked near the gate and walked in. OK, the top strand of barb wire on the gate was half missing, but it is cobbled together of many small pieces and one small section was knocked down. A horse had stepped out over it and followed our tracks from yesterday up the bank, across the road, trotted a short distance along that fence line and then returned to the road.

On Christmas day, we had brought four bales of hay for them. We saw them in the distance, but it was getting late in the afternoon and they weren’t coming when called. It was time for them to get back in the trees for the night; their normal routine when on their own.

This morning, it was obvious they had munched on the hay, but most of it was left. In my mind I am thinking that Jesse was just “tracking” us up the bank, and of course, lost our tracks when we climbed in the truck and drove away. At this point we weren’t even sure it was Jesse. If it was, she wouldn’t go far because she will NOT leave her herd behind, and Ranger will NOT cross barb wire, even if it is flat on the ground, without a person with him. Washoe, on the other hand, has become a real wanderer and will leave the herd to follow me somewhere, on a whim…and he has no fear of fences. He could just as easily stepped over the wire and just gone to play – but where?

We walked up and down the road both ways looking for more tracks, but a good deal of the road was melted down to asphalt, so unless the horse was walking in the snow on the side, there would be no prints. There were no prints going back into the pasture at this point, but since we didn’t know which way to go and we were sure the rest of the herd was still inside the fence, we started tracking the most recent tracks (we hoped; it’s not that easy to determine which direction a horse is going in fresh snow more than a foot deep, as the snow falls into the tracks as soon as the hoof leaves.) We came on one trail that looked quite recent and made sense – not just meandering through the trees and turning around to come back – that headed along the fence line from higher in the pasture and along a tree line.

As we hiked along we soon realized that one horse was staying very close to the fence and another set of tracks appeared on the other side of the fence. Ahaa! Progress! We followed that fence about .3 of a mile, noticing where the horse on the outside had gone ahead, then turned back at a heavily forested area, circled a pile of junk on the ground (which turned out to be a broken fence post and coiled barb wire), and jumped the fence back in. Now I was certain it was Jesse, and there were a few brown hairs on the wire, so obviously Ranger had been giving her grief for being outside the fence.

We hiked the rest of the way to a higher pasture, following a bunch of tracks now – running tracks. Someone was glad to be back with the herd! Soon we glimpsed them through the trees, and when called, they came right to us. Silly horses!

Jesse had a couple spots of blood on her lower front legs; it had to be barb wire punctures. I found three spots; each had bled a little and already closed up, so I opted to just leave them alone. I know it sounds lax, but our guys have such great immunities from being wild, that unless a wound needs vet attention, we pretty much just leave it alone. They were in lots of clean snow and the wet and cold is the best I could have done anyway.

We fed out all the treats we had, inspected everybody, played a bit, then turned back to hike out, leaving the horses sunning themselves on a quiet winter morning.

 When we were back on the road, we followed it far enough to finally pick up Jesse’s tracks walking/trotting along the side until she decided to jump up a steep bank to get close to the fence.

I’m always in awe of the power she has, because seeing the leap she had to make just proves what she can do, then later just popping over the fence from what had to be almost a stand-still. Wow!

I know this bank doesn't LOOK steep, but it's about 12-15 ft. high (see the 4' fence posts at the top?).  You can see how deep the snow was when she took off, drug her heels part way up and landed at the top.

On our drive home, we pondered why she would leave all that hay to cross the gate and go up to the road. I have no idea; it’s just Jesse. I figure the wounds came from the downed barb wire because it was obvious that was her takeoff point for the jump and would explain two holes on her left front leg; one slightly above her knee and one on the back of her fetlock. The third wound was just above the fetlock on her right front hoof. There were no marks or white hair on the top wire where she jumped over.

Well, we had planned on seeing them for a hands-on today, so it was great seeing them. But I would rather it be our idea, not theirs.

Bionic Cowgirl

Just One More .... Then Gone

Yesterday was our scheduled day to release the horses for some winter pasture fun.  We were fortunate enough to actually find a really nice sized, treed, mountain side for the gang to hang out for the next 4 - 6 weeks.  But a certain Beel kept dragging his feet about bringing out the trailer.  When asked what the problem was, he said, "I really want to go for one more ride on the mountain."

"It's sunny, but there is a darned cold wind out there.  Are you sure?"

""Yep!"  So we grab the two boys and head out with just halters and bareback pads, on the premise of looking for our herd of Rocky Mt. Bighorn Sheep.  It was a great time once we got past the windy meadow part.

Then .... today we loaded up the whole crew of four - Ranger, Jesse, Washoe, & Estes.  We discovered that by removing the stall separators in the trailer, all four could just walk right in and stand side-by-side without even being overly crowded; certainly nothing like the sardine can situation that happened when we used to put our three horses in a two horse straight load.  And off we went for their new adventure.  They have never been in this area, although it is mostly across the road from another one they liked.... and only 15 minutes drive time from us, so we can hike in to see them weekly (or more).

It became obvious pretty fast that this was an acceptable area .....

We couldn't leave without giving them a good-bye treat.

Have fun guys.  I miss you already!
Bionic Cowgirl

No Way

Guest came in this morning.
Was going to go on an all day ride at the livery across the street.
Said it was going to be a while before they could leave.
The horses were out on the highway again this morning.

REALLY?!?

My lord, people!

Gates.

Use 'em.


Bill

Yet again

Cooking breakfast this morning.

Guest hollers at us "The horses are out on the highway!"

Went out at a dead run, halter in hand.

They were already being chased back by a guy staying at the neighbors cabin.

As the horses were being sent back the the yard in the livery I looked over at our horses.

All four were staring over the fence.

Shaking their heads in disgust.

Bill



 9/11

It's been 11 years today.  It just doesn't feel like it was that long ago.

All Wet

When our kids were teens, and had gone "out", Juanita and I would wait up for them.  It was for their own good.  When I am awakened after several hours of sleep, I'm pretty much up for the day, and that leaves me extra cranky and hard to deal with by the following evening.  Rather like a four year old that has missed his nap.

About 2:30 this morning, I heard hoofbeats on the pavement heading down the road.

"$#!T.  Okay, you call Compass and tell her her horses are out again, and I'll get some halters."

By 3:00 a.m., the 30 or so wayward neighbors were back in their pen, and I was staring at the ceiling.

By 4:00 a.m., I gave up.

So let's talk about the weather, as long as I'm up.

This has been a very dry year here in Colorado.  The snowpack was about a third of normal, and we may have had 2 inches of moisture all year up to July.  Fires were making headlines nationwide, as most of them were within spitting distance of large cities here along the "front range" of the Rocky Mountains.

Nothing like a backdrop of smoke and flames behind your skyline to really ramp up the popular media.

Then came July.  Fireworks Bans.  No outside fires.  No outdoor BBQs.  One thousand dollar fines for smoking outdoors.  Dry, dry, dry.

The first couple days of July we got two, 1/4 inch rains.  Halleluiah and hot dog!  Maybe the end is in sight!

Then-
On the 5th of July, here in Allenspark we got 1 and 1/2 inches of rain.
On the 6th of July, here in Allenspark we got 2 and 3/4 inches of rain.
On the 7th of July, here in Allenspark we got 1 inch of rain.
On the 8th of July, here in Allenspark we got 1 inch of rain.

Our normal for all of July is about 2 and 1/4 inches of rain.

Our parking lot has washed away to bedrock in spots.

The horses are spending more time in their shed than at their feeder.

The trails in the national forest need some serious "shovel time" to mitigate the washouts.

The rivers are running black with mud and soot from the previously burned areas.

The fires are out, which is WONDERFUL, but really, a full summer's worth of rain in four days?

At least it wasn't raining this morning while we were chasing horses.

Bill

Random Info

This will be a sort of "stream of consciousness" post.  Okay, maybe more of a "puddle of consciousness".


I have removed word verification from the comment section.  Some of the pictures and fonts are SO BAD, no one could POSSIBLY read them.

Two words?  Really?

 So now I am fending off random Russian spammers...

 Thanks in favor of sharing such a pleasant opinion, paragraph is fastidious,
thats why i have read it fully
Have a look at my web-site-   WW.WhatKindOfFoolDoYouThinkIAm.con

 The "paragraph is fastidious"  was the horses talking in the "Overheard in the Corral This Morning" post.



Yesterday, our daughters showed up and made cookies for a bake-sale for the "Purple Ampersand" or the "Blue Exclamation Mark"... nooo, I think it was the "Red Cross"

They made some more "Chocolate Aztec" cookies.  Chocolate, cayenne pepper, fine ground coffee...GEEBUS TAKE THE WHEEL!  Good stuff!  I don't think they would be better with bacon (and 'bout everything is better with bacon...).


Went for a three hour ride into the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Very, very nice.



Oh yeah, and the neighbors horses were out before breakfast this morning.

Sigh.

Bill

Overheard at the Corral This Morning

"Looky there!  That's one of the big neighbors runnin down the middle of the road!"

"He got's no people with him..."

"Wow, he is gunna be in trouble!"

"Ain't he one of them Belgers?"

"Yup.  They are big 'uns for sure."

"No chair on his back, and no bag on his face like last time...  he gets to eat all of the grass!"

"I hate that"
.
.
.

"HAY YOU GUYS!  LOOK! LOOK!  All of the neighbors are out and going the other way"

"We know that Mare.  Do you think we is dummies?  (Say Kid, she is right!  They are ALL out!")

"Say, ain't that Beel coming outa the lodge with a lead rope?  He looks CRANKY."

"Well, you KNOW he hates leaving the lodge before the sun  comes up."
.
.
.

"It seems to be taking longer to catch them this morning."

"That is 'cause they are eating grass out here, and do not want to go home, I bet."
.
.
.
"Well, it looks like they are all back in the pen.  I wish we could'a  go'ed out."

"Someone should 'splain to Beel that Colorado is "Free Range" .  I think that means we gotta be fenced OUT, not fenced IN."

"Lawns are a waste of good graze"

"Yup."

Just Look'in Around

About 15 minutes ago, we looked out the window and saw a string of horses going down the road.  Probably 15 or 20 of them.

Not really an unusual sight around here.

They were all saddled and on their way.

With no one on their backs.

And empty feed bags on their faces.

Opps.

Team Lodge (Juanita, Bill, and grand-daugher "Autobot") mobilized and headed out to head them off.  In years past, I would have jumped in a truck or minivan to herd them home in, because they would be off at a run.  But these guys were obviously just out for a stroll.  We managed to get them stopped (okay, they stopped themselves at a nice lush patch of grass and tried to eat through their feed bags, with limited, to no success) and grabbed a few to lead them back to the livery.  Reinforcements arrived from the livery, and we got them home in less time than it's taking me to blog about it.

Back to breakfast prep....


Bill

Pictures! We Have Pictures!

On Friday, when I was taking Monster up to work at the Lodge, we saw the horses down at the Homestead.  We pulled in and they all came to join us at the fence.  One would think they've missed us as much as we've missed them.

These pictures aren't the best, because they were taken with my cell phone, and you can't see a lot of detail, but you'll get the sense that they just kept coming and coming.  Fourteen total, including Ida's herd.

Washoe's a little thin and covered in cockleburrs.

Here they come!  They look like ants coming out of the hills.

Doc's pretty excited to see humans.

Look at those fillies!  I still want one something fierce.

They're coming two this year and are just gorgeous.

Well, hello Mr. Eli.

Jesse's on the left in the back and Mr. Ranger Danger is hanging back, checking it out.

Stampede! (4 yrs ago)

There they are! I wave frantically, trying to get their attention. They must be a good half mile away, on the next ridge over. Suddenly a gray head comes up, then another, then a red and finally, the whole herd. Watching, watching, analyzing. Soon the gray heads my way, picking up speed and the rest of the herd follows suit. My heart skips a beat as I watch, mesmerized, while my mare heads down that long hill, moving like a dancer over the rough terrain, the shrubs and boulders that jut up from nowhere. As she hits the bottom land, she goes to full speed and soon the whole herd of 13 is galloping my way.

Bill and I had spent a considerable amount of time trying to locate the horses. The day before we had hiked three hours, searching all their normal locations and had ended up going home without seeing them…a first. We were determined to not leave it that way, so that night, while soaking in the hot-tub, my subconscious kept working on where the horses could be. I had been sitting there with my head leaned back, eyes closed, when suddenly, it was like a picture flashing across my sightless eyes, Jesse saying, “We’re here, we’re here!” and I could just picture them grazing in a pasture we had never seen. “I know where they are,” I yelled, causing Bill to jump since he was only three feet from me.

We had already decided to go back the next day, so when we did, I would stop and look out over the ridges in different directions, looking for the ‘scene’ that had popped into my head. After hiking in about an hour, I saw the ‘scene’, looking across to a pasture we had never been to. Sure enough, when we got out the binoculars we spotted what appeared to be animals scattered on a hillside. Hoping it was horses, and not cows, we backtracked down the mountain we were on, crossed a creek and trudged up the next hillside. That took a good hour, only to lose sight of them. We split up and each went a different way around the hilltop in front of us, hoping to not let them slip by us on their way to water. A half hour later, that’s how I ended up in the middle of the mountain pasture. Bill came around his side of the hill, higher than me, in time to see the horses barreling down on me. I don’t think he had quite the same perspective I had…and I couldn’t explain it to him.

Panic!!! They are stampeding directly toward me and I look around, realizing there is not a single “safe” place I can get to in the amount of time before they get to me. Suddenly, reality hits. So Hollywood! Horses don’t ‘run down’ people when they have plenty of space to choose from! My heart is still racing as I stand my ground and they suddenly slide to a stop, as one, about ten feet in front of me. Then my two grays calmly walk forward for their lovin’ and treats …leaving the others wondering why the rush to get here.

Feeding Hay?

I called Ida a few days ago, wondering where the horses were.  I left her a VM with an update about  my recent surgery, and a request about horse location.  Last night, the call came in from her.  I had to fess up that the call was precipitated by the sight of truck tracks down where the horses occasionally greet us, and tracks leading back onto the mountain.  We were driving by at a clip too fast to discern type of tracks...human or horse or cow.  I was in hopes she had located the lost wanderers behind their ranch buildings and relocated them to their proper mountain site.  No such luck.  She had, indeed, put her two precious fillies and Paint there, in  hopes of them locating the rest of the herd, but after she had to deliver hay to them during the last snow, she decided to pick them up and take them back to the ranch site.  Mind you, there was plenty of pasture, but no Mustangs to make them go look.  So....we still don't know for sure where the guys are, but it's getting narrowed down and beginning to look like we will be bringing them home around April 1.  That's early, but they will just have to tough out the last of our spring snow storms!
Juanita