Sunday, November 28, 2010

Better Weather

At least as far as I'm concerned. It snowed Thursday so Thanksgiving Day was the first time I'd left the house since I'd grocery shopped on Sunday. I took the Ford since I was bringing food along and the truck is already starting to acquire a horsey smell, especially once the interior temperature warms up. Anyway, the front wheel drive with all-weather tires worked like a champ. Friday I finally made it to the stable for my lesson. I arrived about two hours early with a couple of jugs of hot water so I could mix warm mash for the horses. It was a lot of fun but I'm going to take a big spoon and a ladle for next time. I was mixing with my hands and giving each horse a couple of handfuls. One of the two year olds was so excited that she tried to eat out of my hand as I was dumping her share in her stall and managed to get one of my fingers. Ouch! I also was reminded that I should wear gloves when touching frozen metal objects outside with mash dampened fingers. I almost reenacted the scene from A Christmas Story when the kid touches his tongue to a frozen metal pole. My husband has ordered me a 30+ cup coffee maker that I will take to the barn to heat water in. Oh, guess I should mention that the stable doesn't have hot water or inside plumbing. Nothing like a port-a-potty in the freezing dark. Man, I must really love horses.
Moving "my" big mare from her barn on a downhill slope to the riding arena was an exciting trip since she slipped a couple of times on the ice. I read somewhere that you're supposed to lead from the horse's right side but next time I'm going to stay on her left since it's uphill from where she's walking. I don't want to be under her if she goes down.
The weather is supposed to get colder, below zero at night, so hopefully the driving conditions will stay good. I'm off to shovel a couple of inches of snow that fell last night.

2 comments:

  1. I always lead and mount horses from their left side; I'm pretty sure that's the proper way. Everybody I know does it that way. I love that "horsie" smell. Cliff thinks I'm nuts when I say I like the smell of horse manure.

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  2. Oh, you're correct. You'd think I'd be able to tell my right from my left by now...

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