This & That

This past winter, I mentioned in a post that it is hard to write a theme related blog when I am doing nothing related to that theme; horses that is. Depending on what town crier you listen to or newspaper you read, the heat index has been 105 – 115 degrees. No one even talks about the "real" temperature anymore because there is nothing real about it.

Heat index is to summer what wind chill is to winter.

They are both awful gauges of unpleasantness to give the Big Fat Lying Weatherman more doom and gloom to report.

"More sultry days ahead!" they report with glee.

Although the shade of the barn is always an option, my horses have headed out to pasture. There is a creek running through it and they loaf under the trees. Each were equipped yesterday with a fly mask to ward off the "eye flies" that seem to be out in full force, adding to already miserable conditions.

When I drove by the pasture on the way home tonight, I noticed Baby's fly mask was gone and Windy's had become quite disheveled, one ear in one ear out and hanging below one eye. (You really had to be there.) So I stopped the Durango and in sandals and dress clothes, picked my way through the ditch and under the fence to fix her fly mask. While messing with her, Ginger came up to me and showed me that she had laid in a cow pie and had cow manure spread over the side of her fly mask and was not in the least bit pleased about that! So I fixed Windy's mask and removed Ginger's. I glanced around to see if Baby's was near, but couldn't find it. So there you have it; today's horse story.

This coming weekend, CT Horse Sales is having their August horse and tack sale. Although I'm not able to go to the sale (because I will be hanging with horse trainer, Colleen Hamer, who will be working with my horses and that pesky trailer ramp), I took the opportunity to go through my tack room (trailer, garage, car and every other nook and cranny) and identified tack that I am no longer using and most likely never will again. I cleaned it up and made a quick inventory of items before I boxed it up. I came up with sixty-one items! 61! Sixty-one pieces of tack that has been in a drawer or hanging on a hook, gathering dust! Oh my gosh, if there are 61 pieces that I have no intention of using again, just how many pieces of tack did I keep and more importantly, might not use but can't muster up the courage to part with just yet! So if you need tack, get to that sale! I know of 61 things you can't live without!

Our Trail Challenge & Scavenger Hunt event is over half-way full! Entries will be taken up to September 1. If you are waiting to send in your entry, don't wait much longer. The ride is limited to 50 entrants. More information on this event can be found on the Nebraska Horse Council's website.

(Thanks to Christine S's husband for taking the picture shown above of Christine & me at last week's Platte River Ride. Since I am usually the one taking the picture, I so seldom see any of Windy & me. I especially enjoyed him capturing a moment with a friend.)

Putting it in Perspective

Over the next few days, it is suppose to be close to 100 degrees. That alone is a killer. But combine the humidity with it and words like “unbearable” and “not fit for man or beast” come to mind. The newspapers are all running stories about why it’s so humid. Some blame it on heavy spring rains and others on the increase in cornfields. I don’t really care what brings it on. I just want it to go away.

On days like this, it is time to put it all in perspective. I can easily get that by going through my picture files.


This picture was taken October 10, following our first snowstorm last fall. The trees had just started to change color. For the record, that is way too early for snow in these parts (in my opinion). Usually we expect to see something right around Thanksgiving. We never really got our autumn back after this storm. It was the start of the longest winter that I can remember.

December 8, 2009. Another storm rolled in. This one was cold. Very cold. High winds, thus record windchill temperatures. I have never blanketed my horses in the winter, but all that was going to change.

Christmas Eve. Another storm was coming though. We went to early Mass and then to John's sister's house with the family. By about 10:00, we were concerned about our 12 mile drive home. The storm had just started.

December 26: Our driveway was completely snowed in. We are only 1/4 mile off the highway, so we rode out to our county road to see if it was open. It would be several days before the snowplow would open that quarter mile.

Shortly after the first of the year, another storm blew in and left us snowed in for another few days. It was time to hunker down. It was going to be a long winter.

It took several months for the snow from those holiday storms to thaw. And we never got much of a break from the cold temperatures until almost springtime.

After such extreme cold weather, I am disappointed but not surprised that we have seen the extremes this summer. We have had some really mild summers and mild winters the last few years. I guess our time was coming.


.