Little Cowboys

The best feature of our new home is location -- close enough for many visits from the 3 grandkids who live nearby.

They occasionally enjoy doing chores in the barn.

Filling the Water Trough

Raking Hay

They like to pet the horses.

And of course they love to dress up in Grandma and Papa's old boots, hats, etc. and pretend they are cowboys.

The littlest one likes horses, too, even if her steed is kind of small. 

Merry Pre-Christmas!

We have 8 inches of snow this morning, the first major storm of the season.  Still snowing.

This is our new horse, a six year old Arabian mare.  We call her Sugar.  She's a sweetheart.

Here's another little sweetheart in our lives, a brand new grandbaby!  She's #7.

Grandpa is pleased.

Happy Christmas, everyone!  May your days be merry and bright, or snowy, whichever you prefer.

Fun with Family

We've had a busy summer so far, highlighted by a visit with kids and grandkids.

White Pine, Little Cottonwood Canyon

We hiked.

white pine, Little Cottonwood Canyon

Hike to The Notch, off Mirror Lake highway

Lunch at The Notch

Janie and Steve, The Notch

Took lots of photos.

Provo River, Mirror Lake Highway

Went fishing,

Played some basketball.

And bonded around the barn. The grandkids seemed to enjoy doing a few farm chores, riding on Mischief, and feeding treats to Boss and Coco.
Fortunately, our new house is roomy enough for all, with the great outdoors providing plenty of activities.

Kid Magnet

Who would've guessed Mischief would be such a kid magnet?  The photo above was taken in 2007.  He was meeting the grandkids.

A few years later, he gave another grandchild a ride.  He likes the attention.  Kids seem to like him.
He's 24 now, but still plenty handsome.
We often let Mischief tag along on our rides.  He enjoys getting some exercise that way.
Today, as we passed campgrounds in the National Forest, kids came out to see him in hordes.  They were intrigued that he would follow us like a big dog.  Actually, it's not that unusual.  Horses are herd animals who naturally want to stay with their group.  Mischief has been with Boss for 10 years, and with Coco for 4 years, so they're well bonded.

The above photo is of some 4-wheeling kids who stopped to see Mischief.  They were thrilled when Steve allowed them to pet Mischief and feed him a treat.
At one point, we had about a dozen kids, mostly little girls, coming up to fawn over Mischief.  He seemed pleased to be the center of attention.
One little girl of about 5 or 6 asked if she could take Mischief home.
Steve explained that a horse needs plenty of hay and oats.  She thought she could handle that, with help from a big sister.
Then Steve explained that Mischief would prefer to sleep in a bed instead of a barn.  The little girl thought she could handle that, too.  Mischief could sleep in her bed.
Next Steve asked if she had a refrigerator in her room, since Mischief liked his water cold. She sighed, and admitted she couldn't provide that, at least not in her room.
Of course, Steve was pulling her leg just a little bit.

But not much.  Mischief really would prefer a bed and refrigerated treats.  Above, he's enjoying some cold watermelon.

Best Friends

Have you seen the "Puppy Love" superbowl ad?  It's sappy and adorable, and way too cute to miss!  If this doesn't make you smile, check your pulse.

Seeing this reminded me of a six week old Daisy interacting with Boss.

 Seven years later, the trust and friendship remains.

Below is a photo of a bald eagle, hanging out in a cottonwood tree near the creek, looking for lunch.  Alas, the creek was frozen, so the fishing was poor. After a few hours, he moved on.  We've seen several bald eagles in the area this year.

Last week, we had a spring-like ride on Tabby Mountain.  

No snow, dry trails, and temps near 50 at 7000 feet.  This week, we're getting much-needed snow.  Back to winter!  Maybe next month the weather will cooperate for a trip to southern Utah.

Sweet Dreams

All 5 of our neighbor's horses were laid out near the fence. 

They didn't move a muscle as I approached them with a camera. 

I heard at least two of them softly snoring... 

Their dreams must have been sweet. 

40 degrees and sunny.  How perfect for a little late morning shut-eye.

"Huh?  Who's that?  So, I have hay hair.  What of it, camera lady?"

R & R

On a long, hot ride with no water in sight, the horses cool off with bites of snow. 

Daisy luxuriates in snow drifts whenever she gets the chance.

Back at camp, the horses enjoy a roll in the sand. 

Mischief looks like Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoons, with all the dust rolling off of him. 

Ah.  After drying their thick fur and scratching their backs with a roll, Boss and Mischief catch the day's last rays of sun. 

Wishing You the Season's Best

Merry Christmas from our corral to yours.

May your 2012 be filled with scintillating scents

and outstanding captures! 

We'll be visiting with family for a few days.  See you in the new year.

Trusting

In camp, Daisy likes to hang out with the horses. 

Perhaps she's a little too trusting sometimes?

Canyonlands Maze, Day 2, Morning

The next morning, we awakened to ice on the ceiling of the trailer, and an outside temperature of about 17 F.  Chilly!  Inside the trailer, the temp was 27 F, a bit toastier.  Our little catalytic heater warmed us to to above freezing, a welcome improvement.
Here's our gooseneck bed before the trip, just to show our luxurious accommodations:

The horses were tied to outside trailer rings overnight. 

At sunrise, Steve let them loose to dine on a bale of weed free hay (required on all government-owned land to prevent the spread of noxious weeds) we had brought along, plus some equally weed-free alfalfa cubes.  Steve took off their lead ropes, thinking they would hang close with maybe a short jaunt to the cow carcass-adorned spring for water. 
Wrong.  They must have taken the lack of lead ropes and hobbles for a license to explore their new "pasture."  They took off, with dear faithless Daisy joyfully racing along with her horse friends.  We followed much more slowly, across a landscape that stretched forever, roughly 20 square miles of open territory between one lonely fenceline and the rim of Horseshoe Canyon.

I didn't have the presence of mind or camera to photograph them galloping with their tails flagged and heads up, enjoying their unexpected freedom, but it was a pretty, if concerning, sight. Those fools ran for a full 2 miles, completely out of view.  We walked a quarter mile to a gate we had driven through on the way in, thinking the horses would stop at the fence.  Not.  We climbed a little hill and looked around.  No horses in sight.  After scouting around for hoofprints to see which direction they went, we finally saw them as a white and a brown speck in the distance.  We watched for a few moments and decided they were coming our way.  They trotted back, coming right up to us.  As a reward for returning on their own, they got a couple of handfuls of sweet feed.  We breathed a big heave of relief that we didn't have to spend the day hunting them. 

So, after a 4 mile romp for them and an adrenaline-charged start to the day for all of us, the boys finished their breakfast, albeit with Boss securely shackled.  Daisy had returned with them and enjoyed lounging around camp while digesting dog food and bits of well-aged cow rib.
By 10 AM, we were ready to ride.

Still Snowy

On this date in 2009 (and most years), the snow was almost gone in the pasture:This year, we still have 6 inches of compacted snow:

No riding yet.  Looks like we'll have to trek down to southern Utah to jump start the spring season.