Farming in the shade

Yes, I realize that Day Three was actually yesterday. I plead exhaustion--up at 5:00 a.m., out the door at 6:00 a.m., back home for 30 minutes or so in the mid-afternoon, and then home for good about 11:00 p.m.). And actually, you'll only get the first half of Day Three in this post. Stay tuned... Daughter # 3 showed in her first 4H horse show yesterday (her second show ever). She cleaned her horse up the day before and blanketed her so that she would stay tidy. She did stay clean, mostly, but we did need to do some last minute touch-up once we got to the show. Doesn't she look nice? There is a lot of waiting at horse shows, in my very limited experience. Good thing we brought chairs and food and water. Too bad we didn't bring sunblock. Oh-oh! Daughter showed in halter class: Western horsemanship: And trail class (which is like an obstacle course): Lots of fun, and they both did fabulously. We don't think the horse has ever been shown before, and daughter is a beginner,...

It's come in fits and starts, but I think spring is here. Here's a photo of our horses enjoying the spring sunshine.  It would be easy to wonder if the darker horse is dead. Many people are not used to seeing animals laying out flat. I'm not used to it! Several times I've been known to slow down the car, roll down the window and yell "Hey!" to see what happens. Usually the animal will startle and look at me strangely. Usually my teens startle and look at me strangely, too. But it's an easy way to see if an animal is resting or dead.  Don't call the animal rescue until you've thoroughly investigated the situation. Just yell "Hey!"

Duke dropped a shoe a couple of weeks ago, so last week we had the farrier out to put them back on. First he had his hooves cleaned and trimmed: Then each shoe was shaped to fit the hoof: Then it was nailed on. The ends of the nails were nipped off and filed down. Or was it the edge of the hoof that was being filed? Probably both... Skittles had her hooves trimmed at the same time. Both behaved pretty well. I asked the farrier the standard questions that I always ask when the kids are around and listening: 1) Do you like your job? 2) How did you get interested in this? 3) What training did you need to get to do this? Most of the time, people seem to enjoy answering these questions. I usually explain that I'm doing it for the kids' sake--to help them know what goes into choosing a good job. The farrier emphasized that it was important to choose a job that you love AND that pays well enough for you to live on. One without the other is not enough. I love it when people help me hom...

Work on our farm seems never to be done. But we try to do something different on holidays. Today we spent quite a bit of time in our upstairs "library", decluttering and getting it ready to be our new homeschool area. The "organizer ladies" took about a week to make a plan, and this was a large part of it. The living room will be a living room. The library will be where we homeschool. We got a lot done (though there is much more to do), and while the kids and I were working up there, The Farmer attended to some home repairs that have been neglected. After lunch, our oldest daughter came home for a short visit. It's S.'s birthday today, and it was nice to have the family all together for the birthday supper. When S. blew out the candles on her cake, I wondered what she wished for. Always, she has wished for a horse. Now that she has TWO, I can't imagine what she could come up with. Before supper, The Farmer and A. decided to ride. Here are A. and S. saddl...

The countdown is over and they're here! Liz, if you're reading this, you've made one young girl VERY happy today. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

About a week ago, our son climbed on top of the little brown horse barn to right the weathervane, which had been misaligned for quite some time. I'm happy to say that South is South again. The little brown horse barn hasn't held horses for YEARS. Since we have lived here, it has been pressed into service mostly as a cattle barn. And cattle are hard on barns. Soon we will need to work on restoring that little barn. Tomorrow afternoon, two horses will come to live with us. They will temporarily stay in a pasture next to the big old barn, while the cattle spend one more month in and around the little horse barn. When they head off to freezer camp, we will muck out the barn, repair the holes kicked in it and fix the leaky waterer. And the little brown barn will house horses once again. These two horses are a dream come true for one of our daughters. You'll be hearing more about them in days and weeks to come, to be sure...