warming trend!

It was 32 degrees out this morning when I fed breakfast, the warmest morning we've had all week. And it felt good to take blankets off horses and know that by mid-day they'd be lounging in 50 degree sunshine.

By the time Salina had her lunch served, the rest of her herd had meandered to the bottom of the front field, and so she was able to eat undisturbed in the paddock behind the barn.

At one point I glanced over at her and she was staring intently into the woods far behind the labyrinth path. She walked over to the arena fence and stood there looking, long enough that I realized something must be down there. When my daughter and I went, we spotted 7 deer hanging out in the woods. They didn't run at first, and we climbed right up Mt. Manure, which is busy composting, and watched them. One at a time, they formed a line and started running, white tails flashing.

When we got back up to the barn, Salina was still on guard, making sure we came back. She keeps track of everything around here, and it is a distinct pleasure to share that "mother bear" role with her.

The donkeys decided to hang with the boys this afternoon, and I thought that was funny. After her lunch, Salina headed down to join them all, knowing there was nothing in the woods and all was well.

We had a nice ride today, with Rafer Johnson in the middle of the arena standing over a jump, as if he couldn't quite decide whether to go over it or not. He ended up pushing jump poles around the arena with his nose, and then he went and hovered over the mounting block. One would almost think he was ready to be tacked up and ridden! I have a feeling he is ready to learn long lining. Time for me to get busy and learn how to teach it to him!

I stuffed five small mesh hay nets this evening, and hung them in the stalls along with the regular mangers full of loose hay, as an introduction. Salina walked in at sunset, swiped exactly two times at the hay net, and with a look of disgust, marched out into her grass paddock where she proceeded to munch on some loose hay.

This small mesh thing may need some getting used to.

The thing that made me happiest today was brushing out Keil Bay's tail. It is so silky and luxurious when it's brushed completely out, and he very helpfully lifts his tail and turns it from side to side so I can get underneath. I don't do it every time I groom him by any means, but when I do, we both enjoy it. Actually, that's one of my favorite things about Keil Bay. He adores being fussed over, and it's such a pleasure to fuss over him.

I can hardly believe we have two days of sixties and sunshine coming for the weekend.