the six-year old psychs out the boss mare

Last night we decided to give the geldings some time in our front yard. They love grazing there, and we love having them right by the front porch. My husband went out to shift things so that Salina and the donkeys could have the big barnyard while the geldings came down front.

It didn't exactly work that way.

The donkeys got wind of what was happening and came running. That, of course, triggered Salina to come running, and there they were, in the front yard grazing away. We decided to just let all of them down, which is a rare occurrence.

Keil Bay sauntered down and took his position in the midst of the grass. Cody and the pony came cantering down the grass paddock, only to be stopped cold in their tracks right at the "gateway" to the front yard.

Salina had decided she only wanted her "immediate" family down front, so she parked herself in the grass just inside the gate and turned her rear to Cody and the pony.

The pony decided to live in the moment, and just graze where he was, since the grass paddock does in fact have grass too.

But Cody (the six year old) became obsessed with trying to sneak past Salina. He got behind the holly tree and took a sneaky step toward the gate. She couldn't possibly have seen him, but she whipped her head around and flagged him back.

He went around the other way. Again, when he got one step too close to the gate, she turned and flagged.

After 3 or 4 times of this, she seemed to get exasperated, much like a mother who has told a child something 4 times with zero effect. She turned and flagged again, once, then two more times for good measure. This triple flagging caused Cody to wheel around and walk a few steps away from the gate.

Salina must have felt she had gotten the message across, because she moved a few feet forward to a new patch of grass. It was about thirty seconds before Cody saw an opening and took it, going from standstill to gallop. He shot right by her and headed all the way down to the furthest corner in front. She looked up and then continued grazing. Too much trouble to go roust him out.

The pony had been watching all this while continuing to eat.

I guess he figured Cody had paved the way, and since Salina hadn't gone ballistic, it was safe for him to follow suit.

A few seconds later, the painted pony dashed through the gate and down front in a flash of brown and white.

After that there was only the sound of serious grass pulling and chewing, and the hard swish of tails and stamping of hooves that screamed "HORSEFLY!"

My husband took a break from his laptop to show off his horsefly-aversion skills. The horses are very good about letting you get the big biters, and will almost always stand patiently while you wait for the fly to land.

Usually if you do this for a few minutes the horseflies get savvy and leave the area.

It was a rare night that they all get to go in front together, and sometimes one or more have to be removed, but last night they were happy to graze in peace.

it's a pinot evening

Everyone in my household has left me to go to our local community game night, and I've cracked open a bottle of Pinot, watched an episode of McLeod's Daughters, and now I'm heading out to check on the equines, who are presumably out there enjoying the time of day when flies disappear and the temps get low as the sun goes down.

Not to mention the approach of the dinner hour.

To my right is the latest chapter in my "Nutrition as a Therapy" class, titled Muscle, and to my left are the remaining pages in the novel-in-progress. I think tomorrow is the day I shall finish typing in the edits and prepare to send this baby off to my good reader, pull out the magical pony pages, and set to work finishing the first draft.

I'm feeling good after about two weeks of daily yoga. Today's chuckle came when my daughter joined me, and our online yoga instructor told us to "bring our gaze to our third eye." We got the impossible silly giggles, but apparently that's what this particular yoga practice was likely to incite. And it succeeded! If you're hungry for yoga but don't like to leave the house, try Yoga Today. It's a great resource.

For now, I'm off to the barn. There is no telling what is going on out there - this morning my husband found Rafer Johnson in the arena, taking himself what I call "a private moment" while Salina stood steadfast in the back field, refusing to come in until her best buddy was spotted and rescued. (as if he needed it!)

new post over on mystic-lit

I wanted to alert any writers who read here that I just wrote and posted over at my other blog, mystic-lit.

Come on over and add your final edit tips and practices.

much cooler monday

This morning it was much cooler than it has been the last few days, and because there's a slight breeze and alternating cloud cover and sunshine, it feels very much like an early autumn day.

All the horses and the donkeys were noticeably more chipper. Keil Bay chased the geldings out of the stalls while I was making the breakfast tubs, and that kept him busy enough that he didn't stand and bang with impatience at my slowness.

The donkeys rolled the round bale right off the pallets and then Redford proceeded to climb on top. We nipped that little activity in the bud, as I am paranoid about little donkey legs getting hung up in the pallets.

The pony had an actual Jungian scarab beetle in his water bucket, which I admired, carefully dumped, and then it just disappeared. That is probably part of the synchronicity of the sighting, but I had hoped to get a photo.

I'm not sure what is going on with our weather and the season, but I find it interesting that the day after summer solstice feels like fall!

summer solstice 2009

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.
-Sam Keen



Moomintroll showed us how to celebrate the summer solstice in his own special feline way: stay inside, find a comfortable spot, and just let it all hang out.

The cats have been doing all kinds of kooky cat things this week.

Osage (aka Muffine Eloise) was found in the washing machine, nestled on top of the clothes waiting to be laundered. Yesterday she was in the laundry basket.

Keats slithers in and out as needed to maintain the balance between hunting and relaxing.

Dickens was seen flat out in the hay a few days ago, with a big black mare and two miniature donkeys quite literally eating around him.

Mystic appeared at an upstairs window, asking to be let in. Yes, he was on the roof of our house.

Every now and then I walk into the living room and find them all laid flat out like lions on the veldt, and that especially makes me smile.

And in the meantime:


Do what we can, summer will have its flies.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson