Friday found us pulling into the barn and grumbling a bit that there was another car in the parking lot. (I concede we are incredibly spoiled in that we often have the place to ourselves, but we still grumbled.) Then we went indoors and discovered it was worse than we thought. One of the other… Read more »
Bear
A Romp and a Lesson
We had a warm day today with temps in the 30’s. Brian and I figured the barn would be quiet this afternoon so we headed out with a plan. I’m going to attempt to give Brian a ‘real’ lesson once a week. Of course I’m always around to offer advice and lend a hand, but… Read more »
The Perfect Patient
The storm that was blowing in on Tuesday night stuck around and dropped nearly two feet of snow on us. Cathi advised us that there was no getting to the barn, certainly not for someone without 4-wheel drive. And that worked out because there was also no getting a car out of our garage. Brian… Read more »
Bandaged Bear
Brian and I dashed out to the barn this afternoon to check on Bear as a ‘blizzard’ rolled into town. We found him munching on the bale, his coat fluffed out and poofy. We brought Bear inside (and left Steen outside, AGAIN, much to a certain paint’s chagrin) and checked the leg. No visible swelling… Read more »
Rite of Passage?
This morning Brian and I were finishing our coffee when my cell phone rang. The caller ID told me it was Cathi, who owns our barn. My heart gave a flutter as I answered. Cathi is at least sensitive to the fact that most of her boarders have a reaction like mine when she calls… Read more »
A Warm Winter Day at the Barn
I am finally well again and had some time this morning, so I headed out to see how our guys were doing. Temps were in the high twenties and it felt good to be outside and doing something after so many days cooped up being ill. Steen came right up to the gate when he… Read more »
A New Year at the Barn
It’s been my worst winter yet in Iowa as far as riding is concerned, but today Brian got off work early and we decided to go try to get a quality visit in with Bear and Steen. They are both looking good, though the winter is here in earnest and we’ve experienced some harsh temps.… Read more »
Trims and Fidgets
Today we had our annual Christmas/Farrier potluck at the barn. Brian and I baked scones and arrived a bit on the late side. Steen was really excited to see me, pacing along the fence-line as we approached. Bear was less proactive about being caught, but came with amiably enough once once Brian had the halter on. We… Read more »
Cold and Wet
Today it rained for most of the morning and then the rain shifted to snow. Temps started to fall just after noon and tonight the lows are supposed to be in the teens. Although Bear has actually manged to put on weight as the weather has gotten colder (he’s apparently the definition of an easy-keeper),… Read more »
Double Ride Day
I was in my office working around 10:00 when the sun came out. I looked out the window and realized it was a lovely, cloudy fall day and also it was surprisingly warm. I decided to play hookie for a bit, particularly since we still needed to try Steen’s blanket on Bear to make sure… Read more »