Well, my Daughter has finally got her way. Her horse her Sister gave her has come home. Eeeks!!! Its been years since we have had horses, and we have kept them almost all of my life. My Daughters both had horses as they grew up, eventing these in their Prince Phillips Games, Pony Club, trail riding, you name it, these gals of mine have done it (with their Mother and Father in tow). Oh those early mornings, getting the horses ready to go to the games and events, the dreary, rainy days, the sunny days. The things we do as parents to support our children. The girls grew up, the interest in their horses lessened with the years, then parents finally took over the sole duties of looking after the horses. The time came when I decided that I not longer wanted to go out in the winter, pack in hundreds of bales of hay, clean stalls, the farrier and vet bill costs. Nope, not doing it any more. The horses were eventually all sold.
I have missed having the horses, the sound of their crunching and chomping on food. The scent of their breath and bodies, the scents of the stable. But that was never enough to get me back into "horses".
A couple of months ago my oldest gal gave her Sister a horse. She had too many and decided that her little Sister should have a horse again, a beauty of a Quarterhorse mare, and the personality that goes along with it, lovely. D8, sounds like a tractor, right, well, she loves to push on stuff, and that be mostly humans, when she wants that face rub. She loves her forehead to be scratched, just a little quirk I guess.
My youngest gal has kept the horse elsewhere. I know that she longed to bring it home. But every day morning and night she would tend to the horse, letting it in and out of the barn, running electric fencing to keep her safe.
The summertime has come. OUr property out the back has grown some beautiful grasses. We had it cleared two years ago, all the deciduous trees removed, leaving behind beautiful groves of conifers. I have seen her looking out the back, that yearning and longing in her eyes. My eyes have done that yearning and long too. The day came that she asked if she could bring the horse "home".
Oh how can a parent resist those beautiful eyes of their children. When they look up at you for approval, for desire of the parents to show them they love them, this can come in many forms......children have that way, they have that way of wrapping you around their finger. It does not matter their age, they have that power, that spell that I speak of, as with the honeybee. As parents, we are all held under the spell of our children. Oh, they do have their ways.
My Daughter told me that I would never have to look after her horse, nor clean the stall, nor pack hay. I believe her....and I trust her world. She has grown up to be a beautiful woman.....that childhood irresponsibility is gone. And yes, the horse came home.
She worked hard. We put in 70 fence posts to be the guide for the electric fencing that she herself strung. We had the use of her Husband's Brother, who brought a machine and pounded the fence posts in. He just pushed the posts with the top of the bucket of his machine and they went in like nothing on this earth. The soil is very soft and moist because of all the rain, that assisted with setting the posts too. We have a fence post pounder, but let me tell you that is a hard work. It has a handle on each side, a metal tube that fits over the end of the post, and it is a two person job to easily set a pole. It weighs I would guess about 80 pounds. To have pounded in those 70 poles with this apparatus would have taken a couple of days. I take my hat off to my Son-in-Law's Brother, he is a good man, he treats us well.
The electric fence was strung, and all the other stuff that goes with setting up electric fence, my Daughter did it all, along with a little help from her Father to get the electrical part complete. I take my hat off to her too.
So, D8 is home, we sit and watch her, she loves people and all the things that go on around our farm. On the south bordering property is sheep, goats, a black llama, named Arthur, two horses and chicken yard fowl, on the northern neighbour property is two other horses. She has the time of her life, watching, listening and having a great time. What she is not too good with is Richard. Richard nowadays stays most puffed up and he looks rather big. He is protecting all his babies and is doing such a fine job. When this mare sees the turkey, all puffed up, she is in bewilderment!!! She is kind of scared, but at the same time, kind of curious. In the picture you will see my Daughter on the horse, what the horse is gawking at so hard is Richard, all puffed up, and also him wondering what on earth kind of alien being has come to his property. It is a hoot and a hollar.
I am pleased. I love to have a horse here, it has enhanced my experiences out of doors even more than how cool they already are. I can see soon another one coming, how could my Daughter ride alone? Hee, hee, oh, to get on the back of a horse again. My preference is to ride bareback, that I would do, a saddle is OK too, but the communion with a horse without a saddle is a wonderful thing, even on those winter days, one is kept warm. Kathy and Jody you both will know what I mean. I remember you, Jody, speaking of when you would lay on your mare, as she grazed on the grass.....
Have the most wonderful and beautiful day, lovin' and groovin' on our great lives. Cindi
The finishing touches on the fence, after returning from a bareback ride, you can see that by the horse dust on her pants!!!