Trip to Ogema

I'm on the hunt. I don't have Red sold yet, but I Reeeaaaallllly want a horse to ride. Here's the deal: no bigger than 15.2 hands tall, at least 6 years old and trail broke. So Dawna and I took a trip to Ogema to look at a palomino Tennessee Walker. The owner told us he'd been brought up from the south and was road safe and very broke. He was nicely colored, but when she rode him near the highway, the traffic made him a bit nervous. He was a little pacey too, so it was a no. But the owner was good enough to let us check out her other horses. She has a cute black and white baby and a beautiful spotted palomino stud that just happens to be a half-brother to Red. It's such a small world.

Xray says...

I went to the doctor today to have my toes reXrayed. I knew it. Sparkler rebroke my second toe last Saturday. The little toe got smashed, too, but luckily it was just bruised. Looks like I'll have a few more weeks of hobbling around. I'm going on a hunt for steel toed boots!

Why me?

I've not had Vicki over yet this year, so she and Jen came over with Breezy (Vicki's Dad's Morgan) and Mariah (Jen's Arab). The thought was the three of us would ride around in the back pasture. I thought I'd show off about how well Sparkler bridles now, but wouldn't you know she acted completely head shy again.

With Jen's help we got Sparkler outfitted. However, once we got outside, she was so excited about the other horses that she started prancing around and accidentally stepped on my foot. Which one? The one with the broken toes, of course!

The air turned blue for a few seconds, but I wasn't about to let the pain stop me -- I got on anyway. Still very excited, she ran back to the loafing shed, then turned to watch the other horses.

I coaxed her out only to have her prance and side-step then race back to the shed.

This had me rattled, so I tied her up and Vicki let me ride Breezy. She was a blast to ride--so well behaved and controllable.

I *really* need a broke horse I can ride.

By the time we finished swapping horses and fooling around, I was sick to my stomach. I suspect I've rebroken my toes.

Vacation over

The Fourth of July holiday is over. It was a relief to get back to work on Friday. A vacation at the cabin means a good cleaning, cutting up downed trees, insulating the ceiling (we've always wanted to get that done - it took an entire day) and trying to find some 55-gallon barrels to make a floating raft. The old one must have drowned this spring. We can't find it anywhere.

Today I spent the morning cleaning the barn. Then picking the last of the strawberries, the wild and cultivated black raspberries, red raspberries and the cherries.

Maybe tomorrow I can do what I really want to do which is
to play with Sparkler.