Quick shot

Doesn't she look happy? Or appalled?

What we know about Cotton

Cotton has a very distintict personality.He is a lover, comes right up for petting, but is not that enamored with being ridden. I'm not sure how much riding he has had in the last few months although one of his initial problems - moving while mounting - is gone. He was a terrible mover when I tried to mount him the first time a few months ago, but I worked on him in the round pen that day. No way I fixed him in that brief session, so I guess our friend K tuned up that part of things.

We had to work on horse catching 101 in one of our first sessions. Then Sierra had a round pen session. When we first met Cotton, he didn't know much about round penning. He is a fast learner, and sensitive to signals. He is also the most spook free horse I've met, short of Cody, the wonder horse.

He is my daughter and husband's horse, he will need me to clean up a few things, but we are just looking for a trail horse. So far it looks like he will fit that role very well. I could fall in love, but ... I am standing on the sidelines, making the room for the bond with Sierra. He was trained by a teenage girl, and I think he really gravitates to Sierra.


Then there is this "capable" thing. I was warned that he would 'service our mare.'. How is that possible, I asked. Isn't he gelded?

They shrugged. He's gelded. And yet he can fire blanks, apparently. Explanations, anyone?

Our barn is settling into a routine of sorts. Lily seems to like her gelding and has gone to second position in their herd of two. It's funny to see her go up and down in the hierarchy of different herds. I don't think she's ever happy being high in the herd, she always seems annoyed when she's in charge.

I hope to ride tomorrow. It's been busy at work, but everyday I hug my horse, every day I see her, everyday I catch a glimpse across the road or my copper girl, head down, grazing like there is no tomorrow.

Life is good.

Crib Notes (over on my other blog)

FYI, I'm posting on my crib notes blog again. In case you're interested, you can find the latest post  here.

I'm keeping this blog horsecentric, since I have so much horse news these days, but I'll let you know when I have a new post over yonder. :)

Promise kept. Part 2

It's not much of an exaggeration to call it love at first sight. Lily and Cotton immediately latched on to one another and bonded on the trailer ride home. We put them in separate pens for safety's sake, but it was clear we had nothing to worry about.

Except for a gelding, Cotton seems rather... Capable. More on that later.

Cotton is a palomino Tennessee walker / quarter cross. DH's best friend has had him a while, but he's getting beat up by the herd. He is a bit on the slow side (I don't like the term lazy) and pretty calm. Doesn't really spook. But he is a young thing, and not finished. But he is good for trails as long as he has a friend.

And he is a lover. Meets you at the gate. Follows you around like a puppy. Beautiful,expressive eyes. Sensitive but not overly so. A bit of a tweenager.

We are all quite smitten.

I'm sure he will be blogging in no time.

A Promise Made part 1

On Saturday when I went to see Lily she walked away from me. I knew she was disappointed. I hadn't been around for a while. I wondered if she noticed all the things we had taken. Her water trough and hose. Her saddle rack and brushes. I wondered if she presumed that she was being left behind.

I know. Seems silly.

Tomorrow, I told her, I will be coming for you. We will be picking up a new friend for you, then you'll be at a new barn. Then I will see you everyday.

She looked skeptical.

The next morning she ran to me. The mare in the herd tried to keep Lily back, but it was the weirdest thing. Lily looked right at me, stood her ground with the mare, wouldn't break my gaze. She was ready to go.

It freaks me out how this horse seems to understand everything I say. And holds me to it.

She loaded right up and we headed north to pick up our new horse.

Meet Cotton. More about him in part 2...

Cleaning up the barn

Our new barn has sat empty for a year, maybe more. Nature is always eager to restore her hold on a landscape, to spur her weeds and vines to tangle and twist, to encourage trees to drop entire limbs, to coat everything with dust, cobwebs, and rust.

It always seems daunting to me, I have never done well seeing to the other side of a mess. But our two horses wer coming 'home' on Sunday...

We went to work, clearing the aisle, dumping trash, weed eating and mowing. Actually DH did nearly everything while I worked to set up shop. I did the horse safety check of the fences. I cleaned troughs, set up our seating area. I imagine our horses there, right in the empty, clean stalls.

We are ready. Except we have no hay. Which is our first stop, tomorrow.

By the way on the picture viewing out through the stall you'll see a gray building. That's my office building... Couldn't be closer if I tried.

By the way, I'm updating Crib Notes again.  You can find a recent post here.

A barn to call our own

Sometimes the universe is so creative in solving problems that it leaves me in a state of wonder.

This week we entered into an agreement to rent space in a barn that is outside my window at work. We'll have two horses there - the second horse will be a surprise, you'll meet him in a week or two.

My prayers have been to live with horses again,  to see them every day. But right now, for reasons that are complex, we aren't moving.

But given how much I work, this is darn close to living with my horses.

And we'll be able to ride on the surrounding acres, park our trailer, set up horse keeping.

Across the street from my office.

I envision many mornings and lunch breaks with the smell of hay, with a nicker of hello, with a shared exhale into one another's noses...

When I tell people about my new job, I say I won the lottery. And this is just more proof.

I'll be posting more details about this old barn, which has been part of a wool mill and a whiskey distillery in it's time. It will have so much to say to me.

Right now the main word I hear is Welcome.