Goodbye to a Friend

Today we had to say goodbye to Shadow. For those on Twitter, I had kept you posted as to her daily progress. About 4 weeks ago we lost her for a few days. When she reappeared, she was injured, and the injury had an abscess.

Willa took her to the Vet, who performed a pretty extensive surgery to get the infection out. She came home with all kinds of drugs, and we had pretty high hopes that she would make it.

It was not to be. She tried, but somehow, something just wouldn't heal up and she couldn't eat or drink without regurgitating. We tried many things, but she sank lower and lower. Finally, today we had to say goodbye.

Soft long grey fur
You spent hours grooming
Always impeccably clean

Soft meow
Clear and singing like a bell
We didn’t hear it often

Soft to all your people friends
Gentle to stroke
Loving the pet

Quiet padfalls
Weaving through the hay
Is it a mouse? Then it is gone!

Quiet purr
You loved a warm lap
And cuddled whenever you could

Quiet trust
Even in pain you did not snarl
Strong until the end

We watched you walk toward the rainbow
Finally fading
A Shadow in the mist

A Little Bird & Other Stories

Today was special.

This morning as I led Mercedes out to work with her, I spotted a bald eagle sitting on the very top of our "Lone Poplar". It was an awesome sight. I tried to take pictures of it with my IPhone, but it was too far away. Still, it was amazing to see that huge bird sitting on the very top branch of the tree.

Then Mercedes worked with me the best I've ever seen her do. I really have to thank Clinton Anderson and his "No Worries" method of horse training. The first part of this month, Willa and I went with two other friends to Reno to see him at one of his Walkabout Clinics. It was one of the most informative weekends I have ever experienced. And even better was coming home and trying out my new knowledge on my two horses. What a difference it has made in both of them! But Mercedes really has shown the most improvement. She was incredible to ride today. She did everything I asked of her. She is beginning to flex just like Clinton showed us, and moving the feet has made a world of difference in her respect for me.

Then this afternoon we had a great community meeting. I have such high hopes for the future of Dream River Ranch. There are exciting things yet to come! I can't wait to see them come to pass. And as they happen, I will try to keep this journal up to date, so that you can share those exciting things with us.

I don't usually do the chores (we're calling it "horse care" nowadays--because that's what it is) in the evenings. Willa usually does them, but this evening her back was bothering her, so I went instead. We have a little "cabin trailer" where we keep all the grain and blankets, some vet supplies, etc. When I turned the light on, there was a little Finch flying frantically, trying to get out of the cabin trailer, but unable to find the door. Every so often, it would stop and rest a moment before trying again. I wanted to help this bird, because the cabin trailer is a favorite napping place of two of our barn cats, and I knew that if the bird didn't get out tonight, it would be dinner before morning.

So I thought, "What the heck." Gently, I put my gloved finger out to the bird as though it were a tame bird and to my complete amazement the little bird stepped onto my finger! So I carefully carried the Finch over to the door and then let it fly away into the darkness. It was free!

I don't know what made that bird decide to trust me, but I've been trying to think what words I could use to describe how I felt at the time, and I guess the main word I come up with is: gratitude. I was so grateful and amazed that this little wild bird stepped out onto my finger with such confidence. I believe it was a gift.

This whole entire day was a gift. I want to share this gift with you. I hope that knowing there are places where Bald Eagles still fly, and horses become better, and little wild birds can trust helps you all to look out for the gifts that come to you each day and adds a bit of brightness to your lives.

For this I give Thanks

Time passes quickly in my life, and here it is 2 months since I wrote the last blog! Ouch!

This will be my third Thanksgiving at the Ranch and the second one since I started blogging for the ranch. Once again, this year, I find myself very thankful for many things:

I'm thankful for the people in my life: Willa, Joseph, Steve, and Tammy (all the ranch folks who are my ranch family), for Gail and Jan (who went with Willa and I to Reno for the Walkabout Clinic), for Douglas and Connie (who will hopefully become ranch partners, we loved your visit), for Deborah and Jana (who came all the way from Germany to see us), for my own family (you know who you are), for the many volunteers who helped us out all summer (we love you!), for the kids who came to camp this summer and learned so wonderfully about horses and riding and being courageous, for Bill who worked for peanuts (and a little pipe tobacco) but did so much, and of course for any of you who are now fans of Dream River Ranch on Facebook, just because you love us and are interested.

I'm thankful for the animals: for the cats, Tuffy who moved in when Grace died (and broke my heart), Shadow, and Pepper (who might still be Stoner, but we're debating) thanks girls for keeping the mice down, for the chickens (including our new "peep" the first DRR natural born chicken), for the dogs, Rusty, Sam, Hal, and of course Boss (who is a little crotchety in his old age) thanks boys for keeping the coyotes far away and for being so lovable, and of course the Horses who hold our hearts, carry our bodies, and heal our souls. We LOVE you all.

It's been another year of adventure, fun, sorrow, joy, and most of all LIFE!

I'm thankful most of all to the Creator who makes all of this possible.

As we say in the SCA, "Vivat!"

Air Force Appreciation Day

We rode in the Mountain Home Air Force Appreciation Day parade. It was a blast! Willa sewed for an entire week, but Lucky and Rider look very good in their totally new trappings. In fact, we all looked very good. We were proud and glad to be able to show our appreciation for what the Air Force does for America and thereby for us.

The horses did very well. We're pretty sure that for Sabrina and Lucky, this was their very first parade. And if that's the case, they both did very well. In fact, the horses were exemplary in their behavior.

As far as we know, we were the only horse group who performed a simple drill in front of the reviewing stand.

But it was sure a lot of hard work! Willa sewed for an entire week. We practiced for two weekends before the actual parade. All the horses (nine of them) had to be washed and primped and then kept clean (that was the hardest part). It took us two trips to get there and two trips to get back home. Then we had to put everything away-that took several more hours.

We weren't perfect, but we looked good. The work was all worth it for us to show our community that we support them.

And the Garden Works

Last time I wrote about gardens and dreams. Here is a picture of a dream coming true. Yes that is lettuce! And look at those radishes, in only a few weeks! Next week, I'm thinking that we will be eating our lettuce with radishes and spinach. Yummy! This is only a partial picture of one box, we have two boxes, the other one contains okra, spinach, beets, cabbage, and kale. Not pictured in this box is the broccoli, colorabi and basil.

Next year, our garden is going to be a lush, food producing bit of loveliness on the ranch. But it's nice to know that we get some it the benefits this year.

Steve and Tammy also planted some very lovely roses, all in a row at the front of our garden. They are soooo beautiful. I really do love roses and it's nice to have some planted, and growing, on the ranch.

So we've also been getting the hay in for next year. We don't have all of it in yet, but we do have it ordered, which is very good. No more panic! Willa is so wonderful to keep on top of this! And I'm sure that the horses appreciate it very much.

Last weekend we did Cavalry Drill and Jousting training. Everyone had a really good time and the horses did very well. We will be posting some pictures from the Jousting training and the Mounted Archery soon.

It is so much fun to live on the ranch!

A Work of Garden

I took this picture this morning on my way to work. Steven and Tammy have worked so hard getting our garden just right. It's been an absolutely huge project. First they had to get all the infrastructure in, including a beautiful sprinkler system. Then they built the boxes and hand filled them with dirt.

The boxes are pretty big 4' x 12' each, so it wasn't trivial to fill them up by hand. After everything was ready, we finally (at the end of July) could plant. So we planted all cold weather crops which will grow this fall. We have lettuce, brocolli, radishes, some beets, and other really great stuff.

The thing I've been learning about dreams is that they happen slowly. Much more slowly than I thought at first. They require that you don't give up on them just because they don't happen as fast as you want. Even then end result isn't always what you thought it would be. But dreams are worth doing in spite of all that you go through to get them to become reality.

This year we have done so many things, and now we are looking forward to fall and this year, the fall will be not just a time of harvest, but a time of new beginnings. Usually, lettuce and radishes are the first crop, not the fall crop. But this year they will be. Because dreams that are worth having, take time.

Little by little we cross the ocean.

After Camp

Our last overnight Kids Camp finished on Monday. What a blast! Unfortunately, I got my foot crunched on Sunday morning by Scotch, and so missed the rest of Sunday and most of Monday. I did get to help with clean up on Tuesday.

This time Willa taught the kids horseback archery. They really enjoyed it, and I think they learned some great skills. At any rate, a very good time was had by all in spite of the heat. It was over 100 Saturday, Sunday, and Monday but everyone managed to press through the heat and drink LOTS of water. There are now sprinklers around the outside edge of the arena and it was really helpful to turn them on every so often and cool off.

Someday we might even have our own "Mongolian Horde" with mounted archers.

Also this last weekend, Steve and Tammy got our first two planter boxes done and we all planted the first one, they planted the second one. These are all "cold weather" crops like lettuce, beets, and brocolli. Next year, the garden will be all ready to go first thing in the spring and it will be automatically watered by our sprinkler system. What a crop we will get next year! Yum.

The pole barn is getting ready for this year's shipment of hay. Willa, Joseph, and Bill are working very hard to get the floor evened out so that we don't lose any hay to water seeping underneath the stack.

The chickens are getting used to each other. The new Arucana pullets are fitting in nicely. We did lose two of our new Guineas to accidents, but we still have one left and she seems very spunky and a bit wiser than her siblings were. The new Arucana rooster is quite beautiful with his irridescent blue tail feathers and his gold and red "mane". He is also quite the showoff. He must be, all the big girls hang with him now. It's interesting the new Arucana hens are all hanging with the old Banty Rooster "Pretty Boy" as well as our little Guinea.

It is cool and rainy at the ranch today. Kind of weird for August, but really nice just the same. I know the animals are enjoying this break from the heat of last week. Seems like we've been transported to Puget Sound, but I don't think any of us mind too much.

And so life at the ranch goes on. Next big event: Jousting Clinic!

And yet more...

I took a look at the web stats for our website. I hadn't looked at them before, because quite frankly, I didn't think it was that important. Well, as they say, live and learn. Today I learned that in the last week our website was viewed over 3000 times.

We have a lot of interested folks out there. And more than that, we have a lot of friends.

This is a great time to speak of all our friends. Especially when you see how busy we've been. You can bet that we haven't done that work all by ourselves. Especially since all of us but Willa work full time off of the ranch.

So, here's a partial list of friends and the credit they so richly deserve:

Philip: who built most of my apartment, helps around the ranch, and recently built the new shade on our tack shed.

Patty: who was kind enough to come and stay with me on the ranch last winter when Willa and Joseph were traveling. Who is kind enough to cook for us during the last camp, and who always brings us chocolate.

Vanessa: who really thinks she's coming out just because she loves horses and wants to be around them, but who really helps out every time she comes.

Sarah: who loves our kids, and likes to help do whatever is needed. She and Vanessa have done a lot of work to make our jump poles pretty.

James: who brought us 40 syrah grape plants--he is totally responsible for us getting our own vineyard.

Sophie: who is very young, loves horses and is the best tack cleaner we have ever met, and who would move in with us if her parents (Mark and Pam) allowed it.

Bill: who for next to nothing has spent most of the summer living in "the beast" and working like anything. If I made a list of everything he's done this summer, I wouldn't have room for the rest of the folks.

Time would fail me if I told about everyone else, but Lisa, Jim, Sheryl, David, Jenny, and everyone else, who I am probably forgetting. THANK YOU!!!

Without all of you Dream River Ranch wouldn't be the place that it is today. You all help to make our community such a special place to live.

VIVAT!!!

So Many Things to Say, Such Little Time

It has been a couple of months since my last post. Spring and summer are very busy on the Ranch as you can imagine.

Here are some of the highlights.

We've had one overnight camp and 3 morning camps so far. This weekend is our Horseback Archery weekend long clinic. Yipee! This is going to be a lot of fun.

We had a very green spring this year, as you can see from the picture. Lots of rain, lots of weeds, lots of mowing.

Our automatic sprinkler system in the garden has been installed. Our first plants were roses--a whole border of them along the front of the garden. We were also given 40 Syrah grape vines this year. We planted them and all but two survived! We have the start of our very own vineyard. In three years, we hope to experiment with our very first batch of Syrah Wine.

The round pen is no longer a future project. It is a current reality. It's been sooo nice to have a good working area to train in. We used "Dream River" sand for the footing and it is excellent.

We got our first "peep" this year. Yes indeed one of our chickens hatched her very own egg. Only one so far. However, we went down and got five more Arucana pullet chicks to join our flock. Yesterday we were able to obtain our very own Arucana rooster--Gandalf. Our current Banty Brahmin rooster "Pretty Boy" has decided not to push his luck too far. Pictures will come soon--they are such beautiful birds! Interesting to note that the flock is reestablishing their pecking order. They are such fun to watch.

Our water pump went out and we had to replace it. The bad news: it cost a lot! The good news, we now have better water pressure than we have ever had at the ranch. This means we don't have to replace the sprinklers in our lawn because the old ones work just fine now. We also have water at the arena so we can keep the dust down.

This week, we are adding a "porch" to our Tack Shed. This is so that folks can have some shade to sit in while we are having horse shows. We are also getting another shed built next door. It's going to be very cute, and very useful.

We had over 10 goslings this year. They were such fun to watch, and they grew up very fast. Currently we have a couple of duck families swimming around the pond. It is so great to have the two ponds. We also had a nest of meadow larks in the pole barn. It was such fun to watch the chicks peeking over the nest whenever we went in to do chores. I love listening to them sing every morning outside my window.

We were recently accepted for the Equip Program (Agriculture), and so will have the ability to further divide the horse pastures. We are now also able to irrigate. Someday, we will be able to grow our own hay for the horses. This will be a lot cheaper than buying.

There's more to say, but I'm out of time.... Hope to catch up with this blog soon.

Thinking Dreams

When I was a little girl, if a fairy had come down and granted me one wish, it would have been to live on a horse ranch.  I realized this as I was mucking out stalls the other day.  I'm living my girl hood dream.  The sad fact is, growing up I buried this dream because I thought it was so impossible. Yet here I am, living my dream.

At this point I could make several moral observances, but I'm not going go.  I'm going to be grateful.  I'm going to try and apprecitate this dream just as though I was that little girl wishing to live with horses. Every morning when I get up, I'm going to thank the Lord and smile. I want to enjoy this dream to the fullest.

When I pet the dogs, take care of the chickens, and the cats, and the horses...I'm going to revel in the fact that once upon a time when I was young, this was my highest wish and it has come true. 

Cinderella?  Ya got nothin on me!

Thinking Green

We've had rain the past few days. Not like you get in the east where it pours buckets for hours on end, but we have had rain on and off. Enough to turn everything green.

This is the time of year when we like to see things turning green. The garden plot has been rototilled and is awaiting the installation of automatic drip system. No more losing plants because they don't get watered often enough. The back pasture which we seeded with Idaho Bunching Blue grass is looking pretty fine. The east pasture where the alfalfa is growing, is also turning a very nice shade of green.

I was thinking about this yesterday. Most of the time, our mountains and prairies are all different shades of brown (and purple--yes really purple). Even when we get lots of water, the natural plants turn on their own by July. So we really have a short window in which to look out our windows and see...green.

It's a very special time of year this "green" time. The old things have been blown away, the new green plants are fresh to look at (and smell). Even though the wind blows a lot it isn't that cold wind that blows through you and chills your bones. It is the frisky wind that blows around you and invites you out to play.

The horses love this time of year. They kick up their heals and gallop around the pastures at full speed. They show off by bucking and kicking, and leaping high (I saw Mercedes do a real live capriole the other day). The chickens are laying more eggs, their feathers are sleek as they cluck contentedly and dig for bugs in the fresh unfrozen soil.

The dogs are out chasing coyotes again--because the coyotes are active again. I've seen lots of bunnies, and the prairie dogs are thick this year.

All this rain, this beautiful rain, this beautiful "not snow", is bringing us more than May flowers, it's bringing us spring in all her green.

Storm's Story

Last Sunday, Willa and I went on a cattle drive! My very first one. Because my Autumn was lame, I rode Storm. She is pictured above, a retired ranch horse once upon a time called Mouse. She is a Mouse no more.

When we first got her, she was depressed. She had lived on a ranch with her herd and had always been a hard working ranch horse. When she was young, she did some barrel racing and some roping. As she got older, her owners, who knew Willa, gave her up because she was getting kind of stiff, and ranch work was too hard for her anymore.

It took a long time for her to forgive us all for that. Now, however, she loves the ranch and the herd in the Western Pasture where she lives. Last summer, when we were doing kids camps, she really got her groove back. We have put special shoes on her front feet so she isn't stiff or sore anymore. So when we got our invitation to join in a real live cattle drive, she was the natural choice to ride.

When we arrived and unloaded her from the trailer, her ears pricked up, her head went up and her nostrils flared out. She heard those cows and she knew what this was about! She was very excited (at least as excited as she gets). I saddled her up and boy was she ready to go! Storm is too mature to prance around and waste energy, but she did have a hard time just standing around to wait.

At last the cattle were pushed out of their pen, and they started on the move. Storm started along with them. She knew just what to do and when to do it. Mostly, I just tried to be a good rider. We eased the cattle along pretty gently because there were many small calves in this herd.

Cattle on the trail are very noisy! I can't imagine having to listen to that noise for a few hundred miles like the cowboys used to do. Maybe after a day or so the cattle learn to be quiet. But this herd sure wasn't! Storm chose to stay upwind of the herd so we didn't get a lot of dust, which was nice. We went about 4 miles, which doesn't seem very long, but was pretty far for the small calves to go. In fact, a couple of them plain wore out--so they were separated from the herd and put into a stock trailer to make the rest of the journey.

We went down a long hill which had a small gulley at the bottom. It was very interesting to watch as the cattle herd went through that gulley. Storm stationed herself at the top and her presence seem to forestall any escape attempts. We also took the herd safely across a highway.

Willa was on Dillon and this was his first time around cows, but he did very well. Didn't even spook once. In fact, it took him about ten minutes to figure out how to herd cows, and he really enjoyed himself after that! I guess he's just a natural born boss. And at one point, we were taking the herd through a large pasture that contained other cows that the cowboys didn't want to get mixed into with our herd, so Dillon was chosen to be one of the horses who cantered out to chase those cows away. Boy he really went for that!

Storm, however, stayed on point doing her job like the pro she truly is. She was rock solid during the whole trip. After we arrived and the cattle were into the corral where the calves could get their tags--we rode back to where we had parked out trailers. Storm practically troted back the whole way (mostly up hill). She was so full of vigour! We could tell that she really enjoyed herself.

Storm is one of the horses we use for beginning riders. She is a patient horse, and knows just how to handle beginners. She builds confidence, because she is a professional and is competent herself. This was the first time I ever rode her, but I sure am glad I had the opportunity. She made my first cattle drive an excellent experience. And I was really glad she enjoyed herself so much.

Hal the Pal (a story of love)

Once upon a time a young Great Pyrenees dog lived with several others in a dark small shed. They were cold when it was cold and hot when it was hot. There was very little food, so he was always hungry and thin.

Sometimes, when he was allowed outside, he was beaten and yelled at for reasons he didn't understand. Sometimes his other pack mates didn't survive.

Then some folks showed up to rescue him and his pack mates from the dark shed. While they were there, they also rescued the horses and cats who lived in that place. There were TV cameras and strange people. But they had kind voices, so even though the Great Pyr was scared, he went along quietly. He was taken to a strange place with many dogs. It was full of light and he got lots of food. One of his pack mates was in the kennel next to him, and he was treated with kindness by the people who cared for him there.

What he didn't know was that the mother of one of the Dream River Ranch folks had seen the TV reports about this Great Pyr and his pack mates. The mother had told her daughter, and she went to the Humane Shelter and put in a request for the Great Pyr, because Dream River Ranch had the heart, room and space. We needed someone to help Rusty and Sam guard the ranch. We needed someone else to love.

A month went by and the week before Christmas, Dream River Ranch got a call. Do you still want another Great Pyre? Boy did we! Plans were made to meet him and see if he would like a new home.

At the first meeting, he was walked out with one of his pack mates. She was small and delicate and lovely, but the person from the ranch had a knowing that the he was one we needed at the ranch. He was the one who could help Rusty and Sam. They needed him, and he needed us. So the person from the ranch spoke with the person at the Humane Shelter and it was decided to bring Rusty and Sam to meet this Great Pyre and see if they would accept each other as pack mates.

It was a match! The folks at the Humane Shelter were surprised, but Willa and Dree weren't. They both had a knowing that this Great Pyre was the one for Dream River Ranch. He needed a good home with lots of space, love, and kindness, after his home in the dark shed. Rusty, Sam and the Great Pyre liked each other right away. There would still be some issues of pack placement to decide, but that could be decided later. We paid for him that night and said that we would be back the Saturday after Christmas--because we needed to get his dog house into order before we could bring him home.

That Saturday was one of the snowiest days we had all winter. The weather was blowing snow, the road was snowy, icy and there were several slide offs on our way to get our new friend. Joseph was driving, so we weren't one of the slide offs! We got our new Great Pyre who was very shy and scared to leave the one kind place he had ever known. He didn't know it then, but he had just been granted the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

We drove slowly home--it took over an hour. When we got home, we took him off the leash and he took off. We were scared for a few minutes that he would run away, but he ran to the end of the driveway and stopped and came back. Then he ran the other way, but stopped when he got inside the South Pasture. He came back. We took him for a walk, but couldn't walk far, as the snow was deep in places and we didn't have snow shoes. But he quickly understood that this was his home. When he saw the large garbage can where we store our dog food, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. He'd never seen so much food in one place in his life!

It took only a few hours for Rusty to teach him that an empty hand is a hand that could be petting a dog. And that all you have to do is put your nose in the empty hand in order to get petted. Sam was a little bit put off at first--was this new dog here to take his place? It took a few days for him to realize that this newcomer was there to be a help to him. Even if he was a little young and would need some training up.

This dog came to us without a name, and without much of a past. What could we name him? We discussed the fact that we wanted a good plain western sounding name. So we tried on Jake, and Shep (my personal favorite), and Bear, but none of them seemed right. We tried Hal, and then Willa found herself laughing when she would say Hal No! So the name stuck.

Soon we discovered that we were calling him Hal "y" Pal. Because he became the Pal that Rusty had always wanted and the helper that Sam needed. So the name Hal the Pal has stuck. He is still growing, and if he grows into his feet, he will be bigger than Sam when he is full grown.

So once upon a time Hal the Pal lived in a dark shed, but now he is living happily ever after, indeed.

Back Again

Well, I hibernated all winter, long enough to forget what the login to the blog was . Finally remembered today. I promise that I won't forget again.

Winter for the ranch has been kind of laid back, long and cold. Joseph is currently working on the pellet stove (which is our main source of heat). The horses are very fuzzy and have enjoyed not working much.

And over Christmas, we got Sam and Rusty a new pal. We call him Hal. He is another Great Pyrenees. He is young and came to us through the Idaho Humane Shelter. We are so glad to get him. And he's really glad to be here on the ranch. He and Rusty have become great friends. I will try to post a picture of him later today.

Our chickens have done very well. They are all feathered up and glossy. They did quit laying for awhile, but have started laying again with the longer days.

We are looking forward to spring. We have been filling our calendar up with dates for the spring and summer, and we have the link to our new Google Calendar on our website. Really cool!

I have been told to mention the fact that we had to dig our cars out of the snow drifts back in January. Maybe next year we'll post a sign at the entrance "Have snowshoes all who enter here--because your car isn't going to get very far." It shows real community spirit when your friends will help you to dig out of the snow.