CMC Mustang Training: Whether the Weather...

Whether the Weather...

Mom, it's cloudy.

Day 76/77 (Opal):

Tuesday Opal (and her pasture mates) got a turn out day. No training, just run, play, graze, be horses....and come see me if you want a carrot. Friday I wanted to ride, but the wind was kicking up a chill and after a month of us all finally not having a cold, I really didn't want a sick kid again, so grooming and some ground work was all I did. Another mustang, Amigo, didn't care much for his hanging apple toy/treat, so he gave it to Opal, Ehawee, and Satin. Ehawee and Satin sniffed it, then decided not to bother with it. Opal wasn't sure what to do, until I slathered it with her rice bran. Talk about a happy horse!

Where's my carrots Mom?

The face of happiness!

Sunday, Sunday is suppose to be my all day at the barn while my daughter is having her special "Daddy Day". Just the two of them, they go out for coffee (for him) and chocolate milk (or cookie, or cake pop, or whatever else she can sweet talk her way into) and play at the park. Makes my day so much more productive. Usually I do lots of cleaning. I had wanted to get two rides in on Opal today. I had the time, and when I checked yesterday morning, rain wasn't in the forecast until late next week. As I was making my lunch, my Hubby pointed to our sky light, I could hear the tell tale sounds of rain. (I know we need the rain, badly, I just would like it to rain from 7pm to 4am is all, not when I need to get rides going)

I could hear the voice of my Dad (who I never called Dad, father, Pop, I called him Honey, as did my sisters. I said it as a little kid after he said it to me, it stuck) saying the same phrase he always chanted when we asked what the weather would be like the next day. "Whether the weather is sunny or not, we're going to have weather, whether or not." Accurate, yes, annoying, yes....still annoying....yes. Thanks Honey.

The ranch I board at has its own weather bubble, and a lot of the time its vastly different than places as little as 5 miles away. I hit the road to try and beat the rain if I could. I got the arena cleared out of poles, started to clean the pasture, then Sarah arrived. I asked if she wanted to ride Ehawee, we both glanced skyward and decided to give it a go.

We got both horses groomed, tacked, and Ehawee was lounged as well, then the sprinkles started. We had come this far, we were going to at least get a few laps in. We were on about 2 minutes when the wind knocked a chair over. Opal spooked a little, jumping to the side, but settled down. Ehawee spooked because Opal spooked....silly horse eating chair!

After another few minutes, the rain really picked up, and hail. Not big size stones, but you could see the ice in the small stones. Ouch, ouch, ouch, time's up! We jumped off both mares and rushed back to get them un-tacked, but not before Sarah snapped a few shots of Opal being ridden in the rain and hail for the first time. Horses put away, tacked conditioned, pasture cleaned, their shelter area dry, and our mares show their thanks by standing out in the rain the whole time. Our silly mustangs.