Rudy got me up at 5:00 in the morning to take him down to the gas station. Last night we drove down, and dropped off the truck so he could take off first thing in the morning. He was still a little sick, but much better than the day before. I kissed him goodbye, told him to be careful, and sent him on his way. I went back home to snuggle back in bed. Four hours sleep just doesn’t cut it. My bed was still warm and I quickly drifted back into that wonderful thing called sleep. With an hour taken out of my nights sleep, I overslept. Surprisingly everyone let me sleep. KC (KC Chaucer my Goffin Cockatoo) finally woke me at 7:15, just in time to make a cup of coffee before Rudy called. He was in Las Cruces only there was no one there. Calls were made, and come to find out they sent him to the wrong destination. A couple more phone calls, and he was all set again. He had a load of live Christmas to take to Phoenix.
After talking to Rudy I went down to feed. With our little snow the air was bright, and crisp, and clean. There was an occasional brisk breeze, but it was perfect weather to ride, provided the winds didn’t kick up. I said a prayer that the weather would hold, and off to town I went to get hay. Mark was about 20 minutes away so Penny and I sat and talked until he got there with a fresh load of hay. It was beautiful in Capitan, but then again it always is. Capitan is down in the valley and they don’t get the winds quite as bad as we do on the plateau.
I got home, unloaded the hay, and took the truck back to the house. I had a makeshift saddlebag, which I filled with water etc., and went back to the barn. I put the bag with the first aid kit, and other essentials for human and horse in the saddle bag, got Ibn saddled, and called a friend just in case. When you have no one to ride with someone needs to know where you are and how long you will be out.
I warmed Ibn up a little in the arena, and off we went. He was fine as long as we were on the road, but the neighbors put a gate up across the road. Sometimes Ibn is such a whoose. I turned him into the forest and he about had a cow. That was the wild woods, and he wasn’t sure about it at all. There might be something in there that just might want to eat him. We got Ibn when he was six and mostly since that time he has been a gentleman stallion. He’s such a playboy. He likes strutting, and getting nookie, and as far as he is concerned that’s all he’s supposed to do. He was shown, but that’s all nicely paved roads, and nice raked arenas. This was the wild woods!
Needless to say he didn’t win the battle and off we went in search of deer and elk trails. It had been several years since I’d been in that area, and I forgot how beautiful it was. I brought my camera, and although there were some times when the color was off, I was surprised to find that most of the pictures came out just fine. I say surprised because getting Ibn to stand still was nigh unto impossible. I had to encourage him to go forward, but each time we changed directions he was suddenly full of vim & vigor. No we weren’t going back home.
We went round in circles between the state land that butts up to our property, and a few of the neighbors. I was surprised to find many atv trails. It’s clearly posted no atv’s or vehicles of any kind, but people don’t care. They don’t understand that they are destroying the habitat for the deer and elk.
The one photo I missed was our little falcon. I don’t know what species he is but his territory is around our house. It may be the Aplomado falcon. Some have been released on the Otero mesas. All I know is that it is a beautiful site to see. He has no mate (that I know of), but I’ve seen him many times. One of our ravens flew with us as we rode, but when the falcon came by the raven disappeared.
The clouds became heavier, and we had gone round in circles more than enough times so I headed back to the road. Down the road we went past our house to the “Y” and then I took him back up the rode to the house. It’s a steep climb, and part of the purpose for the ride is to get him back in shape. Stallions generally keep pretty fit, but you can tell in his chest that he hasn’t been worked in years. I will have to investigate the other side of the road to see if we can go farther in that direction, if not we will pass the gate. It goes down into a valley then climbs up again, and goes on and on. Although we only rode for about two hours it was a perfectly enjoyable ride. The air was brisk and cold and the scenery was as always to die for. I have to take it slow with Ibn so as not to make him sore or over stress his legs (especially his shins). If he does well enough I just may go to the endurance ride at Ft Stanton next summer. Every year I say I want to go, and every year it passes us by.
I have a friend (acquaintance), who lives in either Tule or Alamo, who does endurance riding, and goes to the Ft Stanton ride every year. We’ll see what she says about my taking Ibn and perhaps Marina too, if Rudy can take a little vacation. It’s a three day ride, and only down the rode about 15 miles as the crow flies. Meanwhile Ibn and I will keep going up and down the hills and valleys to build him up so he really looks dashing for the girls. You know boys, it’s all about the girls.
We ended the day on a good note. He was tired (not too tired to act up in front of the girls though), and I wanted a little pit stop before I had to feed so I went back up to the house. It was really cool by now, but I didn’t worry about Ibn. He had hardly a sweat spot anywhere, and wasn’t overheated. I put him in his stall, went back to the house for a few minutes, brought Ibn back some carrots, and then went to feed. There was as usual a spectacular sunset with the moon rising in the east. The reflection of the sunset tinting the clouds was an added bonus to a perfectly wonderful day.
The winds have started up again as I write and I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a repeat of today. A storm is supposed to be rolling in on Monday, and of course we will probably only get wind, but you never know. I may get in a ride tomorrow and then again starting Tuesday the rest of the week. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
No comments:
Post a Comment