Rudy was home for two days this time one of which was nice enough to ride together, but he wanted to putz with his truck so we didn’t ride. Spending time with him is far more important than riding so that will have to wait for another day. He did take a look at my pipe repair. I had told him that we now had turn off valves for each line, and he wanted to see what I had done since he couldn’t figure out how I managed it. His response was that it was innovative and creative. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad so I asked if it met his approval. He gave me his seal of approval (YES!). When we first embarked on this owner operator big rig adventure his greatest concern (besides something terrible happening to me out in the middle of nowhere) was whether or not I would be able to do the things that would need to be done around the ranch. Of course I said I could, but he had his doubts. So far I have been able to do most everything, and God willing I will be able to continue to do so.
Today was a day for running errands. It was not really that cold, but it was windy as all get out. Since I had to go into town I stopped by to see Sherry, Krystal’s new owner. Krystal is Marina’s filly from last summer. She looks just like her dam except that I think her head will be shorter. This is Marina’s second filly by Ibn. Aulina looks just like her dam, but Krystal seems to have a little of Ibn in her. As strong as the Aulrab line is, Marina’s line seems to be stronger. Sherry had also told me how to determine how tall the babies might be once they mature so I wanted to give her my results with measuring Sierra (Little Big Man). She came out with about 14.2 hands for Krystal (which is about right), and I came out with 15 hands for Sierra. Rudy of course begs to differ as he is sure Sierra will top out at 16 hands. I had read that if you measure from the elbow to the hock, and double it when they are about 6 months old, you will get an approximation of where they will top out. Sherry said that for the most part they reach about 85% of their growth by 6 months. Calculating both ways I came out about 15 hands. These lines do mature slower than even most Arabians so it is actually reasonable that Rudy could be correct. We’ll just have to wait and see.
The next few days are supposed to be cold but clear, and NOT windy. Of course the weather for today said that the wind wasn’t supposed to come up till after noon, and that didn’t happen, but we can hope. If my body doesn’t crap out the way it did last week when it was cold, I hope to get some riding in. I haven’t ridden Ibn for at least two weeks, and I’m supposed to ride him five miles every other day until February. We’ll just have to play catch up. I also have a couple of projects to do. I need a frame for the painting I did a couple of months ago, and I have a beautiful piece of knotted wood (2” x 4”) that I want to make into a jewelry hanger. There are pictures I want to take, and I really need to start another painting. I need to find a way to make money from home, and my artwork is the only other thing I can do. As far as I can tell the “work at home and make tons of money” jobs are all just scams. I can paint, I can work with wood, and I can make jewelry. Now all I have to do is find a way to sell them. I’m starting with the local feed store. I have paintings to sell only I haven’t figured out how to take descent pictures of them especially when they are under glass. There’s always a glare I can’t seem to get rid of.
I have tons of pictures for paintings so subject matter isn’t that much of a problem. Unfortunately, I’m not a great traveler so my subject matter is somewhat limited. I tried to get Rudy to take pics of his travels, but all I got was a couple of pics from inside the truck. I’m the “want to be photographer” so I can’t really get on him for that. I wish I could get money for my pictures as some of them are really good, but my interests are landscapes not people, and photography is a really hard industry to get into. Besides there are tons of photographers out there who are really good, and I’m strictly an armature. None of my artwork is good enough to garner big price tags, but that’s all right. If I can make enough money to subsidize my husband’s income, I will be happy. I have no illusions of grandeur when it comes to my talents such as they are. It is the joy I find in the things that surround me that I want to share. It’s the same with the horses. No one can create a great horse. What we can do is nurture a horse to be all it was created to be, just as we can strive individually to be all that we can be. If I can accomplish that, my life will have meaning, and it will be a good thing.
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