Monthly Archives: January 2016

We See the Sun

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Finally, we see the sun!  Don’t know how long this will last, but the arena’s finally dry enough to ride in.  Of course we still need to ride the creeks and stock tanks for bogged cattle, but so far, no wrecks.  And it’s finally warmed up into the sixties during the day.

We started working all the new horses that have been coming in, both Peruvian and Lusitano.  So far we’re still in the picadero.  We call it that because it’s not a round pen, it’s a square, and it has a pole in the middle, more like the classical working pen.  Most latin countries use the term.  It’s spelled different ways, including in France: it’s called a manége (not menáge!  there’s nothing kinky going on here!)

So far, with longe work, and slow in-hand work with flexions and lateral movement, none of them are much inclined to buck.  A seventy year old bronc stomper is not much interested in bucking! Hopefully this week will see some of these ol’ ponies going out to the pasture just like the big boys!

Moving Forward

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Whew, what a week it’s been.  Fixing fences, starting colts, repairing water lines, all that was just a backdrop to planning an event which will take place here in two months.  We will be hosting a working equitation clinic.  That means we are going to fix up the place and get ready to welcome horses, people, and vehicles, plan menus, and pray for good weather!

This week we moved forward on quite a few horsey students.  I’m especially proud of the three Lusitano mares we’ve been riding.  They learn quickly, and seem to want to please.  The real fun will come when they start looking at cows.  They’re bred to be bullfighters, so it should be interesting.  

Hope everyone has a good weekend, stay warm!

Qualified

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“we’ve been doing so much, with so little, for so long, we’re now qualified to do everything with nothing!”  -unknown

A cowboy was once described as an appetite on two legs, by a chuck wagon cook.  The cook’s job is to fill the human machinery of a ranch.  Cooks and cowboys are usually busiest during spring and fall when the herd work goes on.  Often extra hands are needed to round up and pen and sort cattle.  Then the roping, branding, vaccinating and various unmentionable surgical procedures take place. 

Wes strode up to the cook to ask what was for supper.

“What’s it to you!?” barked the grouchy cook.

“I’m so hungry, I’m weak, so weak, I’d have to stand in the same place twice just to cast a shadow!”

One specialty of camp cooks is dessert, often made from limited resources, as the camp is often not conveniently located near a Kroger’s or H.E.B.  So the food is often quite inventive.  My favorite along this line is Vinegar Pie.  Sure don’t sound appetizing, but if you try it, you’ll like it.  We were introduced to it by Charlie, our ninety three year old friend who grew up in Swisher County, in the Panhandle.

Put ¼ cup of vinegar (apple cider) in two cups of water and bring to a boil.  Sift ½ cup of flour, a cup of sugar and ¼ tsp of salt, and stir it slowly into the boiling liquid.  Cook it down to pudding consistency, stirring all the while.  Take it off the fire, add a teaspoon of vanilla and let it sit and cool for half an hour, pour it into a pie crust and let it set up.

We’ll talk about pie crust later! Enjoy!

It’s a Good Day

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Watching the geldings in the pasture gallop and play on a winter morning, holding my four sixes coffee cup, as the rising sun slants through the kitchen window, we start the day.  The dogs are howling at the night’s last coyote as I fire up the stove.  Red chile salsa colorado starts to heat up and blue corn tortillas get to frying in the old iron skillet, preparing huevos rancheros.

Eventually, we’ll go out and feed the dogs, then head to the barn.  Once the horses in the stalls and pens are hay’d and grained, we will start the day’s work.

What to do first?  Try to get through the mud to fix the water gap that the flood tore down?  Move the one cow who hung back in the corner trap to put her with the herd? Try to ride one of the young geldings out into the pasture for the first time?

Finally, we ride some older horses to the back pasture.  There we find some newborn calves, mama’s still licking them off.  It’s a good day!