Monday, June 19, 2017

"Vacation"

I am not sure I would call it a vacation so much, as I really didn't get to do much that I would have liked to do, but I did have a good time just the same.

TC and I made a quick trip up to WY to bury his Mom who passed away in March of this year.  She lived to be a ripe old 93 years, and in her own words, "Was tired and ready to go be with Jesus."  There was a lovely service for her at her church and all the family came from all over the country.  She was a tough old bird who lived and died on her own terms, and I only hope that I can remain THAT true to myself when I am her age.

I did very much enjoy the hotel in Buffalo where we stayed.  It had a creek running next to it and big back patio which was a fabulous place to enjoy my morning coffee. The weather was a bit chilly, and there was still snow on the Big Horns, but that was not unusual for that area.
I do miss those wide open spaces

Kickin it

I saw this little guy and posted it on facebook
I was amazed by how many people thought I should have
Killed it.  Poor little guy was just trying to get a little sun!

Very clever

Great way to start a morning



While we were there we spent some time with his grand kids, which is always a joy.  They are such good kids and so much fun to be around.  I got to meet a bunch of his cousins, who are some pretty interesting folks. By interesting I mean like, teachers, and missionaries, and Pastors, and Ranchers/farmers.  So when I say interesting, I mean it in the coolest way possible.

After we were done there, we spent a day in Casper with my son Colton, and his son Nik.  Nik is always shy when I first come around, but all it takes is a little bit of play time for him to come around.  There was some sort of big shindig going on at the park by their house so we walked down and Nik and I played in all the bouncy house things.  He loved the big slides the most.

After that we went and had some dinner.  It was just a the Texas road house and Nik and I had a great time busting open peanuts to get the prize inside.  He was super excited the first time he got a double!  It was hilarious!

For lack of anything better to do we finished the night by going to the College National Finals Rodeo.  Colton is not a horse person in anyway, but he was a good sport and went along anyway.  Nik had never been to a rodeo before.  It took me showing him a video of bucking bulls before he wanted to go, but once he saw that, he kept saying over and over, "When can we see the cows?"

Because he hasn't really been around that kind of lifestyle, I didn't really expect him to enjoy it so much, but he was sooo excited!  We got there early and so spent some time walking around the event center to check out all the vendor booths.  Of course we ended up getting him a little stuffed horse, who he promptly named Ruby.  Just to be clear, Ruby is a boy horse.  Then he wanted a rope too, so he got a rope and I tried to teach him to rope.  He had a little trouble remembering to release when he threw, but we had fun and he kept that rope and Ruby very close the entire time.  

Through out the entire show he was entranced, and made sure that Ruby was where he could see also so he could learn how to be a rodeo horse.  I had to laugh when he told me that the roan pick up horse during the saddle bronc riding, was Ruby.  He thought those pick up horses were pretty cool.  I have to admit I thought they were too.

Nik, Ruby and I

Colton and I

TC watching Nik


He had Ruby lassoed! 
We had so much fun!  I wish I lived closer to Nik, he is such a cool little kid and I only get to see him about once a year.

Now we are home again to forecasted highs of 115-120 this week.  Everyone is freaking out, worried about how they will keep their horses cool.  I hose mine down and hope for a breeze, make sure they have shade and plenty of fresh cool water.  This isn't their first Arizona summer, so I suspect they will be fine.  Half the time they don't even use the shade, but I make sure they have some if they need it.  I read somewhere that you shouldn't hose them down because it magnifies the sun and makes them hotter.  I am having trouble buying in to that theory just because if it were true then I don't think sweating would do us much good either. I know that if I am hot, hosing myself down feels great.  So if it feels good to me, a mammal, then I can only assume that it will also feel good to the ponies who are also mammals.

I'm actually more worried about the chickens than anything, but I've just been making sure they have plenty of options for cooling off, and then throw them some frozen fruit in the afternoon so that they have a cool snack.

Well, now it is off to work for me.

6 comments:

  1. I have also seen people freaking out over the temps and I'm like...This is not unusual..It happens every year in AZ...sometimes more than once in a summer. LOL. I got all of my shades up and misters going and you know where my horses are standing?...Out in the blazing sun. (insert eyeroll). And I don't even have flies, so it's not like the flies under the shades are bothering them. Some of them do seem to use the shades more than others, but they never just do camp under them.

    Any I also hose off my horses, usually in the early evening, after the blaze has gone out of the sun. They LOVE it. Line up, vi for the spray and then go roll in the dirt. After they have all had a good roll, I generally catch them and hose them off again and make them stand until they are dry, so they aren't coated in this nasty, itchy AZ dirt. They all feel much better and are frisky afterward. Kinda like us needing a shower after a long day. If feels better to go to bed clean than all dirty and sticky.

    Oh, and Nic is very cute BTW. ;-).

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  2. Sounds like a good trip! I think Ruby is a fine name for a big red boy horse, especially a tough pick up horse at the rodeo. :)

    I don't think I'd survive a summer in Arizona. I'm half dying just thinking about it.

    I have noticed that a wet horse (not damp like with sweat, but really wet) in the sun gets pretty hot. I don't know about it magnifying the sun, but the sopping wet hair seems to hold in heat.

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    1. I think that is a valid point Andrea. Race horse people hose and scrape, hose and scrape to pull the heat out (as is also recommended for horses that overheat) and a dripping wet horse should not be left in the hot sun, they should be scraped and tied in the shade if you are not going to let them roll.

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  3. I think Nik inherited your genes for loving horses!
    I'm sure glad we don't get much above 100 degrees here- but we get high humidity with it, so cooling off is really difficult. We tend to use fans to cool off, even in the shade.

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  4. Looks like a good vacation time there, glad to see Nik and Colton as well. We are not that hot either, and my horses use the shade but I'm sure its more for bug relief than heat

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  5. Sounds like you had a great time and got to meet a lot of good people.

    I sooo don't miss the heat. I have to laugh though when everyone here thinks it's Hot and the high for the day is barely 102°. Yeah, me and the horses welcome the break.

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