Lucas Rides a Wild Mustang

"The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears."

~~Arabian Proverb

After several weeks of preparations and minor remodeling, our guest house is ready for visitors. Our inaugural stay was had by my sister Laurie and her family. It was very exciting to share the fruits of our hard work with them. We were honored they came to spend some of their summer vacation with us.

Lucas had been quite excited to get here and meet all the animals. And for anyone who knows Lucas, you may not be surprised to hear that the animals found him very interesting.

Besides discovering a new best friend in Bodie and being chased by Peep Peep the rogue rooster, Lucas was enamored with the horses. At first, he didn't quite comprehend their magnitude and power. He approached them and pet them as he would a dog or cat.

I was nervous and kept a watchful eye at all times. Oh my! How will Hy Note respond to being "pet?" I should have known. The horses didn't respond to his actions but to his intentions and they welcomed his attention.

Perhaps the highlight of Lucas' stay was the ride he took on Cowboy Tim's wild Mustang, Burns. Yes, Burns is broke and well-trained. But the fact remains that given the chance, she would bolt and never look back.

Cowboy Tim gave Lucas a lesson in mounting a horse and then the subsequent important lesson in staying on and then the basics of riding. Lucas, once he became focused, took those words in and put them into immediate practice. My favorite part was when he reached forward, instinctively, and pet Burns on the neck for a good girl moment.

He rode Burns. We all stood by and watched, and as any respectable backseat driver would do, coached him in his riding. He didn't need our coaching.

Lucas thought he had had enough. With our encouragement--again, he stayed on and he rode more and had a grand time! You can't imagine the pride that was floating all around that round pen.

When he dismounted, perfectly, after a little adjustment and listening closely to Cowboy Tim's instructions, he got back on and off just to be sure he could.

Yes, our Little Creek Ranch still needs quite a bit more TLC. What we aren't short on are pleasant dreams come true.

Under the Orange Glow of Mars

We had a busy day around the ranch today working to get the guest house ready for Laurie and her family coming up in 2 weeks. A hot day, so inside projects were the name of the game.

At about 8pm we sat out on the porch with Tim and Tanya for a BBQ dinner. It is so pleasant on that porch; everyone who sits there says so. Despite the pull to just sit and chat, we all had our evening chores to get to before losing light.

Cowboy Tim, Tanya and Larry headed over to the neighboring ranch and I stayed to feed the horses. What was that?!

I heard this high-pitched yelping and some intense horse sounds which I'm not sure I can describe. I figured it was Sage, the Boarder Collie, doing her herding of one of the horses on that end.

I cut my chores short as the sky was quickly darkening and Bodie and I high-tailed it over to see what was going on.

One of Cowboy Tim's many talents is breaking, or starting, horses. Check him out at http://www.startmycolt.com/.

Tonight he was working with a wild Mustang mare from the Warm Springs Reservation. Equine Outreach, a local horse rescue facility, acquired several Mustangs and their trainers have no idea what to do with them. Cowboy Tim volunteered to take two of the Mustangs and start them.

This was the first time this horse had a lasso around her and has been in close proximity to people. We stood and watched as Cowboy Tim took a frightened, wild horse and brought her to the point of giving in to a pull on the lasso and to making eye contact. These are very big steps.

The night was mild, the dark sky full of summer constellations and Mars was glowing bright. Larry, Bodie and I stood on the outside of a wooden corral and watched the master at work. Sage ran circles around the corral doing her job to be sure the horse stayed where she last left it.

Cowboy Tim took the win and let the Mustang mare find safety with the other mare. Tomorrow he'll pick up where he left off with the next goal of getting a halter on the mare and working her with a lead rope.

This is an exhibition I don't want to miss!