As If Riding Every Day Weren’t Enough…

In a few short weeks I’ll be heading to Montana and spending 8 hours a day driving horses!  Every romantic image of driving horses comes to mind — using them to feed the 650 pound round bales (we feed three at a time, every two weeks), driving a wagon through town (our grocery store has a hitching rail!), giving people wagon rides through the vineyards, and yes, farming with them.

Hoping to get some riding in too, you know, in my down-time.

Speaking of Farming…

For the past several years we’ve been limping by on just enough water to meet our basic needs around here — watering the horses, ourselves, and keeping our existing trees and walnut grove alive. 

Axel finds some snacks while grazing in the walnut grove.

This summer we replaced the pipe, wire, controller, and pump in our well.  I searched online for JUST the right seed for horse pasture and yards.  I bought the seed and it sat in our mudroom while we waited for the perfect planting weather.  

It happened on the first day of fall.  The forecast was for cooler temps and even rain all this week.  Last Sunday we spent the day with the spring-tooth harrow, load after load of beautifully composted horse manure, and the seed spreader.  We got about a third of the place seeded, and that’s quite an accomplishment. 

What’s prettier than a red horse on a green background? Not much!

When you first plant grass seed you have to really keep it moist around these parts.  We are planting in phases so that we aren’t running sprinklers constantly.  Once one section is established, we’ll move on and plant the next.  We are expecting our planting season to last into November, but we should be done by the end of October.  

Besides being nutritionally important to have a good mix of grass and legumes for the horses, I just don’t think there’s anything prettier than a happy horse in a green field.  Looking forward to beautiful fields this fall!

There are few things as thrilling as work-horses — horses with a job that they know and enjoy. These horses eagerly did exactly the opposite of what their instinct tells them is safe and right.

Thirty seconds to be hitched and out the door?  Amazing!

Last Thursday was my birthday.  I’d been having this recurring dream for about 10 days that I bought a couple of winning lottery tickets by playing specific numbers.  For my birthday I bought some tickets.

First, I had to google “how to play the lottery”.  Because, seriously, I like NEVER buy lottery tickets.

Then I started to really dream about what I’d do with all that money.  That was fun.  

I got home and one of the feeders was empty.  It shouldn’t have been, the horses were eating a little more than usual.  That meant that I had to single-handedly attempt to get a 650 lb round bale onto a trailer and out to the feeder in 100 degree heat.  

It was frustrating, but I was on a mission and ultimately got it done.

Jeff was up at the cabin and I was to drive up and meet him after work.  We planned to have a nice relaxing glass of wine, hang out on the lake, and just relax.  Not even half way up there, my car started flashing warning lights — “AT OIL TEMP”.  I took that to be a bad thing.  I tried to call Jeff but his phone was dead.  

I’m not going to lie.  The next half hour I stood at a gas station trying to a) read the owner’s manual so I could b) find the automatic transmission fluid dipstick, while I c) cried and sweated what remaining water I had left in me after feeding.  

I turned back and headed home, unable to touch base with Jeff and tell him I wouldn’t make it.  

A shower and a glass of wine when I got home sounded like a good enough ending to the day.  I turned on the shower faucet.  

Nothing.

I knew before I knew exactly what was wrong.  For the past 10 years we’ve been struggling to get by with the water we had.  It’s a long story, and it’s almost embarrassing how good we’ve become at pulling pumps out of wells.  My brother actually bought a boom truck, and we are the main users of it.  
I don’t know how a person can get real emotional about a hole in the ground, but this well is important to me.  First, dad drilled the first half of it by hand, and I was there when he hit water (picture below).  The well has been the heart of our every endeavor out here since I was a girl.  The well made the peach orchard possible, kept our massive gardens alive, and secured this place as a little oasis in the desert.  
We haven’t had a yard or garden for the past two years.  This September our plan was to pull the pump and replace the pump, pipe, wiring, and control box.  Finally, we were going to get all new everything — an expensive proposition, but what we knew we needed to do.  In September.

Dad and I, 4/20/1975, the day we struck water.

You know that line about man planning and God laughing?  I’m the poster child for that.

I woke up the next morning and arranged troughs for the horses so that they had water, thanks to our neighbors.  Jeff came home and my brother showed up with the boom truck.  My brother dropped everything and came up to help us pull the pump out.  And then I went out on a really lovely sunset ride with a couple.  

Saturday we had a ride in the morning — which is a wonderful start to any day if you ask me.  I checked my Facebook and saw so many happy birthday wishes and offers to pick me up and help us out with the car situation, I nearly started to cry.  Jeff went on a procurement mission to get the pump, pipe, and everything we needed.  We got it all staged.  Then a neighbor told us about some free lumber and straw that was ours if we went and got it, so we got three loads of great material for horse sheds and feeders and whatnot.  

Jeff came home with everything we needed.  For a FRACTION of what it was supposed to cost.  I started to choke up then also, because I can’t tell you how dark a cloud this whole water issue has cast over us.  It’s very stressful.  And sad not to have a yard.  yuck.  

Sunday we set the pump — all new pipe, all new wire, all new controls, and let me tell you it’s one fancy-pants set up.  I’d take pictures of it for you but… um… that’s kind of boring.  

Sunday I also checked my lottery tickets.  Not a single winner.  

I wasn’t even sad.  I had a long line of friends who eagerly offered help and kind wishes.  We had family willing to drop everything to help us out.  We had a great deal on a new pump, and some free lumber for some projects we knew we needed to do.  I went on fantastic rides, doing something that I absolutely love — meeting new people and riding horses.  And through all the stress and 18 hour days, my husband and I were able to laugh and joke and just get it done, like a team, something I appreciate so profoundly.

And we had water.  

Did I win the Washington Lottery?  Nah.  Did I win the life lottery?  I think so!

Our big bay gelding Yukon has a pair of bright white letters on his hip – “MB”.  He’s in his late 20s, approaching 30.  It’s safe to assume the brand has been there since he was just a youngster, maybe a year old.

We are often asked about Yukon’s brand, so I thought I’d share with you a bit about brands.

As a kid I often went with my uncle to round up cattle and brand them.  He did it the “easy” way, by just running them into a squeeze chute and using an electric brand.  We only did a few cattle at a time and this was an easy way for just the two of us to get it done quickly.  We’d run each steer into the squeeze chute and clamp it shut.  Then he’d brand them, give them a shot, and if he had to he’d lop the tips off their horns.  

Here’s a fun video of some branding in a ranch setting.

Livestock are branded mainly to identify ownership.  Branding is also used to identify the animal’s origin — the Bureau of Land Management freeze-brands mustangs on their neck with a marking that indicates the horse’s year of birth and registration number.  Ancient Egyptians used fire-brands to identify ownership and sometimes with symbols meant to protect the animals.  

Some common branding techniques are fire branding (straight out of the westerns), freeze branding, and tattooing.  

• Fire Branding:  a branding iron is heated either over a fire, a propane torch, or has an electric heating element.  The brand results in bare skin, and over time becomes hard to read.  
• Freeze Branding:  a branding iron is super-cooled.  This branding method leaves the hair permanently white in the shape of the brand.  This is like Yukon’s brand.  
• Tattooing:  this is literally tattooing and is usually done on the inside of the upper lip of a horse.  Usually done on race horses.

People use brands to identify their tack as well.  Brands are registered through the state’s branding agency, a part of the Department of Ag.  

Our brand is officially registered with the Washington State Department of Agriculture.  It is a horseshoe wine-glass (full of wine!).  

Reading brands is like learning a new language and I’ll provide you a link because I really couldn’t do a better job of explaining it.  Go to the Cowboy Showcase site here:  http://www.cowboyshowcase.com/brands.html for more brand information.