Tuesday's Filly

My good friend Andrea came over this morning and as she was leaving, noticed a wet little foal out in the field. Sure enough, a new baby buckskin. Here is a picture of Curt's sister Shauna, who dropped by later in the afternoon, and a van load of kids joining the horses in staring unashamedly at the new little babe. I love how horses gather round and stare. We couldn't stay long though as Sadie had to be in to the lab to re-do her blood work. The lab missed checking her sodium and potassium levels on Friday and only did the blood osmolality. I had to wake her up from her nap and take her in for 4pm. She was in a great mood by the time all of us filed in there and I was sure she was going to do a super job like last time. (She giggled all the way through at Ellie the last time.) But in the chair opposite her was a screaming little boy. The longer she waited for her poke, the more nervous she got. Her needle went over with wailing. *sigh*. Andrea, i forgot to tell you "Good Eye!" When someone spots something like a new babe, a deer or moose in the bush, a salamander in the mud, a yummy place to get ice cream they get a "Good Eye!" the compliment can be used to stop the child from repeating it 4000000 times and it can also be used to ignore the fact that you are *not* going to stop for ice cream. haa! In this case, you just have a good eye. ;)

Robin's Baby

Last night I drove the kids out to the field to check on the horses. One of the mares had started "waxing" (dripping milk) that morning and we knew that her foal was on it's way. She had hidden way back into the far bush. When we finally found her there was no baby yet. By bedtime we could see her out the back window pacing the fence-line. Everyone was excited but especially Robin. This was "her" horse in labour. This morning everyone was up early. Curt was coming in from chores just as I was doling out breakfast. He announced "Black Gold Dust Miner just had her foal!" Robin, who was holding Wesley, went into a panting frantic display of emotion. She thrust Wesley towards me hooting "I WANT TO SEE MY BABY...I WANT TO SEE MY BABY!!!" It struck me so funny. I grabbed Wes from her and hauled Sadie out of her highchair. Leaving breakfast half conquered, we headed out to see the babe, a filly. The pair were hiding at the southern most corner of the field in the bushes. Mama was being extremely protective so we took a peek and then left them for the day. She'll want to show off soon enough. In the meantime, Robin is trying to pick a name: "What should I call her Mom? Blackie? (the horse is honey colored), Goldie, Dustie, or Minerie?" :)

Date Night

We went riding tonight. My first time in...forever. Either I'm pregnant so Curt won't take me, or the kids are going with Curt. Finally tonight I got to go. Curt took me to the same place we rode horse on our first date 13 years ago. After all these years he still saddles my horse for me. He adjusts the stirrups for my short legs...high enough so a leprechaun could ride if he needed to. He went to take a picture of my momentous first ride of the season. *click* He looked at the picture... (smirk on his face) "Hmm! Your mouth is wide open." It's one of his "in" jokes. He likes to tease me that I talk too much. I reminded him that one of the reasons he liked me on our first date was that he didn't have to think of anything to say. My mouth ran like a squirrel in the park and he just sat on his horse and smiled. I finished my light-hearted lecture by saying. "You liked that I always had something to say." He smiled... "You still do!" (more teasing)

Curt showed me how he can get our little Arab "Sketch" to curl his neck all the way back to the saddle and spin on a dime and how he can get him to side-step. He showed me how to get the new Tennessee Walking horse we borrowed from his dad to keep it's gait. It was almost like learning to shift gears on a standard vehicle. I miss my Arab Chenille who died this winter. It's going to be strange to break in a new horse. It was good to get out today though and just be the two of us even if it was only for an hour and a half. A little flashback to our first date and a reminder of the things we love to do together.

Chenille

I wondered yesterday what I should blog about... should it be the indoor baseball the kids are doing? The wedding we went to with everyone today? The christmas concert that became more commitment than i thought it would be?? And then, this morning one of our horses died. Not just any horse. Chenille. My mother in law, who keeps track of everything down to where she planted her cucumbers in the garden for the past 30 years and how many tomatos and peaches she canned from year to year, pulled out her horse photo album this afternoon when we dropped by, reading Chenille's history to Carrie, my animal lover. Chenille was born in 1985, My inlaws bought her in 92 and she was my mother in law's horse. A bay arab. Beautiful and fast...but with the typical fire of an arab as well. She liked to ride a little side-ways when she was at a "trot" but "full out", you would think you were flying. She liked to pull the reins out of your hands and itch her legs with her nose if she could and when you would take her to the mountains her arab legs would shake with anticipation and fear, but as soon as you were on the trail, she was determined and sure-footed. Boy could she neck-rein. The first time Curt and I went out it was for a ride through Chickakoo with our parents, Chenille came. Most of our dates involved taking Chenille and one of the other horses out for a ride. One day we found out she couldn't swim as we tried to cross a pond in one of the surrounding fields. Such a terrible feeling filled us as she panicked and refused to lift her head out of the water after a fit of terror. Curt stood knee deep in the muck and held her head up until she had calmed down enough to stand again. We rode home in silence. Poor Chenille. As soon as we were married Curt bought her for me from his mother. Later, we bought her filly off of them too and Curt trained and rode her. I loved riding Chenille. I loved her fire and Curt liked to say that the horse was just like the rider. :) When we had children, Chenille was the horse they learned to ride on and she seemed to know they were precious and she would ride so slowly and carefully. She had a colt we named Snoopy that died soon after birth of a heart defect. My 4 year old son and I talked a lot about death and heaven and the resurection after Snoopy. I caught him playing with his plastic horse and make believing that it had died. He carefully laid a dish cloth on it "Snoopy DIED!!!" he announced to the empty room... paused for silence. I felt for him... Suddenly he snatched the dish cloth and threw it in the air and yelled "He ROSE AGAIN!!!!!!!!" :) Funny how some moments we never forget. This summer, Darren, Carrie, Robin and Ellie each rode on Chenille. Sadie rode while being led around. It's been 12 years since we were married and bought Chenille and this morning, after doing chores with Sadie, Curt found her at the fence between our farm and my in-law's farm. Gone. Some horses come and go and we forget we rode them or we only remember one particular ride. Sugar was so annoying she had to be at the front of the pack wherever you rode, Paula Too ganted up so much on one mountain ride that the saddle fell off and Curt just about went down the mountain with her, Silver Cloud was sold to a friend so that Curt could buy me an engagement ring, Freckles doubled me and Curt up to old Alfred's field the night Curt proposed to me...Chenille was there for 12 years anytime we wanted to ride, anytime the kids wanted to ride, or friends and family. Today as my mother in law took out the book, she also carefully noted today's date at the bottom of Chenille's page. It might strike a person funny... that maybe we're remembering horses... but it's more than just the horse we're remembering, it's the time we spent together riding with her. She represents a big part of the "recreation" part of our marriage and family life. She was there the morning we woke up to a drooping tent under thick snow in the mountains of Cadomin. My mother in law fried eggs and bacon. The snow caused HUGE snaps as it fell into her pan. She made me coffee that morning even though she would never touch the stuff, and we saw a huge moose on the mountain only a few meters away. One ride... there were hundreds more... i could go on. Hard to imagine going for a ride without her.