Twenty Bucks!

At the beginning of the US primaries I (ever the optimist) bet David (ever the pessimist) $20 that Obama was going to win the election. I don't want to get all political on you, but I do want you to know that I cried like a baby during his speech this evening.

Getting My Kicks

It was raining hard this morning but I turned the horses out on the pasture so that I could get my chores done in peace. It has been gray and mild here for the past several days so I thought it would be safe to let Tonka graze unmuzzled for an hour. After mucking, restocking the feeders and playing some fetch with the dogs I went to collect the horses. I guess Tonka likes grazing without his muzzle because he took off at a trot when he saw the halter in my hand (Raven hot on his heels, of course). As I walked down to their new location I watched him tuck into a new patch of grass and I figured that small shenanigan was over. But when I approached to offer some skritches he turned his rump, kicked out in my general direction and bolted back up the length of the pasture and into the paddock (Raven hot on his heels, of course). And boyohboy did he look good doing it! He rarely sustains a voluntary canter for more than a few strides, but this was 200 meters of four-off-the-floor flying gallop.

You need to understand that Tonka is sweet and polite to a fault. Food is the only thing that will push him to test human authority, and even his treat-induced bad behavior is mostly just silly antics. He has never avoided being caught before today, and he has certainly never kicked out at anyone. I suppose that I should be worried about this development, but I'm actually kind of proud of him. To me that show of spunk and power means that he is starting to feel spunky and powerful.

Apple Sauce

Roger* showed up on Friday with ~50 lbs of apples. Yesterday he systematically produced 10 liters of applesauce (yum!) and a pile of discarded apple pieces. Of course we can't feed these to Tonka and Raven all at once, but we stashed them in a freezer to be doled out as pony popsicles over the coming week. Perhaps I will do the same thing with our own apples next year.

The weather has normalized over the past three days, so we are getting the wind and rain that's typical of fall on the coast. Still, Roger was kind enough to help David and I get the horse shelter finished yesterday despite the rain and the entirely unhelpful antics of the goats. Raven is definitely appreciative of all this effort on her behalf, but Tonka still prefers to stand out in the weather. At least I know that he has the choice now, and I feel like I have held up my end of the bargain.

*Since returning to Vancouver from LA Roger has been living in his father's basement. He will take possession of his condo next month, but in the meantime short getaways to Farcical Farm have helped him to maintain his sanity. He lived in our Vancouver basement suite for years, so having him around feels just like old times.