Yesterday was just a rocking good time at the Crazy Cow Country Farm! Within minutes of finishing my shift at work our boarders, Kim and Brian, arrived to look over Fizzle's hooves - Brian was going to show Kim how to clean them out. Under the pretense of "helping" I hung around for a few minutes to see an expert in action. Holy moly he was fast! In the time it would take for me to get a good grip and begin work he had the entire thing cleaned out - and they were quite packed. When I commented about his skill I mentioned my struggles with Smoke the other day and he kindly offered to clean our three as well. Watching him confidently deal with Smoke was inspiring and hopefully one day I'll be able to do that. He was as kind and gentle as he was confident and swift - simply wonderful to watch. One thing though. She nailed him a few times. Not bad at all but he was on the receiving end of a few strong kicks and had to step away a few times. At that point I know I would have walked away but he went right back in and finished the job. See, I want to be the one person who works with and rides horses that can say they've never been kicked or fallen off the saddle. Yes, I do live in this fantasy world but indulge me and don't burst my bubble just yet please. The only one he didn't get to was Fire as he wanted no part of any human messing with his feet.

After that I knew they had errands to run as they were on a hunt for a lawnmower and I certainly was anxious to get in the car and get my errands finished but we ended up talking in the driveway for nearly an hour - they are just the nicest people. I had no idea that Brian is quite the expert in horsemanship and believes in natural training as well. It was a wonderful way to spend some time - errands be damned!

No sooner were they petting the horses than a car pulled up with a woman and her daughter too look over the boer herd. Another hour spent visiting with such interesting ladies flew by and, after scheduling a pick up on Tuesday for the entire herd, I finally hit the road. As I was driving and reflecting on how lucky we are with the people entering our lives I promptly blew a tire. I mean it popped and had a huge hole in the side of it. Thankfully I was only four miles from home but it interupted Ed's work on the transmission and that's not good.

Since we just finished a bale we needed to move the remaining three around to start one and then clear the front part so the lady's truck can back right up to the stall gate. Those who've handled round bales are chuckling and understand full well how much fun the next half hour was. But after using several chains, a come-along, and even putting our little escort in there for some butting, the front is cleared for entry. Then I swept up all the fresh hay on the ground to use in the morning. By Tuesday morning the chickens will have pulled off enough hay to cover the entire floor and I'll only have to pull every other day. They're good girls!

After working today I began the spring barn cleaning, starting with the loafing shed in the front pasture. The chickens stood around clucking and squawking telling me to hurry up and get that mess picked up so they could get in for the worm treats and smooth it all back out. After I finished, within an hour it looked like freshly tilled soil. Naturally I developed a flat on the mower trailer and Ed had to come get me from the middle of the dumping pasture. If anyone has any vehicles you'd like to ruined, please let me know - I'm here to help and I'll do it cheap! After that was finished I started on the big white barn and made quite a dent - it'll take me several full weekends though as it's packed pretty well. The three teenage horses were very curious and none too pleased that I was messing in their barn but they avoided me every time I started up the mower. Moo wasn't scared a bit and took advantage of some quiet time in the barn by herself without the bothersome horses.

I just finished a huge bowl of freshly made salsa and should probably head back out to work with the horses because we're expecting our other boarding family any minute and, par for the course, they are wonderful people to visit with. I usually allow everyone to spend alone time with the horses after giving them a quick status report on anything we've been working on or noticing and then, if they have time, they'll stop for a while and visit which I'm always up for!