I looked out this morning to find the littles laying down enjoying a morning nap. After my coffee and they had rousted, I attempted to catch Mac, but juggling a bucket of cookies and a lead rope proved to be more of a challenge than anticipated. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I decided to leave well enough alone and tossed both her and Hank some hay instead.
As I was cleaning the pen yet another bucket full of poop, I heard a kerfuffle coming from the shop.
There was Roo, happily rooting through all of the clean buckets and containers stored under the stairs. Apparently that wasn't enough excitement for one morning as she'd also helped herself to a large bale S had tucked away in the shop. She was promptly escorted back to her pen, supplied with hay, and the shop door was firmly shut behind her.
With temperatures forecast to reach 30 degrees, it was time for some yardening before the heat settled in. I spent the morning removing suckers from the bases of the trees and doing some pruning while S tackled mowing duties. Despite the minuscule recent rain, things are drying out incredibly quickly again.
At one point, while refueling the mower, S lost the gas cap. The search was unsuccessful, but at least the littles benefited as I picked them a nice pile of fresh grass while searching out for it. (He did find it later not quite in that area :)
After a quick soup lunch, we were back at it. B arrived to feed horses and turn Roo out with the herd while S filled the far trough. I hauled water for the round pen and we set up a tub in east paddock. Once chores were finished, B caught Miss Mac in about 15 minutes today and moved her into the east paddock. Hank who was caught with cookies and taken out while Mac was caught was taken over as well.
The afternoon's project involved mowing beneath the evergreens—a two-person operation requiring one person to hold the branches up with a rake while the other maneuvers the mower underneath. It's a bit of a dance, but it certainly tidies things up.
Eventually it was time to move Hank back to his dry round pen after an hour or so of lush eating.
While filling the slow feeder bag for him, I discovered why the littles had polished it off so quickly yesterday. It turns out they weren't simply enthusiastic eaters—they had chewed a hole in the bottom! Mystery solved. Roo was also rounded up and returned to her diet pen for the evening.
By then it was 30 degrees outside, and after a full day of hard dusty work, showers were definitely in order.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the air conditioning. I squeezed in a workout while S enjoyed a nap before getting ready for his rodeo meeting at 6:30. I finished Tuesday's blog, loaded photos and videos, did my usual horse feed and checks, had a fresh pea feed in the garden and settled in to watch a little Elle.
S got home from the rodeo meeting and social time before 11 p.m., just as I was finishing an episode. He ate a burger and went to bed.
Looking back, today was full of the usual ranch shenanigans—Roo's shop adventures, Mac continuing to test our patience, and two clever little rescues teaching us that slow feeder bags are apparently no match for determined ponies. These are the kinds of details that probably won't seem important tomorrow, but I have a feeling future me will be glad I wrote them down.
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