A Great April Fool's Day

Today was such a great April Fool's day. The weather was nice and sunny and warm! In the 70's. We've had some miserable weather for the past two weeks, either raining and drizzling or very windy. But today was perfect. It was a wonderful sunny t-shirt wearing day! I accomplished a bit of gardening in the morning, and then in the afternoon it was high time to saddle up. Not going to let a sunny day like this get away without the aroma of horse sweat to fill the air.... Tommy and I did a nice easy 15 mile loop today. He has had two weeks off due to the crummy weather, so it was good for him to get out and stretch his legs a bit. I've recently moved him up into the snaffle from the training sidepull, and he's getting along with it nicely. He has a lovely long-strided trail horse type of walk, and the miles seemed to go by pretty effortlessly. Our little dogs were happier than pigs in slop too. They can't wait to go for trail rides, and manage to find several puddles to cool off in along the way. Little did Tommy know.....that he would be packing treasures home today. He didn't seem to mind being a pack horse, (it's usually Nettie or Ox's job to pack these silly things for me.) There are tons of whitetail deer out on the reservation, and I can generally spot antler sheds in remote areas that vehicles cannot get to. It's not unusual to have a couple tied to the saddle when we come back in from rides. I'm sure that there are people who probably think I'm off my nut for wanting to carry these 10 miles back home...... but, they're cool. I've got a huge stack of these treasures in our tool shed. Maybe I'll make an antler chandelier someday....

The river is running high and mighty at the moment. With all of the rain that has been coming down lately, it has split the river into large forked sections. Tommy crossed a few streams in the fields today, but the river is too high and rapid to attempt right now. We'll have to wait for another month or two before venturing into it.

"Little house on the riverbank." I usually remember it like the little house on the prairie, but it's got a bit of a different history. This was an old indian/cayuse family homestead. It's pretty old and just about ready to fall down. There are a few of these homesteader dwellings left on the rez, and it's nice to see the remainders of this regions history.

Heading home. A good day. =:)

-Shannon.