The grass is turning green and the mud is drying up. I woke up this morning around 4:00 and had a topic to write on in mind. As I thought about that topic my mind quickly checked off the week's activities. They really do not need explaining or commenting on because simply listing what has been happening over the last week shows both how different our program is from conventional riding instruction programs and how simple it can be for conventional riding programs to become places of education and inspiration.
1. Last Saturday--Kay took the art students down to Corolla where they spent the night, were given a special herd tour by a member of the board of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, and presented their paintings to the CWF as a donation to sell in the Corolla Wild Horse gift shop. (Much more on this great weekend in a later post.)
2. Monday--I had a great ride deep into the woods with one of my riders who owns her own Corolla.
3. Tuesday--Loretta and I worked with her AIHR colt, Si Tanka. He is about ready for a rider now. Loretta has done a great job with him.
4. Tuesday--I had a prosecutor's conference in Norfolk and Rebecca brought Liam over for lunch at the Waterside.
5. Tuesday--Lisa pulled up and got out with a charged battery in her hand for the electric fencer. It was time to charge the battery and she simply took care of it without being asked.
6. Wednesday--Cut about 100 poles for our new round pen made of sticks. (much more on that later).
7. Wednesday--Brent mounted Washikie bareback. The colt began to buck and Lea, his owner, remained calm and brought him down to a stand still. Kay and Loretta worked with their horses during the day while I was at the office.
8. Thursday--Terry brought over a co-worker whose family lived near the wild horses of Corolla. She rode with us. She rode Manteo. Before she left she told me about her screen saver with the famous wild Corolla, Cyclops, on it. She was delighted to learn that the horse that she had been riding for the past few hours was Cyclops's son.
9. Thursday--Chance rode Wanchese, my little Shackleford stallion, on the most challenging ride that he had ever been on and did just great. Jacob worked on teaching independence to Chief-Makes-Room.
10. Thursday--Makipiya Luta, my new little BLM filly, let me touch her.
11. Friday--Neared completion of the stick pen, with Brent's help sowed fertilizer by hand, worked with Brent on a big Appaloosa that he is training, and went on a ride with Lea and Ashley. Jacob cut the tops from the sticks of the stick pen.
12. Friday--Brent, Terry, and Jacob went on a lengthy midnight ride.
13. Friday--Amanda rode her Corolla mare, Secotan. Secotan is really settling into becoming a first rate trail horse.
14. Saturday--Little Ashley came out and rode Porter. She is only about seven and is doing a great job of recovering from the shock of her first bucking episode. She is meeting her fear head on and she is winning.
15. Saturday--Danielle brought out a friend who helped us work and then went on a nice ride with us.
16. Saturday--Danielle, Casey, Brenna, Lydia, Chance and Riley, helped worm foals, repair the dam, do erosion prevention and weed removal. Rebecca played with Crazy Bear and put Liam up on his back. Liam's face really lights up when he gets on a horse. However, we will have to wait until the boy turns at least two before he begins any serious riding.
17. Saturday--Terry took the week's accumulated trash away and Bill worked on fencing at the Little House.
18. Saturday--Rosa's owner drove down from Maine to pick her up and take her home. This daughter of Red Feather will be part of the off site breeding program for Corollas in a few more years. Before leaving for Maine, her owner joined us for a long woods ride. She rode Manteo.
My riders and their families devote their time and skill into making our program work. That means an awful lot to me. I am sure that I missed some things but I have to hustle off now. Danielle is bringing her mother and little brother out for their first rides and I need to do a little feeding before the sun comes up.
(This picture is of my Red Feather's father, also named Red Feather.)
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