Editor’s note: Gator has just taken off to have a good, cranky buck at the top of the hill. Conversation to be continued later.

Anyway, it rained all day yesterday (in Virginia??? Noooo!) so I cleaned a lot of tack. Last night no one slept (including the horses, it seems) as it rained so hard. The dogs and I were up all night. Of course, that made today super humid. Lovely. But J3 and I got everything done. Enzo chose to spend the afternoon in the airconditioning. I wanna be him.

What else? Ron is fixing (actually, rebuilding would be a better word; he had to completely scrap the existing fence some bozo put up. Posts every four feet and not deep enough in the ground. Then they cut up all those 16 foot boards to fit, and cut the tops off the posts so nothing is really reusable as far as fencing goes). I’ll be able to move horses over there soon. I”ve got to choose which horses are going to some open house in June. That ought to be entertaining. At least they get to arrive a couple days ahead of schedule to settle in. Anne is sending a couple/ three geldings next week. Red will probably make the return trip to NoVA as there is a pony club person looking for short mares up there. Wouldn’t that be nice? Red could have her own pet girl!

Other than that, a calm week here on the farm. Hopefully something fun will happen soon, otherwise I am going to have to start making things up.

Well, nobody came to play with me today, despite the fact that it isn’t really a downpour out there. More like steady rain. Occasionally heavy rain, but I wouldn’t call it an actual downpour. Sissies. I guess I clean tack. I seem to have a never ending supply of dirty tack.

Brown and Red seem better and are back in light work. Neither the vet with all her fancy equipment nor I could find anything wrong, so we came up with that wonderful, general diagnosis so often used: “Did Something Stupid In The Field.” Probably a muscle strain or something. Anyway, a little R&R did them well.

We have a new field here, too. We did a little swapping with Montpelier, and now have another 20 acres or so. The run in and fence need a bit of attention, but then it will be good to go.

Well, okay. My volunteer cancelled on me, so I guess Stink Dog and I will go clean tack. Still have to pick stalls. Brought everybody in this morning for their grooming, but had to run to town for supplies and gas. Always something, right? But honestly, if you can’t find anything to do at a barn, you really aren’t looking very hard. Or at all. When all else fails, there is always the war on spiders.

I was going to get a few more geldings this week, but Anne called, and wouldn’t you know, they all went lame! Abscess, trimmed short, all sorts of things. But all of them?? And it WAS NOT ME! Just want you all to know that. I haven’t even seen these guys yet. Someone must have told them they were coming to Montpelier. Sigh.

Today is the second official day of humidity and heat. I’m not ready for hot and humid yet, but it is good weather to start greenies. They don’t want to go anywhere or do anything. I have to say I am really impressed with Red and Brown, though. I’ve taken them in the ring on very windy days, and they still paid attention and did their job. They are going to be very good horses when they grow up. Yesterday I decided to work on something entirely different. I tied a rope to a tire and had the horses drag it around. A little desensitization, if you will. Gator was a superstar, as usual. She looked at the tire, looked at me, and said, “Oh. Another Stupid Human Trick. Whatever.” Never even glanced at it again. Red did it, but wasn’t in the least bit happy about the idea, and kept that evil tire squarely in sight at all times. I was surprised Swing reacted at all. She’s so brave, but she thought dragging a tire was a pretty dumb idea. She was better than Red, but not as nonchalant as Gator. Brown was a surprise too, but a good one. She was interested in the tire, surprised it followed her, but not concerned. By the time we finished dragging it around she was almost as good as Gator! She may learn at a slower pace, but once she understands something, she’s got it. She’s a fun mare to work with. Now that she is older, she’s getting a personality and opinions.

Well, Debra will be here soon and I’ve got to take here out to groom, then back for the vet tour, then Tim is coming around two this afternoon. Chat later.

So, in a few hours I leave for Lexington KY and Rolex! I will try not to think of rabies for four whole days (although I do plan to shoot every opossum I see from now until eternity. Which is EPM related, but what the heck. I”m a good shot). Okay, kidding. Really. Animal rights people calm down. I do not carry a gun (although it is true that I am a good shot. Army had to teach me something). And anyway, by the time I ran home and got one that possum would be long gone. Kidding! Really. Well, sort of. The disturbing part is that hay is contaminated with EPM, not just pastures, which makes sense, if you think about it. Just one more thing to scare the pants off ya.

But Rolex will be fun. Dave has already informed me that he will spend the dressage portion of the test over on the Keeneland racetrack. Apparently, horses trotting in circles holds no interest for him, but horses running in circles does. Go figure. See you all when I get back.

Cold and wet today. Alexis scrubbed Lucky’s face. Looks like he’s starting some proud flesh, so we took care of that. The ungrateful wretch broke a perfectly good halter in response. Heaven forbid he should be more than thirty feet away from the other horses in his field (who don’t even like him, BTW). Horses… I wonder if penguins freak out like that? I’d have to ask a penguinologist. Is there such a thing as a penguinologist? I guess I’ll have to look that up while I’m fixing halters.