Over the River and Through the Woods....

....except we didn't go to Grandmother's house, and it wasn't exactly a river -- more like a small stream. We went out for a ride on Sunday through the woods near our house. We decided to stay in the woods this time, which meant a lot of backtracking to take the different varying, and sometimes dead-ending, trails. This also meant we had to cross the little stream about four or five times. What a different experience this has been compared to a year or so ago. There was a time when coming upon that six inch wide stream of water caused The Girls to stop dead in their tracks and freak out. It used to take so much coaxing, prodding, and sometimes pulling to get them to cross that little bit of water. There were times when I was sure it took us about 10-15 minutes to get across, and physically exhausted John and me in the process. But then last summer when riding a different area a few miles away from home, we came across a very large flooded spot. With some coaxing, but as much as I would have thought, we got them to wade right through the water. After that, we kept going back to that spot until they just trotted on through it like it was nothing. So yesterday crossing that little stream in the woods was no problem. Something else also happened that was pretty neat -- we came across some places on the trail where obviously someone had been doing some tree removal. There were lots of branches, large and small, scattered about, and even through the snow cover we could tell the ground was sort of torn up. With Divna in the lead, I spotted the path around the mess that I felt was the safest. I only had to give her the slightest cues and she took the path around that I had picked out -- a path that lead off the trail briefly, then curved back to the trail. Zora followed. It is so neat when something like that happens. I like to think at those times that Divna trusts me -- I hope she knows I would never ask her to do anything that would hurt her. She is such a good trail horse! I am so happy (and fortunate) to have her in my life....

Horses on the Brain???

Last night while watching the evening news, the anchor said "President Obama addressed a room full of mayors today." What I heard was "President Obama addressed a room full of MARES today." I thought to myself, "why would he be with all those horses?" Then it dawned on me........

I think I may be losing my marbles!!!

Sunday in the Zdravich Barn

It was a typical Sunday at the Zdravich's. We were out cleaning the barn, with Serbian music blasting, and all of us were there: the two horses, Zora & Divna; the two goats, Marco & Misho; the two cats, Simo & Sonya, and of course, the six chickens (all unnamed, except one, Zlata -- they all look just alike, except for her, so names were futile). We had beers, and rakija (Serbian "moonshine") to keep us warm, and we made an event out of it, as always. Spoiling the critters with treats, watching the goats play and bump each other in the head, it was just a great evening! This ritual happens quite frequently on Sundays here, and it always puts the head in a good place to face the work-week ahead. God, I love my life!!!

Payday!

Yesterday was a good day for us, especially John, and some other people in LaPorte County. John closed on a horse property he had listed! Yahoo!!! We are seeing some signs that the real estate market may be picking up a bit. The property he sold yesterday was really special -- the people who bought it want to have animals. They have been living in a subdivision-type setting, and wanted to experience a more rural life with animals. They have the perfect spot for it! We are excited for them, because we understand what a nice life it is when you share it with the other species of this planet. They bought an adorable, spotless home on 13 acres in a small Northwest Indiana community. We wish them loads of happiness there as they build their barn, put up fencing and bring some new lives into their family!

The Mystery of the Yellow-Green Truck

Today was downright warm compared to what has been happening here in Indiana lately. It was 40+ degrees, so of course we went for a ride. We took the abandoned railroad line near where we live. There is still quite a bit of snow on the ground, so we took it slow and easy. The railroad line is about 4 miles long, and roads intersect it along the way. After passing one of the intersections, I happened to turn and look back and noticed a yellow-green pick up truck sitting in the road. I just knew whomever was in the truck was looking at the 4 of us on the trail. I asked John if he noticed the truck, and of course he didn't. So not thinking much more of it, we continued our ride. We eventually turned back and headed for home. We were off the railroad line and almost to the lane that leads to our house. We were passing the home of one of our nearest neighbors, and got off the horses to walk them the rest of the way in so they could cool off. I looked back, and there was the yellow-green truck again!!! It was going very slowly down the lane. I told John, "There is that truck again!!!" He turned to look, and then the truck turned into the driveway of the neighbors house. I thought, "Oh, they got a new truck....it must have been them...they saw us riding and stopped to check us out." But then, the truck backed out of the driveway and drove off in the opposite direction. Something strange is going on here. The person in that yellow-green truck was following us -- of that I am certain. Why??? Very, very strange, and kind of creepy!!!

Two Rides in Two Days

Well, I should have written this DAYS ago, but it has been way too hectic around here! We had people over for the football game, just a small crowd, but there is still preparation involved. Sunday morning it was really nice out -- probably about 30 degrees, so we siezed the opportunity to ride! We took The Girls through the woods near our house and it was just great! The neighbors had some logging done last fall, so the trails looked a little different. It was like riding a new trail at times. We only had about an hour, and it was too bad, because I could have stayed out there all day!

Then on Tuesday we got HAMMERED with lake effect snow.....we had white-out conditions all over the area. Businesses and schools shut down. It was really something. That evening we spent a lot of time out in the barn getting everything ready for what we knew would be a rough couple of days. We started wondering if the county had plowed the paved road near us yet....so we thought, "Let's go check it out!" and saddled up The Girls and took off! It was such a beautiful ride with large snowflakes falling, the moon shining, and no one around! As it turns out, they had not yet plowed the road, so there we were, riding down the middle of the road. Just too cool! The Girls loved it.