Summer Fades to a Memory

Yep, there’s snow in them thar hills. While we were enjoying a nice soaking here at Dogpound North over to the west a few miles that rain was turning our mountains a whiter shade of pale. The photo above is shot with a big lens so it will be a while till that white stuff darkens our horizon so to speak. Although the weatherman is calling for a little cool weather tomorrow night and it is supposed to dip below freezing for a short time in the early morning. But he is promising a return to our summer like weather after that.

But one thing about that snow over there it will make for pretty pictures for Mike and Janna as they make their way north through the countryside.

From time to time as I talk about our riding horses I have offhandedly mentioned the retirement pen. I thought they deserved a little more attention paid to them here on the blog. Not all the horses there are retired but most of them see limited duty anymore. Rosie who is the dam of our good saddle horse Blue was a mainstay for Brenda until last summer, but along about the same time Brenda’s knee really started acting up Rosie got a similar hitch in her gitalong. This spring she was diagnosed with Osteo Arthritis in both front feet so she is taking some treatments and has a much lighter riding schedule this year. Hank is a character here, and like Rosie suffered an injury years ago that moved him prematurely into retirement. Over the years my niece Caron had him jumping and from time to time I took him to the mountains but if he is ridden to often he gets pretty sore so we pretty much just let him hang out and keep the grass under control. Coal is my son Matts horse and he is just 2 now so he will be heading off to a trainer this winter so Matt and he can learn together. And lastly is Smokey, he is a friend of my parents horse and is just hanging out here. His owner lives in the nearby town of Cremona and looks in on him from time to time and at the same time checks up on our place while we are away in the winter. Smokey is not broke all that well and it has been a couple of years since anyone other than Matt has been on his back. He is quiet though and lets Matt sit up there and look around.

From left to right, Coal, Smokey, Hank, Rosie

And sunset last night