It's 11:30 PM –
do you know where your horses are? Mine were tip-toeing around my
trailer trying to go unnoticed. Too bad for them, I was up later than
usual and heard them escape. They were in a portable hot-wire. All
they had to do was stay put one more night and I'd have my round
corral back after the N. Idaho team-ropers left. It looks like they
merely opened both hot wire gates and walked out. The rest of the pen
was intact. Jack had demolished his water tub, though. I'm guessing
he got too close to the hot wire while taking a drink and things went
south from there. They were polite escapees. They wandered around my
trailer and found a corner with a little grass. I put them in the
arena for the rest of the night and went to bed.
First thing
Saturday morning I pulled the trailer back into my usual spot now
vacated by the team-ropers. I plugged into power for the first time
since the new converter. Everything is working as it should. Being
hooked up to water is pretty sweet, too. I don't mind dry camping
when everything is working but when it's not...it's a pain in the
butt.
I didn't have any
big plans for the day except to avoid Wickenburg while the Gold Rush
days commence. Dave went to work fixing what he could on my trailer
after the tire catastrophe. He salvaged pieces to put back on when I
get a new fender. He cut the drop down window in half so that it
shuts. I'll get a new one when I get back to Idaho.
Dave admits he is a bit of a
neat freak. My dirty trailer was bothering him since I pulled in over
a month ago. “Young lady – your trailer needs a little spiffing
up before we put the new fender on.” We tried several products to
remove the black rubber scuffs. Lime away didn't work. Kaboom didn't
work. Elbow grease didn't work. Oven cleaner did the trick! Sweet!
I didn't know lime
away was the ticket for cleaning wheels and hub caps. Those things
are shinning better than the day I brought it home. While I scrubbed
on my trailer and truck – Dave went about fixing little things here
and there all around the Bison. All that is left to fix for now is
the fender and I swear the Trail Hand will look as good as new.
Dave was having a
few people over to rope about 1:00 pm. We had a couple hours to burn
so Patty and I saddled up and took a long trot up a sandy draw before
the roping. I rode J and towed Jack. J'Lo isn't use to having to work
that hard out of the arena. We were loping/trotting along and came to
a small wash the horses had to jump over. J'Lo kicked back at the
same time Jack ran into her. She clipped him above the knee drawing
blood. I don't think she was trying to really land one on him but
still...sometimes I think seriously of sending that mare down the
road.
They roped live
cattle before changing to the roping dummy. You pull it behind the
side-by-side and it's legs swing like a real steer. When you rope the
horns, they break away so your rope comes off. Dave showed me how to
drive it while he, Patty and Bob took turns roping. Jack and J were
both scared to death of it. Dave said to follow it around and they
will get use to it. I hope to give it a try before I have to leave. I
actually roped years ago for a short time. I have a feeling I'd like
it a lot better now.
Dave is still
baching it this weekend while Cindy is away at a shoot. Roping,
repairing trailers and looking after a couple of women all day makes
a guy mighty hungry. We piled into the Dodge and drove to The Coyote
Den for an early supper. I don't normally eat out as much as I have
since I've been here. I don't know if I'm extra hungry or too lazy to
cook. Probably a bit of both.
Patty built her
nightly bon-fire with wood she gathered through the day. I baked a
batch of Dollar Store peanut butter cookies that weren't exactly the
finest...but as Dave said...”The only difference between a bad
cookie and a good cookie is...well, nothing. All cookies are good.”
I remember a time
when building a bon-fire meant staying up until all hours of the
morning drinking beer, roasting marshmallows or what have you. It
took longer for Patty to build her fire than we sat around enjoying
it. It is 7:30 PM ... time for this Snowbird to hit the sack. The
horses are secured in the round pen, I've got plenty of water for a
shower and the trailer batteries are fully charged. Life is good.
 |
| Patty and Mocha |
No comments:
Post a Comment