Archive for July, 2002

I may have spoke too soon. Has anyone ever said that sheep are the devil’s spawn? No? Well…

laughing Ok, that’s an over exaggeration. The sheep are actually awesome. I even got them to come to me yesterday as I talked quietly to them. Even the baby came right up to me. It was so cool.

Their owner came over yesterday evening to check on the status of my yard and his sheep. He decided to leave them for one more night and then he’ll pick them up today after he gets off work.

While he was at my house, we decided to let them roam a bit and opened up my gate. They *ran* out of the yard and seemed so completely happy to be out playing. It was, probably, the funniest thing to watch, though. He and I were rounding up sheep for an hour, not allowing them to eat the greens at someone else’s house.

They roamed up and down my rural road, hip-hopping here and there. It was fun to watch them.

Then came the time to corral them back into the yard. They weren’t too keen on that, I must say. Sheep can be really fast, too, when they want to be. I felt like a human border collie whooping and clicking to them.

We finally got them back in the yard and Basillio (the owner) left.

My brother came over a bit later to work with me on a project. While we were talking, I heard the gate open. I wondered who was coming to visit and ran out to the door. Imagine my surprise when I see the ram outside the gate and the ewe and lamb inside the yard bleating to him. The ewe got very excited because the ram was not with her where he belonged.

My brother and I ran outside and tried to corral the ram back into the yard (he was smart and figured out the latch on the gate!!!) but he was adamant about *not* going back in. During all of this, the ewe continuiously bleated, letting all of us know how distressed she was.

Finally, my neighbor came home and helped us block off all exits and we got the ram back into my yard. It was the funniest thing to see, I’m sure. We were all out of breath from running around the darned ram. :-P

The ewe, needless to say, was at peace with the world once again.

There is now a rock sitting on the latches of the gate so the sheep cannot open them before Basillio returns to pick them up today.

So, onto the sheepish issue that has come upon me. This kind of reminds me of snowpeanut except that no one is tearing down gates or getting out of my yard.

I’ve seen the sheep around, of course. How can you not? They are brought in by the herd, left in someone’s yard to eat away all of the tall grasses and weeds, then they disappear.

I was, however, finally fortunate enough to meet the owner of the sheep. I saw a family of sheep (ram, ewe, lamb) in a yard down the street and commented to my honey that I’d like to have one or two in my yard to clean it up. He talked to one of his landlords and voila’! Next thing I know, there is a family of sheep being herded up my street towards my yard.

I’ve had them since Saturday and I must tell you…my grasshopper population is practically gone. My weed problem…what weed problem??? My yard has been reduced, reused, recycled.

Unlike goats, the sheep are not climbing the fence to get out. They are not eating my wood deck or the wooden fence. They are eating only the grass and the weeds.

Talk about sweet! They are amazing. These are the sweetest animals. I go out to talk to them and they listen. They are a bit skittish but it’s fun to have them there.

Now I just have to figure out how to till under all of their…ahem…droppings. :-P

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Rain came last night. It poured from the skies for hours. It was incredibly beautiful. People were out whooping it up as the rain poured down.

I’ve never seen so many people so happy for a downpour…but we were.

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My honey and I went to see Minority Report on Monday. Oh, man…it was GREAT! The special effects are WONDERFUL! Oh…and I want a garden and greenhouse like the woman doctor. ;-)

I’m in love with horses. I have been since I was a little girl. Once, when I was about 10, I brought a shetland pony home and told my mom that someone was willing to sell her to me for $100. My mom just stared at me like I was on the moon. We lived in a trailer park, first of all. Granted, we had a lot of space compared to most trailer parks but 1/3 of an acre is NOT big enough for a horse…even a pony. Secondly, she stated, in no uncertain terms, that it would cost her that much each week just to feed it and where did I think *that* money would come from?

I’ve never owned a horse but I’ve stolen some. I was a modern-day horse rustler as a child. My neighbors in my rural hometown in Montana would go on vacation and I would go to their horse pastures to ride their horses. My brother and I only got caught once…and it was hell, let me tell you.

My other neighbor was my best friend and she had a Tennessee Walker that I got to ride occasionally.

So, when I’m offered a chance to work the horse races and be close to the horses (other than the Shetland ponies that my mom *now* owns), I jump at it.

Race horses are definitely not the horses I would like to own one day. They are high-strung, they are so in-bred that they have *serious* health problems, and they are just too much for someone like me. They are so beautiful, though. They are incredibly graceful and powerful.

I have a love-hate relationship with the horse races. I like being close to the horses. I like watching them run a strong race. I hate, however, the drugs the horses are fed (Lasix, for one) and I am the worse person to be with at a race when a horse goes down. It breaks my heart.

I was the official timer for the local horse races this 4th of July weekend. That means that I sat up in the judges quarters with the race stewards and kept time of the races. I was also there to hear of any problems, watch how inquiries were handled, and got to see the photos in the photo finishes before anyone else. It also meant that I was in the one place that would hear the news of the one horse that went down during the entire weekend.

He came out of the gate hard and was pulling his rider along. He broke his back right leg and when he went down, throwing his rider, he broke his back. It is one the worst sights that you can see, watching a 1000 pound animal going down that hard.

I stayed in the quarters long enough to give the time and then I left. I couldn’t stay. I was ready to burst into tears. It hurts me to see an animal hurt (the jockey walked away with no injuries, thank goodness). I just couldn’t stay to watch and hear what was going on behind the screen that had been pulled up as quickly as the horse went down. I couldn’t watch.

It was a tragic end to that horse’s life. I’m thankful that nothing else like that happened.

I’m also thankful that I got to watch more of those graceful beauties run as the weekend progressed.

Well…I’ve finished it and uploaded it.  It’s not the best paper I’ve ever written but here it is.  I hope you enjoy it.

Weight Discrimination

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I’ve got a lot to say about the horse races but I will wait another day.  I’m too tired tonight.  I just got done taking a midterm for another class (online that I had forgotten about and it was due in 20 minutes!!!) and I’ve been up since 6 a.m. this morning (it’s 11:20 now).

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I apologize for not getting around to all of your sites.  I will *try* to do that on Monday but it may not be until Tuesday that I get out to see you all.  My Monday is already looking pretty full…I got some free movie passes and I want to take my honey to a movie. 

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I’ve also got a sheepish (heh!) adventure to share with all of you.  I will do that sometime tomorrow, maybe.

Love and blessings to all.  :-)