What do Lemonade and Round Pens Have In Common?

This picture is of my father clearing land a couple years ago. This location was to be the location of my Retail Tack Shop, Triple Star Tack & Livery, but due to some unforeseen circumstances I was unable to accomplish my dream.

I had been planning the project for almost 10 years. I had gotten my Bachelors in Business Administration, I had gotten the first copy of my blueprints. The builder had been there and dug the footings, the temporary electric was installed, all the necessary permits were purchased and a perk test was done. I had vendors lined up and a great business plan. I was ready to go. Then overnight things changed. I was informed that my job was being eliminated and that I was being lay ed off. No job meant no credit, no money, no Tack Shop. My dream melted away like the snow. It was heart breaking, every time I looked at the location it hurt worse. I just could not understand why this happened. I finally realized it was just not meant to be. I decided to Cowgirl Up and deal with it. I needed to move on but I had to have a reason to make some Lemonade out of the lemons I was left with. So, why not turn it into something good, something that takes the sadness out of the situation no matter how simple as long as it made me quit thinking about it. I decided I would build a Round Pen there. Seems small in comparison but it is A Sacred Circle to work my horses in, a place to build our relationship a place to train safely and effectively. Anyone that has worked with horses and built a relationship knows that it is a spiritual experience and is not something real horsemen and women take lightly. I feel calling a Round Pen a Sacred Circle is very fitting.

So last fall when my boyfriend arrived unexpectedly with his logging equipment to fill in the footing holes and level the ground I was ecstatic. I was not looking forward to filling those babies in by hand. I then inadvertantly found a great price on some fence post from a local guy and I purchased the posts and set them aside for spring.

Now that the snow is mostly gone and I decided it is time to begin the Round Pen. I had no idea that this Round Pen was going to be so wonderful, but it has begun showing me its Magic.

Yesterday on Easter Sunday my grown son showed up out of the blue to help me dig fence posts holes. Anyone that has had a 27 year old son knows that they usually have something to do besides help around the farm. It is work digging post holes by hand, but it was a fantastic job to do while being able to share time and conversation with my son. Actually he did most of the job and in record time Within 2 hours he dug 17 holes.

April 13, today another surprise. I planned to set the posts for the Round Pen, which is not a hard job just boring. The weather is cold and dreary today so I was not looking forward to going out to do it, but I wanted them set before the next rain so the holes did not fill with water and if they are set before the rain comes they will set nice and solid because the water will settle the soil around them. Completely by surprise a friend called and offered to help me set posts. She grew up on a farm and is a native to an area a few miles West of here a small town girl, the same as I am a native to this county and small town. There is something comforting in sharing a trivial task like that with someone that just knows how to do the task too. There is a connection to the land and to the task that is shared.

Next Saturday I will be going to a local auction with my Dad and a friend to look for the material for the railing.

It seems to me that God is offering me a glass of Lemonade and believe me I am guzzleing it. This whole project is turning out to be one fantastic surprise and I am very excited to find out what is in store next for my Sacred Circle.

Well today is another let down. The weather was supposed to be rain then maybe flurries overnight with no real accumulation. The Weather Church Preacher lied (the weather man on TV), so far it looks like we have about 4" on the ground. It is wet and sloppy.

Chicky and Scooter are very carefully coming out of the coop each day to check the weather. Scooter gets out on the porch of the coop and flies to the nearest perch so he does not get his feet cold and wet. The other day I found Chicky setting in the doorway of the coop just looking around at everything, just like someone setting on the front porch. That night when I went to close up the coop door she was sound asleep with her butt hanging out the coop door. Must have been a busy day for her.

The horses are even grumpy they don't seem to be their usual busy selves. The pasture is a cross between mud and ice and so they cannot run at all. Sometimes they get a little giddy and kick up their heels but they are being very careful since it is slippery in spots. Last night when I went to let them in for the night Mare waited back by the pasture fence while Gelding came trotting in the barn. Mare then ran as fast as she could go without slipping. She stayed back waiting for Gelding to get in the barn first so she could have a wide open space. Even if it was only a little run she seemed to be pretty proud of what she had accomplished. She has come a long way since that April day 3 years ago when I brought her home. She was 100 # underweight and her hair was long and scraggly. She walked around like a zombie, doing what ever I would ask but not getting too involved in anything. She was a sad site. But she is a beautiful girl now. She is developing quite a personality these days always trying to get to the top of the Herd. Which will probably never happen, but she keeps trying. Lately sometimes Mare will lay her ears back and try to keep Gelding from the Hay as I bring it out to the pasture for them. That is a dominant behavior among horses, taking the territory or food of another horse. They will assert themselves to elevate their status. If the other horse backs down then the horse that backed down loses his/her place in the herd. Gelding just looks at her with that look like "ya right, you and who's army" and proceeds to get the first bite. I doubt he will ever lose his place in the herd. He is very level and smart, not that Mare is not smart but she is somewhat flighty and Gelding is not. He can be dominant but that is not the what keeps him the first in the herd. At times I actually think I can see him just shaking his head at some of the things she does. I can definatly hear him laughing at her from time to time.

Part of the Gang

Introducing Scooter A. Chicken (left) and Chicky A. Chicken (right).

This is last years pic so Scooter is now almost as big as Chicky.

A Great Quote

I have thought that to breed a noble horse is to share with God in one of His mysteries, as well as one of His delights
_Tom Lea

I am not sure if being a cowgirl is for the freedom or for the companionship of the horse. There is nothing in the world as grand as the sweet smell of my horses flesh and nothing as grand as the freedom I feel in my boots and jeans astride my horses. When you develop a relationship with your horses you feel as though you have been elevated closer to God. Nothing in my mind compares. I try very hard to spend time with all my animals, they seem to reward me with their welcoming behavior. My chickens hurry out of the coop to Crow and to chuckle at me. My cats follow me and beg for my attention, and hug and nuzzle me when I pick them up. My horses fight to be the first to be touched when I enter the pasture. What more could I ask for? If that isn't a gift from God, I don't know what is.