My First Saddle

I have been dreaming of getting a horse someday. Now we live in the Ozarks and have the land for a horse. My dream is slowly becoming realized at 40 of becoming a horse owner.

This past weekend at an auction I won an Aussie saddle. It is big and black and very comfortable. My husband and I can both use this saddle. We also won a saddle rack to keep the saddle clean and off the floor. Very exciting!

March Horse Auction

This past Friday at 6pm my husband and I went to our first ever horse auction. We signed up to bid in case there was a really good deal. We walked the holding pens to see donkeys, drafts, mules, minis and horses. Many were thin and needed to see a farrier. But there were some very nice healthy horses with owners willing to tell/show you their horse before the sale.

One I wanted a 13 year old white Arabian mare. The owner had too many horses and she had to go for any price. The mare was shod but was reluctant to lift her feet in any way.

The auction then started with all kinds of new and used tack for bidding. We looked over all the saddles and found an Aussie style one in good shape and size. We then met some horse people willing to explain the workings of the auction to us. People are so friendly here in MO.

After all the tack was sold they started to ride out each equine for bid. It was now 10pm at night, cold and the place was packed with people. Most of the healthy horses did not sell for their reserve asking price. Then some green broke horses sold fast in the $200 range. Then a lot of donkeys were sold. Some of the donkeys had foals with them and were sold as a pair.

We were looking for draft horses but the two we saw were in poor shape and did not sell. Finally at 1am on Sunday we called it a night and headed home. We did end up winning that Aussie saddle, some feed buckets and a halter. Mostly, we learned what to look for in future horse sales.

This Whole Bread

I finally got a some time to grind my own wheat and make sunflower seed whole wheat bread. It came out plump, hearty and super flavor. I am looking forward to date nut bread next. Making my own bread from scratch at the end of the day is very satisfying.

Poppy Life

One thing about Missouri cats they are tough. Poppy is our first MO born and raised cat found in the parking lot. Poppy in an indoor/outdoor fixed male cat. He follows us out into the woods even when we are chopping wood. He jumps into the car or trailer to see what we have brought home. Poppy also knows how to rest. At the end of the day he jumps into a box of fabric to sleep until the next day's adventures begin. He is so relaxed we call him Floppy Poppy.

Chopping Wood

We bought a 16 inch Stihl chainsaw, protective gear and got chainsaw lessons. We walked into our woods to cut up some fallen trees for firewood. The chainsaw worked great with no problems and we cut several logs. Then reality dawned on us, how do we get the 30+ pound logs out of the woods? We put two logs on a garden cart and the rollovers began. Finally, after 30 minutes we were able to walk 3 logs out of the woods. No one told us how to get logs out of the forest. We don't have an ATV, mule or golf cart. We realized later we would have to cut the logs with an axe on site and pull the split wood out. We did get those 3 logs up to the garage to split into kindling. It was a lot of hard work and we got our workout that day. And now we have firewood for our home.