Buster Bucks

It's the year of the horse! According to one website, the "Horse year is about freedom, returning to nature, and enjoying life and life’s adventures." Hmm. I'm liking that! 

I am sitting here multi-tasking, reading Texas 10th grade paragraphs online (and every now and then I need a mental break!), writing this, and playing with Ziva. As I look down at my feet I see a bone, a zebra, a ball, another sort of ball, a rooster, an outside flying squirrel toy, and Ziva who is straining to get under the hutch to get the tennis ball she has put there. Do you think maybe she thinks I am boring? I am sure she had rather live with Lynn and Haley where she thinks it is about having fun all the time! :)

Saturday started off a little rough. Zigman had blood all over his left front leg and his knee was swollen. Lynn brought him down and cleaned it up and doctored him. We aren't sure what happened, but he seems like he's healing up; although, it was still a little swollen last night (Monday). Haley also ended up with a hurt foot. She cut it on something near the end of the ride. Poor little thing was holding her foot up and wouldn't put weight on it. After cleaning it real good, then a few epsom salts soaks, and having a wet Sunday off, she was much better last night and ran and played with Ziva the whole time. 

So Lynn rode Buster and caught Star for Shirley. We rode out around the top of the Hennessey. It just never gets old! Lynn is currently working on a trip to Shingletown for a ride with her friend who lives there. It sounds like a good time! In addition, Lynn thinks she found another place to try when Alisa comes over, which will be fun, too, but honestly, every day is a different day when we ride and I just don't get bored. I don't think Jupiter does either. 

Another thing that never gets boring is feeding the horses at night. I am sure Lynn is much faster when Shirley and I are not "helping." Because I am there with Ziva, it slows her down considerably. We laugh and mess around with the boys and then go for a quick loop up and around the hill so the girls can run. They are so much fun to watch. Then there's Lynn and Shirley. As you know, all three of us ride the 4-wheeler together (totally illegal and dangerous!). We all have on mud boots, big jackets, and hats so there is not a whole lot of room. Shirley is positive that we would be the team to beat on the luge! Because the hill is steep, Lynn needs to shift down to slow us down a little, although I am sure it's only because Shirley and I are on there, too--I am willing to bet she flies at top speed when she's alone. Anyway, the joke is that Lynn tries to shift Shirley's foot half the time. It's hard to get big mud boots under the lever, and with everyone's feet in the way, it's even harder. So she tries to get Shirley to shift. It's silly and we laugh.

Finally, we are adding a new way to support our horseback riding. Buster Bucks. Buster is Mr. Steady. He is the "go-to" guy when someone's regular ride is out of commission. Toni has ridden him, Lynn a couple of times, has Alisa? Anyway, Shirley has always called him the backup horse. So the idea is to buy shares of Buster. As an English teacher/word lover, this is a fun one because of the play on words! Get it? Shares like part ownership and shares like sharing (renting) the ride. ha ha I am always cracking myself up and no else thinks it's funny. :)

The sky is now bright and maybe even a little blue! so it's time to get ready for my real job. Happy trails!