Doranna Durgin's Blog

By Patty Wilber

My parents have been hosting Thanksgiving at their house in California with friends and family, and friends who have become family for….I don’t know….50 years?

Over the last 10 or 15 years, it has also become a reunion for our immediate family! My brother and his family come down from Washington state. My sister and her family live close to my folks. Our son and his family come from Tennessee, and our daughter and her family fly in from Hawaii. How many times can I use family in two paragraphs?  What are synonyms of family? The Oxford indicates brood, menage, household, and nuclear family…and apparently, after getting up at 3:30 am, I am too tired on Thanksgiving evening to be very creative!

This year, our daughter, who is an attorney, wasn’t going to come since she had a trial.  Because she wasn’t coming, our son wasn’t coming, either. (We had spent a week with Mark and family in September!)

Then, about two weeks ago, the trial got rescheduled, so Maegan got tickets for her whole menage, and since she was coming, Mark decided to fly his brood over as well. Suddenly, we were back to a full house (household?)!

Almost everyone is staying at my sister’s place. There are seven girls–my sister’s two (19 and 17), and five littles aged 8, 7, 6, 2, and 2.5 belonging to Maegan (daughter), Mark (son), and my brother! It is a bit chaotic, but so fun to see them interact. We will get to visit with Maegan’s three and our niece again in Hawaii over Christmas break! If we just add my sister and Mark, we could really rock the islands!

We have the same routine every Thanksgiving. Feast with households (he he using my synonyms!) and friends on Thursday, hike on Friday, and chow down on dim sum on Saturday.  The hike used to be a straight-up hike, but we’ve modified a bit since we have kids of varying ages, plus the slowed-down-ness of whoever is slowed down in a given year with illness or injury or age.

Most of us will head home on Sunday!

Who knows how much longer we will all be able to do this, so I am savoring and grateful this time!

Happy day after Thanksgiving! Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

By Patty Wilber

I spent a good part of Wednesday afternoon moving dirt while waiting for my two unbroke horses to arrive. Also, it was supposed to rain Thursday, so I wanted to get the dirt work done before it was too muddy! Thank goodness I did because it did rain and we will be in mud-hole mode for a few days!

I moved a lot of dirt with the trusty blue tractor!

Most horses that come in for saddle training can be haltered and understand the concept of being led. The boys, Chispa, 6, and MH, 3, have been haltered, barely. They were run into the trailer via the cattle chute.

When they arrived at my house (with halters on and lead ropes around their necks), we backed the rig up to the pen to unload them, and they reminded me of videos of mustangs being unloaded. We opened the trailer, and they made no move to come out, at all.  They stood at the back of the stock trailer looking a bit shell-shocked. Sheryl went into lead one out, but since they really don’t lead, (yet),  that didn’t work. Fortunately, the open door was enticing, so in a few minutes, they sort of tiptoed forward and tentatively stepped out. Then we gently shooed them into the pen I wanted them in.

They were very wary, and did not want to be touched, but were not crazy flighty.  We were able to catch hold of Chispa’s (red), lead rope fairly easily and pull his halter off.  I kind of wanted to leave it on, but it was loose, and the water spigot in the pen would be the perfect place to snag a halter, which could result in the spigot being jerked from the ground and flying off like a javelin. (Seen it happen.) So, pulled that halter.

The black and white, MH, also was dragging a lead rope,  but it was shorter and it took us what seemed like forever to catch hold of that rope.  He was wide-eyed, flinchy, and hid behind Chispa, keeping the lead just out of reach.  We finally got it!  His halter was snug.  So, we unsnapped the lead rope, but took a chance and left the halter on overnight (with permission from his people).

When I came out in the rain to feed breakfast, Chispa greeted me and followed me around, and when Dr. Loya came to do chiropractic on Gette, both boys were hanging over the fence trying to help, so when I needed to catch Chispa later to treat a draining puncture wound on his neck (that he had upon arrival) with some gauze soaked in chlorohexadine scrub I got from the doc, I expected to pop the halter on, no problem. Ha.

It was cold and wet, and I didn’t have on gloves, so after not even getting close and my hands going numb, I went in.  I warmed up (and it stopped raining for a bit), put on a fleece, a coat, a warm hat, and winter gloves, and went out to give it another shot.  I put the halter in my pocket, approached slowly, and petted him until I could get a rope over his neck.  Then, after five minutes or so of hanging out,  I got out the halter and put it on. It went much better this second try.  I was able to give the wound a good cleaning and play with him a bit.  I was also able to catch MH and do a few things with him.  Then I pulled his halter, so we will see if I am sorry about that on Friday!

Chispa (red) is a leaner body type. MH (black and white) is a tank. Look how muddy it is!

Chispa!

MH. And you can see the snow on top of the Sandia Mountains in the background! First snow of the season!

So, what’s the plan for these boys?  First off will be building their confidence in me and themselves. We will work on ground skills, since MH has none, and Chispa seems to have misplaced any he may have once had.  Leading, moving the hip, moving the shoulder, sideways, backing, picking up their feet.  Desensitization will be incorporated as we go.  Once we get those basics in place, we can lunge in the round pen, pony out, and get their feet done. Then we can think about getting them going under saddle.  I expect to spend a couple of weeks, minimum, on the ground and am looking forward to watching them change from unbroke to solid citizens!

 

 

By Patty Wilber

Clinton Anderson talks frequently about horse training requiring hundreds to thousands of repetitions.

Buck Brannaman emphasizes “many, many repetitions until it becomes the horse’s idea.”

Ray Hunt said, “You can’t teach a horse anything; you just create the right habits.”.

Tom Dorrance mentions repeating steps until the horse finds relief in the right answer.

One of Pat Parelli’s aphorisms is “Take the time it takes, so it takes less time.”

In reviewing articles about creating new habits in humans, I found this Scientific American Article (2024): “A hallmark 2009 study on habit creation found that habits developed in a range of 18 to 254 days; participants reported taking an average of about 66 days to reliably incorporate one of three new daily activities… Consistent daily repetition was the biggest factor influencing whether a behavior would become part of an automatic daily routine…”

All these agree that building new behaviors takes time. Thus, to train an ordinary horse to be a reasonably good citizen, one of the keys is persistence.

Are other factors important?  Sure. Skill, timing, balance, a talented horse, proper equipment, and I am sure everyone can think of five more things, but with calm, quiet persistence, a whole lot can be accomplished, eventually.

Eons ago, I had a person come wanting to compete in western pleasure.  They were pretty handy, and the horse was easy to get along with.  The lessons went well, but instead of reinforcing the skills we covered, they went home and did things like run barrels with their friends. Naturally, the horse didn’t learn to do western pleasure.

I had a friend that needed their horse to trailer load better.  They spend an entire day working on it.  It wasn’t the easiest day, and there might have been a smoother way, but persistence paid off.  By the end of the day, the horse loaded like a champ.

I had a Fjord that didn’t want to canter under saddle.  He didn’t buck or do anything dangerous.  He knew how to canter on the lunge line, but he just didn’t want to lope under saddle.  At first, I was going crazy as I was not making noticeable progress.  I called a trainer specializing in Fjords. She suggested I first accept faster trotting, and then have the owner lunge him while I rode.  This took a few weeks, but eventually, he was comfortable, and he learned to canter under saddle.

One of the first horses I solidified lead changes on was a Whisering Spirit mare bred by Connie Hunter. The horse learned lead changes in four tries on one single day.  She went on to win a big event that featured lead changes.  No persistence needed. I thought I was brilliant–(turned out the horse was the brilliant one). When I went to teach lead changes to other horses, I learned that for most horses, I just had to keep on keeping on, sometimes for months, and eventually, the lead changes fell into place.

In today’s instant gratification clickbait world, it is still true that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are good horses or new habits.

Penny! People said she was stubborn, but honestly, we’ve always gotten along. Maybe because we had time.

By Patty Wilber

Fall is sliding into winter, although, honestly, it’s been in the 60s, so it doesn’t really feel like winter is on the way.  The 30-day forecast does suggest that highs will be in the 40s starting around the 20th of this month.  Apparently, we are going to pretty much skip the 50s.

To prepare the house, we’ve cleaned the filters in the minisplits, the wood furnace, and the propane furnace. We had the propane furnace serviced. I am sure all you true Northerners are laughing at how many heat sources we have.  Hey!  It gets cold here!  It snows!  We have had big snows September to May! Which brings me back to my topic: Fall and Winter Colt Starts.

I just got a new guy that is technically a restart, as he had been ridden a little…  I am getting two more “barely halter-broke” geldings in a week or two and have a super cool show dude coming in January-ish.

Katie’s boy Clemente. Is he cute, or what? He is gaining confidence quickly!

Yep, it can be a bit cold in winter, but hey, summer is hot, and spring can be extremely windy.  Fall is usually kind of perfect… But why would I take on horses just as temperatures are falling?

I love colt starting, and it is a strength of mine. So, if I have a spot and someone wants to send a horse, I want to take it.Twenty-five F and sunny is actually great riding weather, and our weather is often not that cold (there was one week once where every day was below zero, but that was an anomaly).  According to Weather US, the November high temperature average is 52F; December, 41.9F; January, 42.1F; February, 46.9F, and we have something like 282 days of sun (more than 20 per month).I wear warm clothes. I don’t have an indoor arena, and wind can make it feel colder (you know “42, but feels like -10”), but I bought some insulated coveralls last year for the first time (they are nice!) and I often have a lightweight windbreaker to cut the wind as one of my base layers, so I stay warm enough.  If I get too cold, I can come in and stand by the wood furnace, the regular furnace, or the minisplits!!Horses are well adapted to cold, mine all live outside (not in stalls), and most become easy to catch, which I take to mean they enjoy our sessions.The “no drama” program means I don’t end up with super sweaty colts that I have to worry about cooling out.

I’d rather the weather stay in the 60s with gentle breezes, but I’m prepared to start colts in all weather, and now that I am retired from the college, I can pick the best parts of the day, too!

Happy Friday!

 

By Patty Wilber

The NM Paint Club put on its Fall Color RoundUp show last weekend. Patty Shuert, Faith Martin, and I went!

Zima, Patty S., me, Gette, at the end of Saturday.  We got there in the dark and left in the dark!  I came back the next day to work with Faith.

Although I am ready to be done showing for a few months (Training shows will start up in February!), I do enjoy showing–except having to get up at O dark thirty and staying all day long!  I mean, couldn’t my classes start at say, 10 am, and then be done at maybe 2 pm? Of course, that’s not practical, but one could wish!

Why do I like showing?

I like to help my clients improve, and to see if there are areas we can work on at home.

I like to get feedback from the judges on my horse.

I like to challenge myself and my horse.

I like watching other horse and rider teams to see what I can learn or emulate.

I like to see my horse show friends!

I do like to win, but I also like the pressure that comes with competing. I am not type A or anything. Ok, yes I am.

Next year, I think I will take a run at Appaloosa Nationals and World with Gette as she will be five and it will be her last year as a junior horse.  It will be a lot easier than in years past because I won’t have to take time off work to do it!

Happy Friday!

 

 

By Patty Wilber

Well, I waited until it was a bit late to start the blog because I was 100% sure I had written about pigeon fever before…like back in 2012 or something, and I was going to modify that post.  But dang. I could not find it. So, starting from scratch…

Pigeon fever is caused by an infection with the bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. The bacteria can be transmitted by fly bites, and the disease has a long incubation period (1-4 weeks). Thus, the disease outbreaks are often in the fall, following peak fly season. (UC Davis) Large abscesses can form in the muscles of the chest or the belly, and they can drain super gross and disgusting pus. In quantity.

The disease is called pigeon fever because the abscesses in the chest muscle make the horse chest look like a bird breast. It is also called dryland distemper and false strangles.

In 2012 or so, Risa, one of my horses, got pigeon fever.  She had to go to the vet several times to have her chest and abdominal abscesses lanced.  She was a very tempermental sort of horse, and the vet missed the vein when trying to administer a sedative on our first visit.  Due to this “terrible error” (according to Risa), the vet was persona non grata, and on the next visit, Risa tried to kick the vet.  Sigh. Risa was not put on antibiotics, as the vet felt that would just slow the formation of the abscesses and slow the healing.

It took a long time for Risa’s wounds to heal, but on the bright side, after infection 90% horses develop long-term immunity.

In a case where a horse comes down with this disease, isolation is not necessary because, basically, it is too late to contain the pathogen–it is already in the soil.  But luckily, in large herds, only about 5% of the horses will get sick. (Dr. Novick) In my previous case, Risa was the only horse to become infected.

Interestingly (I thought), for a short while, there was a vaccine for this, but it was withdrawn from the market.  It sounded like the side effects of the vaccine were fairly severe.

Today I was out at the barn looking at Trigger, thinking maybe I needed to get him on a diet.  He is a mustang, and he not only likes to eat, but he is efficient at turning hay into fat. Then I noticed a swelling on his belly. Uh oh. Pigeon Fever? My Risa had the classic pectoral muscle abscesses, but five or six years ago, my friend MaryAnn’s horse Rosebud showed this belly swelling symptom. She got on antibiotics, and never had the nasty pus-fest.

I got a hold of Dr. Dixon.  Yes, he thought pigeon fever. He put Trigger on 20cc of enrofloxocin + two grams of bute for five days. The antibiotic inhibits DNA synthesis in the bacteria.  The bute reduces inflammation and helps limit the growth of the abscess. I am hopeful this will go like Rosebud’s case and resolve without a big mess!

Fingers crossed!

Special for Bio nerds: C. pseudotuberculosis has mycolic acid but stains G+ and not acid fast because the mycolic acids are shorter and less abundant than in the true acid fast genera like Nocardia and Mycobacterium. The cell wall is not very G+ like, though, as you can see in the image.

Cell wall of Cornybacterium sp.

By Patty Wilber

The aspens were at their peak when we arrived at the Cruces Basin trail head.  The deep yellow leaves whispered above the white barked trunks and drifted to the ground like thin gold coins in the light rain that was falling.

As we dropped down in the Cruces Creek, we could see the aspens carpeting the slopes of the Basin in solid gold swathes in some areas and interspersed with the deep green of the spruce and fir in others. There were a few deep red aspen tossed in for variety.

Jim about to drop into the Basin last Thursday. The aspens were amazing.

Me on LT, riding out of base camp among the aspen. Photo by Jim.

The hunting was not so great this year.  No elk (Kingsburys), no grouse (Jim and me), and rain every day, sometimes for hours. Fortunately, both set-up and pack-out rides were in dry spells.  Of course, when it wasn’t raining, it was generally very windy!

Fortunately, our backcountry camp had the important amenities:  A wall tent and a wood stove.  This provided an important refuge and place to dry out. Also, it was weirdly warm, even at night.  We never had freezing temperatures even though we were camped at 10,000+ feet.

The one evening it was dry, we had a campfire. Photo by Jim.

Jim and I were camp hosts, so we were in charge of the five mules and three horses.  They were high-lined.  I packed in two rain sheets, and Penny and Cometa both wore one for a bit because they both (at different times) were shivering due to the persistent soaking!  The mules did not shiver.

One of the jobs of camp host is to take the animals to water twice a day. We did not lose any animals, but Penny and LT tried to give us heart attacks!

The dirt stock tank is about a quarter of a mile from the camp.  All the animals have been to elk camp, so you’d think they all understood the process, which is to have one of the mule herd and one of the equine herd on a lead.  The others are turned loose and follow the “leader” to the tank and back.  Except, they don’t exactly follow. They fall behind to roll. Then they leap up and charge around. One or more will veer off into the trees. They run around the tank and hide behind the berm.

It always makes me nervous to let so many loose in the wilderness (because I like to catastrophize), and who wants to have to post a “I lost my horse in the wilderness” plea on Facebook?!

First we had John, one of the mule herd, on a lead, because he has had a tendency to want to eat instead of move along to drink, but it turned out that Leo was a bit of an independent thinker and kept taking the other three mules at little farther afield than we liked, so after two or so trips, we switched having Leo on the lead.  This kept the mule herd more cohesive.

Cometa is 28 this year, and at that age, one never really knows how many more trips to the back country he will have. He has loved running with the mules, and he does like to have his mares in order, so we allowed him to go for it. It was fun to see him channelling his younger self, galloping through the meadows! LT never likes to be alone. When she was younger, she would barely even eat unless she had company, so we allowed her to run, too.

On the way to the tank, with Penny on a lead. Cometa hanging with one of his mule buddies.  Leo, I think.

That worked, but we felt a little sorry for Penny because being on a highline is pretty boring and the animals really seem to have fun on the runs, so, against my better judgement, on the last evening, we decided to keep Cometa on line and let Penny run both ways. Cometa generally does a great job of calling to our mares (with loud, desperate-sounding whinnies) when they get too far away from him, so we thought he ought to be a good magnet.

When we get to the tank, Penny promptly goes to the far side, taking LT with her. I begin to panic. Then, she comes back and they both drink. I relax, but only for a moment because in the next moment, Penny takes LT and starts walking directly away from camp.

Penny drinking like a good horse, briefly, before making her move!

Oh man.

Jim gives me Leo, who has wonderful ground manners, and I immediately start heading to camp with Cometa and Leo because one of the mules, William, was contemplating going with the mares. Fortunately, the other three mules come with Leo.  William joins us, and not the Wayward Duo. Jim follows the girls.  Unfortunately, it is coming on to dusk, it is starting to rain, and while Jim has a rainjacket on, he has no headlamp and no radio.  But surely the mares will start to graze and he will catch them…I push the pace back.

Cometa fails to call AT ALL as we head back.  He apparently is perfectly happy walking along with me and Leo, and the other four mules nearby.  He must think the girls are coming too. I get back to camp.  All the mules go directly to the highline instead of loitering in the meadow like usual, so Amber gets them hooked up.

When I clip Cometa to the horse high line, he finally realizes his mares are missing and sets up a racket. On his second or third call, I hear a distant answering whinny, and then Penny and LT come thundering into camp.

Jim had followed them another half a mile away from the tank (toward the trucks).  LT kept looking at him.  She was not totally on board with Penny’s plan and came to him, so he was able to catch hold of her halter. But then Penny came storming by and LT reared, causing him to lose his grip.  Free again, they both made big sweeping runs back and forth in front of him, until they wound down a little and began to head slightly toward camp.  At that point, we think they heard Cometa (who was FINALLY calling) and they raced to him.

I went to look for Jim (only as far as the pond) because I was worried that the horses had eluded him and he was still searching for them, not realizing they’d returned. Fortunately, I had just missed him as he’d gone through the trees to camp.  When he learned I’d gone looking for him, he doubled back and we met up.

I was relieved the horses returned (and I didn’t have to post a FB plea), but I was even happier that Jim was back and not vainly searching for those idiots in the darkening evening and rain!

All the wind and rain stripped a lot of aspens of their leaves.  Here are a few more photos.

Compare to the first photo. Same view, six days later. A lot less gold.

Richard and a string of four mules. The aspens are bare.

The New Mexico sky can be so blue. Aspens are bare, but the trunks are still so beautiful!

Happy Friday!

 

By Patty Wilber

While we were on our road trip from Boston to Montreal, I re-read Anne of Green Gables.  It is on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, which is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The story is lovely, and the author’s descriptions of the landscape, trees, and flowers, especially during spring and summer, made me want to visit the island and look more closely at the beauty here in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains.  I think fall instead of spring, might be my favorite season.

We have had some crazy rain, and this moisture has nourished the late summer/early fall wildflowers. The air has gained a hint of coming winter coolness, which makes riding very pleasant! The vibrant purple asters alongside the shining yellow of the cowpen daisy and the lower-growing yellow snakeweed frame the trails.

The latest crazy rain topped off the spadefoot pond.  This will probably be the last monsoonal fill of the year.  The hundreds of tads that were still in the pond just before we left appear to have “legged out” while we were travelling and have departed to presumably dig their lairs and wait for next year’s rains….unless the raccoon (given away by its tracks) ate them all, which seems unlikely… The mint with tiny pale blue flowers that grew around the pond is going to seed.

The rain caused such massive runoff that the normally dry canyon to the east of us was running with a small stream. There were even side tributaries! We got to do water crossing practice without driving anywhere!

Arrow was not at all concerned.

Chica was not at all concerned either!

Trigger (with Jessica taking a picture) got a drink!

Happy Friday!

No blog next week as we will be at elk camp, hunting grouse, and tending the livestock! LT, Penny, and Cometa are on the list to go.

 

By Patty Wilber

Another year of dreading the State Fair horse show parking, and another year that Tammy at the hospitality hut (that Faith renamed the Horsepitality Hut) went out of her way to make sure I got a good spot! Thank you, Tammy! Also, the other competitors were a lot of fun to show with.

The show was a success for Team Wilber!

Patty Shuert showed on Sunday and had a very fine day! Last year, she was walk-trotting and, this year, she and Zima loped out with some loot!  She was thinking she might be done showing at the end of the year as she’d conquered her aversion to the arena, but then again, she might have been infected by the show bug, which could compel her to compete again next year! We have a lot of fun in the arena, out on the trail with Back Country Horsemen, and horse camping (Bryce Canyon next year!), so P-squared (Patty and Patty) will have amazing adventures no matter what

Patty Shuert with a lotta blue! Photo by Bill S.

Faith Martin has had some confidence struggles since her cinch broke at the lope a while back.  But a few months ago, she called and lined out the show dates she was determined to show in for the rest of this year. State Fair was one of them! She won most of her classes (10 blues ribbons!), but as her mom said, the real win was that Faith was NOT NERVOUS! And she wanted to show to the bitter end of Saturday, instead of bowing out! It was great to be a part of that!

Faith and Romeo at the New Mexico State Fair, 2025. Photo by Mandi M.

Gette also had some fine moments!  She was top of the heap against the other snafflebit/hackamore horses (except in cows, which had a lot more to do with her pilot than her!) She held her own against the more experienced bridle horses, too. I was pleased with most of her performances!  The points are not completely tallied, still, but I think she was the high point open Ranch Appaloosa.

We have one more show on the calendar at the end of October, but in the meantime, Jim and I will be meeting our granddaughter Juniper (two in November), and oh yes, her parents (Mark and Erika), for a Hatfield, MA to Montreal, Canada roots trip based on a trek by a relative of Jim’s.  There are actually two books about the adventure: Hatfield 1677, and Captives, 1677. I may try to read one of them, but I know the basic story.  Benjamin Waite’s wife and kids were captured by Native Americans in Hatfield, marched to Canada, and sold to the French near Montreal.  Benjamin trekked up there at the start of winter, and bought them back!

Should be a blast!

By Patty Wilber

For some reason, John Denver was in my mind this week while I was doing some farm chores. “Life on the farm is kinda laid back…”, except it’s really not.  There is always something that needs doing.

The flies are hatching in droves this time of year.  Putting up fly paper is satisfying and effective! But has to be changed every few days.

Fresh fly paper!

We cleaned out the barn so we could get a new load of hay. The scrap hay will be mulch.

I came across a baby bullsnake in the loose hay! Too bad we don’t have gobs of larger snakes.  Then I wouldn’t have to trap the packrats. (Five so far.)

I put the snap trap in front of the live trap in the hopes that if they spring the snap trap and it misses, they will rush into the live trap.  It worked three times that way! The snap trap was also successful on its own.

Despite a good monsoon season, the long-term heat and drought has decimated our pinons.  I am really sad about that. We had some big, beautiful trees that shaded our little arroyo.  I am not going to use any pesticides, especially over a large scale, so now we need to get after making some firewood out of them.

The rain has filled the frog pond again (and again and yet again). So another “chore” is taking my training horses out to check the pond.  I came across a box turtle on one ride with some friends.  That is the first one I’ve ever seen out on our 30 acres!  I moved it off the dirt road. Apparently, they have small home ranges.  I wonder if I should try to find it again, just for grins.

Ornate box turtle. It was about six to eight inches long. It might look sleepy, but it made a good try at biting me by stretching its neck out and back toward my hand when I picked it up to move it off the road.

At the pond, Arrow sunk in right over her hooves and did not have a single problem with that, or stepping out of it either. She is a nice steady mare that will likely head home at the end of the month and will probably get out on the forest to gather some cows.

The latest spadefoot tadpoles are bigger than the earlier cohorts that were confined to the kiddie pool we’d installed.  There are still hundreds of them!  I don’t understand why they have not all been eaten by snakes or some other predators. I almost set up the game cam right by the plastic pool to see if I could see the little froglets come out. Good thing I didn’t since we got those gully washers that would have drowned my camera! The plastic pool is in this pond somewhere! I wonder if it’s totally silted over?

All the little spots are tadpole mouths bobbing at the surface. They are mesmerizing to sit and watch. I am pretty excited about the success of the spadefoot pond project.  I have some improvements in mind once it does dry up!

I dipped up a spadefoot tadpole to get a closer look. It’s about two inches long, with the start of hind legs! I am pretty sure this is a carnivore morph.

Because of the recent rains, we have lots of flowers! Also, lots of nasty kochia, a vigorous non-native that can choke out everything else.  I often get a little sidetracked pulling it out to free up the grasses and flowers!

So, despite the never-ending chore list (and I left a lot out, of course, like all the basic horse care!), this week sure has been beautiful and interesting!

Happy Friday!