Owyhee Spring

Friday March 22 2013

With the Owyhee spring comes the unpredictable weather: heat, cold, rain, wind, and the surprise snowfall.

It's a treat to wake up to the unexpected white stuff on the ground.

But, oh, that cold wind! Its roaring grates on your nerves, sets your teeth to gnashing, and stands your goosebumps on alert and your neck hairs on end.


The horses turn tail to the blusterous gales, and I hunker down inside, watching the snow evaporate and listening to the howls.

What To Do on A Cold Windy Day

Saturday February 9 2013

If it's a bone-chilling cold howly-wind winter day like today, you bundle up well, and carry an old holey tarp out to the horse herd, who's spent half the day spooking from Horse Eating Wind Monsters, a day I wouldn't for any reward take my chances riding a horse in this wind.

I knew some of them wouldn't be bothered - Stormy, Jose, Mac, and Finneas, each of whom I've been mounted on, ridden up to a tarp hanging on the fence, picked it up, and passed it over their necks and butts to the other side, dragged it around off their sides, and tossed the tarp back on the fence. (Don't try this at home with just anybody!)

But what would the rest of them do, including baby Luna, who gets jumpy when I gently swing a small noise-less rope around her body…?

I thought for sure there would be a few rodeos… but the horses all came up to the flapping tarp to check it out like bees to honey, led by Luna!


Jose's reaction didn't surprise me - he cared less that the tarp was there, flapping in the gusts.


You can see that while the ex-cow horse Mac is afraid of cows, he's not afraid of a potentially scary Horse-Eating Monster Tarp, even when it blows up and wraps around his face.


I was surprised the rest of the herd was just as brave as Luna.


Luna wasn't scared at all. In fact, she pinned the tarp down right away and had her way with it!


Even when the wind whipped it up off the ground and it suddenly cuddled Luna with its crackly embrace,

she wasn't scared and she stood there till Smokey spooked and took off, taking the herd with her.

I followed the herd, then led the horses further into the pasture, dragging the flapping tarp behind me, with the horses again following the tarp with interest,

and Luna was the first to eagerly approach again.


She gave the tarp what for again, showing it who was boss,


and who not to mess with on a cold and windy day in Owyhee.

The Wicked Wind Whispers and Moans

 

Sunday December 2 2012

Roaring down from the Owyhee mountains, the wind howled through the canyon, launching tumbleweeds, blowing down trees, tossing trash cans and wheelbarrows, hurling sand and harrying the horses.

Some (Finneas) were irritated by it, 

but some (Jose) made lemonade from lemons by rolling and reveling in it and shaking up more dust 

and (Jose) dancing around and searching for and finding victims to play with 

(like Bodie above).

Against The Wind

Wednesday March 30 2011

Normally, Wind and Thunderstorms are anathema to me. The one is supremely annoying and the other exceptionally terrifying.

But it had been so long that I'd been on a horse (over a whole week) that I didn't care about The Wind today.


We worked our way up Pickett Canyon, up onto the ridge and into the cool gales ripping over and rolling down from the Owyhee Mountains. We mostly walked, working the hills

and sand washes.


A blanket of low silver clouds levitated on top of the Owyhees, frozen in the up and downdrafts while down on the flats gusts whipped manes and tails first to one side

then to the other.


No point in talking because The Wind blew the words out of Owyhee County before they fell on anyone's ears.

But Jose and I didn't mind the buffeting today on the Owyhee Front.