Snow Happy

Thursday December 17 2015

You can see by the picture above that I'm not the only one happy about the snow!

It came all of a sudden yesterday afternoon. One minute it was sunny, the next minute it was snowing, and in 30 minutes the ground was white. Yippee!

I've been turning Dudley out with the herd late mornings - leading them all up past the green gate so they can roam the 200 acres, and calling them back down in the evenings and locking them down at the house on the hay at nights (mostly because of cougar jitters - me, not them).

Some evenings, I can walk out and whistle-yell-whistle-yell, my voice echoing up the canyon if the wind is right, and they'll eventually come down on their own, sometimes sprinting, sometimes strolling. The other day I had to hike all the way up the canyon for them. They very bloody well heard me but gave me the hoof - totally ignored me, and I actually had to drive/chase them all the way back down. 

Yesterday evening in the snowstorm, I wondered if I'd even see the herd. I started hiking up the canyon, not even bothering to holler or whistle because the wind blew the sound right back down my throat.

But miraculously, the herd was already on their way back down. 

I barely caught a glimpse of movement in the sideways-whipping flakes, dark figures making a beeline back home to the hay. Dudley was in front, head down, Orlov trot turned on high, leading the herd on a mission (food!).

Stormy was the trailer. 

It was so snowy and windy, they never saw me, as I merged with sagebrush and rabbitbrush, watching them as they trotted on by.

More snow is supposed to be on the way today.

Dudley and I can only hope!

Delirious

February 8 2014

We got a foot of snow. Maybe two feet. I'm so delirious I'm incapable of measuring properly.

Owyhee seized the snow it so desperately needed (the mountains are now estimated to be a whopping 40% of normal, up from a dismal 25%), and I wallowed and raptured like never before.

Stormy and his herd mates didn't seem to mind the unusual winter blast either. Neigh, they hardly noticed it.

Owyhee Spring Showers

Tuesday April 16 2012

The Owyhee spring always brings the unpredictable weather: WIND, rain showers, sun, cold, WIND, thunderstorms, and the stealth snowstorm.


Twisted as I am, I was the only one on the whole crick who woke up thrilled to see a surprise layer of white on the ground this morning (possibly including the horses).

These are MY kind of spring showers!

Blast

Tuesday March 6 2012

A biting Arctic storm roars through Owyhee under the cloak of night, rattling houses and barns and shaking beasts who have already started shedding their winter coats. 

Capricious gales scour the earth bare and pile the snow deep. They drive ice crystals with the force of stinging needles. The ice clings like white blankets, to the topside and backside of horses, and vertically to the windward side of tree trunks.

By noon the storm has fled, chased by sharp blue skies, leaving a desert world in black and white, buried and bare.

The Owyhee mountains are polished to a shiny icy silver sheen. The world awaits Mother Nature's next whim.

Enough Already

Friday April 29 2011

Really, it's not ME saying this, but the horses. As I said, I scoffed at the night's forecast of snow (decreased to 50% chance, and stars in the sky when I went to bed), but I woke up to a thin powder of white on the ground, and thick flakes falling fast and furiously sideways from a gale.

I threw on my winter gear - as yet not packed away for treats circumstances like these - and danced out into the snow.

The horses, however, were clearly not happy.

Krusty kept following me (as I was backing into the wind), his head cocked sideways, looking bewildered, Help!


Jose came up to me and shoved me with his head, Make it stop!

Stormy was shivering rather violently in the cutting wind, ripping at the hay in the feeder.

The whole herd was jumpy, mad,

whirling and bolting,

trotting into the wind with heads down and ears pinned,

then whipping around to turn tail to the wind,

chasing each other with bared teeth and grumpy faces.

The snow was so thick at times my camera would not focus.

I am sure Mother Nature did this one last spring/summer snowfall just for me, because only I can appreciate it fully (thanks, Mother Nature!). But pretty much everyone else says, Enough Already!

White

Saturday January 30 2010

Soft and silent, the snow moved down from the Owyhee mountains this afternoon.

Tiny ice balls at first, then tentative flakes fell, introducing the storm. Unequivocal big wet snowballs followed, dropping thick and heavy, quickly blanketing the ground and the horses in a crisp white.









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Storm Play

Wednesday January 20 2010

The clouds are blowing in... descending over the Owyhees. Snowflakes in the forecast, with "New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible" on Friday. (I can only HOPE we are getting a real winter storm.)

The horse herd is running around with tails up in the air, bucking, dodging, spinning, and sparring with each other.

I can only deduce that the prospect of snow makes them giddy also.

Fort Howes Day 2: It's All Mental

Sunday June 7 2009

This time, it rained all night, and turned to a dozen forms of precipitation, all of them involving some form of ice, till late afternoon. It turned the trails into a mire of treacherous footing. "A mental ride," a couple of riders said.

Despite the conditions, there were still lots of smiles from riders and crews, if not in happiness then from a sense of humor. People love this ride, and the Stevens who put it on, and they keep coming back to do it again.

For the full ride story, see the Fort Howes page on endurance.net.

Here are some photos to give you the flavor of the day!

Julie Jackson-Biegert and Nitro, winner of the 100.




Oops! A slip on the slick ground.


Horse coming in to camp in the snow




Flurries in camp.


Heading back out into the snow!


Blankets off for trot outs.


Blankets back on immediately after - several blankets.


The snow turns back to sleet.


This rider was doing her and her horse's first 50. "I'm a wimp and I'm surprised I'm still going!" She was tickled with how much mud was all over her stirrups and legs. She finished the ride. Think of how enjoyable and easy all the rest of her endurance rides will be when she has good weather and terrain!


Still beautiful, despite the weather.


Horses bowed their heads moving into the blowing snow and rain.


Suzy Hayes and Tezero's Gold.




Trotting out for the vet.




This fellow came all the way from Texas but got kicked on the trailer, so he didn't get to ride. OBVIOUSLY he was bored. He kept pestering his pen-mates, trying to get someone to play with him.