training hounds (5/18/2023) -by Anne

Good morning from Warehouse 16.  It is 28 degrees this am brrrrr.   The petunias seem to have survived on the deck.  I brought in the strawberry 🍓 plants and cucumber sprouts I bought on Tuesday just in case.  Suzie was being a good watch dog this am as she barked away a big Hawk.  So far,  all 10 chickens are laying well and continue to annoy me as they scratch up the lawn where I have been trying to grow some new grass. 

Yesterday I spent a great day with my great friend/student Leila Hanna.  I was a guest at the Wentworth Hunt early season roading.  Roading is the warm up riding that is used to get the hounds trained before hunting season.  As riders, we walked and trotted on beautiful trails and fields with an occasional stop to watch the hounds work. At one point they chased a deer and had to be called back with whip and horn.  My horse Takota was a good boy. One spook when a person walked out of a trail unannounced,  and once he moved quite quickly to get out of some mud on the edge of a field.  All in all, he listened well and and as my friends say " nothing bad happened".  I also met an old friend George that I and my friend Stephanie, used to work with at Rum Brook Farm many years ago. It was a good day.   

Rob is now at Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge.  My heart feels him getting closer by the day.  I have been keeping things going here at the warehouse.  I went to tractor supply and picked up chicken feed and sunflower seeds for the feeders on the deck.  I filled the hummingbird feeder with new sugar water. Afterwhich,  the male hummingbird sat on the wire and defended his feeder from the latest rival.  Brooke has been away too this week visiting with friends in Maine. It is surprising how much cleaner the kitchen stays with only one person using it.   On Saturday,  I am putting on another obstacle clinic at Rileys Farm.  It is always a good time and my students enjoy learning to use their imaginations to help their horses explore obstacles in new ways.  On Sunday, I hope to go and meet Rob up in Shelburne Vermont,  so we can spend a few days together on two wheels.