Storm and a Farrier Visit

Yesterday we had a huge storm blow through at about 8 in the morning - the maximum wind gusts were 80 mph and the rain was sheeting down for about 20 minutes.  There are over 500,000 people in the area without power - we lost our power for almost 8 hours, and there are many still without power.  Many large trees and limbs came down - our area doesn't have that many large trees but areas that had older trees had big losses.

The horses were out during the storm and did fine - our pastures have no trees so no trees or limbs blowing around.  It's been very hot and very dry, so immediately after the storm, all the horses took turns rolling in the large mud puddles that had appeared - they were slathered with wet mud, which I expect helped with the flies as the temperatures climbed up into the 90sF again.  In the afternoon, I brought my three mud puppies in for a rinse off with cool water - even Pie and Drift are getting used to this and seemed to enjoy it a bit because of the heat.  My shoulder's a bit sore today because, as I was taking Drift out of the pasture gate, Scout decided he'd had enough of the flies and was heading to the barn, and forced his way between Drift and the gate post - it's a narrow gate - knocking Drift and me to one side - Scout is a good 6 inches taller and several hundred pounds heavier than Drift.  I was on the other side of Drift and was about to get squashed against the fence so kept my left hand pushing on Drift's neck to buy a little room.  I'm a little surprised Drift didn't kick Scout - Scout squeezed right against Drift's butt and side.  Scout headed off to the barn at a trot and Drift, despite the excitement, continued his good behavior as we led in.  Today when I took Drift out of the pasture, I was careful to firmly shoo Scout well away from the gate before taking Drift out.

Today was farrier day for my three - Dawn was reshod in front and Pie and Drift had trims.  Everyone, Drift included, was extremely well-behaved.  I'm very glad that all my horses are now good for the farrier - and my farrier's happy about that, too. All feet look in good condition.  Pie's up to 2 1/2 hours of grazing and continues to walk well, even over stones after his trim.  And I'm up to 2+ miles of walking, although I still have to stop and rest from time to time.  Getting closer . . .