I’ve spent the summer letting everybody out on the grass, then putting the three “good keepers” away after two hours, while the baby and the Old Jetta stay out for several hours more. But the grass is old now, too – and is more fiber than protein, so I’m seeing a general loss of weight, and the ribs are starting to show.

So I’m adjusting the time. I had to make a change in early July – it seems that Sophie turns then from a horse that may founder to a horse that drops weight. So she’s been staying out an extra hour or two. This means several trips every day to the pasture, but I don’t mind, because it means being with the horses.

But now, I’m moving into everybody out for four to five hour mode. This is a balance – putting the weight back on, but saving the hay. Because I think I don’t have enough. I felt good about it till I watched last year’s vids and realized my stack had been quite a bit bigger. Now, I’m nervous. Hay is scarce, and we’re talking some $4.00-12.00 per small bale. Nothing like being afraid you can’t feed your family.

At this time of year, everything feels old – stretched and dry. Too much work. The freshness of spring is long gone, and autumn sounds like rest.

The mountains are already turning red and orange – this isn’t good, it’s at least a week and a half early, and the change is profound up there. It’s the drought, which everyone told us was finally over after five years – and the terrible heat of the summer, relentlessly over 90 for the last two months and only one day of real rain.

We’re riding on Labor day, up South Fork with Geneva and friends. We’ll see how it goes on long-hooved, bare-footed, fat old horses. I hope it’s beautiful, and that nobody dies.

We’ll see.

We went to the Parelli tour last weekend. I could only stay for Sat morning, but the rest of them stayed all that day. We can’t do Sunday because of church. But, as usual, it was inspiring. I think the essential part of what the man does is give the New Horseowner things to do between human and horse, so that the human will actually spend time with the animal. I don’t work the games every day – in fact, I have to time these days, what with the kids and writing the Dragon book. But I handle the horses several times a day, and they respect me, and come to me, and know exactly what I want from them, and choose to do it or not – mostly not.

Char and I rode the other day for an hour or so, bareback. It was really fun, and we needed it badly. The horses were offended, especially Sophie, who surprisingly seems outraged to be ridden in a halter. She seems to think the bit is more appropriate—thought I know she hates that, too. She hates anybody telling her what to do. But she hugs me when I’m on the ground. Zion and Dustin were both lively, if miffed to find themselves working. But it was lovely to be on them again.