Cowgirl Tough

Harmony Horsemanship has three different large pastures that are home to around six horses each. These pastures feed hay via round bales. You know, those really huge round bales of hay that you see in fields as you drive along the interstate? They look like this.


And they are so heavy they have to be moved around and delivered to the pastures by a tractor with a fork attached.

Hmmm....I wonder who is driving that tractor???

By golly, it's me!


Yep, Farmer Ted has entrusted his baby (the orange tractor) to moi! In return, I help him load round bales. I have to tell you, there is something really, really rewarding about handling such heavy machinery.


Besides the fact that it gives Mr. Z heart palpitations whenever I talk about it, it makes me feel... well, pretty darn tough. I mean look at me!


And there's definitely an art to dropping the round bale into the feeder. First you lower it (like in the picture above) then you have to cut off the strings. And make sure you get every single one, a loose string could mean very bad news to a horse's tummy. Then, you raise and maneuver the bail into the feeder so it's like a cylinder on its side with the flat part up. I didn't get a picture of this part, because Farmer Ted likes to instruct during this portion. But it takes some skill to be sure to move that bale into proper position.

Yes, I do love driving the fancy tractor. But of course, what I love most about going to the barn is seeing Miss Pixie. Her training is going very well. I'll post about that tonight or tomorrow.

We took Christmas pictures this weekend. I asked Mr. Z if we could use this as our family Christmas card this year.... he said no. Understandable.