Sunday, April 1, 2012

Flies Flies and MORE Flies! Sunday Our Last Full Day on the Double S Ranch

Got up and went for our horseback ride, Ride one with Dave (1) it started off REALLY iffy as to whether or not this was going to be a good idea.

It was hot and the darn flies were biting the horses like crazy. They were not very comfortable and kept and kept stomping their feet and throwing their heads trying to get the flies off of them.

I wanted to go back and put some spray on them to keep the flies off, but Dave knew if we led the horses back to the barn, we would never get them out again. (Once you turn the riding horses in the direction of the barn, they think their job is done. They go into the “grazing pasture mode” and don’t take to kindly to having to go right back on the trails)!

Instead we stopped by the cutting horse barn to see if there was any in there, but there wasn’t. Dave knew I wasn’t going to enjoy the ride if I thought the horses were uncomfortable; so he jumped on Johnny’s golf cart and went back to the riding horse barn to get some.

We sprayed them down good and they really seemed to appreciate it, I finally could enjoy myself because I knew the horses were happier.

Those biting flies got REALLY bad in our last two weeks here, the dogs were going nutz!

I made both the dogs fly coats, because I could not keep them covered when we were outside because they kept moving and loosing the towel or my jackets or whatever else I used to cover them with.

Shiner let me put the coat on her, but then she would take off for 15 minutes and then come back without it, so I can only assume that she didn’t like it much! LOL

I knew the dogs were miserable laying around the RV so I built the dogs a little fly-less shelter.

                           P1260767

Shadow the “city” dog, got it right away, P1260765a he laid in there all the time! OR At Least until Shiner figured out the benefits!

At first I had to coax Shiner to go in the shelter by giving her her lunch and sitting in there with her for a while! Slowly but surely got the hang of it, once she figured out the benefits of laying in there… She was as happy as could be! She decided she liked to have it all to herself and would lay right in front of the door!    

    Shiner enjoying a nap with out the flies bitting her! 1-002   Shiner enjoying a nap with out the flies bitting her! 2-001

Don’t worry, Shadow didn’t have to suffer, I made a door on the other side so he could get in and out too!

When they didn’t want to share, I made another shelter for Shadow in front of the RV~ The only problem was that the camper blocked any breeze from reaching him, so he started to pant like crazy.

But again,  Don’t Worry…

I took the fan I was using in the screen tent and put it on the ground in front of where Shadow’s shelter was!

So there I sat with no breeze 85 degrees and sweating my buns off, while I cleaned 3 months worth of metal detector finds!

When Dave saw me out there with sweat rolling off my forehead, he could see why I didn’t have a fan. He gave me the “look”,  shook his head, smiled and then offered to go to the Green Building to get the box fan that was stored  there.

He knew I was happier knowing the dogs were more comfortable, he is fully aware of how much I cater to the needs (or at least my perceived needs) of Shadow and / or any other living thing I come into contact with!

Small example of SOME of the things I have done for the Animals!

Like digging through the snow on our grass so I could turn over some soil, so the Robins and other birds could find some worms after a late April snow fall.

Goofy rain protection things for Shadow:

march 6 (3) A rain shelter I made for him, while I mucked stalls at a ranch we were on in Arizona. shadows rain gear0-03 Then there was a rain coat I made for him out of a garbage bag and a red belt. Then topped it off with his own little rain hat!  shadows rain gear-03 

In my defense, it was REALLY cold, windy and raining, the wind was nasty blowing around 30 to 40 mph. I felt sorry for the horses at the Triangle T Ranch in Arizona that didn’t have any shelter. I wanted to go “MacGyver-ize'” some wind blocks for the horses that were out in the open. I wanted Shadow to stay in the RV with Dave where it was warm and dry, but he wanted to be with me; so this was our compromise! 

shadows rain gear-002

I have a story about this outfit on my blog from one of our earlier travels, you can link to it here: CLICK HERE for the story about my Ridiculous rain gear. 

Animals rule and there isn’t much I wouldn’t do to try to improve their life, even if for only one day.

I told Dave it was a good thing we were leaving Texas soon, because it would have cost us a small fortune to stay. I probably would have wanted to buy something to cover all the horses to protect them from the biting flies!

Anyhow, we had a wonderful ride, the dogs ran along and jumped in every lake, puddle, swamp and spring that they could find!  Shiner's They had a good time too!

Even though I will miss this Place, I sure won’t miss 80 to 85 degrees in March and April! I am not a fan of the heat!

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