Labor Day Weekend 2010

Three out of four days of Labor Day Weekend (yes, I included Friday) were spent working at the other end of the state. Newtown and Niantic on Friday, Naugatuck wedding on Saturday, Newtown and Niantic again on Sunday. Monday, Labor Day, we were in our neck of the woods in Woodstock, doing a parade with Duke & Diesel. The Naugatuck wedding is worth mentioning because, once again, the Cinderella Carriage has proven to be a very wise investment. Throughout the ride, the bride kept gloating, "I feel like a real princess!" The Woodstock Parade is also worth a mention, although I regret I have neither photos nor video of the event. What a ruckus! What testimony to our horses (in this case, Duke & Diesel) and their good manners, trustworthiness, and stunning good looks! Lined up and waiting to go, organizers had us standing right next to some crazy whirly ride, with hip-hop music blaring and bells and whistles going off. The horses just stood. During the parade, with drums in front and drums behind, the horses pranced, and looked remarkable (Terry drove, I was the out walker). According to the organizers, there were record numbers at the fair yesterday. The Governor's Horse Guard was also there, with complaints of the craziness, but they, too, did well. We feel so fortunate to have such incredible horses as our work partners.

Speaking of our work partners...yesterday (Labor Day, the day of the Woodstock Parade) we woke up, looked out the window, only to exclaim, "Why do I only see one grey horse in the pasture?!" It was then that I heard the thunder...Duke, Diesel & Gillette were out again! I raced outside in my bathrobe to cut them off before they got into the street, only to have them turn and bolt down the path into the woods where I trail ride Gillette (once again, it is Gillette leading the other two to mischief!) Terry became totally stirred, racing around with the truck and a bucket of grain, trying to find them. I went down to the pasture, secured the fence so the other three would not get out, and fed them hay to give them something to do (like last weekend, the lack of 24 hour dining gave the three Musketeers reason to journey outside the fence, although it was a fallen tree that had given the horses a way out that time). It is uncertain whether one of the horses laid the fence on the ground, or if a deer went through it, as we have seen happen before. In any event, friend Linda and her husband, Ed came racing to our rescue, and we finally caught the wild bunch down the road in a neighbor's yard. Needless to say, after we got back from the parade, some changes were made around here, and the electric down below now has current hot enough to spark a forest fire (no, just kidding, but it is HOT), and a new round bale will keep the six horses content in the middle of their pasture for a few days, anyway!