It was a good summer, a bit rainy for my tastes, but overall okay in that our heat wave was nothing like that down in the Pacific Northwest. 80 F degree temperatures were hot enough – I can’t imagine being in 104 F temperatures and not having access to air conditioning.

It was mainly an indoor day today because outside was so uninviting. Our friends, Fran and Sarah got up late. Then we had a scrambled egg breakfast, made by Pete. After we sat and talked for a long time – talk generally is good especially when it’s about or related to Icelandic horses.

Finally, our friends, who had a long drive ahead of them, left and headed back to Fairbanks, leaving us with chores that we happily abandoned when they got here. Pete did the dishes and I dove into my Bones for Life material. The latter is quite difficult – I am not sure right now how I am going to internalize the material. In the meantime, I am typing up the chapter manuals for future reference. My next step is going to be to distill the chapters further, and come up with the small, unobtrusive sheets that we all know and love so well.

Can only do so much of that shit. This is why I decided to go for a ride.

I rode Raudi and Pete rode Hrimmi. Hrimmi behaves differently for Pete than she does for strangers. In other words, she moves out. Though she stopped a great deal, I am convinced that she is merely a late bloomer and will shortly come into her own. And Raudi, she’s good because she has so many miles under her girth.

After, I rode Tyra around the loop and ponied Tinni. There is no doubt about it – Tyra is right now our super star. She moved out nicely today, and once, when Tinni stopped, she held still for a bit rather than joining him in a grass fest. I was so impressed. Once again, I am going to have what one of my MFA teachers called a happy problem. Who do I ride, Raudi or Tyra? Right now all the horses are on a riding schedule, so this is not the problem that it might otherwise be.

Pete made Indian food for dinner. I returned to working on my Bones for Life lessons. This is scary. I don’t know if I will get all the way through the lessons that Shari expects me to teach. As it is, I am now looking for short cuts.

I am now momentarily going to go out and milk Stormy. Her production is down, even though she’s being milked three times a day. This is just the way she is. A little bit of sunshine in her day would also help matters considerably.

Next: 224. 7/17/17: Short Days Long Nights