The newest addition to Sande’s menagerie this year was a baby calf that was born four days before we arrived. Since the calf was male, he will eventually be sold instead of becoming one of her Brown Swiss milk cows. I can never remember the names of her cows or which ones are related. Since she got into the “hobby” of milk cows and cheese making we see some of the calves grown up and having their own babies but others disappear from one year to the next.
The calf wasn’t the new arrival that we had expected to see because we hadn’t heard much about the cows. We had been hearing more about her horses. Last year she had two horses, which she still has. But now there is a third horse, the very special mustang that she drove 750 miles, one-way, to purchase at a sale in Carson City, Nevada. When we drove in Thursday afternoon she had just gotten back from taking him out for a ride. Before she put him back in his pen she was letting him graze in the yard. He was sure enjoying the green grass and yummy dandelions!
The first video is a walking tour of the ranch. The second video shows her horses.
Keeping all of the animals fed and watered is a lot of work, but then it’s time for play. To Sande that means loading Booger in the horse trailer and driving somewhere where she can take him out on a trail ride. Each of the three days that we were there we went along so that we could enjoy hiking while she and her friend rode their mustangs. I made a short video of the start of one of the trail rides. And then a story of our adventure on another of the rides.
This video tells the story of the “Mustang Sallies.” On one of the trail rides with Sande and her friend, Gigi, we encountered two other women out for a ride. They are all friends and stopped for a chat. Three of the four horses were mustangs. Gigi started to tell the story of the auction sale in Carson City where Sande bought her mustang, Booger. Then we heard about Whiskey, Gigi’s mustang, and Elizabeth’s mustang who was rescued from an animal shelter.
Living Wonderously 