Dog Hair & Mule Sweat
with Natalie Riehl
editor@rockymountainrider.com
ers in our garden. The water is supposed to be turned
on in the irrigation ditch by the first of the month, and I’m hoping it will be since the irrigation company told me that they had unexpected repairs to do to the Hedge Ditch, which is sloughing where it’s not supposed to. When we burned the dead grass
along the ditch, I was surprised to find we collected a grocery sack’s worth of plastic bottles littering that short stretch next to the road. I don’t under- stand why some people feel it’s okay to throw their trash out the window, when it’s really so easy to throw it away in a trash can at a gas station.
It’s the time of year to take a warm Sometimes I find it, and some-
times I don’t. I am talking about the “magic string” on a bag of feed, bed- ding or fertilizer where the sack is stitched at the top. The location of this magic string
is easier to find if the bag is facing toward me, and I go for the right side. However, this becomes a problem when I can’t tell which side of the bag is the “right” side. I’ll snip off the end of the woven
micro-strings and try to find the exact one that, when I pull, easily opens the whole bag…which is nearly as impos- sible as winning the lottery. I can picture the guy operating the
stitching machine, laughing demoni- cally with his voice booming, “She’ll never find the right string! Ha! Ha! Ha!” I hate to give in quickly to the
temptation of simply cutting the top of the bag, and feel compelled to try to find the magic string. What stub- born streak makes me try to “find the solution to the puzzle”? Is it the sheer satisfaction I feel when the bag opens effortlessly upon pulling the correct string? Fortunately, for my patience, I
sometimes purchase sacks that have the thin paper strip one can pull to open them.
As I write this, it’s the middle
of April and we’ve already mown the lawn in spite of freezing nights which have zapped the spring flow-
8 ROCKY MOUNTAIN RIDER • MAY 2011
afternoon — provided we get a break from the snow flurries — and clean my saddles and tack. I like to use the extra strong nozzle on the hose to blast the sweat off my saddle blankets and cinches on the concrete driveway, and I’ll use a hand brush to scrape off loose hairs. Then I’ll hang them over the rail fence to dry. I prefer to spread my bridles, breast
collars, britchings and saddle parts out on a patch of lawn when I clean and oil them. The grass does a good job of buffering contact with dust, and keeps them cleaner while the oil soaks in, preferably under sunlight. I don’t believe there is any easy
way to clean dirty tack. If the under- sides of my fenders are encrusted with dried sweat and dirt, I have found the only way to adequately clean them is to use warm water, saddle soap, a brush and old-fashioned elbow grease. …And, in this case, I’ve found that lawn provides a friendly cushion for one’s knees.
My name for May is the “Month
of Leaves.” At the beginning of the month there are no leaves, and by the end of the month, trees and shrubs are in full summer leaf. We could call it a short spring! Enjoy the transition into summer…
Idaho–Montana–Nevada–Oregon–Utah–Washington– Wyoming
Regional All-Breed ____Horse Magazine____
P.O. Box 995, Hamilton, MT 59840 406-363-4085 888-747-1000 Fax: 406-363-1056
www.rockymountainrider.com May 2011
_____Publisher & Editor_____ Natalie Riehl
editor@rockymountainrider.com
_____Production Department_____ Dorinda Troutman
ads@rockymountainrider.com Veronica Grainger
proofs@rockymountainrider.com
_____Display Advertising Sales_____ Natalie Riehl
editor@rockymountainrider.com Sam Walsh
sam@rockymountainrider.com
_____Classified Advertising Sales_____
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Bookkeeping Department
office@rockymountainrider.com
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ABOUT THE PUBLICATION: (ISSN 1536-3007) Rocky Mountain Rider Magazine is published monthly, with 14,000 copies distributed free of charge in 375+ horse- related businesses throughout the Greater Rockies. © 2011 Rocky Mountain Rider, P.O. Box 995, Hamilton, MT 59840. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of any editorial material, artwork or photos is strictly forbidden without express written permission of the publisher.
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