Yippee Ki Yay

Tonight was MSG Holder's retirement party so we went out to his house, which is very very far away from our house, so far away that I would not like to make that drive in to work everyday. He actually lives on a ranch called Hold Yer Horses Ranch, and he does various things involving horses and the training or breaking or roping -or something to that effect- of horses. While I was there I saw 7 horses, but I could have seen 2 of them twice so maybe there were only 5 total, who knows.

Sitting in the house talking to other people who were there I was struck by how nice it was, the simplicity of it all. There's nothing fancy about the house, nothing fancy about the stuff in the house, it's just a nice house with nice stuff on 15 acres with some horses and how pleasant! Then I went outside in the backyard and saw all the horses in the little stalls and whatnot and you know it makes you just want to be a cowboy or something. Then I walked out to see the horses up close and the smell hit me and the flies blurred my vision and I learned I was glad I was not a cowboy. I also learned something else pretty valuable: after it rains on a ranch with horses you do not want to step in any yellow puddles because folks, that's not exactly rain.

This is one of the two horses that were in the yard in front of the house when we pulled up. Of course we couldn't keep Haley away from them. Ashlyn and Owen were interested too, but nothing like the infatuation Haley showed. And like some kind of loser tourist, I took pictures of my kids with the horses. **The only thing I need now is a pillow and a large unfolded map.
Owen liked this horse, which was in a corral off to the side by himself because apparently he can't get along with the other horses because he's too wild. Which explains why Owen liked him the best.

This is a picture of Owen and Matthew Ludwigsen. You can barely see them because the first thing they did when we got to the back yard was run 15 acres away from us. I had my camera zoomed all the way out and you can still barely see them. Also, yes, that gray stuff is smoke, which is coming from random fires (?) that were built around in the scrub. (I have no idea whatsoever as to why there were fires here and there, but there were. It must be a "ranch" thing.)
This is Ashlyn, Haley and Haley Ludwigsen running to us from across the 15 acres. I think someone said "marshmallow" or something.
This is Owen standing out in the field, thinking how wide open the spaces are out here in West Texas and how he could easily get away from me if we lived in a place like that because I'm not very fast.

Then Greg (Holder) put Haley on a horse. I must say the party started at 11 this morning and we got there at 6 this evening and Dave Burkett, who brews his own beer, had brought several kegs out there and by the time we arrived no one was in any shape to saddle a horse. (we have great friends, huh?) So there was no "riding" of the horse, there was just "sitting" on the horse. Still, it made Haley's day...probably her week.

And of course here's Ashlyn on the horse.

Even Owen decided to show he wasn't a scaredy cat and get on the horse too. He was excited, but only sat there for a few seconds before he told Greg to "get me OFF please!"

And last but not least, this is ALWAYS what you want to see when you are at someone else's house, in someone else's yard, at someone else's party with a lot of other people around, most of whom you don't know because they are from Bravo Company.

**inside joke