It Takes A Team

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/27/10, Monte Vista, CO - I currently about 6 miles north of Monte Vista, on Route 285, having a great time with the horses.  We traveled on back roads most of the day, seeing some great country and enjoying a break from the traffic.

I was headed to my friend Bruce’s place tomorrow, but he called this morning and asked if I could hold off a couple of days. This past weekend, he drove up to Wyoming and bought a new Brabant stallion. Knowing how hard it can be to get a stud settled into a new home, I readily agreed and put off my arrival at his place until Thursday.  Since I had some extra time, and plenty of groceries, I decided to head back up to La Garita and say ‘Hi’ to my friends Bonnie and Jerry. La Garita is a pretty place and I really enjoyed my last drive up here.

 I usually don’t break out the camera much in the morning, but here’s a scene of the lads enjoying their morning oats, right after I took down their electric fence, that they had up for the night. Last night I tied Bob to the wagon while the other two roamed in the playpen; tonight, Doc is tied up.

Right now, I only have shoes on Doc and Bob, so they’re doing the pulling while Billy is hanging out behind the wagon. In the morning, if I have the ambition, I’ll slap some iron on the bottom of Bill’s feet and put him out front for a change (we’ll see how fast I get out of bed in the morning).

The aspen have turned a nice yellow-gold.  The mountains are now heralding the changing season. As I ran a curry comb over the horses this morning, I noticed another sign; the team is starting to loose their summer coats.

One of the reasons I chose to take the back roads today, was to enjoy the scenery along the Rio Grande River.  I wasn’t at all disappointed. The route was through several State Wildlife Areas, and their were a lot of migratory birds.

The tree line beyond Bob’s head marks the course of the Rio Grand River.

A nice pair of cranes on a lake (fed from Rio Grande Irrigation water) in one of the State Wildlife areas.  These were probably birds stopping to rest on their way south.

I really enjoy watching geese. You can see how they’re broken up into family groups of 4 to 12 birds. The parents start the flight lessons in family groups, usually at dawn and dusk; then after about a month, they join up with other family groups for some serious formation flying. These are probably local birds.  In another few weeks, they’ll be headed south for a winter home.

Tonight, I’m parked on the side of the road, about six miles north of Monte Vista. The traffic has quieted down, and I’m about ready to cook up some supper.  This has been a great travel day!