Meet: Charlie Brown and Fizzwinkle

After RT, our longest staying resident is Charlie. Which is funny, because, originally he came for a year "or so" off. Owner Heather had purchased him from the Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue, and brought him with her from Delaware when she relocated to Washington. 

 She was bringing him along in her chosen discipline of dressage, but Charlie developed arthritis in his knees.  The barn where she was boarding didn't have the availability of much turnout, and Charlie was getting pretty stiff standing around. So he came here where he would have 24/7 pasture turnout. The hope was that Heather and Kyle could purchase their own place in the next year or so, and Charlie would return home as a "husband horse."

As gorgeous as his gaits are, Charlie's personality is even more brilliant.

So Charlie came to EvenSong in the spring of 2013, and immediately settled in to a routine of good grass and freedom to move.

He's gotten a little shaggier, but no less handsome!

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Fizzwinkle, aka the Fizzwinkler, Fizz-Bottom, or just Fizz, came to us in a very round-about way.

 Sarah is one of my oldest friends from the blog-o-sphere. I think I found her blog, Food for Founder, when I was searching for information on slow feeders, back about 2008-ish. It was from there that I "met" many other bloggers around the US and beyond (Sarah, herself, being from the lower mainland of British Columbia, Canada).  And that was the inspiration for this blog.

Tess and Fizz wowed 'em in Showmanship classes!

In 2010 Sarah went on a six-month research trip to New Zealand, and a young gal named Tess farm-sat for her. Not long after Sarah returned, Tess was offered her older mare back (having sold her when she moved up to a younger horse for eventing). Sarah realized that Tess didn't need a second horse to support while she was in college, so Sarah bought Fizz, promising her a good home forever. Fizz moved to Farcical Farm, to keep Sarah's horse Tonka company.

Tess doing some early eventing on Fizz

Fizz loaned to another young rider.

 Fast forward a couple of years, and Sarah finds it necessary to sell the farm and move to the [slightly bigger] city. Having lost her beloved Tonka, Fizz was in need of a retirement home...and I had just begun to post on FaceBook that t we were going to turn our attention to retirement boarding! Sarah contacted me, and arrangements were made for Fizz to immigrate to Ellensburg in the fall of 2013.

 As much of a lover as Fizz is with humans, she's very much an alpha mare with her pasture buddies.

With my granddaughter.

"A little to the left?"

Currently paired with part-draft gelding Comet, she definitely rules the roost!

Let Us Take a Moment Out to Curse Mother Nature

 The same nasty storm that dumped copious amounts of water on California last week, dumped the frozen version on Oregon and Washington a day or two later. What did us in here at EvenSong was the wind.  We were getting steady winds of 25-30 mph, and 40 mph gusts. It was very localized: 20 miles away in Ellensburg they got the snow, but very little wind. Interstate 90, just north of us, however, had drifting and white-out conditions that shut down east-west traffic across the state for most of a day. 

The "back" of my barn faces the usual prevailing storm winds to the northeast, but because this storm came from the south, the wind-blown snow came right on through all the open run-ins on the south! 

Poor Babe.

It's hard to tell where the stall ends and the paddock begins!

When the wind did finally shift to the north, drifts started piling up everywhere.

Digging my way out to the compost pile.

Looking back at Sonny through that same drift.

In front of the house.

Looking north up the driveway. Those are five foot tall posts on the right.

During the first storm, I plowed the driveway out four times in 48 hours.

This week I had tried to keep it open, but after two plow jobs immediately got obliterated, I gave up and decided to wait until things calmed down before trying again to clear the way for a trip to town for groceries, feed, and bedding. 

That plan changed when the LP delivery truck driver decided to try to bull his way in, and buried his chained up rear tires in the snow I had already plowed to the sides of the drive. He had called for a tow truck to pull him out, but I checked our gauge, and we really did need the gas. So for the third time, my little blue tractor got put into action. Got him into the tank just as the tow truck showed up, and nearly got stuck himself! 

Once they were done, I decided I may as well get my trip to town done, since I could get out. What I didn't count on is the storm completely filling in the driveway in the two hours I was in town.

 This was as far in as I got. Allan and I carried in what groceries couldn't stay in the truck overnight, in single digit temperatures and continued gusty winds. Grain, shavings, and already frozen food waited for the next day.

Assessing the three foot drifts in the driveway, with snow piled high on either side from previous plowings, I broke down and created a path through the adjacent pasture--less snow, because there were no trees to stop the wind, and more open space into which I could plow what snow there was.

For now, this will have to do. The wind has stopped, so I'll whittle away at the driveway over the next few days.

In the arena, snow is piling up--not only drifts that formed from the wind pattern around the barn, but also what I had to pile there to clear paths to the driveway and house.

"Intrepid barn manager conquers Mt. EvenSong!"

Kate sees a distinct advantage to this state of affairs: we won't be working here any time  soon!