Here's the horses

OK, so I have to let you see the horses. I've been told. Here they all are, down under our apple tree, hoping for windfalls. Aren't we all?

One wild burro, two Missouri Fox trotters, one Tennessee Walker, and one Welsh pony. They all get along. Most of the time! Only one is mine, the mare with the lightening flash on her rear. That is Lily, the Tennessee Walker. Great ride for a grandmother, which is what I am.

It's so easy to have horses in Montana, compared to Cape Cod. An average house has five acres of land, unless your fool enough to buy in a subdivision laid out by a Californian with one third acre lots and covenants against clothes lines. Why the hell move to Montana, if that's what you want. Anyway. . .

Hay is much less expensive in Montana than on Cape Cod, to be sure. I can buy a ton of hay for $180. But it has gone up this year considerably, it was closer to $100 a ton last year from the same supplier. The bottom has dropped out of the horse market in Montana. More stories on that soon, but basically, people who could afford ten horses can now only afford five. And so, lots of classified ads as people are "thinning their herds." Auctions of top quality horses freqently attract few buyers, and many horses remain unsold. It's such a growing problem, that there are cases where people have just set their horse free on federal property, causing the horses much danger and stress.

But our horses are all safe and sound, and getting ready for the winter ahead. I'll print an item on each one of them soon. They all deserve some words.