Dear Cecilia, Finnian, Augustine, Kieran, and Mary –

I’ve been with some friends and some horses in California. Here is my friend’s daughter arriving at  the farm yesterday morning. Her name is Mary Ellen. Yes! You can see she was very busy.

Mary Ellen had  brought some of her horses to the Blacksmith, or Farrier. Can you guess why?

Can you see what he is doing?

When the farrier  brought out the next horse, he had a moment of what Gus would call freaking out 

 

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In the afternoon, we heard there was going to be a practice  “Roping.” I had forgotten what this meant, then I remembered. Do you know? 

Yes, it’s  a practice for a real event, called Team Roping. One rider must lasso the horn or head (“Header”). The other rider must lasso the hind feet (“Heeler”). To watch, we sat inside the corral. A loudspeaker played country music, as we  talked and ate and drank while Mary Ellen and the others practiced.  It was a little like being at a swim meet,  or a soccer or baseball game, except we wouldn’t have let  Kieran or Mary  loose to run around!

Sometimes videos don’t work for you, so here are some photos (but I really hope you can get the video to work). You can click each picture:

 Mary has 4 dogs. They all look alike (to me!). I think this is Trigger: 

Mary Ellen’s husband wasn’t there, but his  horse, Possum. was, so I rode him for awhile  this morning —  

I miss you all very much. YOU WOULD LOVE IT HERE!

 

 

 

 

Mary Ellen  is a very good cattle roper. Set this YouTube Video at 1:30, then watch to 2:08. See her winning last year’s Team Roping Championship!