My first activity of the day was allowing Captain, the male horse, to graze in the pasture next to the paddock he shares with his sister, Eva. Mac gave me some direction as to how to keep control of my new equine pal before handing me the rope attached to Captain's halter. Since we are not well-acquainted, I've been talking to the horses so they will get used to the sound of my voice. Captain had 20 minutes of grazing time to help him transition from his winter diet of hay to fresh grass, so I added some songs to my monologue, including the classic "Camptown Races". Captain was far too busy to notice my serenade, however, as he was devouring nearly everything he could reach.
Once I returned him to the paddock, fellow intern Elexis showed me how to groom his coat, clean his hooves, and brush his mane. Cleaning a horse's hoof is a bit challenging. You have to bend their leg up and brace the hoof on your thigh while you are in a bit of a squat, then you scrape out the dirt with a thin metal tool. Captain cooperated while Elexis cleaned his left front and rear hooves, but when I tried to take his right rear hoof, he held it up and stood there on 3 legs. After a bit of coaxing, he relented and I completed the task.
Mac showed us how to reconfigure the electric fence so that Captain and Eva could go straight into pasture from their paddock. It was the first time they had been able to do so since winter had ended, and a more joyful display would be hard to imagine. They were leaping, kicking up their back hooves, and running through the grass together. I really have never seen anything quite like it.
After weeding the pepper seedlings for the upcoming plant sale, I spent the rest of the morning collecting dandelion heads like the children did yesterday. Another school group was due to visit, but cancelled at the last minute. More children will be coming tomorrow.
In the afternoon, I helped with the preparation and application of a field spray made with compost from cow manure that had been aging for several months. The preparation involves stirring a solution for an hour, so we took turns. I was then given a bucket of the solution and a small broom with a short handle. I dipped the broom in the solution and proceeded to fling the liquid over the vegetable beds that have not yet sprouted. Fellow intern Kirstin added some slinky shoulder moves at the end of her flinging, but those are strictly optional.
Next, I assisted with the set up of a woodchuck-proof cover for some of the flowering plants that are to be sold, and then received a detailed lesson on watering the greenhouse plants from senior intern Peter. He congratulated me on completing my 2nd day.
I share a kitchen with two young women from Japan, Yasuyo and Noriko. They invited me to join them for tea and cherry pie tonight. I still remember enough Japanese words from study abroad during college for Japanese people to find me amusing, so I was workin' it. I think they will share more desserts with me in the future. ;-)
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