We woke up to cloudy, cold rain once again. Terry was exhausted and needed to sleep in. I knew the Farrier was coming to check the horses hooves, so I braved the cold and rain and made my way down to the barn. A truck backed up to the barn door and set up shop. Dick Bickel quickly got to work first trimming and filing the horses hooves then fixing any cracks or imperfections with acrylic resin. In all he worked on the hooves of five or six horses in quick succession. The last horse was the greatest challenge since he needed to rework the horse shoes. In the back of the truck was a furnace and an anvil to pound the shoes into shape. Once in a while he would hold up the red hot shoe to the horses hoof to check it for size. Sometimes he even pressed the shoe up against the hoof causing it to burst into flames in the cold morning air. I was amazed at how calm the horse remained through the whole process. Dick explained that he used to shape all his shoes from a straight bar, but with so many shoe manufacturers, that didn’t make sense anymore. I asked if his was a lost art and he said, “No there are many training opportunities for the next generation.” Debbie the owner of the bed and breakfast, also claims that Dick is something of a horse whisperer. He is able to train horses that are considered to dangerous to ride.
After the Ride
The day started cloudy, cold and rainy. Terry got up at day break so she could help out in the barn. After feeding the horses, we went inside for our own breakfast. The rain let up enough so the horses were prepared for a ride in the arena. Debbie, the owner of the bed and breakfast, actually lent us a couple of Australian slickers which really helped since it was so cold out. After the lesson, the horses had the saddles removed and they were then brushed down and put back in their stalls. I worked on small quick sketches in the barn to catch all the grooming action. I must do five or six of these a day. Virginia seems like an ideal place to live, if it wasn’t so rainy and cold. Tomorrows forecast calls for a 90% chance of more rain. I kind of miss the Florida sunshine.
Lantern Lane Farm
From Washington DC we rented a car and headed west to horse country. When we arrived at the Lantern Lane Farm we were warmly greeted at the door shown around the bed and breakfast and then immediately Terry signed a waver and went out to the barn for her first ride. I of course tagged along and kept sketching. Terry had to show off her skills in the arena so that Sheryl, her trainer, could judge her skill level. As I walked up on the arena, I was struck by these Icelandic Highlander Bulls munching grass in the foreground. That light brown fellow stared me down for a while, but he never did charge the fence. It was windy and cold. I think I might need gloves.