Breaking them in.

Since the temperature has done a steady rise from the low we had for Christmas Eve, -56*, the +10* to +20* is just too strange for January and has us all on edge.  We've had such gentle weather for us, I can tell the boss is waiting for the metaphorical "other shoe" to drop, so firewood is being cut, hauled and split, horses are being searched for, tracked and conditions are being evaluated. As the days are getting longer, we are gaining more than 4 minutes a day, another worry emerges. As the daylight gets stronger, especially on the mild temp days- the horses will start "sunning" themselves and stop eating. It could drop to  -40* overnight, and this would be bad.

All the while, training is going on. If the "boys" are awake- they are being trained. Every move is being watched and weighed. Ike has been out cutting wood with Glen.  This is Ike's first time "away" from home, so I'm keeping a close eye on any signs of home-sick, or just a sadness - if it shows up.

On this Girl-Guide's mind, is confidence. The settling-in takes different amounts of time for each individual and confidence comes from inside each of us. It is a personal quality. It is also a quality a professional guide must have.

Terry, Ruger and I ran sno-gos across the river to spot check some of the horses that moved off the mountain and a trio of those "horses" that keep trying to get to one of the islands. If the trio succeeds, they are in for all sorts of problems. Being stranded, slipping on the ice or just not having enough to eat are just the most obvious problems they may have. The biggest concern right now, is that they keep walking out onto the ice! This is a dilemma I have never encountered in all the years chasing horses around our part of the mountains! What - to - do -what - to - do?!

The horses we managed to track down were happy to see us with their bag of goodies. The sound of the sno-gos coming rings the "free food" bell for them and it is truly a fantastic sight to watch them running through the snow.