Hello again, faithful readers of the Gimli Gazette. It is my joy to be sharing with you again this week.
I received a couple of questions from my ever-growing fan base. I begin with a question from a regular writer. She asks, “What are you going to do about Miss Mo wetting your hay? P.S. — I love you, Gimli!”
What a great question! I know who you are, dear writer. I have seen you counting the markings on Connor that look like hearts. Please know that my heart inside is bigger than all of Connor’s markings put together, and it beats for you.
I have ways of dealing with Miss Mo’s “treachery.” The sugar from the wet hay drips through the feeder and falls to the ground. I am able to lick up most of the sweetness that drips out. I don’t like what the water is doing to my feeder (it dulls the sound of the instrument when I play it at 3am).
I have also begun to gently confront Miss Mo when she sneaks into my paddock. Drawing upon my many skills from years of being a horse model, I use one of my endearing, pitiful looks on her (see below), so that she feels guilty for depriving me of my full portion of hay. Dogs use their “sad puppy eyes” to accomplish this — I use my patented Gimli Gaze. She melts before me every time!
The other question comes from a reader who is curious about horse habits. She asks, “Do horses swim?” Yes, they most certainly do! I myself am an excellent swimmer (Why does that not surprise you??!).
Many of you may not know this, but before I came to live at Mercy Spring Ranch, I was a trail horse near a lake. When we swim, it looks very much like a dog swimming (giving rise to the expression dog paddle. Somehow horse paddle does not sound quite as endearing).
Swimming in a lake is a lot easier than swimming in an ocean. The ocean waves tend to make horses quite dizzy. Sometimes a lap pool is used as a therapy tool when horses have been injured. We can swim while a person is riding us (as you might have seen in the movies), but it is easier to swim alone.
I’m excited about all the upcoming events at the ranch. In addition to new sessions with the children starting up this week, we have the Heirloom Tomato Tasting Event on Saturday, August 20th, and the Ronnie Moyer Horsemanship Clinic on October 7th & 8th. See the MSR Facebook page for more details.
And finally, have you seen the new sign (pictures on Facebook) as you enter Mercy Spring Ranch? It was built with funds from the children over at River Oak Grace Community Church in Oakdale. Nice job! I may commission the crew to build me such a sign to hang over my own paddock — something that says HOME OF GIMLI.
That’s all for this week. Keep cool everyone, as we go through another hot summer month together.
Happy Trails,
Gimli August 1, 2022