Reset my camp today. Turned the rig 'bout 90° putting the door toward the morning sun.
Didnt really think about it before I did it... but that's the way a lot of tribes set their camps__always with the door to the sunrise.
Makes pretty good sense for me don't it? I mean, I live in a Lakota trailer, I've gone back to horse...
No matter much the system pressures me to rejoin "their" herd or how hard I try to convince myself I'm wrong in my ways and should settle somewhere...I can't do it.
I'm a nomadic horseman, kinda like that Lakota tribe, in a way__ and will always be.
Cora is at a fella's place 45 miles north for a bit. I decided all things considered I needed to play this time 'round real careful. No mistakes... so she's getting a decent restart under a younger butt with more bounce...
... while I continue to prepare for our wandering future.
It's not as easy as it once was to be a gypsy horseman. You can't just stop wherever you please.
Where the trees provided shade along a creek that watered your horses and the grass that fed them.
Today you have to plan out your route fairly careful. Know where you'll stop and for how long.
Know where there's water, where there are pens for your stock, or where you can set your own, and you must carry your feed with you...there will be little if any "free grazing" to be had.
If you will be on any government ground, with few exceptions, you got to have certified feed. Certified to be weed free.
Finding purveyors of certified feed is another whole skill to hone.
You can still "boondock" like I've been doing for years... there's just more to consider when you're hauling horses along too.
It's all a mite intimidating if you think on it too much... (a fault of mine) so I've kinda just deliberately quit looking at too much of the big picture and spend more time with the Lil details of day to day.
The reward for it all are the whickers you get out of the dark when you step outside at midnite... or walk up in the sunrise with their breakfast in a bucket.
...and watching the trail unfold before you looking through a horses ears.
Stepping out into another unknown is as always, kinda spooky... but it let's you know you're still alive.
...and for a fact, if you're not a little scared by what you're doing, than you might want to take a good hard look at things. It could be you've safetied up and quit Living!
- Brian
looks like their are list posted by the various states on where to obtain certified weed free hay and forage. Here is one from Colorado.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agconservation/weedfreeforage
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DeleteKarin; My problem is I always seem to be a hundred miles from a certified producer or right smack next to one who has run out of any! ;)
DeleteFeeding pellets you should be ok, but hay can be another item. Good luck in your travels.. and coggins- health papers another pain in the butt.. happy trails.
ReplyDeleteStymie; Exactly! Pellets is all we ever used to feed in arizona, due to the problem of finding decent hay there/here... it was mostly grown for dairy cows. They're easy to find in the SW, Arizona to Texas... a bit harder as you go north and there's more hay... but most all are accepted by the gov't for weed free purposes. coggins and such... it's only money right? :)
DeletePlanning some things sounds like it might not be so bad. Do you know about the Teamster guy that had horses and hauled his butt all over in his horse pulled wagon? He was pretty interesting to follow. He had Belgians.
ReplyDeleteYeah I know about him... got blasted by a semi that destroyed his wagon and killed a couple of his horses... Put him in critical condition for some little while... down in Mississippi I think he was... got a fresh wagon and replaced the horses... made it all the way into Arizona where some damn fool in a car whacked him again... people, ever'body in a rushin' damn hurry... He pretty much gave it up and settled on a place up in Oregon I believe
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