Beamer's 10th birthday

Beamer turned 10 today, and I figured it was a good day to treat him like the special horse he is. So he got a bath; shampoo and conditioner for mane and tail, and some fly spray when he dried off. He has had so many dust baths lately that he looked like a dun.

Since it was a hot day, and I wanted to take him out for a stroll around the newly swathed hayfield, I opted to ride bareback; no packing a hot saddle on his birthday!

Yes, I know it's not proper etiquette to ride with the reins crossed, but it works for me!

As we rode along, I thought I spotted a row of Ravens sitting on fence posts; but it wasn't; it was turkey buzzards.

They weren't timid at all, we got within about 40 feet of them and they flew off, one by one.

As we continued long we spotted this little bird on a fence post too; I think she thought we couldn't see her in the tall grass.

After a nice leisurely ride, Beamer went off to graze happily , he didn't even take a dirt bath right away like he usually does;

but when I went to bring him in tonight, he was covered in dust  again.

I thought I'd see if the horses would eat watermelon; inspired by the 7MSN blog, where watermelon is considered a delicacy by burros, horses, pigs and chickens (but not Carson!). Well. It must be a southern thing, eh? The only one eating watermelon around here is me! Beamer took one sniff, and went back to his hay. Gussie gave me some lip, Coyote Belle looked disgusted, Chickory was disappointed that it wasn't a spoonful of garlic, but Rio took a nibble:

That is, until Chickory came over...

Ewwww!  You're not eating that, are you?

After that, he wouldn't touch it. I guess it isn't Canadian, eh?