Yesterday I had my first real introduction to horse riding. Me, Whit, and her mum each rode across the nearby lands under the dusky sun. I tried to look as relaxed as possible whilst riding 'Robo', but my tense body posture suggested that I was actually 'shitting bricks.' To be fair, this was only true on one occasion when I learnt how to make Robo trot without first asking how to make him stop. I'm used to an accelerator and brakes, and so when I was being pulled at what left like 50 mph to realise I had no means off stopping, I knew this wasn't the same as driving a VW Polo.
Moving on from horses to another farmyard animal: today I spent much of the day herding cows.
The process involved chasing the cows with ATVs (4-wheelers) until they headed towards the confined pens. Once inside, there were then guided one-by-one into a cage which disturbingly reminded me of a trap you'd see in the 'SAW' films. As a cow entered, it would clamp down around them so they couldn't move, making it easier to then inject them with the necessary drugs. It sounds fairly straight forward, but my introduction to cows taught me that they:
1) are very strong
2) don't often cooperate
This meant that it took over 7 hours and a ton of patience to get the job done. I love trying new things, so I did actually enjoy the day. It was also fun to use the cattle prod to jolt the cows when they became overly stubborn (Whit wouldn't let me try it on her)...
Tomorrow we head to a friend's lakeside cabin for the day, where we'll be staying overnight. Then on Saturday we begin an eight hour drive to Minneapolis for a wedding which takes place on Sunday. It'll be good to see not only the bride and groom, but also a group of friends from England, as well as America, who are heading there also.
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