My first riding lesson was today.

Our friend's daughter. We gave her a gift of her first riding lesson

 The horse is Astro. 

He’s a Morgan. 

Morgans are compact, not too large, which is good for me since there’s less distance to fall.

We had to postpone twice due to frigid weather.  

While we ride in a barn, it is not heated and like everyplace else here in Wyoming, is subject to the strong Wyoming winds.  

  

Today I learned to steer (reign, I guess), trot and I tried to “post.”

Posting is when you bounce up and down while trotting or galloping.

You raise yourself up in the stirrups.

It supposedly doesn’t hurt the bum so much when bouncing up and down.

You use your legs, back and ab muscles and need to stay in rhythm with the horse while hanging on.

Oh, and you’re supposed to steer (reign) too!

One more thing—you’re supposed to post up while the horse is raising his right leg. 

It’s a lot to remember.

It’s hard work!

My lesson is an hour long. Fifteen or so of those minutes is learning to bridal Astro, walk him and a few other things. 

I was exhausted after riding 35 minutes!

I am, though, determined to learn how to ride so I can tick off yet another notch on my way to becoming a frontier woman.

Or maybe, it will be my one and only notch…   

Meet Astro

One of my New Year adventures this year is to take riding lessons.

Today I took a step closer to beginning that adventure.

Nine year old R.N.—a friend, neighbor and the daughter of a colleague of the Legal Dude—will also be taking lessons.

So this afternoon R.N.—together with her mom and younger brother (the little tyke)—and I drove out to meet Astro and his mom.  

Clip Art--But this horse is the color of Astro and just as handsome

The barn where we’ll take lessons is not heated and with the severe temps, Astro’s mom decided it was too cold to ride.

But we got to touch and pet Astro and to feed him lots of treats.

First lesson is scheduled for Monday, weather permitting.

We decided on “English.”

Wanna bet who’s going become the better rider faster?

My money is on nine-year old R.N.!

And so it begins...

I know that some out-of-town guests here for the Bar Mitzvah found the weather, and the two-hour drive from the airport, to be a bit beyond the pale.

Indeed, traveling to Laramie makes for a long travel day.

One friend equated the trip to Laramie to a “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

She, however, used more colorful language, not quite appropriate for this G-rated blog.

On Sunday evening, we watched the fire works from our front porch, wrapped in jackets or blankets—something I’d never expect on the 4th of July.

I found myself rather bemused by the comments and the “wonder of it all” by some of our out-of-town guests.

We are in Wyoming—at an elevation of over 7,000 feet—so cool temps, wind, late afternoon thunderstorms and long car rides to get from point A to point B, are par for the course.

There must be a bit of the imp of that Frontier Woman in me—finally!

Besides, in less than 5 weeks, I become an official “resident” of the beautiful state of Wyoming.

Yee-ha!

Spun Wool...

The wind is still blowing, but as of yet, no storm has materialized.

With this moon, though—

I’m not sure if it will.

While the sun was still bright and shinning, I went to the Cow Girl Yarn shop downtown to the spinning class.

I learned a few things about how yarn becomes yarn.

I learned that the spinning wheel

is a relatively new invention and that wool was spun by hand, on these…

Although these cost about $50 each--yowza!

which I wanted to give a try before moving on to the more modern invention.

So I started out with this…

Rovng--or animal fur, which has been washed and carded

from a wholly sheep friend and tried to be coordinated enough to handle the pulling, the twirling and the spinning—all without having it pull apart.

This is not me, but the instructor

It took me almost two hours, but I finally ended up with this…

Yarn! From a sheep 

The instructor wanted me to give the spinning wheel a try, but I think I'll stick with the hand spinner—or whatever it’s called—for awhile.

Makes me feel more like a Frontier Woman...

A light in the forest

A friend and I drove up to the Summit today—to cross-country ski territory—for a walk through the woods.

It was beautiful.

I don’t know why, but we hadn’t expected to find snow—deep snow, knee deep in some places.

Neither of us was dressed for the weather, with me in tennis shoes, a hoodie and a little Lands Ends vest, and not a glove between us.

With snow covering the hilly ski trails, it was hard work making our way into the woods, but it was well worth the effort.

After awhile tho, the wind picked up and we noticed the sky turning dark and ominous and then remembered that the morning forecast had called for rain and snow.

So we decided to make our way back to the car before the sky opened up, except that each path looked the same and we weren't sure, with the deep snow, which was the best path out.

For a bit there, with the uncertainty of where in the mountain woods we were—and at an elevation of over 8,000 ft—I felt a slight twinge of fear, wondering if my cell phone would work or if the lightening that had visited the night before would return, with what looked to be an impending storm.

I thought about how both our Legal Dudes were out of town—so no one knew where we were—and that I was at a complete loss direction wise or had no idea which way was out.

Such were the thoughts that mulled around in my mind as I tried not to let my apprehension show.

Fortunately, my companion had been on the trails enough times to have an idea in which direction to go, and after a few minutes, the fear subsided and I begin to feel a bit of a thrill.

The thrill of not having to wander in the wet and the cold, or to have to spend the night, lost in the dark.

The thrill of feeling like a nonchalant western, mountain, or frontier woman, even though I’m anything but.

We had no idea what this tool--left by the Nordic Ski
Club--but figured it might come in handy

Signs of spring, despite the winter weather

The W.C.

Safe and sound as we make our way back to the car

I am, after all, just a city gal, abnormally afraid of bears, mountain lions and anything with four legs and teeth.

I’d do it again—tho next time, I’d take a compass.

A Frontier Woman’s Mother’s Day…

I’ve been thinking for some time now, about getting a cow gal hat...

so the Legal Dude decided to get me one for Mother’s Day.

I forget what that twined rope thingy is called, but it’s usually hooked under the chin while riding—or as only in Wyoming, whenever the wind blows.  (I'm told this is the way to lay a hat so as not to lose it's shape.)

My hat is from Martindale’s Western Wear in downtown Laramie, where I went to get...

this funky looking little Boot Jack, since I have such a hard time getting my boots off—old age and poor achy lumbar—and have been telling the Legal Dude I want one, besides he could use it too.

My oh my!  What a difference a Boot Jack makes!

More important, however, I wanted to the Legal Dude to see a really sweet pair of Corral boots I'm thinking I might want for my birthday...

The pair I want is tone on tone
w/out the tourquise inlay.

First though, I needed to make sure I could “make them me,” since they are nothing like I have ever worn before.

Yep. No problem—I can definitely make them me.

Real Cow Dudes and Gals

On Sunday, we popped in at the Central Rocky Mountain Region competition of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association to have a look see at the University of Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls who were roping, riding and competing in all things rodeo…



The competition took place at the UWYO Hansen Center, which is 2 miles out of town, on the way to Centennial.

The Legal Dude didn’t want to go, neither did the teenager.

They don't want to see animals harmed.

Nor do I, for that matter, but I've never been to a real live, front and center rodeo so the Legal Dude acquiesced.

The teenager, who no longer finds us fitting company to spend time with, adamantly refused to go along.

My camera refused to cooperate, so I have nothing but lousy photos to post...



That guy wearing the hat and yellow shirt reminded me of the young Australian actor, Tom Burlinson, who played alongside Kirk Douglas and Sigrid Thornton in the 1982 movie, “The Man from Snowy River.”


Internet photo

Though without the long Australian overcoat.

There's something about cowboy dudes...



Good thing I'm happily married!



Actually, he was the only dude who stayed still long enough for us to try and get a decent photo. I believe the Legal Dude took this one.

I remember a friend telling me about a wedding she attended two years back in Banner, Wyoming, and how the cow dudes looked so handsome in their hats and boots—to which I can attest from my time here—but once the hats and boots came off, they looked just like every other Tom, Dick and Harry (something I am unable to attest to).

An attempt to catch the bucking horse...



I'm told they cinch a belt around the horse’s middle, which is uncomfortable, thus causing them to buck.

Those cow dudes are required to ride for 8 seconds.

These “Dodge" dudes are always there, for when the rider dismounts from his bucking bronco onto the back of their mount. Then one of the Dodge Boys loosens the strap from the still bucking animal...



We saw a few cowboys tossed against the fence and up and down, and a few of them walked away limping.

I love the posture of this horse, who—as his cowboy matter-of-factly walks away from the poor little roped steer—seems to be looking at the audience as if to say...



Yep, that’s my cowboy folks!

Too bad I couldn’t get a cleaner shot…

Getting ready…



The cowboy on the left in the white hat had a mount who threw a little hissy fit...



This little cow gal is bummed! That loop she’s dragging...



was supposed to be lassoed around a little steer.

No animals were injured.

I’d go back.

Is this so terrible of me?

Not A Frontier Woman…yet

Today’s wind is fierce.

TWC predicted wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph, again.

On campus the fir trees sway and rustle in the wind, making a lovely sound.



Downtown, the wind blows several UPS boxes down and around as the driver tries to pile them high on his service cart.



Out at the mailbox, I cradle the mail like a football, otherwise, the wind, just like a line baker, knocks it out of my hands and sends it flying...everywhere.


The black smudge is my camera strap flapping in the wind.

No mail slots in the doors, or mailboxes on the front porch, in our neighborhood.

Everyone has to visit these metal boxes to retrieve mail, which thankfully are next to our driveway, which means I get to shovel/clear a path to the boxes.

Sitting inside, in front of my laptop while the wind howls and whips around the house, I feel like one of the two pig brothers who chose to build with straw and twigs, instead of bricks.

I tell myself: I’m hardy.

I tell myself: I’ve survived the snow, the ice and the -35 below freezing temps.

I tell myself: at least the sun is shinning and it’s near 50 degrees today.

I tell myself: this is the life of a Frontier Woman, we of the dry skin, the chapped lips and the wind blown hair.

I guess I’m not “her,” yet.

Frontier Woman goes...local

Yesterday I went to a food symposium held on campus.



It was for local food providers and consumers.

I went because of my love affair with the Laramie Farmer’s Market and as the result of a Food, Health and Safety Conference I attended, also on campus, last September.

I would love to support the local ranchers and growers.

The problem with the latter is that the growing season in Laramie is so darn short

So a main interest in attending yesterday’s symposium was the breakout session on food preservation.

Unfortunately, it was only an overview and I need something more in-depth, like classes, mainly because the whole process frightens me: botulism, pressure cookers, etc.

I’m hoping some classes or “how-to” sessions will be held here in Laramie this spring.

Or perhaps I can just hook up with local experts who will let me watch and participate so that come July and August, I can start to “put-up” my own goods for the winter.

Then again, the drying and freezing process seems simple enough, although it was recommended that we use a “drying machine,” given the constant Wyoming winds.

Just another task to add to my list of things to learn that a "Frontier Woman" knows and does.