Today was one of those days that just started all wrong, and nothing seemed to go right all morning. Dogs were escaping, items were misplaced, an appointment went too long, kids didn’t follow instructions, completing one task was dependent on another task, which was dependant on yet another....I’m sure you know the type. The afternoon agenda involved hitching my team to a sulky plow for the first time to turn a patch of sod. Based on the morning’s events, I was, admittedly nervous. I’ve plowed with an experienced team, but I’ve never started a furrow, never broken virgin clay ground, and never used a team that didn’t have a clue. I also had hip surgery earlier this year, and that hip is pretty weak for controlling the plow pedal.
Praise God, my afternoon changed the course of my day! All the practice the mares and I have gotten driving straight rows in the market garden on my Homesteader paid off. They drove a nearly perfect first furrow, and 3.5 hours later, the girls had plenty of life left after plowing up a 50 x 100 ft patch. It took a few rounds for my furrow horse to figure it out, but she did and by the end, all our lines were consistently fairly straight. At one point, one of the mares rubbed the bridle off one of her ears, and started to react. When I saw the problem, she listened to my cues, and waited while hubby came out to help. Crisis averted, we went back to work. I am so excited, and thrilled to end the day on a good note. I love how getting behind my team, slowing down a bit, communing with nature for a few hours, and accomplishing a challenging task can really turn a mood around!