I have arrived

Yesterday.

After several days of driving, snow, and high gas prices (although it is about 50 cents cheaper in Oregon) I have arrived at Halfway. The town is small and I'm no where near it. The Mader family with whom I am apprenticing were working on bagging up alfalfa leaf for a 3900 pound or so order when I arrived, which we have finished up today. I've been here just less then a day but every thing is amazingly beautiful both the land and the horses which are also very large. My first exposure to them for going out to feed the main herd of about 30 or more. David (Mader) and Lisa (apprentice) had loaded a wagon with loose and baled alfalfa hay. Lisa hitched Misty and Beth (two of the working Belgian mares) to the wagon and we set out for the field. When we arrive David opened the fence and Lisa drove in. It was my job to scare the horse away from the wagon as we came in so that they would not steal the baled hay from the wagon. I was of course not totally sure how to do this and in the process of keeping the horse back managed to knock the bales off for them. After scaring them away from the bales and getting back on the wagon with David we drove in a circle spreading the hay on the ground as the herd trailed behind us and spread out as each horse found a patch of food that it found suitable. After that we dropped some bales for the horse in the dry pin (I'm not sure why they are kept separate yet. but this seems to be where the working horse are kept) and then unhitched the team and took out the harness and took them back to the dry pin. After that we head to the house for dinner and I did a little bit of unpacking into a trailer with it seems will be my new living quarters. After that I sleep some and got up this morning and set to helping with the bagging of the alfalfa leaf. Lisa and I have been working on mulching the garlic with the alfalfa stems and it looks good. Thats all for now but there will be more to come.