This and That - 4th of July related

On my way up to the Lodge last week, I was astounded by the St. Vrain River.  It's higher than I ever remember it being.  Part of it is the fact that Winter forgot to leave, Spring never showed, and Summer cranked up the thermostat.  We were well above normal for snow pack, so once Summer showed up, the run-off has been astounding.  Also, Summer brought a friend, Monsoon, who has been determined to cause flash floods.  Winter, Summer and Monsoon have worked together to bring record highs for our river levels.

This is just crazy...

You shouldn't be able to see the river that close to the level of the road.

I had a harebrained idea to paint the horses' hooves red, white and blue for the parade.  Since I had no idea where to find hoof paint in those colors, I settled for non-toxic poster paint.  It worked out pretty well...

Except for the dirt that the horses managed to kick all over their pedicures.  *shrugs* It was worth a try and it was fun.

The morning of the Fourth, Nebalee got in on the action and put the sparkle polish over the paint.  I don't know how I managed to not get a picture of that.  I decided the week before that I was going to ride bareback in the parade - if Estes hasn't killed me on the mountian, she probably wasn't going to kill me on the same road that we ride when we don't have time to go up the mountain.  The problem of riding without a saddle meant that we couldn't do a whole lot of decorating.  Instead of wearing the "skirt" she usually does for the parade, she got a big pretty bow in her tail...

...and the 3 Heathens "brand" in blue sparkles.  None of the kids were at the parade, so they get a nod with the brand. 

Poor Washoe had to wear a pretty bow too...but what a cool picture...

Strutting our stuff...

Even Ripley got in on the action (as a spectator)...