Thursday, April 18, 2013

The shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line

My herd never took geometry.



To get from the barn to their favorite grazing spots in the pasture, they travel the long and winding and ever deepening path,



veering off course only if tempted by a fresh sprout or if they sense they're about to be run over by a tank. I mean Hank.



Walking across rangeland is very tiresome for two-leggeds and four-leggeds.




If you stray off course, you have to pay attention so you don't trip and fall or bump into a cactus.
Not that I've done either...today anyway.




I wonder how deep this road most traveled will get in the years to come?


I'll bet this is how the Grand Canyon got started.


20 comments:

  1. Hahahahahh! I have often wished I could just open the gate and let my horses wander up to our upper pastures. Unfortunately, they would take off like rockets....no meandering path....just a straight line to the hay fields!

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  2. This has always tickled me how they form a line down the path. To see just how curvy it is makes it even funnier. Maybe it keeps them from stomping the grass? I think you may be right about the Grand Canyon. :) Lucy is getting deep.

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  3. This post, especially the last "pic", gave me a good laugh over morning coffee!

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  4. I've always found it interesting how the herd actually follows the path, in single file. Wonder why they do that rather than just walking anywhere...

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  5. i never come to your blog that i don't leave smiling... and it amazes me that they follow that same path each time. new info for my brain to process

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  6. Your equine are so delightfully entertaining. As is there Mom. The path is a hoot. Must be that they are making a road most traveled to enjoy. Oma Linda

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  7. I live in mountainous country with rocks, trees, bushes, and you can see WHY the trail meanders. But your trail is on the open flat -- perhaps there used to be bushes or trees nearby --- ?

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  8. one day you'll just see EARS moving down the path.

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  9. You might be on to something there!

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  10. Thank you for the laugh--needed it so much.
    At least they are protecting the grass and not tramping all over it.

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  11. How curious that they follow the same trail... and it isn't straight. Love your last 'shot'!!

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  12. That is funny how the trail twists and turns for no reason. And also funny that they always travel the same path. My horses always did that, too!

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  13. Last time I rode on a popular trail around Folsom Lake, near Sacramento, the horse track was so deep my stirrups were dragging in the dirt on both sides of it. My friend's very broad Quarter Horse, with a wide leg stance, had a hard time following the rut that was made mostly by Arabs in endurance training. I'm sure runoff helped deepen that rut too. It's amazing how your animals have made such a trail all by themselves.

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  14. I love that shot of George nibbling along the meandering path, but I wonder if Lucy will see the humor of the last picture? I sure did get a grin from it.

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  15. How funny they are! That is one winding path very well traveled.

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  16. what a laugh with your last picture! Alan will be the first to disappear into the road!

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  17. that little trail always made me chuckle and I have to wonder, what would they do if the trail just up and disappeared one night? I'd be so tempted to try and bulldoze it flat one night just to see the reaction! What fun these guys are and you too for sharing with us.

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  18. Always smiling when I'm here !

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  19. I read somewhere that herds travel this way to foil predators who will not be able to tell how many animals took a path. Clearly it meanders because it's more aesthetically pleasing. . . :)

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