Wordless Wednesday

The name game

I'm a little miffed. When I did the online research for naming Sparkle, the name Isle Sparkle N Shine was available. I sent her registration application in a week or so ago, and the way I check to see if it's been processed is to research her chosen name online. Yup, it was there allright- on a black yearling filly! What th.... So I have to come up with another name, and want to keep Sparkle in it. She is a great granddaughter of Shining Spark, his dam was Diamond Sparkle. So in keeping with all of Beamer's foals having Peppy in their names, I think my choice will be Sparkle N Peppy.

Bringing Reba home

I went and picked up Reba yesterday; unfortunately she couldn't convince either of the boys to make puppies with her, and it sure wasn't for lack of trying on her part. Oh, well, maybe in the spring. It was a beautiful day for a drive, and I got to visit Janice, and came home with some plants for my perennial garden- coral bells, lavender, rosemary, and a maple flower. The scenery there is just beautiful, check it out:

We had a frost here last night, and when I went out to feed this morning Beamer was feeling frisky; he put on quite a show for me, bucking, rearing and kicking and generally just showing off. He does this bucking-on-the-spot that is funny, kicks out both hind legs like the Lippizanners are trained to do. Hmmm, maybe he could get a job with them!

The apple in my last post is now a distant memory, it was really delicious; I was hungry when I got home and plucked it off the tree. I think it was a Jonagold.

Sunday Stills- Signs of Fall

Summer seems to be lasting a long time here; we have only had one light frost so far, and the hot dry days are still with us. Some of the trees are starting to turn color, but it'll be a while before they put on their spectacular show. There are, however, a few signs of fall here.

The Canada Geese are heading south......

The apples on my tree are nearly ready to pick.......

The fields of grain in the early morning mist, ripening but not yet ready for harvest.......

There's a plethora of pumpkins and squashes of all kinds at the roadside stands.....

yup, a veritable plethora....

and some creative decorating at some of the stands.....

Too cute! such a happy face!

Soaring with ....the hawks?

Went for a nice relaxing ride on my B-boy today, there is just nothing like being on a broke, trustworthy horse so that you can let your imagination run free to soar with the hawks floating above, looking for mice in the alfalfa fields. Enjoy!

Reba has a date

This has been a crazy busy week for me. First, my husband inadvertently downloaded a virus, so the computer had to go to the repair shop- hence no posts all week! I spent a couple of days making jam- plum, and peach, before work. I work every day from 2 PM to 8 PM, and try to squeeze in time to ride Beamer and play with the baby girls. Since it's dark when I get home, I don't get much done then.

Reba is in heat and since I have orders for 5 puppies, I took her today to Kimberley to be bred back to Tess's daddy- or maybe her granddaddy. I stopped at Janice and Dave's (Own a Morgan) but they weren't home. Of course I didn't have my cell phone with me so I couldn't let them know I was on my way, but I stopped and snapped this photo of some of the lovely baskets Janice makes, which are decorating her porch.

When I got to the place where the male dogs live, we checked out Rob, who is Tess's grandpa- sire of Quill, Tess's daddy.

He is a champion trials dog, but he is 12 years old now, and while he was quite interested, he didn't stay focused on breeding. Maybe he is shy and didn't like all the attention! So we tried Quill, Reba wasn't quite as cooperative with him, so I'm leaving her there for a couple of days. They will try Rob a few more times, and if that doesn't work, I'm sure Quill will get 'er done! Here is a photo of Quill with Tess.

She inherited his lanky legs and smooth coat.

There was another interested observer; this ram made me laugh when he stuck his gead through the boards to get a look at me; hoping for some feed or a scratch!

So, I'll be back Saturday or Sunday to pick up Reba, and meanwhile, I have a lot of blog catching up to do- and photos to take for Sunday Stills!

Suday Stills- purple

We've been waiting for this one!Even purple looks better with some black and white.........

This was a challenge we could sink our teeth into!

Did someone say teeth?

Local critters

The neighbour just bought a Mercedes, but I've got a Beamer.....and my ride is a lot quieter than his car, which needs a muffler! Went for another putt around the pasture today, and found an elk carcass with some turkey vultures hanging around.

They sure aren't the prettiest bird, but they have a job to do.

We loped on down to the other end where the cattle are; I call them Beamer's fan club, because every time we ride by them, they come a trottin' and a mooin' up to the fence to visit him.

Beamer, of course, loves any kind of adulation, even if it is from lowly bovines.

Well, off to work for me. See you all for Sunday Stills!

Back online!

I've been having a lot of Internet trouble lately, so haven't been able to keep up with all my blogger buddies. I hope to get that fixed soon.

I've been doing some riding lately and working on my flying lead changes. Beamer does wonderful changes from left to right but resists on the right to left change. I can get him to do it, but I really have to exaggerate my cues. I'm thinking that it might be a problem with stiffness or soreness, and hope to get a horse chiro sometime this year to look at him. I also plan on getting his teeth done soon and we'll see if that makes a difference. Meanwhile, he wanted you all to see how handsome he is in his "bling" halter.

Apparently the fly on his muzzle thinks so too! I'm going to have to get him another halter; that one is too tight on him now that he has grown his studly jaw.

Chickory is healing up nicely, but unfortunately she is going to end up with a splint on her front leg, which she banged up at the same time that she cut her back leg.

I took my mom to church last Sunday for her 79th birthday, to the little church that we went to as children and mom hadn't been there since the mid 1960's. She really enjoyed the outing; she doesn't get around very well any more, so it made her birthday special to be able to go to church. On of the ladies there gave her a little bouquet, and then we went to my sister's and had yummy chocolate cake. ( Mom had 2 helpings!)

Meanwhile, I've got to get my camera out and get something purple for Sunday Stills Challenge. Just a hint: all colors go good with black and white!

Sunday stills

The subject of today's challenge was transportation; if it runs on fuel and can haul two or more people, it qualifies. I hoped for something unusual, and found it at the Seven Eleven one day.

Check out this ride; it is a Ural motorcycle, with sidecar.

The two back wheels actually drive;there is a PTO driven shaft which supplies power to the wheel under the sidecar.

I apologize for the poor photos, but I only had a few minutes to take the pictures, and the 7-11 parking lot really wasn't a very good backdrop.

Bye Bye Belle

Yes, it's true, Belle has been sold, to a home just down the road from us. She is now part of a large broodmare band, and the best part is that I still get to see her and to see her baby next spring. You can be sure I'll get pictures! Her new owners are very happy with her, and they took a good look at Sparkle to see what kind of babies Belle raises, and were happy with what they saw. ( The woman who bought her had a good visit with Beamer too, he even got a kiss on the nose!) It's nice when other breeders appreciate your breeding program. I think the main reason that I sold her is that the place we are living has no pasture, and I don't like to keep broodmares cooped up. It's not healthy for them or their babies.

Sunday Stills- the rule of thirds

Ok, this was a challenge after my own artistic li'l heart! Really enjoyed this one, and it really got me out shooting different subjects.

The right third; Velvet, hiding out from the flies. (You knew I'd start with a horse photo, right?)

The neighbour's canola field in full bloom, from earlier this summer.

The left third; Tess's full brother, Luke. (You knew I'd have a border collie photo, right?)

An old windowless house, and, below, a close up of the same photo.

Love the view! And, last of all a shot of Creston, and the Skimmerhorn mountains brooding in the distance.

Lazy day ride

Today I saddled up Beamer and rode over to the neighbours to ask permission to ride on the perimeter of his hayland.He has a huge piece just west of us, and I've been eyeing it for a while as a place to ride just to keep Beamer legged up. He graciously told me to go ahead, ride anywhere I liked. His three little grandkids were there and came a-clamoring up, squealing, "a real horse!". So of course, I couldn't just ride away now, could I? So Beamer gave each of his adoring little fans a ride, helmets on, me leading, and Auntie sidewalking. Two of them had never been on a horse before, so they can now tell everyone their first ride was on a black stallion.

On we went, for a wonderful, relaxing putt around the alfalfa field.

I thought about using this photo in tomorrow's challenge, but it's more about perspective than balance . Well, I must get ready for work, which puts an end to the lazy part of my day. See you all tomorrow!

Bugged by bugs

When I was working with the fillies today I noticed that they are starting to get bot eggs on their legs. No wonder they are rolling so much. I caught this video of Sparkle's dust bath, about halfway through:

She sure was enjoying it! It is still hot and dry here, and there are a few small forest fires from the lightning strikes a couple of days ago. Ted has gone firefighting , as things were slow at work for him. He is putting in long hours, and I pray for the safety of all those who are fighting wildfires.

Chickory is healing nicely, the swelling is nearly all gone and the wound is drying up.

Coyote Belle's is all good now too. Gotta love the oils!

I've been working on the Sunday Stills assignment, it sure makes you pay attention before you snap the shutter when you think about the balance of the composition. I have some good ones, though, I think. Looking forward to this one, there are such good photographers that contribute, and they sure are inspiring.

Hydrotherapy

On these hot days I could use a little hydrotherapy (like going swimming) but the hydrotherapy yesterday was for Chickory and Coyote Belle. They both got their legs cold-hosed, to reduce the swelling. I wasn't sure how Chickory would handle being sprayed, but she was pretty good. She actually loved it when I wet her down all over.

You can see the gash in this photo, right above her ankle, and the one just above it is only a scrape. I checked them both this morning and the swelling is going down and the wounds are clean, so I'm not going to go to the expense and trouble of giving them penicillin. Instead, here are my weapons of choice:

I use essential oils for nearly every medical condition that arises, from cuts and scrapes to digestive problems, colds, stress, pain and inflammation, etc. Even the dogs and cats get treated with them. I haven't used any pharmaceutical products on myself for 5 years.

Wordless Wednesday

What th'.............

My peaceful sleep was disturbed around 3 AM with the lonesome sound of a cow bawling for her calf. Since my window was open, it sounded like she was real close. Needless to say, there wasn't much sleep with ole foghorn going off, so at dawn I got up and checked; sure enough, there were 6 little hooligans happily munching in the farmyard, while their mamas and the rest of the herd hung around the fence gazing wistfully at them and drowning out any thoughts of further sleep. So my lovely little collies got to work this morning, and weren't they happy! They did real well, Tess in particular isn't afraid to get right in there and confront the critter, while Reba was more content to flank. They both had good recall, and Reba showed that she remembered a lot of the training she received as a youngster. I think Tess would make a good cattle dog.

A while ago I said I'd post a good photo of Coyote Bell that showed her true color; well today I got one.

Looks like a sooty buckskin to me. I have some folks interested in her; I'll know in a few days if she is going to another home here in the Creston valley.

The fillies are doing well, Sparkle rules the roost for sure, always bossing Velvet around, especially at feeding time.

But, for the most part, they get along well and are buddies

Velvet managed to scrape her eye, no big deal though. Chickory, on the other hand, has gouged her right hind leg and it's all swollen, same with Coyote Belle. I'll be heading up to the vet's tomorrow for some LA Penicillin. Looks like Chickory was either rolling or laid down and caught her legs under something as her front right leg has a little swelling too. I'll use some oils on them but I'm playing it safe and getting the penicillin too.
Better go put some staples in the fence before it gets too dark and the hooligans wander out again!