The young 'uns and a happy Gussie

The 2 colts are sharing a bucket of foal ration now... finally got Booncat eating it. I hung a bucket on the fence and of course he just had to see what his big bro was eating, so that solved that problem!

That style of bucket is perfect for sharing. Booncat is actually doing well with the weaning process. He hasn't lost any weight and he isn't stressed out at all. All the horses were dewormed after the last full moon and I didn't see any worms expelled so it looks like my pasture management program is working. It helps that we didn't have any bot flies this year.
Eli will be leaving within a few days so Belle will get to go back in the herd and will be there as company for Booncat when I take Gussie out to ride. I have decided to leave Drifter in his separate pen until February to avoid any risk of a late heat with Gussie. I haven't yet decided if Booncat will live with him.
I turned Belle and Gussie out in the hotwire pen the other day- happy mares to be reunited and have room to zoom!

Does my heart good to see them enjoying each other's company. Having a happy herd is so important to me. Look at all the horses I have sold because they didn't have the right attitude- Poco, Delia, Coulee, Loretta, Sparkle and some yearlings back in the day when I bought weanlings and sold them as long yearlings. Even Rosalee- she was lovely in the herd but didn't have the right attitude under saddle to suit me. The only one I sold that was a nice mare was Clancy- but she wasn't athletic enough for me. (Which is odd to say about a High Brow Cat granddaughter!)

Drifter is making progress, I can now tie him to the trailer and saddle him up. He has had a couple of moments though, I call them learning curves. I was grooming him and something startled him- maybe a cat jumping out of the tack room, I'm not sure- and he pulled back hard. I stepped behind him and hollered and made noise and he stood up. So the lesson that day was all about standing tied, and of course he didn't try it again. I think he is a little reactive because of being in with the mares and having to skeddadle when they get after him for being too pesky.
His next learning moment was when I took him into the round pen saddled up, the first time I had saddled him at the trailer and then led him to the round pen as opposed to saddling him in the pen. He dropped his head to graze and I got after him and he jumped, realized that he had a saddle on and bucked about 4 jumps until he got to the fence and then just stood there, thinking about it. After that he was good as gold and we even got his first lope saddled up. Not even a hint of a buck after that. I really think he's the kind of horse that processes things like that and learns from them.

 I am quite pleased with him! He is a sensible horse and so far deserving of being kept a stallion.

We have a local cattle sorting series and I finally decided to go. The person who brings the cattle and organizes it is the guy who has Tillie and I promised him I would go- so yesterday I loaded up Gussie and off we went.
This is a really good bunch of people- there were 24 horses and their people there, everything from ponies to Tennessee Walkers, Rocky Mountain horses and of course a plethora of Quarter horses. Everyone cheered everyone else on and it was a lot of fun.



Because I had never worked cattle with Gussie I wasn't sure how she would do. I know she was used to cows having lived right next to them at our last residence and I think she was exposed to working them with her last owner. However, she was a rock star!



We got 3 practice runs and 3 jackpot runs. There was a lunch break with potluck (I didn't know so next time I will bring something!) Yes there will be a next time, every 2 weeks . Gussie loved it and was so well behaved both standing around waiting our turn and in the sorting pen. I also got lots of compliments on the way she moves. She does carry herself well!

Love my big red mare.

Riding day 61 (rode down for the mail) and day 62