Winter wears on

Sometimes the mountain is very moody. I had fun with this photo on Facebook, can you see the Scotty dog?

And sometimes the mountain is just gorgeous.

The poplar trees are sending up their sticky buds and the willow tree canes are turning yellow. We have turned the corner and the earth is starting to prepare for spring.
And with warmer weather, the snow is melting and we have...
Mud.
Which of course, certain light colored horses love to wear like makeup.

Drifter has been getting his standing tied lessons, and of course he is as good as gold. Even when Thumper invades his personal space.

That nylon halter is stretch proof!

I got one more ride in on Gussie so far for January, we went through the woods looking at all the animal tracks. 

Plenty of game trails! I had her in a Billy Allen snaffle for this ride, and decided to end the ride with some round pen work. She kept wanting to lean on the bit, and to drop her shoulder on the right circle, so she will be getting more schooling rides to work on that.

Riding day 5

A Drifter day

Yesterday started out rainy. I loaded up Drifter and Gussie (Drifter loaded perfectly, Gussie had to pout about it for a couple of minutes) and headed to the little local indoor arena. When I unloaded Drifter I tied him to the left side of the trailer and then Gussie got tied to the right side.... well that didn't sit well with Drifter, he couldn't see his buddy! So he started backing up trying to see where she was and ended up pulling enough to stretch his new rope halter enough that it slipped off his head. Oh darn. Now I have a loose horse in an unfamiliar-to-him place! But he was a good boy and stayed by Gussie as I retrieved his halter and put it back on him. I guess I have to take that halter apart and rebuild it, you can see how much he stretched it out:

That bottom knot should be an inch below his chin

Which brings me to a side rant about how hard it is to get good rope around here for making halters! That is Atwood rope and I do pre-stretch it but obviously I didn't stretch that one enough. Best rope is used climbing rope as it has been stretched out and it really holds its shape. If anyone knows of a good online source for rope please let me know!

Anyway, back to Drifter. I led him around the arena both ways and let him look at all the sights and listen to all the sounds. There were a couple of horses who came up to the arena opening to check him out.

I was really happy with his behaviour, he just looked and didn't call or try to get to them. He was also well behaved on the longe line, no bucking or trying to run away.  So this trip was good because it pointed out what I need to work on with him, and that is standing tied. I have a different halter I will use for that!

Later the afternoon turned gorgeous with sunshine so I decided it was a good day to take some new photos (Imagine that!) The forecast is for above freezing temperatures for the next week, so I took Beamer's winter blanket off, unless it turns cold again he can keep it off.

All the horses are looking good. 

Drifter is such a busy body, always up to something.  He thought it was a good idea to try to herd mama Belle, but she had something to say about that!

Those mares are doing a good job of educating him in herd manners. 

I am looking for a 1 year breeding lease on another mare for Beamer. I don't have enough room for another permanent resident here if I keep Belle's foal this year (if it's a filly!) and would like to try a different bloodline on Beamer. Looking for running bloodlines. Gives me something to do as winter drags on!

Wintery

Yesterday was supposed to be cattle sorting day. I usually only go to the practice sessions and not the jackpots, as I don't like being pressured up by people who are in it for the money, I just want to have fun. As well I don't have a regular partner yet. I loaded up Gussie (who was not happy about it) and when I got there I found out it was a jackpot day- my bad- I misread the poster- so I opted to just head home. By the time I got back Gussie had worked up quite a sweat with all the fussing she was doing in the trailer. It's a short haul. maybe 5 miles. I had to leave the blanket on her for a few hours until she dried off. Silly mare.  So part of what I need to do with her is haul more, which is fine I have an arena to go to which is less than a mile from here and Drifter needs to be hauled too, so that gives me something to do over the remainder of the winter.

The oh so innocent looking red head!

The weather here is on and off with snow and sunshine, but at least the temperatures are staying mild. 

The mountain always delights me

The Skimmerhorns in all their wintry glory

Mama Belle in all HER glory! 

I think Belle has about a hundred days to go until foaling. I am very much looking forward to this foal, whatever it may be. 

Instant karma

A story in pictures

All's well that ends well 

A winter's day ride

We are still fairly mild here, waiting for the predicted polar vortex to make it's presence felt, but not yet! Yesterday I decided to try riding Gussie bareback with just a bosal. After finding a high enough mounting block (upturned half barrel) I managed to climb up and off we went. The snow pack is perfect for riding, cushions all the rocks although I do have to be careful riding in the bush as it hides branches and tripping hazards.

Gussie is such a joy to ride. She strides right out, looks at everything and doesn't spook. She has a few opinions about things but that just makes her interesting! She's a red head, not a dead head!

I love the silence of winter riding especially bareback. No creaking saddle, no noisy hoofbeats.

I think she appreciated me riding bareback after a year of ill fitting saddles. We have sorting coming up this weekend, so I'll have to saddle her for that but I am looking forward to more bareback rides this winter.

Riding day 4

Another blog and an Eli update

Here is a link to another blog. Flattop horsemanship  This is Marty Gardner, and he's the one that Melanie who now owns Eli, will be learning from.
Speaking of Eli, Mel sent me this video- look how great he looks! Showing off his speed and his Beamer moves.

Beamer has fun in the sun

It warmed up beautifully yesterday (hence my ride on Gussie) and it was warm enough for Beamer to have his blanket off and enjoy the sunshine.

Yeah! About time!

Checking to make sure I got his pose

Let the fun begin!

He did several spectacular rears for me but since I had my telephoto lens on I couldn't capture them because he was too close. 

If you are wondering about what I have on his front legs, those are Streamz Bands, to help with his arthritis.

He has started shedding, probably from being blanketed. He gets camelina oil every day too so he has an awesome shiny coat.

Yes Beamer, you are still the handsomest and bestest!

Wordless Wednesday

Riding day 3

Gussie on a snow day

We got about 8 inches of snow so far, and it let off snowing mid day- so I headed down to the horse pen with my camera. I wasn't disappointed- Gussie in particular put on a show for us.

Showing off her cowhorse moves!

She was just full of herself!

Such a beauty!

12 years

Today marks 12 years of blogging. Many changes in those years and some things have come full circle, like Belle and Gussie.

Gussie is starting to show her age a bit, she is 17 this year. She is such a rock steady horse for me; I even took my Nikon camera riding yesterday, hung the camera bag off the saddle horn because I trust her not to do anything silly like slam me into a tree. We had a short ride because I tried out a saddle pad combo that wasn't working; as I rode it slid back a bit and was digging into her. It was a thin neoprene pad that had extra padding where the bars of the saddle sit. I had it under my Diamond Wool pad. I did get a couple of nice mountain photos from her back!

I zoomed in for this one

A longer view featuring our house. Yes that's a house, not a barn!

I am really looking forward to some big trail rides this summer. I don't have any particular places planned as a lot of it will depend on who I have to ride with, but there is a lot of country here that I'd like to explore, and plenty of places that I can haul to. Also in my plans is to buy a set of Cavallo hoof boots for Gussie. I ride barefoot, but I like to have the option of boots if the ground is too jagged.

Belle is due to foal any time from the 3rd week of April to the middle of May. She was bred May 18 & 19 last year. She is getting big as per usual!

She is in awesome shape considering she is 16 this year and is on her 10th foal. She is so easy to handle, easy to breed and foals easily. All broodmares should be like her!

Bff's. 

Riding day 2

Starting the year off right

The first day of 2020 was a mild and foggy one. We went to church and in the afternoon I had my first ride of the  year- Beamer!

Although he isn't sound, I can do short rides on him without causing him any grief, so that's what I did. He was so happy to get out!

I just love those little ears!

I am going to try to ride more this year, I think I got 72 rides last year. If I set a goal to ride 10 times a month that will help. I have a sorting to go to on the 18th so I'd better ride Gussie a few times before then. 

Do you have a key word for the year? I was inspired by this one: Persistence. With a side dish of git'r'done! I have a tendency to procrastinate so anything that motivates me helps! I think it's a side effect of retirement; one loses the structure that was there for so long in the work force, and then has to reorganize life.

 The sun broke through just enough for a pretty but moody looking sunset.

Riding day 1