Au revoir

which translates as until we meet again.

Today was moving day for Tumbleweed and Rosalee.

Say goodbye to your buddies, T'weed....

Linda and family arrived right on time, we made sure all the paperwork was in order and then it was time....

The grandkids came with them, it was nice to see these girls again. 

A little visiting and going over some pointers... and it was time to load up.

Convince me....

I guess it passed inspection! Once she was in it was time to load T'weed. 

Yes T'weed, your mama is in there.

Well, all right then!

He took less time to load than his mama!  Off they went on their way to Washington state. They are within 3 hours of us and I do look forward to being able to visit, hence the title of this post. Rosalee will stay there for a few days until her new owner comes to pick her up, which gives T'weed time to settle in to his new surroundings. 

Photo courtesy of Linda

Pretty nice set up in their new home! If you want to follow his journey, go to Beautiful Mustang blog.

The herd looks pretty small with them gone! Now I have to find a new normal. Time to start working Mesa again.

Beamer's turn

Another nasty smokey day, but the river is so good for Gussie's leg that we went back there today. I invited Shayla to ride Beamer, much to her delight- and Beamer was so happy to get out again too!

The smoke is doing funny things to the light sensors on my little camera, a lot of the photos have this old-timey look to them.
I wasn't sure how Beamer would take to going in the river, he hasn't been really keen on water before, but then again, I had never had him in a river.

I needn't have worried! He really enjoyed it!

Tastes refreshing apparently, he drank several times.
Gussie stood motionless and let the water do it's magic on her leg. The swelling has gone down quite a bit, and even more so after today's session.

I think he should go for a swim! Take the saddle off and go for it! I didn't get it on video, but he did swim one stride and kind of tried to lunge forward to get his footing- rather like Gussie and Kit did.

Emptying her boots after the near-swim

On the way back we got to those horse -eatin' cement blocks. Gussie was very s'picious! I tried first to ride her through, giving her plenty of time and rewarding the slightest try, but it was pretty plain that she was not going to go. So, I led her through, and she went quite easily; led her back through and got on... and rode her through. Silly mare....

Tomorrow is a big day. His li'l self and his mama are heading south.

Definitely going to miss him! He has been a delight to have around. He and his mama are both nice easy going horses, and I'm sure will both be going to the best homes I could hope for. The cool part is that I get to keep in touch with both of them.

Riding day 60

Another first (or two)

Yesterday was vet day. Both Tumbleweed and Rosalee had to get trailered to the vet for their international papers and coggins test. I thought it would be a good idea to close the divider on Rosalee and then load T'weed, so I tried that- he hopped right in the trailer but then was trying to nurse under the divider, and I felt that could be a wreck, so I unloaded him while Shayla opened and secured the divider, then loaded him again- he loaded perfectly. It is a fairly short haul to the vet's, perfect for his first trailer ride.

The vet was impressed with how well behaved he is. While she was doing her exam on him, from across the parking lot we saw a little boy and his parents making a beeline for us- horses are like a magnet to kids! They wanted to pet the baby, but I said no and let them pet Rosalee instead. The little boy (maybe 2 yrs. old or under) was a bit intimidated by her larger size, so dad picked him up to pet her on the neck. He noticed the flies on her and I showed him to brush the flies away; then when dad put him down he noticed the flies on her belly and wanted to go under her to brush them off too! Eek! Then he ran back to his mom exclaiming all the way, "mama, mama, mama, mama". He was pretty excited about his first encounter with a horse! Also, a lady driving by saw the horses and comes driving right up to us and jumps out to see the horses.... her fancy car was parked a bit too close for comfort.... but she enjoyed seeing the horses too. I love how happy horses make people!

He was good for the vet too. I did take a video of him getting his first needle, but I have to free up space on my computer to be able to download it from my phone. I have it on my Facebook though. Here is the first video that did download.

He was a good boy while his mama got her exam too.
So- the paperwork is all done, and as soon as it gets back they will be heading south across the border- but not completely out of our lives! I am actually excited that T'weed is going to Linda and that we will get to see him grow up, both on her blog and in person. And it's pretty cool that Rosalee won't be far away either.
T'weed is making progress in another way too. I lead him and Mesa together into the barn in the evening for their ration, much the same way that I led Pistol and Mesa last year. He is getting quite comfortable with standing tied while he eats, and since Mesa gets twice as much as him she isn't trying to steal his food.

Notice the lead rope draped over his bum, ready for me to grab if needed; he is standing tied but I like to be ready to release him if need be. I no longer have to stay between them to keep the peace! Good kidz.

Things are happening!

So much going on....

July was a hot one, not much for rain and everything is tinder dry. Since my last trail ride, it has been early morning riding only.
I hauled Gussie to a smaller local arena where Shayla was working another horse; Gussie's lesson at the big arena in my last post must have sunk in after a couple of days off, she nailed her leads on a straightaway- now we can move on to other things.

The "other things" are wanting her to not keep popping her head up, and staying at the speed requested of her. She tends to speed up if she thinks she is going to be asked for a lope. It's all coming together though!
Last night in the blessed cool of the evening we went for a bareback ride to the river, looking for a few more access spots for future exploring. We found several spots where there were trails through the rip rap that covers the banks of the dyke.

This one was the best, it actually had a sandy area, and that still water you can see is pretty deep and may be a good area for swimming.

Gussie is like, you gotta be kidding me- swim? No Gussie, not now- but maybe next year!

Sassy was quite brave - this is only her second time in the river and her first trail ride in just a halter.

There was a beautiful sunset going on, it was hard to capture the colour with my little camera.

The horses had to go up and down steep little trails with unsure footing. At one point I got off and led Gussie down- and getting back on that big girl bareback wasn't much fun! I did end up on my butt when she moved away just as I was struggling to lift my leg high enough to clear her hip while standing precariously on a curved log.... no harm done, I have lots of padding! I have never been one of those people who can easily vault on or belly up on a horse.
Gussie will be heading out on a working vacation in a few days. Shayla is taking her to Alberta so she can have a trail horse for mountain riding, as her horse will be staying with me for rehabbing a hock injury. I will have Sassy to ride, and maybe Beamer if he is sound enough for some short rides. I am going to start him on Nrf2 as soon as I can get some, hopefully by next week. He is pretty sore in that knee right now and tends to not put weight on it when he is eating.

Breaks my heart. I would also like to get him those StreamZ bands . Between those 2 products I hope to give him some relief.

In other news... Rosalee is sold! She will be going not far from where Tumbleweed is going. The lady who is buying her just bought  a topnotch young reining stallion and she stands him at a place that is 15 minutes from Linda's.
This is him:

He is a son of Gunnatrashya. His name is DP Gunna Outshine Ya.

They should make some really nice babies! I'll be watching for them in the show pen in a few years.

Riding day 48 &49

Pasture mates

Today was a non riding day. But not a non horse day!
I had a dentist appointment this morning and it kinda knocked the energy out of me so I wasted the early afternoon having a nap... there went my riding time!
I turned out Belle and Gussie into the adjoining pasture, and brought Sassy out; normally she is just turned out with Mesa but today I left Rosalee and Tumbleweed in with them. I noticed yesterday when I was riding Rosalee that she seemed comfortable hanging around the fenceline of Sassy's pen; no ear pinning or stink eye going on. So since I want to be able to have all the mares together soon, I opted to do Rosalee today instead of Gussie. It went fairly well.

First on a leadline to assess Rosalee's attitude, and then I turned her loose. Pretty quiet at first, but there were about 4 times when she charged Sassy, who was quick to get the heck outa there! Then they settled down and got along, from a distance.

Any time Tumbleweed got too close to Sassy, Rosalee went into protect mode, but by the time I came down to put Sassy back in her pen for the night all was quiet.
She did get really buddied up with Mesa today, I guess it's comforting to have a friend.

I brought T'weed out for his munchies, he is getting quite confidant about leaving the pen, especially since he gets a little hand grazing too.

Everything is progressing nicely!

Riding with li'l pests

Finally I'm getting time in the saddle again. I rode Gussie the other day, and after the previous ride where she was sure she didn't want to go in the bush, this time- no problem. We waded through the pond and down one of the trails- only to find ourselves swarmed by mosquitoes! ( Li'l pests version 1) That kind of made it unpleasant enough for both of us that I didn't prolong the ride. We did the pond again on the way back.... just because it's fun!

The lady who came up from the coast decided not to buy Rosalee, she was looking for more perfect conformation. No problem, there are very few perfect horses and I'm sure she will find one she likes better. There is another lady coming on Saturday to try her out, so I have been trying to ride her every day. A certain li'l somebody is having to deal with it!

He goes in for a slurp when I stop for a few minutes.

I stepped it up a bit today and rode with T'weed and Mesa loose in the pen. (Li'l pests version 2)

They got a little silly a couple of times! I was pretty happy with how Rosalee handled their antics. She basically ignored them. She is soooo out of shape! So regular riding will really help and by weaning time she should be able to go on and work for whoever ends up with her. Sometime in July I'd like to take her and T'weed to the little local arena to give her a better workout. Maybe I'll even teach him to pony.

Come for a spin or two with me!

I take Rosalee out of the pen by herself to saddle up.

Crappy photo but it shows how unconcerned both of them were about being separated. 

T'weed is starting to shed now, his ears and face and legs are showing some of the colour under that baby fuzz.

That's not dirt on his knee, it's a kind of sooty black; that's the colour his stockings will be.

Buckskin showing on his face.

And those ears! Neat colour and it will look even better when all that whitish hair sheds off.

Riding day 32, 33, and 34

4 weeks old

Tumbleweed is 4 weeks old today.
Today he was integrated into the whole herd. I just opened the gate of the foaling pen, and he and mama strolled out and joined the herd. 4 weeks of them visiting over the fence and establishing their pecking order that way worked well. There was no drama.

Other than Mesa getting the stink eye, that is!

He was quite interested in Gussie.

She laid her ears back one time and he respectfully walked away.

Mama Belle had a really soft look to her, as if to say all was right in her world with a foal in the herd.

This afternoon when I brought Rosalee and Tumbleweed in for the night, I spent some time working with him. He decided to play hard to catch, so after a while I got tired of that game and flipped his lead rope up on him and caught him with that before haltering him. He was a bit put out that he had to work! I ended up using the butt rope on him. I wanted to get some medicine on his tummy as he has the runs, I mixed some DiGize oil with coconut oil and put it on his tummy. He was pretty ticklish there!  But I had him against the wall so he just had to deal with it. Then he pouted about being led, hence the butt rope. I also worked on touching and lifting all 4 legs, still keeping that handy butt rope in place. He didn't kick out this time when I worked on his hind legs like he did the first two times. So it was a pretty good session. After that I figured since it was a rope kind of day that I'd do some rope work on him.

The first part of the video I had the camera hanging around my neck, the second part I was holding it- sorry if it's a bit bouncy! 

He did really good! I plan on haltering him every day and will be introducing him to foal ration over the next few days. 

A visit and integrating

Yesterday Tumbleweed's people came to see him and play with him. I got to meet Linda's husband, and he got introduced to the li'l guy who stole his wife's heart

I haltered him and played with him a bit first.

I haven't done a lot of work on picking up his feet but that will have to change; he took exception to having his hind leg picked up  and kicked out, so got a reprimand slap; tried it again with the same result and on the third try he didn't kick so I left it at that.
He's starting to lead fairly well. He doesn't panic when he feels the pressure of the lead rope although sometimes his protest is to back up and we just go with him, maintaining the pressure at the same level, releasing when he stops and then asking again for a forward step. After a bit of work he was leading like a champ for Linda.



Then it was turnout time. They hadn't seen him having fun and stretching his legs in the bigger pen.

Showing off his power take off.....

and his break dance moves.....

and his muscles! These 3 photos were taken by Linda while I went to get Mesa... it was time to start integrating him into the herd. I like to do it one horse at a time, and because Rosalee was mothering Mesa last year, she got first call to duty.

The initial contact was drama free.

Mesa getting told "My Hay!"

Tumbleweed getting told "My Hay!"
Shortly after that she cow kicked him, fortunately no damage and he minded his own business after that.
I left them together for a few hours, and all went well.

It was a pretty good and busy day; after that I got my corrals cleaned, all the pooh is in a pile now- yay! I got some more of my flowerbeds built too.  In the earlier part of the day I rode Gussie, bareback just for fun and did a schooling ride on her. I worked on vertical flexion at a standstill: Leg, rein, flex, release, over and over until she started flexing at the leg cue only. I used as light of pressure on the leg and rein as I could. Several times she started to move forward, so a little verbal cue worked, with rein cue added if needed. Worked on her spin and lateral travelling too, she is still a bit sticky in the sidepass to the right.
You never realise how much leg you use when riding until you ride bareback! When I lifted my right leg to slide off her I got a muscle cramp. Uggh!

My beautiful Gussie. You can see why I was working on vertical flexion!

3 weeks old

Yes, his li'l cuteness is 3 weeks old today.
I started his morning with a halter lesson. He decided to pull away before I got the halter done up, so we had a mini work on him allowing me to catch him. He is pretty friendly overall. One of the things I do, now that he is a little older, is that I don't go to the butt when I approach him. No more butt scratches. I go to the wither, and slide my arm around him and give him chest scratches with one hand and neck/wither scratches with the other- which he loves. Then I slide the nose piece over his nose and quietly do it up. The second try he stood quietly for the process.
Here is how the session went:

I was watchful to make sure the rope didn't slide onto his eye; I have to adjust the knots that go down to the throatlatch a bit lower.

I like to do a photo shoot at 3 weeks, and he didn't disappoint. 

On with the show!

Swapping directions like a pro!

He's gonna have some reach in his spins!!!

Muscling up and look at that lovely head and neck.

And that booty! 'Nuff said!

Good thing his mama loves him.

Speaking of mama, today she got to go back under saddle. She seemed happy to have something to do. I will be riding her regularly as Shayla has someone coming to look at her; one of the ladies who was interested in her from the first time I put her up for sale. She will be here on the 22nd and wants to take a light ride on her.