A name, a home and a knot

 Although I haven't seen him yet, and don't have any updated photos, I have decided on a name for my colt. 

Boe. 

He is named as a tribute to an old cowboy, John Boe, who was my mentor when I decided to get into breeding quarter horses.  John passed away a couple of years ago, and I will never forget all his kindness and all that he taught me. 

We have secured a place to live; it's a month to month rental in a village 10 minutes from Shayla's, so it's easy to get to my horses. Also close enough to where Ted's dad is, and a short commute to where his son lives. I guess I will have to put up with town living for a while until we can find a farm rental. 

I will miss this view....

Just right of center, it looks like 3 or 4 figures huddled together in a prayer circle

I was watching a horse program on TV the other day and found this interesting- Clinton Anderson showing a better way to tie horses. I have a puller in Sophie, and it is hard to get the standard slip knot undone when she sets back! So I'm going to use this knot. (Sophie is now at Shayla's)

The next few days are going to be hectic, we can move in on Wednesday June 1, so now it's all about the logistics of hauling panels, Beamer, household stuff as well as cleaning the house and emptying everything in the barn. I may be awol for a while!

Mares

 Sorry about being awol for most of this week. In my defense, I have had a cold that laid me low for a few days. (Not Covid!) It came with an awful headache.

Some exciting news- Mama Belle is very close to foaling! 

Udder is full including the teats

Muscle tone around the tailhead is jiggly and dropped

Historically she foals on or close to the full moon, which is Sunday night. From what Shayla says, she is most likely positioning the foal today; she walks around with her tail out and will probably roll a few times as the foal begins to enter the birth canal. From there it's usually within 24 to 48 hours!

Can't wait to see this foal! Here is a photo of the sire, Root Beers Boots

Isn't he a beauty!  Shayla is hoping for a buckskin filly from this cross. 

It does seem strange to not have a foaling contest for her this year. But feel free to leave a guess in the comments as to colt/filly and colour! Choices for colour are;

Offspring Color Probability

37.50% -	Bay
37.50% -	Buckskin
12.50% -	Black
12.50% -	Smoky Black

Jayne isn't far behind, she should foal within a week to ten days after Belle. 

Sophie came into heat this last week too, so we were busy trying to get her bred to Beamer. 

Beamer had a hard time covering her; she was pretty reactive and worried about his yelling and climbing on her, which leads me to believe that last year when she was pasture bred that's why the stallion couldn't get her covered. Ted was helping with her and he could barely hold her still. It took two days of failed attempts and finally on the last day of her heat, Beamer managed to get it done. 

I will check her back in 3 weeks but I'm really hoping we don't have to go through all that again! 

Having a bite of dandelion salad after the successful breeding. 

The farm is now listed for sale, and we have a showing on Monday, so I have been packing and cleaning . We still don't have a place nailed down to move to, but we have a contingency plan in place to put stuff in storage and stay in a holiday trailer at Shayla's until we find a rental. 

We had a garage sale last Saturday, very successful, and have enough stuff to do another one before we move. 

My Suzanna Magnolia is in full bloom, wish I could take it with me but probably won't survive the Alberta winters. 

The big day

Things have been going well with Dally. She lets me scratch her butt and if I bend down she comes and sniffs noses with me. 

She is getting easier to catch too, so today was moving day. Ted led mama and I led Dally in behind and we easily transferred them to the main pen. 

I expected a lot of running around, but Jayne was just on the hunt for grass so there wasn't much drama.

That hip! 

Of course, the most grass is under the fence line so that's where Jayne headed. I watched as Dally reached under to grab some grass, and knowing that the bottom wire is hot, I waited and watched. At first she twitched,  and then it pulsed again and she kinda shook her head and the third time.... she was outta there!

I'm sure mama was laughing at her in this next photo....

Dally was pretty respectful of the fence after that. 

Mostly they just wandered around, but she did have a couple of bursts that I managed to capture.

She is so light on her feet. I missed a really good one- there is a big compost/manure pile in the middle of the pen; she lined out and went full speed at it and jumped it- I swear she was about 3 feet off the ground and her leap covered about 10 ft. She turned around and made another run at it, this time jumping it on a lower spot.  My jaw about dropped!

She's getting all muscled up and looking good now  💖 

The flies were pestiferous, and I think she liked that it's easier to scratch your nose when you are lying down!

She has become a classy little lady!

Getting there!

Where did October go? Seems like it went fast, but that's because we were so darn busy trying to get moved amidst a renovation and having to build all the horse fences too...... I'm about worn out.

Rosalee waiting for her hay

The horses are loving it here, this morning when I went to feed them their hay they all rolled and got muddy and then ripped around having a blast!

We still haven't finished the horse reno- that bare bones shelter in their pasture which will be clad with wood. hopefully soon. Then there is the big burn pile you can see in the background of the video.... and the ends of the wire to wrap smoothly, and a few posts to tamp a little tighter, and the pile of branches to take to the burn pile.... the list goes on! And let's not forget the barn- I still don't have my horse trailer tack room emptied yet! But it will all come together, one bit at a time. Ted still has to organize his shop too, all his tools and equipment will take a while to sort out.

Beamer, surveying the neighbours pasture. Love those little ears!

Foose has decided he wants to be a barn cat, which is fine with me. I'm trying to convince Thumper to be a barn cat too, but he has other ideas.

Saturday, I go get Coyote Belle. It will be nice to have my herd all together!

We made it!

Finally, we got all moved in. That, however, does not mean organized! Stuff is still piled up while we await the completion of the flooring and baseboards. But at least the worst of the move is over. We had a lot of help for which Ted and I are very, very grateful.

The horses have settled in quite well, they are loving the extra room and the pasture. We still have to work on setting up a shelter for them, but our needs had to come first for the last week. They'll just have to suck it up a bit until we can get at it.

Beamer has been suffering from an abscess for the last month, and it finally blew out, at the tip of his frog. He's all diaper and duct tape bandaged now to keep it clean and is getting around much better.

Loretta has gained weight and I discovered that she has a fair burst of speed, not surprising with the breeding on her bottom side (her dam was a granddaughter of Dash For Cash).

Rosalee is pretty happy too, she often instigates the wind sprints that sets all the horses running, and what I'm finding with her is that she has an exceptional power take off. She digs that big butt of hers in and off in a flash she goes! With her athletic ability I should be able to do just about any event on her. We will see where next year takes us.

The dogs are happy here too, and little miss Thea thinks it's her job to keep the horses in line, although they are often keeping her in line.

They have arrived

Beamer got to be the first to arrive at his new home. Here is his reaction:

Surveying his new neighbours. A few cattle and a couple of goats. They have a really good electric fence on their place, which Thea discovered a couple of days ago..... heeheehee she won't be bothering them at all!
The other horses were more interested in eating the grass than running around but they did short little spurts before stopping for more munching.

Their pen is across a 20 ft. alley from Beamer, so he has a good view of his girls and Fuse.
I did capture one shot of them running- I had to be quick because they didn't run for long!

We didn't get the siding done on their shelter yet so that's today's job; as well, we can start moving our stuff in as some of the flooring is done! Yay! Busy day for me today, I have to take down the round pen and all the panels and haul them over, and then help Ted with the shelter, then start moving our stuff. Lots of work but another week and most of it will be done- then it will be all about set up!

Ready or not, here they come

Beamer's pen is ready.

The mare's pen is ready.

The tin roof structure in the middle of the pen is the incomplete shelter. Tomorrow we side it in with lumber on the long sides, leaving both ends open. It's about 12' x 20'. Also I took this photo before they trimmed the boards in the corner in the foreground.

There are still finishing touches to do, like tamping any post that are a bit loose, and moving some of the staples where well- meaning friends didn't get the wire lined up properly enough to suit my OCD, and tidying up the ends of the wire so they aren't poking inwards to the pasture; all those little things that can be done as I go along once the horses are there. And tomorrow, they will be there.

I love their view. 

Beamer's house

For those of you who, like me, love watching machinery at work (I like it better when I'm the operator!) I took a video today of moving Beamer's house to the new place. Ted and his buddies loaded it on a trailer and they used a mini excavator to unload it and pull/push it into its designated spot, facing east and overlooking the mare's pasture.
The first video is unloading and pulling it through a 12 ft opening in the fence. We have to put the wire up tomorrow so we had to get this done before that. There was only an inch or two to spare on each side.

My husband builds things right; this is a very stout building that will last for decades.

During the summer when Beamer gets to be pastured with the broodmares, Rosalee will get this pen. This will be Beamer's first year pasture breeding; I hope it goes well. The two mares he will be with should be able to keep him in line. I'm hoping to have him with them from May to the end of September. They should be well along in foal by then and he can have his nice snug house back for the winter. He loves his house.

Today's busy-ness

I finished my painting (except for the upstairs bathroom which can wait) but the guys were giving it on the fencing. Today was all about building the braces for the corners and where the gates are going to be hung.

The ratchets will be handy for tightening after the horses stretch everything out. Tess and Reba agree.

Coffee break, looking out from the barn door.

Now the braces are all done and we can start stringing the wire on Monday. Tomorrow, we rest... sort of. We are going to price out some lumber for building shelters, and maybe sand one patch where Ted had to fix the drywall. And maybe move some of the outdoor stuff! Starting to get excited now that the end is in sight! I hope to be able to get the horses moved out there this week. 

What I did on my holidays

A week already since I posted last! Well I do have an excuse- I have been spending every single day over at our new place, painting every room- and I'm still not done. (I took a week's holidays to get this done.) Kitchen, mud room, 2 bedrooms are done, bathroom is partly done and still have an upstairs bathroom to do. It's a lot of work, the ceiling is 9'6" so it's up and down the ladder. Here are a couple of before and afters:

The kitchen, before 

and after. It will be a mess for a while, flooring going in over the next 2 weeks.

The living room, looking into the mud room: before

and after. It took 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of colour over that dark blue.

That room behind Thea has California Knockdown ( a type of stipple ) on the ceiling and bottom half of the wall; the blue is gone and it is now a neutral sand colour. It will be my studio room and I wanted a neutral colour that wouldn't reflect on any art I work on.

The other bedroom was another colour of bright green, it is now the same colour as the mud room. A type of soft brown called Shhhhh.

I finished the second coat of colour on it today and started on the downstairs bathroom.

Meanwhile, Ted has been super busy too! They rented a post pounder on the weekend and spent 2 days in the rain pounding posts for the horse corrals. 

On the left is the mare's pen, Beamer's pen is on the right and a big ole burn pile at the bottom. All the old busses and other stuff in the trees will be hauled away by a scrap guy, and next year that area will be fenced also for turnout.

He also spent the last 2 days putting in water lines for the horses- a stand pipe for the mare pen and one over by the barn for Beamer's pen. We wanted to put electrical cable in the trench too, but we'd have to upgrade the panel in the well house so it will have to wait until next year. I'll be chopping ice this winter!

He's pretty tired, lots of hard work but so worth it. We still have to string the wire for the horse pens, that'll take a couple more days and we'll have to do it in the rain: there is a big storm system coming in off the Pacific ocean and it's bringing rain for the next 5 days. I want to have it all done by next weekend so I can go get Coyote Belle and bring her to the new place. Then we also have to build shelters..... and get moved....

But it will all be worth it.

Especially with this view to look at.

Sneak peek

Yesterday we had the chance to visit the new place to negotiate on some appliances. Photo op!

View of the pasture that we will start fencing in 9 days..... 9 more days I just can't wait!

View from the barn. Elderberry tree on the left, maybe I'll start making elderberry jam, been wanting try that.

This is the front yard which will be turned into Beamer's turn out paddock, or alternatively a turnout for mares and foals. Yes, foals. More on that some other time. :o)

Change is coming

We officially gave notice that we are moving a couple of days ago. As of October 1st I'll be busy fencing to set up corrals and paddocks for the horses, as well as painting and helping with installing flooring  in the house. I actually love painting. All these years I have always chosen earth tones based on greens and I'm tired of that so this time I'm going with soft greys and blue tones. I have about 40 swatches so far.... (grin....)

Since my sister and her husband will be the landlords, we will pretty much have free run on design and set up of the place as well as building a shop for Ted and an overhang off the barn for hay storage.

Meanwhile, I'm packing and sorting through stuff and making trips to the thrift store with donations. I have a lot of paper files to go through and most of it will go in the burn pile.  It's been 7 years since we moved last, I've gotten out of practice! It used to be every 3 years. We set a record this time. (Bigger grin.)

Move? Did you say move? Can I move the horse for you?

Thea! Leave the dang horse alone!

THEA! NO BITE!

Good thing Rosalee is a good natured horse.

As you can see Thea is really wanting to work. There are cattle right next to the horses but she leaves them alone because she knows they are not my concern. But if I do anything with the horses she is right there trying to help. My sister said I could get some sheep, as we know a shearer so I'll look for some dog broke sheep to start her on, sometime this winter. Ahhhhggghh I said that W word.... It will be upon us too soon.

Tonight was the harvest moon and of course I had to take about 50 pics, a couple of them turned out. I like this one.

Smoke in the Valley

Forest fires are raging throughout our province, fortunately none are too close, but this beautiful valley was filled with smoke all day yesterday, and today too.

If you look on the right side of the photo, the buildings to the left of the gravel road are where we live. We are in the process of moving into a mobile home that is behind the trees you can see in the driveway. I spent the day cleaning and moving boxes (ugh!) We had to rip the carpet out of the living room, and I painted the floor with Bin (similar to Killz) to get rid of the pet stains/odors. We are going to put laminate in. I hate carpet, it's so unhealthy.

A bit of a breeze came up and cleared some of the smoke away, so by moonrise at least we could see the Skimmerhorns, which at noon were barely visible.

Well I'd better get at the unpacking before the heat of the day hits! The sooner I get done the more time I'll have to spend with my poor neglected horses!

New surroundings

After 9 and a half hours on the horse trailer, I unloaded the girls at their new pasture. As you can see, it has belly deep- make that over your head deep in Sparkle's case- grass, and a wonderful dirt track that Sparkle thought was custom made as a race track just for her!

She was so happy to get out and stretch her legs! All in all, they travelled very well, but they were happy to get out and bury their noses in the grass.

I hauled Beamer to a separate area, in the farm yard where we'll be staying. He's not too happy about not being with his girls- he only has cows to look at there, poor boy! But he has lots of room to run so I reckon he'll get over it, specially when I start riding again (soon, I hope!)

And the dogs, they're just happy any time they go for truck rides!