Weaned and another update

 I made the decision to wean Tuffy at 3 months, a full month earlier than I normally do. He was so independent and more bonded to Velvet than his mama, and was rarely nursing so I figured it would work. Also, Happy was pretty much not concerned about him. I think she was glad to hand him over to Velvet. Happy is now at Shayla's, with the herd that Gussie is in. Not having a foal at side over there will help her to gain weight for the winter while there is still lots of lush grass. 

Tuffy and his step moms

I have him on Purina Maternity feed, twice a day. He loves it!

He is holding his weight well. I took the opportunity of feeding time to start working on his feet .  He wasn't sure about it so I had Ted come and hold him while I nipped and rasped.

After the first foot, he was much better with the second one; in true Tuffy fashion he had to figure out what I wanted, then he was ok with it. I started the back feet today, got one done, no halter, while he ate, and will do the second one tomorrow. 

His shedding pattern is interesting. 

Black areas and pale areas but cute all over!

I plan to get his hernia dealt with in early October. This is my first foal with a hernia that needs intervention; it means hauling him to the vet for sedation and stitching  I hope at 5 months old he will be able to handle that; I want to get it done before it tries to close on its own and pinches off his intestines. 

Easily visible in this photo

Found a post the other day on Dally's full brother, we called him Boe but they changed it to Willy. They had him helping to sort bulls out of the  cow herd recently and put this photo on Fb. 

Always nice to get good reports on horses we bred!

Theo update

 

I knew he would be handsome....

Apparently he had a nice long mane until his pasture mate snacked on it. 

His training is going well, he has the usual Beamer easy to work with mind but it is also a very busy mind! Here is a screen shot of a text from his owner:

He was always curious as a baby, I take that as a sign of intelligence. 

He is 14.2 and still growing, so he will be a bit bigger than Beamer and a bunch bigger than his dam Velvet who is only 14hh.  

Love getting such good updates! 

Summer lull

 I have flowers! Finally.... 

The one I want to share with you is an iris I brought with me when we moved from Creston 4 years ago. It didn't like the 1st location I chose for it- too much morning shade- so I moved it to a full sun south facing location last year. This year it burst forth in all its glory! 

The name of this iris variety is Starship Enterprise. My sister gave me the rhizome 6 years ago, it did bloom once in Creston and I am so happy that it is happy! I do have one more that I brought with me but it isn't quite ready to bloom this year. I am hoping it is orange, but more likely it will be purple- cant remember which one I brought with me.  

We had a little change of plans with Happy- I am still sending her to Shayla at weaning, but since she seems to be quite healthy other than the melanoma lump on her neck she is getting one more year at least. Shayla won a stud fee to a very well bred stallion called French Eye Candy who is a son of the great Dinero (aka PC Frenchmans Hayday) Barrel racing fans will know who he is. So Happy and Tuffy have been there for the last week; I should be picking them up this weekend. 

Interesting thing about this stallion, he had a color change from sorrel with a flaxen mane to dark chestnut with a darker mane. 

Yes it is the same horse, I checked his markings closely. 

I also have an update. Some of you may remember that Gussie had a foal from Shayla' s Percheron stallion Layne, and she threw a blue roan filly. That filly, Evie, is now 3 years old and getting started under saddle. 

Pretty girl, isn't she? Draft crosses are becoming very popular, especially as trail and ranch horses. 

I got all my hay in the barn now for next winter; I opted to buy last year's hay, same supplier, as it is going to be iffy for putting up hay without rain around here, and first cutting hay will be already over ripe and stemmy, which also means later cut doesn't give much time to put up a second cut. So I figured to get hay that I know is good, even if it is a year old. 

Now, some summer weather please, with no tornado or hail warnings, all of which have been ongoing for the last 2 weeks. 

Scooter update

 You may remember Scooter, the colt I had in for halter breaking for Shayla, he is a son of Coyote Belle and sired by Root Beers Boots who is well known for siring top notch barrel horses and was a champion in the Working Cow Horse class. Shayla and I went to visit him as she is probably going to breed Dallas to him. He is 3 years old now and when we laid eyes on him, my jaw about dropped. He sure got the look Belle threw on her colts; big bone, big feet and that big Belle butt. And looking at his head was like looking at Rio. 

All wrapped up in buckskin, just like Belle's sire, Durable Shine, who was a direct son of the late great Shining Spark. This is a royally bred junior stallion. 

His owners have done a nice job on him, he is started, and ridden by his owner who is a lady my age (old!!!!) which speaks to his good mind and trainability. 

Shayla took a lot of nice photos with her Canon camera, I may get to share them once she finishes editing - these were just my cell photos. 

If I wasn't retiring Gussie from breeding next year, I would sure consider him. 

Some update photos

 Kai and Josie have been earning their keep team roping. 

Josie (Chickory x Beamer) on the heels, Kai (Belle x Beamer) on the head side

Rio and Derby (full brothers to Kai) had a job working on a ranch this year. I was sent these photos of Rio at work.

I don't have photos of Derby. Pistol, who is also a Belle son, has been competing in roping too. 

Pistol (Belle x Rollin in My Dually)

All the above horses are in the same home and they couldn't have landed in a better home. They also bought Minx, who is a daughter of Sparkle N Peppy, the first one of the Beamer / Belle cross. Minx's sire was grey, and she is slowly going grey. 

Minx

And last but not least I have a photo of Gussie's daughter, who I called Pie. She was born on the farm here 2  years ago and is a daughter of Shayla's late stallion, Givemathrashing.

Pie is also in a very good home. I guess that's all one can ask for as a breeder, that the foals go to homes that value them, provide good care, and use them. 

New routine and a Theo update

 Change is in the air with fall on it's way- today is the last of the 30 C (86F) temps in the forecast. The poplar trees are starting to get yellow leaves, but everything else is still in summer mode. I m hoping that the frosty nights will stay away for a while so my garden can mature- that June 1st frost was a big setback. I really would like some vine ripened tomatoes! But if not, I will be making a batch of green tomato mincemeat. Yum!

I never was after roan horses, I always liked the blacks and the bays best, but now, I have two red roans to look at, and I sure can't complain! I have put Gussie back to work, short rides so far and she isn't excited about having to earn her living now. She  probably thought that at age 21 she should retire!  I won't work her hard, just enough to keep her and me in riding shape. So far I will only be riding on the 20 acres of pasture we have, and maybe up onto the hayfields and the sand pit area, depending on how Velvet reacts. I think she will be fine, but she really doesn't like being alone and may get a little frantic if Gussie gets out of sight. 

We don't do frantic.

They do hang out together a lot, but I notice that they do wander away from each other either for grazing or to go back to the shade of the barn. 

The first day I invited Velvet to come along, which she did until she became bored and stopped to graze  and then head back to the barn. Gussie was certain that she too should be done with being ridden, but mean ole me had other plans. I headed close to the barn and put her to work so that the barn would not be the place to quit. 

As you can see, Gussie is quite disgusted that she has to work for her living these days!

Yesterday, I decided to pony Velvet  and take a bit of a longer ride. Velvet of course, was Not Impressed! Once I got her lined out (she thought she should lead) she was fine. I let her go after a while and continued to ride while she went back to the barn. She is still moping a bit about Theo leaving. 

Since Gussie thought she should follow Velvet, I rode partway to the barn and used it as a place to put her through several exercises, so that she doesn't think that going back to the barn is such a good idea- I think that will continue to be part of our rides as Gussie has a history of being barn/buddy sour. 

Today I will ride out alone and see how that goes. Riding Gussie is all about getting to her mind; she's an emotional girl and being a red head isn't afraid to let her opinion be known. I think I will be doing a lot of away and back, away and back, to help her mentally. 

Now for a Theo update: the hauler reported that he travelled well,  ate and drank well and was easy to load and unload, and Jared (his owner) said that he didn't seem to lose any weight.  He settled in well, slept good and is just being that chill good boy that he was here. He is across the fence from 4 minis, and will be getting turnout with them and will be taken on walks with a warmblood weanling who will be his pasture mate soon. 

Aren't they cute little toe rags!

Updates

 Got a couple of updates for you on the Diamond Lazy H horses. 

Remember Midnight Mesa? She has been resold to a young family and is doing great! Not the greatest photos but all I can get. She apparently instantly loved her new people. Mom rides her sorting cattle and daughter is doing leadline gymkhana on her.

Just another Beamer kid teaching a young 'un!

Mesa's original buyer wanted to do cutting and Mesa didn't like it. But apparently she likes sorting. 

Then there is a Derby update:

The lady who bought him as a stallion prospect decided to put him up for sale as she just wasn't clicking with him. And I'm happy to say, that he will be joining his brothers! Yup, he was sold to the young lady who owns and rides Rio, and will be living with Rio, Kai, Josie and Pistol. I am so happy that the Perrott family likes the DLH horses enough to have bought 6 of them over the years! I don't have any current photos of him, hopefully I will be able to go to Alberta this summer and get photos of him with his siblings. 

I decided that Jayne can be turned out with Sophie during the day, and back in her pen at night. That way they are both likely to get more exercise. Sure enough, Sophie took it upon herself to herd Jayne around right away!

Early morning/low light cell phone photo- sorry!

I included that photo because it shows that s'picious bump on Sophie! I actually hope she isn't in foal!

Had to throw in at least one decent photo....

or two, for my Jayne update. 

Jayne will not only be going to live with Shayla, she will be owned by her too! I decided to gift her to Shayla, partly because it is such a great home for her to live out her days (she will be 20 this year), and partly to help Shayla get another mare with great bloodlines in her herd as she establishes herself as a breeder. And I know Shayla loves her! Such a sweet mare.