Wordless Wednesday

Alberta Grown

This is Ted's daughter Meaghan. Unfortunately she is not part of our lives, but we would love it if she were. Ted is so full of happiness from connecting with his son Dean, that if Meaghan would come in to his life he would about die of happiness.

Midnight Coyote

Look who's here!

Remember Kai? This is Rio and Nitro's older brother; he's here to take advantage of our lush pasture, and to start his groundwork.

I put him in Rio's pen by himself and let Rio meet him over the fence.

Then I put Beamer in his stud pen, which is on the other side of Rio's pen, and he got reacquainted with his son.

Beamer sure puts his stamp on his get.  After a while I put Rio and Kai together, and they got along great- even when I brought the mares in. Coyote Belle and Chickory remembered Kai, and I'm hoping that once he gets used to the grass, I can put him in with the mares- he's gelded.

Sunday Stills

Think pink for today's Sunday Stills!

My bleeding heart bush is the earliest flowering plant in my garden, and it brings such joy  because of that.

All over town there are cherry blossoms. Last year, this tree had darker pink blossoms, but I rather like the delicate shade of pink that they are this year.
The horses wanted to get in on the act, so here is their version of pink:

Gussie

and Rio.

But I think I prefer the pretty Magnolia blossom!

Beamer's brats

This photos shows Rio's submissive behavior towards Beamer. He comes trotting up, lowers his head and shoulders, and mouths -kinda like clacking his teeth. Sometimes he even pees like a dog does when it's submissive. Beamer accepts it as his just due as herd sire. Then he strolls off and grazes contentedly; all's right in his world.

There's that 12 o'clock dog again; tough to get a photo without Reba in it!

Rio is in another growth spurt, I'm having a hard time putting weight on him even though he has feed in front of him 24/7. I plan on measuring him again this weekend.

In these two photos you can see that the injury on his right front is healing well, no proud flesh and the swelling is mostly gone. Tomorrow I'll put him in the round pen and video his movement, I'm pretty sure he doesn't favor that leg at all but it's good to see it on a video so you can be sure. Nice to see that his heart marking stayed. 

I went to see Janice today, and had a look at Rio's ( and Kai's and Nitro's) full sister, Jazz (Sparkle N Peppy). Janice did a post over on her blog on Jazz, with photos from yearling up to date. She sent me the photos too, and here is one of Jazz, who is now three years old

Ain't she a beauty? I'm hoping Belle will give me another filly next year.
See those greenhouses in the background? That's what Janice does for a living, and I had a nice visit and picked out more plants for my flower gardens, and some tomatoes. Planting tomorrow.... and mowing... and hauling hay... and getting horses feet trimmed.... and feeding horses at my friends place... Sunday evening we're having a backyard bonfire....yep, going to be a good weekend! Have a great long weekend everyone!

The Nitro Express

Here is a video- and I apologize in advance for the poor quality- of Nitro doing what he loves best- running for the sheer joy of it. I was bringing the mares in for the night, and had Gussie and Chickory already in, and when I came back for Belle and Nitro, Belle was willing, but Nitro- well, take a look:

This colt is destined for a career in a speed event. There is no doubt in my mind at all about that. The nice thing about him is that 10 seconds after him running so hard, I walked up to him, haltered him and mama, and led them quietly to the mare pen. 

  He is also shedding out an unusual color- not just brown, I think he may end up the same color as mama.

AQHA has a new deal for color testing, for $80 you can get a blanket test done that covers everything but dun zygosity, so I might just do that with this colt. He has the silver in his tail like all his brothers, but didn't have the grey eyes, but he just might be  a smoky brown. 

Wordless Wednesday

Chillin'

When it gets hot out, Chickory loves to be sprayed when I'm filling the water tubs. Take note, Amy! You may have to set up a sprinkler for her until she gets accustomed to the Texas heat!

Yesterday I noticed that the mares were galloping around the pasture, and when I stepped out to investigate, Rio was the cause. He was pestering Chickory, trying  to mount her, and she was running away from him- and double-barreling him but he kept persisting. It took me a while to catch him, but I did, and he has earned solitary confinement. All the mares are bred, but just to be sure I will tease Chickory with Beamer. She was bred April 6-14, and has shown no sign of coming in to heat again. If she didn't catch she should have been in heat again over a week ago. But we'll check her back to make sure. 

Woe is meeeee.....

Did it work? Can I go back with the gurlz now?

Do these photos make my butt look big???

Weeeeelllll.......

Yes, they do.

That's because it is.

And I'm ok with that.

Crap from blogger

I just got the "your blog has disappeared" notice and followed the recommended steps to get it back- I'm pretty sure it's a scam from blogger because I refused to add a mobile phone number to my google account- the only way I could access my blog again was to agree to get a verification code texted or sent by voice mail to my phone. So now they are happy, they have my phone number. What a scam! Shame on you, Google.

Sunday Stills

Today's challenge is to photograph commercial vehicles. I take my hat off to the truckers who spend their time on the road hauling the freight that keeps the stores full for consumers, or haul construction equipment over the back roads of the nation, haul just about anything anywhere. Including cows, like the truck that brought the cows here yesterday:

I live in an area where there is a lot of logging; my dad used to drive logging trucks and told me about some of the hair-raising excuses for roads they had to haul their heavy loads on.

But there's one thing all those truckers appreciate, and that is the truck that can bring them tires when they are broke down on the road:

Stay safe out there all you truckers- keep 'er between the ditches!

Cows

Yay the cows have arrived! When I came home from spending too much at the greenhouse, the sound of moo-sic filled the air; there was a load of calves in the mare pen, and a couple more loads to come. I saddled up and waited for them all to arrive; it was just a gorgeous day, and Beamer was content to stand quietly in the shade.

There was an hour between hauls, so we went for a little putt out in the hayfield- which has a plethora of dandelions right now.

Did you notice that Beamer's bridle has an adjustable browband? Designed by the late great Al Grandchamp, master rawhider from Montana.
It's a small heard, 25 pairs and a bull, but we are happy to have them back.

After they all arrived and mothered up we pushed them through Beamer's pasture out onto their pasture, which is the balance of the 80 acres here.They were sure happy to see all that lush grass, and beelined through the gates, except for a couple of little calves who went on the wrong side of the gate. Not much to do, but it always makes things easier with a horse to help. I get to ride through them and check them as often as I want. I like having a purpose when I ride.

Just horse stuff

Yesterday's trip to Cranbrook to take Chickory in for her vet work went well; Chicky loaded like an old pro, the trip was uneventful, and she was good for the vet. I pick up her paperwork on the 21st, so she will be ready to go any time after that.
It's nice to get back to our normal routine, I especially love to watch the horses when I first turn them out in the morning. Today, they didn't play much, they were more interested in chowing down on the grass because I kept them off the pasture yesterday. (Poor things!)

Beamer, however, let'r'rip- he was happy to stretch his legs a little- that is, after his obligatory roll in the soft dirt pile that he favors. So much for staying clean for photos!

No, he's not coming down a hill in this photo....

The cows are coming in today, so I get to saddle up Beamer to help push them out of the corral where they are unloading (the mare pen). Whee!

Ever notice how when horses are galloping hard their back feet go apart and outside of their front feet?

Home again

The family gathering for my mother-in-law's funeral was actually very good, it was wonderful to see so many people, especially the older folks that we don't get to see often, and may not see again. Funerals and weddings- the glue that holds family together. I won't post the photos here, except for this one:

Because it represents 4 generations- Ted's dad, Al; Ted; Ted's son Dean and wife Andrea; and Ava, who is Al's great granddaughter.
The trip back was interesting, we opted to stay away from all the busy highways and came home through the mountain parks. We went past beautiful Abraham lake, which is the source of water for the city of Edmonton. The color of the water is amazing due to the glacial silt suspended in it.

We had Merle with us- he was a big hit with the family we stayed with who have two little boys. They had never really played with a dog before, so Merle taught them how- as well as all the neighborhood kids- poor Merle was very tired that day! Here he is chillin' out in the wind at Abraham Lake.

We saw a lot of wildlife along the way. There are a lot of Bighorn Sheep along that highway, and they are so accustomed to traffic that they are easy to photograph.

This big guy wouldn't show me his face, but I love how his ears are paying attention.

These two were part of a large group of rams who took possession of the highway.

We traveled through the Columbia Icefields, and I amused myself while Ted was driving by trying for a triple shot- the goal was to get the reflection in the window to tie in with the scene in the rear view mirror and the scenery looking forward.

I almost got it!
We saw a grizzly bear, but didn't stop because we were going pretty fast and had traffic behind us, and later we saw this black bear.He wouldn't lift his head from grazing.

It's always nice to get away, but it's even better getting home. Peace and quiet, and the normal routine of life are things I treasure.
Tomorrow I haul Chickory to town to get her international health papers and then it's time to put Gussie back to work. Kai should be here soon to start his groundwork, and when he is I plan on doing a photo shoot of Beamer, Belle, and their three sons- Kai, Rio, and Nitro.

Sunday Stills

The challenge this week is to photograph things we consider vintage. I'm going to my archives because I am way too busy this week to do a photo shoot.

The vintage version of a boombox ghetto blaster- a gramophone- we sold it a while ago.

Vintage photo of my mom and dad, on their wedding day, February 20, 1950.

Time out

I'll be away from my blog until Wednesday next week, although I have pre-scheduled my Sunday Stills post. We have the Auction this weekend, and will be leaving right after that for Edmonton. Ted's mother passed away, and the funeral is on Monday. I thank you in advance for any prayers and well wishes, and remember- tell your family you love them.

Nitro's name

Just got off the phone with AQHA and Nitro's registered name is Shining Midnight Moon. Apparently Midnight Moon was taken. That's ok, this name gives a hat tip to Coyote Belle's grandfather, Shining Spark.

No Drama- and no sale

The last thing I wanted when I integrated the whole herd was a lot of drama with horses galloping around like crazy, even though it might look like fun, it can be dangerous to a little foal. So yesterday, before I left for work, Belle and Nitro went out on the big pasture by themselves. Then at 1 PM when I got home from work, Rio went out. He was very respectful of Belle, mouthing submissively, and Nitro greeted Rio the same way- doing the colt mouthing thing.

They strolled off and grazed quietly. At 3 PM I turned  Gussie and Chickory in with them, and Belle and Nitro totally ignored them, while Rio came hollering up to greet them like long lost friends. Those three hung out together the rest of the day. No drama! Until it was time to bring them in.... then Chickory and Belle decided it was time to do laps.... poor little Nitro got a good workout keeping up to mama before the silly mares settled down and decided it was okay to get haltered and come in.
If you look at Rio's right front leg in this photo, you'll see the dark spot on his white sock and the scrape above his ankle. There is another scrape on the other side of his pastern, and a bump above the ankle on the outside of the leg. A while ago he got his leg caught in a gate and pulled back, getting hung up and the scrapes and swelling are the result of his struggle to get free. He is healing up well, but it will be some time before he will be 100%. Now you understand why I call the yearling year the Wonder Year? The end result is that he is off the market and won't be going to Texas. So Rio fans will get to see more of him - and I hope he doesn't get in to any more trouble! Enough already.

Doin' what comes natural

All foals like to run and play, but since Nitro doesn't have any foal buddies he has his own brand of fun. The only way I can describe it is, he zooms. He gets out and runs as hard and fast as he can, and throws in a couple of leaps, cavorts, and kicks just to add his own style.
Oh, it all starts out innocent enough...one bite of grass to make sure he has enough energy.....

Assess the amount of space available and plot the course.....

Back go the ears ( more aerodynamic, ya know!) out goes the tail.....

and he's off.....

and zoomin'!

Nitro style!