Getting things done!

We got a lot of yard work done today, cleaned up and pruned underneath the trees so we could get the lawnmower under them- yes, spring is officially here, because Ted mowed the lawn today!

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that we plan to build Beamer a shelter under the overhang that we moved the old rotten trailer out of- here is what it looks like now; where the blue truck is parked will be the B-boy's house, we will have to build some walls and re-fence his pen.

It was time to work Chickory today, since the wind kindly died down . The last time I worked her, she was not too happy, so I backed up a step or two and brought out my trusty Al Grandchamp bosal. I had turned Beamer out into the pasture, so I worked in his pen. Chickory is a very feely horse, super sensitive about being touched, especially around her rump. She about jumps out of her skin with sudden movements too, so that is something to work on another day- today was working on her accepting the rope all over her body. I longed her a bit first, and then started flipping the rope over her back, and letting her drag it on her off side. After the first few flips, she accepted that quite well.

I put the rope around her cinch area and put pressure there, getting her to lead forward. once she had the rope dragging every which way, it was time to put it around her rump, and ask her to accept it quietly. There was some panic with that, but since she couldn't run away from it- I had hold of her with the bosal, which does have a little authority- she soon figured it out.

Overall, it was a really good session, we built trust and willingness. That's all I wanted.

Foaling contests- 3 of them going on!

I love all the entries I am getting in my foaling contest. If the foaling date you picked goes past without her foaling, you can re-enter with a new date; just click on the link in my sidebar and leave another comment and I'll update it. Also, I want to direct you to two other blogs who are having foaling contests; my friend Carol over at All These Pretty Horses, and Crystal over at Ranch Riding. Scoot on over and enter for your chance to win some cool stuff!

Pup, wind, and dirt

Tara sent me some more pup photos; her eyes are open now.

This is mama Bree with all the pups. I think my little one is going to look just like her mama!

It was really windy here for the last couple of days, it made it a little difficult to fill my wheel barrow to bring hay into Coyote Belle's stall, as you can see:

But one good thing about the wind; it is drying out the horse pens, so Ted was able to get them looking much better.

We have lots of plans for improvements, including building Beamer a nice shelter under the overhang where we pulled the junky old trailer out, and removing all of the manure mountain from the mares pen. The manure was so deep in these pens, and it hadn't been cleaned for many years, that it is mostly dirt now. It's what I used to build my garden. I was told that around here, you don't plant until all the snow is gone from the "x" you see on the right side of this mountain:

So I'm impatiently waiting, so I can go to Janice's greenhouse and get some flowers for my flowerbed, which is all prepped and ready.

Sunday Stills-Hands

Todays challenge was hands; and here they are- my husband's hands at work;

and at the table;

my hands;

doing what I love best- holding the reins on my beloved Beamer, and, below, on my Reba.

I got mail!

I won this lovely item over at the Rocking Seven Mile Ranch blog, and got it yesterday. Isn't it beautiful? It is supposed to be for a key chain, but I'm not sure if I'll use it there, maybe it will be a zipper pull on a nice jacket. If you haven't been over to their blog, pop on over. Susan is an author, and her husband, Tom, does leatherwork and horsehair hitching; he made this.

Check out the cuteness factor here...

Meet my new pup, which I am buying from Tara, over at HP Performance Horses in Saskatchewan. (Link on my sidebar under Quarter Horse Sites)

In this photo she is the one on the right; these photos were taken at only a few days old. I think her white will freckle out like her mama, who's legs you can see in this photo.

She is a purebred Border Collie, and will be registered. So help, everyone, I need a name for her!

And while you all are being so helpful, don't forget to enter the contest in the post below, and enter the contest I linked to also- free stuff is always fun!

EDIT-NEW PHOTOS!

Contest time again!

First of all, I apologize for having to turn word verification on again; I have been getting comments written in Chinese, even though I state on my comment form that I only allow comments written in English, -it's the only language I speak- and if I can't understand what is written, I won't subject my readers to such rudeness. So if the person who leaves Chinese comments would care to come on and leave a comment in my language, fire away!

Back to business- It's contest time again! Coyote Belle was bred May 9-14 last year, so she is exactly 11 months from the first day she was bred. An average gestation is 343 days which would be April 18. However, last year, on her first foal, Belle went 358 days. This year- who knows? They don't always go the same as the first foal, and some years they come early- I had one mare foal after only 321 days. Confused yet?

So to play, you have to guess foaling date, sex, and color. Which could be interesting, as Coyote Belle carries the cream dilute gene, and Beamer carries the dun gene. Their first foal, Sparkle, is brown.

All the guesses are posted, as I receive them, on the top of my sidebar at the left, so that you can see what others have guessed.

The prize will be your choice of one of these ceramic and steel travel mugs:

Also, my friend Carol at All These Pretty Horses has a double contest going on her mares, with some really good prizes (I want to win the Legends 8 book!) so pop on over there and enter hers too!

Wordless Wednesday

Our weekend

Hope everyone had a good Easter weekend, and got their fill of family, good food, and spring weather. Ted's brother came over and spent the night, and I talked him into taking some Beamer photos with his lovely Nikon camera -that wasn't to hard to do- imagine that!

at play

in full flight

airborne

Family portrait

The mares got their first turn-out on the pasture. Coyote Belle is getting large, but her udder isn't full yet. I'm going to have The Contest posted this week; stay tuned! Velvet's leg is much better. I am hoping to get time to haul Chickory to the round pen this week- I really need to work on her manners. Twice this week she got pushy with me; both times were a choice for her between fear of Coyote Belle, (who is very crabby right now) and getting in my space. My space was her choice both times!

Got a question for you horse folks: why would Chickory be obsessed with Coyote Belle's poo? She eats or licks it; I spent 15 minutes last night keeping her away from a fresh pile of it, as soon as I left she was right back in it. I thought maybe she is looking for bits of oats in it. She is the only horse in the herd that does that, and it's only Coyote Belle's poo, not Velvet's. Belle is the only one getting grain right now.

Ted loaded out 3 truckloads from the manure mountain; actually it was the old stuff that has composted back to topsoil.

Off to work now and tomorrow too. (Drat!)

Sunday Stills- Easter

Being Catholic, Easter is a time of great reverence and joy for me; it's not about bunnies and eggs and chocolate- although I do love my chocolate! The week before Easter we call Holy Week, culminating in Good Friday, and the remembrance of the Passion and death of Jesus. So my first photo is taken at our church, which is the Holy Cross Church.

And since Easter Day celebrates the Resurrection and the promise of new life, and hope, I can find it in God's great creation and the wonderful season of spring and all its beauty.

Where did this week go???

This last week has been a busy one, I didn't get any riding time in (much to Beamer's disgust, he's bored!) because the weather has been cold and windy; also I had work and helping Ted with the garbage run on the tear down he's doing on the junky old trailer.

Also, I had this to deal with:

Velvet managed to cut her leg and it got all swollen up so I got some penicillin for her, and I've been hosing it to keep it open and draining. The little darlin' is easy to doctor, no problems sticking a needle in her. It is healing up nicely now.

Both cats needed doctoring this last week too; Bubby got an upper respiratory infection and kindly passed it on to Foose, so they have been getting antibiotics twice a day, much to their disgust.

I got my electric fence up around the pasture for turning out the horses, I divided the field so I can manage the grass better; so Sunday, Beamer gets some turn out time to eat grass. I'll alternate him with the girls. Gotta keep the boy happy! It's been wet enough here that the pens are muddy again, so turn out time will be a blessing for them.

Wordless Wednesday

Road trip to Montana

Ted and I went for a Sunday drive to visit our friends in Montana, the people we bought Beamer from. We left the dogs in their new kennel.

They weren't too impressed with being left behind, but we can't take them across the border until we get their shots updated.

This is Beamer at the age of 3 months, the first time I saw him. I fell in love with his cuteness and spoke for him then, bought him just over a year later.

We took a backroad through northern Montana not knowing that it wasn't maintained in the winter, so we had to detour through another backroad that took us about an hour out of our way. It was kind of a surprise to see roads like this:

There were a few stretches of road like that, but we made it through and spent a few hours visiting at our friend's ranch. They have a training barn and specialize in reining horses. The economy is hitting them hard right now. They have some really nice horses for sale, including a daughter of Skeets Peppy that I fell in love with.

Their stallion is a half brother to Beamer; same sire, different mare.

He was shown successfully in reining, I don't have his stats, but if anyone is interested in breeding to him I can put you in touch with his owners; he stands in Eureka, Montana.

They also own a Reba daughter, a full sister to Janice's Sage and Carol's Jess.

She is so much like Reba! Only smaller.

Same intensity; she was stalking a cat in this photo.

There were a lot of deer hanging around the ranch, and on the way home we saw a lot of deer, the mild winter sure must have helped them.

And what visit to a ranch is complete without barn cats?

Theresa and her daughter do energy balancing- on horses and humans- and they worked on Ted and me. I definitely feel better today, and so does Ted.

We have pouring rain today, and I have to work this afternoon, so it's an inside day for me. Ted is outside tearing down the old rotten mobile home that borders part of the mare's pen. I can't wait till it's gone, such an eyesore! That'll be the subject of another post.

So I leave you with my pathetic Beamer, all snugged up in his rain coat today.

Sunday Stills- a day in the life

It was tough to pick which day's photos to use for this challenge, but I narrowed it down finally. This day started with moving big square bales for the horses, and the Foose cat loves to hide out in between the bales; his own little snug spot to watch for mice.

Later, I filled up the water trough for the mares, and Chickory and Velvet always come for a drink while I have the hose in there; I guess they like bubbly water.

And you know my day had to include Beamer, who was being his sweet self, and a little lazy on that sunny warm day.

In fact, I had to chase him up a little to get him to move so I could get an interesting shot.