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.

As promised- the rest of the story.

In my Wordless Wednesday post, we saw Ted riding Rosalee, carrying a flag. (Ted hasn't ridden for a few years!!!!!) That was training day; today, she had a job to do.
Some of you may remember that Ted and I both worked for a local auctioneer; Joe Snopek. Ted was the relief auctioneer and I was the clerk. Well the auctioneer unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack; he was 75 years old. Back in the day, he was a farm boy with a love of horses, so we thought we would do something special for his funeral.
Ted is a member of the North West Mounted Police Commemorative Association- basically  they are a group who dresses in period uniforms and do parades and special events; the NWMP were the forerunners of our current RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) well known for their red serge dress uniforms.

We had a pair of Joe's cowboy boots, empty and with the auction number 1 on them, tied behind the saddle.

Rosalee and Ted greeted people going into the funeral service- old ladies and children were delighted to pet her- and near the end of the service I had the mare ready for Ted at the door that served for the procession to the hearse. Ted held the flag at horizontal as a salute as the family passed by.

Then he led the beginning of the procession for a couple of blocks as they made their way to the cemetery;

when he halted, he dismounted and again held the flag in ceremonial position as he removed his helmet in tribute.

Through it all, Rosalee was rock solid. I love how willing this mare is, and that my husband felt safe on her, enough to get on and ride for the first time in probably 5 years, and that we were able to pay tribute in style to a friend. Rest in peace, Joe.

Wordless Wednesday- the rest of the story tomorrow.

What is going on!

So... y'all aren't very curious out there in bloggerland.
I thought for sure I'd have a bunch of questions about the new faces featured on my Wordless Wednesday post!
I had been thinking about how I'd like to buy an older broodmare, as I have seen several of them for sale  (it's that time of year) and since I'm getting Coyote Belle back soon, I though it would be good for her to have a pasture buddy, as she has been running in a large mare herd for the last 2 and a half years. As I was scrolling through the endless Facebook feed, I saw  photo that stopped me- it read, broodmare for sale, $800 obo must sell today or she is going to auction tomorrow. This is the photo that stopped me in my tracks:

How could I scroll past that!!!
She is well formed, and it looked so pathetic to see her standing in a muddy pen....
So, I called and made an offer which was accepted. Then it was a long battle to find transportation for her, as she was about a day and a half away as the crow flies. I did get it organized eventually!
This is where it gets interesting. Things always happen for a reason. You see, Shayla had just been here as you know from my previous post, and found out about Coulee and her issues. Shayla had also just bought a long yearling barrel prospect, so too young to do much with. So I hatched a plan to swap places - I bring the colt here and winter him, and Shayla takes Coulee and works with her over the winter. Win Win! And the neat thing is, it would never have happened if I hadn't bought the buckskin mare as I had to drive just south of Calgary to get her from the commercial hauler who brought her south for me; it worked out perfect: I hauled Coulee to where Shayla works, picked up the buckskin mare, drove south to pick up Shayla's colt and headed home.
I'll tell you more about the old mare in a minute, but first, here is how Coulee is working out- Guest post from Shayla:
"Coulee has been spending a lot of time on the hot walker, mostly just standing, but some walking. At first she was scared of the walker- I'm actually finding she's a very unconfident mare, she just hides it well under the attitude! Little things, like pee on the concrete, the wheel barrow, the tractor and some noises worry her.

Every time I saddle her she has a big hump, but that's alright, she just walks it out..... It takes a good hour. The first time I rode her I also ponied her after her walk, but the second I just got on.

She's a bit of a hot mess under saddle. She's got some understanding of everything, but is really just into fighting her way through it. Kicks at the leg and really doesn't like keeping her shoulder out of the way and nose in on right circles.

I find she's gaining a lot of respect for me, she's no longer kicking at me when I feed her or acting cranky while I saddle her. When she first came she was quite defensive and could have easily hurt somebody (Shirley told me she has tested her too). She's very touchy with her sides and her initial reaction to everything is to switch her tail, pin her ears and tense up. I'm quite sure she has ulcers, on top of just being moody!"

Yes Coulee, you might actually have to work for a living!

So it looks like Coulee is getting the attention and training she needs and that I couldn't give her- thank you Shayla for giving her a chance! The intention is to start patterning her on barrels, hopefully she will take to it. I really think she just needs a job and a purpose.


Meanwhile... back to the old mare, whose barn name is Loretta Lynn....

The main reason I couldn't just give up on her when I was faced with all the expense and trouble of hauling her (the commercial hauler was 12 hours; my trip totalled 15 hours) is because I am 100% certain this mare is a silver buckskin. That is such a rare gene in the quarter horse world, and I do know that her sire, Bar U Champs Binder was the first AQHA horse who tested positive for the silver gene. This mare is healthy other than needing to put on some weight and I sure hope to get at least one foal out of her. If not- so be it; she will be a pasture mate for Beamer and Belle and live out her days being loved and well cared for - she really is a sweet mare.

I had body work done on her today, no major issues. I am waiting for the dentist to come through here, hopefully within the next month. I've sent away for her 5 panel test to make sure she doesn't carry any genetic disorders, and I have also requested a colour test for silver and to see if she is homozygous for black.

Wordless Wednesday

Girls day out

No, not a shopping trip to the city.....

or a spa day.....

it was a horse girls day out.

Shayla is visiting, so we hauled Rosalee and Coulee to the arena. This was Shayla's first chance to ride Rosalee, and assess her for showing next year.

It went fairly well. A little bit of resistance with a leap and a hop when she didn't want to lope, and some dropping her head into the bridle and pulling on Shayla's hands, but she is out of shape and hasn't been asked to hold herself in frame for over 2 years, so I'm ok with that; she will improve.

Then it was Coulee's turn. Until Shayla worked with her, she probably didn't understand just how crabby she is. Before Coulee was worked, she had a lovely soft expression; I had her saddled up and was leading her around a bit as Shayla worked Rosalee. When she put Coulee on the longe line it was like a switch was flipped- she went from sweet and quiet to instant bitch. She resisted forward movement and backed up and glared and switched her tail- just like she does with me. Shayla worked her through it and got her going around, but as you can see by the next photo- she had a serious hump in her back.

To her credit, Shayla did get on and ride; I rode alongside with Rosalee as Coulee didn't want to go forward, but she still had that hump in her back, so Shayla stepped off and ponied her for a while to see if it would help.

Bitch face and tail swishing

Hey Rosalee, tell us what you really think!

After some discussion about Coulee's future, it comes down to how she does as a brood mare. I am not willing to get on her, especially after riding a good horse like Rosalee, and I don't want to sell her as a riding horse. We think this is learned behaviour with her, as apparently her full siblings are nice minded horses. I have had her teeth done and body work done so there is no physical excuse; I think she learned that she could boss other horses around and learned somehow that she could intimidate people too. She is very self-protective. In the right hands, she would probably make a good using horse, but it would take a lot of miles and wet saddle blankets and I don't know anyone who would want her as a project. Once she foals out and it's weaning time, she will be sold one way or another. I do have an idea of where she could go as a brood mare, as her conformation is so good. We will wait and see how her Beamer baby turns out. 

Speaking of Beamer babies, here is a recent photo of the paint colt who is a long yearling now. Check out the cool smudge marks he is sporting!

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)

Beamer gets frisky.

After the full moon and the rainstorm the next night, the morning was cool and Beamer was feeling pretty fresh when I went out to get this moon shot.

Of course, I couldn't resist  taking a few photos of his antics to share with you.

Yes those are mushrooms growing in his stud-poop pile and yes, he is a little "fluffy"!

Umm Rosalee, you're missing the show!

Stomp them shrooms!

Doin' a little break dance.....

What did you think girls? Does he still have it or what!

Of course I still got it! I'm da man!