Movin' again

My wonderful, hard working husband has taken a new job, which is about 2 hours south of here, so for the next month or so we will be occupied in looking for a new place to live. We don't care much what the house will be like, but it must have 2 things; a workshop for him, and a barn for my horses. There are a lot of farms in the area so we should be able to find something suitable, whether we rent or buy. Hopefully we'll find something before Gussie foals in April, and before breeding season begins. I've already taught Sassy to trailer load, using John Lyons methods. She's a smart little rascal; each lesson she picked up exactly where we left off the day before. For example, the second day, we loaded one foot, and called it quits when she was doing it consistantly. The next day, she marched up to the trailer and stuck one foot in and gave me the "what next" look! So we loaded 2 feet. I do love working with the little ones.

Bald Eagle

One of the things I love about the area where I live is the abundance of wildlife. Today I was treated to this eagle landing in a tree across the road. Without a good zoom lens, this was as close as I could photograph it; he sailed away after the first snap.

Frost Flowers

This is what my office window looks like at -42 Celcius. I've always called this frost flowers, and while it is pretty, I always worry about my animals when the extreme cold hits. The best way to protect your horses in this weather is to increase their hay; the digestive process from eating hay keeps them warmer than if you fed them more grain. Of course, fresh water is a must; I took them water 4 times yesterday, as I don't have heated waterers here. The mares are taking it in stride; they don't seem to be bothered at all, and use their extra hay for bedding. They live outside, as you can see in the pictures posted on "Snow play day". Beamer also lives outside, but is blanketed for the winter, so he got the luxury of an extra blanket for the duration of this cold snap. (He looked quite striking yesterday with white eyelashes on his pretty black face!)

Sunrise

I'm a morning person. A new day is inspiring to me; you can shape your day and leave yesterday's woes behind. You can step outside and see the wonder of nature, created by God and feel His presence. You can enjoy the glory of the sunrise, the antics of the horses as they get their morning hay, laugh at Tess as she leaps and bounces to try to get Reba to play with her. Every morning I thank God for this beautiful land that I live in, and for all the blessings He has given me. For all the people who are too busy and caught up in the world and all its problems that they aren't happy, I give you this sunrise.

Named!

I finally came up with a barn name for our new filly that suits her personality. I call her Sassy! She is a bit of a diva, and although she is well mannered, she can be quite high-spirited and likes to strut her stuff. I am having a lot of fun with her, and can't wait till spring when she sheds out so I can show you how pretty she is under all that fuzz!

Winter blues

We're in the deep freeze here, so here is a picture of some summer beauty to cheer us up! This is the time of year that I really long for spring. And to those of you in the southern hemisphere, hope you are enjoying the warm weather!

Hittin' the trails

Today is my birthday, and I decided to celebrate from the best seat in the house; in the saddle! I took Beamer and the dogs and had an awesome ride, just up the back road in all the fresh snow. We met up with a fellow on a snowmobile, who kindly stopped to talk, and let Beamer check out his machine; then we loped some circles in the hayfield next door. I was hoping to see some wildlife, but no luck.

Snow play day

Today we got fresh snow, and it is nice and warm, so the horses were all feeling good . Guess I won't need to ride today; Beamer got lots of excercise! Now it's my turn, I get to shovel snow...(sigh).

Fast Horses

The AQHA named its racing champions last night; and there are a couple of mares who really kicked butt!

BLUES GIRL TOO
WORLD CHAMPION
CHAMPION 3-YEAR-OLD
CHAMPION 3-YEAR-OLD FILLY
Pedigree: Corona Cartel-Run The Dash by Sixarun (TX)2007
Record: 6-3-2-0 $817,662
Stakes Wins: Champion of Champions (G1), Golden State Derby (G1) and Mildred N. Vessels Memorial Handicap (G1)
Owner/Breeder: Lucky Seven Ranch, Prescott Valley, Arizona (Russell and Lisa Stooks)
Trainer: Joe "Bear" Bassett
Jockey: Saul Ramirez
Notes: The 2006 champion 2-year-old and 2-year-old filly, Blues Girl Too set two Los Alamitos track records, one at 400 yards and the other (pending) at 440 yards. Her performance in the Champion of Champions broke Dash For Cash’s 31-year-old track record and pushed her to second, behind only Refrigerator, on the sport’s list of all-time leading horses by money earned. Her lifetime total stands at $2,032,328.

HEARTSWIDEOPEN
CHAMPION 2-YEAR-OLD
CHAMPION 2-YEAR-OLD FILLY
Heartswideopen
Pedigree: Feature Mr Jess-Dashing Phoebe by Dash For Cash (TX)
2007 Record: 7-6-0-0 $1,282,690
Stakes Wins: All American Futurity (G1), Ruidoso Futurity (G1)Owner: La Feliz Montana Ranch LLC (Manuel, Javier and Hermelinda Rodriguez), North Las Vegas, Nevada
Breeder: Kirk Goodfellow, Nacogdoches, Texas
Trainer: Carl Draper
Jockey: Oscar Hernandez
Notes: Heartswideopen also finished sixth in the West Texas Futurity (G1). In August, she became the fastest 2-year-old filly ever at 440 yards, winning her All American Futurity (G1) trial in a sizzling :20.921. She also was the leading money-earning horse of the year.

I have always loved mares the most, and it sure is good to see such outstanding mares beating out the boys in some of their categories!

Quotes from"True Unity"

One of my favorite horse books is "True Unity-Tom Dorrance talks about horses". Here are some quotes:

A lot of people get along pretty well with their horses until they go to training those horses.

The horse may not be doing the thing that is the right thing for what the rider is asking him, but as far as the horse is concerned, he is doing the right thing.

Before you ever start to reach to ask your horse to do something you should have in mind what you are asking and where you are trying to direct.

The thing you are trying to help the horse do is to use his own mind. You are trying to present something and then let him figure out how to get there.

When the horse gets to yeilding in the back quarters, the front end will be easy.

Sometimes a horse would like to do the training; he gets to calling the shots.

You think, and that horse feels something going on in your body and he is ready to go. It may not be that way for quite a while and it may never get to be, but that is what you have in mind.

A Quarter Horse legend

I came across this poem at http://www.horsepoemsquotes.sportmorganhorses.com/category/horse-poems/
It's about a foundation Quarter Horse that most of my horses trace back to.

Peter McCue ~ Anonymous
(A Quarter Horse from the 1800’s)

Ain’t you never heard what Peter done?
Run the quarter-mile in twenty-one
And he run it backwards in twenty flat;
Why, stranger, where have you been at?

What else could he do,This Peter McCue?
He could gallop the range with tireless legs,
He could build a fire and scramble the eggs;
Though he never learned to subtract or devide,
He was mighty good when he multiplied.

The New Girl

This little beauty is my new filly, all dressed up in her winter clothes. Pending AQHA registration, her name will be Smooth Sailing Peppy. She is a chocolate palamino; her legs are brown, and her face will shed out darker. She is a smart little girl, doesn't get too upset about things like her first trailer ride and a new home. Beamer was quite excited to see her, and yes, she will be a future mate for him. Can't wait to see what she looks like come spring when she's all slicked off!

Reba and Tess

These are my two border collies, Reba and her daughter, Tess. They were started on sheep in December, and are progressing nicely. My goal is to show in novice trials with them. Reba, in the top photo, is 6 years old, and Tess was 1 in October.

St. Francis and the Wolf

Speaking of wolves, I thought I'd share with you this story of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals:
Wolf of Gubbio
A legend from the Fioretti tells us that in the city of Gubbio, where Francis lived for some time, there was a wolf “terrifying and ferocious, who devoured men as well as animals.” Francis had compassion upon the townsfolk, and went up into the hills to find the wolf. Soon fear of the animal had caused all his companions to flee, but the saint pressed on and when he found the wolf he made the sign of the cross and commanded the wolf to come to him and hurt no one. Miraculously the wolf closed his jaws and lay down at the feet of St. Francis. “Brother Wolf, you do much harm in these parts and you have done great evil…” said Francis. “All these people accuse you and curse you…But brother wolf, I would like to make peace between you and the people.” Then Francis led the wolf into the town, and surrounded by startled citizens he made a pact between them and the wolf. Because the wolf had “done evil out of hunger” the townsfolk were to feed the wolf regularly, and in return, the wolf would no longer prey upon them or their flocks. In this manner Gubbio was freed from the menace of the predator. Francis, ever the lover of animals, even made a pact on behalf of the town dogs, that they would not bother the wolf again.

Winter trails

Today I saddled up Beamer, took my dogs Tess and Reba, and went trail riding for a couple of hours. The sun was shining, we got to see grouse and deer, and I enjoyed my horses energetic walk. I live in an area where I can ride old backroads for hours, no traffic to worry about and plenty of wildlife. There are elk, moose, deer, coyotes, wolves, bear, cougar and lynx around here. Hope I don't run into any of the predators when I'm out riding by myself! I don't worry about it much, though; my horse is quite sensible, and I have my dogs. (And my guardian angel...)

AQHA Versatility Class

I have long been interested in the AQHA Versatility class, a competition for ranch horses. The elements of this class are- Ranch Riding (a no nonsense version of western pleasure); Ranch Trail, in which the obstacles are common things you might expect on a ranch such as gates, dragging a log, trailer loading, etc; Ranch Cutting, where you have 3 minutes to cut a numbered cow from the herd then pen it at the far end of the arena; Working Ranch Horse, which includes ground work, a reining pattern, and working a single cow; and Ranch Conformation, in which the horse is shown in a good working halter. What appeals to me so much is that this is a class that the average person can do- you don't need to invest in fancy show equipment or have a horse that is bred to the nines to do only one job. If your good horse is well broke and you can do a day's work on it, you stand a chance of doing well in this event. So my question is, where in Western Canada is this AQHA event being held this year? If there isn't one scheduled anywhere, why not? I would be willing to help in organizing this class!

Meet Gussie

This is a picture of the roan mare I have in foal to Beamer. Her registered name is Bar Dawn Sabre, and her barn name is Gussie. I am hoping for a blue roan baby- she is due mid April.

She is 15.2 hands high, a very smooth riding mare who loves to work cattle.

Sailors Red Rose - sold

Today, my young filly (June 1, 2006) went to her new home. She went to a very good home where she will eventually be used on the mountain trails and maybe in the movie industry- she is a daughter of Little Sailors Dude and out of a sister to my stallion.

Little Sailors Dude is the stallion owned by Smith Training Stables, who proved himself to be versatile by becoming a reining champion, and after being retired to stud, became Kim's wife's barrel horse, running 1D times.

Isle Be Midnight

Let me introduce you to my stallion, Isle Be Midnight, aka Beamer. He is a 2001 son of Peppy A Poco, who was a son of Mr. San Peppy. Beamer's dam was a daughter of Isle Breeze, and out of a daughter of the great Par Three.

Beamer was trained and shown in reining by Kim Smith, and since I've had him home I have introduced him to as many hills, mountains, and back country trails as possible. He loves the backwoods! We will be starting him on cattle this year, and probably in parades as well.

He has a wonderful disposition and isn't "studdy" at all. He is just starting his career as a sire- I will have one foal on the ground this April, out of a big red roan granddaughter of Blueboy Quincy.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog- I will be introducing you to my family of Quarter Horses and Border Collies. I raise good looking horses with great dispositions and athletic ability. I believe in the old style of using a horse for many things instead of specializing in one event. Working cattle, riding in the mountains and doing overnight camping trips, riding in parades, some timed events, and just having fun on horseback are things we like.
I hope to share with you the joy of owning or riding good horses, and look forward to hearing about your good horses.