The girls and a Kai update

Morning chores are entertaining lately. Mesa gets going, leaping and cavorting and then she gets the others fired up. This video is Sassy and Ice having a good gallop on a morning after we had a heavy rain.

Mama Belle is heavy in foal- 4 months to go!- but she gets in on the action too.

She sure has a lovely big trot- and she passes it on to her foals.

Speaking of her foals, I have a Kai update. They have been team roping on him, roping the head on him and the heels on Josie. Here is a video of them working together.

Kai is looking awesome!

That's Josie standing next to him, you can see how big he got.

Aren't they booty-ful  😍

Gussie and Drifter part 2

I had a feeling the second try at ponying Drifter would go much better.

Sure 'nuff did! He jumped a bit at the start when the mares (mostly Mesa!) in the pasture started to run around...

 but at least he didn't start out with sticky feet!
He did stop abruptly to stare at the pile of tires

 but a quarter turn with Gussie's help and he moved right along. Through the bush, over branches, up the bank and down the bank, he was a good boy. Oh- and he must stop for a poo, can't poo and walk ya know!
I was pretty happy with him today. Maybe I won't call him Pokey Man.

I also love that he stands quietly at the hitching rail too.
He isn't tied, but he hasn't tested to see if he is.

Riding day 85

Driftin' along

Another beautiful sunny fall day and it was begging to be a riding day. I decided it was a good day to pony Drifter off the property and down along the dyke.

I was pretty proud of Gussie; she did a good job especially when I asked her to pull... which we had to do often! When little Drifter plants those front feet and spreads his hinds there is no moving him!

So what I do is circle around him to get him moving his feet and get him to focus on something else, like getting out of Gussie's way as she will put her shoulder right into him if I ask her to.

There was one more time when I had to dismount and lead Drifter with the rope around his butt to get him to go forward, and that was at these cement blocks. This is not the set Gussie gives the hairy eyeball to, but one that has rocks piled on them and I guess that was just too much for Drifter! Once we got going again he was really good.

Back at the hitchin' rail he was happy to just stand and soak up the rays of the setting sun. Thumper came along and visited so I plunked him up on Gussie.

Sure was a nice day! I hope next time I take Drifter out it won't be so much work!

Riding day 84

Sunny fall ride

The sunshine was calling me...
Saddled up Gussie and got in a lovely afternoon ride. Rode over to the neighbours and their little girl wanted to ride with me. So Gussie got to pack double, probably for the first time.

I showed little Holly how to steer.

Gussie is such a good girl! From there we went to visit the swimming hole, Gussie was hesitant, thinking that I was going to make her go in that cold water, but I only asked her to go hoof deep. She was quite relieved!



As we rode back we came to those cement barriers that she had issues with. She stopped, thought about it, sniffed each one and then calmly walked through. Good girl Gussie!
The Mountain Ash trees here have an abundance of berries, which is very good for the wildlife who eat them. I wonder if this little guy does?

Riding day 83

Oh Gussie.....

Gussie is such a character. She is very good at making her opinion known. Case in point:

It isn't the first time she has stood in an empty feeder, I remember her doing that the first time I got her back.
Of course, she went right back in it....

Poor starving creature! (Not!!!)
Linda asked if Drifter is living with the mares now; yes he is and he is fitting right in.

He hangs out with Ice a lot.

At feeding time he just quietly sidles in there and chows down. All the mares tolerate him eating next to them.

They all eat in there until I get the second wheelbarrow full that I put in the shelter, then Mesa comes over and one or two of the others soon follow.
They all get along really well, except the first few minutes of feeding time when they sort out who gets the first bite of hay. It's usually Belle and Gussie but not necessarily in that order.

Where there's smoke....

One must investigate.
When I was doing morning chores today I spotted an unwelcome sight:

The fires in California have me spooked, I have been watching the horrific videos and the devastation is so heartbreaking. Now, I was pretty sure this column of smoke was just a controlled burn across the river, but I had to investigate since it's right in line with the farm. 

Beamer got the call to duty. I didn't want to pull Gussie away from her morning feed as I'm pretty sure she would have had a bit of red-headitude about that and Beamer wasn't super hungry since he still had a bit of hay left from the night before, so I bridled him and hopped on bareback to go investigate. 

Sure enough, it was across the river and probably up in the hayfields, maybe burning old hay or brush. But hey- it was a good excuse for a frosty early morning ride!

Beamer enjoying the smell of mare poo on my boots 

Riding day 82

Josie update

You all remember beautiful Josie?



Her owners have been roping with her. Roping the heels in team roping, and she just earned her first paycheck!
I sure do love that little red head!

I guess I can now say that Beamer is a proven sire of rope horses! I am so pleased that so many of his babies have gone to this family, who really do use them and appreciate them. Just heard that Kai is a heading horse now, so Beamer babies working both ends at team roping!

Snow!

We got our first snowfall yesterday, less than an inch and just enough to mess things up. Staying fairly warm though. We are pretty much set up for the winter, just waiting for colder weather to set the sinking water heaters in the troughs. My new hayshed is working perfectly (Yippee!) The cats love it, which is good because they can discourage any mice from taking up residence.
I still want to build another shelter, but that will take time to afford all the materials, plus my husband is a bit burnt out on doing projects for me this year!

Snug as a bug.

I rode Beamer the day before it snowed. I let Tay come with me- Good Lord! What a busy dog! She pretty much ran circles around us the whole ride!

We made our way down to the river, and Tay just had to go wading, she loves the water. 

This is the same spot I went with Shayla not long ago, all the pretty leaves have fallen and the starkness of winter is setting in.

On our return, the mares lined up to greet him like adoring fans.

Mama Belle only has 5 months to go before foaling! I am pretty excited for this foal, I do have a name picked out for a filly and a few in mind for a colt. One more thing to do before winter hits in full force is to move our holiday trailer in position so I can camp out in the barnyard for foal watch. 

It seems strange that so many places are getting their first snow, all across the country and the northern States, and in California they are battling yet another wildfire. This one took out the town of Paradise, which is where fellow blogger Sam Starr had a rental unit, which is gone now. This fire hit hard and fast due to high winds and the losses are devastating. It's just north of the area Shayla is spending the winter, but not a threat there. 

Riding day 81

Wordless Wednesday

Riding day 80

My B Boy

The recent heavy rains made my feeding area a real mess, and the poo was starting to get thick, so I talked my neighbour into cleaning pens today. Beamer got to go to the round pen while his pen was getting scraped, and then I kicked the mares into the east field while their pen was getting done. That meant that Beamer could have some time in the paddock attached to the foaling pen (where Drifter was locked up). He loved it! Lots of smells to be investigated first....

Getting a little long in the tooth, there , Beamer!

He wandered about a bit before he spotted Drifter.

Drifter put up with all Beamer's antics without getting excited. He's such a good boy!

The old boy's still got it! It was pretty slippery, which kind of cramped his style, but check out that sliding stop!

He is just so darn beautiful, he makes my heart sing.

Those ankle bracelets are the StreamZ bands, and they sure seem to be working well for him. I need to trim him again, his toes are getting a bit long.

I have 20 more rides to go to reach my goal of 100 rides this year, I'd better get at it! I hope to make quite a few of them on Beamer.

Ponying

The last few days have been rainy so not a lot got done with the horses. Drifter is living with the mares now, unless it is going to be a rainy night then he will get to go back in his pen- I think he misses it, he hangs out by the fence and stares in there. The mares are pretty good with him, once in a while Mesa or Ice will pester him but mostly he just gets along with everyone.

Today is Shayla's last day here before she heads south, so it was a good time to pony Drifter for the first time, since Rose is his favourite.

I'd say he did pretty good considering we have had him such a short time.

I'll use Gussie next time. And probably take him out of the pen and pony him around the farm, I'm sure he will find it much more interesting than the pen. 

I keep getting amazed at how quiet this horse is! Hopefully he won't be too quiet! I was chatting with a lady who owns a full brother to Drifter's sire and here is what she had to say about this bloodline: Show 'em what you want and they will try and do it. And they don't like being nagged.

I'm thinking this will be a good cross on some of the hotter more feely mares.