Adios 2024

I have to say, this was not my best year. The best thing that happened, though, made up for a lot of it, and that was Theo. He was such a joy and a delight to work with, and he couldn't have gone to a better home. 

The loss of Beamer and Belle was topped off with the loss of Jayne, who was laid to rest for the same reason as Beamer and Belle- crippling arthritis and inability to maintain her body weight. Shiner was Jayne's last foal, and he went to a very good home. The lady who owns him is the one who started his brother Boe under saddle, and she was so delighted with him that she decided to buy Shiner for herself. Jayne was such a sweet mare, and she passed her personality on to her foals- although Shiner got a bit more pizazz from his sire, Shayla's stallion Rex (Majors Pistol). 

As most of you know, I got sick at the end of September with pneumonia , and it took me pretty much 3 months to get over it. I still am not back at full strength, but every week I am better. So autumn was pretty much a write off for me; not much activity for most of it although recently I managed a couple of short rides on Gussie. 

Gussie is such an expressive mare, she leaves no doubt as to what she is thinking. When she sees me coming with the bridle she gives me that disapproving look ; the lady does not like cold steel in her mouth in the winter, thank you very much! So I have been using the bosal on her, and she goes well in it. I will probably buy a nice light one for her, as she is so broke she doesn't need much, and the one I have  was meant for starting colts. 

The girls are wintering well! 

Theo's owner posted a photo of him on Fb with his pasture mate, a Warmblood filly. 

She is younger than him, but she will be a whole lot bigger! He is looking good. It's nice to get updates on him- his people love him. 

The loss of Beamer was huge for me this year. I knew it was coming, and it took me a year or more to finally make the call on him. He went downhill so  rapidly though from May to August that I knew it was finally time. Today when I was doing chores and went into his empty barn to get some salt for the mares, I could almost hear the echo of his whinny that he would give if he was there to see the mares come running over as I went in the barn. I miss his bright eyes and handsome face, peering out from his barn door, and his glossy self following me along the fenceline as I brought his feed out. I guess I am feeling a bit empty today, and I will be glad to welcome a new year, hopefully with less sadness. 

Wishing all a happy Christmas

 

Making to best of it

 Two more days until solstice! Although I am looking forward to the longer days to come I am enjoying the low horizon sunsets at evening chore time. Evening being anywhere from 3:30 to 4 pm....  Anyway, cold or not it's always a boost to the spirit to see this kind of sunset:

Gussie decided to show off a bit but I had to dig in my pockets to find my phone so I only got the tail end of her silliness. 

Looks like she was quite chuffed with herself! Those lips though....

The mares are wintering well so far, they barely clean up the hay I put out and are still pawing out in the winter pasture.  

Next week it warms up a bit so I will do my annual equine Christmas photo shoot then. Meanwhile here is my tree all decorated finally, and some of my fave ornaments.  

The loon carved and painted by Connie and Gene (Far Side of Fifty)

Who, me? Steal the cat food? noooo...

A Yoda owl?

One must have horses...

and dogs

I have set up my Nativity set under the tree too. Now to get my Christmas shopping done... oops. 

Winter entertainment

 One more week and the days get longer! This is the most boring part of the year when it gets too cold to ride and life revolves around doing chores and staying warm. 

It revolves around feeding time for these two! Peering in the barn door as I feed the barn cats. Those faces..... so hopeful!

I might be able to get another ride in next week; we have a bout of stupid cold followed by above freezing so if the wind isn't howling I should be nice enough to ride. Yes I am a fair weather rider, I have done my time riding in all kinds of inclement weather so I feel I have nothing to prove and Gussie is happy to wait for nice days to pack my butt around. The privileges of age for both of us!

At least the morning chores have some sunshine lately. 

I have been entertaining myself with following the National Finals Rodeo on the Cowboy Channel. There are two horses competing who really impressed me; the first is a calf roping horse from right here in Alberta by the name of Peso. He was exceptional last night in round 9; placing his riders in 1st, 2nd and 3 place. He is a big soggy buckskin gelding who is rock solid in the box and powerful in his stop and he holds the rope perfectly. If you get a chance to see his runs on fb you will see what I mean. The really cool thing is that Tuf Cooper switched from his own horse to Peso last night and was 1 tenth of a second from winning the round. Tuf knows a great horse when he sees one!

Not my photo, couldn't find who to credit it to.

Peso is a grandson of Shining Spark, - both Belle and Jayne were granddaughters of Shining Spark, so no wonder he caught my eye!

The other horse that caught my eye is in the barrel racing; his name is Jarvis, ridden by Kassie Mowry, and he is a son of The Goodbye Lane who is proving to be an exceptional sire of speed horses. Jarvis isn't flashy like a lot of the other horses in that event but his runs are poetry in motion. And he has plenty of speed, winning 5 rounds so far. 

Photo by Hailey Rae

Tonight is the finals and I will be cheering both of them on!

At last!

 I am finally over the pneumonia and we finally got a warm day! So of course, this happened. 

Never mind giving me the stink eye!

 She must have thought she was retired from riding because she was Not Impressed when she saw the saddle. A lot of evasion techniques were employed. (Hence the churned up snow.) And yes I have had chiro work done on her to rule out physical issues and this saddle does fit her well- except that she is a bit too rotund to do up the back cinch, so I had to remove it. I think I will try for longer back billet straps as being a cheaper option than buying a longer back cinch.

I let her stand tied until she stopped fidgeting, then off we went on a pasture ride to check the fences. 

She was her usual steady self, with a few backwards glances to make sure that she knew where Velvet  was. 

Everybody exhale and say Ahhhh!

It felt soooo good to be back in the saddle again! 

On this ride I used my bosal. She did alright in it but it isn't a good fit. I may look for another one that is a bit lighter. 

Plans for Gussie

 Well I made the decision on a stallion to breed Gussie to next spring, pending, of course her passing a vet check for breeding soundness, which I expect she will have no issues. But it's best to be sure when one has to pay a stud fee and other related costs. 

So, here he is:

I have had my eye on him since we lived in Creston, but at the time he was about 6 hours away over 2 mountain passes. Not feasible  for me at the time. He has since been sold to a lady an hour from here, so I am so excited to get a chance to get a foal from him!

He's gorgeous and built a lot like Beamer was. Good solid bone, short back and a big hip. I have read reviews on his foals and they all say what good minded horses they are, easy to get along with and train. 

Here is some info on his sire, who I think is a great example of what a Quarter Horse should look like. 

There are not many of those old bloodline horses left, so getting this chance to perpetuate the lines of the great Leo is dear to my heart. Leo was also one off Beamer's papers, through his son Leo San, the sire of Mr. San Peppy, Beamer's grandsire. 

I think this stallion will cross well on Gussie, hopefully balance out her weak points and with any luck, I may even get a palomino like him or a palomino roan, but I will be happy with whatever hits the ground healthy!

And it will probably have some of her sass too....

Here  is hoping all goes well!

My bodyguard

 Every step you take .. 

Every move you make....

I'll be watching you...

She never leaves my side when I am in with them. 

Back off, Gussie, I got this!

Gussie is allowed to walk on one side, and when I stop walking it's like I have book ends. So I rub their backs and soak up the love. 

Winter is here

 And here to stay from the look of the forecast, with minus double digits in the forecast for the foreseeable future. 

Monday the 18th I turned the mares out on the winter pasture as we had a good hard freeze and their other pen was pretty much chewed down. 

Last sunny day, just after the hard freeze.

Then the snow came. 

There is a major snowstorm supposed to hit starting tonight.  Good thing we are prepared! 

The birds are busy at the feeders. We have suet for the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers and the Northern Flickers and sunflower seeds for the Chickadees  

Photo bomb by a Downy!

I hired a different farrier to do the mares as the last young lady's work didn't hold out. Gussie blew out chunks on her hind feet quarter cracks after 5 weeks. The new lady is more experienced and did some corrective maintenance on those cracks. Hopefully this one will work out! 

Velvet gave partial approval. She was a bit difficult on the first two feet but relaxed after that. Suck it up, Velvet!

Unfortunately, it looks like any winter riding for me will be on hold for a while. I'm still not 100% and being out in the cold hits me a little harder than I like. 

Seems like it is winter all over, hope you are all prepared and can hunker down and get your indoor projects done!

Prayer request

 Please send up healing prayers to Kay from 4R Ranch blog  She got in a bit of a wreck and is in hospital. 

No matter how safe we think our horses are, there is always lurking the possibility that something will set them off and we will end up on the ground. And the older we get, the more the possibility of major injury. I have come off of nearly every horse I have owned and ridden for any length of time- the exception being Beamer. Gussie launched me twice, once in 2011 and again in 2019, but now I know her signals and will step off her if she gets ramped up. Other mares I have bought and sold in the last 5 years were sold exactly because I didn't trust them to not blow up. 

You are forgiven, Gussie!

How do you pack your cell phone when riding? I see a lot of people go for having a pouch on their saddle, but that isn't going to serve you if you are on the ground and your horse takes off on you. I have a little pouch that just fits my cell phone that has a string that goes around my neck (thin so it can break if needed) and I tuck it under my jacket or in summer under my t shirt. Another option is a fanny pack or waist pack with a zipper pouch, but again, make sure it isn't going to get caught on the saddle horn. 

I didn't know that cell phones have an SOS option, I thought that was only for Sat phones. 

Horses don't set out to hurt us but they have such a strong survival instinct that we can't say that they never will. It's not if, it's when. It's up to us to do what we can to get  them to trust us over their instincts, and with some horses in some situations, such as Kay's horse, those instincts take over. Last time I came off Gussie, I was pretty much knocked silly and it took me a while to be able to move to get up. Yes, it scared me, and that is why I am so cautious now when I ride. Over the years, there have been 3 times when I have had my brain rattled by hitting the ground. Even with a helmet on. I have not let it stop me from riding, but it has made me much more cautious about where and when I ride. 

Photo from a summer in Creston 6 years ago

Fear is a crippling thing. It is hard to not let it take over, especially as we grow older and more brittle. But we are the masters of our own minds. (Aren't we? ) Fear can be conquered with trust and common sense. We have to trust ourselves first though. That can come with knowledge and education. Give ourselves the tools to deal with our emotions (Education) and know ourselves well enough to not make bad decisions. That being said, I don't advise staying well within our comfort zone, as that can lead to a stagnant mind that allows fear to become dominant. The human race didn't get anywhere being a bunch of shrinking violets; we are an adventurous and inquiring people. Live life to its fullest. Embrace challenges. Challenge yourself!  But do your best to stay safe and don't be foolhardy. 

Up and ride. 

For the Fallen

They went with songs to the battle, 

they were young.

Straight of limb, 

true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end 

against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, 

as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, 

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun 

and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon

Autumn rolls on

 Well the snow didn't last long, now we are back into the usual dreary November weather. However, we have been getting lovely skies, which makes it all better. 

The fall pasture is holding out well; the mares only occasionally head to their shelter to chow down on the round bale. 

Gussie dropped a bit of weight, which I was hoping to happen as she got rather fluffy on the late summer pasture. 

This Saturday, weather permitting, I will be going to look at a possible stallion to breed her to next June. If I choose him, it will be the first time ever that I have had to pay a stud fee. It puts things into a different perspective; weighing the costs involved against my desire to get an exceptional foal from her, as well as her well being and not having her as a saddle horse during her pregnancy. I think she is such a good mom that it will all be worth it. 

Velvet, assuming she is in foal to Beamer, will definitely be retired as a broodmare after this foal. If for some reason she isn't in foal she will still be retired. She has become a favorite with me, she walks with me wherever I go in her pasture, always with her head to my shoulder. She always comes to greet me in the mornings when I go to the barn to feed the barn cats, and positions herself so that I make no mistake in exactly what spot she wants scratching. 

All is well when your horses want to be with you!