Wordless Wednesday

Scooter update

 You may remember Scooter, the colt I had in for halter breaking for Shayla, he is a son of Coyote Belle and sired by Root Beers Boots who is well known for siring top notch barrel horses and was a champion in the Working Cow Horse class. Shayla and I went to visit him as she is probably going to breed Dallas to him. He is 3 years old now and when we laid eyes on him, my jaw about dropped. He sure got the look Belle threw on her colts; big bone, big feet and that big Belle butt. And looking at his head was like looking at Rio. 

All wrapped up in buckskin, just like Belle's sire, Durable Shine, who was a direct son of the late great Shining Spark. This is a royally bred junior stallion. 

His owners have done a nice job on him, he is started, and ridden by his owner who is a lady my age (old!!!!) which speaks to his good mind and trainability. 

Shayla took a lot of nice photos with her Canon camera, I may get to share them once she finishes editing - these were just my cell photos. 

If I wasn't retiring Gussie from breeding next year, I would sure consider him. 

Ready for winter.

 Every season has its own smells, spring is fresh turned earth and green growing things; summer is flowers and spruce tree sap and the rolling dust from the gravel roads;  winter is the smell of the hay as I toss it out for the horses and the crispness of the air but fall has its own unique scent- the dampness of the leaves on the ground as the frost on them melts, the harvested fields with their freshly rolled bales. 

We finally have colorful sunsets again too.

 A quick shower last night graced us momentarily with a rainbow.

We are pretty much prepared for winter. The hay is in, the gardens are harvested and put to bed, the water hoses are rolled up and stored away, the vehicles are winterized and the lawn mower is tucked away in the Quonset. 

I had one last barnyard chore to do, mucking out the mare shelter.

I had the quality control inspector supervising....

 "Why are you sitting down on the job? "

"You aren't finished, get back to work!"

I think you can call that a close inspection! Oh Velvet! Such a funny horse, she needs to be right in the thick of things. 

The new windows are in too, and the timing was perfect- there were very few flies hanging around thanks to the snow (yes we had snow that lasted only a couple days) and frost of the last 2 weeks; the two guys who did the installation were very good and hard working and did excellent work. 

The one large window in the living room is now 3 panes instead of one, a much more architectural look and easier to clean!

And yes, there is suet in the bird feeder, we have winterized for the birds too, making the downy woodpeckers, nuthatches and blue jays happy. 

We are ready, but I hope the real snow holds off until December!

Buck moon

 The full moon was rather spectacular this morning. 

I managed one photo with my Nikon camera, then the battery died, I was hoping for one with more trees  but this will do!

Things are pretty quiet at the moment, but next week will be very busy, family over for the weekend and a big Thanksgiving dinner on Monday, then on Tuesday and Wednesday we finally get the new windows in. We will finally have windows that we can open! 

We are in what I have always called Indian Summer- cool nights, frosty mornings and sunny days. The farmers are nearly done with harvest, just a few canola fields left to go, and cattle to move off the depleted pastures and into the winter feedlots. 

The mares are getting pretty good winter hair coming in, and I think Gussie is starting to show her pregnancy. 

She is also starting to show her age especially around her face. I also think she is starting to get arthritis in her right knee, just a little bump at present.  I probably won't ride her much any more, but I would like to get a couple of short rides in this fall before she gets too pregnant. Then once the foal is big enough, to use her for teaching it to pony. Other than that, she is pretty much retired. I'm sure she will be ok with that! I have a lot of great memories from all the trails we rode and the fun we had over the last 22 years. I owe her a good retirement. 

The two old girls will have each other until that foal comes along!  I may or may not pick up another foal to keep it company, we shall see. 

Killing frost

 We woke up to -6 C (21 F) this morning, a good hard frost that should be the end of the flies and maple bugs. 

Thumper, tell us how you really feel about cold weather!

The frost makes for good photo ops though!

Frosty misty morning

Even the weeds look pretty

First frosty mane photo

I checked the river to see if it had any ice, but it didn't. The water level is lower than I have seen it in the 3 years we have been here. 

The mares are always at the barn in the mornings, awaiting their ration. I love that they are so peaceful together now that Rally isn't in the mix as she tended to boss Velvet around. 

Speaking of Rally, I got a cool update. He has been saddling and ponying Rally and the other day he sent me videos of his granddaughter getting on and riding while he ponied Rally.  Boy o boy that gave me a huge happy! 

Look how calm Rally is! Just goes to prove that I was right and her bucking with me was my fault for not preparing her well enough. I think she is in good hands now and I am so excited for her future.