Sammi working

Here is a link to the post Janice did on Sammi working sheep
She did a great job on the photos and explanation. Thanks, Janice.

November- already!

Things are pretty quiet here; we are trying to get a few things done before Ted has to leave for work again; firewood, fall yard cleanup, winterizing vehicles etc.
Now that the cows are off the pasture, I have turned the mares out on a bigger pasture, where they can stay out overnight- which really annoys Beamer; he can't aways see them, so he goes rippin' around.

When I bring him in I have Rio next to him for the night so he should be quiet- I hope!
He has a bit of swelling above his left knee; not sure why as I can't see any cut or puncture.

You can see it in this photo. I'll see if there is any change in it tomorrow; he may have just banged and bruised it; I'll put some anti-inflammatory oil on it and give him some time off.
For those of you who are Stacy Westfall fans after watching the bridleless reining videos I posted, here is a link to her blog. She has a 4 video series on halter training that I found quite interesting.

Sammi is doing well in her training, and there are some people who are interested in her, so I'm hoping they will decide to buy her. Janice saw her work today, and will be posting some photos shortly. The trainer really likes her and wants to make sure she goes to the right home. Good Sammi!

Sammi on sheep

First of all, a big thank you to my sister for taking me to the Terri Clark show- she was fabulous, love her sense of humor. Here's a You Tube link to her song Northern Girl; the video was shot in Cranbrook and Kimberley- just down the road from where Janice lives.

 This mountain, Fisher Peak, is in the video, and is the view from Janice's yard.

Speaking of Janice, she and I took our dogs and spent a wonderful afternoon at Penny's. She gave us a training exercise to do on leash, and then we headed for the sheep pasture. She took Quill, to control the sheep,

Quill splitting the sheep

Quill bringing one back

 and then worked with Sammi. This was the first time Sammi has been worked on livestock; she was very keen to work, and a little wild at first, kind of like a kid turned loose in a candy store.

Penny worked with her until she showed some improvement, her tail came down and she was able to get a bit of balance, then we parked her and she worked Quill for a bit. Then it was Kali's turn, and you'll have to visit Janice for that story.

Meanwhile, Sammi was just beside herself watching the other dogs work.

Penny gave her another turn at the sheep, and all the excitement made her even more keen, and she really started to work. The tail came down, Penny was able to flank her a little, and even got the start of balance.

I was impressed with Sammi, and I'm really looking forward to next week- I'm leaving her with Penny for a week's assessment and will pick her up on Friday- unless she sells before then.

Tail down and working

Here's a parting shot of the awesome view, and the tail end of a great afternoon.

Trimming and training

I had all the horses trimmed on Tuesday, and I must say I'm pretty proud of Rio. Not only was he quiet for the farrier, he stood tied for two hours.

I had all the mares tied too so he had company, which helped. I took a video while Rio was being trimmed. There is a spot in the video where I had to let the camera dangle from it's strap when he leaned on Scot and we had to correct him, but once again, I was complimented on the good nature of this colt.

There were no problems with the feet on any of the horses, no thrush either. Yay! Also, I measured Rio and he now stands 13 hands and 3/4 of an inch- nearly 13.1-so he is on track for the 15.1 that I guesstimated him at.
Today is a big day for Sammi and Janice's dog Kali. I'm taking Sammi up to leave her for a week with the lady who owns Kali's dad and granddad- Sammi will get assessed on sheep for the week, and Kali will get introduced to sheep today. Can you say, photo-op?
After that, my sister is taking me to the Terri Clark concert in Cranbrook, so it's going to be a long and busy day for me, as I have to work this morning too.

2 Bads = some good

First- my bad. I am a creature of routine, and when I change my routine, I really have to think about what I'm doing. Every morning, I take the mares out of their pen, leaving the gate open, and put them in their pasture. Then I go get Beamer, and lead him through the open gate through to his pasture, and close both gates behind me. Then I open Rio's gate and let him into the now empty mare pen. Since we have so much mud over the last week, I decided instead of taking Beamer through the mare pen to his pasture, I'd use a different route and gate that kept me and him out of the mud. Then I let Rio into the mare pen, and went to work. And.... you guessed it, I left the mare pen gate open. So when I came home 3 hours later, Rio was happily munching grass next to the mares- but not in with them. They had obviously been ripping around, judging by the sliding stop skid marks in their pasture next to where Rio was. So, I just put him in with them. He didn't try to nurse, so he is truly weaned now, and Belle is dried up. So, I can now put Rio back in with the mares, during the day, but he goes in his own pen at night. I was thinking that morning that it was time to turn him back in with them, funny how things work out.

Kicking up his heels and flagging that yellow tail!

His winter coat is coming in darker.

He's getting really big too. I'll measure him soon.

Helpful Reba, bringing Rio in.

Speaking of Reba, here's the other bad. Sammi has started showing more dominance and aggression in the dog pack. It started at play with the ball- she is now actively going after the ball and taking it away from the other dogs. And when I let them off the porch and they run out and grip each other like border collies do, she has started getting pretty rough. The other day when I came home from work, and they had all been on the porch together, Reba had a couple of nasty wounds right by her eye. Now, another thing collies do to show dominance is to bite right over the muzzle of another dog. Since I know Tess wouldn't do this to Reba, it had to have been Sammi, testing her place in the pack. 

Warning- graphic photo below.

The one on her lower eyelid isn't too bad, but the one in front of her eye went right to the bone and bled for a long time. So now I separate them. Reba gets the porch, and I put Tess and Sammi in the Canine Hilton, and sometimes Sammi by herself. The good part is, that I finally got off my butt and booked Sammi in for evaluation on sheep- putting her to work will give her a focus and channel all that energy. She most likely will be going up for sale, as there is no way I can have sheep at the moment, and I hate to waste a good dog. We'll see how her evaluation goes, she may be more suited for cattle. The last week of the month is when I take her.

Wordless Wednesday

Before all the excitement...

I took Beamer for a meander around the hayfield yesterday. Accompanied by the collies, we went and checked out the overflow canal, where there were a few groups of ducks, that were too quick to hide or fly away for me to photograph. The mamas and ducklings paddled into the shelter of overhanging shrubbery, hiding as I rode by, and the drakes flew busily away. The dogs were investigating all the scents left by the neighborhood coyotes, and I found a nice splash of color to photograph.

When we got back, Sammi headed straight for "her" tub, and laid down in it, 

Having a drink while she cools off

Checking to make sure she isn't missing anything....

And all set to go again!

Run Sammi Run

Since I'm still trying to find a good working home for Sammi, the question that people ask is if she is started on stock yet. The answer is no, but only because I have no stock to work. She has a terrific natural outrun, and is really listening well now. Here is a video I took of her thinking she's working when I take the hay into the pen for Beamer and Url:

I know someone not too far away who has sheep, but she doesn't have a training pen. I might have to see if she is willing to work with me and Sammi and Tess; she is the lady who bought Tess's last pup and he should be ready to start on sheep too.
As much as I'd like to keep Sammi, I think it would be a waste not to have her working.

Sunday Stills

Macro is the focus today (pun intended!) So without further ado, here is what I got up close and personal with over the last few days.

Velvet

Sammi

Beamer

The saddle I'm selling

The inside of Ted's 1907 Pocket Watch

Well it had to happen...

The snow, that is! It's finally snowing here, which is nice because now I don't have to look at frozen mud. We only have a couple of inches, and it's fairly warm out, so it's not too bad. Better than a week ago! So it was warm enough to take Beamer out for a little ride, boy was he happy to get out. There were some children here with their dad who was loading some firewood, so I led them around on Beamer. Happy little girls! I threw a saddle blanket on his back to keep him warm and went out on the hayfields.

Not much of a view today! Can you spot Sammi in this photo?

I'll probably take him out again tomorrow, just to relieve his boredom and give the dogs some exercise.

Next weekend is the Back Country Horsemen's annual Christmas party. It was fun last year, so we are going again. Janice will be there too. Now I just have to come up with something for the silent auction fundraiser.

Wordless Wednesday

Gumboots and sacrifices

So you wanna see my gumboots? These aren't your average gumboots, and they are rather expensive. I've had them for 5 years, and have 2 pairs. They are made by Dunlop. The heavier ones I use in the winter, they have a thinsulate layer, and I used them all winter, even in -30 weather when I worked at the Rimbey auction market.

They are well worth the money, as my feet don't get cold in them. My husband has a pair too, he wears his all year round. We found out about them when he was working for an electrical contractor doing work in the Dairy barns, all the dairymen were wearing them.

I've had to make a couple of tough decisions; we are struggling financially and have to downscale our expenses and find more income, so I have decided to sell Velvet, and Sammi. I'm pretty particular about where Sammi goes; it has to be a working home. And Velvet- I'd love to see her go to a show home, as she in such a nice moving, eye catching horse the judges will be sure to look at her. It's pretty tough to part with her.

Recipe for the blues

What do you do when you're having one of those days that get you down, when it seems you'll never get to the light at the end of the tunnel?

Why, you get on your good horse and ride toward the light.....

and even if it seems far away and out of focus, the light is still there, and you can look around you and marvel at all the blessings God has given you, like a good dog by your side....

and the beauty of the land, and the creatures therein,

and know that as evening sets in, all is well, and tomorrow is another day.

And then you go in and bake an Angelfood cake. With creamcheese icing.

Chickory rebels

Horses don't like changes in their routine. Feed 'em at the same time, do the sames routine with catching, grooming, etc. and they are happy to stay in the groove. Change things up, and they get a little sideways. Today, for example, I wanted to bring the mares in off pasture one at a time and groom them, do their feet, then put them in their pen for the night. Normally, I lead all three of them together and just put them in their pen. But Velvet needs some alone time, and Belle needed a little spot of thrush treated, so I changed things. Belle first, then Velvet- who had issues about not being with at least one buddy! One thing I did with each of them was measure them for height using my leg measurement. Belle is 15 hands, Velvet will grow to be 15-2, just like her mama, and Chickory will be 14-2.

Chickory. Well, this girl likes her routine, and lately Velvet has been upsetting the order of things by dominating Chickory, so my little dunny girl has her nose out of joint. Pouting, if you will. She was the last one left in the pasture tonight, and this is what I got when I went to catch her:

and a little of this...

and some of this.....

and a tad more of this.....

Eventually I had enough, and succumbed to pressure -I went for the oat bucket. Even then she was really suspicious, and 5 minutes of standing with my back to her was more than she could bear- she wanted the oats more than her freedom. Actually, I really enjoyed watching her strut her stuff, running around with her tail flagged.

When I was watching her I noticed that her neck looked a little stiff, so when I brought her in I checked, and she has sore muscles on the right side, so I massaged her. Then, using the oats, I got her to stretch- she can only bring her head back as far as her cinch area. So she'll have to get used to the new program- although I might take her in first next time.

I got some good play time in with the dogs too- I love my job, it lets me be at home by 1 PM so I have all afternoon to do things. I managed to get a good shot of Sammi doing something that she apparently inherited from her papa- when she is concentrating, she sticks her tongue out.

Sammi

Sammi is starting to come out of puppiness and be a dog. She is standing up for herself at playtime instead of giving in to the older dogs, and even manages to get the ball before they do- that's because they anticipate and run out, while she sticks close to me , so she's on the spot quicker.

She's really fast too, easily keeps up to Tess- runs so fast that my little camera can't stop the action!

I could use a little technical help; I put this photo on my sidebar under the heading My Collies, and it sticks out too far. I used the add a photo gadget, so I'm not sure why it's doing that. Anyone?

Sunday Stills-Summer

Today's challenge is to portray our summer in photos; I haven't gone on vacation or attended any events, so my summer is all about every day life, doing the things I love, like growing my flowers,

and doing chores early in the morning and being rewarded with shots like this one of Velvet on the dirt pile, with ravens in the background:

Spending time with my dogs is important, so Sammi got to go on her first outing with Beamer and the other dogs, an easy trail ride around the hay field to make sure she would heel and not get distracted- she did really well.

Speaking of dogs, a big part of our summer for them is going to the river and swimming after sticks- Tess just loves it and will swim out and wait for you to throw a stick for her.

Since we are talking about Tess, that leads to another thing I love about summer- afternoon siestas in my hammock. Tess seems to think that anytime I'm in the hammock she should get to come in with me, so we had a nap together.

Such a dog!

I love summer evenings, except for those pesky mosquitoes, and we have been blessed with some beautiful weather lately so I leave you with the man in the moon.