No drama

 Today it was so beautiful and sunny and warm that after Church I went and turned Gussie and Belle in with Ruby and Velvet. Belle led them all out to the pawing pasture- it's a pen I reserved for this time of year that wasn't chewed down during last summer. 

They all went a high tailing it out there but quickly dropped their noses and searched out those tempting tufts of grass. 

Belle can't really paw but she found several pre pawed places to nibble on.

She can, however, go for a good roll in the snow! Note how she holds her left leg, with the bad arthritic knobby knee. 

The big difference between how Belle and Beamer lay down as compared to  sound horses is that they lay down back end first instead of front end first as shown in the photo of Gussie on my last post. I was concerned about how well she can get up after laying down (or rolling) and as you can see, it isn't a problem. 

I watched for a while to make sure Ruby wasn't inclined to take after Gussie, but she limited it to a couple of ear pinnings and glares, which Gussie kind of flipped her the bird at and just moseyed on her merry way. 

I'm being good!

Ruby had to roll too. While the peanut gallery looked on.

Three Beamer babies in those 3 bellies! Velvet mid April, Ruby late April, and Gussie mid August. That will keep me entertained! You can see how little Velvet is (14 hh) next to 15.2 hh Gussie. 

I will be listing Ruby as soon as her foal is born, with availability depending on the gender of the foal. I kinda wish there was a way to find that out like there is with people!

Th' boyz

Time for a Booncat post! He is 2 months and nearly 2 weeks old now so it's time to work on his training a little more than I have been. I can walk up to him and catch him most of the time- he gets better every time- and he is starting to lead too.

I haven't done a lot with him other than pick up his feet and catch him once in a while but as he approaches 3 months old it's time to start getting him to eat the Step One kibble.

It will be a work in progress! I'll probably have to do the alfalfa pellet trick like I did with Eli.

Speaking of Eli.... while he is loading in the trailer to eat every day, it still isn't at the jump-right-in stage. He loads the front feet and backs out several times. Yesterday I added something new to the equation by leaving the trailer door hanging open instead of pinning it all the way back like I have been doing. This makes it like a longer loading chute with the door on one side and me on the other side. I like to send the colts in instead of having them follow me in, which is fine for the first few times but sending them in is safer and more like what they need to do as an adult.So yesterday Eli was not happy about having something different! It took me about a half hour to load him, reminding myself always to stay soft and not get frustrated. I used the John Lyons method of tapping his hip with the stock whip and stop tapping every time he made a forward move. It gets them using their brain as they associate the absence of the aggravating tapping with forward movement and eventually seek that reward. ( Note that I say tapping and not whipping!)
As soon as he starts jumping right in I am going back to having him stand at the hitching rail to eat so that we can work on his standing tied some more. When he goes to his new home I want him trailer loading, foot broke, and standing tied. Another thing I have been doing with him is fly spraying him, he is actually pretty good about that.

But mostly, they just get to be boyz.

Doing the Booncat Boogie

Eli the elegant- he can sure cover the ground!

The size difference in one that will be 16 hands and one that will be 14.2 hands- remembering that Eli is 2 months older than Booncat.

Antics

Time for a bunch of Lijah cuteness!

Stylish!

He was busy zoomin' this morning. I did the best I could with my cell phone camera, not enough to stop the action but at least you get an idea of his speed!

Liftoff!

Attitude!

Power takeoff!

Gorgeous movement!

Spunky little dude!

Drifter was having a moment too- I had turned Sparkle and Gussie out on the grass pen which borders his pen and he hit the hot wire at one point when he was checking them out. Got him a bit miffed! Then he did this: 

Those moves! He is going to be a force to be reckoned with when he gets to barrel racing!

Had a couple of rides over the last few days- Ponied Sparkle from Gussie which went very well, and had a quick bareback ride on Gussie.

Riding day 40 & 41

Fencing fun

Yesterday was fencing day. This was the view as I got to the barnyard....

However, once we got started on the fencing project..... 

We had lots of help! Especially from Miss Mesa, she appointed herself as job supervisor.

We are cross fencing the mare's pasture to allow grass to grow and to keep them from eating too much spring grass. Last year I had this cross fenced with hot wire, this year we put in double strand twist (barbless). Today Ted is refurbishing an old gate and we have to put in one more post for a cross brace to finish the project.

Such a helpful filly! Rosalee inspected the bucket of tools too. And then at feeding time, of course they had to goof off and it was great to see them all feeling good and enjoying the day.

Girl power

Yesterday's feed time was all about the horses having fun. They were on a roll! I saw Belle levitate about 3 ft. off the ground, straight up with all 4 feet. Man o man she is feeling good! They were all pretty much airborne for a while.

Rosalee  started bagging up yesterday.....

So excited! I had a lady get ahold of me yesterday who really wants her, and is willing to fly up here (she lives on the coast) after foaling to check her out. I'm really hoping this one is the right one for her, as this lady used to show in reining and has her own beautiful proven stallion. She wants one to both breed and ride, so Rosalee fits the bill- and she has a beautiful place with good fencing.
Of course you know what that means.... yes there will be a foaling contest this year! Stay tuned for that one around mid April.
Rosalee had to show that she still has the moves, even if she is fat and pregnant.

Belle has taken up a protect mode when it comes to Gussie and Mesa, check out her attitude to Rosalee.

She did that several times, backing up to her and kicking, but always from a good distance away so as not to connect. Today is wet and we have snow/rain, so I'm leaving Rosalee in the foaling pen until the weather improves, don't need her slipping and falling.

Just for kicks and giggles, here is an old photo of me and Gussie, and the blue roan colt is her first foal, Choctaw Peppy.

The palomino filly is Sassy, I bought her as a long yearling, then got her started under saddle the next year and sold her.

March madness

While everywhere else is getting hammered by spring storms, we had only about 6 inches of fluffy white stuff, and no wind, with temps right around freezing or warmer. As I left the house to go do chores, I could see hopeful faces peering at me....

As I was getting the hay loaded in the wheelbarrow, the fun began.... instigated as usual by Mesa.

Nice to see Gussie getting into the fun; I think her spirits are much improved now even if it is only that it is much warmer here than Alberta with it's -20 something daily winter temps that they got this year.

Mama Belle was having a blast too!

She had to show off some of her moves...

and even Rosalee got in on the action.

That one leap was about all she could muster though, her baby belly is getting pretty big! 2 months to go! She did try to warn Gussie off a couple of times by rushing the fence and trying to bite her butt, but Mama Belle put a stop to that by rushing at Rosalee with ears pinned (Don't mess with MY Gussie!). The herd dynamics are always interesting to watch. I am keeping Gussie and Rosalee separated as poor Rosalee has a few patches of hair missing from scrapping and I don't want Baby in the Belly getting kicked

.

Yes you Gussie, I know it was you!

Belle does keep Gussie in line too though. There is absolutely no doubt that she is the alpha mare.

Beamer was having as much fun as the mares. I let them all play for a while before I brought their feed to them, I had such a good time watching them that I was smiling for the rest of the morning.

Let it snow

We have been getting a lot of snow- however, nothing like they are getting in the east- I saw pics of 50 inches of snow back there! That's crazy! Can you imaging coming out to start your car and having to move over 4 ft of snow off it first? Wowza! We are somewhere over a foot altogether. It's warming up too, but this photo was from 2 days ago when it was pretty cold- Pistol has pretty good insulation in his thick fur, because the snow wasn't melting on him.

I make sure to feed extra hay when it's cold and their water heaters keep the water drinkable so there really aren't any problems for them when the weather gets nasty.

They often get to zipping around when they see me coming. This morning, they were at it again, and got Beamer going, so here is your "Good Morning!" video from Beamer:

Hope you all enjoy your last weekend of the year! It's supposed to be sunny on Sunday, and we have plans to burn that big pile of scrap lumber you often see in the background of my pics and videos, our New Year's Eve bonfire. The new neighbours made a little skating rink on the pond, so the kids will have fun and once the fire burns down a bit I think hot dogs and marshmallows will be on the menu. 

And- I have a surprise in store for you on January 3rd! Stay tuned!

Sunday sillies

Rosalee had the wind up her tail this evening! She took a roll in the blackest dirt she could find, then got up and off she went!

Did a run down and sliding stop just like she used to do in the show pen....

then rolled back and off again! She was on a tear, and she got the youngsters going too.

First Mesa....

and Pistol and Belle got going too.

It was fun to see them all having fun :)

Tomorrow is the eclipse, it will be partial here.I am going to try to get some photos without actually looking at it.

Movin' snow and movin' in the snow

Finally got our buddy in to plow us out. One of my major concerns was the snow piled against my hay, I sure hope I don't lose any to mold.

Although I have the top well tarped, the sides are exposed and the snow piled up against them.

Much better! Pretty sure that back bale is going to mold though.
It is raining non stop now, probably for the next few days and nights. Can you say, ice?
I worry about the horses slipping on the ice, but so far there is enough poop/leftover hay where they walk most to give them some traction.

As usual, Coulee is left out in the rain. Poor girl, the only one she can boss is Rosalee, but the yellow mare is accepted by the other mares so she has back-up. I really hate that I don't have a good set up for Coulee, but the plan is to build her a separate pen as soon as this snow pack goes down to a more manageable level, hopefully by mid March.
The rain has softened up the snow, so Beamer took advantage of it to play a bit for the camera.

Only thing is, he played a bit too hard and wiped out....

and then pretended it was all planned ya know!

Silly boy!

They have arrived

Beamer got to be the first to arrive at his new home. Here is his reaction:

Surveying his new neighbours. A few cattle and a couple of goats. They have a really good electric fence on their place, which Thea discovered a couple of days ago..... heeheehee she won't be bothering them at all!
The other horses were more interested in eating the grass than running around but they did short little spurts before stopping for more munching.

Their pen is across a 20 ft. alley from Beamer, so he has a good view of his girls and Fuse.
I did capture one shot of them running- I had to be quick because they didn't run for long!

We didn't get the siding done on their shelter yet so that's today's job; as well, we can start moving our stuff in as some of the flooring is done! Yay! Busy day for me today, I have to take down the round pen and all the panels and haul them over, and then help Ted with the shelter, then start moving our stuff. Lots of work but another week and most of it will be done- then it will be all about set up!

First trail ride

I got invited to go on a short trail ride yesterday.
My as-yet-unnamed mare used to be in a pen of geldings and she came to me with a lot of nicks and hair missing, so I assume she had a bit if a rough go with the geldings.
As we lined out for the ride, a gelding was a bit behind her and off to one side and she nailed him with a hoof to his chest/shoulder. The day before he is to get his paperwork done to go barrel racing in the US and the day after he got worked on by the same guy who worked on my mares. I sure hope he is okay. So now I know to make sure this mare doesn't get in striking range of other horses on a trail ride. She was good with the dog being right behind her, and I hope this was just a one time occurrence, but she won't get a second chance.
Other than that, it was a good ride, she seemed quite relaxed in the bush, followed well and didn't get anxious when the other horses got out of sight. She has a lovely long trot, such a big stride compared to what I am used to.

My next ride on her will be down the road here to the river and back. It's a 6 mile round trip; I need to get my dogs out following so Tess can teach Thea proper trail riding etiquette; follow behind and stay off the road. Yah right..... we will see how the puppy does!

Turnout = Happy Horses

I couldn't bear to see the horses in their muddy pens any longer. So today I set up an electric pen for Beamer, and turned Clancy out in the round pen.
I'd say they were both pretty happy about that.

Clancy worked up a sweat, she sure was ripping around. She has been kind of sulky since Josie left. I think she's mad at me. She'll get over it. Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and pay to ride in the local indoor. So today I'll be checking my trailer out to make sure it's ready to go down the road.

Spring? Not yet but soon!

What an absolutely gorgeous day today. Warm, sunny, just perfect. I didn't ride, but I did get Josie's feet trimmed, and spent some time hanging out with the girls.

As you can see, there is still ice and mud in the horse pens, but it's rapidly melting. There are only bits of snow in the yard now, but anywhere its been packed down there is ice. Like all the border collie trails....
Josie is sure maturing, she looks great. Sill 1/4 inch under 14.2 hh. but starting to fill out. Love her mane.

I spent the rest of the afternoon baking bread, then scooping the yard cigars that are appearing now that the snow is melting. Come evening chore time, I grabbed my camera for one of the prettiest sunsets we've had all winter. Of course it always looks better with a pair of horse ears to set it off.

I think I took 15 photos of the sunset, here's one where there is a reflection in the water in the mare's pen.



























Hope you all had a great day too!
Just for fun, I did a sunset puzzle. I'm sure this doesn't work well on phones but if you have a good ipad or if you use a desktop \computer they are fun.