Respite

One of those rough days at work yesterday was made all better by coming home and spending time with my horses and dogs- yes and my husband too! After a quick trip to Idaho for groceries, which didn't even seem like a drop in the bucket in the cavernous trunk of the Caddilac, I  had three pairs of Border Collie eyes staring at me, then at the ball then me, then the ball...... you know that shifty, begging look..... so we played for a while. I have to kick the ball high to get it past Sammi, she's the blocker,

Tess is the retriever, she won't let anyone else catch the ball, then she drops it 10 feet away and lets Reba bring it the rest of the way. Team work!

This morning the big ole moon was sliding behind the ; since my camera doesn't do good moon shots unless there is some natural light I hustled out to see what I could capture. I found Beamer doin' a little moon gazing

before it slid out of sight.

Have a wonderful day folks, we are going to be sunny and beautiful here.

A good weekend

Ted and I don't do a lot for St. Valentine's day, but on Saturday we went to a Valentine's dance, and took Debbie, our friend who hauled Gussie home for us. We had a wonderful meal featuring stuffed pork tenderloin- I got the recipe :o) - and there was a good band. Three elderly ladies came to sit with us, we discovered that they were all celebrating their 86th birthday, and they came to dance- and they had a string of gentlemen who kept them on the dance floor- they were still dancing when we left at 10:30! They were all good dancers, and we really enjoyed their company. Inspiring!
We spent the weekend hauling wood, Debbie took a load home, and we hauled two more loads yesterday. I'm a little sore today, but I bet Ted is really sore as he worked really hard and is still not 100% from his hernia operation in January.
Debbie went for a little ride on Beamer, it's always nice for me to see someone else enjoying my special boy. She commented on how powerful he feels; and I think it sure is nice that someone can feel that power and feel how easy he is to ride.

We have had a lot of rain over the last 24 hours, and the snow is rapidly disappearing, to be replaced by mud as we wait for the ground to thaw.
Today is the day that Velvet gets a visit from her prospective new owner, so I'm really looking forward to that- hopefully I won't have to groom too much mud off her to make her look respectable!

Let's go for a ride

After work today it was nice and sunny, so I took Beamer and the dogs around the hayfield. The snow was really crunchy underfoot, and every step Beamer took he'd break through the crust, so no trotting today. It was so nice and relaxing just me'n' my dogs and horse; all the world was right.
I also worked Velvet again. This time I took my 15 ft. longe line and draped it over her to let her get used to things dragging around her legs, so that in the future if something happens and she is dragging a rein or lead rope that she won't run off in fear of whatever is dragging. Conversely, it also helps in teaching ground tying. In true diva style she wasn't too pleased at first, but all she did was walk around giving the dragging line the stink eye, till she realized it wasn't going to eat her, then she was fine. When I saddled her and longed her again, she was like an old pro. I put weight in the stirrups with my arms, and jumped up and down beside her- didn't bat an eye. She is ready for someone to step up and down in the stirrups. This filly is going to be fun to train, but it will be important not to push her too far too fast just because she is willing.
Can't wait for tomorrow!

Spring, wouldya hurry up?

Even though nasty weather is still hitting hard in a lot of areas, we are quite mild here, and it looks like the end of winter isn't too far away. Especially when I see things like this:

Only a horse person would be happy about this much hair flyin' around!

It was warm enough to give Beamer some turnout time today, and he had a blast in his usual style,

leaping,

 and cavorting,

 and making snow angels.

If things go according to plan, Gussie will be here on Friday afternoon. Yeah!

Working Velvet

Well I had fun today! I worked Velvet in my little pen, longeing first; she had a little bit of her usual diva attitude, especially going to the right- thought she could turn her butt to me and snatch her head away- wrong! Soon she was going calmly both directions, so then it was time to introduce her to something new. So I played with the saddle blanket till she was ok with it; all of 5 minutes; then I brought out the saddle. I plunked it on her back a few times, and like I figured, she was more curious than worried.

"Z'is fer me?"

"Izzit edible?"

She was pretty good, over all I was pleased with her and think she is going to be really easy to start- much like her sire and dam. Here is a little video of her first walk with the saddle on board. I didn't have the cinch done up.

After working her, I hopped on Beamer (make that led him over to the mounting block and stepped on carefully so that my muddy gumboots didn't drag on his nice clean back!) We went out on the hayfield again, and my muddy dogs came along. Unfortunately the snow wasn't deep enough to get them clean; it's only about 3 or 4 inches deep now.

Can we get up now? Can we huh?

I tried the bareback posting again, almost fell off once! I think it would be easier to do in an arena where the footing is smooth. Beamer did a good job of putting up with my horrendous balance though. and stayed underneath me. So after our ride, I let him seek out some of last year's grass showing through on the lawn.

So tomorrow's plan is to work Velvet again, and introduce her to the cinch. Usually I like to do rope work for this, but it's not a good idea to do that without a round pen with good footing. My plan is to set the saddle on her, and bring the cinch under and hold it  until she's comfortable with it, repeating holding and loosing it. Then when she is fine with that, I can run the latigo through and lead her around with it done up. I might have to bring Chickory in and do a little refresher course ground work with her too. Yay! Horses to work!

Wordless Wednesday

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

A much better view

Hitching rail looks a little better today I think! The melt down is on and the ice is disappearing in places. Beamer got some turn out time and you all know what that means! Yep, playtime photo shoot! Hope you aren't too bored with Beamer photos, because there really isn't much happening right now.

When I turn him loose he leaps and cavorts, and shows me his heels.

He has the whole field to run in, but he lopes circles around me.

He didn't play for long today, I think he was feeling a little lazy because it was so warm, and we even had a little sunshine.

Pretty boy!

C'mon sun!

Clear and cold

Dawn broke clear and cold today, and it stayed cold most of the day. Still too icy to ride, but I did manage to sneak a ride in yesterday, the ice had softened up a little so  could get Beamer out of his pen. We just rode on the lawn where the snow is only about 3 inches deep. and worked on frame, gait changes using only body language, and using very subtle cues to get changes in direction. Beamer seemed very happy to get out, even if it did mean he had to work, just a little!
I'm still looking for a way to get Gussie home,as soon as possible. I'm pretty excited to be getting her back, it will be nice having a good broke mare to ride- I can take her on trail rides and I can rope off her if I want. Might have to join the team roping club. Some of us here are trying to get a working cowhorse/cutting club going here, and that's what I'd really like to do with her.
Remember Beamer's brand? It was really obvious at first. There are some folks who think hot brands are ugly scars, but check this out:

Can you see it? 

How about now? You can just see it beside the muscle line near the bottom of the picture on the right. I like hot brands like this, because they are subtle.
Edited to add: the arrow points to the lazy H ; the diamond above it is really hard to see. I wouldn't want to be a brand inspector.

The Best of Beamer 2010- Sunday Stills

Since I had a lot of comments from folks who expected to see Beamer in my Sunday Stills post below, I thought I'd treat you to a special post just for him. These are some of the better photos of him taken in 2010.

From March 9, I used this as my header photo for a while.

Who can forget his invisible airlift move?

Poetry in motion.....

Easy on the eyes.....

Always willing to show off.....

Did I mention just plain gorgeous?

Not just another pretty face.....

with a classic profile and a soft eye.....

He's Mr. Handsome!

He's a lot of fun too.

Hope you enjoyed it!

A conversation with the B-boy

Shirley: Beamer, what do you think of fickle computers?

Shirley:Yeah, me too. Hey,Beamer-wanna say thanks to all the folks who have sent you hugs, smooches and skritches throughout 2010?

Beamer: Can't high five 'em, so here's a high two!

Shirley: Beamer, are you glad 2010 is about over?

Beamer: Yep, I'm happy to show it my heels!

Shirley: Beamer, are you ready to bring in the New Year?

Beamer: Yeah- I'm rip -roarin' to strut my stuff! Bring it on!

Shirley: Awww, Beamer, you're such a ham!

Beamer: Whoooooo, meeeeee?

Shirley: Well, Beamer; I'm looking forward to 2011 too. I bet I'm going to get lots more wonderful photos of you, and I can't wait to see the new foal in April. Maybe we'll get to meet more of our blogger friends, but you are going to have to be on your best behavior when we go on trail rides. And just maybe we'll find some more mares for you this spring!  

Beamer: Girlz? Where? 

Shirley: Well silly boy, you'll have to wait till spring!  

Happy dance!

Guest post by Beamer- for Mrs. Mom

First let me say hello to all my fans in blogland; Shirley tells me I get a lot of compliments (Well, naturally, aren't I the handsomest boy ever? )
Apparently Mrs. Mom  is one of my fans, and I really appreciate her helping my people to put me on a good barefoot trim program. Also, I hear that Mrs. Mom doesn't have a horse of her own right now, so I thought I'd give her a fun post to cheer her up and that she can go back and look at whenever she has the blues and needs some horse lovin' . ( That's the best kind, ya know!)

I love smooches, and Mrs. Mom is always emailing smooches to me, so I'll start off right!
Also, I hear she likes Appaloosa horses- well, personally I don't see what's wrong with a nice shiny solid black coat, but to humor her, I allowed a "snowflake pattern" on my rump. We can pretend, can't we? 

So, Mrs. Mom, climb aboard my sleek black back, and I'll take you for a ride!

I really enjoyed turnout time, and thought I'd just show off a little for you. Check out my power take-off:

I can drift them turns...

And do y'all remember my patented suspension?

And hey- who needs a bridle to have a perfect headset?

All that exercise is wearin' me out!

Okay, it's raining, and it's time for me to go get my blanket back on and go to my cozy shelter!

Hope you enjoyed spending an afternoon with me! Love ya!