At the Swap Meet

My husband and I attended an auto swap meet yesterday, and we found this really cool book, published in 1889. It contains vet info on horses, cattle, sheep, poultry, swine, dogs, and birds.

It also has a section on horse training. Most of the training in this section we would now consider barbaric and cruel, as he advocated a lot of restraints, and some methods that are downright rough. It is wonderful to compare this to today's methods and know that our beloved horses are benefiting from the most humane methods in history, thanks to the pioneering of such great men as Tom and Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt, and all the wonderful trainers who are carrying on this tradition. Some of the things that Oliver W. Gleason wrote, however, are timeless:

Never quarrel with your horse.

Never say whoa unless you want your horse to stop.

Bad hay is not cheap at any price.

To put an unwarmed bit in a horse's mouth in frosty weather is rank inhumanity.

Remember that you have no business trying to control a horse unless you can first control yourself.

And my favourite- if you have a horse which you want to match, don't tell the dealer or he will make you pay dearly for the size and colour.

Peppy is getting cuter

The little guy is growing, starting to eat grain with mom, although in this photo it looks like he can't decide if he should scratch or go for the oats mom spilled on the ground. He's starting to muscle up, and is very friendly and easy to handle. Soon all the mares will get to go out on pasture, and get out of the muddy pen. I always worry a little when I first turn them out on a new pasture- like I said before, if there is a way to get in a wreck, they'll find it!

Out with the herd

Today I turned out Gussie and Peppy with the other two mares. Things started out well, as you can see in this picture.

But then Gussie got to rippin' around, and they all got their tails up (I guess that is where the saying, "high-tailing it" comes from) and the race was on. Everything was fine until Peppy slipped on some snow and fell under the fence and - you guessed it- got up on the wrong side. Then we had a very upset momma and baby. I got the halter on Gussie and just as Iwas about to take her through a gate to reunite with Peppy, he found a gap to get through. So now I know that having the bottom board 2 feet off the ground is too high for babies. I'm glad there was no barb wire there or it would have been a bad wreck. One side of this pen is chain link, the other is a slab windbreak, with rail fence everywhere else. Mostly, it is a very good paddock, except that if there is a way for a horse to get in a wreck, they will darn sure find it!

And the Winner is....

Thanks to everyone for the excellent name choices. I had to eliminate 5 of them that were either already taken, or were too long. No one came up with the name I really wanted, which is Choctaw Peppy. So I am going to award the prize to the name I like best out of the list of entries. The names short-listed are Mr Blu Peppy, Dawn to Midnight, Breezn Peppy, and Sabres at Dawn. So the winner, which will be my second choice on the registration papers, is Breezn Peppy! Congratulations to Carol at Prairie Ridge Performance Horses for all her entries, and your book will be on the way today!

Names- last day of the contest!

So far we have some really good name choices rolling in; only two of them"Isle B Peppy" and "Peppy Magic" are not available with AQHA. To make it easy for everyone, I am listing all the names as they come in on the post before this one; MeetnGreet. Today is the last day of the contest so I hope for a few more entries!

Meet'n'greet

It was time to introduce the other mares to baby. Sassy had been Gussie's pen-mate, so I brought her in first. Things went quite well.....

with only a minimum of attitude......
so I took Sassy out and brought Coyote Belle in. Different story! Gussie didn't want her too near her baby and let her know in no uncertain terms! She'd put the run on her for a few seconds, then go back to eating hay, until Belle got a little too close, then off they went again.

We still need some entries in the Name the Foal Contest! Only 2 days left! Here are the entries so far:

Isle Be Dun

Bar Be Midnight

Dawn To Midnight

Sabre Be Midnight

Islebabluequince

Mr Blu San

Imablusanbreeze

Islebeabreeznpeppysan

Breezn Peppy

BluPeppy

Peppy Magic

Isle B Peppy

Ima Blu Peppy

Isle Be Bailey

Bailey After midnight

Isle Be Breezin By

Isle Be Midnight Magic

Midnight Breeze

Isle Breeze By

Sabres At Dawn

Sabre Magic

Check my post Contest Time for pedigree information!

Baby's day out

Even though there is still a fair amount of snow, it was warm enough for baby to be turned out without his blanket.

Of course, that meant getting a little help with all those itchy spots......

and trying out those long legs at full speed.......

and doing a little freestyle in the deep snow.....

and checking out what mom is doing......

and posing for pictures......

and then having a nice warm lunch after all that work!

Enough already!

Today the blizzard is still raging. With high winds and blowing snow, Coyote Belle and Sassy couldn't stay warm, so I brought them in, dried them off and blanketed them. Gussie and her baby are living in the stall just behind Coyote Belle; I keep the top door closed so that the wind doesn't blow in on them. I don't really like keeping them cooped up, but I let them out for a romp 3 times a day. I'd rather do that than have the little guy get foal pneumonia. Speaking of his little cuteness, I need some entries in my name the foal contest: see my post "Contest Time" for pedigree information. The prize is a Western Horseman Book:



Helpful Hints for Horsemen
We've compiled hundreds of "Here's Hows" published in the magazine over the last decade into one handy reference guide. The tips cover every facet of life with horses and offer solutions to common problems all horse owners share.
Chapters include: • Equine Health Care • Saddles • Bits and Bridles • Gear • Knots • Trailers/Hauling Horses • Trail Riding/Backcountry Camping • Barn Equipment • Watering Systems • Pasture, Corral, and Arena Equipment • Fencing and Gates • Odds and Ends


Anyone can enter, it doesn't matter what country you live in! So get your entries in so I can call him something other than baby!

What to do on a snow day

It was snowing so hard today the snowflakes were travelling sideways. Beamer is getting really bored with being cooped up in his paddock.....

So he decided to make his own race track.....

Hey, Beamer, they don't let Quarter Horses in the Kentucky Derby....

What a show off!

Turnout? No thanks!

This is the attitude I got when I turned out mama and baby for a few minutes this morning in -12C, windy snowy weather. Can't say as I blame them!

Okay, I think a few minutes outside in this weather is long enough!

I really do NOT want to go out!

Me neither! I like my snuggly warm stall!

Contest Time!

Time to start getting your entries in for the Name the Foal Contest! Below are Beamer (Isle Be Midnight)and Gussie's (Bar Dawn Sabre) pedigrees. I have some names in mind, and the prize will go to the entry which comes closest to, or I like better than, the ones I thought of. The prize is a Western Horseman book called Helpful Hints for Horsemen.

Beamer's pedigree:
Isle Be Midnight 4156951 2001 black stallion
Sire: Peppy a Poco 1978 1399111 bay
Grandsire: Mr San Peppy 1968 0548845 sorrel (his sire: Leo san)
Granddam: Poco Dag 1966 0580672 dun (her sire: Mr. Kleberg)

Dam: Isle Be Magic 1982 1847838 black
Grandsire: Isle Breeze 1967 0483671 black (his sire: Top Breeze)
Granddam: Drop of Magic 1975 1088076 brown (her sire: Par Three)

Gussie's pedigree:
Bar Dawn Sabre 4404392 2003 red roan mare
Sire: Docz Choctaw Sabre 1996 3533057 red roan
Grandsire: Blueboy Quincy 1985 2358433 blue roan
Granddam: Docz Choctaw Jane 1989 2856928 bay (her sire:Docz Forte)

Dam: Bar Dawn Bailey 1997 3599504 sorrel
Grandsire: Dandy Three Dollar 1990 2918636 red roan (his sire: Chief A Poco)
Granddam: Gilda Dawn 1985 2419134 sorrel (her sire:Shady Rooster)

Sharpen your pencils and get the entries in the comment section! AQHA rules say that the name must not exceed 20 characters, including spaces. Contest closes in a week.

April snow

As you can see by this picture, we got about 4 inches of snow last night, and the temperature dropped to -14C. Mares always seem to pick the worst weather to foal out!

First Turnout

Last night, mom and baby got to get out of the barn and stretch their legs.

When all the other horses got excited, Gussie decided it was time to show off.....

I think she was happy to not be carrying all that weight in her belly! Baby had to wear the little blanket because it was -10 C and windy, and he was shivering.

Dun?

This little guy is an unusual colour:

Okay, I know I didn't get his head in that picture, but I just wanted to show the line on his back, and the mark across his shoulders. Beamer, who is black, comes from a maternal line of dun mares: his sire, Peppy A Poco, had a dun mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. So I am assuming that the dun factor can be carried as a recessive gene. Also, both Beamer and Gussie have a lot of roans in their pedigrees, and when you brush back the fur on this colt, it has that greyish look that tells me he will roan out. Interesting!

It's a boy!

Gussie went into labour at about 3:50 AM. This picture was taken at 4:27 AM; you can see both front feet and the head.

He was born at 4:31 AM. Gussie stood up, and he lay there quietly for about 10 minutes.

Mom and baby spent some quiet time before he tried out his legs.

Once he figured out how to stand, it was time to find breakfast.

Is this where it is?

Now I need to figure out how to fold up all those legs to lie down for a nap! This being born is hard work!

Tired of Waiting

Okay; eleven months and eight days is long enough! I've had it! I'm tired of packing this foal around!

The visitor

I was out checking Gussie (no foal yet!) when I spotted this little rascal making its way along the barn to go into the stall, probably looking for some oats that Gussie might have missed (not likely that she would miss even one kernel!) I had to admire how tenaciously they can cling to walls. When I went in the stall to see where it went, it was in the rafters and panicked when it saw me that close,and with great amount of screeching and scrabbling,

disappeared into the next stall.

A Day at Anchor D Ranch

We celebrated my dad's 80th birthday at Anchor D Ranch this weekend, and everyone had a great time on a beautiful sunny day, enjoying the hospitality and great cooking that Anchor D is famous for.

The kids enjoyed the horses

And getting to see a buffalo is something they'll talk about for a long time.

This old homesteader cabin is over a hundred years old.

This rig is drawn by a team of horses all winter to feed the approximately 100 head of horses at the ranch. The teamster raises and lowers the bale with a winch; and hitching up a team sure beats firing up a tractor!

The old and the new; the original log barn, which is still in use, stands in front of the new 80 X 150 indoor arena. This picturesque ranch is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains west of Calgary, Alberta, and is the place where Ted and I got married (on horseback) in 1996.

AQHA Versatility Class

Just got this email from Carol at Prairie Ridge Performance Horses :


SQHA's First Ever AQHA Versatility Horse Competition

Sask Quarter Horse Association is proud to announce the first ever in Saskatchewan - AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse Competition to be held on Aug. 28, 2008 in conjunction with the Harvest Gold Show and Futurity.

Moose Jaw Toyota Trailer Sales has donated a one year lease of a brand new Exiss goosneck stock combo trailer to the Open Division Champion.

Come and learn how much fun Versatility Ranch Horse can be.

May 31, June 1
Clinic and practice show

Moose Jaw Golden Mile arena
Clinician: Dwight Dokken

Deadline for registration is May 12, 2008

For more information contact:

Sherry Clemens
306-692-8393
email: sherry@sherryclemens.com

Thanks to our sponsors 3B Ranch, Braun Ranches, Cain Quam, Tyler and Shauna Getz, Hunt Seat Horses.com, Whitbey Farms, Whispering Sands Training Center

At last, it's coming to Canada! Looks like I'll be heading over to Saskatchewan to watch the show.

The Latest Craze

Have you noticed how popular bridleless reining is becoming? Thanks to Stacy Westfall, with her Freestyle Reining wins done bridleless and sometimes also bareback (you go, Stacy!) many trainers are now showcasing their talents with bridleless performances and demonstrations. I think it's absolutely wonderful! It sure proves that communication isn't all about the bigger, better bit in the horses mouth. I and some friends have trail ridden bridleless, but it pales in comparison to the thrill you'd get being able to do something like this. I hope to be able to order Stacy's training videos soon to find out more about what is involved in getting a horse (and myself) to this level. Even if I don't achieve the pinnacle of success at this by being able to enter a freestyle class, I am sure it will improve my horsemanship skills, and make my horse happy. I noticed in this video that Clinton's horse is in a beautiful, rounded frame; and Clinton looks as if he's using the same body language as if he was using reins.

Do you think that dressage riders will start doing bridleless Kurs? Or are they doing that already?

(Double click on the image to go full screen)

Foal Watch

And so it begins.... Gussie is showing all the signs of imminent foaling; the jiggly muscles around her tail area, puffy vulva, waxy droplets on her teats, a change in the shape of her belly, and that look on her face that pregnant women the world over can sympathise with. So I'll be checking her regularly, starting tonight. She's 332 days today, and while I know the average is supposed to be 343 days, I've had mares foal in 320 days all the way to 350 days. And with this being a first foal, this could go on for a week or so, or it could be tonight! I'll be sure to keep my camera handy.

Keeping his eye on the girls

Scaredy cat

This is Otis. He thinks he's my office asistant. The other day I could hear something rustling around in the room where his litter box is, and I remembered that I had left a plastic bag in there for scoopin'. I figured Otis was checking it out, and the next thing I knew, Otis came tearing out of there at warp speed with the handle of the bag around his neck- he was doing laps around the house trying to get away from that cat-eatin' bag and it was billowing out behind him, flapping in the jet stream he was leaving! I made a few tries at grabbing the bag as he zoomed by before I was sucessful in removing it. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time! When I pick up a plastic bag now his eyes get really big when he hears the noise it makes.