Sunday ride

I decided it was time to get Sassy out of the small pen that I had been riding in. Normally when I ride a colt out in the pasture for the first time I go with someone on an older, experienced horse. However, the only one of those that I have right now is my stallion- not an appropriate choice! So I coerced my husband into being my safety factor- with the halter under the bridle, he walked along with us holding the lead rope. Sassy walked along briskly, looking at everything. The only time she jumped was when we rounded the snow covered manure pile and there was an area that was bare of snow and the change of colour right under her nose startled her. It was an easy-to-ride spook, thanks to Ted on the lead rope she couldn't jump too far. I was quite satisfied with our first foray out into the big ole world! A few more rides like this will do her good, and then I really will have to find an arena so that I can get her to move out a little- not an option in the snow!

A good day!

My friend Carol over at All the Pretty Horses had a sad discovery the other day, her big blue roan mare, Goblin, slipped a set of twins, and she's really sad about it. This was Gobby's first pregnancy, and she was bred to a dun grandson of Hollywood Dun It. Hopefully she will be able to get her in foal again to him, and she says that this time she will get an ultrasound done to check for twins.

Sunday Silence

Sun, Camera....Action!

Yay, it warmed up today and was a gorgeous sunny day. I went out to get some action stills for the Sunday Stills Challenge and couldn't help but to take some videos to share with you! So here you are, my handsome B-Boy in full flight:

Then I went up to play with the youngsters and they put on a special performance just for you:

I put the dogs in the feeder to keep them out of the way. Guess you could say, dog in the manger!It was a fun day. Tomorrow should be warm enough to ride, I'm hoping to ride Sassy. She sure is looking pretty!

Feature Mr Jess dies

The great sire, Feature Mr Jess was euthanized on Wednesday because of complications due to laminitis. The sire of the great filly Heartswideopen and many other champions was only 11 years old. This is a great loss for the quarter horse racing industry as he was in the prime of his career as a sire.

Staying warm....

There isn't much we could do today, so it was a day to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie. Well, apparently there was no room for me on the couch! Tess loves to cuddle upside down, and Bubby always lays claim to Ted's belly.
They weren't about to give up their comfy spots for me! So I was on the love seat, and I thought this view was hilarious:

They stayed all cuddled up for the whole movie. Time now to go back outside for the evening chores; the birds cleaned up all the seeds in the birdfeeder, so I have to fill it again. The horses seem to not be bothered by the cold, and they do have a deep-bedded shelter to lie in. They are sure going through the hay in this weather though!

-30 Again!

So today it's -30C (-22F) again. I'm about to head out to the horses to do chores, and made sure to top up the bird feeders first thing this morning. They were in the trees waiting for me and as soon as I went in the house they descended in flocks, happily feeding on the black-oil Sunflower seeds. I'm thinking of Sherry from Fern Valley Appaloosas sitting on the beach in Mexico, soaking up the sun, and all my blogger friends who live in sunny climes (Mikey, Kris, etc) and wishing I was there too! Oh well, winter won't last forever- it just seems like it. This has been a colder than normal winter and that's what drags it out. We are seriously considering moving to a more temperate climate, as my husband suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder Syndrome (SADS)- which is basically winter depression. You folks down south wouldn't know about that, but it is common in Canada. So to cheer me up, here is a picture from last summer to brighten up my day!

Lobelia, dianthus, alyssum, carnations....come on spring!

Wordless Wednesday- bird video

The old barn

For W.O.W. Here is the rest of the barn featured in my Sunday Silence post. In behind it is their new indoor arena- the old and the new, side by side. The tie stalls in the old barn are used for the draft teams.

This is the old homestead cabin at Anchor D (with my neice, Bridget). It's over 100 years old and is still used as a bunkhouse for the wranglers.

And this is the lovely log house they built a few years ago. If you ever want to go on a trail ride in the Canadian Rockies, they are the ones to book with. My husband and I went on their 7 day Great Divide ride for our honeymoon. It was awesome- breathtaking scenery, some challenging rides, fishing in the high mountain lakes, even boot skiing down ice flows! They have rides for every level of rider from beginner to expert. Great food, and music around the campfire to finish the days!

Posting comments

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Sunday Silence

Fun in the Sun

Well, family and friends are heading to Mexico for their version of fun in the sun, so I thought I'd share with you my version fun in the sun, Canadian winter style!

He was showing off for his girls! After I finished chores, I saddled him up and went riding for about an hour. We went up our favourite trail, explored a little, soaking up the sunshine. Reba and Tess came along, although Reba has trouble keeping up these days, Tess keeps pace, trotting along in the shadow cast by Beamer and me. Ahhhh, a good horse to ride, a sunny day, peaceful trails, and good dogs for company.....what more could I ask! What's that you say? A daiquiri on the sand by the ocean? Tropical sun and ocean breezes? But then I'd have to fly to get there, and I hates flyin'!

Trailer lesson #2

Peppy got his second lesson in trailer loading today, and from the looks of this video, I don't have to do any more on this. Such a good boy!

Little darlin's

It warmed up enough today to muck out the horse shelters and put fresh straw in. Peppy and Chickory were very cute, sharing the salt block. Coyote Belle's baby was kicking up a storm in her belly, so I checked her udder and guess what!

Yup, she is starting to build a bag!

Now the watching and waiting begins! Her due date is April 8, but this is her first baby, so who knows? 320 days will be March 26, so any time after that is baby time! I think I'll start a pool for date and time sometime in early March-watch for a future post on that!

Now that I know Peppy is leaving I am trying to get more photos of his fuzzy little self to share with you. And of course, we have a certain little blonde camera hog!

A sucessful weekend

Sunday the farrier came out and trimmed up all the horses. I am really proud of little Chickory, she let a stranger handle her, and she was very good for him, didn't struggle at all- just stood there quietly for him. All my horses stand quietly for their pedicures; my farrier said he wishes I'd do the groundwork on all the colts he trims. It was nice to get a compliment. It's also nice to have a farrier who is on time and reliable as well as doing a great job!

We will be saying farewell to Peppy next month. He will be going to Saskatchewan in March. A lady who was interested in him last summer will be his new owner, and she hopes to do some reining on him. Nice Valentines gift for her! Fitting because he has that heart shaped star.

He sure was a cute baby! I will have his full sibling later on this year; even though I sold his dam, I am buying back the foal she is carrying. Can't wait to see what she throws this year; I'm betting on a red roan filly. Coyote Belle is due in 7 weeks, and I'm hoping for a black colt from her. Now we just need the weather to cooperate- it is stupid cold again here!

Sunday Silence

For my Sweetheart

Happy St. Valentines day to you all and especially for my husband,the light of my life.

We were married in 1996, and we are truly happily married. The measure of a happy marriage is not so much the good times you have together but how you weather the hard times, and how you grow in character together. So many people cannot reconcile differences and give up instead of working together. As my friend John Boe would say, it's all about compromise, and good management. And it is important every day to tell each other, I love you- and say it from the bottom of your heart. So Ted, in front of the whole world, thank you for being my sweetheart, and I love you.

Trailer loading

Woke up to -21C (-6F) this morning, and it only warmed up to -9C (16F) so since it was too darn cold to ride, I decided to give the youngsters a trailer loading lesson. I have a wide open stock type trailer which is great for teaching the youngsters to load; they don't feel claustrophobic in it. So here, in pictures, is how it went:

Hmmmm, you say you want me to go in there? I dunno.....

(thinks about it for about 5 minutes while I tap his butt whenever he moves away from the trailer.)

Yeah, OK, I can do this!

(I loaded him two more times and he just hopped in both times. )

Then it was Chickory's turn. Apparently she has complete trust in me; because she hopped in with no hesitation.

Anything boys can do, girls can do better!

Is this where you wanted me?

Note to self, get Chickory a new halter! I loaded her 3 times too. And then, because Sassy is up for sale, I videoed her loading.

No problem! So a cold day turned out to be a productive day, even if I didn't get to ride.

Riding Sassy-Videos

Today I had my third ride on Sassy. Remember that my rides on her are very short, so that the total riding time I have on her is less than 15 minutes. I think she is doing very well, and she feels good when I am on her- soft and willing, even when she is mouthing the bit she still comes back to me when I ask. Gotta love video for critiquing my own riding! If you look, in the first video, when I go to get on my toe pokes her leg, so she steps out; when I move my foot forward she stands quietly like she should. Note to self- slow my hands down!

Shootin' the moon

How's everyone doing with next week's Sunday Stills Challenge photos of the moon? I was working at the Auction Market tonight and the moon came up all orange, so I had the chance to take some photos of it. I don't have a good telephoto, so I used my flash and framed the moon with tree branches to give it some depth. Some of them aren't too bad. I also got some last night that are totally different than the ones I got tonight. I am really enjoying this, maybe tomorrow I'll get some more. If you haven't participated in the Sunday Stills Challenge and want to try, go to Sunday Stills where each Sunday, Ed tells us what the next challenge is. Then you have a week to take your photos, and on Sunday, post them on your blog - then go over to the Sunday Stills Challenge post and leave a comment with a link to your blog saying that you have posted yours. It's a lot of fun, and it is a good way to see some new blogs.
And no, you don't get to see what I took until Sunday!

I ear I have an award!

I received this odd looking award from Back at the Ranch. She makes some very lovely jewelry, if you haven't visited her, go check it out.

I pass it forward to some of the artistic bloggers I love to follow:

Aussie Oklahoma over at Trapper Creek Daughter who is very talented with the camera;

Barb at A Cowboy's Wife for her writing, which can make us rejoice or move us to tears;

and to Sarah at Scary's West for the terrific photography of Montana .

'Ears to all of you talented people out there!

Sunday Silence -Reflections

Picture meme

I've been tagged with a picture meme by my friend Tom in Vegas. Here are the directions sweet and simple: go to your photo files and find the fourth photo from the fourth folder and then post it.

Suprise, suprise, it was a picture of Beamer! This one was taken a year and a half ago when we lived south of Whitecourt, Alberta.

I tag Sherry at Fern Valley Appaloosas who has lots of pictures, past and present of the horses in her life;

Janice at Own a Morgan lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of British Columbia,

Jenn at Green Slobber on my Shirt,

and new blogger, my friend Carol at All the Pretty Horses.

What a Difference a Day Makes....

No riding today!

Tack Talk

I finally got around to putting a leather hobble on my snaffle bridle last night; it was rather embarrassing to see how ugly that baling twine looked in Sassy's photos! This bridle is my main using bridle for my young horses. It sports a Don Dodge snaffle that has been on many a youngster. The reins are heavy harness leather, 8 ft. long. I like the weight of them as it makes it easier to slide them through your hands when you need to lengthen or shorten. I won these reins in barrel racing at the year-end awards for our riding club, 23 years ago. I keep them and all my tack in good condition, using only Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner. The only thing I would like to change about this outfit is the Chicago screws in the headstall; I much prefer laced or buckle ends. However, I put a little nail polish on these ones to discourage them from loosening off. I have a headstall for every bit that I use 'cause I'm too lazy to change everything over when I need to use a different bit.

This is my Brian Ironmonger saddle, and the "Oregon Twist" setup for the stirrups. The top of the fender has one piece of leather sewn to it, with the holes punched in. The piece attached to the bottom of the fender is double layered for strength, and wrapped to hold the twist in place. (I pulled this wide to show the setup, normally everything lays flat.) You can see how nicely the stirrups hang in just the right position. This is an easy modification to do on any saddle and it really is worth it if you hate trying to find that off side stirrup when you mount!

Training, trees, and trails

As you can see from my Wednesday photos, I rode Sassy yesterday. Because she is so young, our session consists of some ground work, and about 3-5 minutes of riding. She is going to get bored with the small pen we're working in real soon, so I'm looking for another place to ride, preferrably an indoor arena. I rode her again today, same way. Love this filly!

I also rode Beamer yesterday; just around the pasture checking fence, then loped-make that fast loped!- some big circles in the snow. He was feeling pretty good, and needed to burn off some energy. It's nice that even at speed, I can just sit down and say whoa, and he'll slide to a stop and stand quietly. I have to give a hat-tip to Beamer's trainer Kim Smith who did a great job on my boy.

It was so warm yesterday (50 F ) that we really didn't want to go in the house, so we decided to burn our Christmas tree in the fire pit:

There really is a fire pit under the snow! We pulled up the lawn chairs and had a beverage and just enjoyed the rest of the day.

Me'n' my B boy and Tess (aka the Tessalator!) hit the trails today for a totally wonderful ride up the pipeline. I had to leave Reba in the barn as she is in full standing heat and I didn't want her teasing any coyotes in the area :0)

Tess is very good on the trails, she heels very well and doesn't stray too far although she does stop at doggie points of interest such as coyote poop! I found some new trails to go on, and come summer I can probably ride for hours up there.

This is the view from the top, looking south west;

and looking south east. Beamer really enjoyed getting out and seeing some new country. I rode him at a brisk walk, loose rein, just soaking up the sunshine. Around here, it doesn't get any better than this for the first week of February!

Wordless Wednesday

Up.... and riding!

Yesterday Sassy graduated from pre-school to grade one. I needed someone lighter than me to be the first one to climb aboard, so one of my friends came over and kindly allowed me to video her and post it here.

As you can see, little miss Sassy is just a sweetheart. She is so willing and easy to work with. She's for sale, folks; and there are more of these lovely palominos for sale over at my friend John's place- check them out on my sidebar under Bar Diamond Y Palominos.

A good disposition is one of the most important factors for me. Granted, confirmation is very important, and a good looking horse is always a pleasure, and that certain bloodlines will predispose a horse to excel in a particular discipline, but none of that matters if your horse doesn't have the disposition to go along with all that. And the older I get, the more it goes to the top of my must-have list!

Sunday Silence

Schooling Sassy, continued

Sassy and I have progressed from ground driving to ground reining- this is just a sample; I usually give her 5 -10 minutes of this. (Please ignore the ugly baling twine hobble on the snaffle! I'll get around to putting a leather one on, honest!) This was her third lesson on this, the first time she took a little time to figure out that I wanted her to go forward with me walking along side, but we got there in only a few minutes. She reins quite lightly, and doesn't get excited about things. After this session, I stepped in the stirrups. She wanted to walk off with me when I did that, mostly because my toe was poking in her elbow, so I had Ted hold her, and I was able to step up on both sides and lean over her and pat her on the opposite side. It was quite rewarding to see her eye soften and get all relaxed when I did that. A couple of more days of doing this and it will be time to swing over and settle into the saddle! I'm loving the mind on this filly.

Innocence and Wisdom

This is making the email rounds; it's very touching.

Come for a spin!

We are back to snowing here, but it's so warm that it's turning to rain. Too miz'bl to do anything with the horses, so I thought I'd just take you for a spin on Beamer with me.

Dizzy yet? It's not a perfect spin; he pops his head up a little, but you try spinnin' and filming at the same time!

A Visit to Brian's Saddle Shop

On our road trip last week, we made sure to stop and visit Brian Ironmonger at his saddle shop. That's him on the left, instructing a student. He hosts a saddle making school, one student at a time. They make a belt , chaps, bridle and saddle. He makes and sells various strap goods and repairs saddles and other horse gear. The saddle on the left is one he made years ago and the other one is an Eamor saddle, both in for repairs.
This is the saddle the student is making (supervised by Fluff!) It is being built on a 1590 ralide tree.This is one of Brian's finished saddles, featuring a half seat over roughout. He likes to do sewn down jockeys and skirt rigging, but will make them any way the customer wants.

The walls are full of memorabilia, artwork, and photographs. The shadow box holds the deck of cards that Brian used when he got the perfect 29 hand playing crib. The painting is one I did of Brian in his heyday riding a bronc called Kootenay Gold.

Brian and his wife donated some of their land for building The Arena of Dreams, which is operated by the South Country Cowboy's Association, a charitable organization that supports cowboys and other local people who are in need. They host a rodeo there every year that is sanctioned by the Foothills Cowboy Association. And every winter there is a fundraiser, Cowboy Christmas, a dinner and dance that is a lot of fun and raises thousands of dollars for their fund.

The Ironmongers also raise a few Longhorn cattle, and are retired pony chuckwagon and chariot racers. Brian writes some cowboy poetry and has been invited to the Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Pincher Creek this year. We have a couple of his books of poetry; most of the stuff he writes about really happened, but I'm sure he took poetic licence on a few of the tales!

Sunday Silence