Bridge to Terabithia

Since Beamer has been a blog-hog lately, it's time to feature the girls. Their paddock is low in the center so all the water collects and freezes there which means that they can't get to their back pasture. Since I was cleaning out their bedding area I used the soiled bedding to build them a bridge. They were really happy to be able to get out and have some play time.

Chickory is the boss mare, being the oldest, and wasted no time herding them down the fence line. I wasa little surprised to see Velvet instigating the rough play with Sparkle, as it's usually the other way around.

Maybe she is starting to realize she has a size advantage over Sparkle.

They were all cooperative in posing for me.

Short and chunky, Chickory is built to work a cow, I can't wait!

Velvet has a pretty little dish face that you don't often see on Quarter Horses.

Sparkle might have a plain brown wrapper, but I think she is a pretty girl.

She reminds me a lot of Beamer when he was that age. I'm thinking she might have to go into reining training in a couple of years.

Wordless Wednesday

Horse Play

I've had a comment or two about how Beamer likes to rear. I want to make it clear that this is something he ONLY does during play time, and that it is a natural behavior for horses. I watch yearlings at play, and they rear at each other, and for a stallion, rearing is necessary in breeding season. When Beamer rears, he is feeling good, and showing off. He is NOT trying to intimidate me; he is trying to impress me. I've seen him look at me out of the corner of his eye, snort and prance, then rear, as if to say. "look at me!" He will also stand in place and kick out his back legs together, also something he does only when he is feeling good, or excited about something. He NEVER does any of these behaviors under saddle, or in hand. He behaves like the gentleman he is. I can ride him with other horses, and the worst thing he does is talk softly to them, which merits him getting extra work to do, such as sidepassing a box, or leg yields, or spins, and he soon stops even that.

Owning and riding a stallion is not for everyone. You need to be a strict disciplinarian, and at the same time know how to have a lot of fun with your horse, because the only time he gets out of the boredom of his paddock or stall is when he is with you, or at breeding time.

Sunday Stills

I am only posting one photo this week for the challenge of a photo that will bring out an emotion in the viewer. The earthquake in Haiti was so devastating and brought about such tragedy that I think the other photos I had to post are just frivolous in comparison.

I'm supplying a link here to a blog from a woman who has been in Haiti since 1995 and runs a rescue center for sick children; she has many photos and stories of the devastation.

What a difference a day makes

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Yesterday:

Today:

Yesterday:

Today:

Yesterday:

Today:

The fog has lifted, the sun is shining, and the geese are heading north!

I hope things keep melting until the ice is gone, then it can snow again.

Wordless Wednesday

Movie night at our house

Last night we rented movies, I won't say which one we watched because I thought it wasn't very good. All 6 of us managed to cuddle up on the bed and it wasn't long before the usual snoring took place:

I think my critters were more worth watching than the movie!

Even Foose was happy to just lay around and air out his belly.

The other day a trucker came to move one of the old bee trailers out of here. Since we put in the hitching rail, it was a tight squeeze for him.

The small trailer on the right in the photo is a real junker, with a rotten roof; it will have to be dismantled and scrapped, hopefully soon as it is a real eyesore, and unsafe due to all the mould in it.

You can see here that he was inches away from the power pole, but he was a darn good driver and managed to skin on out of there by going to the right, as he couldn't get past the hitch rail.

Today they are removing another trailer body -a sea can- and it's quite a production.

A truck, a crane, and a loader. I'll be glad when it's all gone, I can't stand a messy yard!

Horse thief

Chickory is a thief. She stole the dog toy, Tess's favorite ball. Velvet wanted it too, but miss Chickory claimed it.

Note Sparkle's nose in the background; she wasn't having anything to do with it, in true stand-offish princess style.

Chickory rolled the ball around Velvet's legs, and Velvet just stayed there, trying to get the ball from Chickory.

The day was warm but cloudy, and after Ted and I finished some yard cleanup- including burning the Christmas tree- I clambered aboard Beamer bareback (clambered is right, there is nothing graceful about me getting on bareback!), and we took a tour of the hayfield. Come ride along!

There aren't many obstacles out there, but one of the challenges is footing. There are some low lying swales that had standing water in them after the last rain, and have frozen over and then got a little snow on top of the ice. Beamer has learned to listen for the cracking of the ice, and he walks very carefully over them.

(I just love those little ears of his!) This weekend is team sorting , sure hope we get enough folks show up to work the cattle!

Sunday Stills

This week we are to choose our favourite two photos from last year. I'm assuming this includes photos that were not used on Sunday Stills posts.

My first choice is this one of my mother, it was the last photo I ever took of her, on Thanksgiving day.

One of the reasons I like it is that she looks so happy; and it goes well with this little poem she wrote just days before her death:

"I love having a happy heart.

When I have a miserable day, I can still pray for a happy heart.

When I am having a good day, I enjoy it with a happy heart.

Whether my day is good, or whether it is miserable, I can still have a happy heart."

I hope that I can live the rest of my life with a happy heart too, inspired by my mom, who lived a life of poverty and devotion to God, and overcame a lot of diversity.

For my second choice, I thought of the many photos I've taken of Beamer and the mares, but I decided to go with this one of hawthorn blossoms; it was taken on a day when my husband and I were relaxing beside the river in the spring, on his birthday.

It was a beautiful day here in Creston, and back in Alberta it was cold and miserable. So this photo, which is one of my better Macro shots, represents to me new beginnings symbolized by the blossoms, and the hawthorn tree is full of thorns, a reminder that life is not all sunshine and flowers.

Sunrise, and a new blog address (Not me!)

If you liked the view in my wordless Wednesday post, you'll like the view of the other side of the valley; this was taken at sunrise this morning.

My friend over at All the Pretty Horses had a lot of trouble with blogger and couldn't access her blog, so she deleted it and started another one, All These Pretty Horses . She owns the full sister to Janice's dog Sage, named Jess. These are from Reba's first litter and today is their 6th birthday. You gotta check out the cuteness of her donkey too!

Wordless Wednesday

Hoof update

The farrier came this morning. The girls got a lesson in standing tied at the hitching rail; note to self- the yearlings need lots of this! Look how big Velvet is next to Chickory- that's going to be one big girl! While they weren't terrible for the farrier, they did a lot of fidgeting, so I know what I need to work on for the next six weeks. I promised him they would stand better for him.....

Here are what Beamer's hind feet look like now.

Right hind

Right hind (I gotta remember to move that dang camera strap out of the way!)

Left hind

Left hind

The farrier showed me where to rasp for maintenance to keep the flare down, so I hope my boy will have improved feet this year.

New Squeak Toy

The dogs love their new toy that they got for Christmas; it is a ball that is shaped like a frog, with a nice loud squeak. Bounces great too!

A question for the farriers out there

Beamer has white feet on the back, and I'd like to know why he has these bands of pink on his hooves, he isn't sore and has no history of lameness; I thought they were some kind of bruising, but from what? He is in soft ground- other than the ice!

Right hind.

Right hind sole.

Left hind.

Left hind sole.

Yeah, I know, he's due for a trim. Any ideas?

We went for a ride out on the hayfields today, Not as warm as yesterday, but pretty nice none the less. When we came back. I spotted Kitty Bob on the barrel pile waiting for a mouse to offer itself up as dinner.

He's looking good for a feral cat- of course, I've been setting out cat food for him too, which has been disappearing!

Sunday Stills

Today's challenge is food. Now, when you have animals, that can cover a great deal of things! For example, Bubby, the old timer, let me know that Foose isn't the only one who can catch his food;

he came prancing across the yard with a mouse mustache of his own the other day, and when Foose came to investigate, he devoured this fat little field mouse in a hurry.

Bubby, get out of the hay! That's not your food!

The lovely Sparkle is enjoying the hay that we buy from a local supplier, as you can see by her fat little belly.

And yes, after the critters have all been fed, we have to eat too. Here are some of the home canning that we sell at the store where I work:

I might have to buy a jar of the asparagus pickles! Creston is renowned for it's asparagus, it's a huge business here.

And last, but not least, do you all remember my Christmas cake recipe that I posted? Well, here is what's left of it- the last half of the last cake!

Lonesome

Well, after spending New Years alone, and not having Janice come team sorting with me today, I got to the arena and it was really lonesome there. Not a soul showed up! (Just me 'n'B-boy), so I spent over an hour schooling. And- Woo-Hoo! I got my flying lead changes! We had a great ride, nice lope departures, lovely spins, and worked on some of the stop and turns on a direct rein that I need for learning cutting. Horse knows all this stuff, I just need to learn how to put it all together.

Beamer had to inspect the roping dummy. He tells me that he really does not want to be a rope horse, he prefers playing cowgames. Suits me! However, I think that when Velvet is old enough, I'll be swinging a rope from her; her mama was a natural with ropes.

Celebrating 2 years

This is my 500th post, and on Sunday, it'll be exactly 2 years since I started this blog. I'm rather amazed at where it has taken me; the people I've been in contact with are a great blessing- that's you, my blogger friends! And so I'm dedicating this post to you all.From the farms of the Eastern Seaboard, to Texas, California, Oregon, and many other states, foreign countries like Belize and the UK, and of course the many Canadians, we are all united in our love of the horse, and/or rural lifestyle.

I have shared your ups and downs, (Lisa and Mikey come to mind!) your vacations (Fern Valley!) your neighbors antics (Nuz Muz!), seen some amazing photography from a great many of you, followed the training of horses (Tracey, Nuz Muz, Cdn Cowgirl, Fantastyk Voyageur, and some others) shared in the antics of your children (Mercy, Sage and Steele, the twinlings, Cub and Wrecking Crew) and your furry friends (all of the blogs!).

It's been a privilege to be a part of Sunday Stills, -Thanks Ed and Linda for dreaming up that one- it really encouraged me to be more creative and active with my camera. Your cameras have shown me places of astounding beauty.

I've received some good and welcome advice, laughed and cried at some of your posts, and always felt that I belonged to a community- a right thinking community of folks, quick to praise and slow to criticize.

And so Here's to you, I raise my cuppa coffee on high to all of you and say Thanks! for being part of my life.

Today we are beginning the year with a good snowfall, hope it's enough to improve the footing in the fields so I can ride Beamer in the pastures, he's getting very bored. It also means that Janice from Own a Morgan blog won't be coming down to go cattle sorting with us tomorrow, I'm sure the roads will be a mess, and she is an hour and a half away.

I put up my Fern Valley calendar today- thanks, Sherry!