Wordless Wednesday

Scooter update

 You may remember Scooter, the colt I had in for halter breaking for Shayla, he is a son of Coyote Belle and sired by Root Beers Boots who is well known for siring top notch barrel horses and was a champion in the Working Cow Horse class. Shayla and I went to visit him as she is probably going to breed Dallas to him. He is 3 years old now and when we laid eyes on him, my jaw about dropped. He sure got the look Belle threw on her colts; big bone, big feet and that big Belle butt. And looking at his head was like looking at Rio. 

All wrapped up in buckskin, just like Belle's sire, Durable Shine, who was a direct son of the late great Shining Spark. This is a royally bred junior stallion. 

His owners have done a nice job on him, he is started, and ridden by his owner who is a lady my age (old!!!!) which speaks to his good mind and trainability. 

Shayla took a lot of nice photos with her Canon camera, I may get to share them once she finishes editing - these were just my cell photos. 

If I wasn't retiring Gussie from breeding next year, I would sure consider him. 

Ready for winter.

 Every season has its own smells, spring is fresh turned earth and green growing things; summer is flowers and spruce tree sap and the rolling dust from the gravel roads;  winter is the smell of the hay as I toss it out for the horses and the crispness of the air but fall has its own unique scent- the dampness of the leaves on the ground as the frost on them melts, the harvested fields with their freshly rolled bales. 

We finally have colorful sunsets again too.

 A quick shower last night graced us momentarily with a rainbow.

We are pretty much prepared for winter. The hay is in, the gardens are harvested and put to bed, the water hoses are rolled up and stored away, the vehicles are winterized and the lawn mower is tucked away in the Quonset. 

I had one last barnyard chore to do, mucking out the mare shelter.

I had the quality control inspector supervising....

 "Why are you sitting down on the job? "

"You aren't finished, get back to work!"

I think you can call that a close inspection! Oh Velvet! Such a funny horse, she needs to be right in the thick of things. 

The new windows are in too, and the timing was perfect- there were very few flies hanging around thanks to the snow (yes we had snow that lasted only a couple days) and frost of the last 2 weeks; the two guys who did the installation were very good and hard working and did excellent work. 

The one large window in the living room is now 3 panes instead of one, a much more architectural look and easier to clean!

And yes, there is suet in the bird feeder, we have winterized for the birds too, making the downy woodpeckers, nuthatches and blue jays happy. 

We are ready, but I hope the real snow holds off until December!

Buck moon

 The full moon was rather spectacular this morning. 

I managed one photo with my Nikon camera, then the battery died, I was hoping for one with more trees  but this will do!

Things are pretty quiet at the moment, but next week will be very busy, family over for the weekend and a big Thanksgiving dinner on Monday, then on Tuesday and Wednesday we finally get the new windows in. We will finally have windows that we can open! 

We are in what I have always called Indian Summer- cool nights, frosty mornings and sunny days. The farmers are nearly done with harvest, just a few canola fields left to go, and cattle to move off the depleted pastures and into the winter feedlots. 

The mares are getting pretty good winter hair coming in, and I think Gussie is starting to show her pregnancy. 

She is also starting to show her age especially around her face. I also think she is starting to get arthritis in her right knee, just a little bump at present.  I probably won't ride her much any more, but I would like to get a couple of short rides in this fall before she gets too pregnant. Then once the foal is big enough, to use her for teaching it to pony. Other than that, she is pretty much retired. I'm sure she will be ok with that! I have a lot of great memories from all the trails we rode and the fun we had over the last 22 years. I owe her a good retirement. 

The two old girls will have each other until that foal comes along!  I may or may not pick up another foal to keep it company, we shall see. 

Killing frost

 We woke up to -6 C (21 F) this morning, a good hard frost that should be the end of the flies and maple bugs. 

Thumper, tell us how you really feel about cold weather!

The frost makes for good photo ops though!

Frosty misty morning

Even the weeds look pretty

First frosty mane photo

I checked the river to see if it had any ice, but it didn't. The water level is lower than I have seen it in the 3 years we have been here. 

The mares are always at the barn in the mornings, awaiting their ration. I love that they are so peaceful together now that Rally isn't in the mix as she tended to boss Velvet around. 

Speaking of Rally, I got a cool update. He has been saddling and ponying Rally and the other day he sent me videos of his granddaughter getting on and riding while he ponied Rally.  Boy o boy that gave me a huge happy! 

Look how calm Rally is! Just goes to prove that I was right and her bucking with me was my fault for not preparing her well enough. I think she is in good hands now and I am so excited for her future. 

And then there were two

 When I originally bought Rally, I had big plans to breed her to a good stallion, to produce foals that would suitable for rodeo events. However, since she seemed so trainable, I put that plan on hold while I worked with her. About a month ago, her former owners came for a visit and were really pleased and surprised with how well she was doing. I told them that if they wanted to buy her back, I would do that for them; they have a daughter who barrel races and a grandson who is a steer wrestler. We delved into her pedigree and I showed them all the top notch speed horses in her pedigree. They discussed it as a family and took me up on the offer. 

Today they came to pick her up; she will go to a trainer in southern Alberta who competes in calf roping and who starts colts, and has his own indoor arena. 

The young fellow who is leading her is another grandson who will be ranch riding her once she is started. 

It took a while to get her loaded, even in his big stock trailer and with her former bff mare in it. 

Unloaded Molly to see if Rally would just follow her in.... ummm hard no. 

We ended up using my round pen and loading both mares together at liberty; it took quite a bit of pressure for Rally to think better of saying no and jump in with Molly, her nice quiet friend. 

I am going to miss her! 

A few days ago, Shayla came and picked up Patsy....who of course was an absolute angel to load! I am going to miss her friendly self too. 

Patsy was a real pleasure to have around- no muss no fuss,  just an easy to please filly with the sweetest personality. 

Velvet will not miss Rally, she was always getting chased off and nipped, poor old girl. She now happily has Gussie all to herself. 

The old girls club, back in charge again.

Sunday Silence

 

Let there be light and love.

 In all the sadness of the recent weeks, I choose to look for the things that make me happy, to deflect my thoughts from the creeping darkness of this world. 

Hello little ladybug, how simple your existence is. 

Being injured and in pain definitely slows  down one's ambitions, plans and goals. 

But it's nice to get extra Thumper cuddle time.

Having plenty of pasture left for the winter makes me happy, as do shiny, healthy horses.

Patsy aka Pattycakes will be headed back to Shayla later this week. She has grown a bunch and is still the sweetest filly. 

Flowers and bees and butterflies? Happy making for sure!

The moose hung around the riverbanks until the next morning. And now the deer are starting to come back, like these 3 does who didn't have fawns this year, showing up at daybreak. 

View from my dining room window. Can you spot the third one?

Sunday Silence

Its been a minute...

 The sprained knee has become a really annoying setback. I ended up having to use a walker for the last week, and Thumper thought that was a perfect vantage point for him at the breakfast table.

We had frost last week, I covered the beans and tomatoes and they survived. The flower gardens fared well, no frost kill and they are still blooming and attracting bees. 

Ted and I went to a herd reduction sale last weekend, a fellow we know was downsizing and changing up his program. One buyer from Ontario bought 20 horses, mostly bred broodmares, to start her own breeding program. I had my eye on a couple mares but they went for more than I had in my pocket   

Really nice bay mare, now headed to Ontario

I stole a photo from Facebook, the Ruby/Beamer filly who got registered as Lil Spicy San Sue (can I say I don't like the name?) sure is gorgeous, but it looks like I wont be buying her. 

I haven't been able to do anything with my horses except wheel my way down to check on them. I have to be careful going in with them so I don't get knocked over when they do their pecking order shenanigans. However, I am progressing to the cane today and am waiting for a physio appointment .

My hay barn is full now, and most of our winter preparation is done- I am figuring an early winter- just waiting for the hard frost to come before turning the mares out on winter pasture; last year I turned them out before hard frost on the 15 acres and they got covered in what I figured were tick bites, so I am waiting a little longer this year. 

Setback

 Following my little bareback ride on Rally, I decided to step it up and try getting on her saddled. 

I did the prep work; longeing, bitting her up and longeing, asking her to give to the bit as I walked beside her, etc. She was willing and all seemed to be going well enough for me to get on. 

I had Ted with me to make sure all went well. She parked nicely at the mounting block for me, so I climbed on. 

All went well.... until it didn't. 

I made the mistake of not doing enough to test her limits of tolerance. In retrospect, I should have stepped on and off her several times, as well as prepping her previously by attaching things to the saddle - such as things with weight, things that flap, etc. to get her used to strange things and see what she tolerated and what needed working on. I assumed that since she was so good with things like the tarp and ropes, that there would be no issues. Mia Culpa. 

With Ted side walking, I asked her to move out, which she did. However, within about 20 ft. she tensed up and went to bucking. I am no bronc rider, and I hit the ground hard, twisting my knee on the way down. 

She stopped on the opposite side of the pen, staring at me on the ground with big eyes. Since I was in no shape to get back on her, I opted to bit her up again and work her around the pen. both ways, until she softened up and paid attention to me. And no, not a single buck did she offer. She actually has never bucked before that moment, so it really caught me by surprise.

 

I will continue to work her saddled, once my knee is sound again. But erring on the side of caution, I probably won't be the one to get on her next time. I don't blame Rally, I blame myself for skipping a step in preparation for riding.