There's no place like home...

Lots of things to post about today... first of all, I'd like to say thanks to you all for all your well wishes and prayers for my mom. She is still in hospital, not doing very well, and likely to be there for a while. I hope to get back to see her again soon. I really enjoyed getting to see my family, which is always the upside of things like this, but I won't bore you all with family photos.

The trip there and back was uneventful, but I did get a couple of interesting photos.

I was at the front of the ferry that I took between Creston and Nelson, on the Kootenay Lake. Of course, I had my emergency brake on, and when we docked I tried to drive away without releasing it..... knew I'd do that too!

Tess learned how to behave herself around children for the first time....(these are my neices)

(I did good, didn't I?)

I captured this sunset as I was driving past a small pond where some horses were gathered.

Wendy took great care of all my critters while I was gone, it's amazing how much Sparkle grew in a week. She is getting a little uppity, so she got a couple of halter lessons today just so I could touch her all over. She is very stong already; I wouldn't want to delay halter training much longer!

Cheeky little thing! But still a cutey... and her leg is so much better.

Yeah, they don't make 'em much cuter..... or do they?

Any guesses as to who this is?

I'll give you a hint- this filly is blue roan under that dun coat; that's right, this is Gussie's foal; Peppy's full sister, born April 29, and just hours old in these pictures. I stopped by to see her on my way home. She is totally sweet and friendly; one sock and a roaned out star are her only markings. She has a very feminine baby-doll head, and is correct all the way around. This is going to be one flashy girl! I'll be heading back down there in a week or so, so I'll be sure to get lots more pictures. She suprised everyone by being born in the afternoon, but I was close on my prediction of her foaling date- she was only 8 hours early!

Well thats all for now, I'm off to check out all the Sunday Stills posts!

Sunday Stills

Sunday Silence

In the midst of life....

I will be away for a while; I'm travelling to Nelson, B.C. where my mom is in the hospital. She is 79, and is very weak, and the family is gathering around her in what may be her final days. We have been expecting this since Christmas, so although we are sad, we are prepared.

I have pre- scheduled my Sunday stills photo, and will disable comment moderation for you all.

I leave you with this video of Sparkle, who will keep Wendy and Rick busy while I am gone. I'd like to thank them in advance for being there for me, and I am confident that all my beloved creatures will receive the best of care.

Sparkle's new halter and snow day

I made a halter for Sparkle last night, and here she is modeling it for you. She is starting to lead well-I have to halter and lead her every day to go to their turn-out area.

This halter should fit her for a few months. (Little cuteness!) We had a little snow but it should be melted off by noon.

She is still on limited turnout, and she is getting stronger every day, and cuter by the minute!

Sassy update and Sparkle photos

Say so long to Sassy, she has been sold to a good home. They plan on eventually team penning on her, which is a perfect fit! Their 2 year old son thinks she will be his, but he'll have to fight mom for her.

Sparkle is doing really well, and here are some show-off photos for you.

I thought about cropping Belle out, but I like the perspective better with her in it. This one is my screen saver right now.

Sorry about the focus on this one! But it's just so cute....

Wordless Wednesday

Another Sunny Sunday

It was such a beautiful day yesterday, warm and sunny. It was time for first turnout for mom and baby. I have a small area to use that is good for limited turnout, which is what Sparkle requires until her hind legs get stronger. She really enjoyed all the sights and sounds, and was trying to munch on hay, checked out the salt block, and performed a little.

All of which is tiring,

( photo credit WJ )

but not for long, as there are so many things a girl has to check out!

(She has Beamer's eyes!) Of course, she was closely supervised by Coyote Belle, who won't let her out of her sight.

When I could finally tear myself away, I saddled up Beamer and went for a ride, attended as usual by my faithful shadows, Reba and Tess.

(photo credit WJ)

We may not have flowers yet, but we do have pussy willows still. And I had the opportunity to practice opening gates with Beamer.

(photo credit WJ)

I backed him through this one; he wasn't too happy about that! But he was happy to get out of his pen, which is still muddy. He spotted Sparkle when I had them turned out, and raised a ruckus; I reckon he knows breeding season is about here!

Sunday Silence

Mom and baby

Coyote Belle is proving to be a good mom, she's very protective of her little darling. I should be able to get better pictures tomorrow when I turn them out into the bigger shelter- the pens are still a little too muddy for baby- she needs to get a little stronger in her back legs before she gets any major turnout.
I have decided on her registered name: Isle Sparkle N Shine. Most likely, her barn name will be Sparkle.
We put the baby halter on her for the first time today, which went rather well. I notice a lot of Beamer's personality traits in her, and she looks a lot like him.

Better get used to...

Lots of pictures of this little girl!

This business of being born is hard work!

I's all tuckered out....

Mom standing guard, and Marble supervising; lights out!

And the winner is....

Dusty Devoe! Yup, that's right, Coyote Belle FINALLY foaled at 2:45 AM- we have a filly! It was a long labour, she couldn't get the head and shoulders out so after almost an hour, I decided to step in and help by holding traction on the legs, and then the head and shoulders came out; she stood up and out came little filly! Poor little thing, first thing that happens to her is getting plunked on the ground. It only took her a few minutes to stand up and motor around though, she is a determined rascal. I did have to get a halter on Coyote Belle so she would allow that first drink, but baby needed no help in that department, she was hungry! The light was really poor for my little camera, so no video yet, later today I will get better photos.It's going to take her a couple of days to strengthen those back legs, and longer than that to figure out what colour she will be. Right now she looks brown, but most likely she'll be the same as her mom, kinda smokey brown/black. Not a lick of white on her!

Dusty Devoe, please email me with your choice of the two prizes and a shipping address and I'll get that sent out today; congratulations on winning!

Updates on lots of things

"I hear someone is interested in having me for their very own!"

I have an internet ad with Northern Horse.com for Sassy and have been getting a lot of interest in her. One lady in particular sounds promising, and I'm praying that this will be a good home for our pretty girl.

This photo was taken yesterday while we were waiting for the farrier. (I subsequently adjusted the knots in the halter so that it fits her better!) Isn't that snow disgusting! She is in heat right now, but even so was good for the farrier, who says she has really nice feet. Actually, he says all my horses have good feet, which is nice to hear. As you can see by the picture, Sassy tends more to the running side of her pedigree, she isn't the chunky type. She has a lot of speed, so I hope she has a career in speed events; she has a lot of cow breeding too, which makes her a perfect candidate for Working Cowhorse. She is two months away from her second birthday, so she has a lot of growing and filling out to do; it's a good thing she still has some of that winter hair too!

Still no foal; keep an eye on this post (Foaling Contest Continued) for details as to who is still in the running for the prize, and it's still open to those who had a guess in but the date has passed. There are still about a dozen guesses left that could win! Coyote Belle was really cranky this morning when I turned her out, and she is just starting to wax. I think she's close!

Chickory was perfect for the farrier, I was really proud of her! You'd never know that it was only her second trim. She still looks like a wooly mammoth, but she is growing like a weed- oh, wait, weeds aren't growing here yet; nothing is growing here yet, just horses!

I'm going to the Mane Event in Red Deer next weekend; hope to watch Al Dunning's clinic and take in the Trainer's Challenge. If any of you bloggers are going, email me and I'll give you my cell number so we can meet up!

Wordless Wednesday

More snow day photos

There was actually bare ground in Beamer's pen yesterday; this is what he had to put up with this morning at 7 AM. However, the weather is supposed to get nice and warm over the next few days, so all this will melt in no time.


This afternoon after work I spotted this little red squirrel in my yard; he wasn't too happy that the feeder was empty;

I'm pretty sure he was trying to figure out if he could leap over to the bird feeder full of sunflower seeds. Cute little rascal! I'll put some peanuts out for him in the morning.

Springtime blizzard

How do you like my backyard this morning???? This started last night and is continuing on today; I have to go chase cows down the alleys at work in this.....on foot! (Ilove my job, I love my job....) Oh well, maybe I can get a spectacular sunrise pic on the way to work. And just maybe the bad weather will bring on the foal!

Foaling contest, continued!

There aren't many people left in the running on the foaling contest and Belle hasn't foaled yet; here is a list of the remaining guesses:

16 Sherry AM filly, Carol PM colt
17 Dusty Devoe AM filly, Reta AM colt
18 Penny AM colt, Ed PM colt
19 Pony Girl AM filly
20
21 Linda AM filly
22 W.O.W PM colt, KDW PM filly

So you see there are a lot of options left! If you had a guess in already and the date has passed please enter again; I'd hate for baby to be born on a day no one picked!

Sunday Silence

Happy Easter

Easter Sunday is the most important day of the church year for me. I also love that it represents hope, and renewal. It is so symbolic of spring with its new growth of plants, flowers, crops, trees bursting with buds and blossoms, new foals and calf crops. For some it is just a time for family to get together to share a long weekend. Mostly it is a happy time, and a great relief after the long winter- more so for us Canadians than my fellow bloggers in the warmer States like Arizona and Texas!

So, Happy Easter, one and all!

No words needed today either!