Monday 11 August 2008

It has been a very long weekend, looks like my blog is becoming a weekly affair. I was thrilled to see Dream and Blaze at the show this weekend and while they still have a long way to go they certainly didnt embarass us. They were both perfect gentlemen and were not phased a bit by the fact that this was their first time at a show. Dream is still a stallion but he was the only one there so unfortunately he had to compete with the geldings. We only had them in halter classes and Darlene also rode Blaze in the walk trot class to make up numbers as they only had two entries and need three to make it a point earning class.

My highlight of the weekend, bless Drew (Dream's trainer) heart, he made sure I got to ride Dream before they left, they must have been exhausted after all the work leading up to and during the show but I rode my baby!!!! You will have to excuse the form on my part, I havent done much riding in recent years, am used to the english style of riding, although I love the western style and tack, and I was trying not to mess with his mouth so my hands were forward so that I wasnt jabbing at his mouth. We just did a short walk and trot each way and he was such a star.

The photos were taken by Lisa and I will treasure them. I have very few photos of me with any of my horses.

I am going to make this short and sweet because I have a lot of catching up to do and print orders to get out. I hope that you all had a good weekend. ((((Hugs))))))

Lori

xxx

Work, work, work - it just never ends

(Original photograph by Jeff Kirkbride and used with his permission)

It has been a very rushed few days since Sunday, so much going on and I am exhausted. LOL



We are trying to get the field down the road cut and baled so that we can take our horses out there I hope it happens soon.

One of our neighbors helped me till/lightly plough and disc the one field and plant horse pasture seed and oats, now all we need is some rain!!!! We have had very little, we always appear to be in the little pocket that the rain misses for some reason. Feast or Famine!



Well by the time we had finished that and I had fed the horses it was after 9pm! This is becoming the norm for me, I never seem to get to sit down before 9 at night.



I had some exciting news tho yesterday. I have always wanted a Palomino horse, I have just always had an attraction for the color. Well we still have two mares in Iowa with a friend that run with his band of brood mares (Quarter horses) and whatever stallion he wants to breed them to that year and it so happens that they shared the huge pasture which has a creek running through it with his Champion Palomino stud CK Sun. The picture is a trading card that Larry made of him for our friends, his details and their name and contact details are on the back of the card. I didnt take this picture, the original photograph was taken by Photographer Jeff Kirkbride who gave us permission to use the photo. Larry cut him out and put him on a new background for the card.



Elliot called yesterday evening to tell us that when he went to give the mares their grain he saw the one mare with a baby. She stayed up on the ridge but he could see it is yellow and possibly has a bald (white) face, so we could very possibly have a palomino paint horse (one with spots on it too). This mare is very protective of her babies so it is probably going to be a few days before she brings the baby down to get the grain they get each evening and Elliot can hopefully get some pics of it!!!



There is one other mare who is still expecting any day there too. I just want to jump in my truck and drive there, but with gas prices and the fact that he is in northwestern Iowa (about a 9 hour drive), puts a bit of a damper on that idea LOL.



Lots of other little things happening, I am still black and Blue from our battle with Blaze on Sunday and loading into the horse trailer. Darlene, the lady who purchased him is very very happy with him, says he has exactly the temperment that she was wanting. He would climb in your pocket if he could and is normally as quiet as a mouse and very clever.

Drew who bought Dosie is very happy with him too so maybe we will see him at some of the shows later in the year. The Indiana Pinto Assoc. has their next show in August and then one a month later in September.

Hope you all had a great weekend. ((((((Hugs)))))))

Lori
xx

Kids & Animals - They Never Act Like You Expect!

I didnt get any pictures today despite my best intentions. My wonderful quiet laid back horse did everything I put him to, he bathed, got shampooed and conditioned, brushed mane and tail, clipped with the electric clippers like he had been doing it all his life instead of for the first time, looked beautiful and I put him in a stall with straw so he couldnt get dirty again. I put him in a stall with sawdust and the first thing he did was roll!!!!! so I had to rinse him all off and make another stall with just straw in it.

Drew and his client arrived at probably around 1pm and took to Blaze immediately. Darlene, the client, looked at Blaze and said he was exactly what she was looking for, could have done with a bit more white but was great. She also fell in love with Blue LOL. Drew fell for Dosie and took him (he is the 9 year old gelding) and he has also taken Dream to fit him up for basic halter and walk trot for us so that we may get a chance to show him at the next Pinto show in June or July. So instead of being one horse down I am three horses down!!!!

That was the beginning of the fun part, Blaze decided he was not going to go into that trailer for anything in the world. Even after we got Dosie out of the field and he loaded straight into the trailer, Blaze still wouldnt go in. We eventually after lots of bashes and bruises on Darlene and my part, and fighting decided to try Dream who also wasnt so keen. Only option was a bit of sedative so we got hold of our vet who was just on his way to the race track so we were lucky to catch him.

We gave them a bit of sedative and with lots of manual manipulation got Dream in the trailer, and even with the sedative we still couldnt get Blaze in!!! Here I have been raving about how wonderful this horse is, that he does everything calmly and well and he is turning into a nightmare. Well to cut a long story short we did eventually get him in, that whole thing took us about 2 and a half hours trying to load. They had an hour and a half drive and are at their destination now and everything seems fine. They waited a while so we were sure they were comfortable and the sedative had worn off before they left.

I was so embarassed that this little horse was such a butt head LOL, he showed a bit of his grandma's stubborn streak (Girl Sonny, Taxes' momma).

So that was the full day because by now it was 5.30 and I needed to start the feeding all over again I am exhausted. The horses are safely installed in their new homes which makes me so happy, and now I just hope that they perform like all their siblings have in the past, like stars LOL.

I have just picked a picture out of the archives to post today. If I had caught our battle on film it would have been quite a series of shots!!!!

Hope you are all enjoying your long weekend. (((((Hugs))))))

Lori

xx

I Have Been Slacking

Not a horse today again guys, havent had much time to pick up the camera, I have been taking advantage of the good weather and gettting the barn tidied up. It becomes a dumping ground if you give it half the chance and that is how it looks now LOL.

So here is a yellow jacket (hornet/wasp like insect that hurts like heck if it stings you). It was on the flyscreen of the kitchen window. Nice splash of color, but I let him go on his way after taking a number of shots.

We are having clients coming over tomorrow to see Blaze (the foal that is in my profile picture with me but he is two years old now). I have always had a special feeling about this colt, he has the mildest, calmest most loving disposition out of any of the babies I have bred. Take for instance, I have not done very much with him other than to teach him to lead from the barn to the field so he is as stiff as a board LOL but when I took out the electric clippers to clip all his excess hair off around his hooves and legs and make a bridle path behind his ears, he just stood there like he had done it all his life!!!!! I was amazed, any other horse would have been climbing the walls just at the sound of them let alone the feeling they make when they are clipping. He wasnt too sure about the shaving the long hair in his ears but he did that too without too much resistance.

I will get a nice photo of him tomorrow as he has nearly shed all his winter hair out and is filling out nicely, but I need someone to hold him so I can take the picture. If he is sold, I will take a goodbye picture of him too. I really hope that they like him he is so gentle.

I went to look at the pasture down the road that we had the 4 mares at last year and the grass is long. I moved them there at the beginning of May last year but have held off this year. It needs to be cut so we are going to try to see if we can get it baled and then move the mares onto it. If we keep up the good rains it will sustain all of them adequately all summer.

Well that is about it, muddling through each day, keep losing my to do list and then having to start another one!!!! The weather has been lovely, actually on the cool side, but mostly sunny, we seem to have avoided the bad weather again east and west of us.

Hope you are all having a good weekend. (((Hugs))))

Lori

13 January 2008

I am afraid it is another muddy horse image of two of the "babies" playing again. We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday and today was the exact opposite. The only picture I have managed in the past few days is the one below of Huggy Cat sitting on the seat of the riding mower.

I actually managed to get to visit all of my favorite blogs today and leave long overdue comments on each of them so I feel that I have achieved something today LOL.

Abraham, I have started visiting Pioneer Woman's blog regularly, she is very entertaining and her photos are wonderful so thank you for pointing me in her direction. For any of you who have not been there yet, her blog is worth a visit. http://thepioneerwoman.com/ . You asked about the metal curry combs, yes we still have them but I use a rubber one, flexible and better for their coats. When the horses have been out in the mud and it is cold, I bring them in at night and close the barn up to stop draughts so they can dry out and not get sick. Once the mud is dry it brushes off quite easily and actually cleans their coats. That is one way that they get rid of dead hair and skin, roll in the dust or mud. When I put new sawdust in their stables that is the first thing they all do, roll in it and you would be surprised at how quickly they clean themselves up. On the subject of seeing my horses go to their new homes, yes it is really hard even if I know it is a good one, they are like my children, I am just a bit softie I am afraid.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes I appreciate them.

Mike Happy Birthday for the 12th, who would have thought LOL. Believe me my horses arent really that active, it is only for short periods when I first put them out after they have been cooped up for a day or two and then just bursts when they feel good, they only last a minute or two at the most so they are not easy to capture with all the elements for a good photo in place LOL So in other words mine are mostly like those ones you pass on the highway, browsing lazily in their fields.

CG none of my horses are kickers either, this is just play fortunately. On the subject of being kicked or bitten, I was once bitten really badly on my chest by a mare who had just had a foal, she had never shown any agression in her life but she turned on me and believe me you dont want to be bitten by a horse either if they really mean it. My whole chest area was bruised, black and blue for 6 weeks afterwards and I felt like I had broken ribs and had difficulty and pain for weeks when I was breathing. This was Wiggle's mom, the mare we lost last year while she was foaling. She must have been having a hormonal problem because she never got her milk in and I had to hand raise the baby. The baby also arrived a few weeks early which didnt help her with her milk production etc. and the vet had given her a hormone shot to try to bring her milk in. She attacked me with all of her 1100 lbs behind her and believe me it hurt like heck.

Well I am making a concerted effort to catch up everyone's questions and visits over the past few months. I hope you all had a great weekend. (((((Hugs))))) see yall tomorrow.

Lori

xx

19 December 2007

I managed to get the horses out for the day yesterday, it was sunny and got up to about 35F so the mud and slush is dreadful. There is still snow on the ground and now that it has partially defrosted and refrozen with the cold last night we have an ice rink outside in the drive and the lane. As a result I didn't get them out today, the field just gets torn up from their hooves, that is one problem with clay. Yuk. So here is the obligatory picture of Eb and Blaze doing mock battle and keeping an eye on me at the same time LOL. Little monsters. I put Taxes out with Blaze for a while too but again didnt get any pictures, it was so muddy outside the door that neither of them wanted to run in it so they just "played" in the aisleway. Taxes is an agressive little booger!!!! Man, he goes in there with both guns blazing, biting and jumping on Blaze and Blaze just ignores him and now and again will threaten to kick or squeal at him and he backs off. Poor boy he is such a great little horse.

I found out a few days ago that the "nests" that I can see at the tops of the trees in the forest across the road are actually made by squirrels. I was amazed because I always thought they used holes in trees and the like to live in. It turns out that they build these quite big nests out of leaves and twigs but they are very high up so I can't get a real idea of how they put them together. Today when I went to get the mail there was a squirrel running up the one tree, he ran up and on top of the nest and dissappeared!!!! I am going to have to wait for a nice sunny day and sit down there for a bit and see if I can get some shots with the squirrel in it. Of course the people driving by will think I am crazy LOL.

The icicles from the freezing rain started melting yesterday too. This is some of it on the metal roundpen bars. I caught one drip in mid drip, thought it looked pretty cool (pardon the pun).

That is about it for today. I am going to fetch 10 bales of straw for the three yearling fillies who live in the field with the tramp shed for shelter. It is turning into a dreadful mess inside the shed so I am going to throw a few bales of straw in there and hope that they wont eat it all and it will help to keep them clean and dry. Poor girls I hate seeing them looking in such a mess but there is very little I can do other than this.

Hope you are all well (((Hugs)))

Lori

xx

17 December 2007

It was very cold this morning, no more new snow but cold Brrr!!!

I didnt get the horses out today, the ground has finally frozen and is quite hard under the snow, yesterday it was still muddy under the snow and a thin layer of ice so I didnt have to worry about the horses slipping. I did get them out yesterday and took some pics of the yearling colts. You can still see the mud all over them from the last time they were out LOL. They havent rolled it off in the snow yet. Here is Dream having a nice gallop in the new enclosure. Mud and Snow looks kind of strange.

(Click on pictures to enlarge) Of course no photo shoot would be complete at the moment without Blaze and Eb being brats and biting each other, so here is Blaze biting Eb and then Eb biting Blaze LOL.

And last but not least another one of Dream with his ice blue eye.
I didnt get much done today, wasnt feeling so great, coupled with the cold it certainly wasnt a day that I wanted to spend outdoors any longer than I had to.

I also put Taxes out with Blaze for a while yesterday but didnt get any pictures. He is being so good with the brat considering all Taxes wants to do is jump on him and bite him. I will turn them out again tomorrow, I am glad that it is working out because he really needs to interact with other horses.

Well that is all folks, nothing exciting to report I am afraid. Hope everyone is keeping warm. See y'all tomorrow.

Lori

15 December 2007

Missed another couple of days. I have been battling the mud and had horses in for nearly a week but decided to put them out yesterday for a run despite the mud. They had a ball, Piglette (the black mare) went straight down to the pond that has formed in the bottom of our field as it always does when we have too much rain, lay down in the water and rolled in it!!!! Bear in mind that it was about 30F (just below freezing yesterday). She loves to do that and I have posted pics of her doing it earlier this year. I took a few shots of them all muddy and happy, that is one of the things they like to do, roll in the mud, it makes them happy so it makes me happy LOL. This first shot has all 11 of them, 10 mares and Dosie the gelding who is on the extreme left.

Stan finished my barn doors right on schedule and just in time. We are expecting up to 12 inches of snow between now and tomorrow!!! We have a few inches on the ground already, it started snowing mid morning here. This is a dreadful shot, you can see how the mares have chewed the barn to pieces, that is one of the next projects, to get siding onto the side of the barn that they have access to which will make it look a whole bunch better. So this isnt a very pretty picture but it shows my new doors, the wire mesh is what I have pulled off stalls to replace with bars, just need to find a home for it where it isnt in the way. It sure beats the tarp I have had to do battle with every year to keep the snow out. Oh yes, I wanted to add that that is a train passing behind the barn, shows how close it is. I didnt even notice it until I looked at the pics, we are so used to them, it is one of the busiest lines in this part of the world and we can sometimes see a train every 30 minutes.
This last shot is of Eb and Blaze playing yesterday. They do get pretty rough LOL. Learning to be young stallions is a difficult thing!!!

Well that is about it, not much going to happen until all this snow stops but I will keep you all posted. Keep safe everyone who is in the midst of these storms. I should be able to get some lovely horses in snow photos tomorrow if it turns out they way they predict. Stay warm.

(((((Hugs)))))

Lori
xx

8 December 2007

A short one today, it has been hovering around 28 and 32 all day and the freezing rain started at about 4pm this evening. I managed to get Gee out again today and she made a slightly longer excursion than yesterday but still stuck close to the barn for security. I am glad of that because that way she will get to know the lay of the land before she opens up and runs around like a mad thing. I have a few pics but havent edited them yet.

Below is a pic of Taxes today, he had Eb the B&W colt hot on his heels. I turned Blaze out with Taxes first and they seemed to be okay but didn't have my camera, Taxes went flying in biting and jumping on poor Blaze and give him credit he took it very well. After that worked pretty well I turned the other two out but they all seemed to be too much at one time for Taxes so I pulled him straight out. I think I will just put him with Blaze for the time being so that he can have company and learn about mixing with other horses, he is a little tyrant and needs to learn that another horse will retaliate when he bites or jumps on him/her. He was just so excited to have another horse with him. The second shot is a second after the first when Eb gave him a swift bite on the butt. No marks or damage fortunately. Eb has been a biter since he was born too, just plays rough, never left marks just a brat, I have tons of pics of him biting his siblings when he was born trying to get them to play with him. He frightened poor Taxes a bit as can be seen from his expression.

(Click on pics to enlarge)

The third pic is of Blaze and Eb having a rough and tumble after I had put Taxes back in his stable. I was amazed when I turned Taxes out with them that he is just about the same size as them and there is a year difference, Taxes just 8 months old on the 15th.


It is becoming evident that I am going to have to split all the stud colts up after winter if they arent gelded. What is play and acting out right now will become serious when there are mares around and they mature a bit more and it could spell trouble. Blaze would have been gelded at the same time as our older stud Dosie earlier this year but his one testicle had not dropped yet and still hasnt which could mean a surgery in a vet hospital to geld him because they will have to find the other one. In a normal gelding it can be done at the ranch with the horse under sedation/light anaesthesia with little risk of problems. Poor boys!!!!

Well that is it for today. Yukky weather the next few days. Stay warm everyone (((HUgs)))

Lori

xx

6 December 2007

Once again I am behind on everything. In typical Indiana fashion we have gone from heat to cold in record time again. We had 4-5 inches of snow yesterday and I put the horses out which they really enjoyed. I had managed with the help of my helper to get the stables all sorted out on Tuesday so everything was clean and dry. Here are some of the mares out in the field yesterday.

I put the 3 stud colts out too in their new enclosure, and here is a pic of Dream breathing steam and of him and Blaze playing in the snow also shot yesterday.

(Click on pics to enlarge)

We woke up to 4F (for those of you in celcius, that is about -12C) this morning!!!! No wind thank heavens and beautiful blue skies and sunshine but just too cold to be out there. It is lunch time now and it is about 24F right now, expecting a high of 32 (right at freezing), but I havent been able to bring myself to do anything other than feed the horses and come back in because even with two layers of gloves my fingers are freezing by the time I get back in. I so want to get some pics in the snow with the lovely light but may wait until this afternoon sometime first. We are expecting another 3-4 inches or thereabouts tonight but it is not going to be as cold (when I say not so cold, I mean just below freezing but not like this morning).

I started with a sore throat yesterday and it is still feeling blaaah so I am not a happy camper today. Thought I would get this in early. I am hoping to have some pics of Taxes in the snow later, the last time it snowed was the day he was born and then it was wet slushy snow that turned into mud before he even got his first outing.

I am going to end for now. If I do get more I will post again later. (((Hugs)))

Lori
xxx

30 November 2007

Believe it or not the first two pictures above are of Taxes (7 months old!!!!) taken a few days ago. Snap shots I am afraid, it has been cold and windy the past few days and wet the days before so they arent too crazy about getting outside. The second one his head looks a bit big because of the wider angle lens I used as I was quite close to him. He is still a brat and I am still threatening to tie a road map to his neck and send him down I70 in Mike's direction!!!!!! LOL
This shot is from yesterday evening. The three boys were having a rough and tumble in the new enclosure and were running around the outside of what is left of the roundpen and jumping up on each other mock fighting.

Our helper has been coming over all week and he and Larry have been getting all the stuff fixed in the barns. It sure has helped me as I have been able to concentrate on cleaning stables and getting ready for the horses to all be spending more time inside.

Nothing too exciting to report from this end of the world except that it has been really cold and windy the past two days. I can handle the cold but when it is windy too it is dreadful LOL.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. (((((Hugs)))))) and welcome to my new blog visitors.

Lori
xx

28 October 2007

I finally finished the fence today. Got all the tape up and it is working (I know because I got zapped!!! LOL) When I first went out the three boys were getting into everything and wanted to supervise me. I had my camera with me and snapped a few shots of them, these are of Eb finding a nice big weed which he pulled up out of the ground, Dream had to come and investigate and get his teeth in there too and of course last but not least, Blaze had to be in on it too LOL. They are really getting their winter coats now, they look like little teddy bears.

I put Taxes in with Blaze for a short while again today and they were fine until Blaze decided that he had to breed Taxes!!! OM Gosh wrong sex boy, he started chasing and herding him so I had to put an end to that little escapade before someone got hurt. I am going to have to decide which of the yearling fillies or if in fact all three of them will accept him but I am just so scared of those wire fences now. We will have to see. I do know that Brat baby has calmed down quite a bit just from those two encounters and is nowhere near as mouthy and pushy as he was 2 days ago.

We woke up to our first freeze this morning, 31 C and frost on the ground and plants. We are expecting 30 tomorrow morning. It is hard to think that we were in the upper 90s a month ago. It warmed up nicely into the upper 50s. I like this time of the year just wish it would last longer and the days werent getting shorter. The flies are on the decrease, the horses enjoy the cooler weather and I feel like doing stuff because it is not sweltering. I put the horses out again after they had eaten and they are spending the night out too. I only really put them in when it is raining so they dont have to eat their hay in the mud and they dont make a muddy marsh of the field with their hooves. After a couple of hours the excess water has drained away and the footing is better. I have had the fields so bad that the horses have stood up to their knees in mud for weeks on end because it has been so wet. They leave hoof marks which fill up with water and because it is cold it doesnt dry up and then they walk all over it again making the holes deeper and so it goes until it is just a marsh. I cant walk out there at all because I sink past my knees. So I decided I had enough of that and started managing the fields a bit better. We only have 5.5 acres so it is hard to get all the horses time out. I want to fertilize the one field this spring and harrow it lightly and sow some good grass and alfalfa. Next year I will do the same with the other side and see how it copes. Hopefully by that time I will be down in horse numbers and overgrazing wont be such a problem. I am sure that the people down the road will let us use their field next year again for 4 horses which will be great. Okay enough rambling.

Hope you all had a good Sunday. The Colts (The Indiana American Football Team who won the Superbowl last year) won their game in Carolina today resoundingly so it has been a good day.

Abraham your site looks wonderful, you have come such a long way in the short time I have known you. I always love visiting your site because you share the same passions and loves that I do as far as animals goes. I love squirrels but have never been able to capture any really good ones of them yet.

(((((Hugs))))) to everyone.

Lori
xx

27September 2007

This is going to be a quickie again. I have my last horse show this weekend which is a relief because it has been such a dreadful year in general. I thought I would post a copy of the business card that I created using the Brat's photo. An artist in Canada named Lesley White bought the rights to paint an original 24" x 18" oil of this picture which you can see here on her website http://www.oilsbylesley.com/westernoils3.htm names First Taste of Spring just click on the picture to see a bigger version. She has also used two other photos of mine as references, they are on http://www.oilsbylesley.com/westernoils2.htm and are called Lookin' Back and Unbridled Spirit. She does a beautiful job. The Lookin' Back one sold at the exhibition she had it at a few days after completing it and she had 3 people fighting over who would buy it!!! She said she has never had that happen to her before, made me feel good I have to say.

I dont know if I will get a post in tomorrow before I pack everything up because we are going to try to leave early afternoon as we have to drive around Indianapolis and dont want to hit the rush hour traffic. It is about a two and a half hour drive. The show is in Edinburgh. We will come home on Sunday night after the show finishes.

I rode Dosie again today and he did a fabulous job, he really is nice to ride and I think is warming up to me a bit more. I also taught Blaze a little more about lunging. Not too much because he is still young but enough to give him a bit of exercise, he has a bit of a gut on him, has always had one (that can usually be caused by worms but he has been regularly wormed and has been potbellied since he was little LOL).

Well guys, thanks all for your regular visits, hopefully after this show I can get some stuff done that has been neglected, mainly my regular blogging buddies who I have been grateful for. ((((Hugs)))) and if I dont check in until Sunday, see y'all Sunday and have a great weekend.

Lori
xx