My Birthday Ride and Rayne

Well it was my birthday today and so I got to do whatever I wanted. Since I was feeling a lot better today finally.  Turns out there was about 6 people who got sick after the party on Sunday, noone wants to say who was sick then and I don't blame them lol.   Did chores this morning and then waited till it got warm enough and thought I should go for a ride.  But I really needed to check the fence in the winter pasture before the horses move there Sunday or Monday.  So I took Jess and we went around it, no reason we can't do 2 things at once.  It wasn't bad, a spot where the bulls went through, a couple wires needed stapled up and a couple posts needed.  But all in all nothing my horses would go though.  The bull spot was covered in panels and Neil plans to fix that this week.  I will nail the staples in and he will pound the posts then I will put the staples in there too.

(Love adding photos to map my run :))

(found a cacti under her belly before I rode, 

glad I looked or I might not have had such a great day)

(Stinkin bulls go right through the fence when the gate was even open)

(I love riding her out :)  I'd like to think she does too )

I got a bike carrier for my birthday I love it!  I been wanting one for a while now so my bike doesn't just get thrown around in the back of the truck and this will work fantastic!

And Shirley was asking about Rayne, well I haven't had much time to do stuff with it being weaning season and all but after Wednesday I think we are pretty well done for the year.  I did figure out she has a lack of respect for space, but that's normal shes young and testing.  She got pretty upset at me the other day when I would not let her eat out of my oat bucket and kept crowding me and of course had nothing with me to chase her away with she eventually turned away and crowhopped.  Just frustrated didn't know how to deal, but not toward me to that is OK, she will learn.  And when she was near me and got chased away when I was opening the gate she ran into me....not acceptable that time I had a lead rope so I just stopped opening the gate and twirled the lead rope it hit her butt and she eventually moved away and I stopped and went back to the gate.  Slower than I normally do of course but I think she was thinking it through.  She is very sweet wants lots of attention so I been giving her a little, after next week I think I am gonna keep her and Jess in and get her ponying and then she can come out and see the big world.  I may take her out on her own as well we will see how much nice weather we get.

(you can see the bite marks on her side, 

apparently not that good at moving out of horses ways either)

(But shes so cute and sweet she will leave her oats to come see me)

I don't wanna do too much too soon but I think she is ready for more so I will probly get her saddled and bridled and long lining and stuff this winter, will wait till spring to actually get on her but lots of stuff to do before then.  I'd also like her to load better so I can haul her to Brooks when I go down there and ride.

My Week

Last week had 2 days riding, Tuesday had a lesson on cows it went well, and Thursday rode by myself, I warmed up then wrote Easy's name in the arena and then went out in the pasture for a ride.  he was good but kinda looky and he was pretty careful where he walked on uneven ground as soon as we got to the road he was much faster.  I am in the Central show this Saturday but don't think Ill make it over there till Thursday and Friday.

(the sun was shining and thought Id get a shadow pic

 but he was standing so his ears are missing)

(super sunset Thursday night)

On Friday I started tearing out my old deck and seeing what I have so I can start the deck on the new house.  Wonder when its not gonna be called the new house anymore?  I drew up some plans, looks like it will be 12 by 33.  Not as handy as our other square one which was 16 by 22.  And it will be about 4 feet off the ground so we will have to build stairs and a railing.  I was working on the window seat first but then decided I should wait till they come and straighten our window, looks like it will be next week so not too long to wait.

(about how big and where the new deck will be)

(the old deck coming out)

(the plans)

Then Saturday was the big day of the 80th party.  Was a really long day but a good one.  We got there early and got all the food cut up and over to the hall then we decided to have family pictures taken but the photographer was sick....I think it was a nice day, but I'm not sure.  I didn't know we were getting pics taken but it worked out alright.

(mmm, carrot cake)

(the birthday boy)

(and the whole family.....

Jon, Amanda, Jordan, me, Neil, Karyn, Carlos and

 Lawerence and Pat in front)

Sunday morning we went to visit the neighbors cause Neil wanted to rent a land roller and squish the rocks in the hay field and then after lunch a few relatives from the party come by on the way home to see the new house, that was cool.  I'm glad they could come down all the way from Peace River to visit Lawerence.

(the land roller)

(and crocuses (croci??) Neil picked me)

And yesterday I met friends in town for lunch it was a birthday and then we walked.  It was pretty chilly when we started but much warmer when we got done.  Then I came home and more deck came apart.  I'm taking the pieces I don't need to my sisters tomorrow and we are gonna build her a raised garden.  Will be good practice for when I build my own ;)

(the dugout looked huge this morning, I think it was the wind)

A couple weeks ago we all finally had time to make it to a family dinner.  We got pictures taken and then went out for supper for birthdays.  Mine is Oct 27, my Aunts the 29th, Heidi (my sister) Nov 1st and Tristan Nov 6th.  We also have gotten together but not all at once so my sister had gifts for Mom and Clint's birthdays from the summer.  We musta given ours I guess.

(Mom got a cool beach pic from Bonnie)

(Tristan being weird and Jaret having glowy eyes)

(Bonnie opening her moccasins, 

and My Mom looking Grumpy cause Bonnie just bought a pair 

even though my Mom told her not to right before Christmas)

(Clint's new shirt, and him moving while taking pics)

(I got Heidi this teapot wasn't sure shed like it but she loves Tim's tea and she really did)

(Neil looking at Clint and the boys looking at Tristan's gaming mouse pad)

I got lots of cool stuff, my family knows me so well, pretty much anything horsey I love so that's easy haha.  And I did ask for a quilting mat and a straw dispenser last year for Christmas and never got and I did now :)

(My sign from my sister she knows me so well )

(and she gave me a cutting matt)

(Straw dispenser from Bonnie, it works well way nicer than the boxes)

(and a horseshoe Christmas tree, my Mom got it made with pony shoes 

not knowing I was getting a pony :) )

It was a good day, Me and Neil did a bit of shopping in the morning before we came out to pictures was kinda nice that way.  No family pics yet as I haven't even seen them my Mom picked them up the next day.

Clinic, Winter and My Birthday

Last weekend, I went to a one day clinic on Saturday, it was by a local reining trainer that I had heard of but never really met.  He is not that far away and he holds clinics fairly regularily throughout the summer and so we thought it would be fun to go.  I was thinking I would take Kali cause she is my least broke horse and she has some reining training, so even though it was a basic horsemanship clinic it would be nice to have somewhat similar training.  But when I went out in the morning it was dark and cold and Razz come first up, if I had rode her at all this summer I woulda taken her, but I did not have enough time to ride her down for the clinic in one day.  So then I went to get Kali and she was on the far side of the slough, so I thought maybe Bailey but she was all tense and acting really weird and so Jessie it was.  I kinda wanted to take her anyway cause she is the most in shape and I didnt know how much he would make us do.  So off we went to pick up Char and Terra and we got there and he said it was such a nice day that wwe would use the outdoor arena.  its bigger and brighter and it was so nice I spent most of the day in my long sleeve t-shirt, pretty nice for the end of October.

We started out by telling who we were and our horses and what we wanted to work on, well a lot of them rode with him for a while so he knew them and thier horses and so it was just us 3 who really had to explain, he said he knows Doug, likes him and has even bought horses off him, so that was kinda nice, kinda helpful when he knows what we are doing and what stage we were at.  We started working on collection at a standstill then a walk and trot then eventually at a lope (for some of us) Jessie has not done collection in a while but as soon as I asked she just gives, she is just so easy she just does whatever you ask.  I had a hard time getting it with one hand and so he helped me by saying to scoop the reins and lift farther forward rather than just back.  It seemed to work and we got a lot with very little pressure at all speeds.

The after lunch (of lasagna!) we worked on stops and rollbacks, mine and Chars horses were the most broke there and so we even got to do synchronized rollbacks, that was kinda fun.  We are not used to loping out of a rollback but our horses did it :)  He was saying they don't do a full rollback in a pattern cause its easier to get the right lead if they don't and he also said its not a penalty to pick up the wrong lead as long as you can change back before going around a corner.  I didn't realize that.  Interesting.  Anyways after all that I asked about lead changes cause I could not get Jess to do one without her slowing down to a trot then picking up the other lead.  She will not counter canter either (which is fine with me)  and so he walked me through it and still nothing, so he asked to get on her and I didn't really want him to but since I wanted to make sure it wasn't me (Bailey and Razz and even Kali will do a flying lead change no trouble so I couldn't figure it out)  and he got on her and was surprised how sensitive she is, lol.  Made em laugh cause he always says to put my leg in her and I never really did but then he could see why, no need!  Anyways he said she doesn't move her hip, and I said she does but you have to put your leg farther back, and then it all made sense, we always make her move her shoulder for cutting so she automatically does that first which causes her to change in front but not in back and so I decided I am OK with that, I don't need to mess her up for cutting just for lead changes, she always takes the correct lead so we quit worrying about it.  Whew its not me, lol.  I wouldn't have been surprised if it was, I have never taught a horse to do a flying lead change, they just usually do it but I guess I musta been teaching them without realizing it.

We just decided to go one day and I am glad cause Saturday night Sunday morning it was sure a weather change, it rained then snowed and more snow.  Wasn't very cold, just around freezing but sure not t-shirt weather.

 It was East Coulee breakfast so we went to that and visited with a whole bunch of people around there we don't see very often.  Then home and since it was my birthday I did a whole lot of nothing :)  Until I decided I needed a cake so I made myself one.  I picked my favorite box cake, spice, and mmm was it good.  We didn't have icing but that's OK I liked it anyways.  I never made my favorite meal cause that's too much work (ribs and spaghetti), Neil was gonna take me to Red Lobster but we didn't wanna drive in Calgary on the first snowy day of the year so we had smokies and intense dill Doritos ( I love those!) and cake.  We will go to Calgary another day and have lobster, my mouth is watering just talking about it.

No pics of the clinic, no one to take them and LaTonne asked if the blizzard would affect prices, I doubt it will right away, at some point we might see some change, but more recently was the news that Tyson wasn't buying anymore Canadian beef and so that will probly affect us more, but they only want finished cattle, so not sure if that will be immediate either, and since the rules are so weird (it only has to be fed for 3 months in the US to be considered US beef with COOL)  it may not matter at all, have to wait and see.  I feel glad to be sold our animals and we arent worrying about it yet.  Still watching to see what is happening but not worried yet.

Sister Visit

My sister came out and stayed for 5 days....well her boys too.  That sure was a fun time but exhausting as well.  We went swimming at the Aquaplex in Drumheller one day, and looked at the hoodoos  and climbed the big dinosaur and down to the river at Emerson for a birthday party, and My Mom and Clint come out for a BBQ as well!... and Calaway park on the way home  And in between we walked lots and visited lots and the boys played on bales, rode bikes, Pogo-sticked, and helped Neil, Neil was teaching Tristan to weld.  They sure would like to come out longer I think.  They were kinda sad Jessie was at the trainer so they didn't get a chance to ride but maybe next year I will be more prepared for that.

They come out Thursday night and Heidi was doing a course that day for work and afterwards I picked them up and we went for supper and then headed out here, we stopped in Strathmore to buy a birthday present and then again in Drum to buy groceries.  It was about 11:30 when we got here and the tent wasn't set up yet.  I had borrowed one from Charlene and so I had set it up before and knew it was easy so we just went to set it up even though it was late.  I told the boys to be quiet cause Neil was sleeping and I thought it was weird he didn't leave the light on though.  We got the tent up and the boys blew up their air mattresses and were all set and then Neil drives in the yard!  Haha he stayed out to finish baling that's why no lights were on and we never woke him up.  We all had a good laugh at that!

The next day we decided to go swimming cause I never been to the pool and the boys LOVE swimming.  It was really cool, the outdoor and indoor were open and they have tonnes of floaties and we tried them all, everything from a canoe, to a giant hippo to a weird rocket ship thingy and of course rings.   Then we went up the big dinosaur and we stopped at the hoodoos on the way home.  There are tonnes of hoodoos in the valley but there is one set where it is all set up for tourists, parking, bathrooms, paths and all but we went to a different one that we could climb on and not be surrounded by people (it was the long weekend after all)

 (The boys in the dinosaurs mouth)

My sister just got a fit bit exercise tracker and I been using my map my run to map my rides and walks so we did a lot of walking while she was out too. One day we walked down to the creek and up a different hill and we walked a couple times down the road, once the 2 mile way and once all 4 miles (there and back).  She is supposed to do 10, 000 steps a day which is about 4 miles so no problem that day.

My Mom and Clint both have birthdays in July and we were having trouble finding a time to all get together so we invited them out when everyone else was here and it was awesome.  We had a BBQ supper and they opened presents, my Mom walked with us (the 2 mile walk) and we saw a snake on the road and my sister wanted to touch it but every time she got close it would move and she would jump back.  It was soo funny she just couldn't do it, lol.

Then Neil's Mom had a birthday and they were down at Emerson campground and so we headed down there for the afternoon.  It was a nice place down there, but boy were the mosquitoes bad.  We hardly have any at home anymore so we were unused to that.  It was a good time anyway we had a fire and cooked supper and just visited.

(Manitoba smore, inside a chocolate chip cookie)

One day it was a little chilly out and we had wanted to create something so we looked though cookbooks and found a recipe for peanut butter fudge, it looked easy so we made it, although we did add chocolate icing on top and it was awesome!  And I had bought creamsicle icing down in Great Falls last time and really wanted to try it so we had chocolate cupcakes with it on, boy were they good too!

Then it was almost time to leave :(  But we decided we should go to Calaway Park, so we stopped at Heidi's and dropped everything off and headed out there.  Been a long time since I been and boy its still fun!  Had a lot of fun on the roller coaster (its my favorite roller coaster I ever been on) and then we did lots of other rides, including a train.  Jaret puked after one ride and didn't really wanna go on anymore rides after that, but I think it was all in his head cause he sure had no problem eating candy or a full supper afterwards.  But we went on some anyways, lol.  I even made them go on the carousel, lol and I rode a black and white paint :)  I was hoping Mary Poppins would come along and we could leave the ride but she didn't

 (we even saw Mario's wife, lol)

 (rainbow the clown and his tiny sandwich)

 (Tristan watched the creepy rabbit show instead 

of going on the bumper cars with us!)

 (our fashion statement, ziplock bags over our cameras in 

case we went on a wet ride (and we did))

(and Sherry I took this for you, an appy seagull, lol)

All in all a fun time, cant wait to do it again next year :)