Bulls

Well things are happening around here.  It suddenly got hot out, yesterday was 28*C and today they forcast 30!  way too hot for beginning of May.  Especially considering Tuesday had rain and hail and cold weather all day.

But we got our bulls back to the yard from the spring pasture and tested them yesterday, sure not my favorite job but its got to be done.  We had one that never tested but he was 6 and almost lame so not a big deal, he will just go to town next week.  We bought 2 new ones this spring after the CFIA killed 2 of them and so with 26 less cows we will have enough.  The new ones are gonna come anytime this week so that will be good to have everything here.

I started a bunch of seeds in early April, about a month later than usual but the tomatoes were getting big anyways so I transplanted them and they have been outside the last couple days when its been so warm.  Its right off the deck facing East, super handy as I have them on the window seat overnight so its nice and close.

And today off to drop off my trailer so they can do some repairs/additions and then to the draft horse sale in Olds, still hunting for a pony harness and whatever other treasures there is.

Thursday

On Tuesday I had a lesson and it was well nothing special just a day on the flag, then it was so nice out I thought I'd go out to the hayfield and meet the other 2 ladies who were riding out there for a cool down.  Well there was a puddle with a chunk of ice in it and Easy figured that was too much  and I didn't wanna fight so we went around it, then a trench where water was draining and he had a real good look, I was ready for him to leap over it and no he just took big steps over it so that was good.  Sure was nice out there I coulda rode out all day.  On my way over, just a few miles north of our house I saw 4 elk.  We have been getting more and more here all the time but we hadnt seen any since our bunch of 37 left in December sometime.  Of course no camera so you get a cell phone pic.

(Elk, they still have antlers)

Wednesday and today were spent helping my neighbors video bulls for their bull sale coming up in March.  Pretty slow work but its always interesting to listen to them talk about the genetic behind each bull.  Some were really nice others just nice, they seem to be getting better every year.  Doesn't really matter if I like them anyways haha since they are black and we have red cows.  But they have good cows and pretty quiet and you could tell.  I was essentially a gate who kept the ones not done from the done ones and then brought a new one when needed.

(Hanging out in the alleyway)

Back to lessons tomorrow as long as the rain we are getting now doesn't make all the roads a skating rink by morning.

Dilemmas Dilemmas....And Ranch Pics

Well I have a dilemma now, I was planning on using Easy for the horsemanship challenge but I need 30 rides and 40 hours and I was calculating if I go twice a week every week plus 5 shows.  That's only 29 rides and most will be around an hour, our lessons are only about 10-15 minutes but there's warm up and cool down time so close to. But 29 rides and 29 hours wont make me finish the goal, and if the weather is bad that means even less  times I go over there.  Especially if I wanna ride other horses at home as well.  Unless I turn out my home ponies and just go for him all winter.

Or I use the pony and see if I can get enough hours in between times I go ride and show Easy.  Hmm this was a lot easier when I was planning on having him home cause he needs rode 5-6 times a week.  So many choices to make, ach!

But off topic we had family here and they wanted to go take pics of the ponies and bulls and frost, so even though it was super cold out we went.  

(Dee and Jess watching us)

(Pally after a poop haha)

(me and Pally)

(Carlos and Dee, she liked him and he wanted pictures with his palomino)

(he walked away and she followed him)

(Carlos checking out the pony, Dee still watching him)

(she pushed her way into him again)

(and he liked her :) )

(then to look at the bulls)

(with a magpie on his back)

(disturbing his eating)

(these guys were hanging out in the shed)

(oh 38 with a hay face)

(and of course Ziggy the cat came to visit)

(he needed to pose by the tractor)

(and another cool pic of our house)

Turned out good. I'm glad we went even though I thought we would freeze to death.

Testing Testy Bulls

Every year we semen test our bulls before we put them out with the cows just to make sure they aren't shooting blanks and today was the day.  We have 9 bulls this year and one we bought in April has been done so that just leaves 8.  It was 26*C here today, by far the hottest we have had which is fine for bulls but not so good for humans.  Luckily our bulls are pretty quiet and we had very little trouble with them.  The first one we did he just jumped back and forth in the chute the whole time and generally wasn't happy but not bad, the next 3 were super good, then we had one that wouldn't load, just would not move.  Well none of us 4 can move a 2000 pound bull if he don't wanna move so that was hard but we had a gate that we open to load in the stock trailer that we just pushed on behind him and left him nowhere to go but in.  After that he was fine.  Number 6 was good to get in but as he was almost done layed down. ugh so we let him out and brought him around again to the back of the line.  We did the last couple and the new bull came in and got a vaccination for footrot (they all got it, after they tested good) and then we put number 6 in again.  He lasted good enough this time we got him tested up and all our bulls are good this year :)

(waiting to be done)

(getting done)

(some bulls are just wimpy and lay down in awkward postions)

(yay they are done!  and eating the little bit of grass in the pasture from winter)

Now they will stay in the pasture by the house till its time to go out to the cows, they will get one more footrot shot then, I imagine they wont like going in the chute then very much but we will get it done somehow.

(the whole garden)

(Tomatoes that I was told not too put in cages cause they will grow too

 big for them but I am a bad person and didn't listen)

And I got my corn and tomatoes planted, yay!  so just them and potatoes in the garden so far, I have hot peppers and carrots and lettuce and maybe a pumpkin to go in so far.  And Shirley, good eye, it has a label I just couldn't remember when I came in the house to post.

Snowed In

On Monday I had an appointment at the dentist in Calgary.  I wasn't too thrilled to be going down to downtown Calgary just to get a root canal done, but that's where my dentist sent me so I was going there.  But a storm was predicted for Monday so I figured I better go on Sunday in case roads were bad.  I stopped at Chars for coffee on the way and then off to my sisters.  Sure is handy she lives there and lets me stay.

Sure enough it was pretty snowy and windy overnight and into the morning but I was only 9 minutes away (in good weather) from her house so I left an hour early since i had no idea where I was going or where to park or what the roads were like.  I found it easy, love the GPS on my phone.  got parked and in the building.  Then had no idea where to go, was harder to find it inside then it was to find the building, so I called them and she told me past the bank across the +15 and they are on the right.  I was laughing at the bank, cause after all I was in bankers hall, lol.  But I did find it and was there half hour early, oh well, better early than late.  I got in early and he was really a cool doctor, took more x-rays then told me exactly what he was doing, and as he was working he kept talking to me.  If it wasn't for my jaw getting sore from being open so long, I coulda had a nap.  I like there were a lot less power tools than a filling, i actually preferred it even if it took longer.  And the weird rubber things they used to fill the holes were neat too, I wish I coulda watched.

Afterwards had paid parking till 2 so shopped around a bit then headed back to Heidi's cause it was obviously not getting better so I decided to stay another day. I had planned for this and brought an extra day of clothes.  I kinda thought it was gonna clear off by Tuesday morning and I would head home and hope it was nice Wed to ride....haha.  On Monday night the RCMP closed all the roads out of Drumheller, you had to have special permission to leave town that's how bad all the roads were.And so roads looked bad on Tues morning and so I stayed put.  My sister worked but they had 3 people on and no one was coming in so she left them working and came home after 6 hours.  She brought lunch and we played video games all afternoon and evening, it was a lot of fun, been a while since I didn't have anything I could do.

 (the worst corner)

 (how most roads were)

 (our gravel road, looks icy but just super sunny)

But this morning I got up and the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing so I looked at all the weather reports and roads looked pretty good, so after 11 (I waited till all the rush hour traffic was gone) and headed out.  The roads were really well clear through the city and then out of the city was good till I got to the Beisiker corner.  That corner is notoriously bad for snow buildup and it lived up to its name again.  From there too Rosebud was pretty good with spots where there was too much snow and no room in the ditch that is was piled up on the road.  But it was still passable and not slippery.  From Rosebud through Drum and hom was all clear.  Our gravel road even had very little snow but our Texas gate was snowed it but soft so I made it through and our yard probly had the worst of it.  Neil plowed it all out the day before but he said 4 foot drifts from house to shop. I am glad he cleaned it out so I could get in.

 (the bulls shed, wish my ponies had a shed)

 (frosty hungry bulls)

 (the cool snow by the windbreak...with Kali in the background)

 (Kali not sure what shes doing)

( Not much wasted feed for them, kinda wish there was more so they could lay in it)

 (Jess in the sunshine, wishin she was out in the field)

(Razz, Disco and Belle out in the pasture eating grass under snow)

I went out to see the ponies and how they handled it, and they were fine, I think kinda wanted out but things will get back to normal around here soon I hope.  Lots of blown snow, but I don't think much new stuff fell.

A Week Already???

Wow where has the time gone?  It seems like it was only yesterday that I last blog and here it has been a week!  Well what all has happened, I went for a lesson Friday and it was good, we worked cows and was not perfect but he was happy with how much I could work a cow with little instruction.  We still don't know what happened at the show, part of it was she was fresh from not working cows and part of it was probly me being nervous, he says I lean when I am nervous.  I never knew that and so will have to go watch some old videos and see.  But it makes sense, I used to be nervous at lessons and now its just the norm but been to a lot less shows and they count for something so I guess I still get nervous.  But the plan is still on for her to stay there at the end of the month.  Although not sure how long, he mentioned about 5 months to me but said a couple months to her previous owner, guess we will see how it goes.  In a way I want longer but in a way shorter, so I dunno what I really want.

After the ride went to Chars for a trail ride and we rode out for a couple hours, it was good.  Then she asked if I wanna stay over and go for another ride in the morning before I left home.  So why not?  I don't get to ride with others much its kinda a nice change.  We rode for another couple hours in the morning.  Jessie was surprised when I said trail ride and it turned kinda into a mountain ride with all the steep coulees there, lol, but she was real good as we were trying to find new trails.

Then I went home and rototilled my garden, still have a few more days to improve the soil so I wanted to do it a few times.  That was a long day and I was exhausted and my knees felt like the were gonna explode (although I'm not sure it was from either of those things, but it was awful no matter what).  Then Sunday we headed to Brooks for a BBQ at Neil's Mom and Dads, it was nice to sit around a fire and just relax for a change.

Sunday I don't know what happened, lol it seems like all the days run together and I can't remember anything, although I do know I took a short ride on Jess, I wanted to get her out and moving cause I was afraid her hocks were sore from all the hills so moving was good.  Not thinking my knees were still sore and about 15 minutes out, I was done.  Although still not at home and so it wasn't really a fun ride for me but she was good and just ambled home without my help.   Monday I went to Calgary with my sister and returned my cans (for $88!) and went to the new Target and just visited and shopped.  It was good, but late as I didn't get home till 11:30.

 (rays of Sun on my way home from Calgary)

(Neil's birthday gift a little late, a Tardis robe, he loved it :) )

Tuesday I know I went for a lesson and it was on the flag cause he had used up all the cattle already.  He has some cows not good for young horses and so he just turns them out if they are not working so he don't mess them up.  But the flag was pretty good, I actually felt for the first time ever when she was drifting off, that was cool I could pick it up and fix her all on my own, one day I will be able to run the flag on my own.

Wednesday we tested bulls, but the vet got here and forgot we asked him to bring the footrot vaccine and so he had to go back and get it.  So we had an hour and  a half to waste and I tried to get the rototiller going and it wouldn't run, so I thought maybe mow the lawn and couldn't get that going cause it needed a new air filter, shoulda gone with my instinct and went riding.  But by then it was too late so just sorta cleaned my kitchen (could probly should spend days and clean my house its kinda a pigsty since I been so busy outside) We got 2 bulls that need to be retested, he thinks they will be fine in a retest but couldn't pass them this time. And 2 that need their feet trimmed, and one of those is the same one, so if he don't retest, we wont trim his feet, just sell him for bologna ;)

 (Pretty hard to test bulls when they lay down in the chute!)

 (Finally got the new hub on the old trailer and it is back up and running again.  

Although it hasn't been for a test drive yet)

(Crazy kitty tried to help us test bulls, maybe the only time he is glad he is castrated??)

Thursday I shoulda gone for a lesson but went for a real nice trail ride instead.  We were just loping along at her nice slow arena lope, although it felt slower than her arena lope, and all the sudden I looked ahead and saw a bunch of wire, I say whoa and sit back, even used my horn and she stopped immediately which is good cause her nose was about 6 inches from the wire.  I guess she can stop when I mean it!  I got off and tied the wire to the fence.  She is so different than my ranch horses, I know Bailey and Razz woulda seen it coming and just gone around it, but Jessie is still expecting perfect ground all the time.  Glad I had seen it though  I generally don't look at the ground, that's the horses job.  But anyways I was on my way out to where Neil said he saw an Eagles nest.  It was across the dam and then down the could a couple hundred yards I thought.  The coulee was wet at the bottom and pretty steep so we just stayed up top but I must be blind cause I did not see it.  I asked him when i got back where it was and that is where is shoulda been so I will have to go back and maybe take my camera and hopefully see it.  I guess that is also on the way to the tee pee rings.  That was a pretty long ride, about hour and a half, don't sound long, but since we loped for a lot of it, it was a nice ride.  And Jessie got to eat grass after we were home so she was happy.  Also rototilled the garden for a second time, needs something added to it so it is not so hard, I can only get about 4 or 5 inches deep and then its like rock.

And then today, Oh ya!  We also booked Jazz in to the trainer, she is going on the 6th of June, she will just get basic riding.  I have to talk more about it when I get there and make sure he rides her out or she will stay a couple months.  I would like him to put her on the flag and cows if she is ready as well, but outside riding is more important as she has to be rode outside at home.  I actually never talked to him, lol, Char mentioned I had a filly to come and made all the arrangements  seems weird to me but It will work out good.  I am excited but nervous as well.  Oh and we booked our branding for the 3rd of June, that should work for both the show the weekend after that and for taking Jazz.  Sure will be an exhausting week though!

OK, today, I went to town since I have been avoiding it forever and I forgot it was a long weekend or I woulda waited, but I needed stuff ( like the air filter for the mower) and I wanted to ask the hardware lady about my deck plans, she says they are good so now I will make up a list of materials and then buy them and get started next week.  I would like to be done before we brand, but somehow I doubt that will happen.  And had coffee with friends, seems like so long since we got together it was just nice.  Then got home and put the mower together and mowed the yard/jungle.  Sure looks good now :)  I love my yard.  I also got some peat moss for the garden (since I could not find zeolite) and have to rototill it in, maybe tomorrow.

Haha Cindy if you lived closer, I would trade for  jeep, I kinda do want a vehicle to just bomb around in and just leave my truck hooked to the trailer.  Would be handy really.  I still haven't listed on Northern, I should, but with 25 pages of horses for sale it seems a bit redundant to list more.  Wish they had a way of splitting them up into young/prospect horses and mature horses.  I hate looking on there for a horse and they have a baby listed as a ranch horse, maybe will be one but obviously not one now, just annoying to me, but maybe not to others.  One day  when I am not busy I will list them though.  I had Belle and Bailey listed last year and only one response, so doesn't really seem worthwhile.  And had  Jazz sold as a baby and the lady backed out after I already told others she was sold, I was really upset at that, so I am kinda not overly fond of that website right now, although better than Kijiji I guess, there are all kinds of nuts out there, I would not list a horse on there unless it was pretty well bombproof (as my Gypsy was) cause there all kinds of crazies on there that want a cheap horse for their kids and don't know anything themselves.   Those people always worry me.  But enough of a rant for tonight, lol.  I need to find some new homes and so list them I will.

Caretaking

So besides Magic with her wound, we also have a calf that got caught somewhere and has a wound as well. He just pretty much lays around in the corral and makes Neil bring him feed and water.  I have to let the ponies in there for water a couple times a day but they don't seem to bother him to much.

So today was Magics first test with the icing sugar and since I am giving her some in feed antibiotics mixed with her oats, she was pretty willing and I got pretty close and just sprinkled the icing sugar on it.  She didn't even care.  This might be good for her in the long run, she sure seems quieter when she is sore.

I been seperating her and Bailey to eat their oats cause I want to make sure Magic gets her antibiotics, so Bailey gets locked in with the calf and then turned back out afterwards.

Seems I was kinda disorganized this morning so I had lots of time while waiting for them to eat that I went and fed the pasture horses a treat of oats as well.  Since Neil fed rolled them out a bale the other day they are full and were not even gonna come over to get the oats till I started putting it on the ground.  Silly ponies  but much better manners than when they are hungry, lol.

And since Neil hadnt fed the heifers yet, they were sure I was coming with the oats to them, sure was being watched!

And as walking through the bull pen to the pasture ponies I got the bulls eating as well (and one old cow)

Seems all the animals want to do is eat.  Cant blame them, I like to eat too :)