Stormy Again

Why oh why cant it just be summer already??? At least we aren't getting snow this time and out power isn't out yet. Seems like we cant go a week without some kind of storm. I like rain, but I want to be picky and get rain at night and have it nice in the daytime.

After all my worry of Gypsy not foaling yet, I am kinda glad she decided to wait till the weather is a little nicer (i hope so anyhow) We don't have a barn here, but we do have good sheds I can keep her in if she needs to, but Id rather her stay in the pasture if I can. The sheds were used for the bulls all winter (I bet they are wishing they could use them now!) so they are fairly clean, but not as clean as I like. I know I'm picky, but might as well have as good as there is if I can.

Me and Linda went to the horse sale last night and I'm kinda kicking myself this morning. No I never bought a horse, but I should have. A nice little 10 year old Arab mare went through. She was broke, looked quiet, and I have no horse to ride till Bailey gets better or Dinero is broke. The real kicker is she sold for $350. I sure could rode her a while and sold her again without losing money I'm sure. But too late now, never paid much attention to how much she was going for anyways till it was over.

Not much going on around her today, just computers, Neils doing books, and maybe some video games will occur later this afternoon.

Oh and Shirley you need to reguess cause I have no idea when I am getting a foal, but I know it wasn't Tuesday.

Nothing Yet

When I first bred Belle, it was cause I didn't know what else to do with her. I really like her, but shes so afraid of everything. I had taken her to someone to ride and after 2 weeks she said it would take forever cause shes just afraid and suggested I ride someone else. She doesn't spook, and she seems fine on the ground. I'm not sure what caused this, but its how it is now. So since I really like her confirmation and papers are not bad, I thought I would get a colt out of her and see then. Well the people I got her from offered me a free breeding when i bought her two years ago, so I called them up and went to see hi studs. The first was out cause its her sire, the second was NICE, but...(always a but) he was quite aggressive with the mares and she was so timid, we picked Joe. Hes gentle and quiet, even a little afraid of the mares (it was cute, he comes up to us for feed instead of chasing the mares away)

Anyways back on topic, I was so excited waiting for a baby, then I got Razz and she was bred too and so I was kinda glad Belles baby wouldn't be alone all summer. Then I ended up with Gypsy and shes also bred. Then I was a little worried about getting in over my head, but was kinda glad Gypsy was gonna be first, cause shes done it before and it should be easier that way.

Well as time went on, I realized there was sooo much i didn't know about mares foaling and her I have three, 2 which are new to this. I tried to learn all I could, and some is similar to cows, and some way different. I am lucky to have people who help me and I can ask all kinds of crazy questions.

Now as Gypsy is getting later and later, I am just getting impatient, I want a baby already! I need to get out and see other people and get a normal life. I try to go out and do stuff, thinking it wont be today, but the whole time I am gone I am worried she needs help. Even at night I have to fight the urge to stay inside, I would like to see her all the time so I know its going to be all right. I am totally prepared to miss the birth and I am okay with that, I just wanna go out ans see her and a baby beside her.

On other sides, there is a horse sale in Brooks tonight and I might go with a friend and see what everyone else is up to. Its raining, so everybody in the country will be there.

Oh and yesterday i got to ride Shaken again. Hes pretty fun to ride and its good for me to ride with my left hand, I am super uncoordinated with the left hand, I can ride fine in tow hands, and if i ride one handed with the right hand i am pretty good, but it doesn't seem to transfer over. So he lets me know when i done it wrong, cause he always wants to go to the middle of the arena and stop if I'm not paying attention.

And I think Dinero is going througha growth spurt again cause he is looking gangly and long legged again.

More Beaver Dams

This morning, Neil convinced me again to help him pull out beaver dams. I wasn't that enthused about it, but I guess it gots to be done. The first one was on kinda a curve, so we were actually both on the same side of the creek pulling back and forth and there was a lot of water backed up there. We finished that one, and moved it another one not that far away. That was fine, until Neils tractor wouldn move, he tried to change gears, and it wouldn't go into gear, so he got out and there was a tree stump stuck under where the gears are. So that was the end of pulling out that beaver dam. We drove together in my tractor home.
(A picture of the tearer outter)

We got home had lunch then Neil fed his heifers and turned them out, then he moved the calves out to the corner, because the vet was gonna come on Thursday to test bulls and the weather looks like its gonna be bad on wed, Thurs, Fri, so he wants to do it before it turns icky again.


(Afterwards, lots of water coming out!)

Riding, Eeyore Cooler and Mares

Yesterday I went riding and took Bailey along too see if she is cured. Well not so much. She seems fine at the walk, but still super stiff at the trot, especially when turning. We felt around, and she seems a little sore in her left stifle, but not as bad as last time, and she seems worse going right, so that seems weird. I never thought about it till I got home and the other mares were pretty close, but instead of trotting to them, she loped. I notice I never see her trot outside, only lope, so maybe when it dries up I will take her outside and see if she seems okay at a lope, and maybe its just trotting that bothers her. We are gonna try and put her on a herb, not sure which one yet, Jardi is talking to the silver lining people today and from there booklet it sounds like a kidney one, but we will try what she suggests for a month and then reevaluate.

Afterwards, I had to try on her new cooler and it looks like shes in her Jammies!
I think its a little small on the neck, but I can fix that pretty easily with another Velcro piece. Sorry about the darkness, it was in the barn cause it kept blowing off in the wind.

My Aunt Bonnie asked me to make nightstands to match her pine bed, so I created them, and not turns out shes allergic to pine and so sold her bed and got a cherry one and is gonna use them as end tables. She wants to stain them to match her coffee table, so they are unfinished now.

and no foal yet, just this when I look out the window and they see me coming.

Oh and Linda and Shirley need a new guess cause theirs has past. Oh and Shirley's mare foaled a cute boy last night! Go check him out!

Mane event

Well yesterday I went up to the Mane Event in Red Deer. it was pretty awesome as always. I love looking through all the shopping they have up there. There literally is something for everyone. I went up with nothing specific to buy, but of course that never happens.

The best part was I got to meet Sherry from Fern Valley Appaloosas. That was awesome. She is a very nice person and I had a great visit with her and learnt some stuff too.

We went and watched Curt Pate with groundwork and working the rope. It was okay, but all kinda basic.

That's the only clinician we watched, I'm kinda embarrassed to say I didn't even watch Brent Trout and I know him. But i kinda have a problem with these trainers challenge type events, cause it makes people think it only takes three hours and your horse is ready to go. We all know that isn't true, but if you never started a horse, this could be a big problem and I'm sure people have gotten hurt doing following this.

I was looking around, and I saw a pair of spurs I loved, I have a perfectly good pair I use, but I really liked these ones. I looked at them, left and looked at others, but I just had to eventually get them.


Old ones on boots



Old ones after cleaning them up


New spurs



New spurs on clean boots




They look so much better and Im sure Bailey will love them as well. I also got a Eeyore cooler, I may try it on her this afternoon and Im sure she will love it as well.

Color Calculator

I got an email from the people I got Razz from, and she sent me a color calculator. It is really cool and so I thought I would share it. With it you enter as much information on the sire and dam as you know and it comes up with the possibilities of foal color. I did it for Razz and we got
13.18% - Buckskin Tovero
13.18% - Bay Tobiano
13.18% - Bay Tovero
13.18% - Buckskin Tobiano
4.39% - Bay
4.39% - Bay Overo
4.39% - Smoky Black Tobiano
4.39% - Black Tobiano
4.39% - Black Tovero
4.39% - Buckskin Overo
4.39% - Smoky Black Tovero
4.39% - Buckskin
1.46% - Smoky Black
1.46% - Black Overo
1.46% - Black
1.46% - Smoky Black Overo
1.17% - Palomino Tovero
1.17% - Chestnut Tobiano
1.17% - Chestnut Tovero
1.17% - Palomino Tobiano
0.39% - Chestnut Overo
0.39% - Chestnut
0.39% - Palomino
0.39% - Palomino Overo

That is if shes buckskin, if shes actually smokey black she gets
17.58% - Smoky Black Tobiano
17.58% - Black Tobiano
17.58% - Black Tovero
17.58% - Smoky Black Tovero
5.86% - Smoky Black Overo
5.86% - Smoky Black
5.86% - Black Overo
5.86% - Black
1.17% - Chestnut Tovero
1.17% - Chestnut Tobiano
1.17% - Palomino Tobiano
1.17% - Palomino Tovero
0.39% - Chestnut Overo
0.39% - Chestnut
0.39% - Palomino Overo
0.39% - Palomino
So a number of choices, not sure what its gonna be, will have to wait and find out.

And then for Gypsy
21.97% - Bay Roan Overo
21.97% - Bay Roan
21.97% - Bay Overo
21.97% - Bay
1.56% - Chestnut Roan Overo
1.56% - Chestnut Roan
1.56% - Chestnut Overo
1.56% - Chestnut
1.46% - Blue Roan Overo
1.46% - Blue Roan
1.46% - Black Overo
1.46% - Black

So Pretty much how I thought, will change if sire is homozygous for roan, but not sure about that and as far as I know shes never had a "colored" foal.

And Belle
29.17% - Buckskin
29.17% - Bay
16.67% - Palomino
16.67% - Chestnut
4.17% - Smoky Black
4.17% - Black
She seems pretty simple compared to the rest.


And this year I was thinking of breeding Bailey(red dun) to Jardi's Tangle (palomino roan)and this is what I got:
12.50% - Red Dun Roan
12.50% - Red Dun
12.50% - Palomino Roan
12.50% - Palomino
12.50% - Dunalino Roan
12.50% - Dunalino
12.50% - Chestnut Roan
12.50% - Chestnut

So looks pretty even on different colors, not that it really matters to me what color tehy are, but I think bay is my favorite, and I might get one out of Belle, well have to wait and see.

Dinero, Funny Calves and Income Tax

We got our income tax returns from the accountant in the mail today and I am NOT happy with the accountant they sent to us, he was totally and completely wrong about what we owe. On mine, I asked if I would owe money cause I could definitely put more money into my RRSPs. He said oh no you will definitely be getting a refund, well turns out I owe 2900! not happy here. But Neils is worse, he was told he would get 8000 back (from his installment) and it turns out he owes 12000 more!! That's a 20000 dollar mistake!! How can it be so wrong, we are calling to make sure we never get him again!

Anyhow onto more exciting subjects, Yesterday Neil took the puppy for a walk. I guess shes not really a puppy anymore cause she's almost year old. But anyways they walked down the road and saw the horses and she wanted to stop at every hole and see if anything was in them. I went out as they were coming back and Bailey galloped up to the fence where we were. Neil I think feels sad cause they just meander to him when he walks by, lol. Anyways while I was petting her and the others that came slower, a calf got through the fence and was wandering in the horse pasture. Gypsy saw it and was headed towards it and then saw the new hay bale, then looked back to calf, but hay won out and it was closer. Then Razz saw the calf and started heading over and she walked right up to it, nose on the ground, and when it seen her, it hightailed it off back along the fence with a big BAWL. Razz just turned and went to eat. It was so funny, you could almost hear the calf thinking "MOMMY a big black and white thing is gonna get me, HELP!!"

Today I was walking by the gelding and seen something funny. Here is Dinero when I first got him and he saw a cow for the first time (high alert):

and here is him this morning (quite a bit less worried, I think he likes em):
I think the cows got a little worried about me being out there and moved away a little, I was trying to hide cause otherwise Dinero comes over.



And while on my tour this morning, I had a look at the garden and it looks like I need to get out the roundup and rototiller.




At least the strawberries survived the winter, as did a few weeds and grass amongst them too.

Moving Cows

Yesterday Neil was goona move his calves out to the corner pasture now that we have had some rain and the grass was turning green. However I told him I don't want him moving them thought the mares and getting them all upset when the calves don't move as directed (because they never do!) So I was gonna take them all out for half hour and he would move the calves and all would be good. However like all plans, that didn't happen. He looked at the grass and decided a few more days of growing would be better, so we moved them to where the gelding are. That should have been easy, they have to walk across the yard and into the gate. But...getting calves to go out a gate you keep chasing them in all winter inst so easy. Finally after about a hundred trips around the pen, the left. They walked across the yard quite well, cause I was keeping them off the lawn and Neil was on the other side, and they walked in the gate and went right to eating. Not sure the geldings are impressed, but there is lots of room for them all.

Now we have to get the heifers who have calved moved down to the creek where there is tame hay, and the heifers who haven't calves, they get left until they are finished. Then first week of may or so, the cows will move to summer grass and the calves moved to there field as soon as the grass gets growing, which shouldn't take long with this warm weather we have been having.

And we are finally starting the green house today and hopefully gonna pound the posts for my yard. Woo hoo spring is finally here, I wore shorts yesterday and yard work is getting done.

Massage and a Party

On Saturday, we had Neils mom and dad and sister come over for a BBQ for his birthday. The weather was absolutely beautiful! There was no wind and the temp was about 20 C. We have and his party on days where we were sitting outside around the fire wrapped in blankets until someone got smart and we went inside. This has been the nicest year since Ive been around.

I took Bailey over to Jardis for a massage today and she always gets upset around the poll. She likes the rest, even the sore spots shes not real bad, but that head twist she tries to evade every time, even though afterwards she licks and chews and acts relaxed. She acts like she is better, but I will give her prolly till Friday till I try her again.

And Gypsy is looking more comfortable than she has for the last week, so not sure whats going o there, I wish shed get on with it already! I wanna baby before the weekend so I can spend at least one day at the Mane Event. There is so much there and I like to go see, and besides I know Brent Trout, and would be interesting to see him in the Trainers Challenge.

Storm and Power outages

Wow its been a long long time since I been on the Internet. On Tuesday evening it started raining and never thought much about it, even though the radio was saying 15-20 cm of snow, we NEVER get that much snow at one time. Well at dark, the rain turned to snow, and wind of course. about 1 am our power went out. It wasn't too cold, so we never noticed till about 5. Neil hooked up the generator and we were finally warm again, but our phones were out still. We checked the heifer and there was one in the mud dead. Over all we lost 3 in the storm. We saved a couple others, one was just born, but was on the shed and it was fine, there was another Neil had to bring into the barn and it survived, the third got stuck under a fence and ended up bloated and died.



Sure glad we had a generator! We woulda had trouble watering the heifers and calves with no power to the water troughs. I went out and fed the mares on Wed morning and had a talk with Gypsy about waiting till the weather was nice in a few days to foal, and I think she was in agreement with me as she stood hunched up in the best spot out there.

I never fed the boys cause they are just north of the house and walking north was so horrible, and you just got soaked and couldn't see anything, so I just waited.

At about 2 om on wed, the snow stopped and Neil said there was a power line out across our road, so I thought I would go have a look. It was in the best possible spot, cause the power line runs right thought the pasture the mares are in, across the road and through the pasture the geldings are in and it broke across the road, not touching either fence! It was weird. When I went out there, its about a half mile walk, Dinero and George followed me the whole way there and the whole way back!

All in all, we got about 8 inches of wet snow, with about 2 inches of water underneath it all. What a mess! but we need the moisture so I guess its all good. By Thursday, half the snow was gone and just muddy everywhere.

Friday I was supposed to take Bailey for her massage, but Jardi called and said the yard is icky, so don't bring the trailer and just come ride one of her horses. So i went over and got to ride Shaken. He is pretty nice, awesome walker, but kinda lazy at the jog or lope. It was fun, but Id rather ride Dot I think.

Our power finally came on about 3:30 Friday afternoon. There were 4 power guys fixing the one line, so they musta been almost done everywhere else.

Snowy and Gypsy

Well we are back to winter around here again. Its supposed to snow 15-20 centimeters of snow (6-8 inches) tonight and then melt by tomorrow. Yikes why cant we just have rain.

Anyways, I forgot to put in who Gypsy was bred to, and i better do that before you all decide the color. His name is Fintry War Chief and he is a bay roan. Her last foal was from him and she was bay roan, I'm not sure but he might always throw roans. He is Quarter horse and she has never had painted color foal, so I'm not holding out for that. I do however hope she doesn't have a bay roan colt, cause that's Neils favorite color and I had planned to sell it, but if he likes it...So if anyone wants to change there mind on color, I'm okay with that, not sure why I never thought of it yesterday.

Beaver Dams and a Contest

Today Neil asked me if I would help him tear out some beaver dams in the creek. There are three that are blocking the flow on the creek.

The one we tore out today was just past a crossing, so the crossing was sitting under water and made ruts whenever we tried to cross it.

We took two tractors, one on each side of the creek and in between was a homemade beaver dam ripper outer. It was just pulled back and forth between the two tractors and eventually the dam gets broken up enough to let water through.

Neil is gonna put a piece of irrigation pipe in the bottom, so if they rebuild it the water will still flow through.

I also went and put a salt block out with the mares today and had a good look at them and thought I should have a "guess the foaling date" contest as well as Shirley and Prairie Ridge.

So I guess just guess the date and color and sex of the baby and we will pick the closest one to win this!

We will start with Gypsy. This could be a challenge cause I am not sure when she was bred, cause I bought her that way last October, but I was told she is due on April 21. She has had three colts before this and not sure if they were early or late or even different every year.

Here's a couple pics of her I took today at the salt block.

and a front view



and a cup of ovaltine with cool whip to warm us all up on a rainy/snowy night.

Golden Relish

My mom is allergic to everything! from horses and cats to wheat and strawberries, tomatoes, mustard, beef, lettuce, egg yolks. Anyways she cant have most relishes because they have mustard in them, and when you cant eat ketchup or mustard, food gets kinda boring.

Well I found a recipe she says everything in it was okay, so I tried it out. And so will everyone else, cause it made 17 pints and 6 half pints. Way too much. Especially considering I don't even like relish myself.

First of the vegetables

5 pounds onions


and five pounds of cucumber and 2 celery hearts


and 3 red and 3 green peppers and 1 head of cauliflower


Chop all vegetables up and put through food grinder. I used my slap chop, but by the end I was sure wishing it had a power button!

Put vegetables in a large bowl and sprinkle with 1 cup course salt and cover with water. Cover with saran and let sit on counter overnight.


In the morning, Drain water from veggies, squish to make sure all water is gone. Then in a large pot whisk together 5 cups vinegar, 3 1/2 cups water, 1 tablespoon tumeric, 2 cups flour and 6 cups sugar.


Heat to a boil and simmer 2-3 minutes.

Add vegetables and bring to a boil. I only could make half a recipe at a time, cause I just didn't have a big enough pot.

Ladle into jars, put lids on and put in boiling water caner and boil for 10 minutes.

Remove jars from Caner and be prepared for how much it makes!

Wind Wind and more Wind

Yikes I hate wind. Thursday was a horribly windy day. Neils Dad and Nephew came out and were gonna go fencing. They got the wire put up, but after that they were exhausted. Its so much harder doing stuff in the wind.

That evening the wind switched directions and got super strong. Then our power went out as I was just putting our supper in the oven! Neil went out to the main line to see if it was just us, but it looks like everyone, so we phoned and the power was out everywhere, so he hooked up the generator and we had heat and lights and we could cook our supper.

Our neighbors were on the way over when the power went out, but they saw lights at our house and so stopped by anyways.

The power finally came back on about 7:15 Friday morning. We never got much snow out of the storm, except in the coulees it drifted about 8 inches deep. We never lost any calves, although he barn was full for a while. We had a set of twins a few days ago and the mother doesn't like the little one, but lets it suck if we feed her oats, so we been keeping her in. We also had a heifer calve about 9:30 Thursday night and her calf was up but we put them in the barn as well. We only have two pens int her, so it was full!

Friday was way warmer, but still windy. I went riding and since I sold Princess to Kirsten I never rode her and wasn't feeling like riding cause my knees have been bothering me all week, I was just gonna visit and be there when Kirsten come later. Jardi said I could ride Flower, but it seemed too much work, so I hummed and hawed and then she said I should ride Dot. Well I love Dot and its pretty hard to turn that down, so I rode her. Shes so broke so I can do all kinds of things with her that eventually I hope Bailey will learn. I would like to ride Dot chasing cows, I think that would be so awesome!

Today its windy again, I sure hope it quits pretty soon, cause I have things I want to do outside and I cant stand being in the wind, It just irritates me to no end.

On a better note, Jardis Dog Clara had some puppies and man o man are they ever adorable! There ended up being 4 black and whites and 4 red and whites. We are not sure where the reds come from, cause both parents are black and there were a couple tricolors in the sires litter, but no reds.


There is only one with its eyes open yet, and they are 12 days old.



I am really trying hard to stay away from them, cause I don't want a border collie or really any other kind of dog. But they are so adorable and are just gonna get cuter as they start moving around.

New Blogger

Yaaa Linda I'm so glad you found me and are blogging as well! Her new blog is Cowboy Coping Cowgirl and its a gooder! She has some good stories to tell about living on the ranch and working as a lease riders wife.

Well the girl come out and tried the Princess out yesterday and I think she had a good ride, she rode in the arena first and then we went out on the trail, and I of course didn't have a horse, so Barb let me ride Dusty while she tended to Sid's ucky hair loss. It was good, Princess trotted away from us when we rode and she eventually got her to lope out there as well. She was gonna look at a few more from Stettler area before making a decision, so well see how it works out.



I am staying home today and making relish and shortbread and doing laundry and I don't even mind those things on a day like this when the weather is really windy.

The Boys as they always are when I look to see them!



When I was coming home yesterday I seen some antelopes on our road, so I slowed down andthe took off, so I stopped and they all turned and looked at me and stayed till I drove off again. They are so curious Im sure they would come right up to the truck if I waited long enough.


O an update, as I was witing for pictures to load, I got a phone call, and they bought Princess, so tommorow they are gonna try her in the girls saddle and then pick her up and take her home. im sure it will be perfect for both of them.

Gypsy and Princess

Yesterday we (I) went riding, not sure why I am always a we, but seems like I always think in multiples. Anyways, Princess was awesome as always, I rode her English in a matching saddle pad and girth cover and a Western bridle and me in my western boots and spurs, we make a silly pair, good thing no one cares about stuff like that.

When I went to get on her from the mounting block, I rested my hand on her withers like always and as I got on her, she leant backwards, like she was falling backwards. Not sure what that was bout, cause she has never done that before, but it was scary. I had walked her around after tightening the girth, and so that couldn't be it, and she was fine for the rest of the ride.

Afterwards, we checked and her withers are pretty sore and so is her neck, so I guess that extra pressure on her withers was just too much. I am gonna have to get a massage on her too I guess.

I fed her grain and braided her mane and she looks so cute now. I will try to take some pics this afternoon.

I also have the girl coming this afternoon to try out Princess. I think she will be a perfect match and Ill let you know how that turns out.

Oh ya and onto Gypsy, when I look at her now, I can see her udder without even bending down, but its not full yet, so I guess it will be a while yet, I am so excited, she should have it in two weeks or less.

Turn Out and Princess

I was gonna turn out the boys into the field this week, so I went out this afternoon and checked the fences. They were all okay and a few staples went a long way. The north fence is pretty week, but there shouldn't be any pressure on it as the mares are in a field on the south side, across the road.

I decided I would braid Dineros mane and maybe keep him from rubbing it out because he is so hot. I ended up banding it because I thought I would turn them out today and asked Neil for help in like 10 minutes, well like 30 seconds later he was there just standing around, so I just quickly banded it and we went. There was much excitement when they saw the mares, and they run up and down the fence and came back to eat grass where they started out, lol.

I think they will be fine in there and enjoy it more than in the smaller pens.

The mares were a little excited, but just trotted up to the fence and when they seen they boys were on the other side of the road, they went back to the bale and continued eating. No interest in boys now I guess!

I also have a question about how much a horse is worth. I am looking at selling Princess and I got to set a price for her. I paid about 1200 for her, and she is very quiet and kinda lazy. I am looking at another horse (3/4 sister to Dinero) worth 2000 and would like to get that, but not sure if I the girl who I think she is perfect for can afford that. I am thinking she would pay 1500 no problem.

Easter Sunday 2010

Happy Easter Everyone, may you enjoy the day with your family and friends and remember what it means.

It seems like so much has been going on here I don't have much time to write anymore.

After moving the mares all I heard was mmm green grass, mmm hay bale while fixing fence. They seem to like it there a little more.

I went and got my trailer and decided I would pick up Bailey and bring her home and turn her out with the mares. She seems to be a little better, and all that walking around in pasture has got to be better for her leg.

We celebrated Easter Dinner on Friday because my sister is working Saturday and Sunday this weekend, and we didn't want to celebrate without her there. It was kinda nice, but I missed my riding time on Friday.

Sooo... today I thought I would go get a ride on Princess. She was good as always. I rode inside for a while, while Rochelle was lunging Moxie and then Barb and Jessica came and wanted to go for a trail ride, so I got off Princess and waited for them. They are in no hurry, so I washed Princess tail, because it had kinda a yellowy tinge to it. The water from the hose was warm from it sitting in the sun all day, so that was nice on my fingers, I washed and rinsed it and it was almost fry by the time we went riding, so when I turned her out, it wouldn't get all dirty right away.

I have been moving the boys from the round pen at night to the pens in the daytime. Dinero has been having problems with rushing out the gate, so we been going in and out the gate at least five times every morning and night. I think its starting to pay off because yesterday morning I had him about half way through the gate and George was being silly and bucking, and a big gust of wind came up and Neil started his tractor all at the same time and he tensed up and then stopped. I was so proud of him! Those things aren't scary alone, but all at once...yikes.

Today he was in a hurry to get to his feed, cause I was a little late, and when I walked in the pen, he hit me in the face with his nose. Ouch!! He knew that was a bad idea right away because he just backed up and stood in the corner. I was kinda surprised, but said in a deep voice he was bad, and he walked up to me with his head hanging really low. I think he was feeling bad, so I just ignored it, haltered him and took him to his dinner. he was good after that.

Thursday April 1, 2010

Wow so much has happened in the last few days and I haven't even been around to blog.

Tuesday I went and got my truck serviced at Dodge and there are a bunch of minor things that need to be replaced, so whenever the parts are in, that will get done (about 7-10 days wait) Then I went to ride Princess and she got her front shoes. Greg was there and he said its low enough and seems healed over, he doesn't think it needs a pad, but the shoes will keep it a little higher off the ground. So that's good news and she was happy to be turned out into the pasture again. Bailey is still sore, we felt around a bunch more and it seems the big muscle on top of the hock on the inside of her left leg is really whats bothering her. We are gonna put her on a herbal antiinflamitory for a week or so and then maybe do another massage and then see whats going on. I also mentioned I might want to sell Princess and there is a young girl (16) who might try her out.

Yesterday I went to pick up a friends colt and take him to the trainer and then on the way home, pick up hers from Jard's and bring him home. We were close to Stettler so we stopped at Tim's for lunch and I won a coffee. Then we went to Peavey Mart and Ufa (for broodmare feed) and got fuel and came home. Linda rode her colt at Jardis (Princess we turned out already, so I brushed and fed Bailey while they rode).

When we got to Linda's last night the trailer lights wouldn't work so I left the trailer there and am going to pick it up today and hopefully they will work.

This morning I moved the mares ot a new pasture with more grass(some tame so its green) and a hay bale. I went around the edges and put in all missing staples and am now exhausted. It doesn't look too bad, last year I put in half pail of staples and fixed three patches of wire, this year only a handful of staples and a new gate rope.