Long Weekend

Well this weekend was really long, but totally worth it!!  First starting on Wednesday, Casino is now a Quarter Horse!  It took a really long time cause one signature on the papers was missing, but I finally got her registration. 

Thursday we were helping our neighbors wean and process their calves.  Since they raise purebreds all the calves have to be weighed and the weights sent in to the association before the first of November.  So after weaning, we separated bulls and heifers and then picked out more bulls they wont keep and all the heifers they weren't keeping and they went to another buyer.  Before they went, we put them all through the chute and they got vaccinated, branded and weighed.  My job was to put a post behind them so they didn't back up and the brand went good.  Doing a shoulder brand in a chute is hard to get at so the closer to the front they are, the quicker it is.  Well it was all going good till one of the heifers jumped at the wrong time and the post come up and hit me in the jaw.  Kinda made me think of safety, hence the post on safety with cows.  Now I have a bruise on the chin and it isn't sore much now, but it sure was!  I saw stars and my eyes watered it was awful.

So then since we were heading to Ponoka for the Saturday show, we decided we would head up Friday night and get a ride in and then stay at Charlene's Aunts house with a hot tub!  Well we left Friday at noon and stopped in Stettler and had lunch then kept going and when we got there we unloaded everything and then tacked up and some other people were riding and we go to get on and there were cows in the arena!  So we helped turn back for them and they helped Char and Dude get a little practice.  We were gonna bath our horses but we decided it was too cool in the barn and we didn't want them getting sick, so we just put them away and headed out for the night.

We got to Char's Aunt's house and she had pulled pork ready for us!  Wow was it ever good!!  I never realized how hungry I was till we got there.  But we were much later than we thought we would be so we just headed to bed after supper and skipped the hot tub.  Oh well next time I guess since she invited us back again:)

On Saturday we fed the ponies then headed to town for breakfast and we had lots of time so we went down to the tack store and never even bought anything!!  Its weird when you don't really need anything.  Well we headed back to the barn and the high school rodeo was just starting and Char was getting super nervous, but then Susan come up and we visited for a while then we met the chap lady who checked our measurements and took our orders for chaps.  They wont be ready till February cause she is not starting them till after Christmas but we wanted to get our names in anyways.  I went with black suede with light leather top with tooling and my initials on one side and brand on the other.  Full zipper, twisted fringe, and a square buckle on the back, conchos with black background on the sides.  A lot of decisions to make when ordering chaps.  I'm so excited to get them.

We thought it was almost time for Char's class and then they run out of fresh cattle so she got bumped to the end of the show so they could call the liner in with more cows.  The ranch classes and youth cutting use all used cattle so they went before her class.  I thought this was an annoyance, but it turned out good for Char cause she just relaxed and watched other good riders on good horses make mistakes. We said since it is her first show, just go out and get a score and we will see what she needs to work on.  Well her turn finally came and she was Awesome!!!  She scored a 66 which we were really proud of and the only mistake she made was she lost a cow, but it wasn't an option, the cow run into her horse and it wasn't stopping.  She even got a plus for eye appeal, so all in all an awesome first show for her and Dude!! 

So it was late when we left about 6:30 and we stopped for supper on the way home and I finally got home about 9:30, so not too bad, but I was sure exhausted!  I am so happy for her (and a little jealous I will admit)  And I also found out in open cutting I could ride in whatever I want so next time I get a chance to go (Nov 24) I may show her in the hackmore if I have enough time to practice before then.  And I have to see how Disco is too, cause if I really like her, I may just leave Razz turned out for the winter.