Winter is here

 And here to stay from the look of the forecast, with minus double digits in the forecast for the foreseeable future. 

Monday the 18th I turned the mares out on the winter pasture as we had a good hard freeze and their other pen was pretty much chewed down. 

Last sunny day, just after the hard freeze.

Then the snow came. 

There is a major snowstorm supposed to hit starting tonight.  Good thing we are prepared! 

The birds are busy at the feeders. We have suet for the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers and the Northern Flickers and sunflower seeds for the Chickadees  

Photo bomb by a Downy!

I hired a different farrier to do the mares as the last young lady's work didn't hold out. Gussie blew out chunks on her hind feet quarter cracks after 5 weeks. The new lady is more experienced and did some corrective maintenance on those cracks. Hopefully this one will work out! 

Velvet gave partial approval. She was a bit difficult on the first two feet but relaxed after that. Suck it up, Velvet!

Unfortunately, it looks like any winter riding for me will be on hold for a while. I'm still not 100% and being out in the cold hits me a little harder than I like. 

Seems like it is winter all over, hope you are all prepared and can hunker down and get your indoor projects done!

Prayer request

 Please send up healing prayers to Kay from 4R Ranch blog  She got in a bit of a wreck and is in hospital. 

No matter how safe we think our horses are, there is always lurking the possibility that something will set them off and we will end up on the ground. And the older we get, the more the possibility of major injury. I have come off of nearly every horse I have owned and ridden for any length of time- the exception being Beamer. Gussie launched me twice, once in 2011 and again in 2019, but now I know her signals and will step off her if she gets ramped up. Other mares I have bought and sold in the last 5 years were sold exactly because I didn't trust them to not blow up. 

You are forgiven, Gussie!

How do you pack your cell phone when riding? I see a lot of people go for having a pouch on their saddle, but that isn't going to serve you if you are on the ground and your horse takes off on you. I have a little pouch that just fits my cell phone that has a string that goes around my neck (thin so it can break if needed) and I tuck it under my jacket or in summer under my t shirt. Another option is a fanny pack or waist pack with a zipper pouch, but again, make sure it isn't going to get caught on the saddle horn. 

I didn't know that cell phones have an SOS option, I thought that was only for Sat phones. 

Horses don't set out to hurt us but they have such a strong survival instinct that we can't say that they never will. It's not if, it's when. It's up to us to do what we can to get  them to trust us over their instincts, and with some horses in some situations, such as Kay's horse, those instincts take over. Last time I came off Gussie, I was pretty much knocked silly and it took me a while to be able to move to get up. Yes, it scared me, and that is why I am so cautious now when I ride. Over the years, there have been 3 times when I have had my brain rattled by hitting the ground. Even with a helmet on. I have not let it stop me from riding, but it has made me much more cautious about where and when I ride. 

Photo from a summer in Creston 6 years ago

Fear is a crippling thing. It is hard to not let it take over, especially as we grow older and more brittle. But we are the masters of our own minds. (Aren't we? ) Fear can be conquered with trust and common sense. We have to trust ourselves first though. That can come with knowledge and education. Give ourselves the tools to deal with our emotions (Education) and know ourselves well enough to not make bad decisions. That being said, I don't advise staying well within our comfort zone, as that can lead to a stagnant mind that allows fear to become dominant. The human race didn't get anywhere being a bunch of shrinking violets; we are an adventurous and inquiring people. Live life to its fullest. Embrace challenges. Challenge yourself!  But do your best to stay safe and don't be foolhardy. 

Up and ride. 

For the Fallen

They went with songs to the battle, 

they were young.

Straight of limb, 

true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end 

against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, 

as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, 

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun 

and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon

Autumn rolls on

 Well the snow didn't last long, now we are back into the usual dreary November weather. However, we have been getting lovely skies, which makes it all better. 

The fall pasture is holding out well; the mares only occasionally head to their shelter to chow down on the round bale. 

Gussie dropped a bit of weight, which I was hoping to happen as she got rather fluffy on the late summer pasture. 

This Saturday, weather permitting, I will be going to look at a possible stallion to breed her to next June. If I choose him, it will be the first time ever that I have had to pay a stud fee. It puts things into a different perspective; weighing the costs involved against my desire to get an exceptional foal from her, as well as her well being and not having her as a saddle horse during her pregnancy. I think she is such a good mom that it will all be worth it. 

Velvet, assuming she is in foal to Beamer, will definitely be retired as a broodmare after this foal. If for some reason she isn't in foal she will still be retired. She has become a favorite with me, she walks with me wherever I go in her pasture, always with her head to my shoulder. She always comes to greet me in the mornings when I go to the barn to feed the barn cats, and positions herself so that I make no mistake in exactly what spot she wants scratching. 

All is well when your horses want to be with you!

Strays and snow

 Driving to town the other day we noticed that the neighbour's cattle, a mile down the road, were all gathered at the fenceline, and that their pasture was about gone. The next day, sure enough, there was a jailbreak. We ended up with cows in our yard, 3 the first day, and a couple more the next day.  

We don't mind having them come graze, but I could do without the cow pies they leave behind!

We got our first snowfall last night, so far about 3 inches.  When I checked on the mares, I could see that Gussie Was Not Impressed.  She has the most expressive nostrils and stink eye of any horse ever!

I'm sure they think I should open the barn door for them, but they do have a large shelter complete with a round bale in it for them to eat if they don't want to venture out in the pasture where there is plenty of grazing still. (Only slightly spoiled!)

Since I am feeling a lot better, I am waiting for a bit nicer weather as I want to start riding again. Nothing too demanding, just a few putts around the pasture. I hope the nice days aren't all gone! 

All the other goin' ons

 As I wind my way back to health, slowly increasing what I can do each day, I am thankful for all the well wishes I have received, and work on making my plans for the winter. Mostly, I have everything all set up to be simple when it comes to chores; all hay stored indoors and small square bales instead of the big rounds that I usually buy that require the use of the tractor to move as well as pitchforking the hay into a sled or wheelbarrow to put in the desired feeding area- this year, I can just toss the required amount out into the shelter or the barn. Also- the automatic waterer is the only one needed this winter, as I won't be using the big barn where Beamer was which needed water to be pumped from the stand pipe into my insulated tank that Ted built for me. I often had to take a heat gun to the stand pipe handle to free it up when the weather got really nasty. 

It's coming...

Having only two horses definitely makes the work load lighter, but it sure seems odd to me. 

We are ok with just us two

I did find a farrier that Velvet ok'd , a young lady just starting out with barefoot trimming. Velvet loved her. Gussie tolerated her.  So that is something I can check off my list- I don't have to attempt to trim the mares!

The mares got covered in deer tick bites, nasty lumps that have a yellow crust to them similar to rain rot. Vet said they are deer tick bites and to deworm with ivermectin and spray the mares with Virkon. Done. I did some research on those ticks- they aren't the kind that latch on and suck blood like the wood ticks. Apparently they like pasture with long cover as they are not fond of sunlight and don't we just have pasture with a lot of long grass and tall weeds. We are looking into getting a rough cut mower in to fix that, although it may have to wait until next spring. We are hoping that the recent numerous heavy frosts will have knocked off the ticks, which usually make their first appearance in September, so that gives us some time. 

We got an update on Boe via facebook-  he is doing really well and they love him. They renamed him Willy. 

If you care to check out her page, she posted videos of him trailing cattle on his 12th ride.

Also I have been getting Theo updates, he is thriving and growing. As with all the Beamer babies (like Willy) he has an exceptional mind and they have been working on getting him soft to lead- their 4 yr old daughter can lead him and it's the cutest thing- if he hits the end of the lead rope she scolds him and he softens right up to her. 

I am looking to breed Gussie next year, I have a couple of choices which I will be deciding on within a couple of weeks. I will keep you updated on that!

Gemma's Journey

 When Gemma and Shiner arrived here for halter training, they were both pretty much untouched. Of course with weaning and travelling an hour to get here, they were rather looky and flighty. I gave them a day to settle a bit and get used to their new pen- basically my foaling pen, with access to the little barn. 

I was curious to see if they would go in the barn on their own, but within minutes, they were both hanging around in there. That, of course, made things easy for me as that is where I was planning on working with them.  

Another thing I did was to park my horse trailer where they could go in and out of it on their own- which they did right away, and were often to be found in there, just chillin'.

The first session, and for a couple days following, I worked them together. First using my flag to touch their backs as they scooted past me. Then when they stopped and faced, just resting the flag on the ground. After a bit, I was able to touch them with the flag while they stood still.

The next day we moved on to introducing a rope. As they scooted past, I would toss the rope on their backs (when my aim was accurate!) and let the rope lay on them as they went around. Surprisingly they weren't too worried about that.  

I found that Shiner was way more flighty than Gemma, and since my focus was on her due to her impending trip to the Yukon with her new owner, I separated them when it was time to work them, which I was doing twice a day. Shiner soon figured out that he didn't need to go in the barn when Gemma did, and was easy to cut back while she went in. 

The first few sessions with Gemma were interesting. Well, all of them were! I learned a bunch with her. First, she absolutely would not let me on her left side. I roped her around her neck, let her go around then took the slack out of the rope. She would turn her butt to me and try to pull away, so I would have to quickly step to the side and get her to face. When I walked up to her to touch her, she would turn so that I could only approach on her right side. I pondered that for a bit, and decided not to make an issue of it at first. So the next couple days were all about getting her to accept touch and rubs on her right side. Another interesting thing about her was that when she was thinking things over she would drop her head right down to her feet. Then I could rub all her neck and between her ears. Still from the right side. I managed to get a halter on her then, but it was rather awkward trying to tie it as it ties on the left side. So next day, I turned the halter inside out and put it on and tied it from the right. Well, I decided that was an inconvenience to me, so the next session I was going to inconvenience her and get her to accept me on her left. Enough already!

Anyway, once the halter was on, I slid the neck rope off and had her learn to give to pressure with just the halter. Basically, let her go round and round, then take the slack out and hold until she stopped and faced, then slack the lead rope. Within a couple sessions she was learning to lead. I really took my time with her and when we made even a small advancement I would turn her loose and let her consider it until the next session. That incremental building worked well for her, she's a horse that needs time to think things through. 

So- the left side. Starting with the rope work, I would rub her from the right and then step around in front of her so I would be on her left- she would immediately swing her head to the left and her hip to the right to try to keep me in her right eye. I did a lot of head rubbing and neck rubbing until she relaxed and dropped her head down to the ground again.  Funny thing is, I had to take the lead rope off the halter, rub the halter on her neck and between her ears, let the nose piece drop down onto her nostrils, then take it off and get her to raise her head a bit and halter her properly. Then just stand there and rub and pet her all over on her left side, then turned her loose. A couple days of that, and getting her to lead a couple steps each time and the light was starting to come on in her baby brain. She finally figured it out that both sides were safe for me  to be there. I never did get to the point of being able to just walk up to her and catch her, still had to either use my neck rope or throw the halter lead rope over her back first. I think with a bit more time I would have had that done too. 

By the time she was ready to leave, Gemma was catchable, led well, loaded in and out of the trailer both at liberty and by being led in and out and had become a real nosy parker- she had to come and investigate whatever I was doing, would eat hay out of my hand, would pull on my jacket and be very helpful with tools when I was working on the fence. In short, well on the way to being a pocket pony!

I actually really enjoyed working with her - she gave me challenges and made me think outside the box, and it was a delight to see her go from a fearful flighty filly to a friendly and curious little miss who is someday going to go on and do great things for her owner. Who, by the way, was really pleased with her when she picked her up. 

In case you were wondering

 I didn't mean to get y'all worried with my prolonged absence here, but things just piled up in a hurry. 

I will do a separate post on Gemma's journey from being an untouchable to being a darn near pocket pony, as it will be a fairly lengthy one.

Suffice to say, I am well pleased with the progress she made. 

Meanwhile, I went from having a cold to having full blown pneumonia and needing hospitalization.

My first ambulance ride since I broke my wrist 20 years ago

 It's amazing how quickly pneumonia can take you down., I will spare you all the details, except that it will be a fairly slow recovery with weekly check ups. So no major projects for me for the next couple of months. I just got released from a 4 day stay, most of which was spent in the emergency ward; I got an actual room at 11:45 pm last night and got released today around 2:30 pm. Oh how welcome it was to breathe fresh air and feel the sun on my face!