Winding down

 February, that is. One more day! 

Mornings and evenings are much the same, foggy mornings....

and clearing off and sunny evenings. 

Routine chores get me outside twice a day, fortunately! Winter is winding down, and I sure hope March comes in like a lamb and starts melting the snow. I'm so ready to start riding! The good news is my truck is finally getting work done on it at the busy shop it has been sitting at so I'm hoping to have wheels in a week so I can start hauling to the arena. 

We had another feral cat visitor the other day, and it was pretty obvious that this one is Bandit's daddy. 

This is Ollie

and this is Bandit, who I think is in heat right now; she has some of the big tomcats following her around. I think she's about 8 months old. There may be a bunch of kittens in a couple of months because another feral female has the attention of the boys lately too. I wonder if I will be able to find them! 

Cold snap and a sun dog

 We are at the tail end of a cold snap. Needless to say, I only ventured out at chore time!

For 3 days in a row, Beamer hid out in the barn and wasn't there at the fence to greet me first thing in the morning. The mares, on the first day (-33 C) were out in their pasture galloping around, silly things! 

Video taken from the warmth of my dining room!

We did get small amounts of snow, enough to make snow blankets on the mares (Beamer hung out in the barn!)

They must have rolled, because the next day they just had frost- and Ruby was looking like a bay roan!

Speaking of roans, I watched the World's Greatest Horseman contest on the Cowboy Channel, and there sure were a lot of roan horses competing! Courtesy of their sire/grandsire Metallic Cat. One of his sons won, Call Me Mitch- what a horse and a great story. 

Ravishing Ruby 😊

Velvet is doing great too, and seems to think that every time I bring hay it is time for her grain....

I see you has no grain. But why, why, why?

The sky cleared and we were treated to a sun dog. It went in a full circle around the sun but only the ends were colorful. 

Today we are headed back to more reasonable weather. Only 3 more days to March!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Foggy mornings and purple evenings

 This has not been the snowy February I was expecting. Warm and sunny, cold and sunny and a few clouds so far. Mornings like this:

and evenings like this:

seem to be the norm in this first half of February. I'm not complaining! I'm sure we are in for some late season snow yet!

I noticed something about Ruby- and I think she must be used to pawing for feed during the winter. She does this:

Two thoughts- she is used to eating snow, and she is trying to get the seeds and chaff that stick to the snow as she flips the hay around. First time I have had a horse that does that!

I did give up on keeping them separate; now I just separate Velvet long enough to eat her special ration, and while she does that, I take Ruby out for some in hand work. 

I am special!

As usual, I have a name or two picked out for Velvet's foal, depending on colour /gender. It is going to be a looooong wait until July when this foal is due! Good thing I will have Shayla's foals to concentrate on!

Sunday Silence

 

Basking

 Yup it has been sunny here and all the critters have been taking advantage of it and basking in the sun. 

I have been pretty lazy this week. It seems that although the weather is nice, it's not nice enough to actually do stuff outside. I moved some panels to do more deer proofing, scooped poop in the areas where it was no longer frozen, played a bit with Ruby on the lead line, and basically I am at the point where I want the snow to go away and spring to come! Our truck is still in the shop so it will be awhile before I can haul to the arena.

The kittens have the feeding routine down pat, they come running when they hear me go to the barn and even meow at me if I am a bit slow in feeding them. Smokey will now not move if I am a couple feet away from him, he's not nearly as flighty as he used to be. 

The deer have been entertaining us, coming right up to the house, and they are all fat and in good health.  Bodes well for hunting season!

Meanwhile.... the wait for foals drags on! Shayla has a couple due next month and a bunch more a little later. It's hard to be patient at this time of year!

That moon and camo

 The full moon on Sunday was clouded over, but I did get a Monday photo. The moon seemed small so it must be around it's farthest away from the earth cycle- but no worries, here it is all up close and personal!

I love it when the moon set happens around the time I feed my horses, cuz well, you know, I'm camera happy!

There's nothing like having a special moment with my girl Ruby just enjoying the beauty of nature. 

Having horse ears in a photo always makes for a better picture!

How about that- it's shedding time! Beamer is the first to start slipping hair here. I'm sure the girls won't be far behind, we have nice longer days now and above freezing days... so far. 

Here's another set of photos where a close up is helpful. 

Excellent camo, it's those ears that gave her away! 

Sunday Silence

 

See 'em?

 

They were singing pretty loud yesterday when I went down to feed the mares. The mares were spotting them across the river to the north as I was preparing to go out, I thought it might be deer or the neighbor's horses. 

Until I heard them sing, that is.