Sunday Silence

We are not Amused.

 

Mares in the sun

 The mornings have been so bright and sunny lately, I sure enjoy morning chores. It's always fun to try to get nice shots of the sun shining on the manes and the happy munching faces. 

Now that Ruby has gone, Velvet has taken over Boss Mare duties. Maybe for the first time in decades? 

She pinned her ears at Gussie as she walked over to check if Gussie's hay pile tasted better than hers, and then happily munched right next to her. 

Belle used to be Gussie's BFF but that seems to have changed. Maybe because Belle is not mobile enough to move quickly, she has been ostracized by the rest of the herd and put at the bottom of the pecking order. Sadly, this will be Belle's last year, I won't put her through another winter. But I do appreciate that I am able to spend her last months loving on her and letting her know how special she is to me. She will have the summer to amble around and graze to her heart's content before being laid to rest. 

The little one in this big belly will fill my heart, I'm sure. One door closes, another one opens. 

Also- Ruby's new owner liked Beamer so much she asked if she can bring 2 mares to him this year, so I will have to un-retire him!

Lionized

 Well. 

March marched in like a roaring lion! The last 2 days of February and continuing on for the next 3 days, here is a little photo essay. 

Haha he makes me laugh, coming in for his feed all tough looking! Whatsa matter Beamer, tired of the snow after only 3 days?  Hang in there buddy, it ain't over yet!

We have had a bit of a north wind that brought this system in, so it was kind of nasty for doing chores, but I bundled up in my insulated coveralls, down coat and fuzzy hat.

Said fuzzy hat post chores today

Needless to say, the next few days will be pretty low key. How is March coming in where you are?  I am slightly jealous of the daffodils posted by 4 R Ranch blog!

No drama

 Today it was so beautiful and sunny and warm that after Church I went and turned Gussie and Belle in with Ruby and Velvet. Belle led them all out to the pawing pasture- it's a pen I reserved for this time of year that wasn't chewed down during last summer. 

They all went a high tailing it out there but quickly dropped their noses and searched out those tempting tufts of grass. 

Belle can't really paw but she found several pre pawed places to nibble on.

She can, however, go for a good roll in the snow! Note how she holds her left leg, with the bad arthritic knobby knee. 

The big difference between how Belle and Beamer lay down as compared to  sound horses is that they lay down back end first instead of front end first as shown in the photo of Gussie on my last post. I was concerned about how well she can get up after laying down (or rolling) and as you can see, it isn't a problem. 

I watched for a while to make sure Ruby wasn't inclined to take after Gussie, but she limited it to a couple of ear pinnings and glares, which Gussie kind of flipped her the bird at and just moseyed on her merry way. 

I'm being good!

Ruby had to roll too. While the peanut gallery looked on.

Three Beamer babies in those 3 bellies! Velvet mid April, Ruby late April, and Gussie mid August. That will keep me entertained! You can see how little Velvet is (14 hh) next to 15.2 hh Gussie. 

I will be listing Ruby as soon as her foal is born, with availability depending on the gender of the foal. I kinda wish there was a way to find that out like there is with people!

Some horse updates

 Well that 10 days went by fast! Since I last posted we had major temperature swings in the weather-  cold nights, warm days, then cold days, then warm days- gah! But we are on the upswing now. 

Beamer and Belle got their blankets off a few days ago; I'm sure they appreciated that!

The short portion of her mane is how much it has grown since September, that was all rubbed out. I love all the colours she has in her mane. 

Yes Velvet, you also have a beautiful mane. 

One of the reasons for my delay in posting is that I planned a trip up to see Shayla and take photos of a couple horses she is selling. First up is her paint colt, Zipper. 

Speaking of manes, his is sure colourful!

Zipper is a really good minded colt who is going to be really, I mean really, big. 

He's a weanling and is already up to Shayla's shoulder! I didn't get a lot of photos of him because we wanted to concentrate on Boe photos. Yes, he was put up for sale. We took him to the round pen for the photo session. 

He's literally the spitting image of Beamer only in red. He carries himself beautifully, and even yawns like his daddy!

We took some video for his sale ad. This was only his second time of being worked in the round pen; he was very good. 

We also worked him in hand a little. Just following the feel of the lead rope, and he was beautifully soft. 

I'm pretty proud of the quality of foals Beamer sires off different mares. They are all good horses!

Anyway, our work paid off; Shayla posted him on FB and he was sold within a day and a half!  He will be going to a working cattle ranch only an hour from here. 

Beautiful boy

He might be leaving but I think we will be able to follow his progress as both his owner and the lady who will be starting him are on FB. The trainer's page is Anchor S Equine.

It's here....

 The first cold snap of winter has hit. I'm thankful that it waited until January! We were -28 C  (-18.5 F) overnight, and expect down to -41C overnight on Thursday night. 

We had a heavy fog the first day of the cold snap, it lasted the whole day and the next morning it was c-c-c-c-cold! But made for good frost photos. 

Chore time in the mornings is nippy! Brought out the big down work coat today. 

The mares and Beamer were a bit frosty but seemed to be plenty warm enough. I blanketed Belle yesterday as she doesn't move around as much as the other mares. I tried out Beamer's Weatherbeeta blanket on her and it fit better than the one I had on her earlier in the season. 

I can always use the other one on Beamer if needed; actually most of my blankets were his anyway! I don't think Ruby and Velvet will need blanketing- although maybe Velvet when we hit that -41. 

I have considered buying a Back on Track winter blanket for Belle- but the one I want is over $400... so maybe a liner to put under her regular blanket is a better idea. I do use Back on Track products for myself, in particular the "dog bed" which is just a pad of the right size for lying on and helps greatly with my bad back and even rolled up and put around my neck and shoulders when I get a headache. We also have their gloves, both dress style and the fleece fingerless ones. 

Hang in there Ruby, this too shall pass!

Around the farm on a wintery day

 We got a dump of heavy wet snow- maybe it will stick around for Christmas!

There's always something to see- like cat tracks amongst stripey shadows....

and coyote tracks going through Belle's pen right where I feed her....

and sun stars....

and barn cats who can't decide if I am friend or foe...

and mama Belle looking good- although this damp cold weather isn't helping her arthritis one bit.

 Ruby and I went for a walk to check out the river. It's finally frozen all over. That halter though- it's the one that came with her and I am giving it to Shayla for some of her draft cross horses. I have one that will fit her better, or maybe make a new one just for her. 

Then there's this guy...

Yep Humphrey is back! Cleaning up the bird seed. I would love to be able to get a good photo of him but if I go outside he hides. So through the living room window it is!

So- are all your ducks in a row for Christmas? Mine are!

Fun in the sun

 The morning sun, that is. It was a brisk -10 C this morning, but the morning light was so inviting I had to get one of my big girl cameras out for chore time. I had a bit of fun taking unusual horse photos; what I call bits and pieces photos. When I first went out, the sky was all pink and purple....

but by the time I was done feeding cats and horses, it went orange and gold. 

Velvet is  the most photogenic (apart from Beamer!) because the light captures her red and gold so beautifully. Ruby, alas, would barely lift her head from the hay pile, so  Velvet photos it is!

I am totally smitten with her mane! I have never had any other horse whose mane splits to both sides and hangs below her neck. And doesn't need a lot of brushing to keep it nice!

Mama Belle in the shadows looks completely different than in the bright light:

Well, I did manage one photo of Beamer, but sadly the focus isn't very good- but the expression is priceless!

Please don't tell me you want me to stop eating for photos!