Hay there

 We are back in the heat again, and not much rain other than what comes along with thunderstorms. 

Farmers are haying full bore and the lawn is getting all crinkly and brown in spots. But my gardens are loving the sunshine and we have started eating some produce. Yay! Around the farm, we still have some summer projects to do, like replacing a gatepost that rotted and rehanging the heavy 16 ft. gate on it as well as replacing a section of fence attached to it. But that can wait for cooler weather. 

I got my first bit of hay in, I bought some alfalfa/brome mix bales for next year's foaling season. 42 small squares- and the only reason I bought these was because they came in a bundle of 14 bales each (I bought 3 of them) and were loaded like a big square bale, with a tractor. I hired a strong young fellow to load them in the little barn for me. No heavy lifting for me anymore!

I cut the strings on one and started loading them with the wheelbarrow while I waited for help- and then there was no need for the wheelbarrow, he carried them two at a time and stacked them in the barn! We figure they weight between 50 and 60 lbs.

Feels good to get a start on my winter hay. I have 3 options for hay, just waiting to hear back once the baling is done. 

Ruby came back for a rebreed yesterday, and since she was in full standing heat, Beamer got the deed done while the owner was still here.

Beamer will cover her until she says no, which I am hoping will be by tomorrow. 

She was easy to breed, but gave a quick kick when Beamer dismounted this morning, so I think we caught her just in time. 

Her owner has been riding her and using her for ponying colts. We both agreed that she didn't get any fine tuning in her original training, and I gave her a few tips that I found worked with Ruby. I hope she gets a really nice foal from her. 

Once Ruby goes home it will be time to get back to working with Theo. I haven't done much with him for the last two weeks so it will be interesting to see where he's at. Still nobody committed to come look at him. He's shedding out a lot now, so he should look great for his 3 month photo shoot on Saturday. 

It's all about the boys these days.

The boys are all getting more work these days. Dave came over and held Booncat and I did get all 4 feet filed. He was not too bad, which made me happy. I will have to do him again in a few weeks, I didn't take a lot off; just enough to reduce his heels and shorten his toe and balance him. Doesn't take much with those baby feet! Eli was easy, I just tied him to the hitching rail and filed his back feet.
I have been trying to get Booncat eating ration, but he is pretty uninterested. I tried soaking the alfalfa pellets and he takes a few slurps and loses interest. He's a funny boy, he likes things to be his idea. So I guess I will just have to be patient, he'll come around eventually but I bet it won't be until after his mama leaves.
Belle looked like she was dropping condition so I decided that Eli's 5 month birthday was the day to wean him. It's going well, they are across the fence from each other; I put Belle in the foaling pen and closed  Drifter in the adjoining paddock. There is some whinnying but no stress to either mama or Eli.

Gussie is taking over babysitting duties

Drifter is getting some more education now too. I took him to the round pen and got him saddled and cinched up. Poor boy was getting eaten up by mosquitoes as I was working him, but despite that he was really good. Didn't mind at all being cinched up. I did a little bit of in hand circles, direction changes and flexing then had him carry the saddle back up the hill to the horse trailer. He was so good! 

 

He stood well for unsaddling- note that he isn't tied, just for safety in case he had a moment when I unsaddled. But he just stood there like a good boy. I will probably just work him in his pen instead of the round pen, being barren ground there are less skeeters there.

I have had Booncat out every day, he is leading really well now and happily goes in and out of the trailer and the barn. He is such a curious boy! 

He likes the cats....

and they tolerate his inquisitiveness. When he goes in the barn he has to check everything out....

he even went in the Hideout and checked out the table and chair. He is still not too sure about Beamer, but at least he didn't run away this time. 

Beamer was being so cute and gentle! 

Today was hay hauling day, it feels great to have all that hay in the barn! And I still have 8 more bales to pick up but I have to feed enough of these ones to make room for it. No more storing hay outside for me! My hay guy is storing it for me in  his hay barn until I can pick it up.

New hay barn and new beginnings

There has been a lot going on here in the last week!
Gussie got a schooling ride with Shayla, working on really being soft, as most of the other parts depend on softness in the face and body.



She's coming along; I rode her the next day and could feel her being lighter- what a pleasure.



A nice leisurely ride to take in the fall colours.

Shayla came with me on the next ride- gotta get as many in as possible now! She is leaving at the beginning of November to spend the winter in California interning at an Arabian show barn.
Also we went for a little ride with a friend who came to try out my Wade saddle. She took it home to try on her mare.

The hay barn is done now! From this:

to this:



Oh that makes me happy! There are 24 bales, 4x4x8, over 16 tons of hay in there. That is 8 months supply at the rate I am feeding now. Plus there is another couple of bales under tarps to be used up first. The construction isn't quite done, Ted still has to put the fascia board on the header, and the tin up on the back wall. We attached black tarps to the long side wall to keep out the weather and I tarped the hay at the front.

But here's the really big news and the reason I haven't been posting....

We made a deal on the Sunfrost/Driftwood colt! At least I should say Shayla made the deal, and I am buying a half interest in him. We do have to 5 panel test him, so if he remains a stallion depends on the results, but I am pretty sure he is good because his sire is clear and his dam comes from a line of 5 panel clear horses. We brought him home on Friday.
He is going to be a big boy. He has the same birthdate as Tumbleweed, and I think he is going to end up between 15.2 and 16 hands.

He doesn't have the prettiest head. He does however have good stuff going on inside that head. For a colt that was never handled, just run out in pasture with a herd of mares and foals, he is not too flighty, he is curious and has come up and touched us if we are seated on the ground. We just go about the business of pen cleaning and feeding and don't pussyfoot around him. He walks between us, doesn't go hide in a back corner like some of the untouched foals I have had over the years. So I think it's fair to say he is good minded and should be easy to work with.

Saturday afternoon

We brought him home around dark; we utilized the chutes at an auction market to load him. He was with his mama in the seller's trailer, so we got a good look at her- I would have brought her home too if I could! Nice mare.

We named him Drifter.

Shayla's mare Rose got evicted from the foaling pen section of the new pen we built, so that Drifter could have shelter; Rose is blanketed to prevent hair growth as she will be wintering in California. She is a dominant mare....

and made sure baby Drifter knew that she was large and in charge, even over the fence.

However...



she does allow him to hang out with her.  There is evidence that they spend the night side by side.

The rest of the herd takes turns investigating him. Belle gives him the snarky mare treatment, but the others are more or less just checking him out.

So far, we are pleased with him. We know he isn't perfect, but he suits the plans we have for him.

Check out all that chrome!

Welcome to the Diamond Lazy H herd, Drifter!

Riding day 72, 73, 74

Hey, hay!

Finally got all my hay here, thanks to my husband and a couple of his buddies- one with a hauling truck and one with a tractor big enough to lift these 1200 lb. bales. Had to go buy a couple more tarps! With snow in the forecast for the next week it's perfect timing to get this done. So now I have 20 of these big square bales. With 5 horses I go through one in 11 days, so this should last 220 days, so this will last until about the end of July, which is right about when next year's first cut is baled and ready.