February 2010

Fridays for sale #4

Before I talk about today's for sale horse ,I want to share a link with you . A blogger buddy of mine has started a "For Sale Fridays" series CutnJump of The Well Groomed Horse ,will be running this series,posting tack grooming supplies ,etc ,Items she personally has for sale and is kindly offering to post items for other bloggers .As I said in my original "Fridays for sale "post I and willing to post for others as well. So check out the link , and email either of us if you would like your stuff or stock listed .
Maybe working together we can outwit this economic slump and get something going !

Now without Further Ado ...
Badgers Storm Cloud
11 yr old Appaloosa X Quarter horse gelding .
Sire: JBS Badges Chick
Dam :Sherry's April Sunshine


Pedigree here.(http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/badgers+stormcloud)

Badger is a handsome stout gelding . 60 days training ,but unfortunately due to circumstances has not been used for 3 yrs. Approx 15.2hh he is a big solid boy .This horse has been used in ranch work and pleasure riding . Sound and strong. He is not for a novice rider ,and please no 4H enquiries .Best suited for and experienced adult who is prepared to make good use of this gorgeous horse. Potential cattle penning mount , mountain horse ,or all round good ranch horse.
Contact me though the blog or at fernvalley01@hotmail.com

A random meander around Fern Valley

Just a few shots from afternoon chores,It was a beautiful warm day again ,

The fillies were playing silly buggers and running around bucking and playing , but as often happens ,as soon as they see me they stopped and rushed over to the fence to say hi

I have to get better at stealth photography to catch them in action,such pocket ponies are hard to get pictures of at the best of times .I have to stand way back or I just get nose shots as they investigate the camera

My nemesis! the Blue 4X4! this truck will run fine till I get to the far north east corner of the furthest quarter, the usually in the dark and in the rain it will die! and I get to walk home! I stopped using it about 4 years ago (kind of a slow learner ,but I do learn!)

A very old very tired manure spreader

Another tired old implement(a pull type combine) , from the days when dad still grain farmed

the big John Deere combines were sold.

One of the old Horricks Dairy fleet ,this and several others were still in use hauling cattle,long after they were realistically road worthy , one of them still has a Libby's brown bean can hay wired around an exhaust pipe!

assorted hay rakes



As you can see the deer have been freeloading again this year, snarfing a little of the yummy hay out of the core of the bales


Yet another epic doggie battle

The winner and still champion!

'K mom we moved the cows! whats next?

Finally a few bare patches of ground on the high spots


Still lots of snow on the low ground though

Hey ! you want to just let me go in there to eat alone ? since I am such a pretty cow?



More attempts to catch Fix and Arse sparring ,again as soon as they see me they stop , so more stealth photography

Hang in there everyone February is nearly over !

Then we just have to stumble through March!

Stay warm Stay safe

A two note song

As February is coming to and end (yay ) I have notices more and more in the mornings that my little hardy winter friends the Chickadee's have been singing . Not the regular "chickadee-dee-dee" but rather the little two note "springs here " song . One in particular was quite determined this morning and his little voice rang out clearly across the frosted areas.

Hope he is right!

Just stuff

Not much going on these days , the footing is pretty iffy around so other than a little work in the round pen it was mostly a just hang with your horse weekend .
Angela was out to visit her gentle giant Eurus

Her mom Deb ,took a little spin on peps and then just had some love time

SMOOOCH!!!

Who is a pretty girl?



I hung out with the Phoenix

Don't take my picture ! I am soo grubby



Thinking here ,when you are already built like a jelly bean , how smart is the "puffy vest"?

Oh well, just look at the horses.

and the cats

One of these thing ,is not like the others...

There must be a empty seat somewhere

See ya losers ! I am outta here!

The short cut Appy ,and other silly stories

Fridays for sale ,will return next week .I am still waffling about the next horse I had planned to post.
Meanwhile ,I found a few pictures of the crew I used to go on some of my mountain treks with. There should be many more photos,but ...

The guys,Roland , My cousin Cliff, Jim,and an old friend of mine Randy "Wrong way" Rhine

This is the view from the top of Hummingbird fall.

This trip Randy and I drove out to meet the rest a couple days in , He decided to "show me a short cut from Rocky Mountain house to Cow lake . 3 1/2 hrs later (should have been about 40 min) He says "did I ever tell you my nickname?" Suffice to say we missed supper but eventually found cow lake ,carried on down the Forestry Trunk road to Hummingbird Staging area (Ram River falls)

The next day we all got ready for a 4 day overnight trip (not really me and 4 men,I think us girls were camera shy, after a few days without a proper shower,I know we were)

Below ,you can just see the back of my cousin Laura

So back to the trip, we were 6 riders and 4 pack horses ,(I know pushing it ,but it was a 3-4 day trip) so things were snug , so the guys decided to pack the big fry pan on the outside of the pack, that pack went on a horse named Jigs. Jigs was a great rope horse,ranch horse ,but tended to be a tiny bit hot,when Cliff got on him the first trip we went on he gave us a lovely show of buck and snort ,but by the second day he would settle in. However Jigs had never been packed . He took it all well until we were in a ravine and the frying pan came partially untied. Actually everyone's horse got a little hot at that point with Jigs screamin down this ravine with they fry pan attached to him and bouncing off the shale "Ting Ting ting(very loud) and blowing sparks . I got Catana settled quickly and as she was the only one not trying to climb a tree (gotta love a good quiet horse) I went to get him . Well I will tell you no one was hurt ,other than my sides from laughing! I would reach for the pan (too lazy to step down ) and it would scrape and away Jigs would go , after about the third time he gave up and stood ,I pulled the pan off and carried it back . I think it went in a pack after that
but I will tell you it was one sparkling clean pan after its ride!

The bottom of the falls

The short cut Appy, name is not one of mine or Catana's shining moments . We were heading up a ridge and there was a steep bank to climb . Everyone was going up on an angle which brought them back to directly over where the trail started . I was ,napping? or day dreaming and Catana and I fell behind. Suddenly I saw Cliff just above me and apparently so did Catana ,She shot straight up that bank ,practically vertical, I was grabbing mane and leather ,anything I could to stay on! When we got to the top every was razzing me about my formerly well controlled horse,guess she actually knew a short cut when she saw one. They also told me they weren't too worried about me getting hurt ,but they didn't want that horse to fall because the booze was in my saddle bags! Nice huh?



Setting up camp

The girls having a well deserved rest

This next picture is the next Honorable mantion I will do ,sometime .It is a tough one as "The Judge" was my dads horse and has a story all his own ...sometime soon

 

The first cut,really is the deepest, and precious memories

First things first! Dad ,walk away from the computer !
Ok I warned you!
This is a post I actually never though I would write ,not because she doesn't bear mention,but because I honestly had no photos of her and didn't know anyone did!
Oddly enough after yesterdays post with Annie and how she came to be mine ,my friend Deb came out today and gave me this picture (all nicely framed)



This was Montana, My beloved Mare Catana's only foal.Seeing this today brought back a flood of memories ,good and bad .Montana was born premature ,with a windswept knee and the tendons in both front legs too weak to hold her up. But Oh ! when you held her little legs straight ...she was perfect!

We tried the protocol at the time of using ABS pipes split in half and padded to splint the legs (keep in mind Montana would now be 20) but unfortunately it was not successful . After about 5 weeks of this we made the decision to put her down.

In that time she and Catana taught me a world of things, patience ,determination ,but most importantly they taught me how to let go.

Coming home from the vet clinic with my broken hearted mare , I nearly gave up the whole issue. Told my folks I can't do this ,I am coming back to town and getting a bird .

I must be a sucker for punishment or I realised I don't like birds ,because 20 yrs later here I am still at it.Many more hurts and successes behind me and I expect still to come.But the first one ... well it leaves a big scar .

I am glad Deb drought me the photo though,it reminds me of the lessons learned and the love I still have of horses.

(I also still somewhere in my world have the sketches I drew of a brace I thought might have worked better ,my vet also agreed and forwarded it to WVCM, who stated it was a viable choice ,if we can learn and improve,no loss is completely futile.)

On to the precious memories, got looking through some old photos to show Catana , and found these

Catana with My Grandad Blaine

Catana as a 3yr old ,having the honor of carrying my Great Aunt Charlotte,a true southern belle, here for a visit on her 85th birthday from South Carolina

Beautiful memories of my girl and I ,on one of our many mountain rides , here shown at the base of Hummingbird falls , the area where ,the "barefoot Appy ,was dubbed with her new nickname "the short cut Appy " Never a hill she wouldn't climb or a river she wouldn't cross.(and mostly she took me with her!)

This last set ,is for Paddy, and all the Golden Lovers out there,this is Winston's predecessor Tucker , He had less of a glorious coat than Win ,but that same happy loving look!My first golden and I was hooked on these wonderful dogs!

Stay warm Stay safe

 

Second Glances,Second chances

So ,I took the week off to regroup ,and get some much needed (if not deserved rest) As per usual ,when I am home I tend to find more work for myself and I was a little tired and sore form hauling garbage yesterday,so I thought I would have a mid morning snooze...

When I awoke ,I wandered out to the kitchen to have a glance at the "kids" in the round pen, and there they were Justus , Maggie ,and Annie....WHAT? I always say around here if it makes you look twice,then LOOK TWICE!

Somehow ,my darlin' Dreamboat Annie had gone over the round pen fence and was in with the young ones , no broken fence ,but Annie was not looking so good . Classic humped back ears back ,tense body that says "OUCH ! THAT HURT!"

She gave me quite a bit of worry, when I checked her over she was bearing weight but when I touched her left hip ,she shrunk away from my hand . I am guessing the incident had just occurred ,because within a few moments she was moving more freely and tolerating pressure on her hip,


"Mom ! I don't feel so good!"

As you see in the video , she is still pretty wobbly on her pins. Gave her a gram of Bute , then left her alone in the round pen until she began to fuss looking for her buddies. Walked much better back into her own pen. I really hope it is just a strain but I will be keeping a close eye on her for a while .(she is eating and drinking so)So as I say ,take a second glance !



On to second chances ,Annie is supposed to be my next saddle horse. I rode an amazing mare for many years Catana(seen in my sidebar)A gorgeous bay with a blanket . For all those years ,I never saw a horse that quite "lived up" as far as looks or ... I don't know ,just the feeling I got . One day my friend Deb took me out to look at a mare she was interested in . While we were looking at he mare ,a young filly pushed her way through the crown to come up to us ,a bay with a blanket and huge spots! I was sunk ! to be quite honest she isn't actually the spitting image of my dear Catana,but there was just something about her . At the time I thought "oh don't be stupid"and walked away .Didn't need another horse ,didn't have the money ,didn't have the time .

But the fates , my friend Deb,and my dear mom had other plans and when it was all said and done ,I brought home the original mare (Ici) and Dreamboat Annie was my Christmas gift from Mom and Dad.

Then 2 years later Ici foaled ,and gave me "the fat baby" Catch a Dream" who is in fact a doppelganger for Catana!







I am trying as I go through my day to day ,to get some new calender shots for next year .I think the gang seems to know as they are posing at every opportunity vying for second chance to be Mr or Miss February 2011!



And by the way, no worries that I will be giving up Johnnie Handsome ,there is absolutely NO CHANCE of that!

As always stay warm ,stay safe!
Note to Angela. See ,it isn't always Eurus causing adrenalin rushes!