Welcome to Fern Valley

Here in central Alberta prime farm country,my husband Martin and I work together raising beef cattle and Appaloosa horses. Fern valley appaloosas have long been known for their quality of temperament conformation and color.I have recently rediscovered a love of writing and have published 2 collections of poetry. "Telling Tails" and Tails Trails and Campfire stories" . I look forward to a future spreading my wings as an author and as a horse woman .

Monday 8 September 2014

That is one nice Harley !



This Harley, that is . he went out to spend a month  or so with Katie. I wanted him lightly started this year.He is for sale and also he needed something to occupy his quick mind. Harley is a very bright colt. To quote Katie "the smartest 2 yr old she has ever worked with !" Apparently when going for a little ride down to the river Katie's dog , a Cane Corso , jumped up against his side,Harley's reaction was to slightly spook in place and stand there watching calmly as Katie jumped off and corrected the dog. Then continued down to the river like nothing had happened. 

 Friday ,Angela came out for a visit after several days on call at the clinic she is now working at. The life of a country vet! she had some stories to tell!a few glasses of wine and a really good chat! then Saturday she and I went to get Harley. Now normally I don't ever bring a horse home form the trainers without riding them , but Harley is just 2 and I am a bit too heavy for him. If he is still here in the spring I will take him back to Katie for a refresher, that is if she doesn't  just decide to buy him for herself , she is a big fan of my snappy red colt! Anyhow if he goes back I will ride him then. For now he is going to just spend some time growing up a little more and growing is another thing that kid does well.He is going to be a big boy when it is all said and done. If it hadn't snowed today I was actually planning to go measure him. Yes, you read that right! SNOW !! Cold wet white and horrifying! 



And also gone (thank goodness ) by this evening!Just a test fire I guess of what Mother Nature has in store 

Anyhow, back to Harley
I think Katie is right, that is a darn smart kid! 30 days and doing quite well


Brought him home and settled him back in with the old man Stryker, and so far everyone is staying where they belong. 
 Got all dressed up and attended the Canadian Country Music awards with Deanna and Adam , and because my hubby is out of town, my date for the evening was Karly, one of Dee's long time friends



Also she is one of the gals that attended the Tim McGraw concert with me earlier in the year. I love that these young ladies that I watch grow up still want to hang with the old Auntie! 

Speaking of the girls I watched grow up, I had the honor of doing a little photo shoot for Deanna and Adam again. What an adorable couple ! I don't usually take pics of people, but its hard to miss with these two,Hoping to get my other niece tar, and my nephew Brendan to get some pis too, I am sure their mom would love an album or framed collage. Here are a few of my favorites 







This last one an "out take" , but I love the pure joy of the moment 


So busy as usual, but other than shoveling sn*w this morning and trying to keep my gazebo from collapsing under the weight of it ,its pretty much business as usual .
Her's hoping Ma Nature is over her tantrum and we have an Indian summer headed our way! 
Stay safe friends  

7 comments:

4RRanch said...

Snow? Yikes! I guess I shouldn't complain about the 60 degree weather and rain that we have. Nice Harley.

aurora said...

Harley looks great & great minded too! Cute selfie, it's fun to dress up and "hit the town" once in a while. You really did a nice job capturing the couples love for each other! Snow already?! I love playing in the snow, but it's too early. I'm trying to ignore the good for nothing ultra cooold winter they are predicting...I'm with ya, hoping for a nice Fall!!

Country Gal said...

I heard and saw on the new you guys got snow YIKES to early ! We are in lovely fall like temps here in Ontario and leaves are slowly changing . Lovely Harley horse. Our cat's name is Harley for the reason she purrs deep and as loud as one lol ! Lovely photos ! Thanks for sharing , hope no more snow for you till the proper season ! Have a good week !

Shirley said...

Good boy Harley!
You just keep that white stuff up there, thanks very much. Or send it to the North Pole, even better.
Lovely photos of Deanna and Adam.
I watched some of the CCMA's on TV, but not all.

C-ingspots said...

SNOW!!?? What the hell? It's still summer time...good grief, I sure hope that's not a view of things to come. We're supposed to be back in the 90's this weekend, but I'm hoping it's just for a few days and back to the upper 70's. That's perfect I think. Your Harley sounds amazing Sherry!! You think it has anything to do with the name? My Harley - first time I ever rode him outside the round pen, we went on a 12 mile ride around Timothy Lake in the Mt. Hood wilderness...he was absolutely perfect and I knew he was going to make my perfect mountain horse. Riding him was like coming home and slipping my comfy slippers on. He and I just felt right together. :)
Your pictures are just beautiful, and so are you!!!

Sherry Sikstrom said...

It sure could be the name ! I know I never saw a Harley I didn't like!

Cut-N-Jump said...

I second the motion that you can keep the snow. At least unless I can find blades for my cart and turn it into a sleigh, then I'll gladly come up for a visit. bringing the entire entourage of course! lol

You get snow, we get heavy rains and flooding. Not sure I care for Ma Natures sense of humor here.

Harley looks like a smooth ride. That's awesome!