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 .
I have had the last week off from work, well of from my paying job anyhow. Seems summer vacation days can be busier than they should but I did get a lot done. Some of what I got done was to take some pictures, and that is what led to the post title, the Wild roses are blooming beautifully everywhere we go around here so it seems to fit. The title is actually an old George Jones song, and not one I particularly like but this part of it works well because it has in fact been a good year for the roses !
This week was about getting some things done, I worked with the young horses, and got them on some green grass for more hours in the day
Wednesday was a big day for the "kids" Honorary niece Katie, who is just the sweetest gal, came out to help get video of Wilder,(which would have been better if I had figured out the settings on my camera !Will try again Monday) And also to trim the "kids feet"
THEY WERE AWESOME! no pulling,rearing, or jerking around, even accepted the stand and hving thier feet rasped on it with little fuss>
By the time that was done there was just time to have a cookie and a cold drink and the vet arrived to geld Maks and Tango.
Also went well, though Maks was a little slow to wake up so instead of watching him form the comfort of the shade and my dip[ping pool ,I got to stand in the round pen for and extra hour or so. He finally got looking back to normal, and I hit the pool as he wandered off to eat grass in the shade.
I love this pool!
Speaking of which, the redneck dipping pool got an upgrade of sorts this year, I bought a cover so there is less skimming to pull out the fluff and lilac blossoms and bugs before you can soak
Thursday brought a trip to town to buy a gift for my nephew and also my hubby as their birthdays are a day apart. Both were looking at a similar thing so , this years gifts for the July boys are...
"Nerf Bars " why they aren't just called running boards anymore I don't know, but then I lose intelligence by degrees as soon as I walk into some of these after market auto shops.
Friday was a day to check and move cattle and also to take a few more pictures
So as my week "off comes to a close and I get ready to rejoin the "real" world, I wish you all a good night, stay safe my friends
Just another "catch up" post! I have been out and about working with the babies, and checking cattle.I try to remember to carry my camera, and have gotten a few nice shots of summer here at Fern Valley
A couple of favorites here are the beautiful wild roses . The first a show of what nature will and can do to beautify the marks we make on the land
The second, turned out a little oddly, taken at half light on my cell phone, but I still like it even though it is a bit blurry, makes me think of a watercolor somehow
Hubby was home this week so helped me with a lot of odds and ends we needed to do, I worked, her fenced and dealt with plugged up culverts and beaver dams , and life was busy as it always is.
But he did make a quick trip to town to get a few things, and one of them was this
He is such a thoughtful guy! His birthday is next week mine was in May and it was I who got the gift?
Not complaining mind you but .
We had a BBQ Saturday to celebrate Martins birthday and his dads as well. Great fun with great people. And there is nothing that says summer like kids and ice cream!
Great niece Abby, and great nephew Darian enjoying it thoroughly
The weather has been off and on and that plays a bit of havoc with my joints, makes things just feel off. I captioned this "When nothing seems to fit" and that is how I have felt when the storms fire up lately, just not quite right .But we persevere!
Today was a bit cold and windy but days like this are great for photos , I find overcast days can give great pictures . Deb was out for the first time in a fair while and was pleased that little Sprite had remembered all her lessons
Added this little animation because it made me smile,I only wish I could get things done that fast anymore! lol
Young Tango, looking a bit grubby ,but behaving well and growing like a weed
Such a sweet boy
And then there is everyone's fav, Maks!
Striking , handsome and darn smart!
also however a bit grubby, but we are working on it
And finally Miss Casey! she was the last one I went to work on haltering, and really she should have been first! Easy peasy, well more or less, took a little longer walking her down, but as soon as I got the rope on her we were done, just put the halter on and walked away! What a good girls! Very reminiscent of her half Sister Canadian Classic
big beautiful Classy!(I have always liked this picture of her )
That's about it for now, seems I cant seems to keep up to date these days.
Off to read about everyone else's week and weekend !
Sorry folks I had to, especially in light of the fact that this kids dam is non other than "That Richie mare " Get Rich Quick, winner of among others this 1997 Appaloosa Stakes race . And that way back he carries in his pedigree "Whirlaway" the 1941 triple crown winner. No I agree when it is a ways(5 generations ) back it doesn't carry that much weight it is still kinda cool and maybe excuses the title of this post. add to that coolness we also see Northern Dancer on his 5 generation pedigree!
So who are we talking about ? well it could be Fern Valleys Phoenix,he is a full brother of his but no we are talking about our other Blue eyed wonder. FV WILD CARD
He was out for the year with a dear friend Mel, who while working at a big barn was looking for a horse to ride/ project pony. Well my brother in law who owns Wilder has a bad back,and Wilder needed a job, so we figured it was a good match. Mel did great work with him and kept him in fine form. She is on to another project for now so it was time to bring our wild card home. Marc and I headed out yesterday to pick him up. (by the way, who had the bright idea to drive all of the way across from here ,to the east side of Edmonton, on a Friday in construction season at 4 pm?? oh yeah mine! dummy!) Anyhow we got there and took a little time to visit and watch Mel take the boy for a little spin. Many have seen this video on Facebook already but here it is again.
Now wilder is not the only horse we have with "chrome "(white markings) but he does have some nice ones, and the shimmer of gold in his coat has always just added that little something special to his look .
He traveled well and spent the night in the round pen,then this morning I turned him in with Stryker and Harley.
Wandering in
Retreating! Old man Stryker was giving him a little working over
Just showing him who is boss. Stryker did a lot more posturing than actual chasing ,if Wilder would move off then he let him be
I think he will be fine
Matter of fact,when I got home this afternoon, he and Harley had buddied up and old man Stryker was hanging out under a shady tree.Probably relieved to not have that "kid " to keep up with.
Wilder is for sale , Marc is not likely to ride him much with his work and his back, and this is too good a horse to go to waste so keep an eye out for a for sale post on him.
Happy Fathers day all! It has been another busy week, cant tell exactly what I was doing during the week, but I felt pretty busy doing it!
When the weekend finally arrived ,I got busy doing what it seems most of us do every week /weekend all summer. Yard work , housework, checking critters etc.
Travelling partner Winston (still think I might need to change his name to Shotgun! seeing as he does tend to grab that seat on the gator if he can!
Checking cows? I thinks I smells them !
Then there is Skeeter , who rides in the back, but jumps out every time I get out to open a gate .Usually lies a few feet from the gator until I start to leave then hops back in .
Shuffled some horses around on Saturday to make sure all have plenty of feed.Cactus was sure a happy guy to get into this pen!
Harley and Stryker are starting to catch up to the grass they had so off to a new space for them as well
Then Johnny and the girls (these pics feature the girls ) were in the front lake pasture which was getting sparse , they tend to hang around in front of my sisters house so time to shuffle them into another space as well to let the lake pasture come back .
Another Photo bomber here
A couple of fancy fannys headed out to the green
FV Dreamboat Annie , and FV Catch a Dream
All are out on pasture full time now except Phoenix and the yearlings. Once the bull and steer are out I will have more options for Phoenix and right now its nice to have the Kids in in the evenings to work with them. That is when it's not pouring rain ! yeesh, hard to believe how much of that we have had.
Between the rain and being busy ,I have not taken the time to handle these kids enough. Helped Deb halter break Sprite and started with the boys a couple weeks ago,but did not get much done.
FV Shall We Dance (Tango)
FV Rainmakers Quest (Maks )
They are getting out and getting their excercise
As I said, hadn't gotten much time with them , so even though I was a bit tired on Saturday evening I went out to have a go. Have I mentioned that these kids are GREAT MINDED!! If I haven't I sure should! This session took about 90 min total, and that is for both colts!
First Maks.A little move the feet, and learn the whoa and we have a caught colt! I grabbed the wrong halter so I had to fake it for a bit. I know folks laughed at Harley's pink halter but it is the only one I have in pink so if I grab it I know I have the small one . Shirley from Ride a Good Horse made me some last year, and I honestly thought one was green so I grabbed the green one and oops! not the right one .
Made it work for Maks after all and he was a good boy, a little bracing but as I stated in a post a while back, Resistance is Futile I did not brace against him, I just waited and let him put the energy in and soon I had him walking along steady and calm .
Forgive the shaky video, its short as I am exceedingly bad at selfies, and worse at video over my shoulder !
Tango was much the same , a little longer to get him to find his whoa and calm but once we had it he was a great boy. Followed so quickly and easily I had a hard time getting a photo!
While he doesn't look particularly amused here it is a trick of the photo as well , what I see and am pleased about is he is looking at me and nice and soft , not fighting with his head flung up, or set back and bracing against me . A really good session. I did not get to Casey, but she is on my radar too!
BTW both boys picked up all four feet for me as well in this session (but to be honest they have done that for some time weird I know picking up the feet before halter breaking ,but I take the opportunities that present to handle them in any way they come )
Other than that , had a nice lunch BBQ with my dad,mom, sister Heather and brother in law Marc along with my nephew Brendan to celebrate fathers day . I had intended to go out again this evening to work some more with the boys ,but an old friend stopped for coffee and a long overdue visit . And the "kids" will be there tomorrow.
