New Harland

J tried his hand at picture taking today and came up with some good ones of our new bull.

He was born a couple of days ago and is an AI calf out of Harland.
I think this makes a very nice cow/calf pair.

Pears, Pears, and More Pears

I think I have already mentioned the over abundance of pear that we have this year from our two trees. J is really the only one of us that likes pears, and he is doing his best to keep them from going to waste.

But he can only eat so many. Therefore, I have started making pear sauce.
One basket doesn't even hold all of the pears from one limb and it makes about 3-4 quarts. I have found that if you don't already like pears, making it into sauce doesn't help. Looks like J will have plenty to eat this winter.

And the Rest.

Lots of things go on during a 4 day horse show. Here are just a few more.

I did get a decent picture of V with Jessica.Grandma came up for Friday's show. She seemed very proud of E's results.
Linda was there also, giving calming advice.
J's aunt Mary Grace and uncle Pete spent Saturday afternoon with us. We had a very nice visit.
10 year old Katelyn did great at her first State Show. She got 2 fourths, 1 fifth, and 2 sevenths with Scribbles.
Sydney's horse was fast but she knocked over a barrel, had trouble in poles and stepped on the line in key hole, so no ribbons.

Now we can start dreaming about next year.

The Bad...

V had a down right miserable show with Jessica. Showmanship was the only class Jessica did well in but V forgot the pattern and didn't do the back. Of course E teased her about this and when it was her turn E forgot to do the 360 turn. I think they have a mental block when it comes to showmanship.

V has never had to do a riding pattern on Jessica at a show before. This year they had one for the Hunter Equitation class.
In theory it was a simple pattern but Jessica found a way to ruin it. She was suppose to stop next to the cone and back 4 steps. Instead, she stopped in front of the cone then backed over and stomped it several times. We think she needs an anger management course.
Of course she went too fast in all of her classes. I started just filming her in the warm-up ring where she was doing perfect.
I think Jessica won this round. It will probably be the last show V takes her to. Maybe I can convince V to try Hank next year.

The Good...

I'll start with the good results which means E and Pep. The scary part was Pep turned up very lame Tuesday evening on a rear leg. I started her on antibiotics, pain meds and foot soaks. E didn't ride her anymore until we got to the show grounds Thursday night. She was still a little off but not bad. Friday for the show she was going sound again. Whew!

She had a wonderful Western Pleasure first go and got first place. Her second go Saturday was going perfect until half way through the lope the second way when she broke. Of course the Judge saw and she then picked up the wrong lead but E quickly corrected it. Still she got 4th which then set up a 3 way tie for the high point award. E had Pep doing perfect again for the hack off and won. Nothing like a little more stress for everyone.
We get the trophy back for another year.
She had a good run in the Working Western Pattern class (maybe if Pep sees the pattern one of them might remember it) and got 2nd out of 22. She got another 2nd in Horsemanship (equitation) and qualified for the finals in trail. They didn't put up as many weird decorations on the obstacles this year so E was able to get Pep through everything and got 6th out of 26 (her first trail class ribbon at State).
Sunday she got to show in the Classics (championships) in Pony Western Pleasure and Horsemanship. She was 7th in pleasure but didn't place in horsemanship (but she did remember the pattern.)

State 4-H Horse Show 2010

It's been a very busy 4 days at the State Horse Show.

E and V showed along with 2 other girls from our county.

Details tomorrow.

Spot

Spot is our 20ish paint gelding that we have had for about 8 years. We ended up with him because a friend wanted to give him some time off from roping because he was lame. He never went sound so here he is. V and E both learned to ride on him. We've chased cows with him and even a boyfriend of V's rode him. He is a wonderful horse with really no bad habits but because of his lameness we really only use him when we have to.

He is lame in both front legs which makes going down hill a little difficult for him.
Our 9 year old friend from church was born wanting a horse. Her parents know nothing about horses but they have been letting her take riding lessons. They had promised her a horse by her 10th birthday (November).
They brought her out today to get introduced to Spot. I think he was a hit. Now they just have to build some fence and get a shed then Spot can have a new home.

Labor Day Weekend

We got to go to the beach again this weekend, that is except for J. He had to stay home with the cows calving.

The beach was wonderful, beautiful weather, warm water. Earl did no damage at all.
Looking forward to going again next year.

Back to regular farm stuff tomorrow.