Sandy

Thankfully, we don't have anything bad to report from the effects of Sandy on our area.  No school so E stayed home.   And, we didn't even lose power. 

 We had about 1-2 inches of snow which had mostly melted by the time I got a picture of it.

 We did have a lot of wind, 20-30 mph so there was a little drifting.   That's been sort of rough on J doing his chores today.

The sun even came out for a few minutes to help melt the snow.  I can't ever remember having snow accumulation in October before.  It might be quite nippy on those Trick-or-Treaters tomorrow, but being 1/2 mile off the road we never have to worry about that anyway.  Hope everyone is safe.

C.E. and Evening Chores

I just got back from my continuing education meeting where I was updated on cardiology, GI surgery and wound care.  E and my sister L went with me and we stayed with sister C.  It is always nice to get to visit with her.  E got to do lots of shopping plus we had our annual campfire cookout followed by the yearly viewing of Monty Python's Holy Grail.   

 When I got home I saw the big pile of wood and the outdoor wood stove smoking.  J's getting ready for the big storm which may or may not include snow but is sure to have plenty of wind.  On the way up I 81 we passed numerous power company trucks from Texas on east, heading north to get ready too.

 J's got another bottle calf he's been feeding for the past 3 weeks.  A twin the mother didn't take.

 The billy goat got out awhile back and is now being confined to the barn lot.  He has to be fed and watered daily.

J's decided to name his new horse Brother, because he is constantly referred to as Otoelene's brother.  He's been turning Brother out in the bull lot during the day to graze where there is no fence line contact with the other horses yet, and then letting him back into the barn lot for a little hay.
Now you know.

Garden's End

The garden has gone mostly to tommy toes and weeds so it was time to say goodbye to it. 

 V and E helped me clear it off this weekend.  I always have such grand  plans in the spring to keep it nice but somehow it never works out.

E helped pick out some of the nice green tomatoes to ripen later.  And believe it or not, I still have peppers and broccoli, but with high temps expected in the 30's next week, those won't last long.  Now I can start thinking about what a good garden next year's will be.

Training, Day 4

Well, we know his registered name now, Just An Otoe.  I'm not sure that helps us much in trying to figure out what to call him though.  

 His seems to be a fast learner and retains the lessons from one day to the next.  The other horses are still very interested in trying to see him.

 We've started working on picking up his feet and he's pretty accepting so far with that.

 His is lunging at the walk and trot,

 and yielding his hindquarters.  I've taken him to the ring to let him graze a couple of times.  So far his acts so starved for grass that there is no working him there, just eating.

I know he's been worked some with a plastic bag so we tried that today.  I don't think he was scared of it just angry with it and trying to bite it.

Fall Calves and the Last Two Pears

The fall calving cows are almost done calving.

 I don't get out to the farm where they are near as much as J.  But I had to go today to help J with a cow who's horn was growing in the wrong direction and getting ready to do some damage to her head.   We had to cut it back away from her face so it wouldn't puncture the skin.

 I didn't think anyone would want to see pictures of that so I took pretty calf pictures instead.

 There is also an old pear tree on the farm with one last pear hanging on.

Then there is this pear sorry -pregnant cow, one of the last still hanging on

Lesson One

What's His Name, had his first lesson yesterday, sensitizing and desensitizing.  Things went pretty well.  We actually had 2 short sessions, morning and afternoon.  There were a  lot of distractions in the morning with the horses at the gate whinnying and the cattle at the feed troughs making a ruckus and of course the wind blowing. 

 But still, we were able to send him off,

 walk and trot small circles, yield the hindquarters, push the shoulder over and flex the neck both ways.

 Then, standing still desensitizing with the whip and even picking up the front feet.  Then a big lesson on backing up out of my space.

I keep looking back at the pictures of Otoelene at this age and see how much we had already done.  Good progress for one day though and we have all winter to catch up.
Thanks for all of the positive comments about his purchase!

Call Us Crazy

I can't believe we went and got another one.  But as I said before, J is so impressed with Otoelene's attitude that he wanted one of his own.  (I'm not reminding him that Otoelene was his to start with and I was just going to help him train her.)

 I got momentarily distracted by the weanlings.  They are all so cute.

 But we were after the brown yearling gelding.  He had never been on a trailer before so I was ready to spend some time here but he ended up getting on so fast that I only got the one picture.

 The next picture was him inside.

 When we got home with him there was immediate interest from the other horses.

 They were all very excited in hopes of seeing the new comer.

 He came off as well as he went on.

 And was very relaxed in the barn lot.

 V was home from college for the weekend and got in on the inspection.

I haven't seen his papers yet so I don't even know his name but he is a registered solid Paint.  He is out of the same Quarter Horse stud as Otoelene and the paint mares are closely related.  No white hairs at all.  I think with the stallion being a creamello and the mare being a black/white paint that his color is officially a smokey black.  J however, is just a little worried about the wildness of his mane.

Guess What I Have

Looky what came in the mail today.  Our very own Vaulting Surcingle!!!!

At our last Saddle Club Horse Show the 4-H Club was able to sell 50/50 raffle tickets.  Unfortunately, we didn't sell enough for our half to buy the saddle.  But guess what.  One of the tickets I bought WON.  So, I donated the money back to the club and then there was enough.  After a little more online searching I found one even less expensive than the one on Ebay I was originally looking at.  Now maybe I can find some side reins and see if Pep might like to be a vaulting horse.  Hank is great but he is so tall and a bit rough (understatement of the year) at the trot.  Pep is only 14.2 and has a very smooth western pleasure trot and goes nowhere at the lope.  Can't wait to get down to the barn at try it out.

Fall Colors

The last couple of days have been gorgeous!  Blue sky and temps in the 60's. 

 And looking out of my front door I see this beautiful red maple.  The only problem is I'm looking out of the door because I'm cleaning windows.  Yes, time to take out the screens and clean the windows.  One of my least favorite house work chores.

 But I also get to see this.

 A magnificent hickory tree on the hill in front of the house.

And yes, I get to ride the horses in all of this wonder.

Saddle Pad Rack

I'm still trying to get use to having a big organized tack room and shop.  Keeping it clean is a problem because sand from the indoor arena is continually getting tracked in.

 But back to organizing.  I thought I would try and make a rack for the saddle pads to keep them from piling up on top of everything else.

The design changed from how it was in my mind to reality.  I was originally going to use old plastic posts for the cross pieces but decided to dismantle a wood pallet and salvage to boards from that instead.  It remains to be seen if it was a waste of time or if it will work out to keep things organized.

Oh No, We're At It Again

Yes, we went to look at horses- again.  I don't know what keeps possessing us, it's not like we don't have enough already.  But every time I ride Otoelene and tell J how well she is doing he keeps saying, "Let's go get another one."  So really, it's J's fault. 

 So now the question is, which one?  Yearling or weanling?  We have narrowed it down to a gelding/colt.  I think we have enough mares.

 This was the brown yearling J liked in the spring.

 And this was the palomino E liked.

 Otoelene's mother had a foal this year.  She skipped getting bred last year so no yearling full brother.  This one is a little more shy than Otoelene was.

 But he is still really cute.

 Where as this one is her twin.

 This is the brother to the yearling E liked.

 I think this is my favorite of the weanlings.   (sometimes these pictures aren't doing justice)

 And I don't know if J was attracted to the creamello or he was attracted to J.  But I think J wouldn't mind having him.  He was quite the pet already.  Although, blue eyes always seem a little freaky to me.

What would you do?

Bowling Ball Art

I finally finished the project I started HERE.  

 I think it turned out pretty nice.

 I had a little trouble with the glue not being strong enough but I ended up using Fix-All Adhesive by Super Glue.  I'm hoping it holds up well.  I also started out polishing the pennies but soon gave up on that idea.

It might stay here or move around some.  We'll see.