Three Updates

E's basketball season is about over.  I don't know what the team's record is but they are having a losing season. 

 They did manage to hang on and win this game.

 The previous game they were ahead by 9 with 2 minutes left.  All's they had to do was run the time off the clock.  But one girl went wild trying to take the ball down the court and making crazy shots.  She had so many turnovers that the other team was able to come back and win.

 I still don't know why the coach wouldn't take her out of the game but oh, well.

 The temperature got up in the high 60's on Tuesday so I thought I might ride Otoelene.  But this is what I found when I was checking the other horses.

 Thumper's leg was swollen and there was some blood tinged fluid draining down.  So he got taken to the barn to have the hair shaved off so I could see what it looked like.

 And this is what I found.  What on earth did he find to stick his leg in this time.  There really is nothing unnatural in their field.  Horses do find ways to hurt themselves.

J bought this hay unroller 13 years ago at an auction and he said it was worn out then.  He noticed a couple of days ago that one of the arms had some metal fatigue at the hinge joint and was splitting.

 So he went out and bought this new one.  

 If you have a new tractor you might as well get a new hay unroller to go with it.
By the way, we went from 60's to 20's in less than 24 hours and 2 inches of rain.
  Funny weather we're having.

FaceSmooch

Just spent all evening getting rid of some FaceSmooch tool bar thing that hitch hiked in with something E downloaded.  It was a nightmare  It really infested itself everywhere.  I think I finally got it removed from everything (hopefully).  But since it took all of my time this evening no new post on Basketball, Thumper's leg, or J's new piece of equipment.  I guess you'll just have to wait until I have more time, sorry.

Intro to Clippers

Since I've been having to go water Brother I've been taking the opportunity to play some with him.  He's still not over his hoof abscess so we don't do much running around (although it doesn't stop him from running around outside on his own). 

 "Here horsey, horsey.  Looky what I have."

 "Don't you want to come see?"

 "Well, maybe it is more interesting than that patch of light I was looking at."

 "They're a little noisy."

 "But I like the vibrations."

 "Maybe it's good to eat.  Can't be any worse than trying to eat this sand."

So far Brother has been very accepting of everything I've introduced him to.  I have to watch when I have him loose in the arena because if he catches the shop door open he just goes right in.  It's a little harder getting him to go back out to the pasture.
On a technology note, I was able to figure out how to resize my photos so I could still use the blogger account.  Much quicker than downloading to photobucket then linking back to that.  We'll see how long this will last.

Snow, Sleet and Freezing Rain

No School yesterday due to the above title.  We had about an inch total of the combination and it was slick out there. But the power stayed on, YEA.  According the the forecast it might get gone next week with the warm-up.  I can't believe I was talking about it being 70 degrees 2 weeks ago. 

This was the best I got of Kit Kat.  It would have been perfect without that twig in front of his eye.  Have I said that cats are hard to photograph?

Brother is toughing it out pretty well.  His water freezes so we have to take new out there several times a day.

I tried brushing the ice off but it was stuck and he didn't like his hair being pulled.  J takes care of everything else.  Pretty much take all day.  But that's ranching for you.

Fridays Fences #67

I've missed a few Fridays, but here are two for today. 

When it snowed last week it came so fast and the wind didn't blow so the snow stuck to everything. 

This is actually a high tensil electric fence (although not electric at the time due to the 3 day power outage) but the snow made it look like a board fence.
For more Fridays Fences click HERE.

Winter Pasture

Yesterday was the day to move the cattle off of some rented land.  We split them into 2 groups with 5 cows coming to the house and 13 up the road to our other farm. 

The working pens here leave a lot to be desired but with J's corral panel reinforcements everything worked OK. 

Can't forget the obligatory squirt of dewormer for the lice. 

We then have to bring the cattle through the corner of the landlord's yard, 

then hope they turn the right way to go down the gravel road and not out toward the main road.  I wasn't looking forward to having to climb the fence to head them off if they went the wrong way. 

There was a little snacking along the way.   A lot of the snow of south facing slopes has melted but we still have a good covering elsewhere. 

Now there is one less stop J has to make on his daily feeding schedule.

A Little Vaulting

Despite the snow, we went ahead with our 4-H meeting Sunday.  The roads were all clear and even our driveway wasn't too bad.  I am continuing to get more and more discouraged trying to lead this club.  It doesn't matter how many people I contact or how many say they are coming, I still just have the same three.  I'm about ready to call it quits and just take E to the competitions she wants to attend. 

We did have a mini course in horse judging.  There's a contest next month but I don't think the other 2 want to go.   We ending the day doing some vaulting on Hank.  

Once again he was quite the trooper letting everyone stand and jump around on him.  

The new vaulting surcingle fit but was difficult to get tight.  I'm hoping the leather just needs to be broken in.  I'm not sure it would fit a smaller horse.  

We just did everything at a walk.  I asked Corey (on top) if he was ready to do this at the canter.  I got a resounding, "NO!"
Forgot to take any pictures of E when she went and she wouldn't get back on for me to.

Snow and No Power

The wind blows, we lose power.  It rains, we lose power.  And it snows, and we lose power.  I'm getting a little tired of this.  Anyway, we were hit with our first snow of the season, 13 inches in 6 hours (in which I had to drive home during the worst of, took 1 hour for a 20 min. trip).  

The power was out when I got home.  I had called several restaurant before I left work to find something for supper but everything was closed because of the snow.  When I got home J said, shouldn't we put the cable across the cattle guard so the horses don't walk across since it's filled in with snow.  I said they probably wouldn't wander down there.  I hate it when J's right.  The next morning these three were where they belonged.  Yes, Hank the Wonder Horse stayed in.  

But someone else was out. 

And there's another escapee. 

Pep, Jessica and Otoelene all went on a nighttime escapade. 

Luckily, after crossing the cattle guard they turned and went back up the hill and not down toward the road. 

I think maybe some of these downed trees might have discouraged them from going that way.   But we got them back and no harm done.
The power finally came back on last night.  E was very glad.  I think she had had her fill of playing board games with me.

Sand Storm

As promised, pictures of Brother's first time in our barn.  He was really pretty calm about the whole thing even with the rain pelting on the roof. 

It had been pouring rain and he was soaked to the skin.  

We led him around a little then let him loose in the round pen.  He immediately started to roll, and roll and roll.  Got back up and rolled some more. 

What color is this suppose to be?

How do people that live near the beach stand it?  I left him in the barn half the day to dry off and I tried my best to brush it out.  Ultimately, I turned him back out to let the rain was the rest off.

A Little Bit of Pear Sauce Helps the Medicine Go Down

Over the years I think I have perfected my horse medicine giving technique.  I don't know what it is here, but just about every horse we have has had a hoof abscess at one time or another.  Right now Brother is the one affected.   And none of the horses will consistently eat the medicine in grain.   Brother won't even eat the grain without any medicine. 

So, I first start with the tablets in a mortar and pestle that came in my sister's chemistry kit 40 years ago.  (By the way thanks A, in case you've been missing it) 

It does a good job pulverizing the tablets. 

Next, a little pear sauce for flavor and consistency.   My nephew M, would think this a terrible waste of pear sauce. 

Then into the syringe. 

Notice the tip has been cut off and the hole opened up so the larger pill chunks don't plug it up. 

Our beautiful weather has been replaced with cold rain and Brother has been soaked.  

A little maneuvering and the medicine has been successfully administered.  He then went to the barn for some drying off time.  Pictures of what happened his first time in the barn tomorrow.

Presents

The weather was beautiful today, high of 71, amazing.  It was a perfect day to try out my new Christmas presents. 

This was the helmet before, 

and this is after, with the new Da Brim helmet brim my brother got me.  It will be great in the summer to keep the sun off my face.  

And this is Otoelene's new Toklat cool back saddle pad.  I think the color looks good on her and matches the reins I got for her last year.  We're ready for the trails.   I had a nice ride breaking in the new equipment.