Rotating

Otoelene and I went out for a nice chilly (28 degrees) morning ride. 

 We've been fortunate enough to not have to start feeding the cattle at the house yet.

 J was rotating them to a different field this morning.  (the pied piper strikes again)

 I thought it would be a good opportunity to let Otoelene do a little work and keep calm while the cattle were moving around.

 She was very interested in getting them to move and was good about keeping her ears on them.  She seems to be figuring out why we work on pivots, roll backs and backing.  We just worked them at a walk but she was very light and responsive.  

 In years past, when we have had a drought, J has had to wean the calves as early as August.  This year he is hoping to keep them on the cows until January.   The calves look good and the cows are still in good shape.  We don't start spring calving until mid March.

It's always satisfying to see them happily grazing new pasture.

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday eating and visiting with family. But really missed sister A and nephew M.  

 Mama cooked a beautiful turkey.

 V and E really stepped it up with the cooking, several new dishes from them this year.

 J even helped out in the kitchen.  

 Of course there where some good standbys, can't have Thanksgiving without the mashed potatoes.

 And brother M carved the turkey.

A great meal with plenty leftover for super.

On the way home J and I stopped by Belk to see what V and E were up to there.  C wasn't concerned about a crowd.  Her comment at the house was, "Who's going to go to Belk anyway?"  Well, half the county seemed to be there.  The parking lot was packed and the shoe department was a mad house.  We left with V and E in line with 2 of their aunts buying all of our finds.  J and I came home while they were headed to the next store.
Happy Black Friday.

What's Blooming

With freezing rain from the winter nor'easter, not much, that's what's blooming.  

 No color from my coneflowers.

 The butterfly bush is done for.

 I don't think this camellia will break through that prison.

 Here's whats left of my ever blooming hydrangea.

At least there is a little color still in the nandina bushes.
No official update but I'm sure this rain has bound to put out the Horse Heaven Fire.

Bad Horse For Sale Pictures

I am testing out a new feature today.  Since my sister is looking for a horse, I've been checking out ads on Facebook and Craig's List  (I know she is already looking at the more desirable sites like Dream Horse and Horse Clicks).  I have come across some interesting entries.  Tell me what you think.

Advertised for sale on Facebook.  If you want a horse a 200 pound man can hold while squirting water up it's nose, this one's for you.  

What Crazy Friends Get You To Do

I got a call from a friend Friday night wanting me to go with her to pick up an owner surrender rescue horse the next day. She was getting it for a friend whose 11 year old daughter was learning to ride and this was to be her first horse.  "Baily" is a 15.2 hand 11 year old  registered breeding stock Paint gelding.  The story was her husband had had a stroke and they could no longer care for the horse, it needed some hoof work but had been trail ridden all over the east coast.  

After we got there and talked with the owner, we find out that no, it hasn't been trail ridden only ridden around the pasture some when they got it as a 2 year old 9 years ago.  Maybe the previous owner trail rode it but they never did.

 Then we find out that the only time it had been hauled was when they got it 9 years ago but supposedly it just walked right on then.

 Then we find out that no, they have never tied him up but maybe the previous owners had...9 years ago.   He was lame and his feet were in terrible shape and he knew nothing, but he was calm, gentle and not aggressive.  

"Baily" meeting his new owner Hannah.

I managed to get him on the trailer after about 10 minutes but that was when I found out he had never been tied.  He came off backwards and it took another 15 minutes to get him back on.  I had them open the escape door on the side for me but didn't tell them in time to make sure he kept his head above the waist high bar across the doorway while I was closing the divider.  This 15.2 hand 1200 pound animal was able to get under the bar and though the escape door.   After that I gave him 2 cc's of ace and it took 30 more minutes to get him on again.  I got him tied and the divider closed over on him and gave him another 1 1/2 cc's of ace for the 2 hour ride home. When I got in the truck, they were calling me "the horse whisperer."   Amazingly, he backed right off very calmly was lead to the stall and started eating hay.  
I might be busy the next time crazy Aimee asks for a favor.  (Just joking Aimee.)

Just Kit Sunday #29

Sale Day

Yesterday was the annual goat roundup and sale.  We had a buyer for all the little one, cull nannies and billies.  

 First step, get everyone in the barn.

  Then we have to crowd them into a small room to start pulling out the nannies we are keeping.

 Then crowd them again into a smaller room to continue the process.

 At this point J has to catch them one at a time  to bring them to the gate to be let out.  After all the nannies and replacement yearlings are pulled out it's time to get on the trailer.

Sissy was first on the trailer again this year but sadly stayed there.  For J's sanity it was better that she go.

We sold 58 head and kept 42 nannies/yearlings and 1 billy.

New Inductee

 J and I are proud parents of a new member of the National Honor Society.

E was tapped into the Society during a very nice ceremony on Monday.  

The fire on Horse Heaven is still going.

They are saying 80% containment with 1500 acres burned.  100% containment is expected today. 

Random Comment

A man brought his cat to the clinic and requested a heartworm test.  I was in the middle of explaining to him how there were more important things his cat actually needed and that heartworms were an uncommon problem in dogs in our area and almost unheard of in cats.  I was not just in the middle of the conversations, I was in the middle of a sentence when he said, "You have beautiful teeth."

Mass Suicide?

I have a rope gate set up in the barn.  E and I use it to practice with every horse we ride.  This is a required obstacle for the trail class at the State Show and I don't know which horse E will take next year so they are all learning how to do it which is just good training in general.  

 Anyway, I rode Wrangle yesterday but decided to skip the gate when I saw this....

 What??? Mass suicide or Kit keeping Emma away from his kills.  There is also a small hawk that hangs out around the barn.  Would a hawk do this?  The woolly worm is an incidental finding.  Remember the invasion post.

No new update, still on fire.

Brother's First Group Ride

Some friends cut out a new spur trail to the top of a cliff and wanted to show everyone where it was so we thought it would be a good time to take Brother on his first group trail ride.  

 I'm not sure who was more nervous, Brother or J.  Brother was pretty quite but didn't really want to stand still and relax so J did a lot of circling.

 Brother also wanted to walk faster than J needed him to so more circling.

 We got to the first water crossing and Hank looked back to see what Brother and J were up to.

 Looks like more circling.

 We then got to part of the trail that was too narrow to circle so Brother kicked one of the 2 dogs that were with the group.  After that the dogs seemed attracted to Brother like it was a game to see who could get kicked next.

 He finally decided that it was too much work to walk twice as far as everyone else and settled into a slower walk.

 Which was good because there were a lot of obstacles to contend with.

 We finally made it to the lookout.  

The view was worth the ride.  

Couldn't resist one more circle before getting back.  
All in all, another successful training ride for Brother.  With 13 adult riders, 2 kids and 2 dogs there was lots for him to process.
Fire update 1100 acres burned 60% contained.

Just Kit Sunday #28

"Where is Kit Kat?" you might very well ask on this Kit Kat Sunday.

 Well, there he is on the workbench behind the vise.

 When I looked at the picture I took of Kit I realized what a disaster the workbench was.  Sometimes you stop noticing how bad things are when you see them everyday.  But the picture brought it back to reality for me.

So, after a garage cleaning day, Kit has a new spot just for him.