The Aloof Horse

E received this book as one of her awards at the Arabian Nationals Horse Judging contest a couple of years ago. 

I started reading it then and it was very interesting in how it described different horse personalities.  The author discussed 4 main personalities: social, fearful, aloof  and challenging,  then combinations of the 4 types. 

 Can you guess which category I'm putting Hank in?  He is the sorrel to the far left.

 Here is the rest of the herd (minus Wrangler because he was painting),

and here is Hank.

The Aloof Horse:
   "The aloof horse is easiest to define by what he doesn't do.  Aloof types interact much less than any of the other types do, and at times this horse may seem to be in his own little world.  He will frequently seem detached or removed from his present environment, to the point of being disassociated from it.  Owners of aloof horses frequently notice this detachment or distance, as if their horse had an invisible barrier around him.  It may appear that your aloof horse is paying very close or studious attention to almost nothing at all."

I think this describes Hank to a tee. All in all, an interesting read, especially if you have has several horses.  It is fun to guess what category they would be in.

More Projects

I had a little extra time Monday and it was warm enough to work in the shop so I started a few more projects. 

 I have another order for a candle votive holder.  Another coworker that didn't end up with one at the Christmas party wants one for her son's wedding.  I think if I keep making these I will splurge and get a Forstner bit instead of the hole saw and chisel that I am doing now.  It should make the process much faster.  I also whipped out another planter box.

And with the scrapes of scrapes I might start making some snowflakes.  This one is laid out so far.  I think I need a protractor to get the angles right before I start gluing.

Good Fences #101

I seems like longer than just 10 days ago that we were this snow covered. 

 I thought the fog with the snow was a little unusual.

It's going to be awhile before I am able to enjoy riding my horses in this arena again.  The snow is now gone but we have plenty of mud to take its place.
For more Good Fences click HERE.

Wrangler Painting Start To Finish

I had filmed Wrangler painting when we first started but had not recorded his tremendous progress in several months.  So I set up my tripod this weekend and put Wrangler to work.  Here he is painting from start to finish in under 4 minutes.

And this was the result. 

I think it is one of his better efforts.

Wooden Horseshoe Box

Wrangler's wares continue to expand. 

 We now have another use for his horseshoes.

 With some reclaimed wood from an old barn that's falling down, I made a rustic wooden box that will hold quart canning jars.

 I can see a lot of possibilities in the decorating department with this one.

He also sold his third painting on Ebay!  This one is on it's way to Missouri.

New Horse

Well, it is a horse, just not a live one.

       

This was a great find on eBay.  I had originally seen it while looking for something for our saddle club Christmas party but it was out of the price range.  But recently the seller lowed the price and I figured if I didn't like it I could always use it for next years party.

Looks like I'll have to contunue looking for something else because.... I LOVE IT!   Who wouldn't, it's adorable.  

Full Cows

The weather has been brutal.  

 Teen's, wind and 7 more inches of snow.

 Now it's above freezing and calling for an inch of rain.

Well, at least the cows are full.

Card Construction

 I can't believe it's been 7 years since I first posted about making these sewn cards HERE.  I think I have only make a couple since then.   But Valentines Day was a good excuse to try it again. 

 I had some left over kids cards from when V and E were in elementary school.

 And I had a stack of blank cards with my maiden name from my high school graduation.  (don't judge me, at least I could find them)

 And with some pretty, bright pink thread, I married the two.

 And because these were going to V and E, I added a little toot.  I found an easy video on YouTube with the instructions HERE.

I think they turned out pretty nice.

Just Kit Sunday #97

As you can see, Kit Kat has a stand in today.

 Emma was more than happy to brave the cold and snow for a photo shoot.

 Kit Kat preferred to stay in.

It's nice to have a willing model.

Catlemen Awareness Ribbon

Earlier this week we got the cattle out of the far end of the farm.

 It wasn't too difficult seeing as how they are conditioned to come when they see the tractor and hay.

 This was a mix lot of bred heifers, yearling replacement heifers and the small end of the calves we sent out west last month.

 The problem was that the smaller end of the calves just weren't getting enough nutrition on hay alone.  Plus, we needed to separate the bred heifers out the nearer they are getting to calving.

 Once again, it was no problem towing them to the new field.

 After J rolled out the hay for them, I said he made a "Cattlemen Awareness Ribbon".

Now the replacement heifers and little ones can get the extra feed they need.

Good Fences #99

I was walking by this section of fence when I saw the knot holes and thought it looked vaguely familiar.  

Maybe some Saturday Night Live character from the 70's.

 OHH NOOO!!!  Mr. Bill.

Maybe it could be Mr. Bill after Mr. Hand visited.
For more Good Fences click HERE.

15 Minute Challenge

One of my sisters has challenged the rest of us to a 60 day challenge of 15 minutes of exercise a day.  The rules are pretty lenient, just 15 minutes of any sort of exercise which can be broken down into shorter time segments.  So pretty much, if you are out of the recliner for at least 15 minutes a day I think it counts.  

 But instead of mindless exercising in the house, I have chosen to do some hill work.  J says it doesn't bother him, but the rocks laying all over the place bother me.  And if we ever want a show place, the rocks have to go.  So I have been taking a 5 gallon bucket, filling it with rocks and toting it up the hill to the driveway.  Who needs free weights and a stair master when you have a steep hill and rocks.  

 I have accumulated multiple piles of rocks.

 After I get them all gathered up, then I have to get the 4 wheeler and cart to load them and haul them off somewhere else.

 And one more pile just in case you don't believe I've been picking them up.

I know it's hard to tell, but this section is on it's way to becoming a rock free zone.  That is until more roll off the top of the hill.

The Six

The six bottle goats we kept had been doing well staying with the herd until recently.  They some how got separated and have been hanging around the house and barn for several days.  One day they got into the yard and J ran them out into another field.

 The only problem with that was they then got into where J is feeding grain to some calves and the goats were jumping up in the troughs eating and messing in the grain.

 I know it's only 4 of them here but the other two couldn't squeeze in the window during the rain storm.  Anyway, it was up to me to get them with the rest of the goats again.  And since there is no herding them, I towed them with a bucket of grain.  The trick is to run away fast enough so they don't follow me back to the barn again.  

 I guess it worked because they are back with the others for the time being.

If they continue to make pests of themselves their time here may be limited.  (the snow picture is not them, I just liked the picture)

Birthday Success

The rescheduled birthday surprise was a success.  Hailey had no idea she was going to be painting with a horse.  When we asked her to guess what you could do with paints and horses at the same time she had all kinds of ideas except for the right one. 

 I couldn't juggle the horse, child, paints and camera at the same time so Wrangler didn't make it into my photo but he did do the painting.  Hailey picked the colors and I gave Wrangler his brushes.  Hailey named this artwork "Wrangler's Rainbow"

 And then she got to ride Wrangler.  How multi talented is that?

 After a little while on Wrangler I switched her over to Pep who was more her size and her mom took over riding Wrangler.

I think she had a good time.  Well, what little girl wouldn't?

Good Fences #98

Since the internet was down I wasn't able to post my snow and fence pictures earlier.  There is no snow here now but here is an idea of what it looked like earlier. 

For more Good Fences click HERE