Tails and Favorite Things

I have come to the conclusion that little Draper cannot trot without having her tail up in the air.

 Trotting, tail up. 

 Standing still, tail down. 

 Trotting, tail up.

 Walking, tail down. 

 Her trotting muscles are definitely connected to her tail up muscles. 

Now, two of my favorite things in one shot.  I was taking a picture of the bunny rabbit when Draper had to come see what I was doing.   Who doesn't love little horses and bunny rabbits?

Just Kit Sunday #115

Another photo session, just in a days work for Kit Kat. 

 Full face, 

three quarter view, 

 look right, 

look left.

He looks a little bored with it all. 

New Home

The nannies all look bred and should start kidding toward the end of next month. 

 That means Mr. Billy is out of a job.

 So I posted this great picture on a Facebook livestock exchange page and had him sold in less than a week.

He is now headed out to be with 10 new nannies.  Easy, peasy, and no market sale bill.

Primer

My daughter V just closed on a rental investment property.  Apparently she doesn't have enough to do so she is branching out to rental properties.

 It's a cute house but it has been empty for 3 years and needs some updates and repairs.   Mike has gotten a good start on the repairs.

 Then I came in to help with the paint.  First on the list was painting the black room.

Next, up was the Sponge Bob room.  It was a little more difficult painting over really well done cartoon characters. 

Well, Squidward was pretty easy to paint over,  

 but I really didn't like doing Jellyfish Fields,

 and I wanted to just put a frame around Gary.  Oh well, it all had to go.

 Black paint is pretty tough.  I'm not sure if it will need another coat of primer or if the paint will cover it now.  I guess next work day we will find out.

In Bloom At The 4Rs

February has been particular mild this year, so much so that the daffodils are already blooming. 

 This is at least 3 weeks early.   And the forecast is continued mild for at least the next 10 days with noting below freezing.

Hope this mild spell doesn't hurt the trees.

Just Kit Sunday #114

Like the rest of us, Kit Kat has been enjoying the recent sunshine.

For Sale For Real

E's trampoline is officially for sale.  We have had some terrible wind lately.   I woke up the other morning and asked J how things were going.  He said, "not so good, the trampoline blew over and I can't tell if it hit the truck."  That's not  what you want to hear first thing in the morning.

 It looks like another escape attempt, the gate is pushed open,

 but the truck was safe.  Close call though.

 Luckily,  it caught on the hitching post, otherwise I am sure it would have rolled into the truck.

We have managed to re corral it after  its 4th  escape attempt.  So now it is officially advertised for sale on a local Facebook yard sale page.  Someone already asked if I wanted to trade it for a 15 foot inflatable pool,  I don't think so, no.

Happy Valentines Day PLUS Horse Surprise!

I've been saving this picture since April and almost forgot to use it until something on Facebook reminded me about it.  

I't is across the road from the gate to our other farm and I noticed it one day while riding.

Now for the horse surprise.  This is a link to a hilarious street act that even non horsey people will appreciate.
http://www.animare.eu/en/horseriders   enjoy.

Draper?

It's official, her APHA registered name is Otoe's Golden Asset.  Today's name is Draper (location of where she was born)

 Calling her Draper sort of reminds me of Sweetwater, but that is where the comparison ends.  She is so calm and smart.  Do something once and she knows it.

 Today we went for a little walk about outside of her lot.  She was the perfect young lady.  Curious and alert yet polite and listening.

 I've done a little more with the tarp and had no resistance.  I can now drape it over her and lounge her and if it falls off she just stops and sniffs it.

 I have also shown her the plastic milk jugs.  I drug them around so she would be interested and follow along.

 Even without a halter she didn't spook when I rubbed them all over her.

She has been making friends with Hank who is hanging out around the barn now.  He prefers grass to hay and the only grass left is around the barn.  He never really bothers anything else so as long as he behaves himself he can finish trimming up around the barn.

B & B Horse Judging Contest

Since E aged out of 4-H a couple of years ago I haven't had much opportunity to help out with any judging contests.   But now E is in Block and Bridle and on the college horse judging team.  The class she is taking to be on the team required that she judge in the contest.  And I, for some reason, got a last minute request to take reasons.  

 There was a beautiful class of Saddlebreds that I got to hear the Jr. FFA reasons on.  Luckily I got to see the class because I would know nothing by listening to the FFAers.

 I heard unusual terms like "torsion" - used in a sentence, "one had better torsion which is good."  I have no idea what that even means.  Also, apparently one horse had a "back and belly that didn't align."  And surprisingly, in a halter class, 3 kids thought the horses cantered.  Half the kids read their notes, one girl even reading her name and where she was from.  And one girl had such a bad panic attack I thought she was going to pass out.  She left the room in tears.  I get that reasons are hard but I wish that the coaches would practice with the kids more.  It is a great skill to have that translates to so many other areas of life.

I don't know what E got for her grade but she looked pretty relaxed judging.  And, she is getting to go to Oklahoma to a contest in the spring.

Guess How Many

I was feeding "Blondie" the other day and decided to check on a little Red Maple tree we planted in the barn lot a couple of years ago. 

 The tree is suppose to provide shade for the lot since there are no other trees there, but that may take a few more years. 

 Anyway, when I was checking to make sure the electric fence around it was still working I noticed lots of these little brown things. 

 Who would have guessed that there would be so many Praying Mantis nests in one small tree. 

 Can you guess how many. 

I counted eleven. 

Just Kit Sunday #113

I think I had a particularly good photo session with Kit Kat this week.  See what you think. 

eBay Successes

I have been working hard recently to rid my house of extraneous items. The problem is, what exactly is the definition of extraneous?  E helped out by going through a lot of her stuff to donate to the thrift store.   I have managed to add to her pile with some of my own stuff. I've made two trips with the back of the car loaded so far.  I have also tried selling a few things too.  Since I have a page set up for Wrangler's paintings I thought that if I added a few other things maybe his art would get more views.  

 It may have worked because another painting sold last week.

 I have a ton of Christmas ornaments so I thought I would try to cut back some.  I placed this one on eBay and it sold in 10 days.

Then surprise, my "Lucky Horse Shoe Plaque" sold today.  Packaging to ship is a bit of a pain but at least I am getting paid to clean out my house.