The Loop

We had a couple of inches of snow yesterday morning but by the afternoon it had about all melted.  Since is was above freezing I decided to ride Otoelene outside because I was getting tired of just going around in the barn and I think she was too.  

 The fields were a sloppy mess so I decided to do the road loop.  So we started off down the driveway.  This may be the only picture of riding in the snow that I'll get.

 Then turn right out of the driveway and up the gravel road.  In a mile and a half this was the only car.

 Then another right and back onto the lane that goes through the farm.

 Otoelene needed to check out what was in the green tube in the heifer field.  I almost couldn't pull her away from it.

 We have been waiting for some good weather to get the barn fixed.  It may be beyond help by the time that happens.  This is about the only place that Otoelene even bothered to lift her head up.

 Then the messy road that J has to drive the tractor on several times a day to get to the hay lot.

 We had to pass by the other horses to get back to the barn.  Nobody was interested in anything but eating.

Oh, and a bonus picture of Kit Kat.  Otoelene was a dream.  I'm continually wondering how I was lucky enough to get her.  
Hope you  enjoyed "the loop." Emma sure had a good time getting dirty.

To Drive Or Not To Drive

There is a fun show coming up on Sunday about an 1 1/2 hours away.  There are several walk/trot classes and youth classes.  I would really love to take Brother and Wrangler to see if the show in October- here -was a fluke or not.   I've been getting them both ridden at least once or twice a week all winter so they haven't really suffered any on training.   

The only problem is J doesn't think he can take us because he is still feeding the cattle and won't have time to take off for the day.  That means between now and then I have to learn how to drive the trailer if I want to go.  It's a tough call.

The Painting Paint?

I can't remember what kind of animal that I first saw paint,  but I remember being fascinated by it.  How amazing to have something created by another species.  Then for Christmas this year, one of my sisters got my brother a painting done by an elephant.  How cool is that.

But then I saw a horse paint, and I knew what I had to do.  

Otoelene started her training yesterday.

Lesson 1-holding the paint brush.

I think the handle is too narrow on this one and I was afraid she was going to suck it all the way into her mouth.  I need to come up with something wider.  I've seen several that have wrapped the brush handle in duct tape.  I think that could definitely make is more comfortable to hold.  This is going to be a long process and I don't know how far we'll get, but I'm excited.
This is the link to the video that pushed me over the edge to want to teach Otoelene, HERE
J did say, "If you have time to teach a horse to paint you have too much time."

Bad Horse For Sale Pictures #12

Apparently, they do work.  This "Cattle Horse"  from Craig's List was marked Sold. Priced at $1500 I might add.  I guess someone saw a diamond in the rough.  

Who'd a thunk?

Nine Hours and 13 Dresses Later...

I took E  prom dress shopping Saturday.  

 First stop, small boutique in  nearby downtown.  E tried on 3 dresses there but only let me take a picture in one.  The shop owner is holding the dress up which means it would need some alterations, $279.

 Then surprise of all surprises, E consented to try on a couple of dresses at a Thrift Store.  I cut her head off in the picture because her expression was a little different than the previous one.  Anyway, this blue one was actually too small.  $55

 This beaded one was nice but too big, more alterations, and E thought it looked too old fashioned.  $55

 This one at Deb's was nice but I'm holding about a foot of fabric in the back to make it fit.  I would have to take off tons of beads and replace the zipper. $189.   She didn't like the peach one in the background at all.  Then we went to a very expensive formal wear store.  They didn't allow pictures but nothing that E would try on fit anyway.

 On a whim I stopped at JC Penney.  I wasn't even sure they had prom dresses.  And amazingly, on the one small rack they had, there were 3 size 1 dresses.

 They all fit!

She decided on this mint green with a beaded band.  It is spark-a-ly all over but that doesn't show up well in the picture. And the best part, it was less than the one at the Thrift Store, 40% off  $100 and when I asked if they had a coupon, she gave me one for $10 off.  And the second best part, the only alteration that it needs is hemming.  

Just Kit Sunday #40

Kit Kat is performing a little song for you today.  

 Me

 and my shadow,

strolling down the avenue.   

Me

 and my shadow,

not a soul to tell our troubles to.

Work Out Machine

You may ask, "Why would you title your post, 'Work Out Machine' when it is clearly about cattle again?  Well, we'll get to that.  The weather was perfect, cold enough for the ground to be frozen so we didn't have to deal with any mud, but the wind wasn't blowing so it didn't feel that cold.  

 We overwintered all of our calves this year instead of sending the heaviest cut to the feedlot in November or December like we have done in the past.  So Friday was the day to get them in and sorted and vaccinate the ones that would be going out west in March.

 My initial job was very easy this time.  J had me hide in the tractor while we towed the calves into the barn lot.  I did have to get out to open a couple of gates, but that is nothing compared to the times I've had to run up and down the hills like a mountain goat trying to get the cattle in.

 The calves were in a couple of groups (due to a gate failure last week).  You can clearly see I'm still in my vantage point of the tractor here.

Once they were altogether, we had 124 total.

Then the sorting began.  This too was pretty painless because J already had a good idea of which heifers he was keeping.  I had 100 doses of vaccine but we only needed 90 head to go to the feedlot.  So with the 23 replacement heifers we sorted out 11 of the smallest calves to keep back but went ahead and vaccinated those so not to waste the vaccine we had to mix anyway.  

 After that group was done, they got turned back out where they had come from.

 Next, was working the other 90 head.  About the only trouble we had was getting them into the barn.  This group would just circle around like a square dance avoiding that little dark hole on the left for all they were worth.

 Now here's my workout machine.  See all of the levers.  The sequence went...Push, lift, step, step, shoot, step, step, shoot, lift, pull....repeat 100 times.  I have to admit, my shoulder is a little sore this morning.

 At least I had some distractions.  The horses would walk by the window periodically and that was always pleasant to see.  And, I only missed one.  He had rocketed into the head gate and bounced back but I had the tail gate down in time so he was still in the shoot and it was no problem then catching his head.  So and almost perfect record.

With just me and J working we finally got done but it did take most of the day.  Now these are turned out near the barn lot so hopefully they will be easy to gather up when the time comes for their trip out west.