Riding and Painting

We finally had some descent weather yesterday and J had some extra time so we went for a short ride. 

 J picked Brother to ride,

 and I was going to ride Otoelene, but she didn't have her nap out.  There is no getting her up before she is done with her nap so I had to change directions and rode Pep instead.  Pep hasn't been ridden since her last show in October but she is always the same.  She could probably go to a show tomorrow and look like always.

Wangler Can Paint
The Painting Horse

 Wangler had a big day painting yesterday, knocking out 3 awesome works of art.  V had the idea of doing a calendar with his paintings, so I decided to get some more seasonal themes in.  

#16

We all thought this 4th of July work looked like fireworks.  J added that is was "Fireworks Over the Water".

#17

 J said this Christmas one could be a poinsettia.

#18

And this one could be sometime in the fall, maybe October or November.
And by the way, I am still riding Wrangler too.  He is not just a one trick pony.

Just Kit Sunday #81

Just Kit Kat

Bad Horse For Sale Pictures # 26

Here is a pretty lone exchange on facebook horse for sale site some of you may find entertaining.  I've only copies about 1/2 of the entries.  Enjoy the soap...

Doc is a Arabian Saddlebred cross. 2003 14,3 hands. Buckskin Tobiano homozygous. Has one blue eye and looonnggg mane and tail. Every girls dream horse!! He loves his ladies and babies. Will tolorate meek geldings. Only vice is he hates water period. Very big baby I spoiled here. But he can have his feet lifted by a 5 year old and led around by his mane by a child. Will stand up on buckets and climb's silly things. Doesn't have to even be tranquilized for his dentist. Just amazingly impressive. Enjoys pulling things for me that are too heavy. Gets a little playful during riding but is gentle and soft. Prefers a light English saddle. Hand and pasture breeds. Watches over his kingdom very well. Comes to his call. Loads and will stand tied all day. Is not pushy at all. You can point your finger at him and he gets his feelings hurt. A real eye catcher. I've had him for 10 years now and a perfect forever home is a must. Serious inquiries only. Reason for sale is I grew up. Will still breed for $50 bring your own feed. $1000 obo. Payments accepted under conditions and contract. **Last 6 pictures of just a few of his foals, would cross well with a very large thick mare, Percheron, Friesian, any thing . saddlebreds and quarter are the best I've been able to breed him with. These shown here are all out of Tennessee Walker Mares** deep breath.. Now if you would prefer him gelded I will take it out of his purchase price and hold him for free until he is no longer fertile. If I could afford to geld him he would be worth at least $1500.

vv  I really wish somebody would buy him. He needs a good home and I need the money so I can provide for the other horses. This winter is just waaaayyyyy too much.

kt  f I had 1500 I'd take him and he'd have a wonderful home with a little girl and lots of love and walks everyday. I'm in the market just not 1500 range

vv   What range are you in? For the right home I'm willing to negotiate. That price is set so kill buyers don't bug me

kt   Closer the the 5-800 range and possibly open to payments. He would stay local 

vv  'll sell him to you for $800. But do you know Chad?

 kt  Yeah I do. Worked there for a long while. Married and moved living in nc right now.

vv  Okay I love Chad to death he's like a brother to me... He and my brother Justin were best friends. But I don't want Chad near doc. I gave Chad 3 of docs foals in trust for forever homes BEFORE Chad went to rehab and none of them are there anymore. It makes me very upset. Especially with this one foal in this picture that I had big plans with... I bottled raised this one and I'm very upset that he's gone now.
And I gave him to Chad as a gift after Justin died because I felt it was best and he promised me he would keep him forever.

kt   Well I don't associate with him anymore so your good that I'd keep him away from Chad. The location he'd stay at is my sister in-laws house, 2 fields approx 1 acre in one and maybe 2 in the other field, would be house with a 25+ mustang gelding, he doesn't care about anything super lazy derpy horse but has some spunk every now and then
Honestly we really were in the market for a mare to later breed so my niece could learn about foals and raising and training her own horse. She's 2 right now and loves her mustang

vv  Okay that's good whew... Doc produces nothing but color. And all his foals take the best out of both. But when you first introduce them, the trick is to make sure they want eachothers company... As soon as you see them greet each other you'll get an idea of how it will go down. So long as Doc isn't challenged or somebody doesn't lay their ears back at him, good to go. He's been the boss man since I got him and I let him be the King.

The only horses he's ever tried to attack is one other stallion and a gelding that used to be a stud and had challenged him a few days before doc got the chance to get close to him.. To give you an idea of how his mind works. And one mare tried to attack him not wanting to share her food, needless to say he put her in her place, took her food, but then let her share....

 Which I thought was pretty fair

 kt   Is he get up and go or is he totally beginner safe?

vv  I wouldn't say beginner safe because he doesn't have that many miles. But I can put a kid on him and lead him around and not worry. But he does get playful when it's just me and him. I ride him bare back for fun for him just in his paddock. He might do some head shaking and bounce his trot but he's never bucked or reared on me. I've ridden him with a halter and a regular snaffle. He's very very gentle

But he is a stallion so that's something that always needs to be kept in mind

kt Yeah well that's fine, I'm good with green and project horses, it's my family husband niece etc who aren't exactly horse people like you or I but I wouldn't buy anything without knowing I could handle it personally.

vv  Oh you can handle him. My daughter plays around him all the time. She's 7. I don't have to worry about it. He did give me a hard time when I took his blanket off the other day though. Lol he HATES cold weather

t was funny. I chased him for like 30 minutes one buckle at a time lol

 kt  Are his ground manners good scale of 1 to 10 10 being best

vv  20
     He's got the best ground manners EVER
    and he voice commands when lunging. Taught him that in like 5 minutes
    He's incredible

kt  Can I ride him with a western saddle?

vv  If it's a light rounded edged one.. He was bred for English, so his body and a square cut western just don't fit right. The edges cut into him. But I first backed him with a regular old heavy western when he was around 4... It was just a few years down the road he decided he didn't like it. After I introduced him to the English and bareback, of course.. He's that smart. And I personally think he looks better that way too. He was definitely specifically bred for it 

He doesn't have many miles under him trail wise, I've just been riding him bareback for fun every now and then, just to see what he'll do. Like I said up top, he will shake his head and get a little bit springy, like he's playing around with you, but you have to keep it interesting, because he gets bored easily... So every time I get on him I work on leg signals, voice commands, figure 8s at a trot... He needs more work with his balance. He kinda rides like a Friesian, a lotta up end lift...

He's never disappointed me. I've always ended each session on a good note

Like any younger horse, I recommend lunging him for about 10 minutes before, just to let him know it's time to work

kt  Ok my mom is still talking to here boyfriend about him and the payments I will let you know what they say I think they will pay for him I don't know

vv   That's fine, Huddleston is the town I'm in. He is thin right now, he doesn't do well in the winter without allot of hay, and my finances have been put into redoing my water pipes... Lets just say it's been a very hard winter and I've went with out food for days just to make sure these horses can eat once a day. That's one of the biggest reasons I'm selling him, he doesn't deserve it. He needs to gain about 150lbs. He will quickly once this bitter wet cold goes away, but for now, ..... All I can do is shake my head

kt  I can do 500 cash or 250 a month

vv  How soon can you get him?

kt   My mom is discussing it with her fiancé so I'm not sure just yet

vv  Okay. He needs to go quickly and get food. I can use the $500 to feed the others... You PROMISE me this is a forever home?

   I am going to keep him up for sale until he gets bought.

 

 Lol here's him playing with a young gelding ( docs in the blanket of course)

And this is him when he's wet

kt Yes I promise his going to a forever home and 500

Good Fences #50 Art Gallery

I have a painting horse.  You read right, a painting horse. 

 Here's a small gallery of his work.

 At least until the wind blew.

 We've just recently embarked on this endeavor but he is improving by the day.  I love the natural wood frame.

 I've been calling this, Wrangler's Watercolor Series.  These two close ups were numbers 14 and 15 in the series.

And here's the star, Wrangler, at work at is easel.
Checkout and "like" his facebook page WRANGLER CAN PAINT.  Let me know what you think a painting done by a horse might be worth.  He hasn't sold any yet but he has donated one to a botanical garden for a silent auction fund raiser in May.  And my daughter has requested one for her birthday.  So as you can see, Wrangler is well on is way to becoming famous.

For more Good Fences click HERE.

And, They're Off

We didn't get the freezing rain they were calling for this morning so everything was a go to get the calves loaded out for the feedlot. 

 J fed the calves extra hay last night so they would be full this morning.

 The field is a little worse for the wear since the calves stayed an extra 2 weeks.

 They were no trouble getting up and the haulers showed up pretty much on time.  J said everything ran like clockwork.

 We even had enough weight on the semi that we ended up bringing 3 back home.  Speckles was glad to get turned back out.

Now these 3 will go out with the replacement heifers and the light end of the group that we had already sorted out.   Now for the other ones it's a 22 hour trip straight through to Nebraska.

Last Day and Backup Plan

The calves were suppose to go to the feedlot out west 2 weeks ago.  Then the snow hit and there was no bringing trailers in and out of our driveway.  

 But the snow is almost gone, the driveway is clear and the haulers are all lined up.  Keep your fingers crossed that we get them out tomorrow.  J is tired of hauling 550 pounds of grain out to them every day.

And since I've had a little bit interest in people calling about Wrangler (he is still for sale)  I thought it might be wise to work on another painting horse just in case someone actually buys him, but I'm not holding my breath.  It never hurts to have a back up plan.  I tried Brother yesterday but he was just a pain trying to get him to hold the paint brush.  Since I had originally started with Otoelene, I thought I would give her another try.  To my surprise she sort of held the brush, she certainly didn't fight it and she didn't try to eat it.  Since I already had a piece of paper up I went ahead and loaded the paint brush.  Most of this is just me moving her head around while she is holding the brush to get her use to the feel of the brush on the paper so it's not a true horse painting but I definitely see some potential here.   The amazing thing was, as soon as there was paint on the paper she seemed to realize something was different.  She definitely looked at it closer and maybe it was just the smell of the paint but she seemed to want to examine it with her muzzle.  OK, I'm sure I am reading more to it than was actually there but a girl can dream can't she.   I may get my painting Paint after all.

Just Kit Sunday #80

The snow is still hanging around and it's difficult to get Kit Kat to cooperate in his photo sessions. 

 Kit Kat, "The sun is too bright on the snow."
Me, "You've been outside long enough for your eyes to adjust, just open them, you'll be ok."

Kit Kat, "It's creeping up on me, It's alive."
Me, "The snow is not moving, you are perfectly safe."

 Kit Kat, "I thinks my toes are wet."
Me, "Of course they are wet, you're licking them."

Kit Kat, "Ready."
Me, "Perfect."