Now Bella is a little slow shedding it off but she's still a beauty!!
I didn't get any close ups of Angel but she too is a slow shedding girl!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Love My Babies in the Spring!
One of my favorite parts of Spring is when my babies shed out for the very first time! You know how they go through that "oh they're so cute and fuzzy", then it's "oh gosh I wish all of this hair was gone"!! My 3 yearlings are starting to shed that yucky worn Winter coat and I was so thrilled with Stone's reveal, he still has some spots to shed out but most of it's gone!!!!!
Now Bella is a little slow shedding it off but she's still a beauty!!
I didn't get any close ups of Angel but she too is a slow shedding girl!
Now Bella is a little slow shedding it off but she's still a beauty!!
I didn't get any close ups of Angel but she too is a slow shedding girl!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
They Are Finally Gone!
For a few months now we have been selling off part of our herd. As hard as it has been to say goodbye to some of my favorite angels I am relieved to say they are all finally gone!! Of course I mean the ones we wanted gone! We still have 6 horses which is a very comfortable number for me!!
One of the horses I sold a few months ago but I have been boarding her until her new family could get boarding in town situated. Finally Sunday they showed to pick her up, however we weren't home... Of course I told them we wouldn't be home that evening but I guess they hoped to do it on their own. Well she is a 2 year old filly that has not been in a trailer since I brought her home at 4 months of age! They brought a slant load trailer which they did have the dividers open but she wasn't having it! J was the only one home and was calling me looking for words of wisdom I finally just told them we'd deliver her on Monday. So Monday after the Hubby got off work his brother came to help which I was thankful for since someone had to hold the camera! Me of course!! They got her loaded and I actually didn't get but a couple of pics cause I was trying to help with my 5 lb weight hanging from my neck!
Also gone from the ranch is the Hubby's dad's 3 yr old gelding. He is off to the trainers to be broke and I think dad will then keep him local near the town he lives in after the breaking is done and then has plans to sell him. It amazes me how you can have a horse in an environment with certain horses he is the bottom of the barrel but then he was moved to another group of our horses because of weaning the younger ones and he then decided that he was going to rule the roost! He couldn't be around his mama as he would try and nurse at his 3 years of age and she was put where he used to be so he was put with our 2 yr old and two yearlings, he was always being a brat to the boys! They would not stand up to him!! The yearling filly however did not hesitate to kick back when he'd mess with her! They always amaze me!
Jet staring a fight with the 2 yr old Bubba
Trying to bite his butt!
Now chasing my poor baby Stone! Who is obviously in total submission!
One of the horses I sold a few months ago but I have been boarding her until her new family could get boarding in town situated. Finally Sunday they showed to pick her up, however we weren't home... Of course I told them we wouldn't be home that evening but I guess they hoped to do it on their own. Well she is a 2 year old filly that has not been in a trailer since I brought her home at 4 months of age! They brought a slant load trailer which they did have the dividers open but she wasn't having it! J was the only one home and was calling me looking for words of wisdom I finally just told them we'd deliver her on Monday. So Monday after the Hubby got off work his brother came to help which I was thankful for since someone had to hold the camera! Me of course!! They got her loaded and I actually didn't get but a couple of pics cause I was trying to help with my 5 lb weight hanging from my neck!
Also gone from the ranch is the Hubby's dad's 3 yr old gelding. He is off to the trainers to be broke and I think dad will then keep him local near the town he lives in after the breaking is done and then has plans to sell him. It amazes me how you can have a horse in an environment with certain horses he is the bottom of the barrel but then he was moved to another group of our horses because of weaning the younger ones and he then decided that he was going to rule the roost! He couldn't be around his mama as he would try and nurse at his 3 years of age and she was put where he used to be so he was put with our 2 yr old and two yearlings, he was always being a brat to the boys! They would not stand up to him!! The yearling filly however did not hesitate to kick back when he'd mess with her! They always amaze me!
Jet staring a fight with the 2 yr old Bubba
Trying to bite his butt!
Now chasing my poor baby Stone! Who is obviously in total submission!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sandbagging?! That's What the Hubby Calls It!
Sandbagging....Have you heard that term used in "racing" type events?! I suppose I have probably heard it before.. Sunday we decided to take DD and Krissy to a town about an hour away and let her run their Saddle Club Fun Show! I mainly wanted to do it because we haven't yet had DD run Krissy full throttle on the barrel pattern, she has trotted her a couple of times on the pattern but I'm choosing to use the "road less traveled" with Krissy. She has spent time just riding her outside of the arena and just exercising her in the arena. She has not yet run her on the poles at all, so I really REALLY wanted this accomplished!
We got her all signed in but I didn't really pay attention to the events she was running I just assumed they would have poles! Well as the old saying goes "don't assume as you make an A** out of U and ME"!! Ya that's right NO poles?! What the crap?! I mean they did use poles in 2 of their events but not a "real" pole run! ARGH! They ran barrels first and I was pleasantly surprised to see Krissy ready to put some speed into her run! Everytime DD has ridden her she almost acts like she's to sleepy to be ridden LOL! But alas she HAS speed! They didn't make the prettiest barrel run but I'll take it for a first go around! She got 1st place! Her time ended up being a 22.?? which was the 2nd fastest out of everyone there!
The other events she did I was not familiar with! She had to watch the kids ahead of her to get the patterns down! On the second event she ran a 13.??. The other 2 events she did were again ones I was not familiar with but she won both of those for her age group to!
DD has never run this event before but she did well I thought!
So now the kicker....There were only 2 kids in her age group *giggles*!! BUT the other boy is a boy she competes against in one of her other circuits and he is really good! She was right in the top with all of the grown up times on all 4 events! So this is where the term "sandbagging" comes in... The Hubby calls it that because he said she is a stranger who came in cleaned house and went home with the trophy and all the blue ribbons LOL!
Somewhere through the run she forgot to steer on barrel 3!!
We got her all signed in but I didn't really pay attention to the events she was running I just assumed they would have poles! Well as the old saying goes "don't assume as you make an A** out of U and ME"!! Ya that's right NO poles?! What the crap?! I mean they did use poles in 2 of their events but not a "real" pole run! ARGH! They ran barrels first and I was pleasantly surprised to see Krissy ready to put some speed into her run! Everytime DD has ridden her she almost acts like she's to sleepy to be ridden LOL! But alas she HAS speed! They didn't make the prettiest barrel run but I'll take it for a first go around! She got 1st place! Her time ended up being a 22.?? which was the 2nd fastest out of everyone there!
The other events she did I was not familiar with! She had to watch the kids ahead of her to get the patterns down! On the second event she ran a 13.??. The other 2 events she did were again ones I was not familiar with but she won both of those for her age group to!
DD has never run this event before but she did well I thought!
So now the kicker....There were only 2 kids in her age group *giggles*!! BUT the other boy is a boy she competes against in one of her other circuits and he is really good! She was right in the top with all of the grown up times on all 4 events! So this is where the term "sandbagging" comes in... The Hubby calls it that because he said she is a stranger who came in cleaned house and went home with the trophy and all the blue ribbons LOL!
Somewhere through the run she forgot to steer on barrel 3!!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Yeah My Kid Rocks! What Can I Say?!
I just couldn't be prouder of my boy this week! It seems like he is doing something everyday that blows my mind and reminds me how lucky I am to have such a driven and smart young man!! Aside from just being the most awesome 15 yr old boy I've ever known he has had a great week!
A couple of weeks ago he was a bit in the dumps because his "Burb" flaked out... We bought the suburban last summer for J for his first real vehicle. I know a bit odd for a teenager but it's all about safety for me! When we bought the Burb we had to put in a new engine so the Hubby bought a used one from a guy and put it in. All was well until December when the tranny went out and we had to replace that! So the latest issue was the engine burned all of the oil and spun a bearing... UGHH!! He had checked the oil about a week prior and it was a tiny bit low but somehow it all just disappeared!
Beginning of the school year when the Burb had life..
So he was a real trooper about understanding it was back on the big yellow bus! Well the Hubby surprised him last Friday with a new (new to him of course) truck! J was so excited when he and I pulled up and he saw it sitting there. He started screaming "WHAT IS THAT"?! "WHAT IS THAT"?! I just smiled until I was parked and he flew out and was instantly in love again LOL!!
He's totally lovin this truck! Of course we will be putting his Ranch Hand bumper and his nice wheels and tires on this truck soon! You did know that's a must, right?!
Then Wednesday night was our high school's FFA Awards Banquet. During this banquet they award all of the individual achievement awards and install the new officers for the 2010-2011 FFA year. J had his interview last week. He has been really active in FFA and I think it has been so great for him. One of his greatest achievements this year is he qualified for State in Cattle Judging so we are very excited for that! He was also awarded the "Proficiency Award for Agricultural Communications", there were 5 boys in their chapter that went to this contest and overall they ended up placing 3rd out of 20 teams for their speeches!! His next award I think is pretty cool, he was awarded "Outstanding Sophomore Award" which is an award the VP of the school and FFA leaders choose for who they think per class who the most "outstanding" was! To top off his night he was installed as the 2010-2011 FFA Advisor!
OHHHH and did I mention this super busy teenage boy also achieved Honor Roll! He has always been a good student but his freshman year he had a tough time in his math class with no help from the teacher, he passed the class but not with the best grade and it dropped his GPA. It's taken him some time but he has gotten good grades his whole sophomore year and finally got them back into honor roll territory! I am definitely one proud Mama!!
A couple of weeks ago he was a bit in the dumps because his "Burb" flaked out... We bought the suburban last summer for J for his first real vehicle. I know a bit odd for a teenager but it's all about safety for me! When we bought the Burb we had to put in a new engine so the Hubby bought a used one from a guy and put it in. All was well until December when the tranny went out and we had to replace that! So the latest issue was the engine burned all of the oil and spun a bearing... UGHH!! He had checked the oil about a week prior and it was a tiny bit low but somehow it all just disappeared!
Beginning of the school year when the Burb had life..
So he was a real trooper about understanding it was back on the big yellow bus! Well the Hubby surprised him last Friday with a new (new to him of course) truck! J was so excited when he and I pulled up and he saw it sitting there. He started screaming "WHAT IS THAT"?! "WHAT IS THAT"?! I just smiled until I was parked and he flew out and was instantly in love again LOL!!
He's totally lovin this truck! Of course we will be putting his Ranch Hand bumper and his nice wheels and tires on this truck soon! You did know that's a must, right?!
Then Wednesday night was our high school's FFA Awards Banquet. During this banquet they award all of the individual achievement awards and install the new officers for the 2010-2011 FFA year. J had his interview last week. He has been really active in FFA and I think it has been so great for him. One of his greatest achievements this year is he qualified for State in Cattle Judging so we are very excited for that! He was also awarded the "Proficiency Award for Agricultural Communications", there were 5 boys in their chapter that went to this contest and overall they ended up placing 3rd out of 20 teams for their speeches!! His next award I think is pretty cool, he was awarded "Outstanding Sophomore Award" which is an award the VP of the school and FFA leaders choose for who they think per class who the most "outstanding" was! To top off his night he was installed as the 2010-2011 FFA Advisor!
OHHHH and did I mention this super busy teenage boy also achieved Honor Roll! He has always been a good student but his freshman year he had a tough time in his math class with no help from the teacher, he passed the class but not with the best grade and it dropped his GPA. It's taken him some time but he has gotten good grades his whole sophomore year and finally got them back into honor roll territory! I am definitely one proud Mama!!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
An AMAZING GRACE Wednesday...You Gotta Hear This~!!
I found this video posted by a young friend of mine the other day and words do not describe how AMAZING this girl is!! At the young age of 7 she sings "Amazing Grace" with possibly the most amazing voice I've ever heard!! And to boot she's as cute as a button!! I particularly love her facial expressions when she hits her falsetto!
Please watch it will definitely make you smile! You may even shed a tear ;)
Please watch it will definitely make you smile! You may even shed a tear ;)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
And The Race Is On....To Fatten Up Some Piggies!
Every year our county fair is a big deal and we absolutely love it!!! Every bit of it, even those moments when we think we're gonna lose it from all the stress involved LOL!! But this is something that our kids really look forward to, not just because they are showing animals that they have raised but because of all the other kids involved! J is showing for FFA and DD shows for 4H I can honestly say that last year during fair I don't think J spent one night at home! He spent every moment with his buds and doing his duties as County Fair King.
Piggies in the trailer awaiting their new home! J's pig is by the wall, his name is "Porkchop"!
DD checking them out
J standing on the scale to weigh them!
Last year both of the kids showed pigs and DD also showed her steer and did horses! As much as we would have loved for her to do beef again this year we did not find a steer in time for "tagging". So they will both show pigs and DD will of course do all of her horse stuff LOL!!
Our area as with much of the state and southern states have NOT had good pig litters this year... J really likes showing Hamps and DD really likes Duroc's, those are the breeds they showed last year and wanted to do them again this year. Unfortunately our breeder that we normally buy from has had a horrible year with hers so far. She has lost litters to Circovirus (a sow was carrying it and passed it to the litter), one sow sat on a litter, she has also lost at least 1 sow who got a small tear at her vulva and bled out! Her litter was saved. I can't even remember it all but she had another sow come down sick and they had to euthanize her. And this is the case for many breeding families! Many local sales were canceled this year due to lack of numbers and the sales that are going the pigs are going for way to much money!
Finally learning how to drink out of the barrel!
This one is the feeder, has an injured back foot from being stepped on by his mama :(
His name is "Chop's JR"
DD's pig Maggie
So we contacted a family that we have bought from years ago and they had 2 show pigs and 1 feeder left. They are all blue butts, which are not my favorite :( And they are all small! The smallest one was 40 lbs and the biggest was around 44 lbs I think, this is around 20 lbs lighter than our smallest one from last year! UGHH!! But at this point beggars can't be choosers so we are just happy to have some period! Now the force feeding begins! I think we figured these babies need to gain at least 2 lbs a day in order to make weight for the county fair... We will be worming in a few days and we will check their weight again.
Moving their new "house" to the pen
Notice DD's Sharpei and J's Aussie sticking their heads in being nosy!!
Piggies in the trailer awaiting their new home! J's pig is by the wall, his name is "Porkchop"!
DD checking them out
J standing on the scale to weigh them!
Last year both of the kids showed pigs and DD also showed her steer and did horses! As much as we would have loved for her to do beef again this year we did not find a steer in time for "tagging". So they will both show pigs and DD will of course do all of her horse stuff LOL!!
Our area as with much of the state and southern states have NOT had good pig litters this year... J really likes showing Hamps and DD really likes Duroc's, those are the breeds they showed last year and wanted to do them again this year. Unfortunately our breeder that we normally buy from has had a horrible year with hers so far. She has lost litters to Circovirus (a sow was carrying it and passed it to the litter), one sow sat on a litter, she has also lost at least 1 sow who got a small tear at her vulva and bled out! Her litter was saved. I can't even remember it all but she had another sow come down sick and they had to euthanize her. And this is the case for many breeding families! Many local sales were canceled this year due to lack of numbers and the sales that are going the pigs are going for way to much money!
Finally learning how to drink out of the barrel!
This one is the feeder, has an injured back foot from being stepped on by his mama :(
His name is "Chop's JR"
DD's pig Maggie
So we contacted a family that we have bought from years ago and they had 2 show pigs and 1 feeder left. They are all blue butts, which are not my favorite :( And they are all small! The smallest one was 40 lbs and the biggest was around 44 lbs I think, this is around 20 lbs lighter than our smallest one from last year! UGHH!! But at this point beggars can't be choosers so we are just happy to have some period! Now the force feeding begins! I think we figured these babies need to gain at least 2 lbs a day in order to make weight for the county fair... We will be worming in a few days and we will check their weight again.
Moving their new "house" to the pen
Notice DD's Sharpei and J's Aussie sticking their heads in being nosy!!
Friday, April 16, 2010
A Little "Friendly" Photography~!!
Friendly....Oh yes friendly! Best friends that is! A couple of weeks ago my life long best friend and I got together to do a photo shoot with our kiddo's! It was actually supposed to be my 2 best friends and all of our kids together but our other BF had an issue with her ex and couldn't get the kids because it was "his" weekend! Ex's, what a mess!
Yep that's my kids!! Silly as all get out!!!
But we went ahead and did our shoot and we will do another with everyone so we can get our original intention of all the kids together. We did this when they were toddlers and love looking back at the pictures so we decided to do it again before they are grown and gone!!
DD and K
J and his GF, I was sniping and snapped this one!!
Yep that's my kids!! Silly as all get out!!!
But we went ahead and did our shoot and we will do another with everyone so we can get our original intention of all the kids together. We did this when they were toddlers and love looking back at the pictures so we decided to do it again before they are grown and gone!!
DD and K
J and his GF, I was sniping and snapped this one!!
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