Little bit of snow makes the camera come out

After freezing weather and an inch or more of snow, I felt it was time to break out the camera and create a few photos of the horses. They were not very cooperative but I did get a few shots that were editable.

The Star of today was Fiona, she would not walk away from me and wanted to see what in my hands was making the clicking noise.  She was quite a ham of a horse.

Enjoy!

 Megan did not want to be in the stall or out in the snow, she also did not want anything to do with me today.  Time to start working her with the halter again! Spring is coming up fast and she will be finding a new home in no time.

Fiona was being goofy so I put the camera almost on the ground and started shooting, she would not leave it alone so I kept shooting.   I think I got a couple good photos. What do you think?

Our new horse, Beauty

Here she is, New photos of our new addition "Beauty" that we have recently acquired.

Beauty is ours!

Yup, you guessed it, Another horse :-)

Last month we acquired Beauty, aka "rcr ima workincowgirl"

This mare is a young but large registered Quarter-horse Paint that stands about 15.2 hands high, very broad in the shoulders and the hips and she is due to foal in June. However we do not own the foal, it goes back to the prior owners.

We are so excited to have her, she is very smart and sensitive and wanting to please.  She is still a little headshy but is very easy to get along with and be around.  I think she is a keeper!

I have been working with her for the last month using the halter and rope, she has come so far in one month that just last week we started riding her.  She is out of shape (takes after her owners) but is working on gaining muscle tone and getting exercised almost daily.  It will not be long before we are able to go on rides with her enjoying the beach or mountain trails with others.

I will post photos of her later this week, it is surprising that I have not taken many of her but I have been working with her more than watching.  You will see her soon, I Promise!!!

Have a great day and get outside in some of this Pre-Spring weather.
Thanks for looking and dropping comments.

Enjoy!

Cross post of Noble

Noble is a cool stallion at a local horse farm, 3 year old QH/Paint Stallion that can be a handful when he wants.

Slowing for the winter while keeping horses dry

Not a lot has been going on in the horse training arena because of the weather and we have been very busy. 
I installed box feeders in both stalls, we got the pasture areas tilled and seeded. We have a lot more fencing to do before the spring when we will be getting 3 calves to roam the pastures. 

Last week we had some very strong winds along with cold weather and rain, Lots of rain! We have been putting horses in their stalls at night and during very bad weather but last week we had a small issue with the rain and wind.  I thought if I opened a stall door and blocked the wind from the South and closed the North door on Megan's stall, it would block some of the rain and wind from coming inside the stall and keep her warm.  Well, that plan kind of backfired on me.  By the time I saw that there was a problem, Megan was shivering to the bone, she was so wet and cold from the driving rains she looked miserable. 

Why was she standing in the rain?  #1 the stall door opening changed, she does not like change very much and the second problem, there was water running through her stall and she did not want to cross the flooding waters. 

I immediately put the doors back to their normal positions and shored up the water from coming further into the stall.  Megan came inside out of the bad weather and watched from the comfort of her mostly dry stall.  I felt bad for her but I also felt, "You stupid horse" but I still fed her some grain and hay to get her body heat up a little and convince her to stay out of the rain. 

Since that incident, I have been working on closing her in the stall and holding the door for a few minutes at a time.  I need to train her that the stall is a safe place and a place to rest and let her know the corral is a place to work and not a place to just hang out.  That will be another post in the future but for now we are just keeping the horses active and feeding them to keep them healthy through the winter.

Happy Holidays everyone!

And the future holds....

I got a call yesterday from our horse trainer/neighbors Eric and Cheri, she said they might have a great deal for us, well, you might say that if you like horses. :-)

They have a friend that lives down by Eugene that has been hit by extremely hard times and has to get rid of 13 out of his 15 horses. Some of the horses were given or sold to him by Cheri and a few were pregnant and bred by Cheri's stallion a few months ago.  So, one of the mares is a 6 year old paint (all black with a small blaze) that stands just over 15 hands high, is pregnant and has won many halter competitions.  Beauty was originally trained by Cheri and she then bred her and traded for another horse and has now received her back into her herd.

There is a high probability that we will acquire Beauty within the next few days (Merry Christmas Tammy) but Beauty will stay at Cheri and Eric's until she has foaled in the early summer and will come here only after her offspring has been weaned.

What did we get? Well, Beauty is a big horse (over 15 hands) and has bloodlines from Champion, Grand Champion, Supreme Champion Quarter Horse bloodlines (King, King Fritz, Poco Bueno, Little Joe and Traveler) 

What did I do?  I saw Beauty in her (temporary) stall and was amazed at her disposition and size. I will be able to ride her without a doubt and I can't wait.  I started working with her, this was the first time in close to two years she had been worked under the halter and she was very well behaved and remembered what she was supposed to do very quickly.  I worked desensitizing her with the rope and she really had a hard time at first then was able to stand without flinching, we quickly moved to the saddle blanket where it took some time but finally stood still allowing me to put the blanket all over her body.


So what does this mean for Megan and Fiona?  I will continue to work with Megan and Fiona until we are ready to receive Beauty and then we will be finding a new home for Megan.  I hope to have her broke and riding by then but there are no guarantees about what she will or will not do.  The reason I want to continue with her is I truly think she is a smart horse and will make an awesome horse for someone. She is young  and willing to learn but has some trust issues and I am willing to work with her as long as I can.  This is not to say Megan's fate is sealed at this point but It has a high probability of moving her to a new home and hopefully an educated horse owner.

Fiona does the bunny hop

The horses have been a challenge lately due to the abscessed hoof on Megan and right at the end of the abscess we get hit with a deep freeze for a few days. Hopefully this cold weather will kill off flies, fleas and other bugs that have been hanging out in the valley just a little too long.  

Fiona has showed that she is feeling good and wants to show what she can do when I let her out of her stall. She has started playing and showing off a bit, she jumps, kicks, runs, bucks, bunny hops and snorts all in a playing manner.   I found that I can get her to interact with me this way most days but only after I watched part of  "dancing with horses" with Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling.   I started playing and running with Fiona and got some great responses but now she will actually play and have fun for about 10 or 15 minutes.  


Fiona is a funny little girl, she does learn quick and is very lovable. She is always wanting someone to scratch her neck or give her hugs but then will do what you ask of her.  The funniest thing she does is a Bunny Hop when she plays.  She will run flat out from one end of the pasture to the other, stretching her head out and making full strides leaving Megan in her dust. When she gets almost to the end of the pasture she starts putting on the brakes, stiffens all four legs and hops to a stop. This is something that will need to be trained out of her when she is under saddle because that hopping ride is bone jarring and not something you want to experience if you do not have to.