Cowboy Up!

We had a fun time out at the ranch today.  After having a lively breakfast, horseback riding was the scheduled event.  The star of course was Rowan!

Our favorite little nephew dude dragged his parents and his Grandma up to visit Aunty Julie, Uncle Mike and Papa Bill.  He was sporting his brand new cowboy boots and told them he just had to go on the long drive to see us.  We weren't fooled though, he really came to see the horses, the chickens and Adolph the dog!  We're all aware of our place in line :)  I think the tractor we call "Greenie" has also moved ahead of us..

Rowan was all dressed up for the occasion

-Uncle Mike, not so much

Rowan on Hailey, Uncle Mike on Ace

"Tickle, tickle Hailey!"

Rowan showing Papa Bill how to drive "Greenie"

He's a natural farmer!

It was a fun way to spend a sunny morning with loved ones who don't live close enough to see as much as we'd like.  We're already looking forward to Ro's next foray into cowboying.  Look out Hailey!

Wedgie's Week of Woes

Wedgie had a lot of firsts this week - he was FINALLY weaned from his mama, he got his first big boo boo, his first haircut AND he had his first hoof trimming.  All pretty much within 48 hours.  Little guy's world was turned upside down.  We had planned on weaning him a couple months ago, but the unbelievably wet weather the last two months made it difficult.  We didn't have any spare stalls or inside pens that were dry, so the pasture was the best place for him and his mama.



Walking the Wedge

The use of a "butt rope" laid loosely around his hindquarters helps teach Wedgie to walk forward while being lead with the halter.  This is a very common training technique we use with foals. 

He was actually taught to lead and accept a halter when he was just a few days old.  He was then turned out with his mama and the other mares in the pasture where he was allowed to just be a baby. (The photo above shows him getting a reminder to go forward when led.) 

He'll be worked with up close in the barn for a few weeks again while he's completely weaned and then turned back out to pasture to continue learning how to just be a horse.  He'll now be out with the rest of "the boys" instead of the mares.   At two years old, he'll be brought up again and start very light training to be ridden.  Their leg bones are still maturing up to about three years old, so heavy riding at too young of an age can actually be detrimental to their development.  He'll probably be gelded at this point as well.

Boo Boo wrapped in blue

Wedgie's boo boo.  He cut himself on the ankle when he was having a tantrum over being separated from his mama.  We put them in side-by-side stalls when weaning, but he still managed to have a fit and bang up his little leg on the wall.  **On a related note ~ Horses tend to find numerous ways to hurt themselves.  It's a full time job trying to keep them safe.  For instance; if you have a mile of fence posts and only 1 has a tiny nail sticking out, the horse will find that 1 tiny nail and cut himself on it.  I think you could put them in a padded cell, cocooned in bubble wrap and they'd still manage to do something!  It's part of their nosy nature and part of life with horses. 

Wedgie's 1st trim

Wedgie received his first pedicure or in equine terms: hoof trim.  A lot of times this is a very difficult task as the babies don't like their legs and feet messed with and lifted off the ground.  This first trimming was made much easier because we got him used to us touching his legs and looking at his hooves when he was just a few days/weeks old.  The more they're handled when young, the easier it is to do the necessary tasks as they grow.  He was a perfect little gentleman while Dad trimmed his hooves.  He won't actually get his first set of shoes for another year or so. 

Wedgie's 1st haircut

This photo was more of a snarky comment by Mr. MoonCat on the similiarity of Wedgie's wild forelock and mane and my wooly head.  It was pretty foggy that day and with a lot of moisture in the air comes lots of curls and frizz in my hair!  So yes, the Wedge and I both have naturally out of control locks.  We did manage to trim what is called a "bridle path" for Wedgie (not me).  It is a strip of about three inches of his mane right behind his ears that we trim down to the base.  It makes it much easier for the halter to fit snugly and secure.  It's also more comfortable for him as the halter won't be sitting on top of a wad of mane and pulling his hair.

So that's pretty much Wedgie's traumatic week.  He's doing fine and starting to enjoy being in the middle of everything at the barn.  He has already learned to pull the lid off of the grain bin as he goes by and tries to snag a mouthful of hay when passing the bales.  One thing is for certain, Wedgie will be in the middle of things on a regular basis.

Another Conquest for Swifty & Cattle Sorting

Mr. MoonCat's horse Swifty has yet another admirer......

Does this photo make
my nose look BIG?

 

He really is a looooooooong horse

A couple of weeks ago the hubby's folks stayed a few days with us and we dragged them along to a cattle sorting with us and my Dad.  Mr. MoonCat talked his own Dad into getting up on Swifty for a few photos.  They got along really well and make quite the pair don't they?  ~Mr. MoonCat took these photos so Swifty can't blame me for the big nose shot... :)

So now I'm thinking we need to get the hubby's Mom up on Swifty too!  We'll have to work on that when they come up to see us again at the end of the month...

Here are some other photos from the cattle sorting that day:

Everyone waiting for their turn



Mr. MoonCat & Swifty calmly strolling
Moi & Fella not so much



The hat's on backwards....
he must be seriously concentrating



Dad and Petey sorting the cattle....fast!

Sorry, no action shots of me this time.  But..I did end up placing 5th out of 102 teams!!  Not bad for a rusty old fat woman and a rather hyper horse :)  We had a lot of fun that day surrounded by family, friends, and furry creatures.  Great food finished off an almost perfect day.

Horses of Course

Many of you have asked how Wedgie (aka the Wedge, Phantom, and butthead) has been doing.  Well, he turned 4 months old on September 22nd and he's quite the big boy.  Dad is talking about weaning him early as he doesn't nurse near as much as he pigs out on his mama's grain and hay. 

As usual I had a hard time getting photos of him.  He either wanted to run and play with me or he wouldn't get his head out of the feeder.  So I only have the two pictures today, but I'll get some more in the next week or so just to show you what a little pill he is.

In other horse news, Mr. MoonCat has a new horse.  His buddy Whiskey just wasn't cutting it when it comes to working cattle.  Whiskey would much rather cruise along the trails and go for long scenic rides than participate in the cow events.  So he'll be going to a new home with someone who enjoys just trail riding.  He's been a great first horse for the hubby while he's been learning about riding and life in general with the equine bunch.



Whiskey

This is the only photo I managed to snap of the new addition this morning.  We were in a hurry, so hopefully I'll get some updated shots later in the week with Mr. MoonCat doing his thing.  "Swifty" is the name my Dad bestowed upon the new guy.  In case you're wondering, it's actually an oxymoron.  The horse is a bit on the lazy side..  But as usual, if the naming is left to Pops, he'll name him according to where he came from.  The previous owner was named Swift so there ya have it.  (I warned hubby...)

Swifty

I know he looks similar to Whiskey in coloring, but Swifty is actually a registered Paint Horse whereas Whiskers is a Quarter Horse.  Swifty is a real sweetie, very gentle and able to teach Mr. MoonCat a whole lot more than Whiskey could.  The hubby is excited because this new horse LIKES to work cattle! 

So that's the happenings for now.  In closing I'll leave you with a shot of Adolph (Dad's dog that he got from his neighbor, yup - named Adolph) sharing his doggy bag from breakfast with the chickens. 

Yummm..biscuits and gravy

New Name for a Wedgie

What is it? What is it?

The names everyone came up with were amazing! You all are very creative. We'll have to put it out there again next time we have a baby to name..So without further ado......

Introducing: Phantom Sunday Gambler

The winner of the horse-themed prize is LemonVerbenaLady! She came up with Phantom which is such a perfect description of his little face. The group played with it until Phantom Sunday Gambler came out of the brainstorming.  Of course, Pops promptly declared "I don't care what you put on the papers, I'm still calling him "Wedgie".

The winner of the random drawing for the notecards is: Susan!

Congratulations to you both and thank you all for joining in on the fun. Be sure to stay tuned as we have a BIG giveaway from CSN Stores later this week! It's one you won't want to miss.

What I See Wednesday

My calla lilies are hanging on in spite of the rising heat.

Little legs getting longer by the day.

Mr. MoonCat's "man-cave" aka my herb drying room

My own pest control team.

Do YOU Have a Wedgie?

Are YOU looking at ME?

Look what the stork dropped off at the ranch Saturday!  This leggy little bundle of joy (plus piss & vinegar!)  He's quite the cutie with an attitude to boot. 

As usual, a rather contrary mare decided that it would be great to have the baby while no one was anywhere around.  Dad had called me early that morning saying he thought she might foal at any time.  He had plans out of town that he couldn't get out of and since I was headed to my soap class, baby watch fell to Mr. MoonCat.   Wedgie is the mare's first foal, so we were concerned that she might have difficulty.  We're very grateful that she proved us all very wrong. 

About 4 hours old.

Mr. MoonCat, my brother-in-law, and our nephew checked on the horses shortly after Dad had left the ranch.  He was so excited when he called me! It was a real treat for him to be the one to discover the little rascal, especially since Dad hadn't been gone very long.  The mare has turned out to be an excellent mama.  (I call her "CB" because the men all call her "Crazy B***h" as she can be pretty nasty at times.  I personally think it's because she just doesn't like the menfolk, just my own opinion of course!) 

CB living up to her name

The photo above may look like she's being nasty to me, but you can't see from this angle that there is a gelding hanging his head over the back fence of the pen.  She hates this particular horse and was spinning around to snap at him.  She's very protective of the little Wedge!

My mama loves me

For those of you wondering, "Wedgie" is definitely not his registered name.  His mother's facial markings are called "piebald".  When the hubby called me to tell me about the colt, he kept saying that he was a half-piebald.  There's no such thing that I've ever heard of, so I couldn't quite picture what he was telling me.  When I finally got to the ranch, I told the guys that the little dude was cheated.  He didn't get a whole pie, he just got a wedge!  So that coupled with the fact that this is going to be one TALL horse who will give people wedgies - or at least split their drawers; has caused the name Wedgie to stick. 

All of our horses have nicknames that many times have nothing to do with their registered names.  Our stallion, Sunday Sailor answers me when I call him "Booger".  My mare, Cinderella Sox answers to "Blondie Bear".  So it's not often that you'll be able to figure out their papered name by what we're actually calling them.  Their registered names are usually based on their bloodlines.  To officially name Wedgie, we will probably come up with some combination/variation of the papered names of both the mare and the stallion. 

I'm thinking we might just run a little contest here on the blog to see who can come up with an appropriate and "proper" name for the little cutie.  What do you think???

Hayseed is a Winner and So Is...

And they're off..........crossing the finish line by the tip of her sneakers is:   SewCalGal!

Congratulations!!!!!!  I'll send your info to the publisher.  Thank you all for entering the drawing and be on the lookout for more giveaways soon.

In the meantime, be sure to go here for  Hayseed's First Race.  Hayseed makes his grand debut in the world today!  I'm told they are already working on his next escapade so don't miss out.  Learn more at:  http://www.caballopress.com/

Wednesday Whinny - Cindy Three Sox

I haven't introduced you to any of the critters in quite a while. This is my girl - Cindy Three Sox. She also goes by Cinderelly and Blondie Bear (sometimes another word that starts with "B" but is not appropriate on a G-rated site!).

If you've been with me for a while, you might notice that she looks just like Dad's gelding, Cinderfella. They are full siblings from the same Palomino Quarter Horse mare (Cinderella Sox) and our Paint stallion - Sunday Sailor.

Does my butt look big?

Cinderelly is a very big, gorgeous girl. She loves to work cattle and enjoys going on mountain trial rides and now playing in the ocean. She and I really bonded when my friend invited me to the coast for a week a few summers ago. I took Cindy even though she hadn't been off the ranch very much. She is such a good-minded horse that I wasn't too worried about how she'd act (her brother Fella is a whole 'nother ballgame!).

Horses have a natural instinct for "fight or flight" that has been bred into them from antiquity. Fella is immediate "flight" - he'll spin around and just leave if he's frightened by something. This can make for some VERY interesting rides with him. Cindy on the other hand leans more towards the "fight" instinct. If she is startled, she will stop and quickly access the situation. She'll also take a cue from me to see if I'm scared. She may stand there and shake a bit, but she won't flee at super top speed like big bro does.

When Cindy saw (and heard) the ocean for the first time, she stopped dead in her tracks. We had rounded a bend between two cliffs that lead to the beach. The roar of the surf was almost deafening since it was sort of a tunnel we were walking towards. While a couple of the other horses freaked out and said "See Ya!", she just stood there shaking and taking it all in. When I gently urged her forward, she obliged and on we went to the sand.

The first day I could barely get her to put her feet on the wet sand at the edge of the water. She'd jump back and not let the water touch her hooves. By the end of the week my supergirl was jumping in the water and playing in the surf up to her chest with me on her back. We did a lot of running full-bore on the packed sand up and down the beach. It was magnificent! Just like my Blondie Bear. I love her dearly and enjoy my time with her immensely.

Cinderelly may be having a baby next year. We are discussing breeding her again as she had a magnificent foal two years ago. (I've promised Mr. MoonCat that we can keep this one and raise it, as we ended up selling "Hank the Tank" when he was weaned.) I will keep you updated on our plans for the Blondie Bear and possible Baby Bear..

Note: These photos are a not current. Blondie Bear is currently very shaggy with her winter coat and covered in lots of mud! She enjoys being a dirty, dirty girl....

Quick Update

Thank you so much for all of the best wishes and thoughts. Mom is actually in the hospital right now. We had to take her by ambulance on Monday and they've kept her there all week. She is undergoing lots of tests and various procedures to try to help her breathing. Once they get that taken care of, they will start the new chemo in a week or so.

Dogie's opinion on Mom being in the hospital

I'll be back with an update and a post when I can. Take care all!

Wednesday Whinny - Sunday Sailor

I talk a lot about the ranch and all of our horses, but I tend to be lax about showing you our beauties. Today I would like to introduce you to Sunday Sailor, our Paint Stallion. He is the daddy to the majority of the great horses we use - Cinderfella, my mare Cindy, Pete, and Missy (photos to come, I promise).

We are very proud of the big guy (as is my usual, I have an alternative name for him: Booger, which he does answer to!) He is now a big 18 years old and still going strong. We breed several outside (not our own) mares to him every year. He throws such gorgeous babies. Fortunately they all seem to get his sweet disposition as well as his good looks. Many of them have also inherited his abilities. He's very athletic and a great cow horse. We use him to work cattle, sort, team pen, rope, and just ride for pleasure. He's my big sweetie!

Cattle Sorting Practice

We spent Sunday at the ranch, helping Dad with the cattle sorting practice and just hanging out with him.

Cattle sorting is similar to team penning which I wrote about a few weeks ago and you can read about here. In sorting you also have a team of three riders, but you only have 10 head of numbered cattle (1 each from 0-9) at the other end of the arena instead of the 30 cattle in team penning. The numbers are basically like a huge dog collar with two large vinyl panels with a number on each side. They are put on for the practice and then taken off before the cattle are turned out to pasture for the night.

There is a foul line about 40 feet from the end of the cattle side of the arena instead of a pen you're trying to put them in. Once your team is in the arena and ready, you are given a number from 0-9. You then have 1 1/2 minutes (90 seconds) to bring your cattle across the line IN ORDER with no cattle crossing the line before their turn. Example: my team is given #4. We have to bring them out 4,5,6,7 etc. The team with the fastest time and the most cattle out in order wins.

It's a fun event that the whole family can participate in. You will see a lot of little kids and even some older folks having a good time at the cattle sortings. It's a little easier for beginners to ease into as it's not as fast-action (to start with) as team penning and you can use "greener" or less experienced horses while learning yourself. Playing with cattle and good horses is always fun!

There is also a version called "ranch sorting" that is done in a large pen and with only two riders on the team. The big difference is that you must take the cattle through a gate in order instead of across a line. Both versions are a lot of fun, but I usually prefer the ranch sorting.

I like the ranch sorting because I grew up doing this when it wasn't even an event. It was just plain old ranch work where Dad would put me in the gate while he sorted calves off the cows to be shipped to market. I got to be a very good gate man(girl) and ended up getting a lot of dirty looks from crotchety old cowboys that Dad would hire for day work. They didn't like the idea of a kid, much less a "little girl" doing a man's job. I always had fantastic ranch horses and was a good rider so I could compete with most of the grumpy old farts for the choice jobs. I had been working cattle for my dad and many other ranchers from a very young age and earned a good reputation. Kicker was that even though I was getting a paycheck for day work, I was really there to help my daddy and enjoy the heck out of myself. (Didn't realize that I was championing women's rights when I was nine years old!)

Being "in the gate" was a coveted position when working cattle as you got to work your horse and really enjoy the ride. When working the gate your horse is sliding from side to side and making lots of quick moves to keep cattle from escaping past him. It was always the most fun part of the day to be on a cowhorse that was "getting down in the dirt". I still enjoy it today on my mare Cinderella. It's better than a roller coaster ride by far.

Our day started out with a few minutes with Fred (or as I call him Ferd). Dad rescued him after one of the barn cats abandoned him when he was just about 2 weeks old. He was a fighter from day 1 and is now the ruler of the roost. He has Dad and anyone who comes over wrapped around his little furry paws.

"It's about time you got here to visit me!"

"Why won't you come and play in my house?"

Michael checking the cinch on his horse "Whiskey"

Sonny, Dad, & Les "warming up ", in reality - gossiping while walking around in circles

The cheese stands alone...

Adolph (Dad's dog) thoroughly bored by it all

We went to dinner with Dad after we were through with the sorting practice and all of the animals were (well) fed. A very lovely way to end a nice weekend. Now it's back to boxes.

Team Penning in Templeton

Bill Dees & Cinderfella "Before the Buzzer"

I'm spending my Saturday with my husband, my Dad, my horse, and a whole bunch of these little boogers!

We're going to a cattle (or team) penning competition. I've been competing in these events since I was about 12 yrs old - when they first started them up here in Central Cali. I haven't gone in AGES, so when Dad asked if Michael & I would like to go with him for the day I jumped at it.

Should be lots of fun, except for the getting up at 4am part - that sorta sucks. And the fact that I will end up being the driver for the entire trip up and back. That's what Dad always tells me "he" had me for - to be his chauffeur.

I learned to drive the truck on the ranch at about 9 yrs old and began pulling the big gooseneck stock/horse trailers at about 12. I'm an old pro, but the hubby is still pretty new to the whole ranch life. Dad and I are in the process of teaching Michael how to pull horse trailers, but I'm a control freak and nervous about letting a "newbie" pull my horses especially since we'll be in hill country with gusty winds. Dad's a little braver than I am on that front, although I DO try not to hurt Michael's manly feelings too often by making him let me drive.

Team penning is a timed event that consists of a team of 3 riders, 30 cattle numbered 0-9, and a pen. Your goal is to put your 3 cattle into a pen at the opposite end of the arena in the fastest time. Sounds easy enough right? You have to take into account that cattle can be wild beasties and create a lot of havoc in a short amount of time. You have to keep all of the "unwanted" or "not your number" cattle at their end of the arena, opposite the end where the pen is. If one of these strays crosses the scoring line, you're disqualified. When you're running full steam around an arena trying to sort out the correct animals while not running into one of your team members, it can get pretty exciting and hairy.

But, it's lots of fun to participate in and also to watch. There is a lot of whooping and hollering as well as laughing. Most of the horses love it, especially ones like ours that are bred to be cow horses. Some, like Michael's horse Whiskey, are afraid of or ambivalent towards the cattle and might run the other direction. It happens, but Michael loves Whiskey & Whiskey loves Michael, so that's all that matters!

These photos are all of Dad and Cinderfella aka Fella or Yella Fella (yes, I have numerous names for the big critters too.) I will post some photos of my & Michael's horses as well as our beautiful Paint stallion - Sunday Sailor at a later date. I've got to get to bed EARLY tonight - it's a long drive in the am!