Is winter EVER going to end!

I was hoping by now that things would be warming up somewhat but just when we get our hopes up it seems like we get another blast of winter.

Last week we had a couple of days of nice weather which gave us a chance to get all the horses wormed and start saddle training on some of the older ones. I have the farrier coming on March 23rd so here's hoping for warmer weather.

Glory has now been saddled and although wide-eyed she did not put up a fuss at all.....and she looks good in an english saddle......Hercules had an english saddle on too and he looks awsome!

Well......spring is finally here! This winter has seemed like an especially LONG one. Time to clean up the yard and figure out placement of the horses.

We had a new horse come to the farm yesterday while we were in town. A young German couple with two children rescued her so they are keeping her here until they decide what to do. She is a pretty paint......but I don't know her name yet.

We had resounding success at the City Wide Registration on Thursday night......so many parents and kids are interested in the programs.......it is so exciting that we are going to have more people to share our Curly horses with.......

It's been awhile!

It seems like forever since I BLOGGED......

We continue to enjoy cold but clear weather here on the prairies. The horses are wintering wonderfully. Our new feeding system seems to be keeping the "easy keepers" from getting too fat. I move a few horses around yesterday since Angel and Dapper went back to their home in Manitoba.

I try to keep the horses in their family units.....so mom with daughters etc. It just seems to make a difference for the horses. We have a few floaters that can go in either herd. I also like to have all my babies together for playing and socializing.

I have a few new photos of some of the horses with some movement in them. We took them into the round pen before the last storm to play off some steam.

Spring Fence Walk

Every spring Rick and I walk the fence line to fix and check for needed repairs.....well Saturday was the day.....not too cold.....so we put on our rubber boots and headed out.  Things looked pretty good with only a few staples pulled loose and some downed wire here and there.  Along our travels we saw a crocus and then further down the trail a big white plastic barrel had blown onto the fence....thanking our lucky stars we started rolling the barrel home....when we got to the boys pasture fence.....the boys saw that white barrel and thought for sure that it was a horse eating barrel.....I snapped some photos as they acted like idiots with just a touch of spring fever!

First ride of 2009

Well we finally did it. The weather cooperated on Sunday so we saddled up Dove and Sister and went for a ride. The snow was really deep in places.......up to the horses bellies in some spots. We were riding along taking our time and all of a sudden Sister decided that the snow was just too good and she needed to lay down and roll......Severine barely had a chance to get her foot out of the stirup and Sister was down. Then the next thing I knew......Sister went racing by me minus Severine. Off down the field then to our amazement she circled around and came right back to Severine.....almost like she was checking to see that she was OK. Too funny. Then just stood there while Severine mounted back up and off we went. I was really glad that she came back because we were about 1/2 mile from home and the snow was really deep!

Rude Awakenings

"Horses are out"!!! Nobody likes to hear that but especially at 5:30 in the morning in minus 20 degree weather in the dark! But that is how I got woken up this morning....Instantly I'm stepping into my jeans while yelling out to my husband to start looking and catch the two horses that he can see. I throw on my jacket, boots, mittens, scarf & toque and head to the shed to get a bucket of pellets. Rick is coming around the corner with Kid our stallion.....he had been caught up in his fence and Rick had to cut the wire to get him free.....I told him to put Kid into one of the yard pens while we catch the two mares that are the lowest on the pecking order....Dove & Destiny. In the mean time the two mares are on their way out of the yard so I shake the bucket and call and the whole herd shows up....they had been on the other side of the trees. I open the gate and some of them follow me into the paddock so we close them in and go to get the rest. Nicker came next after he went to torment Kid. Then we caught and led Raven, Rose & Dove over. Now that the crisis is over we take a look at Kid to make sure that he is OK.....hard to tell in the dark but it looks like his wounds are superficial......Rick said that it looks like he had tried to jump the fence and the wire was under his belly and he was standing perfectly still as if waiting for someone to come and save him. Rick said that he tried just taking out the staples to loosen the wire so that he could push it down but it was too tight so he ended up cutting it.....during this whole process Kid stood like a statue. Once the wire was down, Kid waited for Rick to give him the signal and then he moved....truly amazing.

So what happened......well......my theory is that the gate was left unlatched and that would mean that Rick forgot to close it tight last night when he did chores........but he thinks that the horses pushed on the latched gate and bent the hook and escaped.....the first light will tell the tale! ;)

I guess that I will be fencing later on today after taking Kid to his dentist appointment!!!!

Sevi and I had fun with the horses this afternoon playing dress up......Lt'l Sister was such a great sport as we attached all kinds of stuff to her......don't you think that she is adorable! Sevi wanted to stuff her ears into the hat but she was much happier with them free.

Spring Fever

Spent a lovely evening working with Austin and brushing the other horses. They are all shedding so much now. Mocka looks like a wooley mamoth and hers seems to be stuck on her. The rest of them are shedding nicely without the clumps.

Austin let me touch him even more tonight and seem alot more trusting and was quicker to get to the point we were yesterday. We did a little experiment and had both Rick and I in the pen at the same time and at first he acted really scared but then settled down and let us touch him together. He really is a pretty boy and I hope that whatever is causing this we will be able to overcome.

Time for supper....cya.

Let the winds blow!

Well until just recently we really did not have much winter to speak of but the last few days have made up for that and the weather man is saying that there is some more unsettled weather coming from Edmonton way.....great.

Looking at the condition of the horses I think that they wintered the best this year. Not alot of crested necks which is such a concern. We took our most at risk horses and put them in a "fat pen" this winter so that we could ration their feed and keep their weight down....seems to be working. Soon we will have to separate out the geldings and figure out which horses will be re-bred this year and get them all together so that all we have to do is put the stallion out.

Kid had a blast last year as it was the first year that we pasture bred with him and this year he has two mares as company for the winter and he seems so much happier. Keeping a stallion is quite difficult because they can't just run with anybody and they will try fences if there is something that they want on the other side no matter the risk.

I have to say that Kid is not like any other stallion that I have ever known and other than prancing and showing off for the ladies (but very respectfully) you would never know, not bitey or fighty at all.

New Hay

Our new shipment of hay arrived yesterday and I don't know about anybody else but hay this time of year is starting to look terrible. The place where it was sitting is all black and has to be removed before it gets to the horses so there is alot more waste....oh well such is the way of the horse owner.

Need to start working with the foals soon so that they are leading and ready for their shots and farrier come spring. They are currently in the round pen also, which makes it hard to do any training so we will have to find another spot for them.

They sure are growing and Austin actually has more curl than in the fall....time to get his registration in while I can prove that he is curly.

Must run....I'm off to the studio for the day.

March....in like a lion!

Well we ended up with about 6-8 inches of the white fluffy stuff yesterday so everything looks nice and fresh.

I need to get out and get some photos of the herd while it still looks white. They have nice curly coats but in a few short weeks that will all change as we start the spring shed.

All the mares are looking very pregnant and uncomfortable already...I always feel for them at the end when they have a hard time moving around....I guess that I can sympathize in a sense.

I'll post a picture of Prince from last winter until I can get some fresh ones.

Sheila