Monday everyone was exhausted from the long show weekend.

                Monday everyone was exhausted from the long show weekend. Anna fell asleep in the barn in the chair, Toni found her when she got there to help catch and work on the Othello steers. The Othello steers are doing great, only Kaines and Jaxsens had not been worked on a lot, Kade has been showing his. Gunner’s pen was out again, so Toni and the kids got them back in and fixed the fence. It looks like the Express cow is the one that keeps breaking the fence, she tried to jump in with Gunner, but, she does not know that she can’t jump and lands on the fence. Toni was not pleased with her. The kids did chores, Toni and I doctored CanCan and moved the water. Brad and Ady went home on Monday, it was nice to have them for a week.

Tuesday it seemed more smoky and hazy, but, I don’t know if that was actually true. Anna and Kaine got circle 5 in and sorted out bad eyed cows. Ben doctored them when he got home. Anna, Kaine and Kade washed their steers and heifers. Toni was really busy Tuesday so did not take Jaxsen down to work on his steers. But, he did go down and take care of Dagger and help do night chores. The end gun on the circle would not shut off at mom and dads, so the alley was flooded and the kids had to go around. I am still going through pictures from last weekend, Coco and Whitney took 1847 with my camera of all the kids. I really appreciate Coco and Whitney taking pictures.

Wednesday Anna and Kaine got circle 4 in and sorted them for bad eyes. Kade came down and they caught the steers and washed them. Jaxsen’s steer, Anti-Venom, kicked Kade, so Jaxsen just wants to show Dagger and Big Boy Brad now, less risk and all. Anna and Kaine put together the new patio furniture and made the patio look nice. Toni and the boys sat on it so she could send me a snap. Toni and the kids had chores done when I got there, so we went home and did the steer chores.

Thursday was cloudy and called for rain and thunderstorms. Toni took pictures of the kids to upload to the Benton Franklin website for their buyers’ pictures.  Brita and Austin came out to look at their foal Ivy, one of the last two Colonel foals. They have a full sister to her as well. The kids worked on their steers and then went down and did chores before the elusive thunderstorm. Candice, James and the kids came up from SE Idaho for the weekend. But while we were waiting on them the bull calves went through the fence and started riding the heifer calves. So, we had to get them in and lock them up. We heard some thunder but did not see any rain.

Friday Ben stayed home with the kids and hung out with Candice, James and the kids. They were going to go down to the lake but it was too windy.  They are a card family, so while James napped, Ben, Candice, and the kids all played Candice and Ben’s favorite card games, like Phase 10. Toni, Marlo, Kade and Jaxsen did horse chores. Ben and the other kids did cow chores and Kicker checked the circles. I brought Costco home and dad ran into Connell and got tamales from Martha.  Martha has been selling tamales at the Connell Farmer’s Market and they are extremely good.

Saturday morning Toni, Kicker, Kade and Jaxsen went to Leavenworth for the weekend. Anna and Kaine washed their steers in the morning, then we all went down to the lake. We took the Slammer, the kids’ little boat, and Ben and Kaine rode around on it. And James, Candice, Cristy and Kaydence were on one paddle boat and Anna, Lydia, Aeliana and I were on the other. We went down to the dock and the kids jumped off and swam there. Then we paddled back to the other end and the kids swam some more. Then we went back and did chores.

Sunday James, Candice, Cristy, Kaydence, Lydia and Aeliana all headed home. Anna, Kaine and I went to Cecil and Debbies and got Apache and brought her home, she was being mean to Dreamer. Then we went and got Camas and brought her out to help. Next, we went and got Jackpot’s pen in and pulled Jackpot and got Piper and Slugger in to halter break Slugger. We moved Gunner’s pen into Jackpot’s pen, put Jackpot’s mares back out with the cows. Then Yutzy’s came and got Midnight, the appaloosa mare at the house getting bred, and she went home. Anna, Kaine and Camas finished up chores and Ben and I went to Sawyer Brown in Kennewick. Toni, Kicker, Kade and Jaxsen got home and Toni had a guy come out to look at horses.  Then Toni and her kids went and got Gunner’s pen back in and fixed fence.

                It was awesome to be home for a weekend and actually get something accomplished. We are slowly starting to halter break foals that are at the house. We are also slowly trying to pull studs and get the breeding season over. We are gearing up for the AQHA Youth Program as well and talking out which 2 foals we will donate this year. We donate 2 every year and feel that it is a great program to support youth in the horse industry. Because it is a scholarship program, we recommend that kids going into their Junior or Senior year apply, just because they are older and have a better chance at getting a scholarship. For anyone that wants more info, we have posted about it on our website and the AQHA has information at aqha.com This is a great program for a kid that wants to get their own foal and take it from weaning all the way to ready to start. We are extremely pleased to be involved and invested in the future of AQHA through our AQHA youth.