The kids did not have school Monday for grade prep, so they finished getting ready for the Western Showcase Jackpot. Mom called Toni when she was on her walk to tell her that King 2 and gotten in with King 1, they are half-brothers, both out of Izzy. So Toni went down and her and mom got him out, mom went with Toni because she heard a kitten and wanted Toni to get the kitten out of the tree. The kitten was not tame and did not feel like it needed assistance. Later in the day Kade, Jaxsen and Toni got more videos of Kade roping off of Gen. So this is Gen’s 2nd time being roped off of. He did great. Kade also roped on Electra. Jax only agreed to pull the TufKaf for a brief time then got off the 4-wheeler and went in the house. I got home from work and we worked on Capone, Hammer, Oak and DJ. Capone we just worked on because we had someone wanting to know how tall he was. The donkeys led Hammer, Oak and DJ on Monday.
On Tuesday it was a bit colder, I was out in just a sweatshirt Monday night but Tuesday required a vest and stocking hat. The donkeys led the colts again on Tuesday, but we also led them. The colts did great. Anna and Ben started feeding the cows Tuesday night after work/school. The corn was not harvested yet and they are getting hungry out on the grass. Happy Halloween on Tuesday. I guess we are all too old for trick or treating, but at least Coco sent us pics of Shea and Morgan sent us pics of Tel. The kids still got bags of candy from our neighbor Roxanne which they love. She brings them each their own bag of candy and a treat bucket. Kade had his in the side-by-side with the bucket for his trash so he could eat his candy and do chores.
Happy November, and it feels like November. We turned Basil out and just kept in Tulip and Rosie, they led Hammer and DJ and then we led them all and Oak. Oak is super easy. We got our last two clubby steers Wednesday night, they are by Sweat Baby James. Toni started working on the foals before I got there because it is getting so dark, however, it is our last of spring forward so I at least got to work on them some. Next week in the hateful fall back time I will not get to work on them at all unless it is in a headlamp because Toni has court. With November starting, we needed to start figuring out what do to with Jackpot. He was being ridden by Ty Decker of TD Performance Horses. She did a great job on him. We originally had him trained as a cutter, but Ty took Jackpot and started running cans. Jackpot is so good minded that he took right to it. Ty hauled him around and we got some good video of him getting a feel for it. We have been so happy with how well Jackpot has gotten back into the riding game after being used just as a stud for the last several years. We are sad to market him, but we have kept fillies out of him and we need to bring a non-creme, not related stud into the program.
Toni went down and spent some time with Grandma who is still at the rehab place. I went over on Wed during lunch. Toni then took Grandma’s laundry to Cousin Traci so had some ice cream with Kayla, that was Toni’s lunch. The colts all got tied and worked on Thursday and then we turned them out in preparation for the weekend and being gone. We are getting Hammer back in Sunday when we get back, he needs a full week. The kids finished up getting everything loaded and ready to go. Looking forward to the last show.
Friday morning Mike came and harvested an Angus steer and an Angus grass fed heifer. I finished packing our stuff then headed to Moses Lake to help set up for the show. Toni, Anna, Kade and Jaxsen followed with the cattle. Kade had to go have his MRIA on his shoulder Friday morning before they could come to Moses Lake. Leslie and McCall were not far behind them with BB Cattle and then Traci, Natalie, Ady and Juju. The three heifers we took are all pro show calves as they just got back from the NILE a few weeks ago. The steers were all kind of newbies, but a couple of them had been to shows before we got them. All of our calves did really good. We had dinner at Rock Top then headed to our Air Bnb and BB headed to their hotel. Ben and Dad went to Yakima to watch Kaine play football. Connell won and is headed to state. Kaine played an awesome game. Spirits were high after the big win. They are playing Lyden Christian on November 10th in Blaine.
Saturday we got up early and spot washed, since there was no water pressure, the heifers and steers that were going to be in showmanship. Ben’s light I got him worked great in the wash rack. Dad brought Kaine up and Deb and Whitney brought Savannah up and Kicker showed up to watch the show. Dad ran the in gate to the show ring. Cordills brought their mini aussie puppies out to play. They were a lot of fun. I think that Leo would have liked it if we got one. Show was good. Anna’s baby heifer Blondie won her class and made it back to the championship round and Kade’s baby heifer Queen was second. They flip flopped from the Nile. Baby Cow was 4th in her class. All the kids showed great in showmanship. There were 305 entries at this show and the competition was deep. We got to see lots of friends, some family, and some other people too. Lots and lots of really high quality cattle. We went to the 509 BBQ that night for dinner, it was catered by Long horn. Anna was the Youth Breeder of the Year and she got a $500 scholarship from 509. The quarterly newsletter came out the next morning, and Kade is also featured in it as a spotlight member. And we bought an ad and it is also in there. Alyx did a great job putting our ad together.
On Saturday we had the dreaded fall back. Joe and Jay came up to the show. The steers all showed great, Anna’s was third in his class and Natalie had two 2nds, so were on standby for the championship round. Everyone else was middle of their class, but they all showed great. Then we loaded up and headed home. Ben had built the corn field fence in the part that had been harvested, so he had the cows turned out, so back off of the feed bill. They were all happy. Toni and I went down and got Hammer, Yo Chic and Mage in. Yo Chic and Mage are for our Youth Kid, Kane, to pick from. And DJ is going to our second youth kid, Camas. We are really excited Camas got into the program. We are looking forward to meeting Kane as well.
We always have a big sigh of relief when a successful show season comes to an end. It is bittersweet because the heifers are turned out to calve and become cows, so unless shown cow-calf they don’t get to come back in the barn. Baby Cow was a favorite, so we may see her on the show circuit again. Also bittersweet because we won’t see our show family for a few months. Most of the 2024 show calves are in and will stay in through the winter. The kids still have work to do, cattle to care for, we just don’t go to the shows for a few months while we do other important stuff. Next on the ranching cycle is finishing to ship the sold foals, start calving, get the cows bred back, start foaling, building corn field fence, feeding, draining horses, the show season is over for the winter because no one has time to show taking care of all the animals in the cold. Also during the winter there are lots of winter projects inclusive utilizing feed and putting up temporary fence. So never fear, still lots of work on the horizon for us.
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