The heat warning has been extended. So it is still in the 100s. Isidro texted some of the horses were out in circle 6, so Anna went down and fixed the fence. Kade was worn out from the heat and shows, so he slept, washed his heifers, went back to sleep, then did chores. Kaine washed his heifer, steers and pair and then chopped down trees since he needs to pay for the transmission in his pickup. I keep telling him he should get up earlier and do it early, but he has trouble getting himself out of bed. Lynn, the mini aussie, will try to sneak into his room in the morning so she can sleep in as well. The men unloaded the freezers from Skips on Monday and dumped the contents into the dumpster, since it was getting dumped on Tuesday. Hopefully to keep the smell down to some extent.
Dad started wheat harvest for the Roach/Moore family on Tuesday. The Simmental steer (the one that was supposed to go to Spokane in May) and an Angus steer were harvested Tuesday. We got another outside mare in to bred to MC. Kade rode Friday and Stormy. Jax went out and pulled the TufKaf for Kade to rope off of Stormy for a bit. The kids worked on their show animals. Toni stayed with grandma Tuesday night.
On Wednesday the air was smokey and heavy and a warm wind was blowing. Anna and mom ran to Moses Lake in the morning. Then Toni and mom went and picked Skip up and brought him back to mom and dads. The kids went to Debbie and Cecil’s house in the afternoon and brought Rudy and Pepper home and took two minis out instead. The little pasture is on a hill side so can only really keep two minis happy all summer. When we were doing chores, the lightening started so we hurried up and finished and got to the house. As I was leaving mom and dads there was a fire just south of their house, the local volunteer firefighters got it out quickly. We were watching it but it never got close to the ranch.
Thursday was a hectic day. I brought meat to work with me for a coworker, he always buys his meat from us. Anna told me that morning she had a cattle feeder’s dinner to go too, so she was going to pick me up at work. Toni ran her boys down to the dentist, they got lunch, then came home to catch horses. Chad was out to trim horses in the 100-degree heat. There was just a lot going on. Kade rode Joss, which was the first ride since we have been home. He put her into a bosal instead of riding her around with a halter. She did great and acted like she hadn’t had any time off. She is really great for a young horse. We were also supposed to ultrasound but it was just too hot.
Friday Toni and the kids went to the Benton Franklin Fairgrounds to set up for the jackpot. They got shakes at Burger Ranch on their way home and did not bring me one. However they were out of huckleberry so I did not really want one. Marlo came out and helped with chores, she had not been out in long time either with work. Toni only let Kade ride one horse Friday evening due to the heat, so it was Stormy.
On Saturday we loaded out at 4:30 am and headed into the jackpot in Kennewick. We had a great time, even thought it was hotter than hell, and everyone did great. However, I do not think it was hotter then last year. Kade won a buckle with Simmi (who Toni now calls Simba) and one with Queen. Anna won a knife and a jacket. Kaine won a show halter and a show stick (which was good because they did not remember show sticks and we were borrowing everyone’s show sticks). Natalie had grand champion overall steer and Anna was reserve. Kade was grand champion Sr showman, Anna was reserve, Kaine was 3rd and Aram was 4th. Kade had grand champion heifer and Kaine was reserve. Julian was grand champion intermediate showman, Natalie was reserve, Ady was 3rd and Jaxsen was 4th. Kade and Julian got to do round robin, where they did a great job representing the beef barn. When we left it was 105 in Pasco. We got home, did chores and I went to stay with grandma.
On Sunday mom and I went out and put mineral with the horses and cows and got lots of pics. It was 108 on Sunday so we did our bare essentials. Bare essentials with livestock means to check ALL water, make sure there is some shade, a sprinkler, something to relieve the heat, make sure everything is doing ok. Luckily most of that can be done from a vehicle. Bad news is Toni’s pu has no ac so she rolls with the windows down. Mine does so we take it most places. Kade rode his one horse about 8:30 that night and the cat went with him on his ride. The dogs refused. All in all it was a good end to the week.
This year we have had more requests than usual for disease panel testing. Our policy has been that if people want it, we will get it done if able. Luckily we have hair in already on a few and got 4 more samples ready to send in on Monday. We also have some color tests out to confirm or tell us what things really are. Sampling can be very expensive with the numbers we have but in today’s market many people want to see those tests. Lots of opinions about the disease panels and way too much bad info out on the internet. Information is always good as long as it is used correctly. If you have a foal that you are interested in and the only thing holding you back is a disease panel, let us know. We would love to see if there is something we can do to help make your decision easier.
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