Posts Tagged With: #AQHA in WA

It feels like a slow foaling year but I think every year feels slow when you are in a hurry to see what you get.

Posted on March 22, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

know everyone complains about losing an hr of sleep, but I would do it every day if it meant I had an extra hr of daylight when I got home from work. At school it was drive your tractor to school day, since none of us are taking the tractors in for the kids to drive, Kaine and Kade found friends they could ride with. Kaine rode with Maxx and Kade rode with Cyson. And Cyson’s mom Jarra sent us pictures. Thank you Jarra. Anna was in the golf cart in the front since she is the FFA president. Dad went to Tri Cities and picked up Anna’s glasses. Hank texted and set up the bull semen test day for Wednesday afternoon. It was rainy Monday night when we did chores and fed the mares.

Tuesday was a pretty normal day. Toni was trying to get to the FCC meeting, but needed to try to load Summer to get ready to leave. She took the trailer down and took Libby out to the field to try and mother up to the heifer that is still out in the cattails with a hurt leg. Then she tried to load Summer, but the trailer floor in the red trailer is so slick. So Summer tried, and progress was made, but no actual loading. After everything, Toni gave up on the meeting. We did have helpers checking the mares. Our boy Coffee let everyone pet him. Toni was still calling him Black Rifle, but the three kids we picked up on the road and I convinced her he should definitely be called Coffee. Their mom has a mobile coffee van, 509 Coffee if you need a coffee at your event, and she is magnificent.

Wednesday Shiney foaled and had a beautiful red dun colt, named KT Foreal Sage Shines. Anna calls him For Real, I call him Four, I think Toni said she was calling him Reals. He is a sweet boy like Coffee. Hank came out and semen tested bulls with Toni and Ben. Leo laid on the pickup dash in the sun. Jordan sent a pic of cappy and how much he likes him. Our good friend Joss came out and brought her mare, Gin, and traded her for Summer. So we got Summer loaded up. Then Joss drove around with us and looked at mares and of course, had to pet Coffee.

Thursday dad took old Red to Reardan and got a couple totes of feed. The men unloaded it with the White when he got home. Chores were pretty normal. We still have the Judge in and working on him, inclusive on trying to remove all of his winter hair. He was doing really well being alone in the working pen.

Friday was a hectic day. Kaine and Anna went to Pullman for a FFA Meats judging class all day, they were home late. Kade went to Moses Lake for an FFA competition, his team got second. Jaxsen had to go into school at normal time, but he was the only one, everyone else had to be there early. Dad and Steve went to Moxee to deliver a bull. Toni had court all day in Yakima. Marlo came out and helped with Kade with chores. Her and Toni worked with the Judge then I got there and we went out and checked the mares and foals and Marlo got to pet Coffee. So Coffee had three days in a row of getting petted by random people. And he loved it!

Saturday morning Kade had shooting. Ben and Anna rolled up fence and pulled out posts. I got the Angus cows out from with the Hereford cows. Toni went and took care of stuff at mom and dad’s so they could leave for Pendleton. Then Toni, the kids and I went to Connell for the birthday party, while the men continued to roll up fence. It was the Feb – May birthday party. The kids had a lot of fun. Then we got home and started moving horses around. We took The Judge’s blanket off and got pics and video of him, and pics of Wild and King 2. Toni and Kade rode out to see if they could find the heifer. Toni rode in her new saddle and Kade rode the new horse. I moved some horses around while they were gone. Rudy across the road, Shadie in with King. Toni and Kade got back and we put Blue and Bell in with Annie, Dally in with Tank, Lightening in with Jackpot. Then we did chores and checked the mares. Mom and Dad went to see Little Texas in Pendleton, so we took care of the dogs as well.

Sunday morning when Toni went down to do the dog chores, she saw that Lona was having issues foaling. So she called and Ben and I raced down and we helped her pull Lona foal. Then Toni and Ben went down to look at Double, he did something to his tongue we think. I took Sammy for a walk while they did this. Then we went home and sorted the bulls since we had someone coming to look at them. She bought M118. Then we started moving horses again while the men rolled up fence and the kids washed their steers and heifers. We put Mocha in with Leroy, so that we could have Coffee by the house. We got all of the desert mares in and sorted and worked all the open mares and the mares with foals. We had a long Sunday. We got mares put out with all of the studs except Double and Dude. So we are officially started the 2023 breeding season.

It feels like a slow foaling year but I think every year feels slow when you are in a hurry to see what you get. So far we only have 1 filly and 4 colts, but that is good because we don’t normally keep colts so that keeps the squabbling on who to keep at a minimum.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: #AQHA, #AQHA for sale, #AQHA for sale in WA, #AQHA in WA, #AQHABaycolt, #AQHABlackfilly, #AQHAforsale, #AQHAforsaleinWA, #AQHAProud, #QHColor, #Quarter horses for sale in WA, #Quarterhorseforsale, #QuarterhorsesinWA, #ranagereadystallion, #ranch life, #Ranching, #RanchingHeritageBreeder, #ranchingspring, #ranchlife, #ranchliving, #ranchraised, #WABeefLove, #washingtoncattlemen, AQHA

Last Week in Pictures

Posted on March 21, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: ##Quarter horses for sale in Washington, #AQHA, #AQHA in WA, #AQHAforsale, #AQHAforsaleinWA, #AQHAProud, #QHColor, #Quarter horses for sale in WA, #Quarterhorseforsale, #QuarterhorsesinWA, #ranagereadystallion, #ranch life, #Ranching, #RanchingHeritageBreeder, #ranchingspring, #ranchlife, #ranchliving, #WABeefLove, #WAJrAngus, #washingtoncattlemen, AQHA

Everyone loves cattle sorting AFTER the fact.

Posted on March 16, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday we woke up to a skiff of snow that when you headed south it didn’t last long, but the roads north were snowing and foggy. No new foals on Monday. The boys did chores, Anna had FFA competition in Ag Sales after school. Everyone on her team placed in the top 10 and her team placed first. Good job Anna, Keegan, Hardy and Brandy. Dad and Toni took the red trailer into Othello welding to get fixed at around noon, so Toni could take dad to subway for lunch. The handle on the middle gate had broken off when dad hauled a load of cows to Toppenish last week.

Tuesday Kade went his FFA competition during the day. Toni checked and we finally had another calf. The last few cows are drawing it out. Dad and mom went and had lunch with grandma. Othello welding called Toni and the trailer was done, so Toni and dad went and picked it up after Toni’s meetings. We FINALLY had a foal on Tuesday, a striking black colt, he is possibly a blue roan. He is out of Mocha and by Gunner. Mocha’s foals have coffee names, and Gunner’s foals have Gun names, so to a casual observer his name of, KT Black Rifle, could be confusing. However, we have a local coffee stand called Black Rifle Coffee, hence the gun coffee name that no one will understand except us. Toni is threatening to keep this colt, I told her we have too many that are related, so as of now he is for sale. In typical Mocha foal fashion, he came up to see us when we were checking. Mocha is a favorite mare to everyone that meets her, and her foals are favorites to everyone that buys one, so I am sure all of those people are siding with Toni. We are still talking about a barn name for this handsome colt. After we got done talking to Mocha and petting the colt we went and fed our cripple heifer in the cattails. She came out of the cattails since we took so long, which is good, maybe we can start working her towards the house.

Wednesday Oreo finally calved and had Cookie, or Traci said should be named Thin Mint since it is TINY. It was also Kicker’s birthday on Wednesday, so Toni calls him Kicker’s Cookie. Jaxsen and I decided Jaxsen can show him as a steer next year since he has a lot of hair. It was cold and rainy on Wednesday, Mocha had black rifle up in the hay line. Mom made us a really good butter cake, even thought it was Wednesday. Isidro moved the mower to circle 4, which means they have mowed all the trees they can in 5 and we will have to hand cut the rest which is a big task.

Thursday dad was headed out to go to Topp with Steve to drop off some cows, and saw two mares had foaled. Except one of the mares was open, so Toni ran down. The kids and Dad already had the mares in. Anna had a string in her hand to catch the thief mare and separate the mare from her “baby.” For future reference if you have a mare that is strong and dedicated enough to steal a foal from a seasoned mare, probably don’t use a piece of twine to catch and move her. Toni did use the twine and did get her moved but said that her arm almost got ripped out of the socket. Dad’s comments centered around how great the kids did and how dumb mares are. Goldie had the colt that was stolen. Mom and Toni got nursemate into him and left them locked in. Cleo had a filly that mom and Toni are fighting over. Toni told the filly that they could be best friends forever. The mowing in circle 4 is going a lot faster in the top part. The kids mowed it last spring but it did not get sprayed. Dad also harrowed the pasture during the week. He got the heavy mare pen done, circle 8 and part of 7 this week. Thursday afternoon Mud foaled and we had another black colt on the ranch. This is the first foal out of Highbrow Lil Shadow aka Stetson, so this colt has a pretty cool pedigree. We moved Miss Gen down with Tank so she couldn’t steal another baby. She is an older (ok maybe old is a better word for her) mare so we figure she might need the extra time to get bred.

Friday we pulled CIDRs on the cows. Anna stayed home to help and Toni came down after court. We got through them pretty fast. Friday was a crazy weather day, it was cold, we had snow in the AM, then it warmed up then got cold again. We checked, fed, etc. Anna went in and got the boys from school. Marlo was out to do chores, so she got to see the new babies, pet Queenie Bellini, etc. Stina had a cute mini horse filly by Derringer, Toni claims Stina and her sister Spicy, so she named her KT Blue Eyed Devil. I told her I was not naming the sweet little baby Blue Eyed Devil, so I put down Blue Eyed Dreamer.

Saturday morning the cows got their 2^nd shot. We got up and sorted them and ran them through. We had lots of help on Saturday, Ben, Toni, Kaine, Anna and I. Kade was at a shoot somewhere there was lots of snow. He did really good, had a 39 score and was 6^th overall. He won a knife. We also fixed a bit of fence one of the Hereford bulls had knocked down trying to get out with the cows that were coming into heat. Anna and Lane had prom Saturday night, so Anna went to Tonis and they did her hair and makeup. They went with Anna’s friends, Brandy and Emilee and Lane’s friends Trey and Travis (who are twins). Leroy was a super creeper in pics. They had a great time.

Sunday morning the kids caught their steers. Sophie came and picked up her Angus steer that she bought from Anna. We took her down to see Baby Blue and Anna showed her some things she needed to get. After lunch we sorted cows and then Mark came and AIed them. Kaine and Jaxsen left at one point to go down and do horse chores. After we got done Toni and I went down to work on The Judge and then go feed and check the mares. The boys stayed and helped get everything turned out of the corral, let their steers go and feed.

Everyone loves cattle sorting AFTER the fact. Then it is funny. Anyone that tries to tell you they haven’t yelled or been yelled at during cattle sorting hasn’t really done it. Last Friday it was Ben, Kaine, Anna, and Toni. Afterwards I asked Kaine how it went. He said his dad didn’t talk to him, Anna yelled at him, and Toni talked to him like he was a kindergartner. I just know that the code words were By, AI, and Hereford, so the only easy sort was the Hereford pen, and there weren’t many in the Hereford pen.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: #AQHA, #AQHA for sale, #AQHA in WA, #AQHAforsale, #AQHAforsaleinWA, #AQHAProud, #QHColor, #Quarter horses for sale in WA, #Quarterhorseforsale, #QuarterhorsesinWA, #ranagereadystallion, #ranch life, #Ranching, #ranchingfall, #RanchingHeritageBreeder, #ranchingspring, #ranchlife, #ranchliving, #ranchraised, #rangegreadybulls, #WABeefLove, #WAJrAngus, #washingtoncattlemen, AQHA

After an exhausting, but productive, weekend, we now have to get ready for a full week.

Posted on March 8, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday we flew back from Fort Worth at o dark 30. The flight home was very uneventful, very unlike the trip down. We even arrived at Pasco 10 min early. In time to get home, get unpacked, the wash started and then go out and check mares to see if anyone foaled while we were gone. All horses were healthy and happy to see us, but no foals. The kids all got home from school and we gave everyone a big hug and passed out the gifts, since they did not get on the plane we went all out.

Tuesday was back to work for everyone. We woke up to snow Tuesday morning, but besides in the shade it was basically melted by midafternoon. The kids all had judging practice after school (except Jaxsen since he is in elementary school). The kids got home and did chores, it is nice that it is still light out when the kids get home after afterschool activities. No new foals Tuesday, or any day this week. We are happy that they were not born while we were gone. Toni got the Judge in and started working on him. So he is in with Summer. The Judge was more interested in being a pasture pet, but does like the extra attention.

Wednesday was brisk but no snow. Toni and dad took Cappy to Jordan Pace Horsemanship for more riding. Jordan did a great job with King and Tank and we were happy to get him in. Toni and dad headed home and Jordan decided to jump on Cappy and Cappy did great. The Judge decided that being caught on Tuesday was enough, so Toni had to get serious with him on Wednesday. He is a really great colt, just big. The Judge is out of our good friend John’s Judge Dat Cash stud and our Apache Blue Boy daughter. So this is a big, strong, smart colt. Toni’s Sheridan Buckle and Saddle Co saddle also came on Wed. She ordered it in November for a bday present to herself. It is a partial custom, so 3 ½ months isn’t bad for a partial custom. And the saddle was very cost effective, you know, the kind Toni likes. Toni waited for me to get home to check mares. However, it got too dark before we found all of the mares, so she told me should could not wait until after fall back. The mowing of the Russian Olive Trees looks really good.

Thursday Toni went out to check the mares in the morning and the cows. She saw cow poop like they were out, but did not see any. No new foals. It is that time of year to repeat that a lot. Toni put a blanket on the Judge to get him to shed out faster. We are really getting ready to start promoting the Judge. He is a bit different than our other foals, so we need to make sure and expose him to the right market. Toni also bought a headstall with her saddle, so we decided which bit to put on it, so basically which horse gets that bridle. It is going to Gracie. So I get the new bridle too.

Friday was the start of the big work weekend. Toni, Ben, Anna and Kaine got the cows in, sorted them 15 different ways to put the bulls out and so we can AI. Then they put CIDRs in, sorted the cows that haven’t calved yet, sorted the cows that aren’t going to calve, sorted the breeds, sorted the heifers, sorted, sorted, sorted. Kade and Jaxsen went to school and I went to work. Toni texted me calf numbers all day of the ones she likes. A few of the calves had gone under the hot fence and someone had to crawl under and get them back. Friday turned into a really long day. The CIDRs were left in the Yukon, that should have been back from Chipman and Taylor, however, they had to order parts and it is still not back. So Toni ran to Moses Lake to get replacement CIDRs. Marlo, Jaxsen and Kade were done with chores by the time they got done. Marlo and I went out to check the mares and give them some hay. The CIDR cows were finally done around 6.

Saturday we finished the hot fence around the Old Valley corn field. Sold an Angus cow and calf, she was a late calver and had a new calf at her side. The 5 heifers we had sold were picked up and our meat buyers came out and got meat. Kaine and Anna caught their steers and Anna caught her heifers. We got the heifers in off of circles 6 and 7 and brought them home, sorted the steers off, put them with the rest of the cows. We moved the Hereford cows up to the New Valley, Kaine and I went and picked up the Hereford bull from BB Cattle and dropped Jaxsen off so he could go to Savannah’s birthday party. Kade had a shoot somewhere and with the cold and the wind, did ok. While we were gone he did an AWESOME job, a 39, his personal best. Toni started chores at Mom’s and was very unhappy with how many strings she had to pick up that the boys just drive over and hay that she felt should have been thrown over the fence and instead is left. So chores took extra long and she had to have a talk with the boys when they got there. I think they would rather have not talked to her.

Sunday the kids all caught their steers and Anna caught her heifers. Anna actually ties up her heifers and two of her steers every day, but she caught all her steers. Ben, Anna, Kaine, Kade and I put up some posts in the corral and then went down and met the rest of the Meachams to cut down Russian Olive trees. So we spent the day having a Russian Olive tree party, like a fencing party, but cutting down trees instead of fencing. And getting more cut up and beat up than fencing. Russian Olive trees take no prisoners. When we decided to quit fighting with trees, Toni and I went back to Mom’s and got the coming 2 year olds in, sorted the old mares out of them and mainstreamed them. They went out to the big pasture. Keep in mind that the pasture that they are in is about 5 acres, so they aren’t cooped up. They still ran around like crazies. We also got all of the heavy mares in from the big pasture and moved them in with the old mares. It was a production because we have an old rangemare that has one working eye that we had to get in. Luckily she is smart, so once she figured out what we wanted she went in. We put 6 heavy mares in the heavy pen. Toni wanted to saddle up something with her saddle but it was trying to rain and she didn’t want it rained on the first time she used it. We headed out to the desert to check the rest of the mares and hand feed a heifer that is banged up and in the cattails. We have the mares trained at this point to come to the pickup to get fed, so checking has really become decently easy.

After an exhausting, but productive, weekend, we now have to get ready for a full week. We think foaling should start very soon. Just a quick reminder- we require a 1/3 deposit to hold foals and have a foal contract on the website for review. We still have a few 2022 foals left that are sensational. Lots of exciting horses to look at for anyone that wants to come over and take a look.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: #AQHA, #AQHA in WA, #AQHAforsale, #AQHAforsaleinWA, #AQHAProud, #QHColor, #Quarter horses for sale in WA, #Quarterhorseforsale, #QuarterhorsesinWA, #ranagereadystallion, #ranch life, #Ranching, #ranchingfall, #RanchingHeritageBreeder, #ranchinwinter, #ranchlife, #ranchliving, #ranchraised, #WABeefLove, #WAJrAngus, AQHA

Here is the LAST 2022 Filly we have for sale

Posted on March 5, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

KT Special Edition “Joss”
Filly
Sire: KT King of Blue, “King”
Dam: KT Lend a Hand, “Lendy”
Date Born: 6/09/22
Color: Buckskin
Click here for more Picture s
Price: $4,500
What a beautiful foal Joss is. She is by KT King of Blue, King is out of KT Copper Queen Isabelle, “Izzy,” and by Shining Blue DR, “Bish.” Bish is a very good looking son of Autumnator, who is sired by SMART LITTLE LENA. Smart Little Lena is earner of $743,275, NCHA Triple Crown Op Ch. Autumnator’s dam is AUTUMN BOON is an earner of $244,470 NCHA. Dam of 26 foals, 17 perfs earning $1,003,985 NCHA/WS. Bish’s dam is Plum Sparkling who is by Shining Sparkler, a gorgeous palomino son of Reining and Reined Cowhorse Leading Sire Shining Spark. Joss’ dam, Lendy, is a stunning daughter of Zinks Major Kid. Zinks Major Kid is by John Zink 1972 – AQHA Pts and 67 Palomino Halter pts and and 119 Palomino Performance Pts . He was out of Sheza Major Star who was also shown AQHA and is by Major Bonanza. Tuffy is a very pretty dun mare with lots of chrome; she’s 14.2 hands tall and a combination of cow horse and running horse. Top side is Continental and bottom side is Breeze Bar. She throws chrome and big bone. Vein Morales showed Lendy at the Yakima Fair, were she got second in halter.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: #AQHA, #AQHA in WA, #AQHAProud, #buckskinfilly, #QHColor, #Quarter horses for sale in WA, #Quarterhorseforsale, #QuarterhorsesinWA, #ranch life, #Ranching, #ranchingfall, #RanchingHeritageBreeder, #yearlingAQHAFillyforsale

Crazy week last week. I know, they are all crazy.

Posted on March 1, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday was Presidents’ Day, happy Presidents’ Day. We did normal ranch work and got ready for the upcoming week of going to Fort Worth for the AQHA Convection. We checked mares to see if anyone would foal while we were gone. Got heavy cows in, put out hay. Because this was a bonus day off for me and the kids, we really tried to get a bunch done. Kade rode his horse Stormy again, the kids caught their steers, I took lots of calf pictures. It was cousin Jay’s birthday so we had to harass him a little about getting old. He is one of the younger cousins.

Tuesday I drove to Reno with John from work to go to the Family Farm Alliance conference. I had a great time while we were there. We went to a lot of great conferences. The roads were good on the way. We went to a Western Store a few miles from the Silver Legacy Casino, D Barn M on 4^th st. They sold me some shirts on the cheap to wear to the AQHA Convention, including one for Dad. They were great at that store so if you are in that area, you should check it out.

Back at home the kids went to school. Jaxsen wasn’t too happy. The other kids probably weren’t either but they are less vocal about it. Toni was back to checking the cows. She had some client meetings so had to go warp speed through checking. Everyone came home after school and normal chores got done. We have tried to really pair down chores as 2 people will be house sitting and doing the chores that 6 people do normally. So all foals that could be turned out are turned out. Water troughs are as full as they can get. Anything we could get done ahead of time was done.

Wednesday the stress of all of us leaving for the first time in approximately 18 years was getting high, but everyone was doing ok. Mom was still worried about her dog, but she knew Marlo would take good care of him. Everything was normal for a Wed. No new calves. We have really slowed down on calving and are at the tail end. All of the calves are getting big and look really good. Due to the constant weather fluctuations, we are still on watch for any pneumonia. Oreo, my belted Galloway cross still hasn’t calved and has been in the heavy pen for awhile. I was hoping if I was gone to Reno she would calve immediately after I left, but she didn’t. She is still just fat and happy in the heavy pen.

Thursday everyone started doing their last-minute packing. Re-check of all livestock. There were a couple of heavy mares, but nothing that was imminent. Hay got put out for the cows to last them a couple of days, with other bales loaded on the trailer for feeding if they started pushing the fence. All horses were checked again. Everyone and everything was in good shape for the trip

Friday everyone tried to fly to Forth Worth for the AQHA Convention, and we had Marlo and McCall house sitting and doing chores. It is a real production to get everything arranged for travel for everyone. I flew from Reno to Fort Worth and was supposed to meet everyone down there. However, things did not go as planned. It was snowing in Reno, but I flew out and got down there on time. There was NO SNOW in Pasco, but they DID NOT leave and were at the airport all day. 10 people traveling in one big group- so Toni, Kicker, Kade, Jaxsen, Ben, Anna, Kaine, Camas, Mom and Dad. Everything was looking great then they announce that a battery is dead in the plane, so we had to wait for a new battery. Then they announced they were driving it up from Portland. After a couple of departure time changes, scrambling to get hotels in Minneapolis for an all-night layover, it was announced after 12 hours in the airport that the flight was canceled. More scrambling to get hotels canceled and go over options. There were only 4 seats available on Saturday from Salt Lake to Ft. Worth that would get 4 people in to Ft. Worth at 11 pm. We had no way to get all 10 people to Ft. Worth. It just wasn’t possible without way too many connections and hours in airports. It was very frustrating. I was feeling pretty down, we all were. And I walked into the hotel in Fort Worth and our good Friends Cameron and LeAnnne were sitting at the bar. So I went to dinner with them.

Saturday, with only the 4 tickets available, Toni, Ben and Kicker came down. LeAnne and I went to the Stockyards and hung out. We had a great time. We went to a social at the AQHA Convention, then out to dinner with Ward from AQHA and Ethan Lane, the lobbyist for NCBA. After all of that we went to Pete’s Dualling Piano Bar a few blocks from our hotel, it was awesome. The three got down there around 11 pm and rallied and met us there. We shut the bar down and had a great time. It was great to have Cameron and LeAnne there, they really made my part of the trip great.

Sunday all 6 of us went to the Stockyard. We watched a cattle drive, gun fight, and bought LOTS of stuff for everyone that did not make it so they had a piece of Fort Worth. We went back to get ready for the breeder awards banquet. We all had a great time, Toni gave an outstanding speech and we missed mom, dad and the kids terribly since they did not make it.

To be the 2022 Heritage Breeder of the Year for AQHA and be part of such an outstanding group of breeders is an honor that cannot be replicated. It makes all of the ups and downs of livestock ownership feel validated. To be recognized for our program and the emphasis we put into raising AQHA horses in our ranching operation was really a pinnacle that will be hard to top. We also got to meet Cassy Anderson from the AQHA and have her at our table for the dinner. Cassy has been our lifeline at AQHA for about 15 years now, getting us through all of the questions, concerns, and frustrations with AQHA through the years. This is the first time we have met her face-to-face. We also got to meet Lisa Gardner our AQHA director from WA and have her be part of the dinner. We got to meet so many truly great people and have the experience of a lifetime. Now we get to fight over who gets to wear the buckle that we received.