Monday was the first official day of spring break and a wind storm. Toni had court in the morning, Anna checked the cows and horses. Anna’s friends came out and spent the day and night with her. Toni brought lunch home for her and the boys. Dad went up and supervised the girls riding, yes in the wind storm. Kade also had to ride in the wind. We made fun of them, but mom and dad pointed out that we did that crap too when we were their age. You can’t keep a good rider down and wind is nothing. Toni let the boys out of building fence, since Freida was colicing and they had to walk her. Toni gave her some immediate response and some Zesterra from Rowdy Berry. Then they walked her and walked her and walked her. For awhile we didn’t think anything was going to work, but we got her through. It is funny, once she was better, she was better and she wanted out of the corral. Too bad for her that she isn’t the boss. She had to stay in the corral until morning just to make sure no relapses.
Tuesday it was still windy, but not wind storm highs. Anna checked and then the kids worked on steers. Anna continued to clip the steers. Toni took Twist over to hand breed to Whitty again, at Holly’s house. Mom had just enough pie left for Toni and I. So we got that pie after we got our chores done which included putting in posts and teasing Stetson to his mares. Stetson is new to us, so he doesn’t get to be left with the mares, but gets to be with them long enough to get his job done, which can be an hour or 2. So far he is doing pretty well and getting things figured out.
Wednesday the kids continued clipping and working on their steers. The wind still blew a little bit, but not as bad. Toni and the kids worked on the 2, 3 and 4 year olds. They all did great. We tried hand breeding Mud again to Stetson, and she is no longer in heat so we turned her out. We are now hand breeding BB to Stetson, she should be coming in and will move Annie down to breed her to Stetson as well. We put a section of wood fence on the next section of fence we are building. Then the boys went to help Anna with the show cattle and Toni and I put two more wood posts in. The men are continuing to work on the circles and get water on.
Thursday the kids finished clipping and packed up the trailer to go to the Garfield County Preview. Toni and the kids worked on the young horses again and had a second day of them really doing great. Once school starts again they will work on a few each night, but with spring break, they decided to work on all of them. Anna really likes both of hers, Kade really loves Stormy and is trying to convince Toni to take Jitter. Kaine likes both of his, but is also helping Toni with the 2 year olds to see if one of those will really connect with him. After work and chores we put up some more fence.
Friday we finished packing up the trailer. I went out and checked and Twiggy had foaled, we are mad she had a colt, we would like to have kept him, beautiful blazed bay colt. Toni and Jaxsen ran to the bank. Toni had settled a case that was headed to trial the next week that hinged on funds being sent on Friday. Then we loaded up and went to Pomeroy. The cattle all unloaded great, especially since three haven’t been anywhere and the other three haven’t been anywhere since November. We washed the cattle when we got there. Lots of people were at the fairgrounds so we had a nice get together in the barn for awhile. Then all 12 of us slept in Kayla’s camper. Kayla, thanks for letting us use your camper.
Saturday the kids showed, and they all did really well. Most made it back to the championship round, in showmanship, market, or both. Kaine was reserve champion intermediate showman. We all had a great time and it was great seeing everyone. The weather was ok for Pomeroy, meaning it only snowed a little and was super windy. 71 head of steers were at the show and 13 heifers, so a tremendous turn-out for the time of year and weather conditions. Of course it was mostly die-hard show kids, so the classes were deep. Then we loaded up and came back from Pomeroy. As we rolled home in an exhausted state, we realized Ben and Dad had done the horse chores. So all we had to do was unpack the cattle, the kids, the vehicles, greet the dogs (because they missed us the most), and do a check on the livestock to make sure all was well. There were some things that we needed to deal with on Sunday, but nothing that really couldn’t wait. I am not even close to done with the pics, so I have not gotten to the Natalie, Ady, Julian, Vanna and Kayla yet, but they were there.
Friday the bulls were fighting through the gate, broke the chain, and got all of the cows mixed together. Since we were leaving we left them until Sunday. So here we are on Sunday in the cold and wind getting the cows in and sorting them. We sorted the heifer calves into one pen and the bulls into the other. After helping us get them in the kids washed their steers. We turned all the cows back out with the proper bulls. We then fixed the fence after. Sunday was long. Probably partly because we were still tired. Really it mostly went well, it just felt like a lot.
It is crazy to think we are already to the middle of April. Foaling has really slowed down, but I think it always feels like we have a wave of foals, then a break, then another wave. We have about 5 mares that are due, so just a waiting game. With the weird weather, it might be best if they hold out for a bit.
We decided to add a two-year-old for sale on our page, a Leroy daughter out of Ro, our Silver Gun daughter. This is a really nice red dun filly. She has tremendous potential, loves people, quick, smart, really a great project for any age. Her pedigree speaks for itself in terms of a listing of great AQHA horses with performance. Jean has been a favorite of the family since she was born. We would like to see her go to a performance type home. We have decided to offer her for sale because we have too many young horses and the kids want to ride what they have already gotten started. Kaine likes Jean, but he wants something bigger. This is a very pretty and feminine typey filly. We are excited to see her reach her full potential.
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