Posts Tagged With: #AQHAinWA

We have had a great, if rainy, start to 2025. We hope you and yours had a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve and an excellent beginning to 2025. Here is to a great upcoming year!

Posted on January 9, 2025 by horseshoeangusranch

On Monday the CA crew was out bright and early to look at horses and get Peaches, Joss and Santana and head back to CA. Toni and Kade took them around for the tour. Everyone had a great time crammed into Toni’s pickup bouncing around the ranch to meet all the studs and mares.  Later that day Kade rode Jag and Benelli and checked Jon’s cows. Anna and Ben checked our cows, we have another twin, this one we need to DNA, we think it is 801Ms, but not 100% sure. Goldy the Jersey is doing great with her two calves. Kaine and Ben have been working a trailer project, they are making a small flatbed trailer. Kaine and Kade are also catching their Spokane steers daily. Anna and Kade have also put CIDRs in their fall heifers and are AIing them right after the first of the year. Kade has been working on Benelli to get her in shape to start roping off of. Toni started halter breaking the next group Monday night, she thought this was going to be an easy group since two of her “pets” are in this group, Astra and Zell. Guess what, Astra and Zell just want to be pets, not horses. So she is planning on getting in a donkey on Tuesday, maybe two donkeys. North is the third one in, and she did great.

On Tuesday we had another calf, they are just trickling in since the AI cows are done. The CA horses made it home Tuesday morning, they were happy to have green grass and no mud. Toni got the donkeys in on Tuesday and tied Zell and North to donkeys and was the donkey for Astra. We had another twin on Tuesday. Ben, Anna, Kaine and Scarlett expanded the cow fence up to the Old Valley. We went to Connell and had a New Years Eve party in the show barn and played games. Toni and Kade both rode as the weather was decent.

Happy New Year! We let the cows into the New Stalks for New Years, they were pretty excited about it. Toni and I tied Zell and North back to the donkeys and Toni led Astra all over. Astra wants to please Toni so once she figured out what was wanted she has been good. North is also really good, just big. Zell wants to be the boss.  I took Jet for a walk about, she did great. Anna and Ben came down and put out grass straw bales, I helped Anna when they got down there. We all went to bed early from being up all night the night before.

Guess what, it rained on Thursday. I did not know what we were going to do without the rain. Ben had to go back to work on Thursday after his month off. He was depressed about it. Anna and Kaine came down to Kennewick to pick up the minis that were at a coworkers house. They stopped off at my work and brought me lunch, and everyone went outside to pet the minis. Except Nikki who was in the lunch room and no one told her they were here. She is still upset about it. Toni went and stayed with grandma on Thursday.

Kade went for a ride on Friday between the rain storms. We have not gotten any good pics of the foals we are halter breaking because they are covered in mud. Toni took them for a walk about and they all did great. Marlo and Kade did chores Friday, Toni was down for a little bit but was starting to not feel well. Luckily the foals are all at a really good spot so she could just mess with them and not have any fights. Chad came out and trimmed the two minis we got back from Bobs.

We tagged the few calves we had this week Saturday morning. Then Anna and I made a feed area for Goldy the jersey in the nursey pen for her calf and her nurse calf. We opened the gate so she can go in the barn and down to the new pen so she has more room. Kaine and Kade tied up their Spokane steers and got weights on their CA steers. They are growing nicely. Then Kaine and Ben put out straw to the cattle around the barn so they had something to sleep on besides mud. Anna and I took flax mineral tubs out to the mares on the desert. Then Kade and I tired to put more cobs in the round pen, we were going to try to put them in Mirage, Copper and Jetts pen, but we could not get in there. So we switched to the round pen, also got stuck. Kade tried to start the Ford tractor, it would not start. So Ben had to come down and pull us through in the Case, but we got them out. Then Kade and I did chores. I led the three fillies while I was waiting for Ben and turned them out.

We had another new calf on Sunday, they are just trickling in now, and we tagged it so we can start out next week without everyone tagged. Then we got some pics of the bulls, or I did, with Murtaugh and Miranda who were not particularly helpful. Kade and Kaine worked on their steers. Anna worked on the two mini weanlings so we could get pics of them. Ben and Kaine then worked on the feed bunk at the top of the hill, the couple little weanlings calves we have have been crawling out, so they added another bar. Anna and I went back out to check and D187 had calved. We got some new pics of the calves. Kade and I got Peeps and Gold Bug in and haltered them and then did chores.

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Well we aren’t dashing through the snow, but we are dashing through December.

Posted on December 20, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday was another hectic day. Kaine’s football banquet was Monday night, Jaxsen had a basketball game. We had some people out to look at foals. Dad had a dr appointment. Cows calving, Ben tagging calves, you know, a usual Monday. Kaine was co defensive player of the year with his friend Tucker. We got a picture of all the Jr boys, there is a big group of them. Kade and Toni moved the weanling colts around back, got three more in the halter breaking pen, and fixed two down poles in between the studs in the dark. It doesn’t sound like much, but moving the colts was a job on its own. They had to get all the weanlings in, sort the fillies back out, then move the colts. I hear it went really well. Sarge decided he couldn’t go with the other colts so he got walked back to the pen after all the rest. The colts went to the back of Mom and Dad’s in between the old mare pen and the corral, so the colts had to walk around the house, passed a bunch of stuff and they all did great.

Tuesday was foggy, but not as cold. We had our first clubby calf, out of a Red Angus cross cow we got from Mike Corrales and by Trump Train. Ben went and got some little straw bales, a friend said we could pick through their bottom bales before they discard of them, there were only a dozen or so that were still good. Toni and Kade tied the foals up to the donkeys, the donkeys had had a few weeks off due to mud, and I guess they thought they were done for the year, they were not the best. The colts in this week are Fire, who is really big and our oldest foal, City, and Gold Buckle Dreams.  Yes, we call him by his full name. Gold Buckle Dreams took about 5 seconds and was done. City wasn’t impressed and didn’t do as well. Fire is big, broke a halter and a lead rope, will definitely need more time on the donkey. Kade also started riding Joss again. He just hasn’t had time to ride her, but with her trip to CA coming soon, he needed to make time. She did really well.  After chores Kaine went in and watched the girls basketball game.

We had a few more calves on Wednesday.  Gold was only the donkey for one day, City two days and Fire three. The final count was that Fire broke 2 halters and 4 lead ropes. Kade led Gold Buckle Dreams on Wed, City they were able to lead after being on the donkey for Wed. Kade rode Joss again on Wed. Kade helped dad get his big star up for Christmas. It is lighted and can be seen from the road. Kaine opened his birthday present from us since I was staying with grandma on Thursday. Toni went home to meetings and I got a text about 8 pm that she found some horse she wanted to buy.

Happy  Happy birthday Kaine, you are the big 1 7. Anna and Lane came home from U of I on Thursday afternoon. They finished their finals and are on Christmas break. Kade rode Joss around out in the driveway and in the mud. Fire had his last day on the donkey and Toni could lead him a bit by the end. Toni and Kade worked on the other two colts, leading them around the corral. Once City got it, he got it, no dinking around. When we talk about leading them, we also tie them for short periods of time. When the week is done, they have been led around and tied all week.  I stayed with grandma. And she was a horrible sleeper. Jaxsen got taken to the dr and has pneumonia, which is allegedly going around- the bacterial kind.

On Friday Toni had a hearing, I had a Family Farm call, so Anna went down and showed Suzanne and Mike the horses. I got down there when my call was over, so Anna and Lane went back to cleaning the alley and putting down corn cobs. Suzanne and Mike had lots of choices, so went home with a long list. Toni went and grabbed straw from my house the little bales Ben had picked up, then Toni came down and Marlo, Toni, Kade and I did the horse chores, per the norm. We also put out straw to try to soak up the mud. The straw doesn’t do as well as corn cobs but the straw makes better bedding for the foals We also moved Belle into her pen, where she will stay until she foals this next spring. Kaine went and did the cattle chores.

More calves on Saturday, we got them tagged. Toni showed the boys the colts again on Saturday and they took Shiney Guy home with them. Toni got some pictures for Suzanne and Mike, who are still trying to make a decision on which horse to go with. While out in the pasture, Absolute broke Toni’s pu mirror and took a big chunk out of her pu seat, so she is not happy with that horse. Toni and I got some pics of Fire, City and Gold with our cell phones and took them for a walk about. We also got a bunch of pictures of the fillies. Saturday was a beautiful day. You couldn’t ask for a better Dec day. Kade rode Joss.  Anna and I got some pictures of the new calves.

On Sunday we had Kaine’s birthday party, Erina and Terry came down. We had meatballs and Dutch Oven potatoes. Mom made trifle and we had pie. Lots of good food and good times. The overarching theme for Kaine’s bday presents was stuff for his pu. I guess when you turn 17 and are a boy, your pu is your main priority. Kaine and Anna also got to open their Christmas presents from Grandma Sherri. While we had the bday party, a big bald eagle landed in the tree outside of my house, so that was cool. Then we worked on the horses, took the three colts around to the colt pen and got the last two colts in to halter break and Jet.  Kade brought his welder down and welded up a joint area on the continuous fence. Both Kaine and Kade are pretty good welders. Thanks to the FFA program at Connell that teaches welding and other really useful life skills.  We weaned Santana so he can also get ready to move to CA. Joss and Santana are moving together at the end of the month. They are going to a family we have known for many years that was one of the first families we met in the AQHA Youth program, so that is really cool.

                Well we aren’t dashing through the snow, but we are dashing through December. We do have a couple of December specials right now on foals, so if you are wanting a really good deal on a nice weanling, let us know. The Fire colt is big, gritty, smart, and just needs a bit more one on one that we are giving him, so is priced, to the right home, for $2500.00 for December. Peaches is also priced at $2500.00 but we have someone coming to look at her at the end of the month. However, if you want to talk about either of them, let us know. Again, the right home is a must. The countdown to Christmas is upon us! The best gift has four legs and comes in lots of colors.

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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 4th 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.

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Last Week in Pictures

Posted on February 28, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch
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     Fun new words we learn from the kids- Fire.

Posted on February 22, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

                Fun new words we learn from the kids- Fire. Now it is the substitute for awesome. So when Kaine said that is fire and we all looked around for a fire, we were told that if someone yells Fire, that could mean there is a fire,  Or that could mean whatever is going on was awesome or hot. So to use in the proper context, we had a fire week. Or maybe, our week was fire?

Monday we were at the BB Cattle Co bull sale. We all had a great time, it is a family holiday so the kids get to miss school. Old Mill brings down some really good donuts from Ellensburg, that is all Julian eats all day, he did tell me he had an orange. We bid on some really good Hereford bulls, we did not get one because we are way too cheap. Toni and Leslie had visited with our friends at Old Mill back in November and saw this really cool roping dummy that is in a little chute. It gets hooked up to air, you hit a button and the dummy rolls out for roping fun. Toni had told Old Mill that she wanted to buy it for Kade in Nov, but it had about a $2200 price tag. We all know she did not buy it. Old Mill, being smart, brought that one and about 5 other roping dummies to the sale. After the sale Old Mill got it hooked up and had luckily brought some ropes so about 30 of us stood around watching the kids rope. Jay gave us his demonstration of roping which means you run up right next to the dummy and put the rope on it. Cameron Mulrony actually can rope, so he took a turn. Mostly it was the kids and they LOVED it. Vanna and Reese took turns pushing the button. They now know that the head nod is all they get to get that calf out of the chute. I think the kids would have stood around roping that thing for more hours than we let them.  The kids had a great time with it and Kelly Cordill bought it. I told them I cannot wait to see it at the shows. We got home, did chores, and were too cold to work on the foals, since we thought the weather was supposed to be nicer than it was and did not have our heavy coats.  Jax was very thankful to have the day off of “work.” He said he really needed a day off from school. School is hard work. He is supposed to work at the sale helping watch the younger kids, which he is very good at, so that wasn’t work. He was super excited when he realized that he had no school on the 13th due to sale, no school on the 20th for President’s Day, I think February might be one of his favorite months.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Tuesday morning was brisk, however it was a nice sunny day. Anna had an eye dr appt, shockingly (that is sarcastic for anyone that can not hear my tone) she needs glasses. So Toni took the kids to school. Ben and Anna checked the cows before they went down to the tri-cities. Toni also had a dentist appointment and somehow they all drove into the parking lot at the Ranch and Home UNPLANNED at the exact same time. Everyone got home from the Tri-cities in good time. Anna picked the boys up from school because Toni had a meeting. Toni is also really working to get Jackpot and King sold. And she wanted to talk about the horses in the Moses Lake Horse Sale catalog. There is a Mobster daughter in the catalog she really wants. Toni brought Chinese food home for her kids for Valentines and Ben got me Checos. Dad had gone to Reardon to get us a tote of feed and brought Mom back a flowering plant. We all have a great Valentines Day. We finished off the chocolate and lemon pies mom made, they were excellent had a great day.

Wednesday morning was another brisk and sunny day. When Ben went out to check first thing Orange Slice was calving and look like she needed help. So he found a string and helped her out. It was a pretty hard pull out in the pen. Orange Slice is a clubby heifer of Anna’s. Kade had FFA parli pro practice in Asotin on Wednesday, it sounded like it went pretty well. He had to be to the school by 6 am. Toni is still working on The Joker and Summer after work. I am counting down the days until fall back so it is light when I get home. I am really happy it is decently light on my drive home. That is always refreshing after a hard day at work. When Ben got home from work Wednesday one of the Hereford cows was calving. Toni found a mare she wants at the Billings sale now too. I guess we don’t have enough horses. 

Thursday morning Ben and Anna loaded the cows to go to Topp up after morning chores. Dad and Steve took a handful down. Toni checked cows and petted the two calves that were pulled. Dad and Steve sold some beef to a random truck driver at a gas station. Way to go guys. Anna had FFA practice after school, so dad picked the boys up from school to do chores. Jewels (the Mastiff) helped Ben feed grain, she was really excited to get to go. She is too big to fit in the front so rides in the back if someone will back up to the rock garden so she can maneuver her way in. She is not a jumper. The horses love the new grain, Toni said The Joker almost aggressively loves it. Also, we found out Thursday afternoon that Anna was awarded her Bronze award through the Angus Association. Good job Anna.  Anna has really been knocking it out of the park getting her work done and going the extra mile.

Friday Ivy and Honey (the future milk cows) escaped in the AM and Anna could not get them back in before she went to school. She asked Toni if it was convenient if she could get them in when she checked. The little devils were not easy to get in at all and continued to run around. They think they are cute.  Anna, Kade and friend Keegan went to donkey basketball with the FFA after school, so Kaine and Jaxsen got to do all the chores since they did not go. I do not feel like it was an option for Jaxsen or he would have been gone. But we did have Marlo for chores. Marlo walked Summer and worked on her while Toni work on the Joker. Summer, who is just as good as good can be, really wanted that new grain so actually tried to trot back to the pen and lead Marlo. Marlo is  tiny but made of tough stuff so Summer didn’t get away with it. The Joker is just doing excellent. He really picked up isolating his shoulder, hip, and rib and Toni really wants to show him in the next Virtual In-Hand. Summer will be gone and she thinks she can beat me with my own colt. The Joker also ground ties really well because he is lazy. He is a super smart colt that has tons of potential, but the work ethic might not be great. Sometimes he reminds me of Jaxsen. When he thinks he is done working and you ask him to do one more thing, he does it, but he drags his feet and gives you the eye, just like Jaxsen. If he could talk I am sure his words would be like Jaxsen too. Anna, Kade, and Keegan got home a little after 10. Keegan got to spend the weekend with the kids because his parents had his brother at a bb tournament. Keegan is like another nephew to us so it was really fun.

We had a lot going on Saturday, I know what a shock that is. Kade left early to trap shoot in Spangle. Dad went with them so he could see some of his friends that are up there and support Kade. Kade had a personal best competitive shoot at Spangle. We are very proud of how far he has come in a short time. Chad was out to do farrier work. We allegedly only had Chad for a ½ day, but we did 13 head, most of which were under 2, and two of the coming yearlings that hadn’t been done before. We also got Basil done which was a trial. But it got done. Thankfully we have Chad who helps us work around animals like Basil that need extra care. Basil is the second donkey we got to halter break with. He isn’t as friendly as Tulip, but he is starting to come around. We had a high school age youth that was starting out her herd come and look at heifers, so we got the heifers in. Originally she planned to buy 2 and they ended up buying 5. She had the same problem we have, they are all good and it is hard to chose. We also sorted the heifers and got our heifer bulls turned out. Breeding has started! Anna, Kaine, and Keegan  were giving out food at the food bank with FFA. Because we were so busy we relied upon our good friend John to look at the Mobster daughter at Moses Lake. He bid her up for us but we didn’t get her. She sold for $7500.00 which is way too high for us. John and Joe (John’s brother) said the prices at Moses Lake were really high. And there were lots and lots of people there. It would have been fun to go but no time. Lane came out to see Anna and help out. Kade got back and the boys decided to ride. The Spokane steers had gotten out so they saddled their horses, gave Keegan Pistol, and went to get them in. Toni ran out and actually gave Keegan instructions on HOW to ride. They got the steers in then went on a jaunt. It started raining while they were riding, but they didn’t come back. Somehow they all made it back in one piece. Kade had gotten kicked in the knee by a horse running by him. They say that they had a great time riding. John and Joe came by after the sale so Joe could see Tank. We showed him anything new we had gotten since he was at the ranch last. We had a great visit with them, then they headed home. So Saturday was a full day of you know, normal stuff.

Sunday we needed to make up for lost time and get everything done that we didn’t get done on Saturday. We had some people interested in King so went down and got some new pictures, new video, got him moving and being a fat happy stud. After than Toni and I headed out to check all mares to see if anything looked heavy, as in going to foal while we are gone. We had a great time petting them, loving on them, and giving them a good look. Most were really happy to see us. The weather was perfect so there was lots of bucking and kicking and carrying on, like horses do. We have about five getting heavy, but nothing eminent. So that was good because we didn’t have to get them in and move stuff around at mom and dads. The Joker was back out with the big herd so just Summer is in waiting to leave for her new home. After lunch we had to get some of the poles at the corral fixed. One was completely broken and the other just knocked down. We have e now used our last spare pole. The kids caught their steers, then the boys went fishing for a bit then went on another ride. I think Keegan wants to be a cowboy. Pistol is probably a good horse to start with.  After that we did chores and Kade rode Stormy. Hugo, Keegan’s dad showed up and we had a really good visit with him. Now that we all have kids it seems like we don’t get to actually sit and visit with friends very often unless they show cattle. Both Saturday and Sunday were very productive days.  Hay got put out, all the livestock were checked.

What a fire week. Lots got done and we are very excited to see what these mares give us in 2023. We continue to work on the 2022 foals and frankly, they are going to be hard to beat on overall quality. But the 2021 foals were great too. Foaling is always an adventure and one we look forward to.

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Last Week in Pictures

Posted on February 21, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

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Another crazy week has gone by.

Posted on February 16, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday Toni was supposed to go to court in Yakima, but found out she could call in. Which was good, since she was in court for 30 min. So she was able to check in the morning and make a list of sick calves. Ben took two bulls into Sheena to get semen checked in the morning, he dropped them off on his way to work and picked them up on his way home. Thank you Sheena. My hair appt was changed to Monday after work, Tennelle’s daughter Grace has a competition in Reno on Friday they are trying to go and watch that. So I picked Kaine up from driver’s ed. Second from last day, final test is Tuesday. Then final drive. Because Kaine was gone Jax had to help with chores and was “forced” to lead one of the weanlings, Summer. Summer is pretty much a pet so was fine for Jaxsen and just followed him along. Now that we have Summer and Joker in Toni can’t lead them together because the Joker bites Summer and isn’t nice to her. He is a great colt, just wants to be the boss.

On Tuesday Jaxsen helped Toni with the foals, she tells me Summer is 100% halter broke, Jaxsen was working on her again. Jaxsen doesn’t know why we are still catching the foals because clearly they are halter broke. Kaine had his written test for drivers ed on Tuesday, he passed. He is ready to roll like firestone tires now. We were hoping on Tuesday to start chopping trees, but our guy hasn’t gotten over to start the project yet. We want to get it done before we start foaling, which is soon.

Wednesday was a beautiful sunny day and Toni send pictures of the calves basking in the sun. The weather was so great that everyone was in a good mood and ready for spring. Our little bull calves are ready to be big bull calves and are starting to ride cows at 2 months old. After we AI the cows then we will end up splitting the bulls off from the heifers to try to minimize injuries. But for now we are still calving and aren’t quite ready to split everything up. Bulls will be bulls, no matter what the age.

                On Thursday Anna had an FFA practice after school, so Toni went and got the boys and had appts for them to go down and get their hair cuts from Tennelle. Well, Jaxsen is the only one willing to cut his hair. Kade at least got his cleaned up. Kaine still looks like a fur ball. Or Toni tells him he looks like he is wearing a clown wig that isn’t died red. Then she had to take them to the quick mart to get food because they were starting. So picking them up from school was expensive. When they got back Toni made the two long haired kids work on the foals. They just wanted to take them for a walk, but Toni showed them that we are working picking up their feet, working getting them to move away from pressure, actually doing things with the other than admiring how pretty they are. The boys still took them for a walk around the ranch after.

I was home on Friday, so I checked the calves in the morning. Then I ran into the school and took pics of the FFA officers for the year book. I edited the pictures at lunch time and sent the album to Heidi. After lunch the dogs and I went out and got pictures of the bull and pulled up wire, so the Russian Olive trees could be mowed out of circle 4. That night Toni and I worked on The Joker and Summer. Kaine went snowmobiling with his friends for the weekend so he was MIA again. Kade did not have Jaxsen help him with chores because he said even with Kaine gone he is faster at doing them alone than with Jaxsen helping him. I am not sure that is teaching Jaxsen anything. Normally Marlo would have been out but she took a trip to Kansas to see her sister, her friend Mary, and go to a Ian Munsick concert. Hopefully she had a great time.

Kade had shooting practice Saturday morning. Anna went to Richland for FFA. The rest of us worked on fencing the rest of the corn filed. Kade got back and came out and helped. We got done fencing and went down to do chores. Kade rode Stormy around, Toni and I worked on Summer, The Joker and T.  T got selected because she was by the gate. That is our selection process. We have quite a few coming yearlings that we want to keep, so we are just going to continue working on them and whichever one is handy gets worked on. Kade had some problems with Stormy. Normal stuff when a kid is a young buckaroo and needs to be reminded that his mom and aunt actually DO know what they are talking about. We got Kade and Stormy back working together so that was good. Grandma talked Kade into leaving her in the roundpen so get the water trough flipped over and filled. Sometimes when a person is breaking a horse it is good to remind them that fundamentals are key and you don’t stop working on them. Ever.

On Sunday morning we went out and checked the cows, after Kade and Anna tied up their steers, and then we got the cows in. We sorted off a handful to go to Topp, and a couple heavy cows. We turned the rest out on the newly fenced stalks. Kaine was back, and him and Kade rode. Kaine finally got Pow caught and got her rode. Thanks to Rachael for such a wonderful job getting her broke. Toni went out and caught Wild because she was next to the gate and worked on her for a bit. Then we went to the Sale Dinner and BB Cattle and watched the super bowl, saw family, saw friends, and met some new people. None of us really cared who won the Superbowl, but I did prefer the Chiefs, but it was fun to watch.

                We found a new stud we want to try to buy. The problem is that we haven’t done a good job selling the studs we want to sell. We have Jackpot and King that we need to sell but Toni has a real problem selling them. So far she hasn’t found the “right” person but I have told her she needs to be less selective on the deal. We can’t get a new stud until we move at least one of these. So if you know of anyone that wants a stud, they are for sale. They are great studs but we have way too many related horses and we need a non-creme stud that isn’t related. Until now we hadn’t found the right stud to bring in, so it wasn’t a huge deal. These studs are both broke to ride and good to pasture breed. Let us know if you want to talk about them. We all want them to go to a good home as we raised them both and are emotionally and financially invested in them, but it is time to see them off to their new adventures. I told Toni a guy at work told me that when people want to go on vacation they just post their venmo handle and that they want to go on vacation and people just send them money, I thought we should try that. King and Jackpot are below.

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Last Week in Pictures

Posted on February 14, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch
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Also excited for the Twist/Whitty baby

Posted on February 9, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Whitty is a stallion owned by Holly Miller and is by Just Plain Starlight and out of Peppy (he is a full brother to Friday). Sheriffsredpinedoll, “Twist” is a daughter of The Sheriff Dunit

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Ranch life builds character. At this point we must be full of character.

Posted on February 8, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday was a little colder than it had been, I think it was around 9 in the AM according to weatherbug. Toni and dad went and got Cappy from Jason Hicks. Cappy was doing great and looks like he will be a great colt. Now we are deciding if we will breed anything to him in 2023 or wait another year. He still has some growing to do. Toni and Dad had a great and uneventful trip.  Kaine had drivers ed after school and did two of his drives, they are down to their final weeks and final drives. It will be good when that is over. Anna did not get her virtual trail class filmed on Sunday, by the time we got done the phone was too dead to go up and do it at our house. So Toni came up to do hers, and instead they helped load a heifer and then Anna and Toni’s phone both had low battery. So the videoing of Anna and Gunnie saga continues. But Gunnie is doing great and will know the pattern by heart when they get to the videoing.

With the change in weather there were a few calves getting sick again. Ben and Anna doctored the list Toni sent when she checked in the morning. The calves are easier to doctor at night in the feed line. We are still cleaning up the desserts mom made for my birthday, my scale is happy they are almost gone. Toni and Anna finished the video of Anna and Gunnie, however, our internet was slow and it took her phone forever to upload it to youtube. So, the saga continued to the bitter end. The video needed to by uploaded by 10:30 pm and it got uploaded at like 10 pm. The good news is the video process was great, except Anna is so done with it she kind of forgot a couple things, Toni reminded her on the video, but whatever.

Wednesday Ben had meetings in Moses Lake, so Toni and Kade helped Anna with cow chores when the horse chores were done. Kaine had drivers ed on Wednesday as well. Pow was on her way up from S. CA where she has been with Rachael. Bruce, the shipper, was stuck in Bend for a few days due to the winter storm, but Wednesday was the day. Pow Pow showed up around 2. We blanketed her since she had been is S. Cal. Pow thought it was a lot of fun to chase the other horses, since they were scared of her blanket. But when it came time to eat, Pow settled right in and is just part of the herd.

Thursday two cows were out when Toni went to check, they both had tags showing they were cows we bought, not raised. I am guessing I know why they were for sale. They had broken the gate, so she got them back in and got the gate fixed. Ben had meetings in Moses Lake again, so was not home for chores. Toni, Anna and the boys did all of the chores. The weather had been so nice that doing chores wasn’t a chore.

                Friday Toni and the dogs checked. Then Jeannie came out to look at bulls. They couldn’t find them so had to drive around for quite a long time before they found them. The bulls are all really gentle so they got out and walked through them. The bulls are in a 100 acre pasture and just stand there while you walk among them. Jeannie liked the coming 2 year old Hereford bull so that just leaves the coming yearling Hereford bulls and some Angus. Marlo came out and helped with chores. However, we will not have Marlo next Friday because she is going to a concert, sounds like a fun concert. Toni and Marlo worked on the foals.

Saturday Kade had a shooting competition, he did really well, he was a using a new gun from his grandpa Barry. Dad went and watched. Anna and Kaine caught their steers and Anna caught her heifers. Lane came out while she was washing her heifers and helped her finish. John came out to get his wedding present, mom made him a cool basket and Toni and mom filled it with good, and to get his miniature horse, Mini. He had not told his bride he has a miniature horse until that day, and she was pretty excited to get her home and for her to have a foal. The boys got to go hunting in the afternoon for the youth hunt, so Toni and I did their chores. Jaxsen helped us, but we got an ear full about how the boys should have to come back from hunting to do “their” chores, he should not have to do them. We moved Holly over with the other yearlings and brought The Joker over to work on. He was very similar to Jaxsen, he did not want to go over and it was a slow walk. I feel like if we understood “horse” he would have explained why someone else needed to go over. The Joker and Summer do not enjoy each other either. Once Summer goes to her new home, we will bring another colt over as well to work on. Mom wants the other colt to be Willie, he is her colt.

Sunday was a rainy day. We were supposed to build more fence around corn fields now that hunting season is over, but we elected to do more office type work and wait on the fence. I put out mineral as well. Toni worked on a case she had on Monday. Anna and the boys caught their steers, and Anna her heifers. Camas came out and assisted Kaine with his steers. We worked on The Joker and Summer. The Joker realized he was in so did really well on Sunday. When the rain paused Kade rode Stormy around.

                This week we lost our mare Tessa. She was an older mare that had started to decline. She was a great mare for us and we loved her. While John was out he told us that he had counted the mares on our website and there are 20 mares over 20. Although we strive to take great care of these older mares, the clock is ticking. You can’t beat time. We try to be really transparent on our blog and facebook page so people can understand what real ranch life is like. It isn’t all fun and games. We also have to deal with sickness, death, the stuff that makes life difficult.  Ranch life builds character. At this point we must be full of character.

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