Posts Tagged With: #ranchingfall

Life is the sum of your choices- choose to buy a horse.

Posted on March 15, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

No new babies on Monday morning. Dad went to the Palouse and got pellets, he said it is snowing there. Ben and Kaine unloaded the trailer and then took it up to feed cows. Bouncing Betty lost a tire on Saturday, so we are down a flatbed trailer. Jaxsen had an FFA competition on Monday, Toni thinks Jaxsen is going to be short lived with FFA, he got to miss chores but did not miss any school. The boys placed really well, they were first, and the girls team was 2nd. Good job guys.  Jax tied for first on the meats test.  The kid knows his food.

No new babies on Tuesday either, and Playin would like someone to play with. She is being evil to her mother. It was Savannah’s birthday on Tuesday and a lot of times we have a foal on her birthday, but not this year. Anna went to the Jr high to do a presentation for FFA on ag related jobs. Dad went to work running tractor for Luke. Kade worked on opening and closing gates on Mauney. We are done halter breaking the foals, but we still have Bellini in the round pen due to her eye graft. She gets the graft removed from her eyeball next week. She is doing really great, but has lots and lots of energy and needs to be out of the roundpen.

Toni went and got her stolen child and brought her out to see the horses on Wednesday. She got to pet Libby, pet horses, hug Abby, etc. Things a small child likes to do. She wanted to pet all of the cows, but since most of the cows are not halter broke and don’t like small children, that was a no go. Coffey had to come back out and work on the freezer, it had an error message. 626B calved, one of the last few stragglers. She was a show heifer and produced a really pretty little heifer for Kade. Dad went out to drive tractor again and dropped mom off to stay with grandma. Toni stayed with grandma Wednesday night.

On Thursday we had a big ditch break at work, but it could have been worse, no one was injured. We are starting the main canals up to start water on the 13th. Toni checked cows and horses when she got home, no one new. We got a gorilla cart and some circle tires in the Booker auction, which was good. We were bidding on some hay spears in the Yarboro auction. Hopefully we get those too. We missed some weed shearers in the Booker auction that would have been really great to have on the Russian olive trees. I was really disappointed we missed those. Toni is also watching those standalone 24 foot panels at Booker, but they went too high. She may have access to those panels delivered to Othello for $350 per panel if anyone needs any.

                On Friday Ben and I went with Anna, and Lane and Myles were also there, to Moscow to tour the University of Idaho. We had a great time in the walking tour and then Micheal Colley took us for a tour of the production cattle, feed lot, sheep and dairy facilities, etc. We all had a great time.  I had an emergency board meeting at 1, so I missed part of the tour. Toni had a bunch of meetings, and Chad was out so Toni was busy with him. We are trying to get all of the yearlings trimmed up for the first time. They got three yearlings done then four big mares in the time they had. The yearlings were all good, but they were the ones we expected to be good. They also had Celeste in to get a trim but Celeste is only good when Celeste is doing what Celeste wants to do. She was not into having her feet trimmed. Mom helped hold horses as well. Kaine went snowmobiling with Maxx, Marlo, Kade and Toni did most of the chores. We got home about six so Ben and Anna did go feed the cows.

On Saturday morning Anna and I went to the Big Bend Annual meeting for her to accept the scholarship she won. She got to read her essay to the meeting attendees. We sat with Uncle David and Shattucks. Our whole table won door prizes, we were a pretty lucky table. Dad went with Kade to Colton for Trap. Dad and Kade both reported it was a cold and windy trip. They then went to St John and saw Uncle Skip and went to Ed Hayes before coming back. Ben went around and got all of the auction items we bought, circle tires from Booker, hay spears from Yarboro. In the afternoon Ben and Anna rolled up fence. Toni and I moved mares and stallions around. We are trying to get the open mares out with studs asap before the mares with foals go out. We turned our 2 year olds out in the big pasture, but Gunner and three mares in their pen. MC got moved to Gunner’s pen with 2 mares. Cappy was able to stay in his pen with 2 mares. Dude and Bug still don’t have mares just because. I stayed with grandma on Saturday night. Anna and Lane went to Ritzville prom in Spokane.

On Sunday Wagners came out and looked at bulls. Dad and Ben went to Alans and got a harrow, checked on the Charolais cow and had cinnamon rolls with Alan. Anna went out and pulled more posts out of the fence. Kade tied up his steers, Anna washed her steers and heifers. Kade rode Stormy out to check things. Then Toni, Kade, Jaxsen, and I went out and got a few mares in out of circle 5. Shiney had foaled and had a big, pretty, grulla colt. We are very happy he is alive and healthy, but this is the second stunning grulla COLT she has had. It isn’t too much to ask for a filly is it? We have more to get in, but the main ones we wanted came in so we left it alone. We just had our little old white trailer so we took them in two loads. It was super windy so we called it a day.  Then we did chores. Kaine got home in time for chores. Kaine had tons of fun on his trip, but it was good to get him home and back to work.

Life is the sum of your choices- choose to buy a horse. We have five really cool yearlings left, a brood mare and Kade’s sale horse. All ready to be someone’s project.

Sale Page
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There is always so much optimism when the end of January hits and we can all see spring coming. Of course mother nature usually has some surprises left in store for us in February.

Posted on February 21, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

On Monday we all skipped work/school to go to the BB Cattle Sale. Kaine, Kade and Toni took horses, so they did not have to chase the bulls on foot. As kids we always used horses, but for the past few years they haven’t been, and the boys decided they did not want to walk anymore. Toni just rode before the sale with them, she was in bidding on bulls for us. We let Kade take Stormy and ride her in the morning. It was Stormys first ride away from home and she was a rock. A few things she kind of big eyed, but she was super great. She had to stay in the trailer when the sale actually started and Kade rode Electra. We had a couple of bulls we were bidding on and Toni had another couple  for a client. We did not get any. However, that is good for Joe, and we will just use one of his bulls or our polled bull, since we did not get one. Toni did get one for a client. Erina and Terry also came up to see us, and Morgan took Tel for a spin on Kevin, Kaine tried too but Tel did not want to ride with Kaine. Kaine also took Kayla for a ride on ol Kevin. I guess he took Kevin instead of Pow Pow so he could give kiddie rides? Kaine and Kade ran bulls back and forth with the twins and Nick. Anna, Traci, Marlo, Emma and I ran gates with Todd, Luke, Amy and Bree. Dad socialized. Ben sorted bulls with Jolene and Mar. Toni and I bought a dart medicine gun after the sale from Old Mill. We have been wanting one for over a year so were super excited about it. Then we went home and did chores.

                On Tuesday Toni was busy all day with clients so she texted Kaine and Kade and asked them to do her chores for her, she included me in her text. So when I got to the house dad asked me if I knew if Toni was stopped on her way to grandmas to feed the “colts?” Toni stayed with grandma on Tuesday. I said she is not, she asked the boys to feed them and the old horses, dad said he did not see the boys feed them. So I called Kaine, he said I did not get a text, I said not looking at your texts and not getting it are not the same thing. Did Kade feed the foals? He did not know, even though they are doing chores together he does not know if Kade fed them?? I called Kade, he also did not look, see or check his text messages. Lesson here, Kaine and Kade don’t read texts. Since they are always staring at their phones does that mean they are snapping?? Gina, Blue and Abs were NOT happy about the tardiness of their grain when I went out there, they had all been fed hay, just not their grain.

On Wednesday mom went over and stayed with grandma. Happy Valentines Day, and it would have been grandma and grandpa’s anniversary, so mom and dad stopped and got flowers at Kaffrins on their way. Toni chopped 2 poles and put them in her pu to take down at chore time. The poles left in the pile are all huge. Luckily she got to cut a bunch off of them as we only need to fix two spots on a 12 foot width fence. Kade and Anna had FFA practice after school so Toni, Kaine, and Jax  fixed the fence at mom and dads in Dude pen. An old pole broke and was a little leany. Toni now wants to work on the fence along the top of Cappy’s pen to get it shored up before breeding season. Kade went down after chores and started riding BB, the mare he has for sale.  It was dark out but she did a great job. Kade is just riding her in a halter.

Guess what, on Thursday we woke up to snow and it was snowing. Groundhog, what happened??? My drive to work was not too bad headed south, but the drive north for Ben was terrible, he said the worst he has had. The kids also said it was terrible going to school, Kaine needs new tires on his pickup and he spun out a bunch of times driving slow to mom and dads. 006 (an old show heifer) felt that Toni needed to feed her some corn when she checked due to the cold. Jax had more baby teeth pulled on Thursday. He had to have 7 removed before he could get braces, so that is next on the agenda.  Kade rode the black mare on Thursday night and Toni got some pics and videos for him to post. Then Toni went up and dug a couple of holes for railroad ties.  The ground wasn’t so frozen she couldn’t dig. Then she had clients that night so she didn’t get as much fixed on the fence as she wanted. Her and Jax had tried to lift the railroad ties but they needed more muscle. These railroad ties have been on the place long before we moved here back in the 80s and they are all of 10 feet tall and still heavy as heck. We had a cute black ballie calf on Thursday out of a Hereford cow.

We still had some snow on Friday, but a lot of it had melted. Avery, one of the clubby cows, had a cute Angus cross calf on Friday. Toni showed horses and Chad came out around the same time, so a lot was going on.  Mom and Dad had gone to town so Toni and Chad were on their own to get everything done. The yearlings came in great, so the people that came got to get a good look at the colts we have left for sale. They really liked a couple of them. We are color testing Mage for them to see if he is going to be gray or stay buckskin. Marlo came about the same time as mom and dad got home. Marlo told Toni that Kaine and Kade were broke down at the intersection of 17 and Hendricks. We found out later that Kaine’s transmission went out. The boys had someone help them push the pu off of the road as they were blocking the intersection. Then Anna had to go find Ben to go tow them home. Marlo and Toni did most of the chores before the boys finally got there for chores.  Toni asked the boys to come help put up the two railroad ties as she had the holes dug. It took Marlo, Toni, Kaine, and Kade to get the railroad ties up and in the holes. Once both were up, one of the boys said we just had to put the ties up right? Toni said yeah, so the boys took off. In their defense they still had to feed circle 5 and had a long day. Marlo and Toni tamped the ties in, put a cross bar up, chopped the fence out of the tree and got the fence fixed. When they stopped it was 6:50 pm and they could still see a little bit, so it is getting lighter out. Toni still wants to fortify the fence. It is basically at the top of the hill so it is pretty prone to sloughing.  Kade took a snaffle bit and rode BB late again. She is just a super cool mare. Too bad she doesn’t have papers. If she was reg we would probably keep her!

On Saturday we got the cows in and sorted them to put in CIDRs and put the rest out with the bulls. It was still pretty cold, so I let Toni ride my horse, Shimmer, and rode with Jaxsen in the pickup, Toni was going to have to haul her horse down. Anna rode Jag and Kevin and Kaine rode Pow. Kade was at a trap shoot.  We got all of the cows sorted, bulls moved out of the pasture, the AI cows into that pasture, cull cows sorted, the few cows that need a little TLC in, all of the ranch stuff we needed to get done we got it done. The horses were great. We had a small technical difficulty with Pow. We were out in the middle of the cornfield and her bridle just came off. Luckily Kaine was able to get her stopped with the halter so he switched bridles with Anna. Shimmer is not a horse you can ride chasing cows without a bridle. She is on the hotter side even now that she is older and likes to chase. Basically she will chase cows just for the love of the game. So a great horse to chase cows, terrible to try to trail ride. Good thing we don’t trail ride. Kevin was fine with the bridle switch. Pow and Kaine had some adjusting to do, but they got it done and we got the job done. Luckily we chose Saturday because even though it was cold, it wasn’t as bad as Sunday when we had snow and rain spitting down all day. We had a long Saturday but a really great one. We were all really cold by the end.  I went and stayed with Grandma Saturday night.

On Sunday we woke up to the snow rain mix. My drive home was fine. 039 calved and had a pretty nice bull calf. Even though it was snowing it wasn’t terribly cold so we didn’t take her to the barn. She had the calf down in the weeds so it was dry and warm. Kade and Kaine went over to help Marlo move a couple of couches. It didn’t take long and they were back before lunch. Lots of ranch stuff to get done, but we all kind of took it easy on Sunday, or as easy as we could anyway. Kaine worked on one of his show heifers and his steers. Anna went to Warden to see Lane, so Kaine helped feed the cows before we went up to do horse chores.

There is always so much optimism when the end of January hits and we can all see spring coming. Of course mother nature usually has some surprises left in store for us in February. The last two years we have had bad weather all the way into April. Lets hope that this year this last burst of snow is the last of it. We are all looking forward to warmer weather and green grass.

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No words of wisdom for this one. 

Posted on February 15, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

                It rained Monday, we had a nice day Sunday to dry out some of the mud, but no more. Toni checked cows and horses and then sorted out 9 poles out of the pile to put on the fence. She texted the boys after school they get to help her get poles and put them up. Jaxsen texted he had FFA practice, but it got canceled so he got to help. Lucky Lucky him. Toni and the boys put up 2 poles Monday night, in the section we already had two in, so we are down to 6 sections of poles to put up. Ben and Anna are still feeding the cows with the tractor due to the mud.

On Tuesday Jaxsen had a dentist appointment, so he got to skip some school. They also took the Pendelton upholstery fabric with them for Toni’s office couch that she is having reupholstered. Toni checked cows in the Am in the mud. She told Monica it was her day to calve, and Monica had a calf by the time Anna got home. Monica is one of our clubby cows. She has a cute black white-faced calf. Toni and the boys did another section of fence. Kaine and Kade both went to help work on friends’ pickups Tuesday night so they took off to go be boys.

On Wednesday dad and mom came to town and brought a coffee too me, they are the  best. Guess what, fog and rain on Wednesday, made checking difficult for Toni. She got pics of Charlotte the Charolais, Monica and her calf and 710 and her calf. She told the old cow in the calving pen it was her day, so she thinks she will calve on Wednesday. Kade had agronomy practice after school, but got home in time to help with the fence. The old cow in the heavy pen did not calve, so talking to the cows does not work to inspire them to get with it. We are making progress with the fence, but it isn’t fun.

                On Thursday when Toni checked there were a whole gang of calves out, and they were not concerned with her catching them up. They sauntered around. Toni and Kaine had to go and get poles for their fencing project and then put up a few more poles, but ran out of lag bolts.  Jaxsen is in charge of the lag bolts so should have probably mentioned they lag bolts were running low. Jaxsen had to have baby teeth pulled at the dentist to get ready for braces.  Kaine and Toni weren’t in a good mood after loading 8 more heavy poles and getting them up the hill. Dad had gone to a funeral in St. John so brought home some of Uncle Tommy’s genealogy boxes. It was mostly full of moldy gross stuff but we found one crown jewel. It was a story that Great Aunt Bess typed up in 1927 of a trip she took around the Pacific Northwest with some friends. The story is 11 pages long and super well written and informative. It was also super interesting that on the trip they went and visited the Mastersons in Cle Elum which have been friends on our Mom’s side of the family for generations. So part of life in ag of how we are all related somehow continues. Very interesting and entertaining.

On Friday I worked on the corn field fence until around 11:30, then mom and I went to Cowpath in Othello for lunch. It was really good, we had potato soup, carrot cake and brought donuts back for everyone. Toni went into Connell and had lunch with Evy and Evy’s mom Holly, so she did not go with us. After dropping mom off I finished most of the corn field fence, then went down and we put up more poles. We are getting really close to being done! The CX Ranch cattle sale was Friday in Lewiston. Our agents, Dad and Uncle Joe, went on our behalf. We had a couple of head picked out but Uncle Joe said we were going to love one of the heifers. Toni told him he had authority to make it happen, so we got a new Hereford heifer on Friday. We didn’t see her or any pictures, but we trust Uncle Joe and of course Bill and Kayla. CX Ranch has good quality cattle so we weren’t concerned, but were very excited.

Saturday morning Anna, Ben and I finished the last few things on the fence and then turned the cows out. They were happy. Kade had trap shooting and went to Colton. Terry went up to watch him shoot and brought snacks. After lunch Toni and I got 7 more poles ready to put up and bid on some mares in the Moses Lake sale. We did not get any. We also got grass straw out to all the pens that needed it. We got the poles set out and did chores then went to Tel’s 1st birthday.  We were very excited to finally meet Tel. He lives in Wyoming.

On Sunday Jeanie brought a couple of horses out for Kade to ride and get pics of. He is selling one for her. She is a nice grade black mare that will be 8 this summer. She has been broke to ride, used in the mountains to move cattle, and used in general ranch work. She hadn’t been ridden since last November but saddled up great and rode right out. She is a very kind, nice mare. She will be on our for sale page very soon. Anna got Baby Cow into the heavy pen. We got our 2 little girls, Robin and Celeste, weaned and in the round pen. So we are DONE weaning the 2023 foal crop. Toni, Kaine, Kade and I finished the fence, then we all went to the BB Cattle Co Sale dinner.  It was a huge relief to get the fence done. We needed that side finalized for a couple of reasons- 1) so we have a good, heavy, nice safe fence on the side that will be closest to other studs so we can turn a stallion out in that pasture; and 2) a good fence because we plan to plant the alley between the pens with native grasses. We already have 2 little trees growing on the hillside.

One project down. 14,345 to go. On fencing projects we only have a couple that have to be done asap. We start the next one next week. It won’t be as strenuous we all hope. We won’t be pulling heavy poles up a hill, so it already sounds better. 

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Last Week in Pictures

Posted on December 27, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch
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KT Heza Dandy Soldier

Posted on December 14, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

KT Heza Dandy Soldier
Colt
Sire KT Gunners Sage Bug
Dam:  Shesa Leo Dandy, “Eddie”
Date Born: 5/30/23
Click here for more pictures
Color: Brown roan
Price: $4,500
Sweet bay roan colt by KT Gunners Sagebug and out of  Shesa Leo Dandy, “Eddie.” KT Gunners Sage Bug is out of Continental Lady Bug and is by KT Gunpowder N Lead. Gunner is a roan dunskin son of Cue Bars Laddie, AQHA point earning and producing stallion. Gunner’s dam, Pistol, has been shown NFQHA, has been featured on rule book and in the NFQHA magazine. She is a great working ranch horse, rope horse, and the kids can ride her as well. Lady Bug is a big boned Continental Cad daughter going back to Mr Blackburn on the bottom. This should be a nice sized colt to excel in many different arenas. Eddie is a cute buckskin mare that came to us from Ed Hayes in St John. She is a very personable and balanced mare. On the top side she goes back to King Leo Bar and Quadrant. On the bottom she goes to Cuttter Bill, Doc Olena and Leo Gann.

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Well, I guess I am off of Facebook, so you will have to share this so everyone can get it read. Thanks.

Posted on December 8, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

Another busy Monday, Toni was busy working all day. Anna was on her way to Reno with CX for the big Hereford show. Jaxsen had a basketball game and then Toni went and stayed with grandma. Jay hauled wheat straw over and started unloading it until Ben got home, then Ben moved it around and restacked it. Hector came down and install mom and dad’s waster and dryer, now mom can wash clothes again and has a dryer! The boys are doing both the cattle and chores after school with Anna gone, which takes until dark. This week we have Fancy Like, Baby Blackie, and Halo in to get halter broke. With the amounts of mud and grime, the halter breaking process was going slowly. Baby Blackie and Halo were pretty much born halter broke, but Fancy Like had been out in the pucker brush so was a bit more fresh. Toni used words like reactive, strong, gritty, tough, smart. All positive connotation words. But basically, Fancy Like was going to be a challenge.

Tuesday Toni was still busy catching up on work. Anna was busy in Reno washing bulls. I was busy at work getting ready to be gone for the rest of the week to a conference. Jay hauled more straw over and Ben stacked it when he got home. Toni and the boys worked on the three fillies. Baby Blackie and Halo were already halter broke, so they got tied. Fancy Like got tied too. Very strong filly with no quit.

On Wednesday I went to Spokane for the rest of the week for a work meeting. Toni tied Fancy Like to Tulip on Wednesday. Tulip was not happy with her. Fancy Like has a lot of grit and try. If you need a horse that will pull a bull out of a mud hole, Toni says this is the one for you. Tulip couldn’t do much with her and got pulled around more than she did the pulling. So it was not productive other than to teach Fancy Like that she would pull a donkey around. Baby Blackie and Halo did not get tied to the donkeys. Rosie came in to get treats so Toni left her in to tie Fancy like to on Thursday. On Wednesday Toni could get Fancy like to give a little but still could not get her to lead. Jax had another basketball game. He continues to improve as the season wears on. He will tell you that basketball isn’t his sport, but it gets him out of chores.

Toni gave the donkeys lots of treats on Thursday then tied Fancy Like to Rosie. It was a battle. Fancy like can really pull but so can Rosie. Rosie drug her but was upset at Toni and may or may not have kicked at her multiple times. Rosie can be pretty good but she is not trust worthy. She is a strong donkey that you really need to watch. We are careful not to let people just anyone handle her.   The other two girls are doing great. Jaxsen had a basketball game on Thursday. #7 had twins and another heifer also calved.

                It snowed on Friday. So the first day of December started with heavy snow.  No one at our house was impressed. The kids got a 2-hour delay. When school was ready to start Kicker drove the boys in. Kendel went down to Mom’s and told Toni that Kaine had gone off the road a couple of times, but he only admits to one time and he got himself back out of the ditch so that probably doesn’t really count. And the tracks in the snow where Kendel said “he went off” are just on the edge, so I do not know if I would call it going off the road. Chad still showed up to trim horses and it was determined that Toni needed new shoes after her feet almost froze off. She now has a nice new pair of Bogs to keep her feet warm. They trimmed everything that was easy to catch, easy to hold, and needed done. I think they did 7 or so mares. It warmed up by the afternoon. Toni got mom to make her a grilled tuna and cheese sandwich, Dad made her and Chad hot coco and they had fresh cookies. If Mom knows Chad is coming she always makes him a fresh batch. So it was all-in-all a good snowy Friday. Marlo came and her and Toni worked on the fillies. Toni told Marlo to lead Baby Blackie and Halo and Toni chased Fancy Like around until she could catch her and hook her to Rosie. By Friday Fancy Like really wasn’t fighting the donkey anymore, so it wasn’t productive. With Marlo talking behind Fancy Like, Toni was able to lead her from the big pen to the round pen. Fancy like isn’t a fan of people being behind her. We are making progress with this filly, it is just slow. She is one of the strongest minded fillies we have had. Her mom, Fancy, is a hell of a good ranch horse. Standing at 14.2 (maybe) she is tough enough to pull bulls. She went and lived with cousin Jake in SE Idaho a few years, and she was his favorite horse. Out walk anything, go anywhere, pull anything. She also gets bored easily, so if she is turned out with the cows she will separate calves from their moms and chase them until she gets bored. So it only took one time of seeing her doing this that she was moved. She is quite the mare.

On Saturday Kade decided he was going to pony Stormy off of Electra and he took them around the block. They did pretty good. We checked cows, tagged calves, sorted the heavy heifer pen and turned the pairs out. Took new pics of bulls. Sandrygrens came and bought a bull, thank you, they are repeat buyers and send people our way. You can’t beat customers like that. I put mineral out with the horses and heifers and bulls. I worked on Halo and Baby and Toni worked on Fancy Like. We turned Halo and Baby out since the round pen was so muddy, but Fancy Like needed to stay in another day. I went to stay with grandma and Toni worked on Glow, who she pulled out of the feed line and angered. Anna got back from Reno Saturday night, mom and dad went to pick her up. She had a great time with Coxs, Bill was the herdsman of the year and the bulls placed great, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd and 4th. Anna picked out two favorites.

On Sunday it rained and rained, so our plan to wait and get pics on Sunday was a failure. Ben brought the tractor down to put big bales out since Red was going to get stuck. It was also foggy, did I say that?? We took pics of Fancy Like and Halo in the foggy rain, the pics are really great if you can use your imagination. 012M had a heifer calf, she is a cute little thing. 

We are supposed to start calving in December. For some reason this year we got started a bit early, but that is fine. Strong, healthy calves are always our goal, no matter when they are born. As always we are really excited to see what we get.  We also counted up the foals left to halter break and we are down to 8. The problem is that we decided on Sunday that it is just to muddy and sloppy to halter break right now, so we are taking a break. They are all growing like weeds so it will be that much harder to get them done, but it is just not safe when it is slick out. We did get some really pretty pictures in the snow. The horses always look so pretty with a clean white background. I also updated the website home page to include a winter theme.

If you know of anyone looking for dude horses, Billings Horse Sale is having an online only sale Dec 18-20 with horses from Morgan Lovejoy- they are listed as owned by South Fork Outfitters. There are some really solid dude and pack stock in this sale. Here is the link:

Current Sale Horses
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Another busy week! We are really excited to continue to see buyers coming out even with this weather not being as nice.

Posted on November 29, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

On Monday dad texted that their hot water heater was leaking, so I texted neighbor Hector who does some handyman work, and he stopped by and looked at it. It was toast. Jaxsen texted Toni from school that he had a game. So Toni, mom and dad went to the game. Toni and the boys worked on the foals. We had Capone, Blue Star, and Mouse in. Capone has already been in one week a bit ago, but is really big so knowing we have people coming to look at him, thought he needed another week. Of course, Blue Star is almost as big. Mouse is small but had no inclination to be halter broke and felt she was better suited to be a pasture pet so the first day of halter breaking went ok, but not great.

Tuesday dad went to town to get a hot water heater. Mom stayed with grandma. Dad went to Lowes where they made him load the hot water heater himself. Lowes is probably lucky mom, Kellie or Toni weren’t there. All were pretty upset to hear that Dad had no help loading the hot water heater. What happened to customer service? I reminded Dad that I got my last one at the Grange in Connell where they always help. Dad got the hot water heater unloaded on his own too.  Cousin in law Toby came down and installed in. Toni and the boys worked on the foals, and did the horse chores. Anna did the cow chores. Toni went and stayed with grandma on Tuesday night. Capone was good after he realized that he needed to be good. Basil got turned out because he didn’t do much on Monday and Toni felt he was worthless. Blue Star was actually super good for how big he is. Mouse was still a pill and resisting being halter broke.  Kade got his ag permit so we now have another legal driver.

On Wednesday Sting went to his new home. Ben the buyer brought his daughter who Toni threatened to keep. She liked all of the horses and the donkeys. Toni told Ben that Ben had better go find another foal because Amelia, his daughter was going to steal Sting. By the time they got back home Amelia had Sting under her thumb. The kids had a half day of school so got a half day of work in. A few of the yearling heifers got out into the alfalfa field they will get moved to next, but it still has some hay in it. So Anna and Kade hustled home and got them in. John and Joe showed up on Wed and helped Toni with the foals.  They also wandered around looking at everything and Joe agreed with us that Friday is our best mare. It was great to have Capone, Mouse, and Blue Star exposed to new people. Mouse finally decided she could be led. It was a hard-fought fight but we did prevail. Joe grabbed her because she is the shortest. John took Blue Star and Toni had Capone. John loved Capone the most because he is out of Gunner and Lura. Everyone was happy to see John and Joe. We used to see them all the time but things change. Glad we still get to see them sometimes.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We all went to the Meacham household for Thanksgiving and had a great time. Sherri and Barry and Terry and Erina made it down. We had tri tip, brisket, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffy, two different green bean dishes, rolls and lots of desserts.  As Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks, we want to thank everyone that helps keep our lifestyle possible, our dreams alive, and our family for the love and support. We really have an extended family both in blood and in spirit. There are many people out there that are family by choice and there are others that are stuck with us due to heredity. A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Coco who turns another year older on Thanksgiving. She is related to us by choice.

We checked cows on Friday morning and there were a few heavy heifers we decided needed to come in.  We had a busy day shipping and showing horses.  Then we had Sheri and Paige come out and look at weanlings. I got a lot of pictures while they looked at them. We went home for lunch and moved some of the show cattle around at the house. Then some people from the area came out to pet some foals and ride my old mare Cad. I went and stayed with grandma and Marlo and Toni worked on the foals and the boys did chores. 

We got the heavy heifers in on Saturday morning, we were supposed to have someone come out to look at Jackpot but he was a no show. Anna and I were getting them in then Kaine came beebopping around the field in warp 10. I thought maybe Ben and told him to beat the cows to the gate, and he thought I had told him too. But I guess that is just his speed? So Kade and Toni went for a ride out to check the heifers. Storm has had a few months off due to an abscess in her hoof, but she did great. Toni rode Gracie, and she did not do as well. Toni rode Gracie because she plans to pony Glo (2 year old) off of Gracie while they check cattle, but that was a no go on Saturday. Gracie might be older but that doesn’t mean she has to act like it. We kept 8 heifers in and tagged the ones that had calved in the heavy pen and turned them out.

                We checked the cows Sunday morning, there are quite a few getting heavy. One of the heifers in the heavy pen calved. I went out and put mineral out with the horses in Circle 5 and caught Eddie and led her in with Lendy, Dandy and Spark following, the last two colts we needed to wean for now. We have the two summer fillies to wean later. After lunch Jaxsen, Toni and I went down and loaded them up and hauled them home. Kade and Anna had tied up their show animals and Kade went down to let his go. After we weaned Spark and Dandy we got new pics of Blue Star and Mouse, Kade helped, and then we got the new group in to halter break, Baby Blackie, Halo and Fancy Like. Kade and Toni then went for a ride and I took Anna to meet Bill Cox at Lyonns Ferry, she was headed to Reno with Coxs to show Hereford bulls. Kade and Toni rode, did chores and then Jaxsen drove the 4 wheeler for Kade to rope.

                Another busy week! We are really excited to continue to see buyers coming out even with this weather not being as nice. There is still tons of optimism in the horse industry. We are also starting to see bull buyers. We are very thankful for our repeat buyers. We are also thankful for wonderful people like the Hamners that agreed to sell us our new mare Gina and Barb for letting us have Breezy. Very excited to see what Gina produces for our ranch. Gina is an NRHA money earner, Rom in Ranch Riding and 4x world qualifier, bred for 2024 to the Masked Gun. The Masked Gun has been on our short list to breed to for many years so we are really excited to get a foal from this cross. We also got Breezy, another bay mare that is open this year, but has a heck of a pedigree out of the Mighty Oak. We aren’t looking for more broodmares but when ones of this caliber come along you snap them up.

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Another day, another dollar and two of us are another year older.

Posted on November 23, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

On Monday Kade and Anna had rangeland competition in Ritzville. Football was over for Kaine so he did not have practice and could help with chores. He wanted to know how long Anna and Kade would be gone to Rangeland, he was not excited about halter breaking. And Hetty and Sting were great. Anna and Kade got home really late from Rangeland.

Anna and Kade had rangeland on Tuesday as well. However, they were back when school was out, so Kaine was happy about that. Mom and Toni went to see grandma on Tuesday. Mom and Grandma did not like Toni’s shirt and wondered why the arms had slits in it, did both arms get ripped, why was there such a shirt?? Hetty and Sting are doing great and were tied on Tuesday.

On Wednesday Jaxsen had a basketball game in Warden. They played well and won. I went and had lunch with grandma on Wednesday and we discussed her going home on Thursday. Kade and Kaine worked on the foals with Toni before she left and then they did chores. A couple of cows had knocked the barbed wire fence down and Anna got them back in and fixed the fence.

On Thursday Kaine went to Pullman after school with his friends to watch the Cougars play on Friday. Toni and Kade worked on the foals. Both have been really great, we are regretting selling Hetty.

On Friday I went out and got new pictures of the bulls and heifers. Mom and dad took Leo and Susie in to get hair cuts, Leo got stuck in water grass and was full of water grass. So mom and dad got him a coat so he would not get cold. Toni and I worked on the foals and then took them for a walk about, both did great. Kade did chores. That night we went to Danny’s surprise 50th birthday at the pizza station.

On Saturday was Anna’s 18th birthday, happy birthday Anna. She said 18 doesn’t feel any different then 17. We sent Hetty to her new home and then got the next victims in. Jackpot came home on Saturday if anyone wants to look at him. We had someone come out and look at Gen and ride him all over. Ben and Anna pulled a calf, an Angus heifer needed a little help. Then we had Anna and Toni’s birthday party.

                Happy birthday Toni. On Sunday we had our second youth Kane from Cottonwood, ID come out and pick his colt. He picked Yo Chic. Then Toni went for her birthday ride on Gen with two dogs and two cats. Ben, Kaine and I put out grass straw. Then Ben and I went to Spokane to get a mare from Barb, Breezy, and meet the shippers at Cabela’s for Gina the mare and the new show heifer from RJ. Toni, Kade and Kaine worked on the foals and did chores. Anna and Kicker did the cow chores. Then Meachams went out to dinner with Shannon and Jordan for Toni’s birthday.

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Last Week in Pictures

Posted on November 21, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch
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One of the fun life lessons is not to sit down until the work is done.

Posted on November 17, 2023 by horseshoeangusranch

                Monday, the first work/school day of fall back, again, I hate fall back. Also, the first day after the last big cattle show. So added to the fall back, we were running on empty from keeping it all together in Moses Lake with the 305 entries and our kids and cattle. Toni worked on the foals herself, it was too muddy for the halter breaking donkey crew to help. Yo Chic was the best one, even though Hammer had been in the week before. All three were pretty good. It was Yo Chic and Mage, so both King foals and Hammer. Hammer is super smart just scared so needed some extra effort. Kaine still had football practice since they made it to the first round at state. Jaxsen had started basketball practice.

Tuesday was rainy again. Toni ran Kade up to Moses Lake to try to get his ag permit but the tabs were expired on her car, so it was a wasted trip except that she got to spend time with Kade. Kade drove up to Moses Lake, around town, and home, so good driving time for him. We had people out to look at the foals in the afternoon. They are buying Hetty, who we have been on the fence about selling. We do not need to keep her, but we really like her. Will, who we grew up with showing steers, also called about coming out to look at Gen next week. Toni is not excited about selling Gen, but we do not need to keep any geldings, but she has been enjoying riding him. Anna went to Quincy Apple judging, which she did not remember to tell any of us about until the last minute. But she had a good time, she was 2nd overall and Connell FFA was 2nd overall, good job everyone.

On Wednesday Toni and Kade tied Mage and Yo Chic to the donkeys. They did pretty good. Hammer had ripped his halter Tuesday and again on Wednesday so we are running low on decent weanling halters. Interestingly enough there isn’t a “standard” weanling foal size halter. Different brands produce different sizes. So we can buy a batch, they fit good, can’t find them again, buy another brand and you wonder if they are selling mini weanling or sometimes giant weanling halters. Really hit or miss and kind of annoying.  Toni and Kade went and got Hetty in and weaned her. She also threw Kade up on the two year old she claims, Glo. We are still working on the 2 year olds in a very slow manner.  The weather was actually nice on Wednesday so they took advantage of it. I had lunch with grandma on Wednesday.

On Thursday Kade had a dr appointment so Toni and Kade stopped to see grandma. Kade does not need surgery on his shoulder at this time, but does need PT. Hopefully at some point he heals. Kade got to drive around the tri-cities, more experience driving, and got lunch before going to school. Kaine had an FFA metal arts competition. They had a going to State football parade, but Kaine was not in it since he was gone. However, they won their metal arts competition. Kade worked on the foals when he got home. Toni and Leslie went to Wenatchee for the annual Washington Cattlemen’s Convention when they got home from the tri-cities.

Friday morning the football team left early to go to the first round of state. Toni spoke at the Cattlemen’s convention, and then came home in the afternoon. Anna and Marlo went and got Anna’s new vehicle, new to her not new, it is a Chevy Colorado that is a little newer they her half ton for her to take to college. I think Kade and Anna did most of the chores on Friday.  I know Kade had to put halters on Yo Chic and Hammer because both were broke. He was on his own so they must have done well. Ben and I went to Blaine to watch the football game. We passed a mastiff transport pickup, and yes, there was a mastiff on board. It was a great game, the boys all played great. We all stayed at the Holiday Inn Express that time and the boys swam, ate pizza and played X Box.

We came home early Saturday so we could get the cows worked and out on corn stalks. Camas is one of the Youth in the Youth development Program and she came and got DJ. They are gong to make a great pair. We are very excited for them. Anna and Marlo had gotten the cows in on Saturday. Toni, Kade and Jaxsen went down and they started working them with Anna. We got there and started helping. Ben went out and started building fence. When Toni got back from loading DJ Kaine went out to help on the fence. We got the main group worked and then went to do chores. Toni, Kade, Anna, and Jaxsen all agreed that Ben’s long horn heifers are bat crap crazy and they don’t like them. We did not get those 2 heifers worked as they like to try to jump out, run over you, and show you their horns. Ben normally says it is our fault, that we get them excited. Interesting.

Sunday morning Ben, Anna, Kaine, Kade and Kicker went to finish the fence. Toni and I loaded up Hammer to his new owner Lorenzo. Then we finished working the cows and moved them out to the corn field. We got some heavy heifers into the heavy pen. We worked the last three little calves and got them hauled out with the rest.  Then we hauled a few more mares to circle 5. When it was dark we got Sting and Hetty in to begin their halter breaking journey. It was pretty dark by then but we had goals for the day and needed to get it all done. I think we did.

One of the fun life lessons is not to sit down until the work is done. Once you sit you start to realize that maybe your energy level is low and your body hurts from getting knocked into the panels, jumping on the panels to escape long horns, running to escape long horns, chasing cows because a gate got left open in the corral and they were escaping, normal ranch stuff that all adds up, but is worse with 2 crazy long horn heifers. They may need to go.

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