Posts Tagged With: #showingcattle

We had a pretty normal Monday here, you know, Reptile Man at the library, washing steers and heifers, Jaxsen playing in the dog pool with the dogs. The steers are all doing great. The calves are getting tired of being washed, so they were a little rowdy Monday. But besides that a pretty normal day here. Toni did not end up having to go to Yakima for the week for her big bankruptcy case so the kids were actually able to work on their show cattle which made Anna happy.

 

Tuesday started normal, then Debbie texted that Truffles had foaled and the palomino mini mare had stolen it. I was already at work so I texted Anna and she called Dad, my dad not hers, and they went over to rescue Truffles and the new baby. Ben met them there and helped they get them loaded. Then dad and Anna fed the new little colt some colostrum, just to make sure he got it. Kaine and Kade went with Leslie and the 4H group to the water park in Moses Lake. Anna did not go since she stayed home to take care of Truffles and the foal. Anna is very diligent about getting work done and doesn’t seem to care if she misses some of the fun stuff. The boys on the other hand, are all about the party! After work, Toni hauled Colonel to the house, we are hand breeding Kool to him, and since she is so old we don’t want to turn her out. Colonel is not super impressed with being locked in, but he is being pretty good. We also hauled Red Robin and Stinger to the house to get an ultrasound on them on Thursday. We still have Cammie, Bayless’ black mare and Abs to get to the house, the rest of the 12 mares are already there.

Wednesday we woke up to some rain. Toni had a lot of work to do, so Kaine and Anna caught the steers, washed them and tied them up. Kade, Jaxsen and grandma (or mom to me) picked raspberries so mom could make raspberry pie, one of our favorites from Grandma Ruth’s recipe. Kade and Toni were waiting for me with the trailer when I got there, they had brought Abs and Bayless’ black mare down. So we went out and caught Cammie and brought her back to ultrasound too. It is SUPER fun to try to take mares out of Sagebug’s pen. Sagebug is a pain in the butt, and so are all of the foals out there. I had to sacrifice myself and pet all of the foals while Toni caught Cammie. Sagebug and Money had loaded themselves in the trailer, so we locked them in while we went and took pictures and got Cammie moved. Sagebug is still a really young stud (he is 3), but so good minded. But he does not like it when we take mares out, he likes addition not subtraction.

 

Thursday Toni went and got the kids bright and early to help with ultrasounding. Anna and Kaine had the steers tied in the barn when she got there. We were ecstatic to find out that Cammie is FINALLY pregnant. Red Robin is also pregnant, great news. Stinger is open again this year, we are going to try something different with her next year. Abbey is no longer cycling, she is 26, we were not surprised. Pistol and Pepper both have twins, but Pistol’s looks like it is resolving itself. Pepper, we need to watch. Overall a super good day. Toni took the kids up afterwards to work on their steers and heifers. Then the kids cleaned out the gooseneck for Toni to take them to a steer clinic with their 4H group Friday. Also, Colonel bred Kools on Thursday, then we gave him a bite of grain. We think he might actually like this hand breeding business! Thursday was also Shannon Miller Case’s bday, but we missed it trying to get everything done.

 

Friday morning everyone was up early to go to their steer clinic. Toni took the kids over and they did great with their steers. This was these three steer’s first outing. McCall did the clinic while some of the 4-H group did other things, lots of people and steers were there. Everyone was hungry afterwards, so they went to the Burger Factory on the way home. Then they packed up the show box to get it ready for the show next weekend. Also on Friday, Coco stopped and got Jackpot and is bringing him back from CA. They had a layover in Oregon Friday night. The California contingent is headed North. Coco has been bringing Addy up to go show with us for a few years now and the kids always enjoy their time with her.

 

Saturday morning we had a horse clinic put on by Dusti Kissler. We invited the 4H kids over so that they were ready for when they made it to the round robin. After showmanship Dusti, Anna, Kaine, Kade and Toni had a riding clinic. Toni rode Friday, Anna rode Ollie, Kaine rode Cad and Kade rode Slick. Everyone had a great time, but it was a long hot day. The horses and humans all did great. Friday has come back as an amazing horse that we could not be happier with. She was the only filly out of Colonel and Peppy . We have always loved her and she has met our expectations. We can’t thank Rachael Hamby enough for the training that has gone into this horse.

 

After the clinic it was lunch time and then the kids started washing steers and heifers for the upcoming shows. I helped Jaxsen and the rest of the kids did their own. Next, Kaine, Kade, Jaxsen, Anna, Ben, Kicker and I moved the Hereford cows down to the pen Bishop was in. We got the bull calves in to check for bad eyes, there is a lot of tall grass in that pen and they get grass seeds and cheat grass in their eyes that has to be pulled out or they will get a blue spot. While we were looking through the bull calves Coco and Addy drove by with Jackpot. So the boys and Anna went back to the house to see Jackpot. Toni had left to get work done, but she showed back up when Jackpot did, coincidence? Kicker, Ben and I came back when we were done. Jackpot looks and acts great. We are all happy he is home for the short time he will be here. Also, the hay was ready to bale Saturday night, so we skipped the birthday party we were going to go too for our friend Caleb and Kicker and Ben were out late with the hay. The dew came in too heavy and they had to finish Sunday. I am sure everyone is noticing a pattern here, we are too busy to do anything with our friends! Luckily everyone pretty much knows how we roll, so no one is surprised when we send a so sorry text.

 

Sunday we woke up and caught the steers. Hay was still being baled and Kristi was out with Toni looking at Genuine (Colonel Belle colt that she bought). Kristi, Lynn, and Matt all went on an abbreviated tour. Matt wanted to pet Rocky and they wanted to see the tiny babies as well as Genuine. They then headed down to the Merc for some local food. The twins were coming at 2 to help the kids clip everything, so we ran to town for groceries before they got there. However, the twins got there early so Anna called Toni, Kade, Coco and Addy and had them go down and get started. The heifers and calves still had to be caught. When we got there they had everything caught and set up and were getting started. So the kids and twins clipped all day on Sunday.

 

I went out and checked the cows, I made sure everything was paired up from the move the day before. One cow and calf had come back, however, there was still a fence separating them, so I got them paired up. Everything else looked good. I went back to the house and helped the kids for a bit. Then, Toni, Coco and I did chores. Colonel and Kool are still having their abbreviated fun, and we think Colonel is really getting the hang of it. He does his business then walks back to his pen and nickers at us for his bite of grain. He is not a stupid horse!

 

We are excited to have all of our owned horses out of California and back in Washington. We got good quality training from both trainers, but it was time to get Friday home and take Jackpot to the next phase of his life, whatever that is going to be. It is truly a great feeling to have these horses live up to the expectations that we have for them and know that as our breeding program moves forward, it just keeps getting better.