Posts Tagged With: #WAlovebeef #ranchingheritagebreeders

Last Week in Pictures

Posted on December 3, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

I found some old pictures on Toni’s camera, back from when we could still wear T Shirts.

And now the ones from Last Week.

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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Read to see what it is!!

Posted on November 22, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday was Veterans Day. Happy Veterans Day from our business to you. Today, we remember and honor all who have served or are actively serving. Thank you, veterans! We are lucky to have some very amazing people in our family that have had the distinction of protecting this Country, and we thank them as well as everyone else out there.

On Monday Kade, Kaine and I finished working the calves. Kade rode Jag around. Jag is a full sister to Electra that we call “Pony” because she is a small dynamo. She is sixish and probably 14.2 hands and broad. He is hoping to make her into a heal horse. We moved the pellets into the barn and then went and did chores. We worked on the three colts that are in, Cowy, Whitty and Stoker, all three were awesome. We have not had to use the donkeys in two weeks now. However, we have some big ones coming up that are definitely going to need the donkeys.

On Tuesday Toni loaded out Bee A Bug, and she headed to her new home. She loaded like a champ is what Toni said. Bee a Bug went to a repeat buyer which is always really fun for us. We love it when people love the foals so much they need more than one. Toni worked on the three colts again, then turned Stoker out. She walked out into the weaned foal pen and grabbed Colada out of the middle. Colada has been awesome to deal with and has taken almost everything in stride. Once Colada was caught, she had Dad come out and lead her around as Colada will be loaded out during the week while we are all gone. Colada got put back in since she is headed to her new home soon. Jaxsen was home late due to basketball practice.

Wednesday we woke up to rain. Which is good, I mean, it does not feel good when you are halter breaking, but it is good for the pastures and farm ground around. The Tonis headed to a vacation for a few days Wednesday morning. Kaine got up early to go to school, he was going to an expo he forgot to tell us about. He did not know a lot about where he was going, but he was going with Mr Dansie, I guess that is good enough?? But then he did not end up going anyway.

Thursday Colada was supposed to leave about noon, but Dean showed up at 10:30. Mom decided, even though she had never done anything with Colada, that she would load her. She told Dad and Dean to stay out of her way and loaded Colada like the boss she is. Colada got to her new home without incident. Other than that, it was a typical day, chores, school, work, etc. I stayed with grandma Thursday night. She is still not sleeping.

On Friday Dad and Kaine with to Pomeroy to get the Spokane steers form John Dixon, they are both really nice steers. Ben and I did some cleanup work. Then Kaine, Marlo and I did chores. Anna and Lane got home Friday night. Marlo and I went to Othello and got Checos for dinner.

On Saturday Marlo, Lane, Anna, Kaine, Ben and I worked the cows, we got through them pretty fast considering we were shipping out two bulls and sold some meat as well. There were probably some good stories in the day, but I can’t think of any. The cows all look really good. No one died, so it was all-in-all a good day. Then we did chores.

On Sunday Sam and Erin brought Aubrey and Logan out to get their two clubby heifers, Phoebe and Monica. Then we got Steve’s fat steers in and weighed them and left them in for Steve. Anna and Lane left early since it was supposed to be snowing in Moscow. Marlo, Kaine and I did the horse chores, then Ben and Kaine did the cattle chores, like we had been doing all week. Marlo and I used the new dump trailer to feed a grass straw bale to the weaned pen. We also let Copper out in the big corral where she jumped, bucked, and kicked and showed us that even though she was seriously injured back in August, that she is a survivor. Again, on the Copper front, we could not have done it without a team like the team we have. Our vet team, our farrier team, our home team. Chad and Katie coming up with the plastic shoe for that injured leg has made a world of difference.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! It is time to once again vote for the annual calendar. The 2025 calendar will be full of wonderful pictures voted on by our FB friends. Here is the link for you to vote on your favorites- vote as many times as you would like. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15Yr6CXMFT/ And I forgot to put the pictures below in the album on FB.

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Sorry for my lack of post last week, I went to New Mexico for work and failed to get it done.

Posted on November 14, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday I was home sick, so as Toni called Monday, she got to do Donkey Monday on her own. And June decided she was done halter breaking since she had the week before off. Skippy and Hitman were super easy she said, Fancy Gun and Dancing Queen were more typical foals. Skippy is super easy as long as you are moving, he has no patience, so he is a lot like his mom. Hitman is just a great colt. Kids were home Monday, so they worked on their show animals and prepared for the Western Showcase. Kaine started to feel sick around midday on Monday.

Tuesday Kaine and I were both home sick, but I started feeling better late afternoon, so went down to help Toni with the foals. Kids were all back at school, except Kaine because he was sick. Kade took Jaxsen down to clip his steer, Bugs, on Tuesday. Toni stayed with grandma Tuesday night, she is still not sleeping great. We bought a shorter gooseneck and a dump trailer on Musser Bros on Tuesday. Super excited about the dump trailer, Kade is super excited about the shorter trailer, he wanted a shorter one to take hoping. And a shorter one will be nice when dad only has one or two bulls to haul. Also, when we take both long trailer to shows, there will still be a trailer home for emergencies. OR the kids will think this means they are taking more to the shows…

If you follow Toni on TikTok, you will see her nephew saga with Kaine, and how her Wednesday morning was. As she was driving home from Grandmas she found Kaine with a flat tire on Hendricks Rd. And it was not just flat, it was toast. But don’t worry, he called me first so I could call him in late to school, then called his dad since he did not have a spare tire. The spare tire was also shady, so he drove the Imposter home and took Butte to school. Kaine’s pickup has been broke down for a while. He replaced the transmission, and the housing was cracked, on the new one. So he has been waiting for the fix on that. I do know if they send a new housing, transmission?? We worked on the foals, Kade cleaned out the gooseneck, Kaine hooked up Butte for dad to take to Palouse to get pellets for the show calves.

Dad has now fallen ill, so he is not going to Palouse to get pellets. I paid for the trailers on Thursday so we can pick them up. I talked with Scott Musser for a bit and held Hank the dog. Scott has a really cool bronze sculpture in his office, the kid is closing a wire gate off his horse with his dog watching. Scott says that looks just like him as a kid. I told him that I was impressed, that means he opened the gate off his horse, got through the wire gate without getting caught up in it, sometimes it is hard enough to not get caught up in those things on foot, and was now closing it. I said most of the time I cannot even close them on foot. That was quite a feat. Toni and Leslie went to the cattlemen’s convention.

On Friday we hauled into Western Showcase for our last show of 2024. For most of the cattle it is their first show. I went early to help set up. Leslie, Traci, Toni, McCall, McKenna, Marlo and the kids all came later. We went to Rock Top for dinner. Kaine had a football game on Friday night, so he did not come up until Saturday morning. I hear he played well. Coco and Shea made it up from CA on Friday and went and watched the game.

Saturday morning was the heifer show and showmanship. It was a long day of showing. Kade and Anna both had their big fall Angus heifers and Anna had the two char heifers that mom, dad and her own. Kade had his Simmental heifer and Kaine had Baby Jewel. All of the heifers did really well and placed well. Savannah and Kayla showed peewee. Jaxsen showed his steer Bugs Bunny in showmanship, and Natalie and Julian were also juniors, they did well. Kaine, Kade and Ady are all intermediates, they all showed great. Anna was our lone senior, and she was Reserve Champion Senior. Good job everyone. Kade was headed to Elko, Nevada on Sunday morning for Rangeland competition, so him and Toni took the heifers home. They got home a bit after 9 pm. Saturday was a crazy long day.

On Sunday was the steer show, we only had two steers, Sylvester, Kaines, and Bug Bunny. Both steers did great, but did not get called back. So we packed up and headed home to do chores. Julian and Natalie both had steers that made it back to the final drive. We got home and got our next group of foals in to halter break. Since Toni was basically on her own, we got some easy ones in and Sackett, who also ended up being easy.

On Monday in Nevada Toni got proof of life from Pooty Dagnon. Kade was looking like he was having a good time. Toni said the foals were all great. Kaine had football practice still, but Jaxsen was home to help do chores, since basketball had not started yet. Monday was the only day I was home.

Tuesday I left at 2:30 to get on a plane and fly to New Mexico. In Nevada Kade was judging rangeland. Toni was working and working on foals at home. Kaine was practicing football and Jaxsen was helping with chores. Kade placed the highest on the Connell FFA Team, we are very proud of him.

Wednesday I was at conferences in New Mexico, except Wednesday morning Thea and I went down to Old Town which was pretty cool. Kade and the Connell FFA team was headed home. Chores went the same as Tuesday. Toni went and stayed with Grandma who did not sleep. She fell down on Tuesday night but luckily didn’t break anything, but it made Wednesday night a real humdinger.

On Thursday Ben and Toni bangs vaccinated heifers with Dr Hank Wisse. Toni and Ben made a list of 16 heifers to sell. It was a hard list to make as we think we have an exceptional set of heifers. However, we kept 70 and we don’t need 70 replacement heifers. We had people come out and look at foals as soon as the Bangs was done. They had too many that they liked. That is a common problem. Then Toni worked on foals.

On Friday Toni had Marlo to help her with chores, so she had her work on the foals to check for stranger danger, they all did great. I flew home then Ben and I raced to Omak to watch Kaine play football. Connell did not beat Omak, but Kaine played great. Kat came and watched Kaine play. And Kaine had a great season. He made the 1^st team in the league for Offensive Line and 2^nd Team for Defensive Line. We are happy Kaine is done with football as we have way too much work at home. We need everyone to start chipping in. However, Jaxsen is playing basketball now, so he is not chipping in much.

On Saturday we had breakfast with Kat and Todd then drove home. Kade went to work a Red Angus Sale. Toni loaded out Whiskey, the horse, then when I got down there we got some pics, turned out the rest and got new victims in. Ben and Kaine brought down grass hay bales and put them out.

Sunday we started working the calves. It was good to get another look at the calves. We still have way too many good ones but were able to pick out a few more to market. We have Cowy, Whitty, and Stoker in. All super nice foals. So far we have been in love with all the foals. That is a real problem with trying to sell foals and calves. Because we are done with the 2024 cattle show season, many of the calves got to be turned out. None of them are very happy. Especially Queen who doesn’t necessarily want to be in general population.

With cattle shows on hiatus, maybe we can get some stuff done around the place. Except we are going to start calving soon, so that takes up a lot of time too.

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Wow, what a jam packed week. It feels like life is stuck on fast forward, but we are getting everything done that needs to be done. Now we just have 1 more pens of foals to wean!

Posted on October 17, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

Happy birthday Ben, Monday was Ben’s birthday. And he is in the middle of corn harvest, so it was a great one. We actually saw him on his birthday, and there have been harvests we haven’t, so it probably was good. Started on our second group of foals Monday. Mirage and Woody were really good. Shiney Guy could have been better. We are also still working on the four from last week, Playin, Rip, Bee Bug, and South. They are now on the other side of the driveway but easy to get to. We took them each individually on walks in the driveway. They are all really good. Playin is just super big. Jaxsen had football pictures and called his mom from school to tell her, at least he let her know so we can get some.

Tuesday morning Toni and I ran Bee A Bug into Sheena with Baby Rip as a ride-along for company. Both of them did great. Bee A Bug needed a hernia clamp, so a relatively simple process, but a nice ride for the foals. Then Toni helped me load the Nile heifers and bull to go in and get their travel papers with Sheena. Then Toni went to meet Janice Gemma and load up South and get Fooler. We sold Fooler as a foal, Janice found her for sale again and got her for us, and she has been with Janice until Janice picked up South and we exchanged. When we were halter breaking Fooler last fall Kade had really wished we had not sold her, he thought she would make a great roping horse. So I guess we will find out. Janice took really great care of her and she looks amazing. South loaded like the champ that he is. We are sad he is a colt. I would say he was a favorite but pretty much all the foals are favorites the week we are working on them. He was our first foal to leave for 2024! And he went to his new home in his Old Mill halter that Old Mill generously donated for our first 12 foals to leave in 2024. Janice has been a long time buyer and friend so this was a fun goodbye for South. To say that we fall in love with our foals is an understatement. Toni went and picked Bee A Bug and Baby Rip back up from Sheena. Marlo came out and worked on the Evergreen Steers. Woody, Shiney Buy and Mirage did so great they were only on the donkey one day, Toni and I led them on Tuesday. Kade had a rangeland competition on Tuesday and left early and got back late. Toni stayed with grandma Tuesday night.

Julie came out and looked at foals on Wednesday, so Julie and Toni worked on all of them. Jaxsen had a football game so I just did Toni and my feeding when I got there. Jaxsen had a great game. He is on the offensive and defensive line and really loves football. He is the tallest on the 8^th grade team and although isn’t “big” he does have some muscle from doing chores and packing 5 gallon buckets full of grain. I do not know what buckets he’s packing, but that is what he tells me his muscles are for. Most of his chores are water related. McCall and Kade worked on the Nile stuff. Kaine got in Kevin for someone to look at on Thursday. Kade’s Simmental heifer got here Wednesday. She is super cute. I got pics of the Evergreen steers Wednesday to post, Ben helped me.

On Thursday we had a super nice little boy come look at Kevin, but it wasn’t quite the fit we are looking for. Ol Kevin needs a pretty confident rider, he isn’t mean he just pulls old horse moves, like, you can’t make me go so I am not going. We met some new people out of the deal, so it was all good. Toni brought the little trailer down and practiced loading Playin since she was leaving on Friday. She was a great loader. Mom went out and helped her and got to meet Playin which is good for Playin. Marlo finished loading all of the tack to take to Ellensburg. Ben got home early and helped her finish up. I went and stayed with grandma, and Jaxsen helped Toni with chores. He was really excited to lead the foals, Mirage is his favorite. He led all of them except Playin and really did a good job. Horses may not be his favorite thing but he was a pretty good sport about it.

On Friday Marlo, Scarlet and I headed to Ellensburg with the three steers that morning. We got up there and got all set up with cousin Bobette. Toni had a big meeting in the morning, then she loaded out Playin to Michelle. We are excited to see what Michelle and her family do with Playin. Toni, Kade and Anna headed up after school and after they did chores. Anna was home before Kade, so she helped Toni lead the foals. Anna hasn’t been around this group of foals that much so Toni had her lead them all so that the foals are exposed to another stranger. Stranger danger is alive and well if you don’t nip it in the bud. Kade volunteered to drive them all to Ellensburg. I heard later that they were debating about who of the three of them has the worst eye sight so I am not sure who should have been driving. That night we had the banquet and Anna was awarded the Williard Wolf scholarship. Willard and Patty Wolf were always a big part of the Hereford industry in the Pacific Northwest, so we knew Willard our entire lives. He was a great guy that helped to establish certified Hereford Beef, bring that product into the Yokes grocery stores, helped get the CaPow Co-Op going, and was a friend to our family and the livestock industry. Having Anna get that scholarship was neat. Kaine had a football game so he did not come. Connell beat Ki-Be 56-6. Jade brought Kaine home for us.

Saturday was the sale, we had lots of people come by and look at the steers. Dad and Aram got up there in the morning so Aram could livestock judge. Toni and I went with Bobbette and Ryan to breakfast while the kids went and got the steers ready for the day. Then Toni and I ran over to Old Mill to look around for a few minutes. While we were there, I found some brightly colored roping reins for our friend Todd who had asked his wife to go buy him new reins. Buying those reins was worth the $14.99 to see the look on his face when I handed them to him. He is pretty easy to get riled up. Totally a great buy. Kade got 2^nd in livestock judging so won a sale credit. That, of course, meant that he had to buy a heifer. Anna and Kade had both fallen in love with a couple of the heifers that were being offered. Luckily Kade got a nice heifer from Cole Page that he is super excited about. She is a big fall heifer that is going to be an easy keeper, if you know what I mean. The little girls that bought the steer out of Kade’s show heifer were super excited. They are our cousin’s cousins and are fighting over him. He was Marlos favorite. 425 went to a pig showman that is showing steers for the first time and he was really excited to get him. 402 stayed in Ellensburg, a local girl bought him. Anna and Marlo had done a great job getting the steers ready and they looked great and did great at the sale. Kade and Aram helped some friends of ours a little bit at the sale and we are proud of them for stepping up. Then we packed up and headed home. We had requested that Kaine and Jax do the chores since they weren’t required to come to the sale and they did. It was nice to get home and be able to just take a minute to relax.

On Sunday we moved stallions around so we could wean a pile of foals. We locked MC up in the corral and moved they yearling fillies into his pen, we left 2 old mares over there, Miss Gen and Crystal with her colt Santana. We caught the yearlings and led them over, with all of them doing great except Robin. Robin is a little harder to work with, but we are hoping with a little age and maturity she will come around. The rest of the lot did great. Once we had all the horses moved appropriately, we were able to wean directly into the weaning pen. Sunday was long. We had Jaxsen as our helper. Overall it went really well. While we were weaning Shiney decided to colic so we grabbed her and gave her Immediate Response and Zestera, which are our go tos for early colic. The boys showed up with big bales so those also went out. Once we had all the horses situated, we put halters on Bailey Bug and our orphan filly Chick. They both did great. Our CA steers showed up on Sunday, we were SUPER excited about that. And Keith and his dad came and got their heifers and two of the show steers Anna halter broke left.

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Last Week in Pictures

Posted on October 15, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

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

We are super proud of our donkey team- Tulip, May, and June for being overall great.

Posted on October 11, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday was the beginning of Homecoming week for Kaine and Kade and they take it seriously. The theme was red, white and blue day and it looked like on Facebook there were some interesting clothing choices from people. Monday was day one for Playin, South, Rip and Bee Bug on the halter. Tulip, May and June earned their dinner on Monday. This was June’s first day ever being used to halter break and she was pretty anti at first but came around, kind of. Playin is super big, she was out on the desert, so is a bit of a challenge but so smart and soft. Of interest, all of these foals go back to Gunner. Playin is sired by Gunner, South and Bee Bug are sired by Sagebug, and Rip is out of a Gunner daughter. It is fun to watch our genetics at play and see the outcome of our breeding plan.

Tuesday was a hectic day. Kade got up early for a Rangeland competition. Kendel texted a picture of Gunner in with the minis, so Toni went down to see what was going on. The bulls (Gunner winters with the Angus bulls) knocked part of the fence down and then pushed the gate open fighting. Like they had not been living together. Toni asked Gunner what he was doing and he was unsure and was ready to leave. So she put him back and got the bulls back in and a cow that was in there. Kaine had a football team event after school. Jaxsen had a football game in Mattawa, Toni, Kicker and Dad went. Marlo came and worked on the Evergreen calves. Ben was out late working corn harvest. It was Day 2 on the donkeys for the foals. Rip was out on the deal and just was halter broke. We also got some fun video of our Cash filly (3 year old by Eyes Bray Full out of an Apache Blue Boy daughter) at the trainer. We also got a picture of Kaine dressed up as a shark for hoco- unclear on why.

On Wednesday the big boys had a Homecoming BBQ at 5:30, so essentially after practices were done. The boys participated in various fun activities like dodge ball. We know because our friends send us pictures, the boys tell us next to nothing. Kaine ran Jaxsen home from practice and then ran back in. Toni and I worked on the foals, they are all doing really well, and the donkeys are doing great. We finished up chores and then Toni went and stayed with grandma. We also got some crested wheat grass straw to see if the horses liked it.

Toni had a big court hearing, Court of Appeals. The foals have been doing so great on the donkeys that Toni and I led them on Thursday. We were so confident that we turned the donkeys back out with the yearling fillies. The donkeys were really happy to be done with us. The joke is one them because they get to come back in next week for the next group. The four foals all tied and led and did really good. Kaine and Jaxsen had football and Kade went to help his friend work on his truck. There was a dance off at the hoco deal and the sophomore’s won. Toni said she got some video of Kade dancing, but I have not seen it.

Friday was windy and fall like. Kaine had a football game, the homecoming football game. I brought Firehouse subs home for everyone. It was a great game, Dianne, Debbie, Marlo, Mom, Lane, Anna, Jaxsen, Kade and I all went in to watch. We worked the foals, and Marlo came our pre-game to meet the foals, lead them, and help with chores. Kaine played a great game.

Saturday morning, we had people out to get meat. The big boys left on their homecoming dates. Kade went to trapshooting first. Jaxsen helped me move some horses around and then I helped him catch his steer and get him on the wash rack. Jaxsen and Anna took their steers for a walk, Anna’s is one she is halter breaking to sell. Toni worked most of the morning. Toni came down and rode Reina through the calves to see how she did. She was fine. Then we worked on foals, practiced loading them in the trailer. I went to stay with grandma and Jaxsen helped Toni finish chores. The boys had a great time at hoco and we got some fun pictures.

On Sunday Chad came out in the morning to put a corrective shoe on Copper. I do not know if that is the correct term. It has plastic around it, so she cannot drag her toe and it stretches her tendon back out. She did really really good. Then we had the beginning of October birthdays. Scarlett came down and Toni gave Scarlett a riding lesson on Boon, they did great. I rode Reina after. Kade rode Jag. Anna and Lane worked on the show calves. We weaned a few more foals, switched the halter broke ones with 3 unhalter broke ones, put halters on the new group and got ready for a new week of fun fun fun.

We have a great first week of halter breaking. We are super proud of our donkey team- Tulip, May, and June for being overall great. We have people coming to look at foals, and although it has been a bit slower than we would like, foals are moving. The weather was perfect for a great fall weekend and we actually had a little bit of fun.

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We really had a good week overall with the last fair out of the way. It is time to get serious with getting ready for winter. Fall is officially upon us!

Posted on September 26, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday was a pretty normal day, we did not do a lot extra since we were all still tired from CBJLS. Toni had a lot of clients to call, court dates this week to prepare for, etc. Kaine and Jaxsen had football practice. Kade worked on calves, his big heifer. Ben caught Anna’s show heifers, McCall washed them after work. I worked on CBJLS pics after work and chores. Exhaustion played a big part in our bare minimum efforts.

Mom has really been on us to get a donkey into an area between stallion to eat weeds. Tuesday we moved Basil down to the weed patch were the faucet is at the corral. Toni was going to spray it all year but never had time. The weeds have gotten out of control. Toni walked out in the circle after chores to get some pics of the foals. Kade jumped on Joss and took a long ride out to the circle. He rides her out and about frequently and she is really a confident little horse. With the cooler temps the gnats are horrible. We still have lots and lots of favorite foals, basically all of them. It is so interesting to see how they are growing and maturing. For instance, Bailey Bug looks like a mini version of her dam, Bayley. Sugar Cookie has shed out to be a really pretty brown roan out of the AI stud. Marlo washed the Evergreen steers on Tuesday. They were moved up on to the hill, so she had to call me to see where they were at.

Wednesday Nathan Jensen showed up first thing in the morning with our 2025 show steers. The kids are all super excited they showed up, and we were all happy to meeting Nathan finally. All of the steers are friendly little guys. We are really happy with them overall and thankful to have met Tyler, our buddy back East that raises such good quality calves. Then Toni had client meetings, and in between client meetings she ran a bull to Sagehill Vet to get semen tested and a couple fall heifers to get bangs vaccinated, so they could go to their new homes. And she took her cat to be neutered, no cat carrier, he just rode on her lap to the vet. Kade rode Joss out around the alfalfa field again. Toni got some more pics of the calves. Jaxsen had a football Wednesday, he played great, had a great game, and had a big cheering squad. Mom stayed with grandma on Wednesday, and dad and Skip picked her up and took mom into the game. Marlo and Diane also came to watch him play and Debbie showed up for a bit. All of his “extra special” people came to cheer him on.

Thursday morning, since the sale went into the wee hours of the night, we found out we got the last two steers we needed in CA. Nathan is headed to Wisconsin, so we need to find a different shipper from CA. Luckily we know some people…. The big boys went in to the volleyball game in Connell, not together, they both needed to drive. Toni had a big hearing on Thursday that she has been pretty nervous about. Toni got some more pics of foals with her cell phone. I did not work on pictures Thursday night, I went to bed early. Toni went and stayed with grandma. At Grandma’s Toni and Leslie started looking at more show steers and heifer because we need more? Don’t worry, Toni is already asking if she can bid.

Friday we worked on finding a shipper on the two steers. One guy we called says he is friends Ben’s cousin, I think because they are from the same area. I am asking Ben and his sisters and brothers, not because they are actually related. I think that is what happens in SE Idaho, you are related because you are from the same area. I will see if any of you actually read this. LOL. I had a Tri State meeting for work in Pasco, that was interesting. Kind of a cool deal, Miss Rodeo Washington was at the Othello rodeo and has challenged herself to ride 50 different horses. She rode ol Kevin at Othello! We got a really cute picture of her on Kevin. We also got a really nice fb message from Gayle who has a Sagebug Bayley filly that she bought from us. Gayle has had some health issues but was able to start her filly this year on her own! We also rewrapped Copper’s leg on Friday, which is healing. I stayed with grandma Friday night. Marlo went to dinner with Toni. Kicker and Kade rode horses Friday evening. Kicker decided he can ride Friday, and luckily Friday was ok with it.

On Saturday Toni and I were supposed to wean a bunch of stuff, but she had fallen ill, she volunteered to still come but I told her I preferred she stay home. Anna helped me move the rest of the round pen over. I got the Gunner pen in and Kaine helped me load Ro and Playin in the trailer. Then I weaned Playin, Rip, Bee Bug, Mirage, Woody and Shiney Guy. Kade came down and helped me get them all fed. The kids worked on their show animals, we have three Angus steers in the Evergreen Exclusive sale in Ellensburg on October 12th and then Ben, McCall, Anna, Kade and Lane are going to the Nile, Lane is helping the U of I Block and Bridle but they are leaving in the wee hrs of the morning, so he is thinking about going with our crew. McKenna is meeting them in Billings. Then Kade is headed to National FFA Convention to compete and lastly in November we have the Western Showcase show. So the kids are getting their steers and heifers ready to go. That night Kade, Anna, Ben, Dad, Diann and I went in and watch Kaine play football. We played Royal City, it was a great game.

Sunday we went to great Uncle Doug’s funeral in Hermiston, Toni also did not make it to that because she was still ill. I told her none of us wanted to be contaminated. Ben, McCall, Anna, Kaine and Kade got circle 4 in and weaned the rest of the calves. Kaine left early to go to Kennewick and ask Kendra to Homecoming. His friend Cyson went with him, because Cyson was asking Kendra’s friend. Kendra is who Kaine took last year. Kicker and Kade put out big bales to the horses. With the nights being cooler they think they need more hay. Kade started working on the 2 year old we bought back, Remi and she did great. He lunged her and saddled her. We try to take it slow with the 2 year olds so he just messed around with her. Kicker came down and did some maintenance for us on the water trough and the mainline leak. Toni took more pictures of the foals with her cell phone and messed around with them. She is also recommitted to keeping as many of them as she can. So if anyone wants to look at foals, please come do it before she really refuses to sell anything.

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

Last Week in Pictures

Posted on September 24, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

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

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” —Chris Grosser

Posted on September 11, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

Monday was Labor day. Labor Day is when we honor and celebrate hardworking Americans with a day of rest. Maybe you’re spending the Labor Day weekend at the beach for one last summer hurrah or camping in the mountains. Maybe you are a rancher or farmer and you do not get federal holidays. Maybe you’re giggling about Labor Day memes with your pals over a drink. Or maybe you’re just spending the day catching up on sleep. Regardless of how you celebrate, give yourself a pat on the back.

Kade, Kaine and Jaxsen tied their 2025 clubby show steers up and Kade’s heifer. We got the cows in to sort for a second time that weekend. We had a call Sunday from a repeat customer wanting some bred heifers, so we got them back in and sorted them out. We also kept another heifer in for Kaine. I worked on the riding horse fence some more, Ben came out and helped me finish it. Anna, Lane and McCall worked on their Nile animals and the sale steers. Kade went to see his friend, and then she came out to help do chores. Kaine drove the tractor around, he claimed to be picking up string, he says he worked on Red Velvet, his steer. Toni rode the old mare Shady since she let Kade ride Friday with all of Kade’s horses are lame. Anna rode Jojo and with some help from Ben, sat on Gunny her 2-year-old. We also did normal chores, doctored Copper, etc. We needed new pics of Blonde and Tuff guy so got those. We need to start really putting the time in to get some foals sold now that we have gotten disease panel testing done on most of them.

Everyone went back to school and work on Tuesday. Kade has been riding Joss all over and he sent me a video of him riding her down around the alfalfa field alone. She is a great mare, she walks right now, he rides her passed the studs, yearling colts etc. As a 2 year old that has been 2 since June, she is really coming along and has a great solid mind. Ben and I got pics of the Hereford and Angus steers that Anna has sold so she could send them to the people for updates. Tank was really helpful getting those. Ben thinks Tank is too tame. Because there is such a thing with a stud? Ben pretty much only loves Sagebug and no other stud is as good as Sagebug ever. Except when Leroy was still alive, he also loved Leroy, but he referred to him as “The Canadian.” Now he only loves Sagebug. Toni had an interview on the ranch for Capital Press, so watch for that article. We are excited to get some press! Toni got some new pics of Blue Shooter with her phone too.

On Wednesday we did the drawing for everyone that liked and shared our pages. You can go onto our social media pages and watch the videos, or I added them below. We were pretty excited to have 17 pages of names to put in Dad’s hat. We are really thankful to everyone that has helped us get our social media back to working after getting hacked in Dec. It sucks but it happens! We got an update from our little buddy Emmett AKA “George”, who has one of our half clubby steers that he is taking to Othello. George had the steer all clipped up and looked snazzy and ready to go to the Othello Fair. Kaine has a red steer we all call Red Velvet so George is also calling his steer Red Velvet because George thinks he is a comedian. The rest of us call George’s steer Big Red. Our good friend Betsy and her son Keegan (Keegan is the 3^rd boy of the Kaine, Kade, Keegan group) were in Moscow and they stopped by to have lunch with Anna. I was so happy to see a picture of them all. Thanks for checking on her Betsy. We still worry about our girl being so far from home. Toni went to Grandma’s Wed night.

On Thursday our last outside mare left, she was in with MC. Toni did all the chores since she was waiting for Steve to stop and get his mare. Then of course they had to have a visit. Steve is now doing custom hauling for anyone that has anything they need hauled. We have known Steve since we were kids as his kids showed Herefords with us back in the day. Steve also sold half interest in a Hereford bull to our uncle Joe. I went home and helped Ben take care of Anna’s show animals. Per the norm, Kaine and Jaxsen had football practice and Kade did most of the chores. Dad went up to Palouse and got enough pellets that we could make it through winter.

On Friday morning our horses from La Grande arrived. A friend of ours lost her battle with cancer at the age of 31. She put up a good fight until the very end. The family was kind enough to let us buy her mares so that we could keep a piece of her here on our ranch and remember her legacy. A different friend of ours picked the 2 horses up in La Grande on Thursday and brought them out Friday morning. It was bittersweet to get the mares but we are excited to have them here. Another friend came out Friday for a meeting with Toni, then they drove around and looked at horses. While out and about they noticed that Shiner was squinting his eye so Toni called to let me know we needed to get him in on Saturday. Our friend didn’t really have a favorite foal, but Sugar Cookie wouldn’t leave her alone. Colada also really liked her. Scarlett was also out to help Toni with chores and got some loves in on Mirage. On Friday Kaine had his first football game. Kade did most of the chores before we left. Jaxsen stayed at the school after practice. Ben, mom, Anna, Lane, Kade and I all went in. Anna and Lane went and got subway for us to eat at the game. It was a great game, we went into OT at 0 to 0 score and they beat us by 1 in OT. Kaine played the majority of the game and played awesome.

On Saturday the kids clipped their steers for CBJLS this next week. Anna also clipped her sale steers. Toni and I went down to circle 5 and got Bell and Shiney Guy in. Shiney Guy has a swollen eye so we need to see what is going on. We spent way too much time out in Circle 5 enjoying the foals. They are all really curious and want attention. We have been arguing about who has to pull hair on Cowy/Mini Tank/Cowboy because none of us want him to be mad at us. Well while Toni was petting him Laroy came over and started biting him so she pulled hair right then so he wouldn’t know it was a human doing it. We just have a few left in that field to get hair on. Then we hauled Tank down to mom and dads and went out and got Gunner in and pulled him from the mares. So we were in a pretty good mood when we went to move Tank and he ran over to us and loaded great. Then we went out to the desert to get Gunner. We couldn’t find them, couldn’t find them. Kept honking the horn. We finally realized they were about a mile away on the other fence line, which we can’t drive out that far with a trailer. Gunner saw us about that time and literally ran full speed across the desert to us and jumped in the trailer. It is really nice to have awesome studs. Kaine used the skid steer and cleaned up the area where the weaning pen will go. Belle and Shiney guy went into the old mare pen, Annie got kicked out into general population and is not happy about it. Two of the steer calves we sold last year for show steers came out so Anna could clip them. I went to stay with grandma.

Sunday morning Ben, Kade, Kaine, Lane and Anna tattooed the weaned bulls, one had already lost a tag, but only one so they were able to figure out who it was. Then Kade went over the hill and helped a young kid clip his steer for the show this week. We really encourage our kids to help those that ask and to set good examples. Jaxsen came down and dyed his steer before we went in to set up for CBJLS. If you see Jax and notice his hands are black, just remember, the dye comes with gloves. Brook Mertens and his wife Dawn and their kids made a great display for the steers. It did not take us long to set up at all and it looked great. Now we are physically ready for Wednesday, mentally….. not sure we are ever ready!

With that said, this is the last terminal show the kids have this year. So if you are interested in supporting the kids please come out to CBJLS. I can vouch for most of the kids at this show, they work hard and have the time and effort into their projects. Kids, all kids, love having people come out and see their projects, so even if you don’t have the ability to purchase and animal or do an add-on, being there is support. Making the effort to talk to the kids, see their project is something all of these kids appreciate.

Here are the dates:

CBJLS Show – Sept 12-14, 2024

Thursday 12th – 9:30 a.m. Steer, Swine & Lamb Market Classes begin – CHAMPIONSHIPS FOLLOW – Lambs will begin at 9:30 a.m./Steers will immediately follow (this allows exhibitors to attend preview meeting)

Friday 13th – 9:00 a.m. Steer, Swine & Lamb Showmanship Classes begin – CHAMPIONSHIPS FOLLOW – Steers will begin at 9:00 a.m./Lambs will immediately follow

Round Robin – 5pm

Saturday 14th – 12:30 p.m. Market Stock Sale

Sale Order: Swine, Sheep, Beef

Here is the add-on sheet for anyone that wants to do add-ons. Again- this is for ALL kids that are showing at CBJLS. We encourage support in all shapes, not just monetary. We also have the North Franklin Booster Club for those with a little extra money to add to a bigger pool of money.

https://www.cbjls.org/exibitoraddon/

North Franklin Booster- https://northfranklinlivestockbooster.com/

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: #AQHAforsale, #AQHAforsaleinWA, #AQHAProud, #Barnbabies, #QHColor, #Quarter horses for sale in WA, #Quarterhorseforsale, #QuarterhorsesinWA, #ranch life, #Ranching, #RanchingHeritageBreeder, #ranchingsummer, #ranchlife, #ranchliving, #ranchraised, #wabeef, #WABeefLove, #WAJrAngus, #WALoveBeef, #WAlovebeef #ranchingheritagebreeders, #washingtoncattlemen

To put it mildly, fair tired is an all kind of different tired!

Posted on August 30, 2024 by horseshoeangusranch

The week of Aug 19^th – Aug 25^th was a fun filled week at the fair, it is known around here “The Best Week of Summer,” or by adults as the Longest Week of Summer or depending on how hot it is, the Worst Week of Summer. Anna started college classes Monday, and Ady decided to not go to the Benton Franklin Fair. We felt like we were short a few steers and kids all week. We only took 4 open heifers since last year they decided to make us clean out our beds, we used to take a whole bunch of open cattle. So it was a pretty light week for us really. Monday Kaine, Jaxsen, Toni and I hauled the steers in, Kade and Kicker took Kade’s pickup to B&W to have a gooseneck hitch put in, then Kicker brought Kade over to the fair. Ben and Kicker did all the chores all week, except the horse chores on two days when Toni and I drove home to dr Copper.

Tuesday was Market, Kaine and Kade were showing FFA this year, so they were first, they did a great job. Kade was grand champion in Market and Kaine was Reserve champion. Jaxsen, Julian and Natalie were showing 4H. Natalie and Julian both made it back to the champion round, Jaxsen was 3^rd in his class which had 2 phenomenal steers in it. The funny thing is last fall we had some friends ask us to buy them steers for their kids. We bought some super top-notch steers and Toni said- we are going to regret buying these steers. The Market championship round had 3 of the steers that we bought last fall. They are that good. And one of them beat Jaxsen. Natalie was grand champion 4H. That afternoon the kids went on rides and Toni and I went home to dr Copper and do the horse chores. We got back in time to go to the rodeo and eat dinner.

Wednesday was Fitting and Showing, the kids all did great again. Kaine was Grand Champion FFA in Fitting and Showing and Kade was Reserve champion. It was super cool because during that round the Judge said she kept waiting on one of the boys to make a mistake and they didn’t. She finally chose Kaine due to personal preference because they were both showing that good and their steers were that good. Let me tell you, we were beyond ecstatic to have the boys go back-to-back Grand Reserve/Grand Reserve in reverse. We did get asked if there were more than 2 FFA showmen and yes there were. Natalie, Julian and Jaxsen all made it back to the championship round, and Natalie was grand champion. The kids all did great showing. Jaxsen’s steer, Gunz, that we raised took such good care of Jax. Some of the steers on both days were a bit much, getting loose, running the ring and steady eddie Gunzy and Jax just stood there and did their thing. Super solid. Wednesday football practice started, so Kaine and Max went to football practice when they got done showing. We walked around the fair for a while, got a massage in the massage chair, got a bundt cake sample, shoes polished. Then did chores and went to the rodeo and dinner. We had heard rumors the big boys were wandering the fair with girls, but no first hand knowledge on that. Toni and Leslie also went to Craig Morgan and said it was an awesome concert.

On Thursday the kids went around and learned how to show all the animals for the round robin. Aram and Emmett “managed” the round robin kids. Kaine tried to fire Aram but since he didn’t hire Aram, he couldn’t fire him. Aram and Emmett are really good at managing people and it was hysterical to overhear Aram trying to boss Kaine around to get him motivated. They did a great job. Toni and I went back to do chores right after lunch so we made it back in time for the round robin. All of the beef kids did great, none of them won, and we could not hear the announcer at all from our side of the ring, it was kind like we were the red headed step child (isn’t that the saying??) Our kids all did well though, I am proud of all 4 of them. Then we went to the rodeo and had dinner.

Friday was the sale, Kade, Natalie and Kaine were at the sale of champions at the beginning. Thank you Musser Bros Trucks and Auto, Watts Construction and Wheatland Bank for buying their steers. Then we waited around until last, had lunch, etc. Finally, it was Jaxsen and Julian turn. Ray Poland Construction bought Julians and Les Schwab about Jaxsens. Thak you to all our buyers. Kaine, Max, Keegan and Andrew went to practice on Friday. We went to the rodeo and dinner. Let me tell you, by Friday we were tired. Also, as kind of a fun thing there was a really cool hat booth that had set-up at the fair that had blanks, meaning you get to pick how the hat is shaped. Kade, Kaine, Julian, and Lane all wanted a semi-custom hat and it was really a fun process. Toni bought a pre-formed hat. Super fun to all have new straw hats. Jax got a ball-cap and a sweatshirt because he didn’t pack one. The weather was very moderate this year and it was rainy and windy by Friday.

Saturday was livestock judging, and Toni and Leslie have a good time getting the steer class together and placing them. Toni probably more so than Leslie. It is one of her favorite things. Judging cattle, what is more fun? The kids all did pretty good, Aram was reserve champion in FFA and the FFA team with our kids was 1^st. Natalie, Julian and Jaxsen all placed well in 4H. Kaine was at football so did not judge. Manny reserved tables for the rodeo on Saturday night, so we had great seats and Ben, Kicker, Anna, McCall, Marlo and Lane all came. We had a great time. Saturday night is really the only night we get to relax and enjoy the fair like normal people. Other than eating. We eat fried food all week at the fair. Funnel Cake, Elephant Ears, the big Fry square, etc. Lots of crap food.

Sunday morning we got up and cleaned out the beds, packed up our stuff and came home. We all took a nap when we got home, then did chores and cleaned out the camper. To put it mildly, fair tired is an all kind of different tired!