Family Effort..Cleanup

This was a great day to be outside cleaning up! +7C  (45F) and sunny. I got to supervise due to a wrenched back while trimming Alpine. That's why I have no shovel in my hand. Instead, I took pictures of other folks working. After all, age must have some benefits.

 Myself and son Mike. Mike is the one working. :-}

 Elaine, AJ and Mike. Me, behind camera.

 We had Mad max checking up on things.

 Ah, yes, work! I could watch it all day!

 Noah (5) decided it's more fun to roll down the drifts.

Brooklyn found a sunny spot in the hay loft. " I don't do work!"

Ha, ha, there is lots more where that came from!

Boots and Friends

It's another warm, sunny day, and not much to do except eat and watch horses. Boots spends the majority all of his time standing guard. He has amazing patience.

Biz will be the victim for some road riding this afternoon.

If Only I Was This Good!

I found this on YouTube and think it is probably the most amazing demonstration of training and trust in horses that I have ever seen!

No saddle, no reins and complete control!

Honza Bláha - open borders

HonzaBlahaCZ

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Crisp and Clear!

It was another nice day at -2C (+29F) and a great day for another ride. I figured on about an hour, but ended up at 2 1/2. It was Alpine's turn and she was more than willing to go. We didn't ride the whole time, but ended up at a neighbour's where I was shown 2 carts for single or tandem driving. No pictures as they were still in the shed. She has a couple of matched Walker horses that are trained.
 Alpine also stood her ground when three large dogs rushed her, barking and being aggressive. Good horse! I don't bounce as well as I used to!

We chatted horses for quite a while as Alpine adapted to 5 strange (to her) horses. The roads were pretty icy so no trotting, just walking to avoid any slips or falls. Needless to say, she got a half gallon of sweet feed as a reward when we got back. OK, OK, the other two also got sweet feed, but Alpine didn't seem to mind.

It was a quiet trip with only my two dogs plus one of the neighbour's along for the ride.

Spring! I can almost taste it, but I know we will get some very cold weather yet.

Ride when you can, and keep the horse between you and the ground!

Yep, More of the Same!

Unfortunately when we get record warm days, we usually get a snow dump to go with it. 

 Remind me to clean off the truck before going to A&W for coffee tomorrow morning. I might get a ticket otherwise. The snow fall replaced some of the level that compacted yesterday.

Biz kind of takes it all in stride.

 For mid January we are accumulating a lot of snow. It should make for a soggy spring.

All the paths had to be shoveled out again. The forecast for this evening is rain. Did you know that rain is a four letter word? At least at this time of year! Alpine and Tucker are enjoying their loaner blankets. Biz managed to get hers off, somehow.

 Boots is still taking his herding duties seriously. Biz almost tagged him with both hind feet when he slipped in the snow on a full charge.

 Alpine, iced up, but toasty warm under the blanket.

 Three hours of plowing, snow blowing and scooping and things are back to normal, whatever that is around the Acreage.

Think warm, stay warm, and keep the road between the tires!

We had a bit of a scare with Tucker. With the cold spell that we just experienced, she went from 1150 pounds down to 925 in nothing flat. Her eating rate slowed to about 30% of the other horses and it looked like we were going to lose her. With segregation and an extra heavy feeding I managed to get 75 pounds back on her. The vet came up and floated her teeth which seemed to help, but we both figured this would be her last winter. However, with the weight gain, it looks like she will make it. Tucker is now 26 years old and that's getting long in the tooth.

Weight at 1000 pds, 150 to go

 Tucker has always been prone to abscesses in the front feet, probably due to foundering before we got her. With that history, I have to be careful not to feed her too much sweet feed or beet pulp, or risk another break out. So, extra hay, a half gallon of sweet feed once a day and some tender love and care. My vet donated the horse blanket for the next few months to keep her body temp up, and to prevent a chill. Our neighbour donated some left over sweet feed ( above what I bought) and some used horse blankets to lay on should she want to. This is what I really like about country living...great vets and great neighbours.

 I took the precaution of letting Tucker smell the blanket, and rubbed her with it before putting it on, just in case she had never been blanketed before. The precaution was not required and she took to it well. Today, she was her normal cranky self and pinned her ears to move Biz out of her space.

 I have a whole bunch of funny looking trees. Bad horses!

Boots takes it all in stride. Find a sunny spot in the hay and let the world go by. Smart dog.

On the plus side, I took Biz out for an hours ride  (+2 C}, but could not get into the fields due to the snow pack. She decided to go any way and left the plowed road to go through the grader bank and entered belly deep in the ditch. It's really neat to be sitting on a bounding horse trying to extricate herself from an almost stuck situation! Love it!

The Sun Came Out...Finally

Unfortunately, it turned cold again! -26C (-15F). It was good to see the Blue Ridge range again.

 The goils took it in stride and warmed up their sides. It's amazing how much the sun will warm up horse hair, even at these temperatures.

Random Shots Around The Acreage

The sun did come out briefly today, so as promised, here are a few random shots around the place. It is only December 12, but already it's time for the snowshoes! I couldn't do a post without a couple of horse pictures in it. 

 This is a photo at almost noon giving the maximum height of the sun above the horizon.

 The garden and green house are both well covered.

 If anybody wants to BBQ, bring a shovel and brush.

 Alpine is not impressed! And, yes, it is snowing again. The weather forecaster has said that we have received only 10 hours of sunlight this month. Humbug!

 Tucker, being an older, and wiser horse tends to take things in stride. She was still talking to me and demanding more sweet feed.

99 days till Spring!

December Blues

It's -20C (-4F) and the water softener line is frozen. This takes about 2 hours outside to fix. There is about a 15 mph wind which lowers the temperature another 10 degrees.

The horse trough was empty again which meant another hour outside playing with water and hoses.

Did I mention that I am fighting the flu also?

Alpine

There are two things to cheer me up. Big brown eyes and the fact that there is only about 105 days till spring!

Critter Shots

Warming up at -17C (1.4F)

It's still snowing!

How about some more sweetfeed?

#2 cooking off.

Happiness is a Big Fire

Brooklyn enjoyed the heat, but soon moved away. This is early this year for the Pyromaniac to be active. With lots, and I mean lots, of snow, I was able to get an early start on my 6 brush piles.

 Once it burns down, I will go around and kick in the ends and all that will be left is ashes.

 Biz was my steady companion and moved forward and back as the heat built and diminished. She is used to fires from the previous years on the Acreage. As you can see, it is snowing very heavily.

 Once the snow melted off one side, she would turn around and do the other side.

 Tucker came over, but stayed back a bit farther than Biz. i think she remembered the smouldering horse hair from last year.

Prepared to get bored with fire pictures because there are still 5 more piles to go. This was a small one!

Sweet Feed is So Good!

It's been in the -20C range at night so the girls are getting about a pint of sweet feed a day as a heat source. Oats and molasses must taste pretty good because the horses kind of swarm me. They come in close and fast, but know not to go for the bucket until it is spilled on the ground. Alpine, then tucker and finally Biz get their rations as per the established pecking order.

 Brooklyn is content to check the hay loft for mice or cats. She saw a cat in there about 2 years ago, and always checks to see if it has come back.

It was nice to see some sunshine again and hang out with the critters particularly after the last week. The truck failed to the cost of $500 and the septic pump failed to the cost of about $700. The driveway was ploughed out three times due to unforecast snow storms and all this while fighting cold temps and high winds ( wind chill of -31C)

Now all is up and running and the Grey Cup game is about to start. Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

It Was a Great Day!

It was sunny and warm with a slight dusting of new snow. How can it get any better than this for putting a few miles on a horse? 'Nuff said!