Queen of the Hill

This is Honey the Donkey. She was playing queen of the hill. I think either she won or she was the only one playing! Too funny though to drive out to the pasture & see this image this morning. Honey was braying her brains out too!
So busy today that I can't even think about all the stuff I did today. I do remember being an electrician of sorts, horsing around with the horses, running into town & feeding the calves this evening. Other than that....I'm blank! I think I'm still tired from our busy weekend.
Speaking of...the weekend was very fun. Charlie, WB & I went to the shoot in Upton on Saturday & had a great time. I tried out some different rifles & carbines belonging to a friend as WB is looking at a different rifle/carbine for me. Most likely a carbine because I don't need the long barrel of a rifle. Since a carbine is shorter, it is better suited for a woman's frame. Gorgeous day & had a literal & figurative blast!
Weather was a little spotty Sunday morning, but we took the gamble & hit the big pay day! It ended up being a beautiful morning to ride horses. Ruby did really well - no kicking & she only pinned her ears back when she couldn't see Steele. Since he can be a real toot, I don't blame her for not liking it when he was out of eye sight! I'm getting more comfortable on her & feel like I'll really have full confidence on her fairly soon.

These two guys here are Trooper & Charlie. We are looking at Trooper to adopt as Charlie's noble steed. He, Trooper not Charlie, is a retired competition jumper, but also a retired HPD (Houston Police Department) officer. Sweet guy just stood there while I petted him, checked his hooves & messed with his muzzle. Of course I had to give him a few treats as a reward. He hasn't been under saddle in 4 years. I'm hoping that all will work out that we get to keep him, but we do not want, nor do we need, another horse that just eats & poops! Keeping fingers crossed.
Tomorrow. Hmmm. I think I'm going to go the Scarlet O'Hara route on tomorrow & think about it tomorrow.

Just Lovely

No more new calves, but the ones we have are too cute. Little Slash over here was catching some morning sunshine yesterday. A few of his friends joined him a little later. I tried to get a picture of the calf pile, but the crazy donkeys kept getting in the way or trying to bite me or stealing my gloves or taking my calf calendar or...you get the picture, they were being a total nuisance! I'm making sure there is plenty of mineral out so that if we do have more calves next week with the new cold front, there won't be any problems. Really don't want another vet house call because the momma can't expel the afterbirth properly. Mineral helps them do that & is way cheaper than the vet coming to visit!
Sugar is enjoying life on the ranch. She has plenty of yard to roam around in & spends most days chillaxing in her day bed. She must get her 20 hours of sleep less she be grumpy although she's usually grumpy anyway. I guess I would be if I were that old. She's 16. If I were 112, I'd be grumpy too!

I have been working working working in the horse barn these days. I built some blanket drying racks yesterday & plan to install them today. We had near disaster yesterday when 3 horses piled up in 1 stall. I'll be heading to the hardware store for latches, hasps & chain to install on all of the stalls so those pesky guys can't open the stalls themselves anymore. Thank goodness Daddy was at the workshop & heard the commotion. Racks & latches installed, I will need to check the light fixtures that don't work & replace or repair. Fun stuff over, I guess I'll have to start cleaning up some of the old saddles to complete my work in there. Will have to take my time with that so that I can figure out what project to start working on next!

I'm Back!!

Left cold rainy Houston this morning & drove into a cool non-rainy day at the ranch. Had another great weekend in H-town with my hubby. We had some friends over for dinner Sat night & that was about it for highlights of the weekend.
Today was a "hit the ground running" day back on the ranch. After I put away 800lbs of feed in the feed room, my horse stalkers were looming about so I fed them. Ruby got her daily grooming & lunging. She was feeling her oats a bit as she tried to bite me while I was saddling her. So...she got to lunge some more in full saddle before I rode her. Just a little ride around the arena. I don't feel sure enough about myself with her yet to go galavanting off into the back acreage.
Horses tended to, it was time to go check on the commercial cattle. We now have a total of 13 babies. They are playing around in the top picture & then needed a little rest afterward. I think their mothers told them to sit down & be quiet. They were having a killer bridge game & had just brewed a fresh pot of coffee. Too cute cute!
While out checking on the baby count, I had the donkeys (Hody & Honey) trying to climb into the Kubota with me. Hody nearly bit me 5 or 6 times. What's the deal with horses & donkeys trying to bite me today?? Biting Tara does not make her want to pass out the treats!!!
Tomorrow is grocery store, fill mineral feeders, work with Ruby some more & lord only knows what else will cross my path. Am sure it will be just fine though - what ever it is.

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So is Christmas, but that is the time of year I'm talking about. It's calving season! That is the most wonderful time of the year. Such cuties hitting the ground. The top picture is 242's baby. She is learning the flavor of stick. The bottom picture is 198's baby. She was nuzzling the weeds, but hasn't decided to taste them yet.
I got a great surprise when I went to feed last night. 184 had a baby yesterday. It seems to be doing well since it was not happy when momma left its side to go eat. No problems with the birth or after birth or her udder so we are shooting 1000 on this one!
I have worked & worked down in the horse barn the past few days. It was so crazy windy yesterday that that horses & I were happy to be spending it in the barn. They saw me pull up down there & came charging over in a stampede. While they munched their new food, I cleaned the tack room. It probably won't stay that way for long, but at least the mouse houses are gone. There are some great old saddles that need some TLC & I'll tackle that next week.
Today is a short day as I'm off to Houston for the weekend. It's going to be a more relaxed weekend this time since we don't have a million & 1 things to do. I'm just going to wrap things up so that I can start fresh on Monday.
I need to go do a calf count with the commercial herd. This cold weather surely brought on other births. Will have to bundle up because it is freezing cold out there. Doubtful that I'll take Pepe. He's been shivering under his cover for days now.

Ruby Tuesday

Had a horse filled day today.  Started out in the horse barn & stayed there all morning & a little bit after lunch.  The horses decided they would like a little breakfast & get out of the foggy cold windy morning.  Once I kicked them out again, it was time to muck the stalls.  All cleaned up, I decided to tackle the hay stall.  I'm always cautious walking in there because I don't know what is under all that hay!  Forked up all the hay & used it as bedding in the stalls as well as adding 4 fresh hay bales to the hay stall. 
The cattle inventory is as finished as it is going to get until we do a round up this spring.  I did get pictures of all the bulls & formatted their inventory to match the commercial inventory spreadsheet.  I think Uncle Don is going to curl his toes in delight at the new inventory.  At least I'm hoping he will!
The sun finally came out late afternoon & so I lunged Ruby & then went for a short ride.  I think she was more interested in the peppermint treats in my pocket than anything else, but we had a good workout & ride.  Tomorrow, I will officially adopt her.  Am really excited!!
The calves were a little confused with the new feeding arrangement tonight.  Their old feeding area is just a mud pit & so we moved the troughs.  Most of them went bounding into the old area only to freak out & come running back to the new area.  So funny when they realized that the food wasn't going in there.  Silly little calves!!
I'm pooped from scooping poop today & am going to go collapse in my freshly clean sheeted bed.  :-)