Big Poppa

Meg went with me to the ranch today to check mares. Yesterday I was sure my mare was getting close. Her bag had really filled up and she looked very uncomfortable. So I cancelled plans to spend Saturday night with Chris' mom and figured I would be spending tonight at the ranch, checking my mare.

Today, her bag seems to have shrunk back down a bit and she was back to hanging with the other girls...

Figures!
Cowgirl(the sorrel in the middle) is rapidly catching up to Chunk(the sorrel I am petting) in belly size, but she has not started filling in the bag yet. Honky Tonk(the red dun) isn't showing anything. I don't know if she is bred or not. I'm not crazy about the way she looks either. She is peaked through the hips and not in as good of shape as she usually is. She may have to go to mom's for some TLC. I told mom that if that was the case, I was going to haul her to the vet and have her preg tested, cause if she is open, I am going to ride her this year. She is a freaking awesome ride!

Yes, I'm standing like a dork, reaching 3 feet out there to give Chunk a little rub, cause Cowgirl has a tendency to pin her ears unexpectedly and if Chunk feels like she is cornered, she will flat run over a person to get away. I don't need run over and Chunk don't need to feel like she has to jerk around either. We must be very mindful of that precious cargo...that I wished she would pop out!:)

So with the mares all checked out, I cleaned some more on the barn and Megan gave the stud a good going over. He loves attention...

Now, before anyone freaks because I let my 15y/o daughter handle the stallion...we do have rules!

#1)First we observe. Ninety-nine percent of the time Pistol is as docile as a kitten. He loves people and begs for attention. But before we ever go strolling into his pen, we make sure he is NOT in stallion mode. It's not hard to tell the difference-head hanging over the fence begging for attention or head up and looking for other horses.

#2)The stud is always haltered while being handled. Any horse can move quickly, but a stallion can move twice as fast and even the gentlest stud has a tendency to kick out as they go by. Heard about more than one person who got kicked in the head(and died) from that happening when handling "gentle" stallions while they were loose.

We are very fortunate with this stallion, as he is exceedingly people oriented, grew up running with geldings and he has never been lippy or nippy. He was broke to ride by a guy in his 70's as a 2y/o and that guy said he was very athletic and cowy. However, the next people who owned him must have tried to "show the stud who was boss", cause he was one POed dude when he came to us. It took me a few months of handling him before that hard look went out of his eye, but once he realized that people were okay again, he has become a pocket pony. Since we have had him, we have not bothered to try to ride him, although I have saddled him several times. I may see what he remembers this next winter though. It's a shame to not at least keep him somewhat rideable.

He probably isn't everyone's cup of tea...
But if Shooter is any indication of what he produces, he'll work. His Oklahoma Star breeding should nick particularly well with the King/Sugar Bars mares we have. When I bred my Lady Bug's Moon/Leo mare(Chunk) to him, I was rather focused on the Lady Bug's Moon side of it, but since have found a very interesting article in regards to the good nick of Oklahoma Star and Leo. Would you all believe they were phenominal cutting horses in their day? Surprised me too! Not that I am particularly interested in raising cutting horses, but plenty of cow, coupled with plenty of speed is always a good thing. Another thing I hope Shooter is an indication of, is that this stud will impart a bit more length and smoothness to our somewhat blocky stock. I like stout, but some of what we have is...wow, a bit thicker than most people are looking for.

And finally, we went to the other pasture to see how my old mare is getting along...

Very well I think!
I struggled to keep weight on Woofer all winter. I knew she needed her teeth done, but couldn't seem to get the dentist to stop by the house. When he was out doing our other horses, I told him(again) that I had an old mare in dire need of a good workover, so out of the blue he stopped in one day and did her for me...and he leveled Moon up again too. She don't have much left for teeth, but he leveled her out and took a bunch off of her front teeth so she could grind again and she started gaining right away. Good enough! I think the old girl has a few more years left in her. I told her she better not getting to looking too good or I would breed her to the stud again this spring. She shook her head, kinked her tail and headed out. I guess that is a NO to any more babies! That's okay. She has given me all she ever needs to.