Things that make you go, "Awwww!"

I bit the bullet this afternoon, and took Reese out with me to go feed Kahlua.  I knew going in this was going to be a pain in the ass.  And it was.  She herds the crap out of her, or as much as she can with me getting on her every time she looks at her.  By the end, she knew I was pissed and just stuck to my side.  I don't think Reese will ever be the dog I can take with me horseback riding.  The one time I did it last spring was nothing short of a stressful mess.

Grabbed some more hay brought it out to the sheep who are in my backyard.  The ram came up, and so did the young ewe.  But the older very pregnant ewe opted to hang back near the chicken house.  I know what that means!!!!  I put Reese away and went and grabbed my camera.  I couldn't wait to see!

I think they're both ewe lambs.  Mama wasn't real happy with me messing with them, so it was just a quick check.  Here's lamb #1 left side ...

Lamb #1 - Right side.

Lamb #2 .. is the one in front.  Kind of a roamer.

Even came over to say hi to Echo.

Because this one didn't seem to care too much about mom, I jugged them up, gave mom some hay and water and they are as protected for the night as I can make them.  Keeping my fingers crossed everyone does well.

Echo.  I love that dog.  She is everything I've ever wanted or needed in a dog.  She is fearless, but fair.  She's patient, but tolerates no crap.  And she is very very sensible.  I won't go anywhere near the ram again without her.  I did that earlier today when I first checked on the lambs, and he (my formerly adorable little Pepe ram lamb) was out to get me.  He'd come at me, and I'd kick him in the head.  Had to do that about 4 times on my way out.  I hate doing that.  I should have known better than to go in there without Echo.  He won't come anywhere near me if she's with me cause he knows she will kick his dumb ass.  I don't need to say anything to her ... she knows where to be, where to stay, when to walk up ... when to back off.  Just amazing. 

And then ... same dog ... goes up to the little brand new lamb and licks it, wagging her tail the whole time. 

As long as I've been doing this, I'm still awe-struck.  Watching these dogs work just blows my doors off.

Cute Rescue Girl

Meet Nana.  She's a 9 month old adorable ... something.  She's afraid of stock, which is how I ended up rescuing her, and she's quite timid, but adjusting pretty well.  But let me tell you ... she is as sweet as can be and just wants to be loved. 

She is up to date on her shots, and she will be spayed in the next week or two, and then she will be available for adoption.  If you know someone wanting a snuggly companion, this girl is one to check out! 

On Saturday, I met up with some of the owners of the Echo x Zip pups and we put the pups on stock for the first time.  First up was Zoe.  She was interested, but not quite sure yet.  

Then Jammer got her shot.  I don't have pictures of that, as I was the one that worked her.  She did very nicely.  Gathered well, was nice and calm, kept everything nice and tidy.  Mug shots.

Then there was Jade.  The hotshot.  She's gonna be a handful, but a fun one.  I don't think I got photos of Jade working, but here's her mug.

None of the pups are ready for serious training yet, but we'll start exposing them about once a month and see how they do.

Rita also worked with Jackson and Don.  Jackson showed a huge improvement over the last time he was on stock.

 

A few random shots of Nancy, Finn and Zoe.

The star of the day, though, was Rook.  He's got a very nice outrun, and handled his sheep very well.  Phyllis did a very nice job of handling him also.  Her timing was right on.

A very fun time was had by all!  Looking forward to next time!

J

Blugged.

Well, I've got the blog to a very basic look and was able to get rid of the snow and the other stuff I had on there. I'm now set up on the new interface and I don't like it. Yet. I was able to figure out how to get rid of random stuff that was put back on my blog, but haven't gotten the blog to where I want it yet. It's going to take a lot of work, I think. There's not much going on here. The princess is still ... a princess. See?

I'm looking at 2 and 3 horse slant load trailers, and I think I found one.   I am just working out the logistics, and hopefully, I'll be able to bring this one home soon.

 It's a 1997 Circle J Apache 2-horse slant with a nice tack room.  There's a lot more room in there for Kahlua and it provides me with a nice dry place to store my saddle and tack and stuff since I don't really have a tack room yet.  And it will give me a place to tie her up to while I groom her and tack her up instead of using ... a tree.

This economy sucks.  I'm hoping something gives soon.

Phyllis and I rescued another dog.  She's adorable.  Her name is Nana and she's about 9 months old.  She's said to be purebred Border Collie, but I don't see how she could be.  To me, she looks like a black and white cattledog mix.  She won't work cows, so she couldn't stay where she was because she was "burning dog food."  But she is the sweetest thing on the planet.  I think she will make someone a very nice dog.  We're going to put her on sheep on Saturday when we take the pups out and try them out.  Hopefully, the weather cooperates and I can get photos of everything.  Possibly even some video. 

More later,
J

Oops!

Well, I was showing someone how to change their template on their blog, and unbeknownst to me, Blogger has this new fancy layout that i started playing with.  I totally messed with it, and now I've screwed it all up and I have no idea how to fix it ... and I'm too tired tonight.  Sorry about that.  I'll fix it in the morning or something.

I messed around with Kahlua today.  I added a writeup to her training page if you'd like to check that out.  Nothing exciting.  Just getting to know her and what little training things I need to work on.

More soon,
J

A New Year

Hopefully, this one is a bit better than the last one.  It won't take much.  In fact, if nothing happens, that would be a huge improvement.

For New Year's Eve, Mark and I went up to McCall for the night.  The drive up was rather uneventful (thankfully) because there has been no new snow or even moisture to cause hazardous conditions.  Here's a few photos I snapped at one of the rest areas.

I don't think I've ever seen a sign like this before!

Inside the rest area, I was fascinated (doesn't take much) by this phone ... you couldn't even call it a pay phone because it wouldn't take money.  You could only make local or toll-free calls.  Thought that was odd.

Further up the road, the ice looked really cool

Took a short detour into New Meadows ...

It is gorgeous here in the spring.  We found Mark's favorite sign.

There's one on each side of the road.  Imagine that.

We stopped again a little later to take some photos of this wetlands area.  As I was standing there snapping a few photos, I kept hearing the ice cracking and kept looking for the critters that I was sure were there.  But there were none.

And you can't really see it in this photo, but I watched as a crack developed, and then a small chunk of ice fell through and splashed into the water.  The cracking was everywhere.  We must have hit it at just the right time of day where a little bit of this was melting.  The sound was really neat.

Once we go into McCall, we checked into the motel (details deliberated omitted), and then went to the Mill for a couple of yummy chocolate whiskey drinks.  Then off to Crusty's for some pizza.  They had some great chairs there, and this one absolutely sent me into a fit of the giggles.  This one, really, should be in my dining room. 

We hung out at the "Forest Service" bar and had a great time.  Even bought a t-shirt.  Was drinking some sort of yummy nutty beer ... a little heavier than I normally drink, but I think I might be on to something. 

Back in town, sort of ... Mark was showing me a little town that's not really on the map anymore (and the town's name I can't even think of now) ... but we passed by a small field of these adorable cows.  Highlands, maybe?

Look at her back leg.  Reminds me of a Muppet!  I love it!

Then yesterday, Mark picked me up so we could go horse trailer shopping and price checking, etc.  He said, "Grab your camera.  There's a fresh deer kill down the road, and a giant bird munching on it."  When we got there, there was a CC Sheriff parked directly in front of the kill, and the bird had moved off the kill and was patiently waiting for people to leave so he could get back to what he was doing. 

Initially, I thought it was a golden eagle, but the head isn't golden enough.  Looks more like a juvenile bald eagle to me.  I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Just down the road from there were two (what I thought were) weird looking herons. 

Was wishing I had a better lens, and a boatload more talent.

Late in the day, we went and picked up my saddle from DC's house and brought it home.  I think I might saddle Kahlua up today and try hopping on her and see how my back feels. 

More later ...

J