There's lots to show & tell you so lets get right to it!
The horses are all very happy to be on grass again. The boys didn't want to come back so Carla had to chase them down the hill...
We've had lots of wildlife around this year, the usual deer, ducks, herons, etc. We also hosted a swallowtail convention. Most exciting of all is that the gray foxes are back and they have babies! I haven't been able to get a photo of the kits, Rebecca M managed to get a shot of some of the kits returning to the den but it's not very clear so I didn't include it here.
We had quite an exciting time when the farriers were here last month. We had Ketu and Becca in the crossties, and all of a sudden they started to act very nervous and were looking behind the barn on the hill. We all looked outside and there was an oreo cow! (A Belted Galloway for those who want to be more precise.) Ketu broke the crossties and ran away - such a brave boy! I quickly untied Becca and put her in a stall in the other barn. Chad went out to see if he could herd the cow down into one of the runs but he came right back and said "that's not a cow... it's a BULL!!! Alrighty then.... So Carla and I knew where it most likely came from, we tried to call but their phone number wasn't listed so she hopped in her car and went to look for them. She was headed back here and met Steve and his wife on the road so she stopped and asked if they were missing a bull. They said YES, and followed her back to our barn. We herded the bull - named Goliath - down into Ketu's stall and shut him in while they went to get their trailer. He was actually quite sweet, just a little guy, liked to have his head rubbed and petted. He loaded easily onto the trailer and is quite happily out grazing with his cows now. From the reaction of our horses, you'd think he was a giant horse eating monster - silly horses...Heather was here last month to do teeth and sheaths. Cami, Tapper, and Ivan had their teeth done and all the boys had their sheaths cleaned. Cami needed extra drugs, she just really doesn't like the vet. Ketu and Jazz were a bit difficult, but we got them all done for this year!
As I mentioned, Rebecca M has been around quite a bit. Carla has had her working with Ketu a few days a week to get him in shape and remind him that he has a job to do. He's doing very well, is probably in the best shape of all the horses and is feeling just fine! Rebecca also rode Ivan a couple of times - she REALLY likes him and will hopefully come ride him some more. Carla has also been riding him quite often. We've had a lot of rain lately, so we are riding when we can. We usually manage at least 3 days a week but with 5 horses needing exercise it's really not enough. Hopefully the rain will stop sometime soon. We were able to meet up with Jean and Badger one day and had a very nice ride.
Last but not least, I finally have a Shady update. Shady is loving her new home and they are loving her. She is being used as a lesson horse (jumping) for the more advanced riders, she's a bit too much of a spitfire for the beginners. She went to her first show last month, and this is what her new owner Coby had to say about it.
"Shady was AMAZING! She was better at the show than at home, she loved it! This wasn't a small schooling show, it was a big rated hunter/jumper show with fancy, fancy horses! She took 5th in a hunter class (over fences) that had about 12 riders in it, and then her jumper class (speed and athleticism over fences), she would have won it (out of 15), but her rider accidentally left before the buzzer in her jump off round so was disqualified from it, despite having the fastest time and no rails down. She still pulled off a 5th in that one despite that issue!! Those were the only 2 classes we put her in."
These photos are from her practicing at her stable, I don't have photos from the actual show unfortunately. She has another show coming up this month, I'll let you know how it goes.
