This is Kid, Mad.

You and your mom sat on him the last time you were here. I even have pictures to prove it. I just can’t seem to find them right now!

Kid used to be the Stallion. We have a son and daughter out of him. I bought Kid when he was a fresh weaned colt. He’s rock solid and anybody can get along with him. He’s the boss horse around here, but he’s kind of Like a Godfather in all the movies about the mob. He never has to say much, everybody just stays out of his way. But if he needs too, he will make his feelings known and then the other horses have to get out of the way.

If your mom is really, really nice, Mad, I just might let her ride Kid again. And then I will post a picture on here as evidence!

🙂

We got another 1.5 inches of rain or so yesterday evening. Big black cloud came in from the northwest and really let go! It’s been wet and raining all thru’ the night and still this morning, and supposed to stay this way all day. A high of 51 degrees is what we are supposed to have.

Seems a little cool for June, but it sure is good weather for the grass and livestock.

We must be up around 10 inches of rain for the year, so far. Maybe past!

This one came hard and fast, so maybe it ran some water. I guess I am going to have to go explore and find out.

I love rain. 🙂

10:26 am update! Rain guage is almost at 2 inches! Woohoo.

Here’s Woody, Maddie.

Ain’t he pretty? He’s probably the “cowyest” horse I’ve ever ridden. There ain’t a cow in the world we can’t catch, tho’ he’s gettin’ older and maybe slowin’ down a little.

But he’s goofy. Wild, doesn’t like or trust people too much. A lot of survival instinct. I used to call him my $1,000,000 horse cuz’ that is what it would have took to buy him, but I got to worrying that somebody might offer it, so I raised it to $1,500,000.

Once when we were riding up in the west pasture, in some tall grass on a side hill, we ran onto a porkypine, of all things. We were at a lope and Woody tried to sidestep and not come near him, but didn’t quite make it. He got quills in his left front pastern. That’s the part where the foot bends below the ankle and is even kind of part of the ankle. I tried to pull them out where we were, but it hurt him everytime I pulled one out, so I didn’t get too much accomplished.

Later in the day I went down to CRS to get some salt or something and ran into a feller who I was telling about it and he suggested to use vineagar on the quills. He had heard that vineagar would soften the quill to where they would come out easier.

A neighbor just happened to come by when I got home so he went to help me with the project. I took a little hand spray squirt bottle and knelt down on the ground in front of Woody to apply the vineagar. The first squirt scared Woody and it didn’t get any better! I did manage to get all the quills pulled out and he healed up and was fine. But he doesn’t like squirt bottles or me kneeling on the ground in front of him!

Ahh, if I could just find a younger one, just like him and do a better job of training him.

Oh well, I can dream, can’t I?

LOL

Here’s a REAL pony, Mad.

This is Buck, the Indian pony. No, he didn’t come from India!

He’s called an Indian pony because he is what the Indian’s rode, years ago. He’s small and carries the caristeristics (sp) of the Spanish Barb or the first type of horse that grew up on the wide plains of the western Uninted States, called “mustangs”. He is the size and type that the old time cowboy’s rode and brought the cattle up fromTexas astride. They were mostly boys in our eyes because of their ages and their horses were considered ponies, because of their small stature. One eastern lady is reported to have asked an old cowboy who came up the trail about the “boy’s and ponies” that he came up with. His reply was, “Ma’am, there weren’t no ponies or boys. They was all men and horses! I believe they were. They crossed miles and miles of country and lots of rivers to get up here. Many were buried beside a river crossing, as they didn’t make it across alive. Many are buried where they fell in stampedes and other hazardous duties they performed, such as lightning stricks.

When your driving thru’ this country or any of the great plains for that matter and hit bad weather, just think of them “men and horses” who had no protection from the elelments and who just toughed it out and made it work. No wonder we immortalized them in songs and poems.

Buck, or as we call him a lot, Little Bucky, is all horse. He may not stand much taller than your average pony, if that, but he can pack an appropriate sized rider for more miles than most bigger horses. He’s packed me around some pretty big circles when he was a little snorty in the spring for the boys. Usually, I was the one who got tired first!

He helped raise my sons and is working on the grandkids now. Maddy, when you get here, your welcome to ride him if you like, but you’ve got to be good to him. I think as much or more of him as any other horse I have!

And like me, he’s gettin’ old. And cranky. 🙂

Ask me about when Tristan was little and livin’ with me and I’ll tell you a couple good stories about him and his “babysettin’. 🙂

Here you go Mad. This is Mijo, our young stallion. He’s the father to this years babies. He can’t wait to get to go back in with the mares!

I went to a branding today. Worked two bunches and branded some cows the rancher and his wife bought this spring.

I’m tired.

Here you go Pixie!

Now you see why I call him Frankie Blue Eyes?

Ain’t he “purdy”?

The reason I have this horse, is because we went to a horse sale one fall. Chance was making rude comments ’bout Paint horses that day. Maybe cuz’ the guy ahead of us in line, had a bunch of Paint colts.

Now, I am not a great admirer of Paint horses. Some of them are down right ugly. Too much white, especially around the face and over the back. Yet, sometimes mouthy kids need to be put in their place.

We were setting inside the salebarn, watching the sale when they ran Frankie in. He was just a weaned babt colt. After I got past all the color and them glassy blue eyes, I realized that he was a nice made colt. And he wasn’t bringing too much. So I bid on him. Chance realized about then what I had done and said to me with a very indignate tone in his voice, “You ain’t bidding on him, are you? That’s a Paint! Paint’s ain’t no good!”

I have know of a few who were and they looked about like Frankie, so when the auctiouneer knocked him off to me, at a very low price, I was all smiles.

I tried to explain that this colt would grow up to be a flashy, good lookin’, rascal and that someday down the road, if we got him nice and gentle enough, someone who wanted a pretty horse, would gladly buy him from us and probably pay a good price. It’s called an investment.

Chance always thought I had done the wrong thing. Maybe still does. The beauty of it is, last spring when he was working for a neighbor, he got to put quite a few rides on Frankie. LOL

He even admitted that he had some cow sense. Said he roped a cow and helped the boss doctor one, off from Frankie last spring.

I kind of like Frankie. We covered quite a bit of ground in a very short time, running yearlings around the pasture yesterday and he never turned a hair. (That is cowboy talk for, “I had him at a run and he never made a bobble”.)

Admittedly, Frankie is still a little fearful of people on the ground, but once he finds out you aren’t going to eat him and you step across him, he covers the ground pretty nice and Chance even drug a few calves out with Frankie this spring, at a branding. Matter of fact, when we brand next week, I think Chance should ride Frankie and rope and hold a few calves. After all, they both need the practice! 🙂

Oh, Frankies named used to be Victor, named for a young Indian man who was had that name in a movie I really enjoyed. Cuz Victor (said in my best rez talk voice) “he’s my war pony”. That was the way they talked and sounded in the movie and it sounded about like the folks I know who live on or near some of our reservations. and everyone knows that ALL Indians ALWAYS rode painted horses. Yup, sure they did. No cowboys ever got bucked off either!

Someone told me that to cal him that, for that reason, was being kind of racist, but I don’t think it is. I treat all people the same and think of all people the same, no matter race, color or creed. Hey, I make fun of everybody and like all kinds! Well, maybe not liberals, so much. 😉

I don’t even have a predjuice against Paint horse, for goodness sakes!

Maybe I need to post a picture and a story about Chink, next. I named him that because his daddy’s name was Chinaman. My wife says I can’t do that. I said, “why not?” She said I might offend someone. So when am I ever going to have this horse around any Chinese people? He’ll probably get his name changed when we go to riding him, anyway.

People just try to make the world too confusuing!

Guess I could call him chinks and say I named him after the short chaps we wear! But that would be a lie and I don’t lie. BS a little once in awhile, but I don’t lie!

Did I mention yearlings are stupid?

And lots of people, also? 😉

Well at least they both act that way, lots of times!

Here you go Maddie, heres your pony pic of the day from Uncle Bob. 🙂

This is the second filly born. She’s gonn’a have a lot of chrome and be pretty fancy, looks like.

Tris and I rode south today and moved some yearling heifers and their accompying bulls, into another pasture. It’s a small pasture and I’ll need to move them to fresh pasture in a couple days. One with a sore foot, so I need to go doctor her.

The girls ran and circled and just acted like utter fools! Yearlings are sooooo stupid!

This afternoon after Cindy got home, I saddled up Ol’ Frankie Blue Eyes and rode up west to check and move some yearlings. Frankie ain’t had a lot of riding so I wanted someone home to come looking for me in case we had a wreck. By the way, he’s named Frankie Blue Eyes not because he sings so well, but because he has glassy blue eyes. Pretty original, huh?

Frankie acted good, once he was caught and we rode up there. The yearling steers and spayed heifer mates ran around in cirlces and acted like utter fools! Do we see a pattern here? 😉

Yearlings are sooooo stupid!

Usually I have a lead steer or some of my cows running with them to provide a calming influence, but seeing as how we haven’t branded yet, I hate to turn the cows with any of them and have to sort them off from all them stupid yearlings and knock pounds off. I am, after all, getting paid by the owners of the yearlings to put weight on.

Did I mention yearlings are stupid?

I’ll try and have a new pony pic tomorrow, for you Mad. 🙂

Wooo hooo! There is almost an inch and a half of rain in the guage and another baby horse! As soon as I can, I will post a picture of the new one.

I’ve been reading another blog by a lady in California (I think) called Connfessions Of a Pioneer Woman. Check it out, it’s great!

Only problem is, I’m jealous! Her blog has a fancy banner and all kinds of cool things that I can’t seem to replicate. Sighhhh. Some people are just soooo smart.

I did manage to put a pretty neat picture on this sight tho’. And I think I changed the color of my banner. After all, I am a man and over the age of 40, so it’s even surprizing that I manage to post on here!

Oh well, we got MORE rain and a new baby horse. Life doesn’t get much better than that!

Did I mention how much I like rain? 🙂

5 PM UPDATE!

Have to give Pixie her pony fix for the day!

Here’s a picture of the new one, born this morning. Looks to be a filly! Dammit!

I want colts, not fillies.

I don’t ride mares, I ride geldings!

But if these damned ol’ mares keep havin’ fillies, I just might have to change my ways! 😦

While we were out and about we saw this little feller. Seems like we’ve got quite a few of these hopping around, now that most of the fox and coyotes have died off in the last few years, of mange and parvo.

Yes, readers, if we don’t make sure animal populations don’t over explode, Mother Nature will make sure and take care of it for us and when Mama Nature does it, it’s usually through a long, slow, suffering death and it ain’t real pretty. But hey, it’s easy to set back and throw sticks and stones at us few, who live on the land and deal with these things, each and every day. Maybe some people who have no real idea about how things work, that they only have an opinion on and no real working knowledge, should ask some of us who do, instead of trying to tell us how to manage things!

Sorry, had another anonymous idiot send me a note. As per usual, I still refuse to debate anyone who is so gutless as to not post a real name or email address. I appreciate all who comment on here, but please be like most and let me know who you are. I will sure give equal time, but only if you have the courage of your convictions, and are not a spineless coward who hides behind a false name or anonymous!

Sorry, shouldn’t let jerks and idiots get to me!

Ah, green grass, rain and baby horses. It just don’t get much better! 🙂