Trying to catch up - 2021 goals, etc.

I have been going through the hundreds of pictures I've taken this winter as I'm trying to get my blog caught up.   So far I am noticing a theme to my pictures/videos:

• pictures of Rip
• pictures/videos of the cats
• pictures/videos of the cats sleeping with the dog
• random attempts at artsy snow pics
• memes

I found this silly video I took of Archie having a bath. Turn up the volume if you can for his big purr.  Lol.  Clearly I need to get out more!  I am still working from home full-time, with no end to that in sight. 

Vaccination rollouts are going super slow here, so who knows when I'll be able to get my vaccine.  I haven't seen my family since August, which kind of sucks.  I've been trying to figure out some goals for this year, but well, that is proving a bit difficult. Then I get sidetracked by the cats and memes.

So cute.  

In other news, in 2 weeks, my friend is moving back "home" to the farm where she grew up. It is really exciting for her to be going back there.  Her gelding will leave here mid-May once she has her stalls and paddocks set up.    I think Ivy will also be going to live there (reminder: this friend and I co-own Ivy) and Rip's Mom Lucy will also go once the little man is weaned (late May?).

It's tiring being little!

My friend's sister also just bought a horse and that mare will be at my place until sometime in May when she will go to the "farm".  :-).  I'll be helping ride this horse a bit as well, as my friend's sister is a bit rusty and nervous.  I'm really hoping I can trailer Fred over there this summer and the two of us can go for a hack or something.

So, all of this leads me to my 2021 goals. Thanks to anyone that has read this far down. lol

I'm keeping things simple this year, until we see if there will be any shows.

• Ride Fred and try and keep him sound
• Keep Copper sound and happy
• Breed Ivy (first attempt was done mid-April - fingers crossed it worked!)
• Learn about training a foal (yikes! lol)
• Help my friend find another broodmare (I think this is done already - more to follow)
• Help my friend's sister with her new mare
• Have fun

And that is about the extent of it. Me being me, I have a more detailed document going with goals and accomplishments by quarter, but I'll share that another time.  For now, I'm just going with the flow and we'll see what we can get done!  

Are you guys going for any big goals this year?  Or being like me and taking it easy and rolling with things due to the pandemic?  Is anyone back to normal post-pandemic?

I'm still here!

I think I'm currently the world's worst blogger!!! Lol  I didn't meant to take a break, since I've been busy with horse stuff!   Work was super busy over the winter and is just starting to ease up now, so I feel like I can breathe a bit and do some other things!

A few quick updates:

Spring is coming - woohoo!

Rip is fine and growing like a weed! Mom is doing well too.  I have a lot of pictures and video, so will try and get myself organized and post some chronological updates.  I really want to have a record of things with this first (adorable but a bit bitey) foal. 

Mom was enjoying some cookies and Rip can now see over the door!

Fred is fine (mostly) and learning to work under saddle. He has some minor-ish hoof issues that I'll talk about later, once I get myself organized and gets some updates sorted out!  I also have some video of him working under saddle so that is a first that I have some actual media! Lol

Fred is doing well and is cantering under saddle a bit now!

More winter: meandering, pondering, wishing for spring

On my day off Friday, I took the time to take out my nice camera and just (try to) enjoy the winter day.  I actually don't mind winter and cool temperatures - there is something about the fresh cool air that really refreshes my mind and my spirit.  Okay, that sounds totally cheesy, but it's true!

I took the dogs out for another snowshoe and got a few pics and forced myself to enjoyed the fresh air.

Artsy fencepost photo.  And a reminder to cut brush along the fence line in a month. lolz

This simple fence post image has me thinking about my farm to-do list for the spring. My fencing is in need of adjustments, repairs and some maintenance.  I'm also hoping to get some gravel and maybe repair the shelter footing.

We have my father in law's dog every winter while they go away.  She (border collie) and Sophie get along really well.  Sophie follows her everywhere and they love sniffing all the animal tracks in the back field.

Lots of animal tracks and stuff to sniff.

We don't have a ton of nice trees on the property - most are scrubby willow and a few maple and some pines - so I've been guarding this little oak tree for years.  It was just a stick with a leaf or two when I first found it and now it is about 4ft tall.   I will not likely live here long enough to see it become a huge tree, but it is cute nonetheless.

Grow, little oak!

As we kept wandering back to the little grove of maple trees, I tried to get a few cute pics of Sophie, but she is not the most photogenic dog out there.  Her goofy face makes me smile tho...

Don't worry - there are horse pictures coming.  From the back of the big field, I could make out Fred and the other guys snoozing in the sun.  My hubby calls Fred the jolly green giant when he is wearing his green t/o blanket.  lol

Fred is watching us...

Fred has become the watcher of the herd since Spencer left. It is pretty cute.  He will come toward the fence with his head down and then when you call his name, he perks up and looks all cute.

Coming over to see who/what is behind his field...

This green blanket is toast - the neck part has ripped apart from the shoulder and I don't think it can be fixed.  It is holding up to get Fred through this cold snap and then it will be retired.

She knows my name?  Maybe she has fud?  Fred, probably.

I spent the rest of my day off with a hot cup of coffee, a good book and several cats on my lap. It was nice to have an extra long weekend to relax and dream about spring plans!

Winter stormy days

We had a big storm this past Thursday - I think most of the eastern seaboard was hit in some way or another.  This storm hit extra hard since it had been so warm the days prior and the snow was melting!  Oh well...that is life in this part of the world.  We got about 8-9 inches of snow, which is nothing like some places get, so I can't complain.

I was able to work from home Thursday, which is rare, so I was very happy I didn't have to drive in that weather. I had also been meaning to take a Friday off to use up some leave, so I did that this past week, as the roads were nasty and I thought I'd save myself the hassle.  I love it when I'm home during the day and I can glance out and check on the horses. They were playing and running around at one point and I only managed to get two shots before my camera battery died.  D'oh!

I'm fairly lucky here with the horses in a big storm.  I have lots of hay at hand and the power rarely goes out, so I don't have to worry about water too much either.

zoom zoom!

I went outside with my cell phone hoping to get some video, as the horses were having fun ripping around.  Fred did not disappoint...lolol

I do tend to watch Copper in bad weather as he is not wearing a blanket this year.  He is fine in cold and dry snow, but when the weather is drastically changing, I don't want him getting wet, then super cold.

As the day wore on Thursday, the temps dropped from around 0C (32F) to -20C (-10F) and the wet snow changed to a drier snow.  Since I was home, I had the luxury of bringing the horses in for a few hours so Copper could dry off before the cold temps hit.

He does NOT like being in a stall for long, so I usually have to lure him in with grain.  Yes, I could get his halter/lead line, but that seems like a lot of work!  lol

I left them in to dry off for a few hours before chucking them back out in the elements.  When I first had horses at home again, I was hesitant to put them out in bad weather.  After seeing Spencer stand in freezing rain and snow over the years, I realize they tolerate a lot more than we think.

They have shelter and lots of hay, so most of the time they are fine!  Although Fred is going through blankets like crazy - he has now wrecked three!  OMG horse.  Luckily they were all cheaper or ones that I bought used, so I'll have a big pile to see if I can get them repaired or maybe I'll just chuck them.  I'll be saving up for a nicer set for him for next year - so far I'm looking at Schneiders, Dover or SmartPak with their warranties. 

Checking in

January got off to a bit of a rocky start...we had a family issue that took up some extra time.  Between that and work being very busy, I haven't had a chance for much else.  The past three weeks has had me running to work and then running home to the barn to throw hay and check water, but not much else.

Things are starting to look up a bit now as the days will be juuuussssst long enough for a bit of daylight after work.   I'm looking forward to taking a bit more time out at the barn and just hanging out with the horses while they eat their hay.   I'm also hoping to start working Fred a bit, just easy in-hand stuff when the weather allows. 

Copper says: hey, got treats?

We've also had some crazy weather - we've had two or three cycles of above freezing temps, rain, ice pellets and then snow, which is just a weird combo.  One day the paddock was just a skating rink - every inch of it was ice. I wish I had taken a picture to show you guys - it was raining and the water was just running off the ice - very weird.  My place is mostly flat, but the paddock had just enough slope to make it treacherous. I kept the horses in until the snow came back and improved the footing again.




Now we are on to straight snow, which is much, much better, imho.  We had a few inches last weekend and another few inches this weekend.   Fred has been busy wrecking his current blanket, which is always fun.  Somehow he ripped apart the neck cover on his blanket and I don't think I'll be able to salvage it.


Pre-blanket destruction: these two always look like they are up to something. 

 Now that we have some snow piling up, my boarder has been bringing over her snowmobile to help pack down the riding ring and a little loop out in the back pasture. Of course, it keeps snowing so she has to keep going over the trails.  She is trying to ride as much as she can throughout the winter, which is admirable, given the unpredictable weather we've had so far!


One of the many reasons I love having the horses at home is being able to fix issues right away.  Exhibit A:  Hubby looks out the window and tells me that Fred is "walking funny" and I'd better go check him. (his description). 


So, I went out to find the back end of the blanket all twisted and flipped up.  One of the stretchy leg straps was down below his hock, causing him to "walk funny".  lol *sigh*

Nice job, Fred!

He wasn't too concerned that his butt was getting wet and his leg was tangled - you can just see the black strap on his LH in the picture.  I have a feeling this blanket won't be around much longer. I'm not a fan of how it fits him, so it is probably time to let it go. 


Not much else is going on here for the moment, so I'm off to shop online for another blanket for Fred!

Moving at the speed of...winter

Things tend to get slow here at BBQH when the cold and dark settles in.  I've come to accept that and not fight it.  The holidays are coming and there is a lot of planning to do for that.  My niece and her new baby are coming from the Yukon for a month, so I'm pretty excited to meet my great-niece! 

Archie - about 11 months now and full of P&V

I don't really mind winter, which is a good thing since I live where I do.  LOL  If you dress accordingly and have some coping strategies in place, you can get by.  I have to say I'm a little nervous about the impending ice that develops on laneways, etc here in Jan/Feb after last year's ankle-gate.  I've put a pair of yak-trax on my Christmas list, so hopefully Santa is on the ball!

Fairly accurate, I'd say!

This time of year, I just putter through my to-do list and try to do some thinking ahead for 2020 plans.  I may also dream of moving to Hawaii, but I haven't been able to put the numbers together for that to work! 

sigh

I've been helping the therapeutic riding centre sell some old tack and I brought a big bag of stuff home to clean and assess whether it is in ok shape to sell.  A lot of the strap goods are not in the condition where I would want to ride with it.  I'm going to keep some stuff aside and use it in craft/decor projects. I found some high quality but old leather reins that I'm going to use to tie back curtains and some ancient stirrups that I'm going to repurpose into something - not exactly sure what - over the winter.

2/3 cats find old reins to be excellent toys

Fred and Copper are doing fine - Copper is chubby and Fred's weight is holding well.  Copper gets so hairy that you can barely see his ears.   As we roll into the new year, I'm going to start keeping Fred in overnight to help get more hay into him and less into the other two butterball turkeys horses.

Yes, his forelock is full of burrs... Fred's sideeye cracks me up

I'm hoping to show Fred next year, if possible.  It takes a good 4 months to get a halter horse show fit from pasture condition, so I'm starting early in Jan since I can't work him much during the winter.  I'm planning to do some hand walking, longing if the snow conditions on the weekends are good and starting late January we get more light after work, so I'm hoping to do more under saddle prep and in hand work with him. 

Not looking too bad... 

The light was kinda cool this morning, so I took his blanket off and tried to get a few pics of him.  He wanted nothing of it - he kept leading me to the barn - that is where the food is!  I was hoping to get some artsy shots of him with all of the frost and the sun trying to rise in the background, but most ended up like this:

Hai! Fud now?  Why no fud?

He has a nice scar on his nose - a few weeks ago he decided to use his face to disassemble the trim on the window in his stall.  *sigh*  Horses.   I've been putting stuff on it every night, but I've noticed this time of year, sometimes the hair doesn't grow back until they shed out in the spring.  Weird creatures.

How about you guys?  What are you plans for the this time of year and the rest of the winter?  Do you keep on riding, or slow things down a little?