Letter from the Dentist

5 Nov posted by
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Oopsy says, "please, that feels so good!"

Y’all know that most domesticated horses need their teeth floated, right?  Well in case you didn’t,  you do now. For a more in-depth discussion of what that means, read this.

Otherwise, enjoy the cute card I got in the mail the other day from the Texas Institute of Equine Dentistry:

Dear Mom & Dad,

Please pardon my hoofwriting. It’s hard to hold a pencil. Don’t forget MY SIX MONTH DENTAL CHECKUP IS DUE. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been a while since my last checkup and my teeth could really use a good balancing.

PS. Tell the nurse to slip me a couple of sugar cubes. The dentist won’t give me any.

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Filed Under: horses, vet

Dolce

28 Oct posted by

Dolce, registered as Ibaflitnbird, is the most special yearling, to me, because she is the first foal that I’ve ever bred and raised. She was born on May 15th, 2008 and I was fortunate enough to be there to witness the birth and bring her into this world. If you knew how private mares are about having their babies you’d know that being there to witness the birth of a foal is amazing- but to catch a a maiden mare foaling is just icing on the cake. Her mama is my pretty gray mare, Sonora, (registered as Streakin Iron). And as much as I wanted her to be born bay or black so she would turn gray like her mama, I love her anyway!

I made a point to shoot some photos of her when she had her first birthday.
She’s terribly hard to photograph because she has a tendency to follow you. She is so excited to see people and loves to have her back scratched and just in be rubbed on in general. I cannot tell you how pretty she is, and how much I love her. The pictures really don’t do her justice. And of course it doesn’t help that she is a furry monster right now!
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Happy Wednesday folks!

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Filed Under: horses, photography

DX Gorgeous Georges

28 Oct posted by

Monday we got the chance to head out to the pasture where the yearlings live. I love to visit this group of babies, because they are all so friendly. In fact, they’re darn hard to photograph because they’re so friendly. I hadn’t been out there in about a month and it’s always nice to see how much they’re growing.

Some of you will remember that we had two orphaned foals on the place last year. One of them, George registered as (DX Gorgeous Georges) is the orphan we knew about- as his mother died when he was about month old, and we had him in so we were able to bottle feed him all summer. He is just about the sweetest horse around, and I hope he stays that way because, well, we could use another bay stallion running around the place! There’s a bit of sarcasm thrown in there, because we have 4 studs, 3 of which are bay. But because of his breeding he’d be a great out-cross to what we have going here, so we shall see.

Here, is what he looks like now:

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I just think he really is gorgeous!

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Filed Under: horses

The Long Yearlings

28 Oct posted by

Monday Zach and I had time, and some awesome sunshine, so we took advantage and visited the long yearlings. They’re long yearlings because they were all about a year old in May- and this fall, they’re really close to being old enough to start under saddle. Their pasture goes all the way to the river that you can see in the background.

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Yours Truly, the Photographer!

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Filed Under: horses, photography

Saturday: A Photo Journal

27 Oct posted by

As promised, here without further ado are some of the photos that I took on our Saturday trip to check on the broodmares and foals. Where I feel it is relevant I will insert my comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the view.

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The mare below belongs to Kelsey and she is probably the prettiest mare on the place. And does she not have a stunning yellow colt at her side?
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Zach and his great nephew, Damien:

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This mare also belongs to Kelsey. She lost her baby this year.

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DX Snipadee is certain she is helping Zach fix fence:

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This is Gump’s Half Sister- DX Red Rozee.

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The trouble-makers:
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DX Fergalicious (or Fergie as we call her) letting Damien rub her. She is a 2yo mare.

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Thanks for taking this little trip! I hope you had as much fun as I did!

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Filed Under: horses, photography, ranching

Poco Tivio Pep

21 Oct posted by

I am happy to introduce you Poco Tivio Pep. You’ve heard me talk about him- as Chachi, which is what we fondly call him. He is our versatile, gentle, and gorgeous stallion He makes pretty babies (remember Bam Bam?), has a personality of gold, is patient, kind and can babysit or do a job. He is on his third official foal crop and we’re very proud of his babies. He will be started on the barrels in 2010 and we look to show him in some cattle classes soon. Learn more about the Peppy San Badger grandson at www.ducheneaux.com

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Filed Under: horses

Fall Shots

19 Oct posted by

Yesterday was a glorious day! Did you hear me say it? Glorious. The weather was perfectly fall. None of this nasty Old Man Winter stuff we’ve been getting. And to make the day even better, I felt almost 100% yesterday after struggling with this cold/bronchitis thing I’ve been dealing with.

I did not take the camera on the gather- I just can’t bring myself to pack Guth’s expensive camera (Guth is one of Zach’s 3 younger brothers-photos upcoming!)while I’m horseback- so that part you won’t get to see. But there’s plenty more action, I promise.

To do fall work you need the following: Good neighbors, friends, family (read this as: lots of help!), saddle horses, a four-wheeler or two, cows, calves and good weather. Okay. I lied, good weather is optional. Sort of.

Regardless, once the cattle are gathered and going towards the corrals, (our cattle herd consisted of the mama cows, the calves and the bulls that we hadn’t got a chance to pull from the herd yet), your job is pretty simple. Keep them relatively close together, and keep them going forward into the corral. You usually have one or two folks horseback that will push the cattle further into the corral, and the rest will close the corral gates or panels behind you.

Now the fun begins! Sorting off mamas from babies, and bulls from the mamas. For those of you unfamiliar with cattle, you should know, while they aren’t at the top of the list for being God’s brightest creatures, they’re pretty smart- in that they, they like a horse, will move away from pressure, so you just give them some place to go and they can be sorted off simply by movement. When we ship, if we’re not short-handed and I can film the sorting, I will do so. But here’s what else you should keep in mind when reading this: the sounds. You have mama cows calling to their babies, and babies calling to their mamas. It can really be loud. So loud in fact, that on occasion you may have to yell at someone next to you for them to hear you. And when there is a lull, which occasionally happens, it’s like the world sort of hums, because well, you get used to the cacophony of mooing.

Here’s part of the herd corralled:

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Once you have them corralled, you sort off the mama cows and bulls from the babies.

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In the above photos, are Zach’s cousin, Jim- in the vest; our neighbor and friend, Bob- in the jacket, and Bud, the youngest of Zach’s family, wearing John Deere Green.

When that is done, you’re left with just the babies.

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Babies that cry and call for mama…

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Notice in the photo that this heifer calf in the front is saying, “mama!”, but so is one I managed to capture in the background. Two heifers poised in the same way; crying to mama to save them from whatever uncertain fate awaits them. You’re probably wondering how I know what’s a heifer and what’s not a heifer- well it’s simple. We cheat. The heifers have tags in their left ears. The steer calves don’t have a number tag.

And she’s still not done yowling around:

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Some friends join in:

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What are the mama cows doing while the babies are bawling? They’re eating of course. That’s what cows do. Oh, sure there are some worried mamas but most of them have been through this before. They know their babies are coming back to them. So why waste time fretting when there’s grass to be eaten?

In the meantime, there are shots to be mixed.

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From Left to right: Zach, and his brothers Wayne and Guthrie.

They get a shot of this (whatever *this* is):

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And a shot of that (whatever *that* is):

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Both shots go under the skin of the calf’s neck. Or as we say in the business, sub-q; short for sub-cutaneous. Neither are antibiotics, as our cattle are antibiotic free. Yessir, that’s right! Au natural beef is raised ’round these parts!

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But before we can give the shots, we have to get the cattle into the working chute. I suppose if we really wanted to be handy and do things the really old fashioned way, we could rope each calf and doctor it that way- which is how things are done at brandings and lots of other rances. But today, we’re just gonna load em’ in the working chute.

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Yes that’s right, Miss 9-83. You’re going here:

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And when you get here, you’re going to get two shots, and we’ll pour you with an anti-parasitic to keep the bad bugs outta your system. It just makes you healthier.

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Once we repeat the above process through about 250 calves we head to the house to have lunch, and send the help home. Yesterday we had to take a small break to watch the Vikings and Brett Favre pull off a win against the Baltimore Ravens. The Cowboys had a bye. I had to insert that. I don’t want anyone thinking I’ve defected to the Vikings. Though I do love me some Favre. Yes. Yum. He’s one talented and handsome man.

Time to move on and wipe up the drool.

Moving on…

After we have given all the mamas and babies time to find each other again, we put them back out to their pasture. This is where they will live for the next two weeks- at which time we’ll gather them again, and *ship* the babies off to their new home for the winter.

I mentioned that it was gorgeous yesterday, right? Zach and Wayne put the herd back to pasture. I got to take pictures of the whole thing, while I followed them with the trailer, so that Zach’s pretty stallion, Chachi (Poco Tivio Pep) could ride home after his exhausting day.

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Riding home after a fun-filled day’s work is the man who steals my heart on a daily basis:

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He’s literally almost riding into the sunset:

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And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, Cowgirls and Cowboys, Boys and Girls, is a glimpse into a day in the life of your South Dakota Cowgirl.

Ps. I’m sorry the photos seem to be cut off- I just started using Flickr to upload photos and I can’t seem to get the format right.

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Filed Under: cowgirls, horses, photography, ranching

A Girl and Her Horse

16 Oct posted by

Once upon a time, there was an adorable little cowgirl. She loved horses, but didn’t have her own big horse. She rode her daddy’s horse; she rode her mama’s horse, but what this little cowgirl wanted was a horse of her own.

Her fairy-godmother knew this and had the perfect horse for the cowgirl. So she flicked her wand and gave the horse to this sweetest little cowgirl.

She loves giving him cookies.

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That horse, Flash loves his little cowgirl, Rilee and his cowgirl Rilee loves him.

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“How’s that? Is that the spot Flash?”

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“Should we walk over the log?”

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“Flash, you’re such a good boy!”

“Let’s put your pink horseshoes on!”
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Yes, He loves his little cowgirl.

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Thanks to my friend Lacee and her adorable daughter Rilee, for taking such great care of Flash and for loving this extra special horse.

And for those of you wondering, I am the fairy godmother.

For more photo essays, be sure to visit Sprite’s Keeper!

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Filed Under: horses, the spin cycle

Random Thought Thursday

15 Oct posted by

I don’t really know what else to call this blog this morning. I should be working on my weekly Spin Cycle, but I have other things to do this morning, like try to figure out where I am going to have this barrel race that is supposed to be Sunday. And now I’ve been asked to have two more NBHAs. So we’ll see how that goes.

There is still no sun. The sky is only sort of blue, but mostly it’s gray. I think we won’t be gathering or shipping cattle today or tomorrow, for Zach’s cousin Sharon. She’s the one that has the massive pasture that we rode a couple weeks ago.


It is suppose to be warmer today, so I will probably go to the barn and visit Bam Bam and see if his mama’s stifle (a joint in her leg) is any better. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but since about the last two months of her pregnancy, she has been on and off tender on that leg again, which scares me (if you’ll click the hyperlink you’ll know why). In the last two weeks it became inflamed on the inside of the joint, almost as if she had been kicked and has a massive hematoma there. She has been tender on it some days and some days she trots around like a sound horse. So who know? Only time will tell, and mother nature will do what it will do. After all the money I spent on her last year, I cannot afford to have another surgery or any more vet bills. I guess I will be reduced to leaving her in the broodmare band if nothing else. Which makes me really sad but I am not going to think about that right now.

Zach says I’m looking at the whole trip to Texas thing wrong. That I should be looking for reasons to go, instead of looking for reasons NOT to go. Jim had some good advice for me. But the bottom line is- it’s only fall. And in the last 4 days I’ve been out of the house approximately 15 minutes total- and that was to 1. go to a v-ball game for Kelsey (which they won btw), and 2. to take care of my chickens. If there is going to be an entire 6 months of this weather, I’ll go bananas. Plus, there are barrel races and more barrel races to go to, and I have old clients that are already wanting to send me horses to ride, some of which also want lessons. So I’m going to go. And I will have fun. I still haven’t asked mom if I can crash her house for 3 or 4 months. I can always come visit when I get homesick, or miss Zach so much I can’t stand it.

On a completely unrelated, yet sort of related note, I mentioned having baby fever to Zach again last night. He is of course fine with having more kids, as he loves kids, he says I’m the one that wavers. He’s right. He says:(paraphrased- sort of) if you have kids, the world will no longer revolve around you as it does now. It’ll be all topsy-turvy and will revolve around the little one. There won’t be any packing up and going to Texas because you can’t ride all winter here in South Dakota. Which then makes me think that maybe I should wait longer because I still have things I want to accomplish, and when I have a child, the chances of me reaching my goals are probably slim to none at best. Men totally don’t have this problem and it’s not fair!


I took photos of my new chairs yesterday. I still dig them. Do I dig them as much I’d dig some covered in a pretty brindle cowhide? No, but I’m not spending $2000/chair either. So the zebra print will have to do. When I pull them off the camera, I’ll share, I promise.

Why do home builders put heater vents right under windows? It’s a terribly bad place to put them, especially if you have drapes, which I’ve also added to the room and you’ll see in the photos. When I share. If you close the drapes, which I’m inclined to do when it’s extra cold or extra hot, the heat from the vent just goes right up the drapes, and into the window. Do I want to heat the window? No. I want to heat the room. Can someone please explain this to me?

I’m wondering, if I take that pretty stud horse, Nuke with me to TX where I’m going to put the bloody bastard. I’ll need to put him somewhere that he can’t beat the other horses up, and that will mean that my old horse, who is already in TX, will have to be separated from him, since he thoroughly believes, despite the fact that he’s lived about 25 years of his life with no testicles, that he too, is a wild stallion.

I just read this morning that the National Council of American Indians is lobbying Congress (where common sense is checked at the door) to let them open slaughter plants. Apparently in the northwest, the grazing lands are completely decimated due to feral horses- some of which have just simply been released because the slaughter facilities are shut down, and people can’t afford to euthanize them. This is very good news on the industry front, as the kill buyers set the floor on the market.


If you ask me all these anti slaughter people, for the most part, don’t really have any idea about agriculture, first off, and secondly, do they think a captive bolt to the head, is really more inhumane than shipping the horses to Mexico where they certainly don’t have the same standards we do? Or is letting the horse loose on national lands or in someone else’s pasture humane? Really don’t get me started. I’m going to get off my soapbox now before I get really pissed off.

Last night was fun- Zach’s cousin, Danial came up and we played guitars while he picked on his banjo. And then we had a fabulous supper- braised eye of round steak in a red-wine sauce with yummy roasted potatoes! I love to cook. Have I mentioned that?

I should really stop rambling and go enjoy this Thursday. I guess at some point I’ll have to get my photos together for tomorrow’s spin, so be looking for those!

Here’s hoping everyone has a great Thursday! I plan to!
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Filed Under: family, horse slaughter, horses, life, travel

Enjoy the Ride

14 Oct posted by

Yesterday I was contacted by a girl from a Public Relations Company. She informed me that there is currently a writing contest tied to equestrian champion, Ashlee Bond.

From the email:

The prizes are the best part! The winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip for two to the U.S. debut of the world’s leading equestrian championships in Lexington, Kentucky in September, 2010, as well as a collection of personally autographed items from Bond.

Bond has teamed up with Legend by Bayer Animal Health for their “Enjoy the Ride” contest. This website has more details: www.enjoytheridecontest.com.


To enter, you simply write a 150 word (or less) essay on what your horse has given back to you, how much you love and care for your horse, and the winner will be chosen from the field of essays. Those of you that read this blog that own horses, should certainly enter! I plan to, and when my submission has been entered, I’ll post it here for all y’all to read.
Please check it out!

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Filed Under: horses
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