Shari’s Gone Country

Tuesday mid-morning, we finally got the call we’ve been waiting for… Lola had her colt!

Bev and I raced over for pictures and to assist with moving both Mom and baby to a clean paddock. In the process, I even got to name him… “Cool Hand Luke”.

Since then, we’ve been helping her daily with the “imprinting”. I hold Lola, the mare while Dixie works with Luke. He’s used to his halter and can be rubbed all over. At first, his butt was real ticklish, but with work… he now stands still.

We’re laying him down, checking his feet, rubbing his belly and down between his legs… he’s so cute… just closes his eyes and enjoys the pampering.

Mom (Lola) is just fine as long as she can see what’s going on.

Last week was one of “those” weeks.

Just after I wrote the last post, we had a quick family meeting…

Bev was asking us to approve her reasons for leaving the job she got in St. George. You see, she’s a cancer survivor, and the chemotherapy really slowed her down. She’s a retired cop and thought sure she could handle a dispatcher’s position.

Unfortunately, learning the new computer system and having to type while carrying on two different conversations, was more than her stress level could handle.

On top of that, fuel and food was costing about 40% of her take-home pay. And gas just keeps going up.

We all agreed that it was best. It would get her back on a regular schedule instead of shift work, and with Cindy going back to work at the farm, the income difference would be minimal.

After that, we settled in for a week of nasty weather… wind storms, rain, maybe snow and sleet. About all we did from Tuesday to Friday was go out to feed while struggling to stand up.

Bev returned to her “old job” driving the Senior Center bus. Thursday included a trip to St. George. Since I’m 61 and eligible to ride the bus… I am able to do the “animal feed” shopping and bring it back on the bus. At least that’s the feed that is bagged and any other equipment we can fit into the bus. Sure beats spending our gas money!

This weekend, Cindy, Bev, neighbor Dixie and I attended the “Downunder Horsemanship” seminar by Clinton Anderson. What an awesome time. Cindy and Dixie are the horse owners. In fact, Dixie is a breeder/trainer. Bev and I both love to ride, but have never owned our horses.

Starting later this week, I’ll be working a horse under Dixie’s tutelage.

While I grew up riding horses, took a couple years of English riding lessons, and earned my “horsewoman’s badge” in Girl Scouts, as an adult, I’ve had very limited time on a horse. I don’t really remember doing any “ground and foot work” with any of the horses. So this is all new territory for me.

About those fence post holes… we managed to fit everyone into our current configuration. We’ll dig a little later.

Here’s a long look at Dusty’s new round pen. When the weather abates, we’ll set to work getting him trained. So far, he’s had his halter on a few times, and has let us place a blanket on his back.

He responds favorably to a “carrot stick”, but has such a high “play drive” that it’s a challenge to keep his attention.

This is the area where the two-gate system works. We open the gate to the round pen and then open the gate to the corral. That lets Dusty go from place to place. This space also gives us direct (as in truck) access to the manure pile and we can back a trailer in when he has to go to the vet.

Here’s the “escape route”… the man-door.

If you scroll back a few posts, you’ll see the “debris pile”. The man-door is just about in the same place.

Like I said, there are four women, six dogs, four sheep (if you look quickly), and one horse.

Now that it’s warming a bit, Cindy thought it would be a good time to spend some “quality time” with Dusty. Come spring and summer it’s time for some intensive training as he’s old enough now to invite a saddle and rider onto his back.

No, I’m NOT the lucky cowgirl. Cindy gets the honors… and when she’s tired, there’s a couple down the road that will assist.

Here’s our sweet flock. Chiquita and Merino (black and small) are the two ewes. Paco and Wooly are the two young “wannabe” rams. They were raised specifically for market.

I know, you’re not supposed to name “market animals” but we’re pretty mature around here. Besides, these guys are useless for anything else.

Chiquita is kind of rare… she’s got little nubbins (false horns), and likes to use them, too. She’s really the barnyard diva, with everyone else waiting for her next move.

We got the call Friday that the boys were headed for market. They’d been sold some time ago, but were awaiting a break in the weather as well as securing the right trailer and meeting the processor’s schedule.

I guess you could say these are pretty spoiled sheep as they all but walked right into the trailer. Everything went pretty well until Cindy and the truck driver decided to talk “horses” for 20 minutes.

In that time, Bev got home and literally drove the Avalanche into the barnyard so she could say goodbye to the boys. Well, that set Chiquita off… Maaaa, Maaaa, maaaa! Then Merino chimed in. Within the hour, Chiquita was hoarse.

That was only the start of the adventure. The lady who had originally raised Chiquita and Merino’s “mom and dad” invited both Chiquita and Merino for a “long romp with the ram”.

I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures of us three gals walking the sheep cross-desert to Dixie’s farm. Cindy put a dog lead on Chiquita and away we went. Merino trotted right along with us, never straying more than 20 feet. We’ll just have to take Dixie’s word that it was a pretty funny sight!