Update on Sweetpea

She is doing very well. We had her to the vet and he was appalled at her poor teeth. They looked as though they had never been floated. The swelling on her side was not a true hernia, thank goodness. It is fluid coming through a torn muscle.

He sedated her and they led her to to do the power float on her teeth. She was very obediant but very worried. Her eyes wouldn't leave us as we stood there. And if we moved, her eyes followed us. Afterward, he gave her a tetnus and antibiotics, and also a shot to help wake her up.

It was surprising how quickly she perked up. She was very happy when we led her back to the trailer and hopped right in. I think she was afraid we were going to leave her.

We see a little more personality and hope in her every day. Her eyes are bright now, she's gaining weight and feeling more ambitious.

She settled in so quickly with Bo and Tacoda it was surprising. Trav and Jackie don't care much for her though, but Jackie doesn't admit to liking ANYone. He's a grump.

The Curse of the Paso Fino

Yeah, we knew it was going to happen.

We bid on a Paso Fino Bay last night.... and won. It was destiny. She's just a little over 13 hands, has a very high croup and a small hip. She didn't move with a lot of animation but we could tell it was very smooth. They had a 6 foot tall cowboy on her who's legs were so long that when he tried to cue her, he had to bring his feet back and they'd hit her right in the flank. One of his spurs had caught her on the patella and left a little cut. She had a slight bulge on one side, possibly a kick mark. Her feet her long and her eyes were dull and sad. But she did everything that was asked of her and did it very responsively.

We bid $150 and won. Peg stayed with her while I ran home for the trailer. While I was gone, Peg said that she just stood there, with that dull hopeless haunted look in her eyes. I packed some hay in the trailer for her and came back.

She came willingly with Peg to the trailer and perked up just a little when she saw the hay inside, then hopped right in. She remained in the trailer munching away while we went on to the tack auction. We didn't stay too long though.

She is about 18 to 20 years old, horribly thin and ragged, and brushed and cleaned her up, she didn't look much better.

So we started her on Nutrena Compete 10(tm) grain, Source(tm), twice a day and coastal hay. We have a round of hay in the pasture as well. Her name was Tinkerbell or some crap like that. We've been calling her Sweetpea.

A Sad Ending....

A Muppet is dead.

Ompa Loompa, our beloved, if not slightly retarded, Silky hen was killed Thursday when Codi stepped on its head.

I'm sure he didn't mean to. He was just walking along and *squish*.

Ompa was buried near the spot she liked to squat and sunbath. She will be missed. :(

Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

Can you say "Lightening"? I knew that you could. (ok you have to know Mr. Rogers to get any of that).

I'm uploading a shot of the sky from last night with muy thunder and lightening. It was SOOOO beautiful and scary.

Off Topic - I'm a Grandma!

September 11 - 8 pounds! Welcome Hunter Brooks Byers.

A Toadie First!

Poor Tacoda. We took his name and butchered it, like we do every critter on the farm. Tacoda got shortened to Cody, then Code, then Toad, and sometimes Toady.

At any rate, he wore a headstall and bit for the first time yesterday. It's a simple D ring snaffle with a copper mouth on a brown nylon headstall with Texas stars on it. My sister got it at the auction for like 11 bucks used. It's very heavy buckles and actually very nice.

It fit him very comfortably and after about ten minutes of chewing and begging me to take it off, he settled in and acted like he'd worn it all his life. In the first few minutes he tried to wipe it off on the water bucket, the gate, the feed trough. Then he tried to get Jackie and Bo to take it off of him. I swear I heard them snickering. Jackie actually did nibble at it in an attempt to look helpful.

Pretty soon, Cody completely ignored it. I slipped a light halter over it and lunged him in a few circles and went through some ground work and he did just fine. Eventually, I'll drive him with it but for right now, this is enough.

In the last week he has been lame on his back legs. It looks like a stifle issue. Which is sad, since he is only 20 months old. Bo has the same issue but he's in his teens! I'm hoping it was just a growing thing. He's growing so fast and I haven't been working him religiously. He's out of shape. And weekend before last, we went riding out at RV Griffin (it was FABoulous) and left poor Toad at home. He didn't seem to care much but while we were gone, he may have paced his stall (though it didn't look dug up). A couple days after that, he came up lame. Looked as though his stifles were locking on him. He's always dragged his back toes a bit.

He's much better now, but I still see some favoring once in a while when he steps to the side. I'll have the vet look him over.

We are still searching for a gaited mule for my sister. We did find a 3 year old but it was unbroken and 2K. Sounded lovely though. There is a molly mule a few hours away for 2500. We'll see. I think the perfect one will eventually come along.

At the last two auctions, there have been bay paso fino geldings. Both thin and looked very similar, but were not the same horse for sure. We bid on them both at 100 bucks but the owners wanted more. Since we aren't actually in the market for a Paso, we didn't meet their price, however, I can't help but keep thinking about them. Like it was some sort of sign that out of the blue, 2 auctions in a row, in the sea of usual quarter types, there are these identical Pasos.

I think the horse market is in sad shape right now and unless you are breeding a speciality horse (Gypsy Vanners, Mules, or something unique), there are more sellers than buyers. Good horses are going unwanted.

Some people are upgrading their old horses with fresh young ones since the prices are so good, and that leaves the poor old horses out of a job. And on the market.

It makes me sick to see ads where people are advertising their "Good old reliable 22 year old gelding" that they've had for 20 years... WTF?? I know there are always circumstances people can't control. But "Selling my old horse so I can afford the new one" is NOT valid. That's like firing an employee to cheat him out of his pension.

Our boys will die right here with us. Even if I have to eat peanut butter and jelly to afford the horsefeed in the future.

Bright and Shiney Mule

Jackie is so shiney and healthy looking.

Do The Moose!!!

Moose is feeling better. The "doobers" fell off and everything healed nicely (cough), I'm sure he'd disagree. There is a commercial on TV for Snuggle fabric softener where they sing "Do the Moves!" But it sounds like they are saying "Do the Moose!" So, Moose has to suffer repeatedly with us singing that to him.

On a sad note, we lost his mother. A little cough ran through the group (pink eyes, cough) and she got a bad case of the runs. She never really came back healthy after Moose and it took it's toll on her. It was very sad.

Moose has settled in with Gabby, Speckle (who we call Trouble) and Poppy (the broken up goat). They are the best of buddies. He misses Jonesy sometimes and visits through the fence. Jonesy is happily cavorting with Belle and Honey but he misses his little girlfriend, Butter.

We miss you too, Butterbutt!!

My Baby is getting so BIG

This is February 2008. He was 13 months old, standing next to Bo. Bo is 15.3, Coda was 14 hands.

I took this last weekend...... (July 12th) Bo, still 15.3. Coda is now 15 hands. 4 inches in five months! I read that at 18 months old most horses are at 90% of their adult height. This means he could have another 5 or 6 inches to go (rough math, I SUCK at math). So he may top out at 16.1 or 16.2 ish. Awesome.

I love big horses.

He is really being a pain in the butt right now. He's "pushing" and has to be corrected alot. But he does it in a very non threatening way. Just a little shoulder in here and there or avoiding having his forelock pulled out of his flymask or halter being pulled by lifting his head high. NEVER gets away with it. He's just like a kid who has to try. Once he realizes that it's not gonna fly with us, he comes right back into line.

The most curious horse I've ever met. Always into whatever you are doing. First one to the fence, whinneys when you call him and comes flying across the pasture.

Gaiting nicely too. I can't wait to ride him next year.

Broken up Goat

Well, we hadn't been to the Friday night auction in a couple of months so we ventured there Friday night and took some chickens. I told my friend, Janice, that I was going and we joked about buying goats. And I told her I'd name one after her if I bought any.

Prices were down and things sold cheap.. which means we didn't get much for the chickens.

One pen of goats caught our eye. They were young nubians, VERY VERY friendly. In fact, they were begging us to take them.

It worked, and we made plans to bid on them. Unfortunately, they were begging EVERYONE. We won the bid, however, but at $60 bucks each, we only took two. The other two went to a family who wanted them as pets too so I was happy for that.

In the midst of all these meat goats was one little white goat with a broken hind leg. It apparently happened the day before in the livestock trailer. It was in terrible pain and could barely hobble.

And no one would bid on it. The auctioneer finally said.. Five bucks?

And no one bid.

So I raised my hand. And we became the owners of a broken up little goat.

I named it PopTart after a MMORPG handle that Janice used back in the day. LOL

It was really hot today.. 92 but it felt like 101. With a humidity of 52%. I got the bright idea of taking Tocada around the neighborhood. So I harnessed him up and drove him down the road. He did very well until we got to the curve (about a half mile). Then he spooked at a golf cart (he's seen them a thousand times) and wanted to turn around. So we went in circles, then he started bucking and hopping and I felt like I was training a Lippizan doing Flying Caprioles. :P

I ended up leading him around the rough spot until he calmed down and then we went back to driving the rest of the way home. He did fine then. He just needs some more work on not surging ahead. He wants to amble on down the road and I can't really keep up with that. His walk is really nice and fast. His coat is slicked off and shiney. He looks good. I'll put some new pics up.

We treated the new goats with some Tetracycline and gave them some medicated feed. We also had to treat little Moose today. He was banded a few weeks ago (his testicles) and he has a little infection going :(

What a rotten place to hurt!

Edit - Pic taken in July. My sister with all four goats following her. (Moose, Gabby, Speckle, and Poppy with her broken leg)

He's a MOOSE

Moose is as big as his mother as 2 months old! If you note, she's putting her foot in the fence and is lifted off the ground a bit. Standing side by side, their backs are the same height.

Stop growing already!

Seven Weeks and Counting

We have not ridden for seven weeks. SEVEN weeks. We've spent every weekend either fixing fence or working on the barn. Plus Bo has had an abscess on a front hoof. It doesn't seem to bother him, he's not even favoring it. They must think they are retired. All three of them haven't been out of the yard in SEVEN weeks. Tacoda hasn't even been driven. The saddles are dusty! However, the boys are now staying in their stalls during these hot days, sporting their new fly masks. We don't think Jackie and Tacoda have ever even worn one before, but they both took to it ok. Jackie the best, he even holds still for you to put it on. Then again, he's a mule. They seem to be either very good about something... or very very bad. Tacoda throws his head about a little and protests, then pouts and paws a second after I put his on. One day he managed to tear it off, but I think Jackie helped. I found it on the floor of Jackie's stall, stomped, velcro still clasped. Hmmmm. Bo, of course, thinks I'm trying to kill him. He hates his ears being touched and jumps all over the place. I just stay with him and tug. This morning, he barely protested actually. It's all good.

Skeered of the Pig!

The other horses kick the pigs ass if he goes near them while they are eating. Not Tacoda. He just runs to me whining to do something.

Geese Be Gone

Tacoda believes that everything in the pasture is his toy. Now chasing the geese is one thing, but now he's starting chasing the goats. YET, he's afraid of the stupid ancient pig..... Go figure....

Real men wear pink!

 

Barbosa and Tacoda went for a ride together this weekend. It was only Tacoda's second weekend with us. Bo and Jackie are still a little pissed and treat him like the red headed step child in the pasture but Bo was very well behaved while ponying Coda around the neighbhorhood. He even let him try to eat the saddle. Of course I think Bo was secretly hoping he'd gnaw it right off.

Tacoda was secure enough in his geldinghood to sport around the neighborhood in pink and lavender. Does he look embarrassed?

 

The Last Thing a Flake of Hay Sees...

 

Baby Pictures of Tacoda

Here are pictures of him a few months ago. And at the bottom is a video.* well I've uploaded the video but it doesn't seem to be working yet (pout).

Rack me, Baby

Here is a picture of my new baby. He was one year old January 9th. 14 hands and wooley like a sheep at the moment. He is sleek and black underneath all that mane so he should be very pretty in a few months as that coat sheds.

I'm picking him up on Saturday! I'll post a few more pictures as I get them including some baby pictures they are giving me. And I have a video of him!

I'm In Love with a Pusher

I have fallen in love. He's black, he's big, and he's beautiful. I tried to resist. I tried to stay away.. but forbidden love kept dragging me back and I would gaze at his picture, watch his video and sigh. Yes, It's love. I tried to look at others, but something kept turning my head.

He's only a year old, a knobby kneed Tennessee Walker/Racking horse. He has "The Pusher" in his pedigree (thus the name of this post). He's already gelded, already long line trained and will probably top out at around 16 hands or more. God I love'em big.

In other news, Butterbutt is still pregnant and huge. We made her a little paddock of her own where she can munch hay and thumb her nose at everyone else who wants her food and hay. Casey, the defective dachshund ate a Silver Laced-Wynadott chick (BASTARD). We rode this weekend at the Carlton Reserve in Venice and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. We had a lovely ride with one of my sister co workers and her palamino Missouri Fox Trotting Mare. She ponied along her little pony, The Colonel, and he was just too cute trotting jauntily beside the mare.

Bo liked the pony and they nibbled at each other. The mare, Foxy, did NOT like Bo one bit. But you know, she's a mare. And he's loaded with all of those boy germs. :P

What's Happenin' Now

Well here it is February and what's new at the ranch?

Out in Coop 1 - We lost a muppet :( Yes, it was a very sad thing. We had a cold spell and the temps dropped to late 30's and early 40's at night for about a week (ok, for FLORIDA it was COLD). A couple of the muppets went off their feed and I realized how drafty it was in their coop. I put up something to block the draft and took three of them inside with me. Two of them perked right up with heat and started eating again. But number three was depressed. He wouldn't eat or drink. I used an eye dropper with yolk, yogurt and honey and some tetracycline in water but it was just too late for this one.

Now we have 13 baby silkies left in the coop but they are all doing very well.

Meanwhile in the brooder, we had cocidiocis run through the silkies and not being chicken experts, it took a while to figure out what it was. Several died rapidly and I noticed some bloody runs. Immediately we got medication in the water and things cleared up pretty quick.

We bought 16 Silver Laced Wynadotts and they are being brooded indoors with the surviving silkies. They are wild as piss, always leaping and spooking at every movement. Amazing the different disposition with each breed.

Coop 2 is doing well, we're getting an average of 2 eggs a day. There are 13 birds. The wize old silky rooster, currently we just call him "The Rooster". He replaced our two silky boys who were meaner than snakes and one even spurred me in the face. Then there are four other roosters. Yes, they are basically just spare change out there. One is Mozart, a barred rock named for the musical sounds he makes. We swear he clucks and purrs to the tune of Beetoven's Fifth. We raised him from a little squirt though. There is Big Red, a big red Aracona mix who is really quite useless. Then there is Mr. T, named for his ridiculous mowhawk crest, and then a bantam we call "The Banty". Mr. T and The Banty were also raised from day olds.

Then roll call of hens is Godzilla, a turken-barred rock mix who is hilarious. She's huge and follows us around like a puppy. Her sister is "The Runner", another barred rock named for her habit of running full out everywhere she goes. This hen can't walk anywhere. It's a balls to the wall gallop wherever she heads. They were both from the same original crop of 12 "mixed rares" that we got from the auction for like 48 bucks. What can I say? We're a sucker for the odd.

The rest of our hens are silky and silky mixes. There's Little Red who walks with a limp but is very pretty and red. Then there's two black hens which he haven't named yet, and two white hens, also not named yet. The last of our 8 hens in Coop2 is a young silky who looks alot like the rooster, a kind of brownish red. Only three of these hens are laying right now. They are all pretty young.

Meanwhile out in the pasture, Little Jonsie, the buck is starting to integrate with the herd. Belle and Honey, the sisters are still as bossy as ever. And little Butterbutt is pregnant! She must have come to us bred because her tummy is getting huge and she's bagging up already. She is the most adorable little thing and we're very anxious that she'll come through ok. We don't have a clue what she's bred to.

We made it over a month without eating any dirt while riding!! Sadly, we're proud of that!

We got Muppets!!

Another Friday night auction (Yes, there's nothing much better to do in Arcadia on a Friday night than go to a auction full of animals. It is the social scene for sure. Sadly, I"m NOT kidding). I brought Luc along and we did a quick tour of the pens and cages (took about 15 minutes) and he was DONE and ready to go home. (sigh) When I was his age, that would have been big time fun! A whole building full of chickens and goats and sheep and calves and ducks and.. Ok, you get the picture. But Nooooooo, Mr. High Tech, DVD player tucked under his arm, bored look on his face, was ready to go home and play with his WII (that ALSO had a different meaning when I was a kid).

They had several cages of Silky chickens (always a great find) and a few pygmy goats, and lots of interesting chicks (cough, something else that means something different to most people) so I called my sister who was still on her way home from work.

She swooped by and picked up Mr. High Tech and took him home, fed the menagerie then headed back to the auction.

Meanwhile, the auctioneer had set a cage of 6 fluffy muppets up on the block. I swear to God, they looked like something from Jim Henson's imagination. White, fluffy, with these big eyes and fuzzy afros. They were all standing very upright with their necks stretched up looking around. So many people were interested in those white silky chicks. I had overheard people admiring what good looking silky chicks they were. I became determined to get them.

And so the bidding started. Many people were bidding, and every time, I'd raise my hand and counter. Finally... I just picked up my hand and kept it there, indicating I would match. The others gave up, many smiling and shaking their heads..."She really wants them there birds." Yes, she did.

And she got them :P

So luckily I had a small empty box in the car and I stashed them there and carried them around until Peg arrived with the truck and cage. Though we opted not to put them in the big cage but to leave them in the truck in the box.

The other silky chickens were were interested in were on the very last row, naturally. But there was a great assortment of colors. some were still fuzzy chicks and some feathered out a few months old. There were many stalls of livestock and two rows of caged birds and rabbits before them though. Which meant it was going to be a very very long night.

And that it was. $172 dollars and 34 silky chickens later, we went home (after midnight).

But yeah, we got muppets!

Goat Love

Well, we did it again. We bought another goat at the auction. This is a little carmel pygmy nanny. She is very sweet and doesn't know she's a goat. We bought her so that Jonesie (aka Davy Jones) would have someone to hang out with since he's a bit of an outcast with the other goats. He's sniffed her a few times, but pretty much continues to be the odd man out of the herd. He's young yet, though and the only "guy with gonads" in the pasture. So sooner or later, he's gonna be putting on Barry White and following her around doing more than sniffing.

Following the Pirate naming theme, we decided to call her Calypso. However, she's had a dozen names this week so far. Butterscotch, Buttercup, Butterpie... well, you get the trend. So little Butter is a houdini. She has escaped several times to come "maa-aa-aaing" at the house for attention. I think we've managed to shore up all the escape hatches in the pasture now. God I hope.

I have visions of coming home and finding her and Jonesie on the sofa with a cocktail, goat porn on the tv, and "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Baby" crooning on the stereo. Oh yeah, baby.

"Maa-aa-aa".