Saturday, August 18, 2012

Maybe Stallion


Here is our trainers Fox Trotter Perlino Stallion. He is a sweet tempered stud and he 
produces buckskin foals.

Showing how he "parks out" for easy mounting.

Riding with just string. I noticed the stallions large hooves, good for trail riding.

Unique eye colors. I am not a fan of the blue eyes, but the foals have dark eyes.

The trainer just hopped up and put the stallion though his gaits. We might breed our Maple, a Fox Trotter to this stallion when she turns three. We are waiting to see if she is a good horse under saddle and worth breeding. Maple's mom was a great safe horse for anyone to ride. This stallion has the qualities I like in the Fox Trotter breed and his foals are very nice and athletic.




Maple Gets Shoes


Here is Maple and her new companion a mini gelding. Maple is at the trainers for breaking into saddle and trails. She got her first set of shoes and was not happy to be penned up. 

Maple and the mini establishing who rules the pen.

Maple loves to be bossy.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Tractor Time

My husband using a neighbors tractor to unload delivered round bales to our farm. He got a tractor lesson and was set lose upon the bales. Got all 20+ bales offloaded in 30 minutes.
The bales are the size of the tractor cab.
Our  tractor is too small to off load from a double stacked flatbed trailer. The giant John Deere can do the job easily. It is good to have neighbors who share their toys.
Getting ready to load a bale into our truck for delivery to the horse trainers place. Since hay is in short supply, our trainer asked for 2 bales along with training fee to saddle break our young horses.
Close up of the cab.
Returning the tractor just down the road a ways from our farm.
Securing the bale to the truck for delivery.

Egg Me On


A few days ago one of my ducks laid this giant egg. 

The normal sized duck egg is on the bottom.


I have not cracked it open yet. I suspect it has two yolks.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Hoofing It

The other day a friend came by to give a hoof trimming lesson to my neighbor. She raises champion goats and offered to show us how to trim goat hooves. The auction goats had neglected feet and needed serious trimming. They must have been confined for a long time to get at this level of neglect. So after a goat holder was made the trimming lesson began.

The auction goats poor feet. They caused her to walk poorly and not be able to forage since walking hurts.

The hoof wall has folded under the hoof. Careful trimming with very sharp trimmers.

My husband on the left, Cathy and Rick on the right. Goat audience around the show.

Left hoof is after and the right hoof is before.

The goat thinks about all this.

Serious fold over on the second older female goat. After the trimming both goats walked better.

Zilla Chair

This is my husbands deck chair and Zilla has taken it over. She can nap and see her domain all without moving. I never had a dog this young take to a chair before. We hardly ever use the chair so I guess it goes to the dogs.

Coffin Finished

I friend asked me to upholster his oak handmade coffin. He bought it with a simple muslin interior and wanted to make it nicer looking. The coffin has been in my care for several months and worked off and on by myself and another crafter. The coffins owner has not been in the best of health and wanted me to finish his handmade coffin. So this week I got it done and he picked it up. We agreed on a trade, chicken food and corn in exchange for materials used. It took almost 4 people to move his empty coffin into his truck. Coffins take up a lot of space in a house. And they are very heavy. After working on this coffin I realized getting cremated is the best way to go. No heavy lifting of a big box and no big hole in the ground. And as ashes my remains can be spread upon a rose bush doing some good for the plant.

Ivory satin pillow case, pad and drape sewn and stapled in.

I used saddle pads to protect the coffin and my floor.