More Colt Work

We have been continuing to work the colts when we have time. I started this post a few days ago, but never got around to finishing it.

Here is Dad sacking out Stormy.


And Bandit.


Here is Stormy's first ride.


Stormy did well. He really moved out.



He did try bucking though.


Outlaw was a little confused.


And tried bucking


Notice the hat. I have a cool sequence with pictures that came before and after. I might edit this post to add them.


Pistol is doing well too.


A picture of some of our cows and calves.


Since I started this post Dad has put a few more rides on the colts and has ridden Bandit.

We have been going to quite a few brandings. I might put some pictures up of that sometime. We finally got some rain. We are hoping for more though.

DJ

Working Colts

Yesterday we brought in the horses and started working with the three-year-old colts. There are four of them so it is a bit of a job.

Here Danny is sacking out Pistol, the dun colt. Pistol is next to impossible to spook, as you can see.


We tie the colts' back foot up so they learn to stand still and not to be afraid of having a rope around their feet.


Dad sacking Outlaw out with a jacket. We are also working with another bay roan named Stormy.


And lifting his feet up.


Dad is also working with Eagle, the five-year-old who still needs some work.


Today we saddled all the colts except for Bandit, who isn't coming along quite as fast.

Outlaw didn't like the saddle very much and started bucking before Dad had it cinched down properly.


We saddled Pistol yesterday because he was fairly quiet. Today Dad rode him. He did well for his first ride.



And Danny even got on him.


We are enjoying learning and gaining experience working with the colts.

DJ

New camera and other things

Recently, we got a new camera since the old family camera was failing after taking thousands of pictures. The new one has 20X zoom, which is really nice because I like to take pictures of wildlife.
A blossom on one of our berry bushes.


A curlew who was being photogenic, even if it was rather hard to spot.


Blue wing teals. For some reason, the bird book says they're shy but they're not as wild as some other duck species in the area. (Perhaps less people hunt them?)


It works well for taking pictures of the moon too. I got this one when I went to let the chickens out a little before dawn.


On another note, I've been letting my chickens out at dawn, which seems to have helped increase egg production. I've read some things that say not to let hens out until they're done laying since they could lay outside, but from what I've seen, chickens seem to eat less feed and lay better if they're allowed out early. I think the benefits are greater than the risks, even if I got some surprise chicks last year for the first time. Here's some pictures of the hen and her chicks that I never got around to posting.


Since I hatched some chicks late last year, I haven't hatched any this year.


Here's another picture taken shortly before we got the new camera.


And now for a little cartoon I drew.
The real reason aliens abduct cattle.


Jessi

Update

We started calving about a week ago and quite a few cows have already calved. It started raining Thursday night and by Sunday, we had gotten 1.2 inches of rain which we are extremely thankful for.

This is a picture I took of our cows after we moved them about a week ago.


And a picture of our steers that was taken at almost the same time. They seem to be enjoying the river.


We fly almost every day to check on our cattle. I took this picture from it today. You can see some calves in it.


DJ

Stuck

Yesterday wasn't a very productive day. It started off with Dad hauling rock to creek/draw crossings. On his last load, his truck got stuck in reverse and he couldn't get it out. If he had tried backing out, he would have gotten stuck in the crossing. Mom and I went looking for him and found him walking. We went back and got the wheel loader and pulled him out, but we still couldn't get it out of reverse, so we deduced it needs a new transmission. He went over to smooth out the creek crossings with the loader and we went to get tools so he could take the drive-line off so we could pull him home. We got back and waited where he was supposed to meet us, but he didn't show up. Then I got a call from him on the cellphone. When I asked him where he was he said, "Stuck." The day was almost over though, so we picked him up and then pulled the truck home.

Dad had pulled in here with the loaded truck, and it didn't sink or anything. He had smoothed it out with the loader, but when he was backing up, it just sunk. The odd thing is, it is dry on top.





You can see where the ground just gave way.


Today, we just had to figure out how to pull the 30,000 pound loader out. The only thing we figured we could get it out with was our D7 CAT. We had to replace a fuel filter on our other truck, hook up to the trailer, get the CAT started, and hauled over. Once we got it there, we were able to pull it right out.


And that is how it is done.


Here is the hole the loader made.


In the last couple of days, we have gotten a quarter inch of rain. More rain would be nice, but at least it settled the dust.

DJ