Already falling behind!

Well this is ridiculous- I cannot believe my last post was January 8. Some dedication that shows!

Been busy busy around here--considering it is the middle of winter.
This weekend, we drove 10 hours round trip to get some breeding stocks....now to clean out the area where they will be installed. That should be a trick!

Yesterday was baby trailer loading school---First we taught Chief to load. He had an appointment to have his Coggins done this morning, for his pending move to Arkansas at the end of the week (congrats Lois!), so he seemed a good one to start with.

Barry is a good trailer loading teacher- especially with babies. Once he gets them in, he gets them out and repeats a bunch of times. The really smart ones catch on to this pretty quickly and get suspicious about why we make such a stink about getting in the trailer if they are just going to get out again.....let alone do it repeatedly! But he figured it out pretty easily and was a very good boy. I was very proud.

The next one was the Red Devil, who is also leaving this week. This filly has never refused anything in her life---she is the best baby I have ever raised I think. We made the mistake of having loading practice in front of her stall where she could see Chief's lessons. Big mistake! She saw no reason to get in the trailer just to get out. Who can blame her really, especially as it was sleeting and there was standing water and mud everywhere.

She finally decided to get in and I thought the work was over for the day. Not so much! She saw no reason to get out. This is not really that big of a deal and there is no reason to fight with her, so we left her to work it out for herself. Who knew it would take four hours! She finally got out about the time the Apprentice LA started, and then only because Barry backed her out properly. It is hard to scoot a filly backwards when they are scared of nothing! Shaking the lead rope at her is not gonna do it like it does everyone else. She is a character though that is for sure.

Since we had free time while she was camping out, we also taught baby Xena to tie. She was great! I am so proud of her, as she has one of those fairly rebellious temperaments--always wants to know "WHY?" she should do anything. She figured out why in a hurry---because that iron hitching post does not bend, that is why---you might as well stand there like a lady! Her cut on her leg is really improving as well, as we are now wrapping it for her and she is being very patient and learning good tricks. I guess I have Marvin the wonder Farrier to thank for her willingness to stand there with her foot in the air for as long as necessary.

Other than that, I have not been riding much....okay, not at all, in a couple of weeks. It has been nasty outside and not fun. I have been cleaning the heck out of a bunch of stalls though, so that has to count for something! I have made some new websites for a local barn and the Southern Illinois Sorting Association.

Also Sly had his EVA test last week, and as expected is negative. Go Sly! One more hurdle out of the way for breeding season to kick off. Now if he would quit destroying his blankets in stupid ways, we would get along great.

Tonite's goal: groom Chief up pretty, including a little clipping of the bridle path. He looks a little insane with all that hair going every which way. That should be interesting!

Have a good week!