Isn’t summer wonderful? Anyway, it certainly does speed up activities on a horse ranch. First of all, now we have six babies on the ground, and all are healthy and growing as fast as the weeds here. The last one was a Midnight colt born to our red roan Set Em Up Bartender mare. We have the last two mares to foal in our circle drive so we can observe them several times a day. I went out to do chores before church, and I saw a placenta but no foal. I almost freaked out until I saw the cutest coal-black foal lying by the big round bale. I believe I surprised him as much as he did me. Rodney and I very quickly doctored his navel, gave a tetanus shot and partial enema, and waited to do the rest after returning from church. Actually, Rodney skipped church as he has been frantically trying to get the 16 new stalls done at LaRiviere Park, but we were leaving together. Later in the day, we noticed the new foal with his tail up and straining. We realized that he had not gotten rid of the little “balls” in his intestinal tract and gave him another enema and out popped about 20 little hard balls of his mecum. We have always watched this very carefully as about 15 years ago we had a foal become very constipated and the vet thought at first that his rectum was not fastened to his anus. We hauled him into the vet hospital, and after Dr. Kurt worked with a puppy puller and pulled these little balls out, he was OK. Then he broke his leg as a 2-year-old, but that is the way of things sometimes. Anyway, all is well that ends well and everything is working great today, only one more to go!
Our Mother’s Day was well-attended by 47 riders; the wind was brisk and it was a bit cool, but all seemed to have a good time. Now I have another story to add to “The Saga of the Old Cowboy and Young Cowboy and Old Cowgirl,” but I am going to ask you to ask about this as it is too long to tell here.
It was fun to watch Samantha Redman ride her new mare, CR Miss Shiny Dakota. CR Miss Shiny Dakota is a mare that she plans on training for a barrel prospect. Kassi Taylor also rode CR Flashing Bo, her barrel horse on the ride. Everyone enjoyed coming back after the ride to eat rhubarb, apple crisp and ice cream, so I believe all had a good time.
In addition, it has been fun working with the Melton family after purchasing CR Red Coy Buck, a 16.2-hand, 2004 bay gelding for their daughter, Morgan. I call that the “Story of a Big Horse and a Little Girl.” When I talked with Helen, she told me Morgan and Coy Buck are with a trainer and all is well. Rodney rode this same gelding at Midwest Horse Fair when we were part of the patrol. We always called him the “gentle giant.”
Rodney and I attended the Little Wranglers Rodeo in Lancaster. It was a real joy to watch Leah Winkers and Austin Schneider. They both used CR horses in the many events that they participated in. Leah Winkers is the daughter of Scott and Julie Winkers, and Austin is the son of Dan “Tag” and Linda Schneider. Both Austin and Leah will be eligible for the national finals in New Mexico, so that will be fun to watch and follow. We also enjoyed watching Kassi race Bo in the Jackpot barrels the same night. She was running second in 40-plus horses when we left and I do not know how it turned out. She and Samantha have their Rodeo Cowboy Association cards now and are going to haul to many rodeos so we wish them the best of luck!
Rodney and I have only been camping two weekends so far at the park, but have been too busy trying to get all the stalls and high lines done. There were over 20 extra electrical hookups added this spring, so now there is electricity for all. We rather liked the “primitive idea,” but everyone seems to enjoy the hookups. The park was jammed full Memorial Day weekend, and everyone seemed to have a great time. By the time you read this, the EMS Big Rivers Ride will have come and gone, it was the last weekend of June at LaRiviere Park. So until our trails cross again …
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7/31/09 - 10:46PM