Barn Cats and Canadian Weather

Well the weather has been very cold. We have been having temperatures of -29 and then suddenly the next day it is +1 and then its really cold again! This pic was taken during one of our warmer days....I took Cricket and Blaze's blankets off for a while to let their skin get some fresh air. They both seemed to enjoy it. In fect Cricket would not let me put her blanket back on...but the next time I went out and it was -15 she gladly accepted it :)
ah good old Canadian weather...

Phoebe thought it might be fun to taste the cat. Little Mister was not too impressed with this plan. So he ran away from Phoebe and went into the hay bale in the llama field....

He was not safe there either!!! LOL Ebony thought she might like a closer look at him too.... ah the life of a a barn cat...!

Everyone, animals included is suffering from a bout of winter blues. Its a pretty boring time of year....can't ride; no grass; its cold; its wet; it takes forever to do things.... The horses seem pretty bored right now. I have been out working with them, but not riding much because of the ice. It is a crappy time of year, thankfully we should be getting to the end of this miserable cold soon.
Cher and Joe. Not a recent pic obviously :) But such nice green grass behind them. This is the weather I am dreaming about..... This pic was taken last April, and since tomorrow is March that means April is next month :) I posted this pic to get everyone's spirits up. The nice weather, the green grass, bright blue sky, no snow.....its coming!!!!! Not long now...thank goodness.

Look how much I've grown!

AWWWW! Here's Blaze when he was just a day old! SO CUTE! and so scrawny! lol Ah, that was a fun and exciting time for us all. He was such and active baby!!

Here's he is today! He has grown a lot over the past 8.5 months. He is such a sweet boy, loves attention, very polite. He had more than his fair share of hard knocks in his short life but he has come out as a very polite and loving horse.

Aw, what a handsome guy! We are looking to get another horse soon, hopefully a gelding. Then Blaze will no longer be the only boy in the field! Blaze is scheduled to be gelded at the end of March/beginning of April.

An awesome day!

Pheeny and I had a great day! I groomed her up good! brushed her; conditoined her mane; cleaned out her feet (I LOVE HOW SHE IS SO WELL BEHAVED FOR THEM!); and trimmed her pesky whiskers. After all that work I needed a rest and she just looked so comfy there tied to the fence :) lol so I hopped on and sat on her for about 15 minutes while I talked to mom and Pheeny was PERFECT! she did not move or fuss or anything. Just stood there, very calm and relaxed! It was great.
She is so comfy, what a good girl. I love that she ties to the fence no problem. Cricket can tie, but she has been pretty fussy these past few weeks. I think she is still nervous. Oh well practice makes perfect right?!
Blaze got a new halter and he looks so cute in it! The other halter he had was getting too small and fading to a pink colour so we decided to put Blaze in bright blue ;) He was out in the front yard for the first time in this pic..there was so much to see and so much to smell. He was nervous, and it didn't help that the girls called to him from time to time, but I fed him his lunch in the front yard, so he did not think it was so bad after that!

Another Goodbye...

Well I made the decision to sell Banjo. With the horses and the hay and everything that I need to do Banjo just was not getting much time or attention. I felt it was better to sell him to someone who can spend time with him. I did not want him to go to someone who was going to use him soley as a livestock guardian, he is too special for that ;)

He was bought by a young boy, 6-7 years of age who has wanted a donkey for years. I am excited that Banjo will have a young owner to grow with and who will be his best friend. Yay for Banjo!

He is precious

Cricket has 'adopted' Blaze:) She likes to be with him and protects him. When I take him to the barn Cricket runs down the fence line to keep her eye on him.
They look like mother and son! you would never guess that Gracie is his mom! lol. I am glad that Blaze has a pal. The bay, Phoebe, is still rough with him, but so long as he stays away she is fine. He is so little!!!!! He is so precious! I am so lucky....

A nice February day

Gracie, Phoebe, Blaze and Cricket decided to go for a run around the fields today. Blaze spent about 2 hours out with the mares and he really seemed to enjoy himself. He is lucky he is wearing a blanket, he has recieved a few nips and bites, but only because the mares want to show him that they are each above him! He likes to be out with the herd and sad when he has to go back in the barn with the llamas for the night.
Gracie had a good run today. As usual, she loves to run! She really worked up a sweat and had to roll at least a dozen times to cool down. I took Blaze's blanket off today for a few minutes and he rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled.....and scratched....rubbed....rolled some more......he has worn his blanket 24/7 for 4 months, it was only removed for medical prcedures. I am sure the air on his skin felt great! Blaze having some dinner with his mommy! He is so little!!! She is so big! I saw her grooming him today.... It is great to have the little guy home!!!!!

BLAZE HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!

BLAZE IS HOME!!! Finally! It has been a long haul, but the little guy has finally come back home. It is so exciting to have him here and I am having lots of fun getting to know him again. He calls out when he see's me and he also answers his name. He is awesome!
Blaze see's his mom again after 5 1/2 months apart. He has grown so much! Gracie is making sure that he know she is the boss, but she is not being really mean to him. The other two mares are the ones being mean to him right now...
So for his own safety Blaze is living with the llamas and sheep until he is ready to go in with the big girls. He needs some time to adjust and get his bearings before he will be able to go in with the girls. They are kind of rough with him.... there are a few options to try so we'll see what happens...
These 3 mares, who only one day earlier were at each others throats suddenly became the 3 amigos when Blaze arrived....whats up with that??? Just before this pic was taken Phoebe was drinking too, all three of them at once....never ever thought I would see that!!!

Natural horsemanship work

Phoenix and I spent some quality time together today. We went for a nice walk, practiced commands, stood tied while I chatted and had a photo session. It was a great and productive day, we had lots of fun and I enjoyed myself. Gracie has calmed down a bit, and this has allowed me to work with the other horses. I still need to spend more time with Cricket but that will be later in the week.....Blaze is coming home tomorrow morning and that will of course throw everything and everyone out of whack!!

Gracie also has a natural horsemanship training session tomorrow, to that should be lots of fun. I want to do all kinds of things with the big girl, and its high time we started our weekly training sessions again. I am really getting into the natural horsemanship side of equine life, I have seen amazing results from it. I would like to learn a lot about it, and work with all my horses using natural methods. Gracie made a remarkable transistion when we first started with natural horsemanship.
Phoenix is such a cute little girl! She is more like 14.3hh rather than the 15hh I was told, but thats fine with me...it makes her cuter!! She is very well trained and we are having lots of fun.

Banjo and his buckets

Banjo thought there might be some food left over in the horses grain buckets....so he picked them up and carried them around. It was very cute, but I was not fast enough with the camera to get him holding the bucket, just this one as it fell......animals ALWAYS do cute things when the camera is in my pocket!!!
Kiwi and Ebony heard the grain buckets and came out to see if there was any food at this side of the barn.....there wasn't...Gracie ate it all:) The snow has made the llamas frisky. They love it! They would like to go out into the fields.
Ebony decided to have a visit with Little Mister Ginger.....whom also emerged from the barn to see if there was any food left......sorry guys....talk to Gracie

Learning to live together

The herd is looking for what little grass remains under the snow. At least they are bonding and learning to live together in harmony. Cricket and Phoebe are closer than Gracie is to anyone, but Gracie is still mourning the loss of Dyna, and still calls out to her every once in a while. Blaze will add to the mix, I wonder who he will hang out with??
Glad to see them hanging out so close. The first day, Gracie chased Cricket, so Cricket understandably was wary of being near Gracie, even when Gracie was nice and just wanted company.
What a pretty herd!

ANOTHER newbie!!!

This is Phoenix!!!! She is our most recent addtion to the herd. She is a 10 year old QH/Cob. I have mentioned her before. She came from the people that now have Dyna. She is a very sweet girl. She adds some colour to our herd finally! All we have had so far is black or white/grey!!!!
Phoenix has settled in very well. She was put in with Gracie and Cricket immediately and it has been fine. She is lower on the pecking order, Cricket is the leader, so it worked out well. Gracie has more issues with Cricket who she has known longer than with Phoenix. But in the end Cricket will become the lead mare of this herd.
LOL! Phoenix is so small!!!! She is not really...she is 15 hh....Gracie is just a BIG GIRL!

Aw...I love my girls.

Gracie and her feline friend

Gracie and lil Mister shared some bonding time in the hay this week! Lil Mister thought the hay was a nice place to rest and who can blame him!?!?! its warm, soft, edible and has in house grooming sessions!!!!
They are so cute together!!! Gracie likes cats and dogs, though she will run dogs out of her pasture if she thinks they are threatening to her herdmates.

Today is a blizzard and there is supposed to be 30 cm of snow!!! I will not be able to get out to the barn until monday, but tomorrow my parents are going out to check on the horses and feed/water everyone.

Blaze is due to arrive home on the 9th which is next saturday!!! YAY!! I am so excited that Blaze will finally be coming home. Its been 5 months and its time for the lil dude to come back. He is healthy and strong enough to come home now. I wonder what Gracie will think and do when she see's her son again?!?!?!