He's Here!

Our little cowpoke is here!

Harper Michael

Born April 21, 2013

10:01 p.m.

8 lbs. 2 oz.

Love. Love. Love!

As you can imagine, my world is forever changed.

I am super busy figuring this newborn thing out....so the posts will be few and far between for the next month or so.

Ranch Girl

No Baby Yet & Views From Our Kitchen Window

No baby yet! Around two weeks to go.....give or take a week or two!

After some gorgeous spring weather.....last week we had some April showers around here! Every morning when I wake up I look outside and see what the weather is doing and what my horses are doing. It is a secure feeling for me to see them both safely in their pasture.

On a particularly miserable cold and rainy morning (in fact, there was snow in the higher hill elevations just above us) I saw both my ponies snug inside their turnout shed. It is nice to know they DO use this from time to time, instead of standing in the rain tails to the wind like they typically do!

{One of my spring maternity leave goals~ to paint the turn out shed! I should have done it last summer!}


Here is the shot I saw out of our kitchen a few days ago.....my two ponies taking an early morning nap- rump to rump! Luna loves her naps and will lay flat out quite often. My Boy tends to be more "on guard" and rarely lies flat out, he'll typically just rest his head on his chin and close his eyes, as you see below.

Can you see how much Luna is roaning out? Right now she's really white/gray with red spots, almost Appy-like! This photo was taking during the week of spring-like weather, as you can tell by how dry the ground is!

Do most of you feed your horses on the ground? I do, it seems the most natural to "grazing." I usually  make at least 3 piles of their flakes so they can wander around as they eat. I get a kick out of watching them move to each pile checking and see if one happens to be better than the other. What I hate about wet weather is it feels like such a waste to throw the hay on the ground as so much becomes muddy or trampled. Have you ever heard of a slow-grazer grazing box feeder? I saw the man who makes them at an equine event and thought it was a brilliant concept. Maybe some day I will invest in one or have Ranch Boy make me something like it. For two horses, it seems very doable and would also help them eat slower through-out the day which is also more natural. Somehow though, I feel like my crafty Mustang would find a way to get the screen out of there. Or, if she couldn't do that, she'd bang her hooves and legs on the box like she does on the water trough because she's trying to play in it (or just hungry or bored.)

Have a great rest of the week!!

Ranch Girl

A Little Help From My Mom

My surprise visitor was...... my momma! You might remember her blog Copper Pony's Cowgirl......she quit blogging a few years ago.

She had a pretty little copper gelding named Dusty that she had to re-home.

I love this photo. Dusty was such a handsome boy!  And my mom looks so pretty here, too!

 I can only imagine that having to re-home your first horse must be so hard, even when you know it's the right thing to do for the horse. Dusty had a dropped hip and some soreness issues that caused him to have behavioral issues on the trail from time to time. He really needed to be retired as a pasture pony and couldn't do the trail riding that my mom likes to do. He is happy living as a pasture pony on a farm now. We was such a character and we all still think about him and miss him a lot. My mom also went through some other big changes in her life the past 3 years, but that is her story to tell.

However, mom has a new horse that she has started working with. Guess what? He has spots! And he's a BIG boy at 16 hands. His name is Forest. He's had professional training but needs a refresher. My mom says he has a lot of personality and she is enjoying getting to know him. I can't wait to meet him this summer when she brings him to the ranch!

My mom only stayed with me one night but she was a tremendous help! She really knows how to buckle down and get stuff done when you need her to. Ranch Boy remodeled my out-dated bathroom into a bathroom/walk-in closet. Basically, he took out the big tub (which I didn't use anyway as we have another one- it was just storage and filled with STUFF. Like suitcases, a show saddle pad, clothes, a chandelier, and My Boy's winter horse blanket....) Once emptied of the tub, that space became the closet. I got new flooring (goodbye carpeted bathroom) new paint on the walls, a new sink, new fixtures......it's almost done and it's SO nice! While this has been happening my clothes and toiletries have been spread out across multiple rooms in the house. A bit of a challenge for a prego gal!

The other grand thing about this is that the baby's closet is now full of HIS things- not my clothes! Yes, I am a bit of a clothes hoarder. But hey, I lived in the city and had a job for eleven years where I had to dress up a little. Even though my ranch attire is mostly jeans, boots, and tees, it's still hard to let go of some of those other items. I have been nesting and cleaning and purging out a lot since baby has been on the way, however. If you really saw how many bags have left our house to be donated, you'd be proud of me.

I will get some photos of the projects in the next week and try to get them posted.

I hope you all had a fabulous Easter Sunday!!

Ranch Girl