Pedicures for the herd!

Great day yesterday, my farrier, Gordie was here and put in time on the horses hooves. Jewel and Rose now have shoes, so no more worries about riding on the gravel roads. The rest of the herd all received a trim, being the stallion of the barn,Duc was first! Of course he was awesome. Gordie does a fantastic job and is so good with all of them. Shim who does not have the best front hooves, bad cracks right up the front, he thinks he can get them fixed up for her.
On the weekend the horses all had a turn getting their West Nile vaccine shots. We are now prepared for mosquito season and I fear it could be a bad one. There is a ton of water laying around, perfect breeding grounds for the little buggers. So far they haven't been too bad,due to the fact the wind has been blowing gale force lately!
Going riding today and use those new shoes!

We're back!!

Oh my goodness, after some glitches, we are back on track and website is available to view once again. Yay! So sorry for being off line for over a week.

So much has being going on with the horses. Shim and Duc have had their first courtship already, if she didn't catch her first cycle she should be seeing him again this week.
Xade is now a gelding and has a much better attitude already.He is such a stunner, and has amazing prescence for a young horse.
The horses have been dewormed,the farrier comes on the 16th for trims for everyone and shoes for Rose and Jewel.
The Mane Event horse expo has come and gone for another year. The Canadian Horse was well represented(including Rose and myself) and we preformed a very nice Drill Team presentation.
This coming weekend I am off to Wainwright with Jewel to a driving clinic. Hopefully we have great success!

Busy Day at Diamond A

A spring day in April in Alberta, gorgeous out but then the wind started to blow and it wasn't quite so nice out anymore. I was a busy girl in the morning and gave the whole herd their 5-way vaccinations.This is the most horses I have ever owned(10) and it took awhile to get them all done! Everyone was very well behaved except Shim, and even she wasn't bad. She just has a phobia about shots, Jeanne was the same way when I got her too, now I don't give her time to think about what is about to happen. Its over before she has time to work herself up and then she gets a treat, and life is back to being good.

In the afternoon the vet came and Xade had his big operation. He is now a gelding and feeling very sorry for himself! Was a bit of an interesting ordeal as he came out of the drugs a bit sooner than we had expected. As it was my job at his head with my leg putting pressure on his neck to hold him down. Well when he came awake,he thru his head up and his front legs came forward rather quickly.
Lets just say Karen received a very sore tailbone out the deal. I am hoping I can ride tomorrow.More Advil, please!

Another day of winter, although they are forecasting very nice temps for next week. I really hope so! Spent the day in Red Deer and as necesary as breathing , we have to make a stop at Greenhawk! Bought a pair of killer purple gloves for cross country,along with some other goodies. Rose and I are going to look great out on course! Purple being our main color theme!
Came home and gave Mystique and Jeanne their 3rd and final Pneumabort-K vaccine shot. They are getting quite the pregnant tummies.
Next month it will be time to give all the horses their vacciantions and deworming too. April is always an expensive month on a horse farm!

Its Time !

It's time for conditioning that is. With warmer temps and the ice mostly gone from the roads, Rose and Jewel are back in training. Hoping to get a steady month of conditioning on them and then get into some serious training. Rose is going to expand her horizon this year, taking part in an eventing clinic and compete in a couple of 3day event competitions. I am confident she will be jumping 2'9" to 3' in time for annual Canadian show.
Both, Jewel and I are learning a new discipline. How to drive a horse! Ground driving is going well, although Jewel can't quite understand about the blinkers attached to the side of her head.She's like, Karen ,I can't see a thing except straight ahead! I think that is the general idea Jewel! I'll keep you posted on our progress. Already have a driving clinic lined up to go to. Should turn out to be lots of fun. Maybe we will even be able to give cart rides to family and friends:)

Short, Sweet and Cold!

OK, it warmed up to minus 20 and I couldn't wait any longer. I had to go for a ride! Chelsey and I saddled up Jewel and Rose and ended up going on the shortest ride ever. We first tried the open fields, it was way to deep and hard, so we next tried the road. It wasn't too bad if you stayed right on the edge, but wasn't the greatest either. After just a quarter mile Chelsey had a big white patch on her cheek so with frostbite developing on her face we turned for home. The horses were like, WHAT??, we just got out here! It was still great to be out, there is nothing better than swinging your leg over a horse and feeling like you have come home.

We also fed a round bale in the pasture and bedded all the horses today and did a shuffle around of pens. Mystique is now in a seperate pen, so she can get extra groceries, she isn't thin but I feel she needs a little extra. Its been a long hard winter and I want her and her soon to be new foal to have the best start they can. No one else is in need of any extras though! Jewel, Rose and Jeanne are now in pen close to the barn and Shim and LaDiva have taken their place out in little pasture with the two year old fillies. They were very happy to have more room to run and put on a nice show for us. I was very impressed with how they move. Big floating trot, so beautiful to watch. I can't wait to get them bred and have foals out of them next spring.
Photo is of Jeanne showing off her fine figure. Does she look pregnant?!
Stay warm and keep praying for spring...it has to show up sometime!

Coldest February Ever!

After enduring a very cold and miserable February, I am hopeful that March might start to show signs of spring. Obviously not this first week, because the forecast is horrible, more minus 30 weather and snow flurries, but PLEASE let it be soon. I am anxious to start working with horses in preperation of the coming competition season, but without an indoor arena there really isn't much I can do. The footing is horrible everywhere,ice covered roads and deep crusty fields. I bought my lottery ticket once again in the everhopeful dream of building my own indoor HEATED arena!!!

The horses are all doing great though, just keep feeding them hay and they are happy and easy to please. The one water bowl was frozen this morning, but Tom was able to get it working again in short order. Of course it was the main water for all the mares and everyone was thirsty. Jewel is first in line, once she is done there is more competition on who goes next, interesting to see how they get it all worked out. Usually just a head toss or a flick of an ear lets them know who is next in line. Jeanne just stands in the back and waits for the commotion to be over, and then takes her turn. What a sweet mare she is.
I'll sign off with this beautful view of Waiamia Valley,Hawaii from our recent escape from the cold. When I get rich and famous we'll just move there with horses in tow!