Back in action

well after being missing in action for a few weeks.
first cold weather sucks, breaking ice 2 or 3 times a day to keep 40+ horse and 50 head of steers drinking is a job in itself, and feeding said critters when it's cold isnt much fun...

but the best news is, i finally had to have surgery, feb 10th they removed 3 of the ruptured disks from my neck and fused it all together with bone from my hips and plated it all together, pretty painful ordeal overall..made it worse when comeing home from hospital i slipp and fall...now it REALLY hurts... and i get to wear a stupid cervical collar for a few weeks...yuck...

but enough whining, we have a rodeo to run tonight, so i should have some new pics to post this weekend..i love watching all the new horses working at jobs they love,,, makes me wish i had tons of money. to afford even more horses....

until next time

Working Cowboys

One of the things that separate the real deal from the wanna Be's is..you guessed it..Cows...

That's right, them big ol bovine beauties, It's amazing how many "cowboys" don't even know what end the green stuff goes in or the brown stuff comes out of. Not to mention what said brown stuff might do to their 300.00 Dan Post boots.

One of the things I really enjoy is working cows from horseback, very few cattle ranches in this area use horses anymore since 4 wheelers etc. are cheaper to keep over the winter. It's a dying art, and not as easy as you might think, you have to know how cattle think and move and how your horse works, so other than taking care of our own, other people sometimes call and hire to pen up etc. This fall I just happened to have my camera when we were out pulling a young bull from a herd..

Enjoy

NAIS

National Animal Id System. ever hear of it? if not, and your a animal owner better start reading now. In another attempt at controlling every part of our lives, the govt. has came up with the bright idea that we need to put RFID chips (radio frequency id chips) into all our animals, horses, dogs, sheep, cows etc..

When they first came up with this wonderful plan it was a mandatory program to be in place sometime in 2009, but after some backlash its now a voluntary thing...for now.

this plan is made up of 3 parts...
1. Premises id..you have to register your location
2 Animal Id....implant a Id in all your animals....pretty much everything but fish. ?At your own cost of course
3. Movement reporting.....sell an animal ..report it..take a animal to the vet..report it....go for a trail ride?...gotta report it!

The worse thing is this is all under the label of fighting outbreaks of disease???
and there is a push to make it mandatory again, in fact alot of areas kids cannot show animals in FFA or 4H unless the id system is in use.

Anyway getting off my soapbox now...

Rodeos are Fun

Rodeos are fun, but a heck of alot of work. we held a rodeo this weekend in our indoor arena. It was a blast. I never knew all the work that went into one until now. working the ground, getting stock contractors, taking care of said stock, timers, barrells, cleaning up after..wooo it all made for some very late nights!

my buddies

thought I would share a few pics of some of my buddies at work...they love me..carrie says it's just because I feed em.

She might be right

Well I guess thats enough horse pics for now

Friends & Family

Well figured I would take time to introduce a few people and share a few pics. As I have grown older I have realized I can do without almost anything except family and friends.

Carrie, my better half and the biggest pain in my arse. I couldn't make it without her, when at my worst she was always there for me.

Colton, My son. a sweet handful, all 12 year old boy.

Sammi, Love of my life

Roy, the greatest boss of all time also is a very dear friend

Horse Apples

Everyone knows what horse apples are right? That pile of droppings left behind where ever horses go. I love those things! I see them every day, often smell like them, step over them all the time. Horse Apples saved my life! In 2003 I was injured at my job, rendering me unable to work, as things went along I found myself able to do less and less, finally getting to the point where I needed someone to help me get to the restroom. It was impossible to keep my weight down, And in June 2008 I had a heart attack. As soon as I got out of the hospital I decided that I was going to die if I didn't take care of things, that's about when I became friends with a man that had Lots and Lots of horses and all the horse apples that went with them. So a deal was Made... he would get help with his growing collection of horse apples and I could take as long as needed to move the piles. So as I felt like it I would go over to his place and scoop poop, maybe only 2 scoops a day.. just like Raisin Bran.. some days a few more... now 3 months later and 30 pounds less he is having me help with more than just horse apples, and here we are.