Colt Update

Ride #42 this morning when the temp was below freezing. We'll keep working him until winter prevents it. He is way ahead of the game as far as training. Next spring we'll put him on some cattle and see how he does

THE BEAST

New addition to the ranch---Ruthie will show him at fair in the summer of 2010 when he is double his current size

More of the Colt

Deck is up to 20 rides and is doing super. Great attitude, good mind, and very calm. Does what we ask and is learning ques quickly.

Working the Colt

Deck is coming along fine and Ruthie has put 4 rides on him...but every once in awhile he gets disrespectful as he was today...so Ruthie put him to work. He bucked a couple of laps around the round pen then settled into a lope.

Our Tenants

These guys live on our ranch. They are not the biggest bucks we have in residence. With archery hunting season just days away the big guys have gone into hiding. Sometimes these bucks will come over to the sheep pasture and go nose to nose with our sheep.

Decks First Ride

Ruthie rode Deck for his first ride. I kept the lead rope on him for safety reasons but all went well and next time Ruthie will ride with no lead. Click on the attached to see a little of the ride. The entire ride was much longer with the horse backing, as well as turning left and right. He's just 2 yrs old so he's off to a very good start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeB9ppi6X4A

Fawns

We have three pair of fawns who bed down on our place. Here's one pair with the doe

ABCA Border Collie Stud Service Available

Our very athletic male, Luke, is available for stud service. For details see our Border Collie site:

http://3bitsbordercollies.homestead.com/

Feedback received from buyers of pups sired by Luke has been excellent in terms of temperment, physical conditioning, and working ability

PICTURES

YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PICTURE ON THIS BLOG AND ENLARGE IT

Riding the Paints

Susie (6) and Jerry riding on the ranch, July 2009

Jerry riding Rain (4)

Colt Training

Deck, our 2 year old gelding, is in the final stages of ground work training and we anticipate putting 10 easy walk rides on him by Fall. Then we will let him be a horse until the Spring of 2010 when we will begin to finish him as a good riding horse. Deck is a solid color paint out of one of our ranch mares. He is big (15.5 hands at 2 years) with more height and of course quite a bit of filling out to come. Deck will be for sale in the summer of 2010 once he is more than just green broke under saddle.

Deck has a very mellow temperment and learns quick--and he retains what he learns. As an example he was trailer loaded in the Fall of 2008 and then not trailered again until April of 2009. He stepped right in like he's done it every day of his life. He is easy to groom, bathe, and trim. Our farrier is very happy with his calm demeanor when it's time to do his hooves. Deck has been exposed to all sorts of "scary" stuff and generally yawns his way through it. As you can see from the photos he's a good looking guy. While we have not put any rides on him yet Ruthie and I have both sat in the saddle on him and he is willing to just stand. He does not move away from the mounting block like some colts do and when working him on the ground at all gaits with a saddle on and bit in his mouth he does not offer to buck. I have a feeling he will be like a Mustang we once owned that rode off easily the first time we put a ride on her.

To see a brief video of Deck being worked on long reins see:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_kgx8TVBCo

BORDER COLLIES

The Border Collie pups out of our dam Lady, sired by our male Luke have all sold and moved on to very happy buyers. The feedback we are receiving regarding these ABCA pups is very positive. Now a few months old, the pups are proving to be smart and very athletic just like their parents.

We will be breeding again so if interested in a quality working Border Collie check here in the spring of 2010 to see what we have available.