Spring is Around the Corner

There are baby calves by the hundreds hittin' the ground all around us...a sure sign of spring! Every rancher has their own idea of when they want their cows calving; some early, some later, and everything in between.

Rancher Dan asked us to help with a two day cattle drive on the weekend after next...Colt's been in hibernation since before Thanksgiving...it's time that he get back into the workin' mode!

Wind in the Mane

It's been a bit frustrating this winter with lameness issues. First, Colt had a slight sprain in his front right. Stall rest, cold hosing, a poultice wrap and some bute got him mended pretty quickly on that one. Then he did something to his left foreleg...more stall rest and bute. Lastly, he got an abscess two weeks ago...more stall rest and bute!

Gus in the background would like to play some too!
He's on stall rest since he stuck his hoof through
the field fence and tried to cut his hoof off.
It not too bad, and it's healing very quickly.
I don't think there's going to be a scar either.

But Colt's sound now and seems to be fit as a fiddle...ready to get back into training...and working.

Yahoo!

I find it much easier to let them blow off some steam in the round pen before I even take them into the barn for brushing and saddling when they've been off for that length of time.

And for those who questioned Colt's photo from yesterday's Wordless Wednesday...yes, he had quite the hair do (a photo from this same series)...but a lil' bit of Laser Sheen did the trick ;~)

Gus is gettin' into it now too! Look at his butt and tail up in the air!

The round pen was thawed out pretty nicely, but when I rode Colt out on the property, the ground was either too damp and he would slip, or the ground was still frozen because the sun hadn't hit it because of the rim rock. So, we kept to the cinder road the goes down to the other end of the property and did a long trot as much as we could.

Yesterday, I loaded Colt up, and we went to a friend's place who has an indoor arena...30 miles away. I'm hooking up with trainer Matt Goodson, and we're just going to ride together every other week or so.  It was really helpful to get my own brain back into training mode as we talked about different techniques and other trainer's philosophies. Not all trainers think alike which you well know. Matt and I are on the same page; open to new ideas but always putting the horse first.

Riding with Matt also gives me a lil' bit of a push (mentally) to get out there and do something with my horses. Living where we do and being by myself so much, I find I loose enthusiasm...that's when I need a kick in the back end to get goin'!!

So, this is my Rural Thursday...check out the other participants in the blog hop and see what they're up to!