Let the Wait Begin: Guess List and THT Coupon

Sorry no new baby announcements from Castleberry as the wait for Roscoe's sixth foal begins. So enjoy this leaping series of Ember as a foal and almost a yearling. My boy has skills :)

And here are the list of guesses:

Micaylah - 5/23, Bay, Colt, Star, Two Socks

Olivia - 5/23, Bay, Colt, Blaze, 4 Legs Chrome

Jessica - 5/27, Black, Colt (My hair dresser who accurately guessed Roscoe would have highlights)

Love, Laugh, Ride - 5/28, Bay, Colt, Blaze, 4 Socks

Nicole - 5/28, Black, Filly, Star, 1 Sock

Alanna - 5/29, Bay, Filly, Blaze, 4 Socks

Emma - 5/29, Bay, Filly, Snip, Star, 2 Socks

Betsy - 5/30, Bay, Colt, Blaze, Hind Socks

Carly - 5/31, Bay, Colt, Blaze, 2 Stockings

Alli - 6/1, Chestnut, Colt, Star, 4 Socks

Teresa - 6/1, Chestnut, Filly, Chrome

The Horse Dream, 6/2, Bay, Colt, Blaze, 3 Stockings

 THT COUPON
For those of you who want to shop early... Enjoy

A Fork For Everyone

Just one more day to enter the Foal Pool, then the wait begins. Fortunately for Castleberry Welsh Cobs, the wait is over for the long awaited Bay filly. Ember's new sister and Roscoe's cousin made her appearance right on time a few days ago. Little girls are always so cute!

PC: Lisa Brezina, Baby Girl E 2017

PC: Lisa Brezina, Ember 2016

Unfortunately for us the rain has reappeared and the arena is sloppy. I still made Comrade work, but it does not make for great writing. So I am going to talk about forks.


Manure forks, apple pickers, picks, what ever you call them are an essential part to having horses. And if you are anything like me, you have one you prefer. Due to market changes we are sometimes forced to try new ones. Here are the three I have used recently, Future Fork, Farm Fork, and Noble Outfitters Wave Fork.

Farm Fork
This fork my sister got us from Big Dee's for $25 (head only) and my Dad put handles on. The design is suppose to make it virtually indestructible. So far ours still survive. Mom uses this pick daily. I am picky and think the tines are too pointy, but overall the tine spacing and weight allow for good use. They also sell an adjustable handle to go with the head.

Round head

Noble Outfitters Wave Fork
I have been interested in this fork since it came out and finally decided to buy one for just under $50. Wave fork parts are all replaceable, making breaking a tine less painful. They let you pick tine colors, for those with specific barn colors, and have a two piece handle.  The fork is very lightweight which pleases Peggy. The only cons are that the tines are spaced slightly wider, hard to pick small pieces, not as see sturdy feeling and the handle occasionally twists open. I really like that the nut/bolt assembly to attach the head and handle have a rubber coating to allow for a tight connection. I seriously cannot stand a wobbly fork.

Future Fork
As nice as the other two are, I stick with the old Future Fork. The angle works, tines spaced well and they are about  $13.  Larry and I both use these forks, though his is wobbly. We also have the small version in the trailer.

We have a fine tine fork in the hay stall. It is too heavy for normal use. Same goes for the Wonder Fork. The Super Fork, we gave away since none of us could stand the awkward angle. And finally,  the trusty metal pitch fork is there for the tough jobs.

Anyone else picky about forks?

Bailey Update

PC: Lisa Brezina, Dirty Harry 2017

One more week to enter the foal pool! Comrade's nephew and Roscoe's cousin made his appearance on the 1st. Which was the same day his big brother was born. I guess Dyma Hi likes that day.

PC: Lisa Brezina, Debonair 2016



Bailey has been home now for a week and is settling in nicely. Thursday he went to the vet for his check up. Since we don't know when he last went, they recommended a kitten package. So he got his initial shots and will go back twice more for boosters. He has a clear fecal and after doing the standard and old age blood work, clear blood work. Except for a cracked tooth, he is overall a healthy 15 yr old cat. His health even surprised the vets. I think the fact that for the entire time we were at the farm and afterward he was fed wet food helped him tremendously.
He and Nia have met indirectly, since we think they were in the same room for a little while after he came home from the vets. Nia a really good at hiding and she chose his room. So he got to roam the house until she made a reappearance. She hissed at him and pouted the rest of the night, but he took it in stride.
Since he got the all clear, we are letting him out and putting her in for a bit at night. Once a little more time passes we will put up the screen door so they can meet some more. Hopefully everything will continue to progress quietly.

Sharing the bed with Mom

I still get ticked at having to uproot him, but at least we will give him a secure, loving home. I have bitten my tongue when someone says we "adopted" him and really want to change that to "rescued" him. And even better, the cat they accused him of chasing into the road to be hit by a car, showed up at the farm again. They may find they have an influx of cats now that Bailey is gone. Oh well, with time I will be less upset. Once we get the mattes off his fur and trim his nails, he can finish turning into a pampered, retired barn cat.

Lesson Post: "You make that look easy..."

Wednesday was our second lesson with Natasha. This time we were ready to go when she arrived. I warned her that due to being sick and the weather, not much riding happened in between.

Mom and Peggy started the lesson. Right away Natasha noted the improvement in Rosemary. Mom did her homework and it paid off. Her rhythm was slower and less choppy. I thought Mom looked great and confident. Peggy and Comrade took it slow since Peggy is coming back into riding. Comrade was thrilled. For both of them Natasha had them work leg yield at the walk. Rosemary wanted to rush through her outside shoulder and keep her hips inside. Mom had to slow that shoulder to let the hind end catch up. Comrade had a similar issue, but he would slow too much. Eventually both Mom and Peggy were able to leg yield from center to fence and pick up trot. I hopped on both of them towards the end to work canter. Comrade had to figure out that it was time to work and then decided he was too tired. He kept running through my left rein. We worked to move his shoulders inside the circle and pushing his inside hind out. Spiral in and spiral out. Then I would ask for canter. When we had everything in place, the depart was sweet. When we did not, the wheels fell off... and went way left. All the work Mom did on Rosemary made her canter transitions so much better than normal. Natasha had me use the same exercise of spiraling to set her up for canter. She said Rosemary is at where Comrade was for camp just over a month ago. She described her as liking to sprawl and needing to be more narrow. I can't wait to see what both of these two are like as they build muscle and stamina.

Then it was time for Roscoe. Again I had Natasha ride. The effects last for a couple weeks after and give me time to build the muscle memory I need to be correct. Roscoe tested her and threw baby tantrums. Mostly throwing his head or stomping his feet. It is really hard to move correctly. If he gets too straight to the right, he will pick up the left lead. He had an opinion about her making him move his hind end under himself, but they worked through it. Photo stream time:

Rise of the tail monster

Icing on the cake, my fancy boy

 My turn came and she threw me a bit when she had me do a four loop serpentine. I had to think about how to do that. Three loops no problem, four required thinking. We managed despite the dogs laying in the way. Natasha surprised me by saying we did it well and that she was not sure she could have done it with him. Her comment "You make that look easy" pleased me to no end. Roscoe makes me work hard, so if I look like I am not, that is a freaking miracle. She explained that I know Roscoe and that gives me an advantage. Natasha is significantly taller and he reacts to some of her body movement.

 I really had to work to keep my calves on him. Too many times I want to lift my heel. Yay for the bad habits you develop. Anyway, he needed the same spiraling exercise to prepare for canter. We had our own issues cantering right, but when I brought his shoulders in front of his hind end things worked better. Now we have to work on the sharpness of the transitions. We still have too much running trot before. Even with the work still needed I am pleased with how far he has come.

Love this pony!

Here is the video of part of my ride:

Helping An Old Friend

Between work and the weather, I have not been riding consistently. And with a lesson coming this week that is not where I wanted to be. Anyway, I do what I can. Keep sending entries for the Foal Pool! Make sure you specify your chrome guesses. Oh and due to work the only Rolex I saw was Rosemary's new nephew. He is the first for Castleberry's Jr Stallion.

PC: Lisa Brezina

The work week was one of my odd day/hour ones and kept getting worse. We finally told my boss to stop saying "It can't get worse" because fate was showing her it could. During my last work day on Saturday, I got an email on my phone from the lady at the old barn who I trim her horse's feet. I just trimmed Jenna last weekend, so I could not understand why she would be contacting me.

The preview was "...She asked me to contact you about Bailey." That had me worried. Bailey is the oldest barn cat at the old barn. He was there before we came. He was Roscoe's first rider and always happy to see us. I figured maybe he passed. Sad, but not unexpected at 15-16 years old. What followed in the email was worse than death.
Poor Bailey was being blamed for every injury the other cats sustained and the fact that a recent drop off cat was killed by crossing the road. The owner of the property said she was bringing him to the shelter unless we came and got him. Seriously, I was appalled. We almost took Bailey when we left 2 1/2 years ago, but that was the place he knew. Now we are put in the position to uproot the poor guy and turn him into a house cat.
There was no choice. No way was he going to a shelter to die alone. We had to help our old friend. I told her we would get him on Sunday and to secure him in the barn. The owner called me Sunday to say he was secure and to go on about how mean he is. Then she told me that they let him in the house. Why would you let a "mean" cat in the house? I think she wanted me to make her feel better, but that was not happening.


We picked up Bailey and were making our getaway, when we were stopped by the owner. She was questioning whether he should go and if he would be alright. Too late, I was done playing games. He is too old to be yanked around and who knows if she would let us know the next time. We had to tell her he was going to our house. I hated even letting her know that, but I wanted to drive away even more.

Unfortunately, we have a 15yr old cat at home. This means until Bailey is cleared by a vet, he has to be separated. The good news is that it was the impetus to clean up the horse room to give him space. We used old horse blankets to cover the couch, bought him a new litter box and a scratch pad. He sticks to you like glue when you visit and makes it very difficult to leave. Hopefully since he was an indoor/outdoor cat at the beginning of his life, this transition to complete indoor will go okay. Soon we have to try and shave off some bad mattes in his fur and clip his nails. Once he is cleared medically, we will look into a screen door to introduce him to our cat, Nia.


It makes me heart sick when people treat animals as disposable, especially the older ones.

Mini Foal Pool, Enter Now

It's almost baby time!!! Roscoe's spur of the moment breeding last June will soon bring his sixth foal. It was so much fun last year, that I decided to do another Foal Pool.

So here is the match:

Roscoe, the little stud who could

Coblynau Cwm Tawe, bred June 21st
19 years old
Black
She had a bay filly by a chestnut stallion with chrome in 2015
photos by her owner

Basic Guess
Gender
Date

Bonus points for
Chrome (legs, face, belly)
Color

Prize:
$20 RW Gift Card
AND
Special from Two Horse Tack
"choose either a Western or English Bridle, reins, crupper,  or leathers in color of choice or overlay" 

Enter by May 15th, email  guess to equinpilot@yahoo.com or share guess on your blog with a link in the comments below. Leave a comment about which Two Horse Tack item you would like. Bring on the guesses!

Starting to Put Winter Away

I am really trying to get a jump on blankets this year. Normally I wash them through out the summer and then end up rushing to waterproof and repair before winter. This year I have already washed all the mid weights, most of the light weights and a couple of the heavy weights. I am making a concerted effort to repair and waterproof as I go along. Fortunately most are snags that I can glue with Storm Sure.
Hopefully this year I will manage to get all the "extra" blankets that are at home brought to the barn. It is tough when you need one of the spares and it is 45 minutes away. Part of that process includes the wonderful Ziploc Space Bags. Specifically the cube design. It is pretty amazing how may you can fit in their XL and Jumbo sizes.
Here are the mid weights in a jumbo. This has four 69", one 72", one 81" and Ember's Foal blanket.

50 gal tote before

Once it was minimized, I could fit a new mid weight and a spare next to the bag. Of course it makes the box heavy so I will need help getting it up in the attic.

After

I have two more jumbo size cubes and will hopefully only need one for the heavy weights. Of course the rain needs to stop so I can be more productive. There is not enough hang space in the house for drying blankets. I have at least started to put winter away.

Maybe by the end of the rainbow?