Regional contest

Lorna and I attended our Sweet Adeline's regional contest this weekend. It was an interesting experience. The best thing was getting to hear some absolutely astounding quartets! We have some really wonderful choruses in our region so it was a real treat to hear the other groups perform.

Our group won the Audience Choice award for the chorus competition. Of course with outfits like these we got lots of laughs.



At the brunch yesterday I won one of the door prizes.



This lovely set was made by this Etsy seller. If you are in the market for this kind of thing be sure to check this 13 year old seller.

Beginnings

Yesterday we were able to finish the chicken run so today was the first day the chickens were able to go outside. They don't seem very impressed. In fact they aren't really going outside much, hopefully that will change.



Gideon, our wolf mix, thinks we are raising dinner for him. Every time he sees a chicken he whines and licks his chops!



We brought the new horse home (she doesn't have a name yet), got her in the pen, and prepared ourselves for a long drawn out process before we could really touch her.

Here is a picture about 15 minutes after unloading her.



She's real wild and fierce.



She loves to be scratched on the side of her muzzle and stood still while we groomed her.




I guess since she was born in a BLM facility she's used to people and has become quite friendly. I know we have a long way to go teaching her to lead and such but her friendliness is not what we expected.

Crazy Week

We have an enormously busy week planned. I don't think we've ever been this busy and I'm just not sure whether to look forward to everything or not.

We start off the crazy week with a Sweet Adeline's performance tomorrow afternoon. This should be fun since there is no pressure.

Our Monday plans will just confirm my insanity since we are picking up this little cutie.



For once gaining a horse wasn't my idea. Paul picked this little filly out last weekend and we spent the week preparing for her arrival. She is a 7 month old mustang that we are adopting from the BLM. This will bring our horse total up to 4, but one is only a foster for the moment. Our foster horse, Hot Stuff (formerly known as Cricket), is doing really well. She's become very friendly and affectionate. We're still working on getting her "de-spooked" which is going to be a long process.

Tuesday's activity is no fun, our propane tank is getting switched out and refilled. We are switching companies because I'm very unhappy with the service we were receiving. The new company is bringing a much smaller tank which will at least keep the cost of filling down.

Wednesday is the one day with absolutely nothing planned! I may just have to stay in bed all day.

Thursday holds the most exciting event since my mom, step-father, and grandmother will be arriving for a visit. They will get here in time to hear Lorna and I sing that night. We have a regional competition for Sweet Adeline's at the end of the month and Thursday is our dress rehearsal where we invite the community to come hear us sing.

Friday we get to drive Sierra down to the vet to have her knees x-rayed. There isn't anything wrong with her, this will tell us how long until Lorna can start working her a bit harder. Right now she is being ridden at a walk for about 20 minutes 3 times a week. We really want to make sure not to push her beyond her physical abilities and the x-rays will make sure we keep her sound.

Saturday is a gymkhana show. Since we are running 9 events it's going to be a long day. The exciting thing is that this is the first show my family has been able to attend! The kids are very excited to show off what they can do.

Somewhere in there I need to get the chicken run finished. The chickens have started pecking at each other so I really think getting them outside will help. They will be 6 weeks old this week and have gotten really big.



Since the weather has been so nice I think they will be okay to get out from under the brooder lights.

March Gymkhana

Yesterday was the first gymkhana we've attended since last September. In fact it was only Malachi's second one. It wasn't held in our valley so it was a really long day, we were gone over 12 hours.

This was also Lorna's first show on Sierra, they did great! We've only had Sierra for 8 weeks and when we got her she hadn't been ridden before. I think all total Lorna only has about 15 rides on her, with those rides being 15-30 minutes. There was only 1 event where they got a no time. Even though Sierra backed through the timing poles just as they started their run, Lorna made her go through the entire pattern anyway. The biggest problem Lorna had with her was when she decided to bolt once she was finished with the pattern and was on the way back to the gate. Overall though she did better than we ever could have hoped for. Since this was Lorna's first gymkhana since Ginger passed away there were lots of tears. I think it really helped that there weren't any memories at this particular arena. Hopefully with this show under her belt, Lorna will enjoy the local show in two weeks.







Malachi did extremely well. He beat all his previous times and seemed to enjoy himself. Amigo has gotten so used to being around other horses and doing the events that he didn't give Malachi any problems.

Excitement

Paul was greeted with this when he came home today.



Sierra loves everyone!

We picked up our foster horse today and had lots of excitement. This is Cricket, she is about a year older than Sierra. She is a mustang from the Black Mountain herd here in CA. She has been handled and walked into our trailer without any problem, but she is very spooky.



The other horses were very excited to see her.



Sierra was a little too excited to see her. Sierra broke the chain that holds the gate closed, ran between Lorna and Cricket, and spooked her. Since she ran between the two of them Lorna no longer had the lead rope. Paul went after Cricket in the truck while the kids and I caught Sierra who thought it was great fun to run in circles around us. Sierra decided to finally stop for a bite to eat so Lorna was able to get a halter on her and put her in our bottom pasture. Cricket was a little more difficult to catch. We finally found her a couple of blocks away eating weeds on someone's property. Paul walked her home and we decided that was enough excitement for one day!

High Sierra Wild Horse Sanctuary

I've been thinking about getting a horse for me. The kids are very limited on where they can ride when I'm not with them so it would be nice to have a horse I can go out on. I love horses, I always have and riding is just another way I can get exercise (I'm not the kind of person who can exercise just for the sake or exercising, it has to have a purpose).

We get lots of horse magazines, the kids get subscriptions as gifts and pay for the rest themselves. One thing that is always talked about is the number of unwanted horses out there for adoption. So I decided that if I was going to get a horse I wanted to adopt.

You'd think it would be easy right? The first problem I ran into was organizations that have high adoption fees, like $1,000-2,000. Wow, we've never paid that much for a horse! We always go for the cheap models. The second problem I ran into was the lack of response when I called or emailed the organizations. They just never call back.

I hit upon a great organization yesterday, High Sierra Wild Horse Sanctuary and Gentling Center. The head of the center not only emailed me back but invited us out to take a look at the facilities. The great thing is, they are located in our valley! It broke my heart to see how many horses were there. They specialize in mustangs and work with the BLM. Right now they are pretty much full so there were lots of horses to look at. They are always looking for volunteers to groom and love the horses so I think we will be doing that a few times a month. Another thing we are going to be doing is fostering a horse, if she works out we will adopt her. I'm really excited about this opportunity.

As with all rescue organizations they are always in need of financial assistance. If you or anyone you know is looking for to donate to a non-profit please consider this organization!