DocsGloCuttersFrosty  

Posted by Serenity

With a name like that, he's gotta be fast LOL.  DocsGloCuttersFrosty will be the first stud horse to live at Allamosta.  With bloodlines like his we may not ever need another.  Double bred Doc Bar with a little Frosty Feature and a dash of Peppy San and you've got a heck of a combination.

Doc was bred to be a cutting horse, but since I have no cattle to train him with, he will most likely end up a reigning horse.  I have big plans for him, but first we need to build up some points and since his great grand daddy was a world class halter horse I suppose that will be a great place to start.  Of course I will have to halter break him first.

Doc is only a yearling which gives me plenty of time to decide what direction we want to go with him.  He will eventually be bred to Amira, but I will not start breeding him until he is at least 5 or 6 just to keep him settled.  Unless of course it looks like we may loose Amira before that.

This little fella would make an awesome match for Amira's grace and beauty.  I can't wait to see what their babies will look like.  He should hopefully give her babies some size without being so big that she can't safely carry them.  A half Arabian half Quarter Horse combination from Doc and Amira will be something to see.

Hubby sais not to get my hopes up too high for him.  I say "with a face like this who wouldn't"  he is absolutely adorable.  He is supposed to be a gray which means that he should eventually lose the dark color you see now.  I am not sure when but most likely after this winter coat sheds off or perhaps next winter.  I wouldn't be heartbroken if he never loses it even with as much as I have always wanted a gray.

You can see some of his gray showing through even now around his belly, his nose, and his legs.  I love the Star Strip Snip on his face.  It reminds me of another great horse I once owned, TSR Strawbaby.  She was a mean one, but one heck of a cow eatin b.... uuummm well lets just say she was a great cow horse.  Babe was huge, hopefully Doc will be a bigun too.  Already he looks fairly good sized. 

Once again I bought a horse without actually looking at him in person.  I really must be losing it.  But then who could resist those eyes.  they are so gentle and kind.  He will be a great horse some day.


I have been considering nominating him for the ARHA futurity.  If I nominate him before December 1 of his yearling year it will only cost me $2,000.  If I wait until he is 2 it will cost me $3,000 and so on.  He makes an excelent prospect, but I just don't have that kind of money.  The person wo actually nominates him will receive 5% of his winnings at the futurity even if the horse is sold, but judging by the cost of things I doubt I will ever be able to compete him in something like that.  The payout must be huge which, of course, means the compitition will be tough.

He has a nice rear end already.  He doean't appear to be turning his toes out.  I wish the pictures showed a little more of the dirt behind him right here so I could see if there are any issues as far as his gait is concerned.  As it is I don't see anything that would concern me in this manner. 

Doc comes from South Dakota and is sired by Fred's father as well.  His dam is sed to be one of the best brood mares owned by this breeder.  It was the breeder at Colored Horse Ranch that found him for me.  I hope she made a little from the deal as well.  Heh I am sure she did. 

He is at her ranch now.  YAY this saves me the trouble of getting him a coggins or health certificates since he has already crossed state lines and that should have already been done saving me the expense and trouble.  I will pick Doc up at the same time as Fred which will make everything a whole lot easier.  The only troublesome part now is the trailer.

Hubby, being the troublesome, opinionated, pain in the but that he is believes that he will convince two horses, that have not even been halter broke, to load and ride in a standard two horse trailer without souring them at all.  I am not so confident.  Actually I can pretty much guarantee it will not happen. 

I have worked with yearlings and studs before.  Actually I had the pleasure of working with a very handsome Blue Roan Hancock horse in '97' (along with numberous others) when I worked for Roy Cleveland at Notquita Ranch in Brule Nebraska.

I didn't work there long though.  Unfortunately my father got really sick and at the time we were afraid he wouldn't make it so I came home.  A person doesn't get many chances to work with someone as well known as Roy Cleveland so that decision fairly well ended my horse career.  Well that and others.  Time to begin again, this time the right way.  With my children, my husband, and some real good stock.  Wish us luck.

And now.....A little of his pedigree.







sire Truckle Feature (Truly Truckle (TB))


Frosty Feature

sire
 Miss Leo Frost (Leo)

Dorky Frosty Spark 



dam Benito Bar Jack (Docs Benito Bar x Doc Bar x Two Eyed Jack)


Dorky Benito Bar 



 Dorky (Tonto Bar Ted x Tontos Bar Hank)
DocsGloCuttersFrosty
(2009 Gray Colt)





sirePeppy San (Leo San x Leo)


Peppy Docsan 

dam
Docs Madonna (Doc Bar x Two Eyed Jack)

Doc Cutters Glo



damBaron Jack (Baron Bell x Baron Reed)


That's Glos Lady



Cutters Glo (King Glos Diamond x King Glos Chick)

Allamosta Catastrophic!!!  

Posted by Serenity

WOW I feel like such an idiot right now.  While I was well aware of the need for a Coggins test to bring a horse across any state line, I was unaware of Wyoming's laws regarding ownership and transport of the horse once it's here.  I'll give you the rundown of what all I have to do in order to bring my mare over to live with me.

A Coggins test must be completed and all paperwork in my hand at the time of transport.  The Coggins test checks for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) antibodies in the horse's blood. Blood samples must be sent to a state approved laboratory. This test is often needed to take your horse to a show and whenever you transport your horse across state lines. It is to prove to others your horse is safe to be around their horses. Some states now require a negative Coggins test on a horse before he can be sold. Before you travel check to see how recent a test is required because it differs from place to place.


Once you have a negative Coggins further testing is not required for your own peace of mind. Your horse will not become EIA positive unless he develops a serious, febrile illness after contact with a horse of unknown EIA status. You may be required to have a test done yearly to show or transport your horse, so other people will know your horse is safe.

A Destination Certificate of Health must be completed and all paperwork in my hand at the time of transport.  The Health Certificate is acquired from your veterinarian and certifies that the animal you are transporting is in good health and not carrying and infectious diseases that are not covered by the Coggins test.  The Destination to which you are traveling and the Coggins certificate number must be present on the Health Certificate. 

These are standard requirements for crossing all State Lines whether you have a brand inspection or not.  I was very aware that I would have to get all of this paperwork ready before she could be moved.  It's what I am going to tell you next that had me completely by surprise.

A brand inspection must be completed for all horses living/traveling within Wyoming, Colorado, and several other states.  This means that once Amira is moved to Cheyenne I have to take Amira, the Coggins certificate, and Health Certificate to the brand inspector to have another inspection done.  Once this has been done I can move her freely throughout the state of Wyoming and several other states.  Travel to other states still requires a current Coggins (lasts about 1 year) and a current Health Certificate (lasts about 30 days).  I never needed the brand inspection before because there no brand laws where horses are concerned in Nebraska.

What a pin in the patouki.  It's just a good thing that I was trying to find out how much it would cost to have a brand registered to Allamosta.  Had I not been researching that I would never have discovered that Wyoming requires brand inspections on all livestock whether they are branded or not.  The fines if you do not have a brand inspection before crossing county lines/state lines far outweigh the cost of the inspection itself (approximately $25 - $500+ and they can keep your horse until the proper paperwork is turned in) so there is no real reason why one shouldn't be done.

The cost for a lifetime brand inspection in Cheyenne,WY is $18 plus $9 travel if the inspector has to come to you.  The inspection fee varies from county to county so be sure to check with your brand office before moving any livestock in your area.  The lifetime inspection will last for as long as you own the horse.  If you transfer ownership a new inspection has to be done in the new owners name.  I am not sure yet if you have to report the death of the animal or not.  Note to self: check on death reporting requirements when inspection is done.

The fines for crossing state lines without a Coggins test or Health Certificate also far outweigh the cost of having one done.  The actual cost will depend on your veterinarian.  Pioneer Animal Clinic in Scottsbluff, Nebraska will charge me $31 for the standard Coggins test,takes about 4 days to get the results back, or $49 for the quick test which takes up to 2 days for results.  The Health Certificate will cost an additional $11 and will add one more day to how long it takes to get my certificates back.  A health Certificate can not be done without a current Coggins test.

If I need my Vet to travel out to the location of my horse it will cost an additional $3.70 per mile.   This is not very practical for me since the horse is some 30 miles away from the Veterinarian's office.  The total fee would cost about $111 one way so a total of approximately $222 to travel out and back.  In this instance it will actually be cheaper for me to pay my fuel costs to drive from Cheyenne, WY to Bayard, NE get my horse and take her from Bayard, NE to Scottsbluff, NE. then back the way we came to wait for the results and return the next week to pick her up for the trip home.

Frosty Bar Red Glo  

Posted by Serenity

Frosty Bar Red Glo will be one of the first horses to move out to Allamosta.  She comes from a breeding facility near Devils Tower Wyoming.  Colored Horse Ranch offers horses of all sizes, ages, and colors.  I found them by accident on Craigs list while I was snooping for horses for myself and the kids.

I fell in love with Fred almost instantly.  If you are wondering why I chose to call her Fred take a look at her registered name.  Fred comes from Frosty (F) and Red (RED) making Fred.  Hubby and kids are not happy with that choice in names, but if I call her Fred often enough they will just start doing it and it will all be settled.

I like Fred, it's really kind of an inside joke.  Hubby's father always calls him Fred and now I have a horse called Fred.  Actually there is this Anime that I like and one of the main characters is a girl named Ed who has a Welsh Corgi named Ein (note to self, get a Welsh Corgi next).  Then there is one of my all time favorite TV Series Angel.  Toward the end of the series there was a girl whose name was Fred (Winifred).  By the end of the series she was turned into a demon of sorts and wore a red outfit.  Ok so by the time she wore this outfit, Fred was gone and Illyria was inhabiting her body, but who's keeping track?

Not that I am comparing her to a horse or anything, but they both have very delicate facial features and are quite strong.  Yes I think Fred is a good name for Frosty Feature Red Glo.

Fred is a little dirty in most of her pictures, but she will shine up nicely.  She has a nice head on her and a good wide chest.  Fred has never really been worked with so I will have to break her in before letting the kids use her.

Technically she is a family horse (meaning MINE!) but I picked her out for my son to ride.  She has such soft gentle eyes and excellent breeding.  I am rarely ever wrong about a horses potential, I hope I haven't lost my touch.

I have a small confession to make though.  I actually bought her sight unseen.  The most I have to go on are the pictures that I am showing you, and a short conversation with the breeder.  This is a very rare thing for me to wholeheartedly trust a breeder, but I figure that she has put a bit of faith in me as well.  There is no point in commenting on how that could have been a mistake to buy her.  I trust my instincts and they say she will rock the show ring.

My daughter has already tried to steal her away from my son.  The deal is that once the horse is trained she will be his to use as long as he respects her and takes care of her.  She is for him to show in 4-H and use for rodeo if he desires.  If he decides not to show her she will be passed along to someone who will show her and he will be given a different horse to use.

I hope that makes sense.  I just want the kids to have horses that they will be proud of and not limited by breeding or lack of registration.  Again there is the fact that I also want to show the horses professionally.

If you look in the background of some of these pictures you will see a really cute little odd colored Grey colt peaking out.  Originally I was buying him as well, but there was a miss-communication of sorts between myself and the breeder and he was sold to someone else.  I was really heart broken because I wanted to show him and use him to breed Amira later on.  I have since spoken with the breeder and if all goes well with Fred I am sure that she will trust me enough to give me a heads up when they get another Grey Stud colt.

All of the pictures above were taken just last Saturday by the breeder.  Fred will come to live with us Mid October along with my precious Amira and perhaps a few mystery guests.

Fred has the pedigree to be a winner in and out of the show ring.  Frosty Feature gives speed to the cow sense of the Doc Bar line.  It is a winning combination, I can't wait to see first hand just how well she can perform.  I am including a little bit about her pedigree in this post as well.  As you can tell I am very proud of her already.  I really can't wait until she comes to live with us for good.



sire Truckle Feature (Truly Truckle (TB))


Frosty Feature

sire
 Miss Leo Frost (Leo)

Dorky Frosty Spark 



dam Benito Bar Jack (Docs Benito Bar x Doc Bar x Two Eyed Jack)


Dorky Benito Bar 



 Dorky (Tonto Bar Ted x Tontos Bar Hank)
Frosty Bar Red Glo (2008 bay filly)




sireSputnick Goblin


MB Smart Smokey 

dam
Mia My Doc

Ame Go Red Glo



damDocs Sabre Glo (Doc Red Glo x No Maybes x Doc J Jay)


Tee Bar Jeep



Pines Cuppa Tea (Jeep's Cuppa Tea x Palleos Jeep)

Come on hubby let's get it in gear and get that fence built!

All pictures are provided by Colored Horse Ranch and used with their permission.

Lets Get Froggy!!!  

Posted by Serenity

 

Yesterday I showed you all of the mammal type pets, now it's time for the amphibian type pets.  Introducing Kermit, he's the largest of the 3 that are currently with us.  Tiny, another one of my daughters pets.  We can always tell her pets because they are the most active and hungry of the group.  Tiny is the middle sized frog that is flitting around looking for more foods.  And of course we can not forget about Frogzilla.  He is the smallest of the bunch.  Zilla is my sons pet and of course is the more timid of them all.  He pretty much just hangs out by his little froggy self and snatches up all the food that the others left behind.

We are expecting two new additions to our froggy family soon.  We will be adding one new baby frog to the main tank, and one tadpole to the tadpools.  I will get new video of the frog tanks sometime after that.  You may always request pictures if you would like to see the tadpole or frogs before I upload to the blog.  Just post in the comments.

My camera wasn't able to get any decent still pictures of the three so we are trying the video.  This video was taken with my Canon still camera.  The batteries were dead in my video camera.  To be completely honest I don't even know exactly where it is at the moment anyway.  I do hope you enjoy watching them.  I think they are pretty cool myself.  I won't feed them though because they keep trying to bite me.  We don't know why Tiny thinks I am dinner, but every time I feed them he all but jumps out of the tank to get me.  I won't even stick my hands in with him around because I think he wants to gum me to death.

The Pets of Allamosta....So far  

Posted by Serenity

I am such a freak for animals.  I love them all.  Big ones, little ones, even ratty ones.  Yes we do show them in 4-H as a matter of fact our last ratty friend was the State of Wyoming Reserve Champion pocket pet before he passed away from a spinal tumor.  Boo will be forever in our hearts and minds.

Meet Puff he is an adorable caramel rat that belongs to my daughter. Sorry for the blurry photo, do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a picture of a rat when it is playing?

Puff will be used for 4-H this year by my daughter.  he loves his food and is easily the more friendly of the two rats that we currently own.  He can be a bit of a nuisance though too.  Puff was the first to take food from my hand and typically try's everything before his brother will even consider it.

Mojo Jojo is Puffs brother.  He is a pretty laid back white rat that belongs to my son.  Mojo loves to be scratched behind his ears like any dog and will even give you some licks if you do it right.

Pets don't normally take to my son, but Mojo actually prefers to be held and loved by him.  As many times as I have tried I still haven't gotten him to give me the licks for the ear scratches.  He is a little less sure of his new environment and will always wait for Puff to take treats from me before he will try them.  I wonder if he is using Puff as the poison tester. 

Did you know that rats help keep the mice away?  It's true that mice will not live in the same place as rats.  Hubby is deathly allergic to cats so we can't have any indoor cats to keep the mouse population down so we keep a few rats.  They live in the basement in their cage and get to come out a few hours a day to play. 

And last, but certainly not lease we have our dog.  Every ranch needs a ranch dog though I think they are supposed to herd more than grasshoppers.  Bell Dandy is her official name, but we all call her Bell.  Last year she competed in the State of Wyoming Dog Show with my daughter.  They both placed really high especially with this being their first year.

I really messed up with the Agility though because they had her entered in the wrong class and I didn't catch it until it was too late.  Next year they will excel.  If not at least they can be happy knowing that they did their best.

Bell is a mixed breed dog.  She is half Shih-Tzu and half Shetland Sheep dog.  I think she is totally adorable.  She is so patient with the kids that it really surprises a lot of people.  You would think that with her being a small dog she would be a bit more protective of herself, but she would never do anything to hurt a child unless they try to take her egg away.

Bell has been in training for dog shows since she was born, but like all our animals, she is part of the family first and foremost.  My pets are like my children I love them all to death for their individuality and their charm.

We have a Tractor!!!  

Posted by Serenity

We bought the tractor a week ago before everything started to go wrong for us.  As much as I may hate to admit it, a tractor is a very necessary thing to have on a ranch so here is ours.  It sure isn't pretty but it's a nice one as far as old tractors go.

It runs well enough, but the seat really needs to be adjusted.  I never thought I would say that I am not fat enough to comfortably drive something LOL.  The seat kept raising in the back putting me in a kind of sit/stand position that was way to close to the steering wheel.  Of course I have a thing for quick shifting when I drive which, although wonderful in a car, is not exactly good for a tractor so I will need to work on that if I want to drive it much. 

I dumped hubby at the end of our little jaunt in the tractor though because I had to make him stand on the blade and hold the seat down for me to be able to drive.  When we got done I pulled the lever and dropped the blade a little too fast throwing hubby and the blade on the ground rather hard.  Uh oops sorry.

Now that we have the tractor we will be able to hook it up to an auger and drill the holes for our fence posts rather than trying to do them all by hand.  Given that there are over 430 fence posts that need to be set on our tiny ranch I think the tractor will be a lifesaver.  I can hardly imagine what it would be like to have lived in the days before machinery.  Having to set thousands of posts all by hand then going back to stretch the wire along the fence line.  If you have a multi-stranded fence then you would have to start again for every strand in your fence line. 

At my parents place we didn't use wood posts.  We used a three to four strand electric fence with T-Posts set instead.  This worked wonderfully for us since we were constantly changing around the back pasture to get the best natural grass for the horses.  Our main pasture was part of the original homestead that was there when we purchased the farm. 

The tractor came with the blade that is on it.  Dad claims to have a loader attachment and a bush hog for it as well as a few other attachments.  I do hope that they are in good working condition.  I really can't afford to repair any more equipment right now.  I need to get at least some fence up before mid October or I am in a who lot of trouble with the horses.  I have already had to push back my date with the wonderful ol' time cowboy that was kind enough to help me out with my old Arabian mare.

The Ranch House  

Posted by Serenity

As promised I got a decent (not good, but decent LOL) picture of the ranch house.  I won't be doing any pictures of the inside of the house for security reasons.  I never did see the point of broadcasting the layout and contents of your home on the internet.  Why not just post a sign that reads "I have good stuff come in and get it."


As you can see, we still have a lot of things to do.  Landscaping would be a good start.  We really need to get the corrals up for the horses as we have to pick them up by the middle of next month.

Of course this has to be a difficult month too.  My 3/4 ton Ford Pickup broke down.  All 3 fuel pumps went out on it.  We are still trying to get that fixed.  That's what I get for buying a Ford.  The fuel pump went out on my GMC Suburban.  We spent an entire day and got that up and running again, what a pain that was. 

Someone stole the emergency brake system along with the power coupler off my gooseneck horse trailer.  They also broke out the window to the living quarters I guess in an attempt at stealing the rest of my tack.  There is another 2 to 4 hundred dollar expense that we weren't expecting.  Oh and did I mention that they also stole my antique mule collar that my grandfather gave me before he passed away along with my silver show halters, calf show halters, and any other usable tack that I had left in a locked storage area of my parents barn.  They ripped the door off the wall since they couldn't get the padlock free.  Perhaps if these people worked half as hard at finding a job as they did at ripping me off they could live a respectable life. 

Luckily I had had a bad experience with my saddles not being taken care of properly by family members who thought they had a right to them so I sold them long before I got robbed.  Whoever broke in knew I had more at some point, but they didn't know that I had sold it already as a way to keep it safe.  Funny I have to sell my stuff in order to keep it safe.

I wonder if it will ever end.  I am trying to figure out how to convince a friend or family member to help me out by loaning me a horse trailer for a few days while I pick up the kids horses.  I hate asking them for favors though, it just never ends well for me.

Sunrise at Allamosta  

Posted by Serenity

WOW! I can't believe I get to see this sunrise every morning.  I grew up in the country but the sunrise there never quite compared to this.  My camera isn't the best for this kind of photography so all things considered...it's a great picture!!!!

We have been at the ranch for a little over a month now.  Well we call it a ranch.  It probably classifies as more of a ranchette given that it is only 35.86 acres, but it is ours and we think of it as a ranch.  Hubby has never owned this much land at one time so for him it truly is a big ranch.  I grew up on a small farm in Western Nebraska with 60+ acres and no restrictions on how we used our land.

Here we do have covenants that I think are a little restrictive, but since we wanted to be closer to town and not live in a dump or have a junk yard next door this was our best option.  Who could complain with that view.  I hadn't realized just how much I miss the sound of the Coyotes and crickets at night until we moved here.  Finally it's home.  My own real home to share with my husband and children.  I wonder if we will survive.

There is sooo much work to be done.  For our money all we got was this rather large beautiful house and the land.  Covenants say that we can't bring the horses out until we have fence (obviously) and at minimum a three sided structure.  The downside is that they have to approve everything before we can build it. 

We have so many plans for our ranch and are so limited on funds patience is certainly not one of my virtues so I am constantly hounding hubby to get things rolling.  I even decided to "just do it myself" once.  I didn't realize city life could age a person so fast...I pulled several muscles in my back and had a hard time walking for weeks.  Pulling out a post never would have been a problem for me before.  I suppose I better be a bit more careful next time.

Well tomorrow the kids and I will head off to a big ranch near Devils Tower, Wyoming to look at some horses for my son and I.  My daughter is still pretty small so she will use my Arabian for 4-H.  I hope to be able to participate in horse shows along with my children.  I think that would be incredibly fun and hopefully it will help the kids and I build a better relationship.

Hubby bought a tractor in Nebraska so we will drop him off on our way.  He has to fix our work truck so he can use it to haul the tractor back to our place.  I will post pictures when/if it gets here.