We went to get Amira on Saturday after my daughter and I spent the morning in Fort Collins for Girl Scouts.  We had a few minor troubles getting her papers picked up my Mother in Law was a big help.  She ran down to the vet and grabbed them for me before they closed.

The kids like going out to visit Murphy since he always pulls a horse of some sort out and leads them around on it.  This time they got to ride his mule, Hercules.  Such a big dumb animal you just can't help but love him LOL.  Of course he is all they can talk about whenever we go out there.


Amira was being a bit of a butt in the trailer on the way home.  Swaying back and forth and rocking the whole rig.  Think she must have been bored out of her mind.  The poor dear had no one to travel with.  We made it home at about 8:30.  It was 9 by the time we got everything unloaded so we could unload her though. 


Dad managed to save a small portion of my gear.  Most of it is pretty ratty thanks to kids dragging it out and leaving it in the fields.  Luckily i found someone that can clean and repair some of it.  Amira will be happy to have the heavy wool blanket for this, her first, Wyoming winter.  
We also got 2 of my 3 tire hay feeders, the small one that was bought for Amira because the other horses wouldn't let her eat out of the big ones, and one of the 2 large ones.  None of my buckets or grain feeders were available.  Sis and her kids used the ones we could find for their hogs and calf so I just left them.  


Sunday we were up by 5:30 and on the road by 6:30 for our long trek to Devils Tower to pick up the two Quarter Horse babies.  Doc is much bigger than we had expected.  Fred is simply gorgeous.


Hubby borrowed a stock trailer from a friend at the Harris Ranch near Laramie Wyoming so that we would be able to get them here.  Could you imagine trying to load two horses that aren't even halter broke into a two horse trailer?  As it was Hubby wanted Fred in the front of the trailer since she was obviously the bigger of the two. 

None of the rest of us thought we could make that happen, but we also didn't want to argue with Hubby.  Ever met a Donky?  Well it would be easier to argue with the donkey than hubby when he makes up his mind.

I have to say, there are some real horsemen at the ranch where Doc and Fred came from.  Most of them were patient, gentle, and quiet.  Letting Fred decide that it would be more comfortable in the trailer by herself than outside the trailer with us people.  One of them, though, can only be described as an old fashioned cowboy, or perhaps a mountain man, but only noisier. 

He fit the bill alright.  Waving his arms and yelling like he was pushing a herd of longhorns across the plains.  Big ol scruffy beard to keep his face warm on the windy Wyoming prairie.  The picture he set was hilarious.  Not in a bad way, though, I would love to have gotten a black and white picture of him with a dusty ol herd of cattle in the background, priceless.

The best part was after going in kicking and screaming like a two year old child, Fred took her time to get to the front of the trailer and didn't mind the gate closing behind her.  I was completely shocked that she didn't throw a fit then and there.  I was not nearly as surprised at that as I was at what happened next.

Let me set the stage for you.  We had to back the trailer in with the gate open so we could butt the trailer up to a post and block any exit the horses may choose from that direction.  This means that we also have to pull the truck forward with an untamed horse loaded on the back while simultaneously closing the gate, not spooking the yearling colt, preventing any thoughts of escape he may have.

Now that you have a picture of the scene to this point I will continue.  We fought Fred for nearly an hour trying to coax her into the trailer.  Making her very uncomfortable outside the trailer but trying not to spook her too much at the same time.  I thought she was going to try to jump the fence a few times, and a lesser horse would have at that.  Not Fred, she is much too smart for that.  Finally we managed to squeeze her into the trailer and got the divider gate closed.  Time for Doc.

Hubby is in the truck with his instructions to pull forward slowly while we close the gate behind him.  Doc enters the small corral that housed the battle with Fred only moments before.  He looks at the trailer and sees the pretty girl inside waiting for his companionship, and hops in.  No muss no fuss.  Hubby of course is still sitting there while the rest of us are trying to tell him to move forward without spooking the young horse back out of the trailer.

The trip home was pretty uneventful, with one exception.  Someone blew past us early on our trip home and it spooked Fred a little.  She threw a bit of a fit and managed to give herself a good cut just above her eye.  The whole trip home I was pouting because I was just sure that small cut has ruined her halter career.  Hubby was doing his best to cheer me up, but I wanted none of it.  Fred has as close to a perfect head as I have ever seen on a horse.  Soft, kind looking eyes, shapely cheeks, smooth coloring.  She is just beautiful.  And now I have gone and ruined her because I didn't do a good enough job checking the trailer for hazards before we left.  Fred's eye is healing nicely though and looks like it may not scar at all.

Doc is just so laid back that he doesn't seem to mind us at all.  He is an amazing beauty as well.  I absolutely adore him.  Last night he was giving me kisses in exchange for grain yummies.  he would even com up and take it from me.  Tonight I will attach some hooks to the fence posts so the grain buckets can be hung from them.  This way my hands are free to move around.

  We made it down to see her on Monday, but I kept forgetting my camera to post pictures. She is looking pretty good these days. Amira is almost the horse I left 13 years ago. She is a bit older now and has had a hard life since I left her, but that will all change soon. 

She will get to spend her days playing with the kids and eating till her hearts content.  I am so happy that Amira is still the gentle sweet horse that she has always been.  She was, is, and will always be my favorite horse and now my kids understand why.
 Amira hasn't had a person on her back in at least 3 years and even then her training was never completely finished.  She carried my children as though she had never stopped being a saddle horse.  Even when my son carelessly (he doesn't know better) plopped himself on her back, she just took it in stride and gave him a ride he could enjoy.

My son is now almost my size, and age, when I broke her in and began using her in 4-H.  She has been in parades and horse shows and she traveled with us to rodeos and well pretty much everywhere.
 Because of her kind heart Amira has always been my kids horse.  We have used her to lead small children around and let them learn that horses and fun.  Her small stature makes her a perfect horse for my tiny daughter.  The girls look perfect together don't they.

Caitlin is so excited to have her especially after we decided to let them take a short ride just to test the waters.  I picked up an inexpensive endurance saddle to train the kids in.  It looks like a combination of an English saddle with western skirts and girth.  The benefit is that it doesn't have swells or a cantle and most notably a saddle horn for them to rely on.Not having these items will require the kids use proper posture and give them better contact with their legs.  and they won't have the saddle horn crutch.  The saddle is also lighter for Amira to carry so I am sure that she will appreciate that as well. 
 We have been told that Amira finally chose a mate.  After trying to get her bred for nearly ten years and her rejecting every stallion we have ever thrown in with her even to the point of beating them up.  She chose a handsome little solid black paint stud.

He is certainly a cute bugger and gentle as well.  His temperament seemed to match hers pretty well.  I do hope that she is with foal because I would so hate to lose her line.  I have never met a kinder gentler mare and I probably never will.
The gentleman you see leading her around in all the pictures is none other than Terry Murphy from Oregon Trail Wagon Train.  He has been a friend of my family for as long as I can remember.  His methods and mine probably never will see eye to eye but it is undeniable that he has a way with horses.

Murphy helped me rescue Amira and agreed to keep her at his place with his horses for a small fee.  Without his help I would have lost her forever and so I can not thank him enough for what he has done not only for me, but for my horse and my children.

If you are looking for some good stock ponies or a horse to ride, or you would like to experience the Oregon trail the way the pioneers would have, please give Murphy a call.  Let him know I sent you.

To visit the Oregon Trail Wagon Train web site click the link above or copy and paste http://www.oregontrailwagontrain.com/ into your browsers address bar.

The cute little stud that Amira chose as her mate is available for purchase if anyone is interested.  Just give Murphy a call to work out the details.

YAY!YAY!YAY I finally found her papers.  I had put them somewhere safe and consequentially forgotten where that safe place was. 

Amira has been a member of my family since she was a yearling.  Foaled in 1992, she has been by my side through 4-H and traveled with us to high school rodeos.  Amira was never a very large horse and has always been babied so she has never had to do as much work as the larger horses have.

We have been trying unsuccessfully to breed her to a palamino Quarter Horse, but she wants none of that.  I wonder if she is just stuck up or if she is barren.  I would really hate to see her line end with her.  Amira is one of the last remaining children of BF Prince Halima, at least as far as I have been able to tell from my searches on the web.

We did a little research at allbreedpedigree.com and found pictures of the horses in her lineage.  While many of them look rather large, Amira is a very dainty little girl.  She stands just over 14 hands tall and has the most delicate head I have ever seen.  She is a liver chestnut with flaxen main and tail.

We will be traveling to Nebraska on Monday to take her to the vet to get her Coggins test and Health certificates taken care of so that we can bring her home by the end of the month.  I am soo excited to see her again.  I hope she is doing well, I miss her so much.

Here is some of her pedigree. Pictures to come soon.

		sire	Morafic (Nazeer x Mansour)
		TheEgyptianPrince
	sire		Bint Mona (Nazeer x Mansour)
	BF Prince Halima
		dam	Ansata Ibn Halima (Nazeer x Mansour)
		Dazeerlima
			Dazeera (Rashad Ibn Nazeer x Nazeer x Mansour)
AmiraSchanthalima (1992 Chestnut filly)
		sire	Char Echo (Negem x Fa-Serr)
		Anchor Hill Chairo
	dam		Anchor Hill Hadga (Hadbah x Fabah)
	Schantille Lacce
		dam	Tuhotmos (El Sareei x Shahloul)
		Lacy Curtain
			Zarhara (Zarhar x Moftakhar)

Yuppers you got it right.  We don't do anything half way here.  We even go so far as to survey our property to make absolute certain that everything is exactly where we want it.

Hubby is a Civil Engineer, comes in pretty handy when you want to build something.  Sometimes it can be a pain in the seat though.  Like when you want to get started on something and he can't get the equipment to work right.

 Gotta make sure all of our corners are square somehow and there is no better way to do it than by surveying the area and setting little flags or markers to tell us where to put everything.

Of course I am always the one who gets to run all over the property with the prism so he can stand around and shoot it with the gun.  No fair as much running as I have done I should be a lot skinnier.  Guess I need to work harder.

 YAY! he finally got it working right so now we can set our corners.  I only tripped over a few hundred rocks and stuck my foot in about a dozen holes.  I am really going to have to do something about that.  Holes are not good for horses.

Of course two of them are coming from a more mountainous area of Wyoming so they should be pretty sure footed.  I am concerned about Amira, she was always an accident prone one.  She is the only horse I know that can tear up the same area of the same leg 3 separate times.
Amira would be the main reason why we are taking such care in our building.  I couldn't stand it if she got hurt again.

Hubby and the kids are doing one final check while I am out in the middle of the field running back and forth trying to get my pole in the right spot.  I really need to remember to carry a tape measure with me.  It probably wouldn't hurt to learn North from South without a compass as well.

Surveying is done, Now to turn this into a fence.

Total posts needed 80+ (3 that were 6" x 8' and the remainder were 4" x 8')  All posts are buried 3' in the ground with 5' sticking out.

Total Gates 4

Total length of fence wire 1/2 Mile (we are doing a 4 strand fence for now but have room left for either a top bar or a 5th strand)

Total amount of gasoline 20 gallons

Total size of Corral 150' x 200' (holy cow it's an arena!)

We will be changing the size of the corral once we put in the barn, but for this winter at least this will be our corral and we will use a lean to for the shelter.  The barn will divide the corral in half so we can keep the stud separated from the mares once he matures.

Actually we started attempting to build our small corral fence about 2 weeks ago. Our first attempt yielded nothing but trouble. First we discovered the auger and our tractor weren't entirely compatible. By themselves both work great, but when we combined them we could only get a hole about 6 inches deep. Not nearly the 3 feet we need to build our corral.

Then hubby left the tractor running with the brake on. OOOPS that's not safe, the brake released and the tractor took off down the hill and across the road to the neighbors property. I guess it decided to run away to a place where the work was already done.

My daughter got some wonderful pictures of everyone else working though.

This has to be my favorite picture.  The boys are almost silhouetted against the sunset.  We had to drop the blade in order to hook up the trailer to move it to the back then switch gear so we can hook up the auger so we can dig holes to bury posts in order to string the wire to build the fence.  Phew that was a mouth full.

Almost all of the pictures shown here were taken by my 8 year old daughter.

 She seems to love to get pictures of the sun LOL.  This one was actually pretty though so I had to show it off.  We have a nice little hill that runs right around our house.  It works great for keeping the noise down and blocking the view of the interstate.

Hubby plans on putting something like a gazebo at the top and  having a waterfall and stream run from that down to the bottom.  We will plant trees and bushes all around it and make a little lovers garden to play in.  We hope to have most of it finished in about 5 years when our son graduates High School.

 These pictures may not necessarily be in order so please forgive me if they are not.  Headed down to kook up the trailer so we can move the auger to the back of the property where it will be hidden form view. 

Our place it too pretty to leave equipment laying around like a junk yarn.  I never could stand it when people did that.  Blech.
 Here is hubby and son getting ready to hook up the trailer.  I use son as a counter balance so I can easily lift the tongue and hold it for the ball to slip underneath.

The trailer does have a jack but sometimes it's just not worth fooling with.  It takes longer to jack it up then bring it back down than it does to just lift the trailer.  It's light enough most of the time to work just fine.

Leave it to hubby to have a better idea.  just need to lift it a little then we can drop the bars on the tractor and slip right under it.

Son is sooo happy to be able to help.  He is a lot more of a man than I had realized before.  When he isn't spaced out he is pretty handy.  He's pretty tough for a scrawny little thing too.  After this winter he may even grow a few muscles.
 Alright, you do it, LOL.  I hate fighting with these things.  It's my curse that nothing ever works out the first try.  Let the boy do it, he'll probably get it right the first time anyway.

The last few days we have even been letting him drive the tractor BY HIMSELF.  Scary thought.  Surprisingly he only almost hit a post once.  Of course he isn't allowed to run it over first gear and low speed, but that's enough for him now.  He has a good head on him if he pays attention.
 After walking up and down the hill a few hundred times I decided that it was time to hitch a ride.  The kids and I are riding on the toolbox that was in the trailer.

We have since removed the toolbox to make room for the gates and posts that we will need to build the fence.  I think he likes his tractor, what do you think?  Boys and their toys are so cute LOL.  I am really glad he got it though since we all have horses he really needs something that he can do that doesn't involve annoying me.


 A safe dismount :) We left the trailer behind the hill as well so now it's time for yet another equipment change.  This time we have to remove the bar for the trailer hitch (I have no idea what the thing is called) and add the other bars that we will need to run the 3 point for the auger.

Good thing I am a horse person and not a tractor person or I would be in serious trouble.  Just hook the doohickie up to the thingimabob and let's get to it I want my horses and they want a pen.
Wow I think there is more work involved in preparing to work than actually in the working that needs to be done.  we are still trying to uninstall the bars for the hitch so we can install the ones for the 3 Point .  I wonder why they call it a three point though since it is really more octagonal in shape.  Note to self: don't ask hubby just look it up on the internet.

I hate admitting that I know absolutely nothing about something.  Tractors were never my thing.  Can't stand the stupid smelly things, they are too much like cattle (Insert scene from cars here)
 Finally, time for the other parts.  Hopefully we will be able to hook up the auger soon, I want to get the show on the road already.

Almost a full day and still no fence work getting done.  Patience is still not one of my virtues, but I have so many other good ones so who needs that.  Either I have gotten really wimpy or these things have gotten heavier than I remember.  Time for some weight lifting to build up those arms.


 Another shot of Daddy driving the tractor.  This kid is fearless.  I am not sure how many children would stand directly in front of a moving tractor just to get a picture of daddy driving it, but apparently my daughter would.

I suppose that may help her out later when it's time to ride the horse by herself for the first time.  I thinks she is going to be a fine photographer.  She is already better than me and I have had years of practice.
 AAHHHH finally, the auger.  It's about time.  This could be more difficult than I had anticipated.

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)
		sire	Peppy San (Leo San x Leo)
		Peppy Docsan
	dam		Docs Madonna (Doc Bar x Two Eyed Jack)
	Doc Cutters Glo
		dam	Baron Jack (Baron Bell x Baron Reed)
		That's Glos Lady
			Cutters Glo (King Glos Diamond x King Glos Chick)

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 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)
		sire	Sputnick Goblin
		MB Smart Smokey
	dam		Mia My Doc
	Ame Go Red Glo
		dam	Docs 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.