'Slow' calf update

This is the calf that required bottle feeding shortly after birth...just look at him go now. The pictures don't clearly show it, but he's got milk ALL OVER his face!

Growing up...

Three Spotted Saddle Horses and one Rocky Mtn./Kentucky Mtn. Horse. All three are ready to begin training on the lunge line & learning to wear a bridle & saddle. Next year, they'll be three years old and ready to ride. Now if I could just get in gear & start training...I need a ranch hand!

Here they come...

This is what I encounter any time I venture out on the four-wheeler. Once I'm spotted by one horse, here comes the entire herd.

Hidy hole...

#648's calf was the one that didn't seem 'normal'. He was slow to nurse, & I had to give him colostrum & then bottle feed him for several days before he finally started nursing mom. He also acted like he couldn't see or hear well. When I finally turned #648 & her calf back in with the herd (they had been in the barn for the duration of the bottle feeding), mom wisely hid him, putting him in a brushy area surrounded by blackberry bushes. She kept him this way for several days, until he was strong enough & savvy enough to come out into the real world. He seems to be doing better each day, & he is certainly growing.

Two Year Old Stallion

This is 'SP', short for Seve's Pushover. He is out of the World Champion TWH stallion, Seve, & his dam (mother) is out of another well bred stallion, The Pushover. He is definitely bred for performance & should have a chance to strut his stuff in the show ring. He is BIG, BLACK, & BEAUTIFUL. (He has not been stalled, but running outside in the pasture, so his coat is sunburned & bleached. When stalled, he will be coal black.) We haven't measured him yet, but he's probably already close to ... maybe over ... 16 hands, & he's only 2 yrs. old. He will continue to grow until he is 4-5 years old, so he will definitely be a TALL one. He is now old enough to start to work...all I need is the time & $$$ to train him!

Another birth

#218 blessed us with a calf on Oct. 24. As is typical, she is keeping her little one apart from the herd for the first few days.

Bulls babysit

Cows are notorious babysitters. It's not uncommon to see one or two cows with almost all the calves gathered around. They seem to take turns watching each other's babies so that they in turn can go forage unencumbered. But sometimes Papa takes over & gives the Moms a break--what a guy!