12/18/05: Busy Holiday Season

Gosh I feel guilty about not getting an update in for the website in a while. Admittedly, Christmas season and bad weather have somewhat slowed our projects down but as always, that is only temporary. We are presently boarding a red roan filly (April 29, 2005 baby) that has high percentage foundation breeding that we hope to acquire. In addition, we purchased two more longhorns to add to our herd for roping and cutting. Arena installation is our main focus and I am weary of setting posts in the ground. I have also come to the realization that a two-wheel-drive tractor is not acceptable for maintaining the new arena plus caring for another 20 acres. We may trade ours in for a 4-wheel-drive with higher horsepower. I really hate to do it though as I am somewhat attached to the one I have now.

Heather has done a tremendous job of decorating our ranch house. Our deck over the lake oozes with Christmas lights that reflect nicely at night off of the water.I fully expect the kitchen to come alive of the next few weeks switching into high gear for the production of Christmas cookies, honey hams, and probably a turkey. The wood splitter I picked up last summer has guaranteed a fire in the fireplace most evenings and usually throughout every weekend. When I'm not sitting in front of the fire I still enjoy the smokey smell from the back of a horse when I'm training in the arena. Merry Christmas everyone!

12/5/05: Cold Weather Moving In

For my horses, and living this far south, I generally feel that cold is okay, the wet is okay, but cold and wet is NOT okay. I don't try to keep the hair off my horses in the winter months and I blanket some of them, some of the time, when things get real bad. The new covered arena is plenty large enough to house all the mares and babies but I'd like to have covered stalls for the stallions so...I've been working AGAIN to reconfigure the old tin shed that was on the property when we bought it. A recent storm had ripped half the roof off and I have since repaired (and strengthened) it. With colder temperatures around the corner, I've been working here and there to remodel the thing. Today I got the water troughs in and attached the automatic float valves. This shed is about 300 feet from the well so I'd prefer to have automatic waterers though I usually like buckets so I can monitor how much water my horses are drinking. After the conversion is complete, Cito and Nickle will each have their own stall that is more than double the standard 12x12 stall size. The shed will block the wind and rain fine...

12/2/05: Road Vote

For anyone who has ever travelled out to our ranch - they know the perils. The old dirt road as been around since back in the 1960s and has really never been maintained. With excessive rain, a 4-wheel drive vehicle is often necessary to traverse the road and the deep ruts require significant suspension clearance. After years of working with the Brazoria County Road and Bridge Department, our road it seems is about to be accepted into the county road system. This means new drainage, new material on the road, and continued maintenance. Ballots have been sent to all residents of the road for a vote and, after holding a meeting with all the residents at our ranch, our estimate is that the vote will pass.