Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Three R's

Not to be confused with Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmatic. But rodeo, rain and recuperation. Everyone at church put so much into our ranch rodeo for the church kick-off and now we're all pooped! I didn't explain in my last post about the WRCA..my sister called and asked me what that meant. It is Working Ranch Cowboy Association. The events in the rodeo are similar to what a working cowboy would typically do on a ranch..bronc riding, team sorting, branding, cow doctoring and wild cow milking. Each team is made up of 4-6 members and these teams came from all over..some from Nebraska and Kansas. They were qualifying for the world this past weekend. As soon as I get some pictures, I'll be posting. Should have some pretty good ones.


With all the rain we've been having lately, which by the way is wonderful, it has made the grass just start popping up. It's not so good for Bridget, the little horse we have for the grandkids, because she founders so easily. That's a term for laminitis, which is really too much blood flow going to the horses feet and it's very painful for them. So we have her put up in the round pen to keep her off the grass and out of the mud, which irritated them more but with the rain this morning, she was in more mud than the others. Poor Bridget, she's such a sweet little horse.




Then there's Jess and Cinch...see how clean they are? They are two compadres and are always leaving out Bridget. It's funny to watch the hierarchy with these animals.





Speaking of animals, have you ever seen such an ugly dog? He's got eyes like a mule.. very sad eyes. I hate to admit it, but he's so ugly, he's kinda cute. Gosh, did I just say he was kinda cute?! Living in the country near a college town, we are the ones that end up with the critters that someone has no use for anymore and they dump them. This is some kind of chow mix..not quite sure what he's mixed with though! Haven't had the time lately, but this guy has to find a new home. He's on the unpredictable side. We've had three dumped out here this year.




Remember when this one was dumped last year? Yep, this is Jasper. We ended up keeping him. The second dog dumped out here, my neighbor ended up keeping. So this new dog will have to go somewhere. I'm not trying to be cruel but we are not a rescue and cannot keep taking in these animals. It makes me angry when people dump them out here to let us deal with the guilt and the feed and vet bills. If I could, I would keep them all but that's hard to do.
Now that the rodeo is over, I'm looking forward to getting back to normal around here. As soon as I get the pictures, I'll be posting again.
Happy Trails...

10 comments:

  1. Hi Berte - always good to see you posting! Sounds like y'all have been busy with the rodeo-in'. Well, I guess that's alright.

    About the dogs, now that Jasper there looks like a real nice dog. He's definitely a keeper. That other rascal is pretty scroungy looking, but looks aside, he needs a good home, too. It's maddening, I know, for people to drop their mutts off. Somebody dropped off 2 pups at our farm over the weekend. One of them resembles Jasper, the other one looks more shepherd - black & tan and is covered with oozing mange. She whines when she's sleeping - it's so sad. She really needs to be put down. We left water for them and have not been back to the farm for a couple of days. I hope they leave, but if not, the mangey one will have to go. I don't know if the other one will stay because we are not fulltime at the farm right now. We'll see.

    Sorry so long - good to see you back - I'm looking forward to seeing the rodeo pics! (I really just come here for the music (giggle) just kidding!)

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  2. Oh dear. I know what you mean about dumped pets. We had a mama cat with one kitten show up out of the cornfield last fall, both near starved to death. Found a home for kitten and mama Sophia is ours. That makes 4 cats, 1 doofus golden retriever, 11 chickens, numerous ducks, 2 teenagers, and a partridge in a pear tree. Well, never mind about the partridge, but the rest are all ours!

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  3. About Bridget--why can't she go in the barn? Isn't it cool enough with the barn doors left open?
    Sounds like the rodeo was huge. Can't wait to see pictures. Do the winners get prize money or just go up in ranks until the world rodeo? Sounds like it was fun.
    love ya, mimi

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  4. IM ENJOYING READING ABOUT YOUR FARM AND ALL THAT GOES ON THERE!!I LOVE A GOOD OLD FARM DOG AND IM CRAZY ABOUT HORSES!! YOUR BLOG IS JUST RIGHT FOR ME THANK YOU!

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  5. The cowboy rodeo sounds like and interesting thing...and lots of hard work. Reading about Bridget's feet, makes me even more slower in getting a horse. I know that I am not ready for one....they take a lot of care and $$ to keep them healthy. We have had dogs show up at our place....way out here...usually because, folks let them out to run and they just keep on running. Usually the owners show up looking for them in a couple of days. Someone is always dropping a cat off here. They spend a few weeks scared out in the woods, watching me, and then I gain their trust and they get friendly. I know exactly how you feel about animals being dropped. Have a good week, blessings,Kathleen

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  6. You have an award on my blog. :)

    -Randy

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  7. Oooh! I can't wait to see the photos from the rodeo event.
    That's sad that folks just keep dumping animals near your house. Why can't they just take them to the animal shelter or pound? At least they could get good care or be humanely euthanized instead of being expose to the dangers of cars, disease, fights with other animals, unwanted breeding, and starvation and dehydration.
    I hope you can find that scruffy fella a new home soon.

    ~Lisa


    word verif: messes

    Those horses sure can make messes when they get muddy from the rain.

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  8. Hey Berte - you're not posting, but glad to see you're still out there! I'm honored that you came by! What's going on at the pecan plantation? Did ya'll get many pecans with all the heat and no rain? Oh I hope so! Take care ---

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  9. I just wandered over here from Kathleen's and have thoroughly enjoyed visiting a little on your farm. Looks like you have interesting animals like we do!

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  10. We have that problem sometimes too..and it is so very sad. On one hand I feel for the dogs and cats...and on the other - I want my pets to stay safe..so I don't want strays to come onto our property. Heart wrenching!

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